that if the Erradans had wanted us to fly, they would have given us wings."
Laurelin laughed. Gideon noticed her laughter was bright and musical.
"Surely you do not mean that, Master Ironfoot. To fly in the sky is wonderful. You can see all of the Great Ones' creations from up there."
"Bah, the skies are for birds," retorted Tain. "Not creatures of the earth like we dwarves. And if you think that I am averse to flying, you should meet my cousin, Grimbold. I think I shall be coddling him throughout the entire journey. He's prone to airsickness. Lord Sim, on the other hand, can handle just about anything."
With their business complete, Laurelin and Gideon left the store and headed as fast as they could to the Green Griffon Inn and the marvelous eatery of Palrents.
Chapter Five
Palrents in the Green Griffon Inn
It was slightly after the appointed meeting time when Gideon and Laurelin arrived at the Green Griffon Inn. It was growing dark, and the glow globes on the streets were activating. Briskly, they walked through the main entrance to the lobby of the inn and looked about. The Green Griffon was a very large inn, and one of its most famous features was Palrents Restaurant. The main hall was enormous. It had been sculpted from stone to look like a wooded glade, complete with trees, bushes, and flowers. Near the central region was a large fountain shooting water into many large stone basins. There were corridors leading to rooms from this uniquely and richly styled lobby. This was the main reception area. Several elves were working behind what would be a long elevated desk set into the stone wall on the far side of the entrance. To the right of the reception area were open double doors.
Gideon saw an elven headwaiter standing next to a podium, reading the list of guests who would be dining at Palrents. Beyond those doors was a large canopied area filled with chairs and tables. Sitting on two of those chairs near the reception area were Ragan and Cordlyer. They were busy discussing something as Gideon and Laurelin approached. "Sorry we're late," stated Gideon. "We both had some things to take care of, and it took longer than we thought."
"Think nothing of it," said Ragan with a smile. "We were just spending time planning until you arrived. We were discussing several things, including travel plans to Tetherin."
Gideon nodded. "Well, how do you like my clothes?"
Both Cordlyer and Ragan examined him closely. After a moment, Ragan said, "Well, everything looks all right to me, my boy. You look good."
"Well, my boots won't be ready until tomorrow." Gideon sighed. "So I'll just have to live with what I'm wearing now."
Then Laurelin piped in with "I met an old friend today in the White Dragon Inn and Tavern. His name is Glade Gilding."
Ragan's eyes narrowed curiously at this, and he said, "Glade Gilding, you say?"
"Yes," added Gideon. "And I invited him here. I hope you don't mind."
"Oh no. I do not mind," said the Tauri. Then he looked at Laurelin and asked, "Tell me, Laurelin, did he tell you why he was in the city?"
"Why, yes, he did," replied Laurelin. "He told me he was here to report enemy activity in the area to the city defense minister, I believe. Seems that darkspawn have been seen in the Kingswood Forest Province and the Crystalpeak Mountains."
Not long after Gideon arrived with Laurelin, Glade Gilding entered the inn and strode smoothly to where the rest of the group was sitting.
Gideon saw him and said, "Well, well, speak of the devil! We were just talking about you, Glade."
"Oh ho! So this is where everyone goes on a midweek night," Glade said in a light tone. "Ha, I shall have to come here more often."
The headwaiter then approached Ragan and asked, "Is that everyone then, sir?"
"Yes. We will be seated now" was the Tauri's reply.
The headwaiter soon showed them to a large circular wooden table covered with a fine blue cloth and decorated with a large vase full of assorted flowers arranged in a centerpiece. The dining hall was adjacent to the inn's main hall and connected to it by a short passage. Here the patrons ate among the canopy of trees, huge stones, and interesting plants. There were many other people eating in this spectacular dining hall. Gideon noticed three of the reptile-men called Ikhsar he had seen earlier in the day eating at another table. He noticed other races as well. All the patrons were relatively well-dressed, even Ragan was wearing a crisp crimson robe and cloak with black-and-silver trim.
Within a few moments, the server, a beautiful, very well-proportioned young elf-maiden, came to the table and gave them each a menu written in two languages: Manya and Arabethic. Then she left to attend to her other stations. Gideon noticed that the menu had been printed on some sort of printing press. It also had slots in the entree section that could be removed and changed.
Within moments, the group was ready to order. Gideon could not get over the apparent beauty of these elf folks, especially the women. First, there was Laurelin, then the elven females he had discreetly noticed while walking in the city streets, and now, the inn's young serving women, each quite beautiful in a variety of ways.
After he ordered, Gideon leaned over to Glade and asked in a lowered voice, "Don't you elves have any ugly women?"
Glade just smiled brightly, a truly winning expression, and replied casually, "Yes, I guess we do, by our standards. But we elves don't judge by just physical appearance alone. We look at the inner self. For it is from there that one is either beautiful or ugly."
"Wow!" exclaimed Gideon in hushed exuberance. "A whole race of beautiful women! Just what a good-looking guy like me needs. This place is a paradise."
"Paradise?" asked Glade. "Hmm, so you like to revel, eh?"
"Yeah, I've seen some fine-looking women in my time, but these…" replied Gideon as he gestured over the women in the room, "these blow all of them out of the water."
"I take it that means that you like the way our females appear?" asked Glade.
"Uh, yeah!" replied Gideon.
"Then you'd probably like a visit to the temple of Aliantha, the patron of love," continued Glade with a smile. "Her acolytes live to please Aliantha's spirit, if you know what I mean."
"Would you two mind changing the subject, please," interrupted Laurelin, blushing.
"Oh," replied Glade. "Sorry, Laurelin." Then with a mischievous wink, he whispered, "We'll talk about this more later, eh?"
Gideon nodded, and the subject was dropped.
Gideon saw another side of the elves in Glade Gilding. Since his arrival on this strange world, most of the elves he had met seemed slightly prudish or reserved. Not Glade. In fact, he seemed rather to enjoy it. He also appeared to like humans too.
Gideon couldn't help it. He was beginning to like Glade.
Soon, the appetizers came. Cordlyer had shellfish from the Bay of Calenfalas, which, he told Gideon, was near where he grew up. Ragan had a melon garnished with a variety of succulent and colorful fruits. Gideon had vegetable soup, the chef's soup of the day. Glade had the seafood assortment, and Laurelin had a fruit salad. After that, there was a vegetable
