Dance of the Gods

The day came and went, after the midday rush the workload drastically decreased. Veronica even had time to sit down and enjoy some leftovers, while chatting with either Suze or Sofie.

They talked about useless stuff mostly, explained a couple of things she didn't quite remember. For example the weather and geography of the Free Cities. The most populated parts of the Free Cities were coastal ports, they received the most trade.

These cities enjoyed mild winters and cold summers, but many smaller cities and towns were located in hilly terrain, where crops could be grown or animals can be kept.

Of course very few people would do such a thing, it was nearly impossible to compete with the Dracon Empire's low prices, but for local markets they could make good money.

The railway system was developing nicely as well. All of the larger cities and even most of the small ones had at least one railway passing through. They even built ones in the Outlands where the Free Cities had a small foothold in the southern part. It really helped revolutionize the transportation of goods.

Veronica was about to ask what the Outlands actually were and why no one seems to want to conquer it, but the nighttime customers had arrived. She looked at Sofie who was sitting in front of her and judging by the facial expression this won't be a fun experience.

Oh, how right she was. The morning was by far the best, there weren't many customers to be served and all of them were kind to her. The midday was worse because there were a lot more people constantly ordering foods and drinks. There were also a lot more drunks.

They all seemed like heaven compared to the night crowd. All of them were either rude, pervert or both at the same time. She was currently bringing out drinks for a particularly obnoxious group of individuals. Some of them were sailors the others workers, but all of them jerks.

"Here is the 6 beers and 10 shots of whiskey. It will be 68 coppen." Veronica held out her hand waiting for the money, instead one of the dirty workers grabbed it and pulled her closer.

"How about I give you 5 eura and we go to a room. Then you get on your knees and..." Before he could continue she pulled herself away and slapped him in the face so hard he nearly fell off his chair. The other people laughed so hard, they nearly fell out of their chairs as well.

Veronica was already walking away with an angry expression, before leaving she said, "Pay the bill at the bar." Then she was gone.

This wasn't the first time she had to slap someone during the night, and certainly wasn't the last. This maneuver was taught to her by Sofie, who had to utilize it quite often. 

The hours went on and when the bell sounded 7 the family and Veronica sat down to have dinner. There were still a couple people out in the main room, but all of them were residents so it was fine. They knew when dinner is for the innkeeper and his family, so they just don't drink until then.

The dinner was as tasty as the night before, this time she wasn't able to help making it, but Suze done a great job anyway. It was some steamed vegetables with a piece of chicken breast cooked in butter with onions.

After the usual prayer they began eating, the sound of chewing took hold of the kitchen. They were in silence, the day was long and they just wanted to enjoy a good meal before retiring for the night.

When they were done Veronica went to wash away the dishes and cutlery. Sofie took the duty of cleaning the main room and restrooms for which Veronica was very glad for. The two younger children went to their rooms to do homework.

James still had some work to do since there were still customers, but they couldn't order food anymore because the kitchen was closed for the night.

Suze was sitting at the table just enjoying the quiet, she watched as Veronica washed and rinsed one plate after the another... It made her feel weird.

She checked out her dress, the one they found her in and it wasn't the kind she wore... It was much more expensive, a noblewoman's dress. What confused her though is Veronica's bearing, she wasn't like a those from a higher social class, she was even closer to the lower class people living in the Dirt District.

'Just who is she? Where did she come from? She speaks perfect Dracish, but not in the way nobility talks. Is she just pretending to have amnesia? Maybe she ran away from her home in search of an adventure? She wouldn't be the first.'

Then Suze observed her hands as she cleaned off another plate. It was meticulous and monotone, as if she had done this similar movement hundreds of times. A noble person wouldn't even know how to wash dishes, but she has this knowledge by default.

'What a mystery! Maybe we should ask someone to divine her past... Perhaps Miss Robbins from the Unbroken, but that would draw suspicion on her and her family. Hmm... I will ask Alex if he knows anyone, he is about to arrive in a day or two. In the meantime it wouldn't hurt to ask questions.'

Veronica was just finishing the last fork, when she jumped and yelped a bit because of the sudden sound of someone talking behind her. Suze asked something, but she didn't hear it.

"Sorry... What did you ask?" She had a startled expression and her hand was shaking a bit. 

'How did I not notice her sitting there?'

Suze smiled at her and asked, "Did you recover some of your memories?"

'Should I tell her the truth or just keep pretending. If I keep lying and say I don't remember anything, then I would have to be careful not to ask too specific questions. On the other hand if I say I recovered but just a little, it would let me ask exactly what I want to know!'

After carefully thinking through her options she decided and went with the second route.

"I have actually. Not much, nothing about who I am, but I remember a few things from this world and country we live in."

The bright blond eyebrows above Suze's dark grey eyes jumped up with surprise. She didn't expect her to be this straightforward, but she did appreciate the transparency. Even though it only made Veronica look naive in her eyes.

"And? What did you remember?" She looked very excited... But why? Veronica didn't know. 

'Maybe she is worried about my mental health? But she barely knows me... There must be something she is not telling me.'

Reaching this conclusion she answered the question anyway.

"I remember for example the worth of money and prices. I also noticed that I'm way overpaid for a barmaid. Why is that?"

