“Dumb bastard,” Galvin muttered under his breath as he struggled to drag Jules out of the bar. Eyes were Morwin, Galvin, and the passed out Jules.

  “Thank Agnius no one here is a soldier from then,” Galvin muttered. Morin and Galvin both had Jules around their shoulder, his arms splayed across both of them, his feet dragging on the wooden floor, his head rolling as they moved.

  They’d left the mugs Jules had been drinking. Morwin counted fifteen mugs in total. He must’ve ordered it at once, else there would have only been one mug.

  Did this man have that many problems to drink away?

  “How do you think Guenevir is going to react when she sees you like this, man?” Galvin said, limping along, carrying the heavy man.

  Jules responded by a string of incoherent mutters.

  They dragged Jules out of the pub, traveling down the street and across to an inn. One that didn’t also act as a pub. Galvin did not want any way for Jules to get more alcohol into his system. Too bad many of the inns in the city also served alcohol, as that was a booming point of business.

  As the three of them entered into the inn, the owner of the establishment glanced up from his papers. He looked tired and had bags under his eyes. Who wouldn’t, if they were working this late while the rest of the city was out drinking themselves dry?

  “Hello,” the man said, smushing his syllables together. “HowmayIhelpyoutoday?”

  Galvin set Jules down on a nearby chair. Morwin was glad the weight had been removed from his shoulders, if only for a short while.

  “Here for a room. Just one,” Galvin said. He placed about five mets on the table. “Do you think this will cover one night?”

  The owner of the inn glanced down at the currency then back up. “Yes,” was all he said.

  “Do you keep record of who comes in and out?” Galvin asked.

  “Yeswedo,” the man said. It came out more of like a sigh.

  Then Galvin placed an igian on the table. “Will this convince you not to? And also for you to not tell anyone we were here?”

  The man moved his eyes ever so slowly to peer down at the large denomination set before him. He had less of a reaction than anyone else would in that situation. He returned his eyes back up to Galvin and said, “Fine,” before continuing with his papers.

  “The key?” Galvin said.

  The man put down the papers again and let out a rather aggressive sigh. He then reached under him and pulled a metallic object out and slammed it on the counter. On the key, it had the room number on it.

  “Thank you,” Galvin said, swiping the key off the counter. The owner didn’t say anything in response. Morwin found that man a bit curious.

  “Come on, help me,” Galvin said, stuffing the key into his pockets and picking Jules up again. Morwin rushed in to help.

  As they walked up the stairs, Morwin gave the owner one last glance.

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  The stairs creaked heavily as they made their way up. With each step, Morwin could swear the building would just collapse and bury all three of them. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

  Galvin stopped in the middle of the hallway and pulled out his key, noting the room number and moving along the doors until they finally stopped at one which matched the key.

  Galvin let go of Jules completely, letting Morwin carry him all by himself. The older man’s weight was too much and Morwin dropped him. Jules landed on the floor with a thump and he let out a groan.

  “Sorry,” Morwin whispered.

  “He’ll be fine,” Galvin responded. He pushed the door open and helped Jules up again. Morwin went to help and took a whiff of the air. All he could smell was the undeniable stench of alcohol stinging Jules’s breath. The scent reminded him of when he first got drunk and the feeling of the thunderous headache came to his mind.

  He did not want to go through that again. He didn’t know how anyone could.

  Galvin shut the door behind them as they entered the room. The two of them moved rather quickly to the torn up bed in the middle, ready to let go of Jules. Galvin practically threw him on the bed then he sat down and heaved a breath.

  “Thanks,” Galvin said. “Now you might want to get out of here and go back to your place.”

  “I’ll stay,” Morwin said, sitting against the wall.

  “Why?” Galvin asked. “You don’t owe him anything.”

  “Well for not shooting me when we first me.”

  “I told him not to shoot you. I would’ve been very angry if he did.”

  “Still,” Morwin said. “I can tell he wanted to shoot me. The people in Justicar, they don’t trust me. They only allow me to join up was because of you. I’m not sure why you trust me though.”

  “You’re right,” Galvin said. “They’ve expressed their concerns. They don’t trust you. Not one bit. Especially not Guenevir. She wants nothing to do with anyone from the Ministers.”

  “Why? What did they do to her?”

  “It’s not what they did to her,” Galvin said. “It’s what they did to him.” He thumbed Jules. “And the reason why he wants him dead.”

  “I’m sorry,” Morwin said. “But I’m not one of the Ministers. I don’t even share their viewpoints. So if I can right the wrongs done to you guys, I will do my best. But please don’t see me as one of them.”

  Galvin chuckled. “Easy for me to do. I was the one who brought you into Justicar. It’s them that you need to convince. Darius, Guenevir, Jules, Kaden.”

  Morwin nodded. “I will,” he said. “And the first step is to stay here and guard him so you can get some sleep.”

  “Your father won’t be angry with you?”

  “I don’t think he even notices my existence nowadays,” Morwin admitted.

  Jules stirred in his sleep, turning to his side. He was snoring down.

  “I’ll stay here and watch over him,” Morwin said. “You can get some sleep yourself.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Morwin smiled. “Positive.”