Ch 2.37:  Guests


    <span style="font-weight:400">Thoughts of spending the night with Tira dancing through her head, it was difficult for ina to keep focused on her meal, no matter how good it tasted. She’d been thinking a weekend out with the girls would’ve led to maybe even more than that, but that had always been wishful thinking; the four of them didn’t quite have <i><span style="font-weight:400">that</i><span style="font-weight:400"> kind of rtionship, right?


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I’m expecting another person from your school sometime soon,” Abel said, breaking ina out of her thoughts as he came over with a pitcher to refill their drinks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Another group of students?” Flora asked as she went to grab her mug.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Not sure, but they only reserved one room. Paying for it even if it’s kept empty, which is pretty nice I must stay.” Once his pitcher was empty he reached in his pocket, pulling out two keys, each attached to a numbered piece of wood. “And speaking of rooms, four and five are yours tonight. Both have two beds, so no need to worry about that.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“What if we wanted a room with onerge bed?” Tira asked, causing ina to choke into her mug a bit. It was a forwardness she’d expect from someone like Flora, but not Tira. Maybe the former was rubbing off?


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Well, I wouldn’t normally mind, but the only empty one I have is reserved like I said,” Abel said, seemingly undisturbed by the request.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Shame,” Flora said, “guess we won’t get to fight over it after all.” Carline was the one who choked this time.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Abel returned to his work, and ina’s party returned to their meal. “I really do hope those monsters don’te near here,” Carline said, breaking the silence.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“You’re worrying too much,” Flora said, finally finishing her bowl and stretching her arms out. “They were miles away from town, and I saw one of them out there a few months ago, and it still hasn’t shown up here.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“It is weird though, right?” Carline said. “No one’s seen these things in how long?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">ina nced at her bag down on the floor. “Something like nine hundred years, but that’s probably a conversation forter,” she said, gesturing to the bag for the others to see.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“ina’s right,” Tira said as she stood up and grabbed one of the keys, chair legs creaking across the wood floor. “Right now it’s time to rest.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Are you sure?” Flora said with a smirk. “It’s only what, seven or eight?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“I need to rest up,” Tira said, patting her injured arm. “Doctor’s orders, right Carline?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Uhm, I’m not a doctor, but probably.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Right right, go rest up then,” Flora said, “but don’t rest so hard we miss checkout. ina, you keep her in line, okay?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Huh?” ina nearly squeaked out the reply, not expecting to be addressed. How exactly was she supposed to keep Tira of all people in line? But Flora’s subsequentugh made it clear that ina wasn’t actually expected to do any of the sort.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Come on,” Tira said, ignoring Flora and grabbing ina’s bag. “Let’s get going.” The tone of her voice was different. It was a subtle change, one probably only ina noticed. Tira always had a sense of authority in her words, and that was still there, but there was also an element of yfulness that was usually absent. <i><span style="font-weight:400">ytime’s already started,</i><span style="font-weight:400"> ina realized.


    <span style="font-weight:400">She stood up, following Tira towards the stairs. She knew better than to make Tira wait when she got like this. It felt like all eyes should be on them, but everyone in the inn seemed to be absorbed in their own tables, their own conversations. How could anyone look anywhere but Tira when she walked like that, dominance in each step of her boot, authority with each sway of her hips?


    <span style="font-weight:400">It wasn’t long before Tira had led her up the stairs, was deftly unlocking their room’s door before sliding inside. ina went to follow still, but Tira turned around, blocking the entrance. “Flora told me about something unfair that happened earlier.”


    <span style="font-weight:400">Unfair? Given the context, given it was Flora that said it, she could only mean one thing. “You— you were asleep?” ina wasn’t sure why it was a question.


    <span style="font-weight:400">“You liked it, didn’t you? Being undressed in public?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yes…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yes what?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, Mistress, I did like it…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">“Good. But I can’t be the only one that didn’t see it, right?”


    <span style="font-weight:400">ina understood. She knew she could stop it too with her safeword, that Tira would let her in at anytime with just two sybles. She also knew that at that moment, she wanted nothing more than to obey everyst one of Tira’s words. “Right, mistress…”


    <span style="font-weight:400">She looked down each side of the hall as she reached for the top button of her jacket.