On Suze's face a hint of paleness appeared, this was something that Veronica shouldn't have realized or at least kept quite about and didn't bring up.

'Seriously?! Who notices that they are getting overpaid and confronts her boss about it?! Is she this foolish?!'

She forced out a smile and explained, "It might sound like a lot, but we also ask a lot from you. We are the most famous inn in Hammon, that is not an exaggeration just a fact. We are close to the port, but not too close, we are also located on two main street's crossroad. A perfect place for an inn..."

"And we are doing this for quite a while now, which means we have a lot of connections and people who prefer this place." 

"I get that, but I still find it quite strange." Said Veronica, while staring into Suze's gray eyes. She just chuckled a bit without humor and said...

"Unlike other inns we can afford to pay you this amount. It is as you know nearly twice what you would be paid, but because of our large consumer base we need the best workers. And judging by today's performance you are really good. So just accept it and don't question it."

She said the last part firmly and a little bit threateningly. Veronica immediately understood that this probably wasn't the main reason, but if she asked further questions about it, they will have a problem. Luckily she was smart enough to not ask further questions about her job and instead change the subject.

"I remembered quite a few things about the current state of the world. What I don't know is its history, could you tell me about it?"

Suze nodded, seemingly relived that she didn't ask more about the last subject.

"I can give you a quick run down, but it still be quite long..." She said and after Veronica gave a firm nod, she began...

"Humans as a species were always dominant here, but we only began recording history 1304 years ago. We also started our calendar from that point for convenience...

"The calendar was invented in the Axim Empire, an ancient empire that held all the East Continent in its palm. Well, except the Outlands, those lands were already dead by then and before you ask I haven't got the slightest clue why are they like that..."

"It just doesn't make sense, the whole place is like the Dracon Empire, it gets the same amount of rain, sunshine... But stays dead, like the land itself was killed, nothing grows there... The whole place is a desert."

After that she stayed silent for a while absorbed in her own thoughts, then with a sigh she continued.

"Anyway, I got side tracked. So the Axim Empire, it lasted until the year 137, that is when it fell apart. The emperor of that time had a huge harem and multiple wives with loads of children..."

"When he died they all fought over the throne, the nobles supported whomever they could manipulate the easiest. The wars lasted for a long time after it and only a couple centuries ago managed to make themselves stable..."

Suze looked at Veronica for a moment to see if she needs something to be explained, but Veronica just listened attentively.

"Luckily we in the Free Cities or in its previous name, Anter Republic, were smart. in the year 139 we managed to escape the turmoil in the north and established a democracy where everyone is equal. Since then we lived in peace never supporting anyone in their northern conflicts we traded with all of them without discrimination."

"There is nothing of great importance happened until 241, when a very important person was born... Saint Virginia."

"She made countless important discoveries related to the world, I won't go into the specifics, but she was a very important individual. Later hundreds of years after her death, all of the churches made her a saint. This was something that no one achieved since then."

Veronica's mind was slowly getting more turbulent. As a history student, she could've listened to these stories for hours, but it seemed Suze wasn't enjoying it as much.

"Lets just go through the important dates, since its getting late. In 432, we discover the West Continent and began colonizing it, also we discovered that there are human tribes living there..."

"In 693 the first of the 10 orthodox churches appear, soon the others appear as well. In 820 a war breaks out in the world, it is called the Great War. It lasts 15 years and then only the current 5 nations remained, also only 6 orthodox religions survived.

"From her it is pretty peaceful, 975 the Dracon Empire is established and in 1284 they begin the industrial revolution and ten years after it the war on the Western continent breaks out. This is about it..."

She stopped speaking when a loud bang came from the basement. Veronica looked in the direction with concern and was about to ask Suze, if they should check it out or not... But she spoke before Veronica could.

"Okay that is enough for today. Go to your room right now and close your door. If I see you outside of it in five minutes you are fired, understand?"

That made her froze on the spot. She was very confused for why she had to do so, but it was also frightening how Suze was looking at her. In the end she made the smart decision and went towards her room. Sadly while she might consider herself a smart person, she was also a curious one.

Veronica stopped at the top of the stairs and hid in the shadows. The entrance to the basement was right below her, so this way she could eavesdrop. There were footsteps approaching the door hurriedly... It was Suze. That wasn't hard to figure out since other than Veronica no one was currently near the main room.

The door opened and she heard a couple of words coming from downstairs. It was James and someone else arguing. The door stayed open only for a second or two, enough time for Suze to walk in and close it behind her.

Veronica was sitting in silence atop the staircase, the words she caught in that couple seconds didn't make sense. They were 'shot', 'corrupt' and 'lawbringer'.

'What do these mean? Was that loud noise someone shooting at something? What are the lawbringers, some special police force? Maybe they are harboring criminals in the basement? But what is 'corrupt' has to do with either?'

Suddenly the hair on her whole body stood up, it felt like someone was behind her. She quickly jumped to her feet and turned around, but there was no one there...

The feeling didn't pass, it was still there. After turning around a couple more times, and with fear drowning her heart Veronica ran to her room, then locked the door behind her. Inside the feeling disappeared like it never was.

She collapsed with her back on the door and breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, in a couple of minutes she was calm enough to prepare for bed.