Acclayne Book 1: The Game Begins
Chapter 17

Juney and Kaylaer had barely looked at each other since the incidentin the square, much less spoken to each other. It was like sharing abedroom with two moody teenagers; but it was still better thancamping. I had managed to commandeer the bathroom for anuninterrupted forty-five minutes before being warned that I had fiveminutes to vacate the room or Juney was going to come in and gas meout. Gross. I didn't even allow boyfriends to use the toilet when Iwas in the bath; it was a line of privacy that I was strictlyunwilling to cross. I hurriedly dried myself off, dressed and clearedthe area.

Kaylaer was sulking invirtually the same spot that I'd left her in and my attempts at lightconversation seemed to fall on deaf ears:

“So... this is prettynice eh?” Nothing.

“Sure beats sleepingin a tent,” Nada.

“apparently we've gota busy day tomorrow...” Zilch.

“should probably getan early night...” Zero. I pottered around the room; unsure ofwhere to put myself.

“...screw it. If sheasks; I'm at the bar. See ya kiddo.” Zip.

The bar downstairs wasvirtually empty- I figured it must be a week-night; assuming thatweeks here were laid out in the way that I was familiar with. Itoccurred to me then how lost in time I actually was- last time I hadchecked it was the weekend, and I was pretty sure at least one morehad passed me by since then. I resolved to ask someone later on,maybe Juney if she was still awake. And not pissed off with me forleaving the room un-chaperoned... she was going to be pissed wasn'tshe? Damn it. Ah well, I pulled up a bar stool and looked over thedrinks on offer. There was nothing there that I recognised so I askedthe barmaid for something strong but fruity. She looked a littleconfused by my request but diligently complied. In comparison to theother people I'd met she was a short, plump, little thing with a cuteupturned nose. She didn't really look old enough to be serving behindthe bar but who could tell in this place? For all I knew the legaldrinking age could be ten. If there was one at all. Her chubbydimpled hand delicately placed a tall glass in front of me. It wasfilled with what looked like luminous pink custard.

“That's seven Dravliand twenty-three Oct please Ma'am.”

Dravli?Oct? Ma'am?“Erm...”

“Or would you like meto charge it to your room?” She smiled sweetly at me. She had adimple in her right cheek.

“Ah yes,” I said,relieved. No one had taught me about currency yet, “that wouldprobably be best. It's room twenty-five; under Cholden.” Well, shewas going to be mad at me anyway.

***

Methyn was havingtrouble sleeping. He had spent most of the afternoon in a state ofunconsciousness and, despite his painful head, he couldn't seem todrift off. He had been put in a twin room with Malcolm, it was notthat he minded the boy; in fact he was quite fond of him, but he didrather like his own space. Especially whilst on holiday – which hewas quite aware that he was not, but it helped get him through whatwas turning out to be quite an ordeal. He rolled onto his side toface the young lad; he was sound asleep and was making a smallsnoring noise in the back of his throat. Methyn sighed softly so asnot to disturb him. He was bored, he had no book to read and no teato drink. These were hard times indeed. He would later come to thinkof these days as the calm before the storm, but not yet; right now hewas replaceing them irksome at best. Sitting up he decided that he wouldgo and explore before he attempted to sleep again. He had neverstayed in Valaylii before and so was quite surprised to replace thatthere were hotels such as this one. Juney was footing the bill fortheir stay; which was just as well as there was no way that Methyncould have afforded a place like this – not on his salary. Thebedrooms were large and luxurious, all with immaculate en-suites. Noteven his room at the academy could boast it's own bathroom; a factthat was of persistent annoyance. One of the other professors that heshared a bathroom with had once managed to clog up the shower drainso badly that for several weeks they were forced to share with thesenior students. This meant that to avoid any embarrassing momentsthey often had to take their showers in the dead of night. Theprofessor in question had suffered with bodily hair issues sincebeing inadvertently turned into a human-spaniel hybrid two monthspreviously. On the plus side he was now hyper-sensitive to anymisbehaviour in the classroom, but, so the students had discoveredquite quickly; was easily distracted by squeaky rubber objects.

Methyn ran his fingersgently over the corridor walls as he meandered around. The wallpaperwas flocked and felt velvety soft beneath his fingertips. As heneared the bottom of the main staircase he could hear a familiarvoice.

