Harmen had been watching them for almost an hour now. Whilst it had been amusing at first to see the bulky, strong Xzantor cowering under the slight, slender frame of Seras; he was quickly growing bored. He stood up and walked over to their table, signalling to the barmaid for three more tankards of ale as he did so. Standing behind Seras, he coughed quietly to announce his presence.
In the middle of a tirade, she looked up and stopped immediately, turning away and scowling at Xzantor.
“I’ll pull up a chair, shall I?” Harmen asked cheerfully.
Seras sighed, and rolled her eyes as she moved her chair further away from him.
Forcing a smile onto his face (he was trying to remain polite but this drow was grating on him) he offered his hand to her. “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself properly earlier, my name is Harmen.”
“Seras” she muttered, ignoring the hand extended to her.
“Greetings Xzantor” Harmen chirped, turning to the cleric in the corner. “It is good to be in your company again.”
“And the same to you” Xzantor agreed, shaking Harmen’s hand vigorously. “Apologies for my friend. She isn’t usually this rude.”
Seras scowled at Xzantor from beneath her hair. “You know full well why I am behaving like this Xzan” she huffed “and your family would be disgusted to see you associating yourself with this elf.”
“This ELF, Seras, saved our lives, or did your little fall back in the forest block that from your memory?”
“I know what happened Xzan, but that’s still no excuse to…”
“If I may?” Harmen interrupted “Seras, I have a feeling why you are…less than willing to make my acquaintance. Your old friend here has told me of the things that your tribe teach you about us elves.”
Seras looked at Xzantor, incredulous.
“But Seras” Harmen said kindly, resting a hand on her shoulder. Seras stared at it, but did not move. “All of those things happened many centuries ago, before we or even our parents were born. Why do you hold that against me now?”
Seras blushed, but looked at him with a fire in her eyes. “We must NEVER forget what happened,. The events that took place shaped our history and our future. And your…your people…” she spat, “they…”
“Let me stop you before this turns into something I feel to be unnecessary. Has Xzantor told you that I will be joining you from now on?”
“Yes but I…”
“And do you have any reason for being unhappy with this arrangement, other than the history of our ancestors?”
“No, but …”
“Well then that settles it” Harmen beamed. “I suggest an early night for all. There is a suspicious looking character named Goodblade that I met outside earlier, who has some work for us to attend to in the morning.”
With that, Harmen drained the ale from his mug and headed to the stairs. He could feel Seras’ eyes burning into his back the entire way.
Xzantor sighed as he watched Harmen leave. “Seras, I know you’re not happy about this, but I really think this is for the best.”
“How could you possibly think that?!”
“Well, just take a few seconds to think about it. How long do you honestly think we will last out here with your complete lack of fighting skills?”
Seras choked on the ale that she was drinking, but Xzantor continued.
“Face it. You’re not the best fighter around. Yes, you can spot traps and ambushes a mile off, but when we actually get into combat, your skills are such that you may as well be poking a dragon with a toothpick, and a blunt one at that.”
“C’mon” he said, a little more kindly, “You saw what happened back there. You’re simply not strong enough to take on everything single handed, and all my time is spent healing. We could do with an extra pair of hands.”
“But why him?” Seras asked, somewhat deflated by Xzantors comments. “Why not someone else?”
“Take a look around Seras. There is no-one else right now.”
Seras looked around the tavern, her eyes darting from the drunken dwarf having trouble propping himself up at the bar to the young Halfling warrior who picked up his greatsword and promptly fell over beneath its weight. She sighed, admitting defeat.
“Fine” she growled, “but I don’t have to like it.”
“That’s the spirit” Xzantor grinned. “Now, to bed! We have an early start in the morning.”