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"Unnecessary information," Elina said, "I don't care if she owns it, drinks it dry, or dances on the tables with her tits hanging out. So long as she's there." Her lip twitched in a smile. "Luckily for you I have a little brother with a frightful habit of getting himself into places he has no business being. We'll get you home." She patted Valkyrie's neck. "But, if you pass out again," Elina warned him, her hands back on her hips, "you'll be dead before they even get the chance to yell at you. Understood?" She crouched down again to rummage in her bag and produced a glass bottle full of a rich amber liquid. Popping the cap free she held it out for him to take.
"It'll help with the pain," she said, giving it a meaningful shake when he didn't take it immediately. She tutted, raising her eyes to the heavens. "Its mead, antler-boy. You drink it." She mimed it for him, just in case he was a bit slow. Elina took a swig of it herself and then pushed the bottle against his hand. "Sit up straight or you'll choke." She picked up her bag and hooked it back over her shoulder. Then, she wandered back round to Valkyrie's head. "And that would be embarrassing for both of us." Elina fell silent for a moment, whilst she wrapped Val's reins securely around her hand.
"Think you can find the tavern from here?" she asked the thestral in a gentler voice, stroking the beast's beak gently. Valkyrie snorted her reply.
They kept up a brisk pace through the trees. Even with the mead, the repeated threats and the cloth, Elina wasn't convinced Antler-Boy would manage to hold on all the way to his sister's place. She did her best to speed up their progress by generating a few blocks of ice for them to teleport through. Unfortunately, she couldn't do it as often as she would have liked. It was draining, and she needed time to recharge between each attempt. Valkyrie seemed to know where she was going (she nearly always did - thestrals, it seemed, were incredibly reliable creatures) and eventually the roof of a building rose into view on the horizon.
"You still with us?" Elina called back to the boy, glancing over her shoulder. He seemed to be slumping a little in the saddle but at least he was still there. To think, if she'd ignored him in the road she might have found the Prince's camp by now and be settling down by a campfire. She imagined him slumped in a muddy puddle and felt a little better about the situation.
It was late. The doors of the tavern had been bolted closed and all of the patrons had been kicked out into the night. Elina raised her fist and hammered on the door. She retreated a couple of paces and looked up at the second story. Lights flickered in a few of the windows, so someone was awake in there.
"Hello!" she shouted, fatigue thickening her accent considerably, "I've brought your antler-boy back...most of him anyway! I think we left some of him in the road." Stepping back towards the door Elina looked back at the boy again.
"I hope your sisters can give me somewhere to sleep tonight. "I was supposed to be..." She broke off as the bolt on the door started to creak open.
Finally.
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