My Priority

"Yeah, really was," I said with my own snicker. "Since then, she would disappear for a few days to a week and always have something new to talk about. I guess being here for a few hundred years was enough."

"Hey guys, I'm finished with housekeeping and ready to begin dinner," said a tall human girl with black, straight hair that sat in a loose bun.

"And the dishes are done so lets get to it," I said to both Emmie and Trevor.

Emmie smiled, said a greeting to Trevor, and the three of us headed into the kitchen to start the soup and bake the bread. Emmie supervised Trevor as he filled the bread pans but he was clearly already pretty good at it.

"Is everyone meeting up tonight, or is that later this week?" Emmie asked.

"This is tonight, but as usual, only join if you are feeling up to it. I think you and Trevor were the only ones to have the early shift today," I said, smiling at her.

"And you, of course," Emmie stated.

I gave a wane shrug. "Eh, I'm here from start to finish almost every day, so it doesn't count."

The cold whipped through the whole lodge and there was a thump at the door. Emmie shot us a large smile and giddily left the kitchen to greet Hunter at the door, the guy making the same sound every time he entered. The man was a dragonkin of an undisclosed age, his towering ten feet tall height even made the lodge common area seem a hair too small for him, including the larger than average chairs that only seemed to shrink the closer he strode towards them. His long horns were sure to make some uncomfortable if they had not known of his rather gentle behavior, but his larger physique served secondarily to make troublemakers think twice before starting a brawl indoors.

"They are dating, right?" Trevor asked from behind me, briefly taking a glance at the all too smitten Emmie that chatted in a high voice and shuffled her feet around Hunter.

"Um, I don't think so, but she clearly likes him," I said, noting how happy they looked while talking to each other.

Emmie rejoined us in the kitchen a little later now that Hunter was in and out of the lodge to bring in firewood for the hearth.

"He's going to join us tonight but I guess we already knew that," Emmie sang with pink cheeks.

"So, I can come too, right?" asked Trevor. "What do you guys do?"

"Oh, we tell stories, gripe about the week, drink, and hang out and give each other a bunch of crap," Emmie stated. "It's stuff you will get used to."

"Yup, it's always fun. We usually do it once a week but I could imagine that it will be a bit more sparse during the holiday week," I said.

"I'll be there as usual, even next week," Emmie smirked.

I smiled while finishing the cut of meet and sliding it into the pot. "But yes, to answer your question, you are entirely free to join us, Trevor. Just keep in mind that no one is required to go."

"I would love to! Tonight's my long shift anyway, so I will be here," he said, happily taking the invite.

Another thump filled the lodge and Emmie nearly danced to the kitchen entrance to take another peek at Hunter as he brought in nearly five times the amount of firewood than your average human man.

"Seriously, Emmie?" I teased in a dry tone, staring at the girl as she nearly lost herself to the picture of rippling muscles. "You worked with him for the last two years and you're only now starting to ogle him?"

"He lost his shirt," she cooed to herself, ignoring us.

Trevor giggled at her as I smirked at such an uncharacteristic display. It was freezing outside but Trevor and I shared and glance and laughed.

"OK, enough slacking, dinner's not going to complete itself," I said as I waved my hand dismissively. "You can stare at him all you want after your shift."

Smells of beef stew began to overtake the entire lodge, briefly overriding the calming soot aroma that the hearth expelled. On nights like these, it was all too easy to imagine relaxing by the hearth, welcoming the deep warmth that seemed to emanate directly from your chest. My mind drifted for a second before the doors once again opened and Lorelei greeted us before starting her shift.

Efficient hands and a fast gait swept up an apron and whisked to the kitchen to began prepping the meets and pastries for the next morning's breakfast. The halfling women smiled at all of us and gave a brief wave before that hand returned to work; being her usual quiet self when on shift.

Before we knew it, the dinner rush piled in, people relaxing and drinking after a hard days labor. Hunter stood in the back, watching for any type of situation that he would have to mitigate or any fights that would need to be taken outside.

Large mugs were raised for any occasion from any old agreement to a celebration of comradery while minstrels sang purchased tales of longing for home from afar. Sometimes they just hung around and sang for advertisement, but you would be surprised how much their services were needed by broken hearts that had more than enough to drink, the same hearts that had gruffly dismissed them when sober.

