As night deepened, Lucky Coin Inn finally fell into a sleep-like silence, broken only by the occasional barking of dogs from distant alleys.
In the cheapest small room on the second floor, the oil lamp had long since gone out. Only cold moonlight filtered through the window, casting a small square patch of light across the rough floorboards.
Ezra Yarrow stood by the window, quietly watching outside, when he heard his sister speak behind him. "Brother, why are you still awake?"
Ezra turned and saw Aina poking her head out from beneath the blankets. After thinking for a moment, he reassured her, "Go back to sleep. I'll keep watch."
"We still need to keep watch now?" Aina asked doubtfully. "Didn't Holko and the others already get driven off?"
When they had fled Root Village, their father, Old Yarrow, had lured the pursuers away, giving the two children a chance to catch their breath. But because they had no money, and because they feared an ambush on the road to Adlock, they had taken a long detour and spent a day exposed to the elements in the wilderness outside the city. That was why they had needed to take turns keeping watch.
But this was already an upscale inn in the middle district. There were even night watchmen with hunting dogs on the nearby streets. She felt there was no need to work so hard anymore.
"I'm worried Holko and the other two still aren't giving up. Besides, they rely on an Evil God. Who knows what mysterious tricks they might have?" Ezra said. He looked only a little over ten, thin and small, dressed in patched-up clothes, yet his gaze was unexpectedly calm.
Right, they served an Evil God... Aina grew uneasy as well. "Then I'll keep watch for a