“Sho then I shaid to'er 'whaddaya mean he already left?'!” It was a little slurred anda little to loud for normal conversation but he was sure that it wasAlaina. Walking through the dimly lit and deserted reception area hemade his way through to the bar.

“METHYN! Ish Methyn!”She chirruped when she saw him. “Pull up a pew.” She said;violently smacking the bar stool beside her. He hadn't spoken toAlaina very much since they'd met and so was a little anxious aboutjoining her. Heck, if it had been someone he'd known for years he'dhave still been anxious – he was just that sort of a person.Socially awkward some people may call it, Methyn preferred to thinkof it as practised aloofness. After a brief moment of internaldeliberation he joined her at the bar; he was rewarded with a beamingsmile. He noticed, as he felt the heat rising in his cheeks, that thebarmaid was hovering around awkwardly; waiting for his order.

“Um – I. Ah, do youserve Tea?” The barmaid's response was cut off by peals ofhigh-pitched laughter from beside him.

“Ah, come on Methyn!Live a little won't you? 'Ave one of these...” She shook her halfempty glass at him. Most unusual behaviour for someone of herbreeding, he thought. Her mother had been renown for her healthconsciousness, her decorum, intelligence, not to mention herstrength, and here was her daughter; drunk out of her mind in a hotelbar late at night. Hardly heroic behaviour. But who was he to judge.

“What is that?” Herdrink looked repulsive sloshing around in the glass; it clungsuspiciously to the sides.

“This, m'dear, isdel-delish-deh... ish yummy.” She took a sip. “'Nother twoplease.” The barmaid nodded and scuttled off to replace whatevernuclear substance that appeared to be in Alaina's glass.

“Where's everyoneelse?” He glanced around the bar; expecting to see Juney lurkingabout. He was still embarrassed about the afternoon's events andresolved to both apologise and thank her for saving him. Though hewasn't sure if his headache wasn't her fault in the first place. Nowthere was someone who lived up to his expectations; Juney'sreputation preceded her and in his opinion she fully lived up to it-she was as scary as hell...

“Prolly still sulkingabout the place like moody teenagers.” ...Or not. Methyn noted theface Alaina pulled into her glass with amusement.

“Ah.”

“So, I take it youcouldn't sleep?”

“No.”

“You were completelyOUTERS for a while there.” She laughed.

“Yes. I had noticed.”He rubbed his head. It still ached a little.

“You don' talk mushdo you?”

“Not as much assome.” He smiled at her.

“I'll have you knowthat I-” She sat up and almost fell of her stool sideways, “-I aman extremely proficient talking... person.”

“Is that so?”

“Yesh. Which is justas well, don't you think?”

“Why's that?” Hegratefully accepted his glass of pink questionableness from thebarmaid and took a sip. Not bad. Tasted like raspberry yoghurt –with a rather unsubtle kick that caught in the back of his throat.

“'Cause, we've goneand gotten ourselves into a shticky situ-sit-mess.”

“You could say that,though I don't think that we had much say in it really.” As thedrink went down his throat it left in it's wake a numb yetsurprisingly heated sensation that wasn't entirely unpleasant.

“EXSHACTLY!” Shepointed forcefully at him and he allowed himself a chuckle. “And mypoint is... what was my point?”

Methyn giggle-snortedas he drank his drink. “I don't know...”

“Did you justgiggle?”

“Maybe.” He did itagain. Alaina laughed but Methyn didn't feel embarrassed in theslightest. It was a welcome change. Something about her exudedwarmth, or maybe that was the alcohol.

“I goddit. My pointwas that I can't kick ass. I am about as kick-ass as a hamster with abroken leg. So I'm gonna have to rely on-”

“-Your 'talkingproficiency'-”

“Exactly. You knowwhat Meth. Can I call you Meth?”

“No.”

“You know what? Youtotally get me man. You know that?” Methyn sipped at the last ofhis drink and felt the warmth hitting his belly. She was scared ashell – just like he was. Yes; he totally got that.

***

I awoke the next daywith a thud. Although it was my lower body that had collided with thefloor when I fell out of bed it felt as if it was my head that hadtaken a hammering.

“Ow...” I struggledwith gravity for the control of my eyelids. When I managed to openthem Kaylaer's face slowly came into focus – she was bent down overme.

“You are in so muchtrouble.” I did not appreciate the smug look on her face; I triedto muster a glare and failed. It hurt too much.