People yelled, people cheered, and groups made a ruckus as they challenged one another to games of strength or dexterity. Old friends would give hearty greetings and yell drunk songs of happenstance. It was a usually noisy night that held a predictable decline as the hours wore on.

Tables dwindled, people retiring to their rooms with others leaving to return home or to a smaller hotel outside of town. Some even camped around their worksite or attempted to commit staying at their table until the common area was closed. Even the hearth itself seemed subdued as the previously overfed fire returned to normal levels. With their instrument laying still at their backs or on their sides, the minstrels lingered around the hearth as they mumbled to each other about the days earnings and finished the booze they were able to afford, them seeming more than happy with the night's outcome.

Trevor's feet giddily stepped towards a very drunken individual that was nearly asleep on his table, the man's face hidden by a large beard while his arms were concealed by the many empty mugs that surrounded him; mugs that he refused to let anyone remove from the table. A light sound emitted from the half elf as my hand lightly grabbed his small shoulder, me realizing how tiny he felt in my gentle grip.

"Sorry, I don't allow any of my employees to deal with closers; their behaviors can surprise you at around this time. Please let me or Hunter deal with them," I said reassuringly, patting that very shoulder lightly before surpassing him.

A loud grunt met me as I stepped closer to the table, the man gruffly turning while keeping his face firmly planted to the wood.

"What do you want," he grunted in a statement, the whole thing being barely intelligible.

"It's closing, if you're drunk, time to get out of here and go to whatever bed you got," I firmly stated.

"Around me!" he belted as I gave him a disapproving glance.

"Around you, what?" I challenged.

"Just clean around me, it ain't hard," he scowled while attempting to wave me off with his arm.

"Don't work like that," I said. "You got a room here in the lodge?"

"She left me, I ain't...," he trailed off to peer at the ceiling for a moment before returning to look at the wall behind me. "I ain't got a bed."

I shifted my weight on the other leg and crossed my arms. "That sucks but your bed can't be this table. If you need a wagon to the next town, I can call one for you, but you need to figure out where to go tonight."

He belched and managed to sit up with a staggering effort in order to attempt to actually look at me; him obviously missing my eyes by a foot or so to my right as they seemed to float in his skull.

"You're too tall for a women," he said with a slack jaw.

"My whole family is tall," I stated.

"Ya got any rooms," he belted as a statement in favor of a question.

"Nope, all booked now that the holidays are near. You're better off crashing at someone else's campfire or finding another lodge," I said, trying to be sympathetic.

"Fine, it's fine," he said with a clumsy nod.

A quick wave of my hand later and Hunter was helping the man out of his seat, who nearly fell over before puking all over the floor. He wiped his mouth, steadied his weight on Hunter's shoulder, and was walked out towards the inside of town to find a place to stay.

"Going to grab a mop," I said to Trevor, who started gathering the stack of mugs that the man had left.

As usual, everyone working together assured that the common area was cleaned quickly. Eventually, I had left the rest of the cleanup to Trevor and Lorelei while Emmie took a seat, her shift clearly over.

Jeramin entered the lodge with a cart stacked full of sheets and pillows and took them upstairs to the pantry, only to come back down and easily add his aid to the other two.

"You ready?" called Emmie sometime later as everyone started getting drinks and leftover food to sit at one of the larger tables by the hearth.

"One moment, almost done balancing the books," I said as I placed the days earnings in a few boxes.

"How much soup do you want?" called Jeramin from the kitchen.

"A bunch, I'm starving," I answered, my graphite still scratching at the old notebook. "Save me some bread, too."

I sighed as I stood up, closed the book, and gathered the boxes up in my arms. I quickly ascended the stairs to unlock Mom's apartment and set the contents into the safe that adorned her office floor. Her ornate door held a striking resemblance to mine; both apartments being set up on the third floor in order to overlook the entire lodge and mostly sharing the same floor-plan.

"Hunter may be a bit," I stated as I descended the stairs after locking up, wondering if he had found a place for the drunk man.

Jeramin placed a bowl of soup and some bread in front of me while Trevor poured some wine and delicately placed the cup into my hands.

