Chapter 5: One Last Drink
The rest of the workday passed banally as Jack kept his mind and hands busy with tasks set upon him by Rhodes, finally ending at EvenChime, the six bell strikes that signified the end of the working day.
As the sun set behind the Stalwart, Jack bade his employer a pleasant evening and started his walk down to the Fiery Phoenix, the pub most frequented by Jack and Nolan.
The reason the two friends chose this drinking hole, over the other numerous establishments peppered across all quarters of the city was the mutual acquaintance of their childhood friend Molly, who, after her father passed away, had taken over as the proprietor of the Phoenix. Having been a barmaid since she was a young girl, she was familiar with the comings and goings of such an environment, and she rather excelled as a businesswoman.
As Jack began his casual saunter down to the Middle Quarter he faced east – giving him the characteristic view of Windaria’s central plains – an utterly majestic vista he’d known all his life.
As he peered off into the distance, he saw the horizon sprawled endlessly out before him. From high up in his mountain vantage point he could see past the forests that sparsely dotted the plains to just barely make out the indistinguishable specs of low buildings comprising the Plains City of Camor, mere dots on the horizon, also known as the City of Two Rivers.
Steadily becoming hazy and indistinct, courtesy of the sheer distance involved – and being much farther east – Camor was already experiencing night.
Jack thought back to the one and only time he had been to Camor, with his father and brother, when he was a young teenager. After a senturn and a half on travelling horseback, he remembered the place smelling of flora and sun, a stark difference from the cold stone and often harsh wind characteristic of Lazaras.
As he continued to walk down the gentle incline towards the Phoenix, his thoughts turned more and more to the friends who were waiting for him, although Jack was willing to wager that Nolan was already a few ales in.
More specifically he thought about Molly, and how wonderful it was to imagine embracing her as they’d so often done in recent times.
Indeed, it began to dawn on Jack that hers was the face he longed to see more than any other. Growing up, Jack had never really considered Molly to be anything more than a close friend, and he had been completely oblivious about it all until the day, a year ago, Molly threw her arms around him and kissed him for the first time. Talking to Nolan afterwards Jack discovered he was the only one who didn’t know about Molly’s affections for him. Apparently, both their families had simply been waiting for Jack to open his eyes. Well, his eyes were open now and he knew by the feeling that swelled in his breast each time he saw her, thought about her, and kissed her, that she was it for him. Whatever future lay before the two of them, he and Molly would tackle it together.
By the time Jack reached the Phoenix, the sun had set behind the mountains behind him, and night blanketed his home city. The street lanterns were lit and glowing, their soft light flickering against every rough surface.
At this time of day, the citizens of Lazaras walked throughout the city, most of them dressed in their finest clothing. They bade their neighbors a good evening and goodwill, laughed and shared jovial anecdotes with friends. It was an age-old custom among Lazarians that had been observed since the Gods created humans, or so the Sky Temple preached.
Jack spied the familiar crest of the tavern, a fiery bird clutching a bundle of grapes in its talons, and pushed against the inward swinging door that led him into a bustling room filled with the sounds of merriment and laughter.
The ceiling was slightly lower than that of other buildings in Lazaras, as taverns often are, and the place smelled of roast meat, stew and ale. A waist-height bar ran half the length of the building across from the door where Jack had come in, and there was an exit to the kitchen out-building in the back. To the right of the bar were stairs that led to the guest quarters on the second floor. On the third floor were a further two rooms permanently occupied by Molly and her mother Alice. The fireplace in the far right corner glowed merrily and radiated pleasant warmth, its smoke drifting lazily up the chimney.
Nolan’s roaring laughter soon permeated the din of the place and Jack spotted the company for which he was looking. Sitting at their usual table in the corner were Nolan and Molly, talking animatedly. Nolan had a half-finished pint of ale in front of him, while Molly was only holding a cleaning rag. Jack’s eyes lingered for a moment longer on the face of his beloved, her lips forming a perfect, bow-shaped smile. His friends noticed him as he approached their table and at once Molly rushed over, throwing her arms about him while planting a soft, wet kiss on his lips. Jack eagerly responded in kind.