“Glad to see you'rein a better mood.” I grabbed my head; talking hurt more than nottalking.

“Whatever,” shestood up and shrugged, “you should've seen yourself last night;what. A. Mess.” I struggled to remember something, anything, fromthe previous evening. Not much was coming to mind. The barmaid hadbeen lovely, but very young. Not much gossip there. I had tried, invain, to engage her in boyfriend talk but she wasn't having any ofit. Pity, I hadn't had a good gossip in what felt like a very longtime. I remembered that Methyn had joined me... but I was prettydrunk by then. We'd had a talk, I wasn't too sure what about, but Ifelt like I knew him a little better. “...So was Professor M.though. Great example you two are setting by the way.” I groaned.Of course, he'd had a couple of drinks too... what a lightweight.Shit! He was probably still half-concussed. I'm such a toolsometimes.

“Was it really thatbad?” I hope I hadn't tried anything, ah, inappropriate. As Lisaalways loved to remind me; drink turned me into a bit of a slut. Mymood fell through the floor thinking about Lisa. Morning's like thiswould be spent together; reminiscing, poking fun and wallowing in ourself-inflicted pain. I missed my best friend.

“It was.”

“Oh no.” I crawledup onto the bed and buried my head in the mountain of pillows.

“You both thoughtthat it would be a good idea to run around knocking people's doorsand then run away in the middle of the night; giggling like childrenthe whole time...” I groaned. “...but you were too slow, at leastMethyn was...” Oh no. “... the last door you knocked on; Methyndidn't get away fast enough and some massive, pissed off, sleepdeprived guy answered the door, chased him down the hall and knockedhim out. Again.” Ah shit. “Juney had to go down to reception tocollect him and take him back up to his room. Malcolm had sleptthrough the whole thing; didn't even know he was gone. Then when theyeventually found you...” Urgh. “...you were sat on the floor infront of the broom closet on the third floor in hysterics because youhad managed to give yourself the hiccups. By the time Juney got youback here you were completely incoherent. Even more so than normal ifyou can believe that.” I sensed her rolling her eyes at me. Imumbled into the pillow. “What was that? I couldn't hear you overthe massive hangover.”

“Where is Juney?”

“Now, that I don'tknow, and you're probably better off. She was mightily pissed at youlast night.”

“Figures.”

“Not like you don'tdeserve it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Come on, you'rewhat? Thirty-?”

“Hey-”

“-and you're actinglike a child. You're new here, I get it, but you don't seem to betaking this seriously. We've been given a massive job to do andyou're pissing about doing impromptu sight seeing and drinkingyourself into a stupor, yet for some reason everyone seems to havefaith in you. Faith that you'll step up and replace your mother. Iseem to be t he only one who sees you for what you are; you're spoiltand weak and you will never fill your mother's shoes; this kind ofthing just proves me right...” I was being lectured to by ateenager that had run off the day before; tried to illegally purchasea weapon and then sulked when she got caught; I had officiallyreached a new low. “...Thank the Mother Acclayne that we have Juneyon our side because if we have to rely on you then we're going tohave our asses handed to us.”

“Thanks for the voteof confidence.” I muttered into my pillow. I didn't care if sheheard me or not; we both knew she was right.

I passed in and out ofsleep for a while. Kaylaer came and went- for breakfast I assumed.Needless to say I wasn't hungry. Despite her, quite accurate, viewson me she brought me a glass of juice; which I was eternally gratefulfor – despite the burning sensation it caused down my throat. Icould only assume that I'd thrown up somewhere last night. Thankfullyby the time Juney showed up my headache had started to dissipate.

“What the hell wereyou playing at?!”

“Good morning.”

“Hardly. I had noidea where you were. How am I supposed to protect you!”

“Well from what I'vebeen told you seem to be doing a fine job regardless – thanks forthat by the way – but I am a grown woman,” Juney growled inresponse. “I can mind myself you know.”

“Youcan can you?” Right now I'm not seeing much evidence of that.”She stormed around the room and started throwing things back into ourbags. I could kind of understand Kaylaer's reaction now; being on thereceiving end of Juney's anger was not fun. She was like a womanpossessed... “You are so lucky I had a job this morning; at leastnow I don't feel like ripping yourhead off.” … a small-yet-deadly woman possessed. I put a handprotectively to my throat and hoped that she was joking. She grumbledquietly to herself for a while; I caught a few key words, things like“irresponsible”, “childish” and “disrespectful” andfigured that I wasn't going to live this one down.