"So, Boss, you coming to the Holiday Festival tomorrow night?" Jeramin asked before taking a long swig of beer.

I grinned and gave him a snicker. "Still not the Boss yet."

"Nope, your Boss while Boss is gone!" he laughed.

"Eh, you guys and that title. But it's true, so I fold," I said with a grin then took a large gulp of wine. "But no, someone needs to be on the premises at all hours, and I would rather you guys go and have fun to be, you know, normal. Get me a funnel cake or something."

"So big Boss is probably going to be gone again, right? Where did she go anyway?" asked Jeramin.

"She left early but got up sometime after your shift. She's probably staying with a friend tonight, likely drunk and telling embarrassing stories again," I stated. "She has not worked a shift in nearly three weeks, so I don't expect that to change anytime soon."

"I don't think she's going to stick to that plan of hers, Gemini. I am just waiting for her to hand you the keys one day and disappear for twenty months or something," Emmie said with a little snicker.

"She's been impatient lately," I grinned while wishing that the small amount of wine would give me a light buzz. "But I seriously don't mind too much, I'm tired but I like running the lodge."

"Well, we'll get you some funnel cake," Jeramin stated.

I shifted my weight in my chair and gazed into the hearth for a bit as my now relaxed state allowed me to truly feel my usual eleven hours of work. My own bed was beginning to beckon.

The usual roaring voices or movement of silverware were absent now that the common area was closed and empty, leaving the sounds of my current company and the crackles of the hearth.

"How was laundry day, Jeramin? No one ever sees you on these days," I asked as I gave a dreamy focus on the contents within my wine glass.

"Yeah, it was hell handling all of the housekeeping myself," Emmie teased while nudging his arm. "You could have handled those gross toilets in the bath house today."

Jeramin nudged back and the two shared a laugh and proceeded to bump their mugs together. "It was a good laundry day, the bath house wasn't very full so I finished nearly everything. Only have a few more to retrieve tomorrow."

Only a few instances of running water were installed within the lodge, including the basins in the bar and the kitchen, as well as a full bath, basin, and toilet set in both apartments upstairs. However, the rest of those amenities existed in the large building adjacent to the lodge. Mom said it was easier to upgrade the existing bathhouse than add them to the main building.

Lorelei briefly got up and disappeared behind the bar counter to come back with six large mugs full of beer and plonk them onto the table.

"I'm ready to start tonight's bet," she said with a grin, the usual calm in her voice still present as her eyes burned with a challenging ferocity that dared you to make any move.

"I chip in in," Jeramin said as he tapped the table.

"Don't worry, I'm already going to eliminate Jeramin," Emmie teased and tapped the table in the same way that Jeramin did.

"I'm in, but not playing to win," I said as I tapped.

"What about you new girl?" asked Lorelei. "This will be your first casual meetup with all of us, so welcome to the party!"

Trevor lightly scratched the back of his neck and slipped his long blonde hair behind an ear. "I'm actually a guy, but I don't think I want to drink too much tonight. But thanks for letting me join!"

Everyone sort of nodded and exchanged little greetings. They all had met Trevor at one point already, but this was the first instance of doing so while not being on duty.

The large door opened and a long breeze joined us as Hunter entered the lodge and proceeded towards our table with a warm smile.

"Started the games already; I'm in," he said in a low, smooth voice as he sat down and tapped the table.

Little time passed before everyone was drunk and making bets on who could throw the best darts or who could drink the others under the table. I tapped out after several beers, enjoying the buzz but avoiding an inevitable hangover. Hunter barely seemed buzzed as his large form was sure to get him a win on most of these gatherings while the domineering Lorelei was the only one standing against him; the halfling strangely holding her own.

Emmie leaned calmly against Hunter's arm, the man clearly not minding her rather new set of behaviors with him and only got up when it was her turn at the board.

"Getting tired yet?" I asked Trevor as he quietly gazed into the fire, him finally growing bored with the darts game.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to head home soon," he said with a little smile then giggled at the small crowd around the dart board. "They are barely even trying anymore, right?"

I nudged Trevor with my shoulder and laughed. "I don't think they can see straight anymore, so there is that. Surprised they have not hit the windows."

