Free DESCENDANTS (THE DESCENDANTS SAGA) by R. Lynn

flying towards the door. She was so happy that she skipped after him.

-15-
     
     
     
    K ai waited outside while Sollara ventured into the Inn. The excitement over staying in such a quaint place took away any fear she had about her first human interaction since leaving the Deep Kingdom. On top of that, the inside was even better than the charming exterior. It had been renovated, but they had left some of the original country details like raised ceilings and exposed wooden beams.
    She looked up in awe at the large lanterns hanging from the ceiling. She wondered why they had candle flames that did not flicker.
    “Can I help you?” asked a tall, handsome gentleman, his dark curly hair and rich brown eyes distracting her from looking around at all the new sights. He was speaking a strange dialect of Spanish. Sollara thanked the Fates that she had excelled in her studies of languages.
    “Yes please, I would like a room for the evening,” she replied. Her Spanish was rusty and her accent horrible, but he understood.
    “You're not from around here are you?” he questioned, replying to her in English and his eyes never leaving her face.
    “What gives you that idea? Was it my bad accent or my dazed and confused expression?” she laughed, wondering if her sense of humor would translate through the language barrier.
    He chuckled and went behind the desk. Smiling at her before grabbing a key off a wall and leaving to prepare her a room. As he left, he shouted something she did not understand, and an older gentleman sauntered out of the back room and up to the desk.
    “It will be thirty Euros for the night, miss,” the older man said. He was obviously drunk as his words were slurred together. It reminded her of Sugoi and how he got after a few too many drinks; she did not miss that man. The older gentleman eyed her expectantly. Had he asked for something? She couldn’t quite remember and felt silly for letting her imagination distract her.
    Replaying his words she realized why he waited and had a brief anxiety attack. It frustrated her that she hadn’t even thought of money. She had read somewhere that the Surface countries use currency to get things, and she didn’t have any. Then she remembered the Spanish coins that were in the pile she had pulled off the library table.
    Opening her bag, she reached into the bottom and retrieved a handful of the treasures. His eyes went wide when he saw her searching through the gold and silver coins in her hand. When she had found the two 1350 Pedro silver Spanish reales that she was looking for, she tossed the others back into the bag.
    “Sir, I do not have any Euros on me at the moment, but would you takes these coins in their place?” Struggling through her Spanish she slid her hand up to the counter and plopped down the two coins.
    He grabbed the coins, flipping them over in his hands and examining them. Bringing one to his mouth, he bit the sides of it and looked at her curiously. “This is not enough. But I will be nice and take these as well as a few others you have,” he slurred. Sollara was about to get him more coins when the handsome gentleman returned. He took the two silver reales out of the other man’s hand, meriting him a glare, looked them over, and then turned to her.
    “Where did you get these?” he asked.
    “Oh… my mother has many of them; she gave me a few for my holidays,” she stuttered through her lie.
    “She just gave them to you?” His mouth dropped and his eyes were fixated on the coins.
    “I'm sorry I don't have any Euros, and I really need a place to stay. I can give you something else. Please I....”
    “No, you misunderstand me; you cannot give us these coins. These are invaluable. They should be in a museum. They are worth a small fortune.”
    The older man glar ed at him and stomped to the back room.
    “I don't understand,” she mumbled .
    “I’m sorry about that. It seems my uncle finds it appropriate to steal from young women in order