“Right.” Shesnapped, “Get your hungover ass out of bed, everyone's downstairswaiting for us.”

“Everyone?”

“Yes everyone, evenyour sorry excuse for a drinking buddy. He's not quite as coherent asyou are but he is up.”

“Ah we'll insert teathrough an intravenous drip and I'm sure he'll be fine in no time.”I quipped and thought I saw a flicker of a smile cross her face.Maybe all hope was not lost! Hooray!

“Yes well, get up.We'll finish this later.” She smiled. I didn't like the sound ofthat and I told her so.

***

When Alaina eventuallygathered enough strength to join the rest of the group downstairsGiflyn; the burly man whom she'd met yesterday, had already arrived.

“Ah, good morningMiss Oakley, might I say that you look ravishing today?” He movedforward with the intention of kissing her hand; he had been quitetaken with her since he had first seen her. Her luscious red hair andwillowy figure had put him in mind of his wife – as she was whenthey had first met; before the raising of so many children had takenit's toll. Alaina was non-responsive to his attempt and so he fellback, a look of disappointment on his face. Juney rolled her eyes;

“She does not, shelooks like shit. Not that she doesn't deserve it.” She shot adark-eyed glare at Alaina who either pointedly ignored it or was justtoo spaced-out to notice; no one was quite sure. “Okay, well that'severyone. Time to get moving.”

“Oh God, do we haveto?”

“Yes, we can't hangabout or we'll get behind schedule.”

Alaina grumbled andshared a look with Methyn who was, as yet, unable to speak. He didn'tneed to; the look said it all. He was suffering big time.

“About that,”Giflyn piped up, “I was just saying to Methyn here-” he smackedhim firmly on the back and almost sent him flying forward, “I'm notgoing to be joining you today.”

“We had a deal.”

“I am aware of that,”the loaded looks that passed between him and Juney went unnoticed,“and so I have organised for someone else to accompany you in myplace.”

“I take it that theywill be granted access?”

“I have sent wordahead, it shouldn't be a problem.”

“In that case weshan't keep you any longer.” Juney waved him away with her small,leather-clad hand; she had no further need of him and as such he wasin her way.

“He'll meet youthere, I take it you know the way?”

“Yes, yes. Thank youGiflyn.”

“Aboutour deal...”

“When I have what Iwant, you shall get what you want. Goodbye.” With that he wasabruptly dismissed. un-phased by Juney's brash manner Giflyn bowedpolitely and duly excused himself.

“Geez, no need to beso rude.” Alaina scolded.

“No need to make uslate by drinking yourself into a stupor, but that's how it is.”

Malcolm and Kaylaerremained quiet during the walk across town. Both children werebrimming over with questions as to their destination but felt that itwould be wise; given the current circumstances, to keep quiet. Juneywalked swiftly and with purpose through the town. Alaina and Methyn;the walking wounded, struggled to keep up.

Soon the number ofbuildings began to dwindle and the town seemed to thin out aroundthem; giving way to grassy hills and trees. The morning sun wasalready well-established in the cloudless sky and the day seemed tobe warming up pleasantly. Alaina relished the feel of the warm sunbeating down on her skin, though she was beginning to wish that shehad access to sun cream - her pale skin was liable to turn lobsterred at any moment whilst exposed to the sun. Methyn barely seemed tonotice his surroundings, let alone appreciate the fine weather.

The group foundthemselves following Juney through a narrow tunnel built into ahillside. It was wide enough only for one person at a time but wasonly short which Malcolm was extremely grateful for – beingparticularly anxious when in a dark and enclosed space. As theypassed through the tunnel he focused on the bright sunlight at theother end, and the cool breeze that blew across his face. He was notclosed in. He was not closed in. Not. Closed. In.

As he steppedblinkingly back into the daylight he was delighted to see a largegarden ahead of them. It covered in soft looking tall-grasses andwild flowers. The smell was heavenly. It was as if they were milesoutside of Vallaylii; not only a five minute walk away. In the centreof the garden sat a large brick building. It was undoubtedly old yetseemed well maintained.

“Ladies andgentlemen,” Juney said turning to a rather perplexed looking group,“I give you Oakley House.”