Trevor snickered at this and lightly nudged me back. "I'm surprised you are not up there with them."

"Eh, don't feel like it tonight," I said with a light sigh.

"You seemed down today, anything I can do to help?" he said, shifting lightly in his seat.

The fire from the hearth flickered light over Trevor's soft cheeks and played with the shape of his lips as he stared at me with a caring look that I had not expected. His features were more feminine than many of the women that I have known, making me wonder how he could possibly be a guy at all with those visibly large hips, thin waist, and small bosom that peeked from his dress. His delicate hazel eyes stared into my brown ones as the two of us blinked at each other for a simple moment.

"No, just something I have to figure out myself," I said with a reassuring tone and shake of my head. "Don't want to worry you. Anyway, it's time to get everyone home."

My feet took me to the bustling group and verified where everyone was going for the night.

"Hunter's escorting me home tonight," Emmie said with a dreamy smile as Hunter blushed.

"I'm bunking with one of the guests on the second floor," Lorelei smugly stated.

"OK, that just leaves Trevor and Jeramin that need to be escorted home," I stated.

"Hey, I can...I can..." Jeramin stammered.

"You can let me guide you home so your wife does not worry that you froze out there," I jokingly mocked as the others laughed at him.

---

Freezing wind attempted to cut right through us, the sun now stowed away in favor of the deep dark that invited an even deeper cold.

"You sure you got him?" Trevor asked as we neared the middle of the town.

"Yeah, he's not that heavy," I said with a grin as I carried Jeramin's five foot seven frame. "Almost there anyway."

I had wondered what Trevor even planned to do if I was unable to carry Jeramin, with him being more than a whole foot shorter than my six foot three build. Jeramin groaned heavily under my arm, his legs barely treading the snow slowly as he rested nearly all of his weight on me and mumbled.

The middle of the city was commonly lit; it usually being the only part of town that refused to sleep in the light of the moon. Ornaments, stages, games, and large holiday trees adorned the square, ready to start bright and early the next morning and boast an entire day of festivities. I felt bad enough that the crew had to work at all; but the lodge had to still serve soup, offer clean beds, and fill the hearth.

We walked through a large building and up a few flights of stairs before getting to Jeramin's apartment door. We watched as he fumbled with the keys and entered in order to slam his face into the couch. Loud snores emitted from him nearly immediately as Trevor and I stifled laughter at his expense. I placed his keys near the table and locked the door behind us, leaving just Trevor and I.

"It's amazing of you to made sure everyone got home safely, tonight," Trevor said, making light conversation.

"I always do that, I offer everyone on the night shift a safe walk home, even when they are not plastered drunk like tonight," I replied with a smirk. "Did my Mom take you home the last few nights?"

"Yes, I originally thought that she did it just because I'm new," he said.

The snow crunched under my feet as we headed from the middle of the city in favor of the rest that remained shrouded in darkness. "It's the best way to go, in my opinion. Jeramin waves it off most of the time but has asks for company when we have blizzard warnings or too many reports of howler wolves in the city. The only one that I've never had to watch was Hunter, but that guy could take on an army."

Scratching of wood, falling of snow, and the heavy beating of large wings bounced from every direction to interrupt Trevor before he could make a reply, him gasping at the sounds and reaching for my arm with light fingers. Before we could react, a gigantic owl posted itself just barely in the remaining light that emanated behind us. Golden eyes seemed to pilfer that very light in order to intently intimidate those that met it's gaze.

Light gold flashed from below it's beak; it carrying what appeared to be some sort of jewelry, and another quick flash as it turned shown us that the thing had the letters 'Y' and 'L' etched into it. The object once again disappeared as it turned to ignore the light.

Trevor's fingers tightened around me and his breath had become unsteady as the creature deeply bowed it's head to look down at us, it's back now fully exposed and tail pointing upwards. Mostly shrouded claws tightly gripped the shop post it stood upon while it's large wings suddenly spanned in preparation to dive. My eyes remained glued to it's unblinking stare, watching it's every move and attempting to predict it's actions. My body slowly, tensely drew my dagger as I had prepared to take the blow that the creature was clearly threatening but hoped that we could escape without giving it a chance.