“Good evening, my love,” she said in her playfully casual way, stroking his hair. “And how is my handsome gentleman doing this fine evening?”
“Much better now that I’m here with you,” Jack replied with his unstoppable smile. Molly appeared to be having similar difficulties. After getting lost in each other’s eyes for a few more moments Nolan started to make retching noises from his seat.
“If you two insist on displaying your affections so readily, the least you can do is warn me first, or hand me a sack in which to vomit. Either way is fine for me. Now sit, you two. Jack-Knife needs a drink.”
“Maybe just one pint,” Jack responded. “I still feel a little off from last night.”
“That’s how it always starts, isn’t it, Jack-Knife? Ha!”
Jack and Molly took opposite sides of the table and the three friends made idle chit chat, discussing the day’s events while the group received their drinks, Jack his first and Nolan his second. One of the serving girls inquired whether Molly would like a drink, but she declined the offer.
“I’ve still got to serve customers all night. Actually, I really should be getting back to work.” She rose from the table. As Jack began to protest, Molly put a gentle finger to his lips.
“Patience, my love. I’ll be all yours once we’ve closed.” And with that, she went back to running the entire tavern almost single-handedly.
“Are you going to have that dreamy look on your face all night or are you going to finish that ale?” asked Nolan with a smile.
“Not dreamy, just…appropriately interested,” responded Jack, as he gulped another swig of his pint. Jack knew full well his affections for Molly were glaringly obvious and, while Nolan was as happy as could be for his two closest friends, he knew Nolan preferred not to have it in front of his face too often, being still single himself.
“So, how did Rhodes take to your late arrival at the apothecary?” asked Nolan, gulping another mouthful of ale.
“In the usual, unpredictable manner,” responded Jack. “He feigned awareness of the true time of day so he could get me to admit I was late. I really must stop underestimating him, he’s far cleverer than I.”
“Oh but not by much I’d wager. Thank the Five, this city has large-brained geniuses like you two around to keep us all healthy,” Nolan jibed.
“Actually, Rhodes was telling me about that the other day. The Medical Department of the Academy in Galla Aquila published a paper postulating that the size of the brain may not be the largest factor in determining intelligence. It’s theorized that it has more to do with the number of mental connections one can make in the shortest amount of time, fact recollection, memory retention, that sort of thing.” Jack almost automatically corrected. Nolan let out a guffaw.
“See what I mean, Jack-Knife?” Nolan asked. “Between Rhodes and yourself the sick and ailed of this beautiful city are in the most capable hands.”
“I suppose so, but without Rhodes’ constant tutelage I’d be lost. I still have much to learn from him. In fact, one thing all this learning has done is help me realize just how much there is to know, and how little of it I actually do.”
“Oh, please,” Nolan said, laughing. “Next to Rhodes you’re the smartest person I know. If you don’t know everything between the two of you, I’ll eat my boots.”
“I hope you enjoy the taste of leather, my friend, because I promise you no one can know everything. That would take an inhuman amount of dedication and resources it would take. There simply isn’t enough time in the day.”
“My belief is that every person should pick one thing. Just one thing and learn all they can about it.” Jack continued. “I’m just glad I’ve already figured out what my thing is: healing the sick and injured.”
“Well that’s good, mate, because my one thing is injuring people,” Nolan said with a laugh. “As a Knight’s Squire, Sir Barrow and the other Knights instill in us the importance of landing the killing blow, at least when fighting an enemy who wishes to kill you first. We are an honorable bunch after all,” Nolan continued with levity.
“Believe me, old friend. You’re the most honorable bloke I know,” Jack said.
“Yeah, but you don’t know that many people,” Nolan said. The two pals laughed at that for a little longer than was probably normal, blame it on the ale.