This is part 4 of a multi-part short story detailing one of Sofya Rykov’s cases prior to The Fox’s Trail. Part 1 can be found here and part 2 is here.
The second Sofya stepped into the pub, every eye in the room was on her. There were a dozen Leshin seated throughout the surprisingly spacious tavern and every one was curious why a Human would dare to join them.
Normally, Sofya felt rather comfortable around Leshin. Spending so much time with Heremon over the last few months helped with that. But she’d rarely visited their side of the border, and mostly interacted with them as minority in post-occupation Vodotsk. This was different. Now, she was the only Human in the room.
“Do you see any soldiers around?” Sofya asked quietly.
“No one dressed as such,” Heremon replied.
“Good. I don’t see Braden here and I need a drink.” Sofya headed for the bar but Heremon grabbed her arm.
“We need to be careful. There could be an ambush.”
“They tied up their horses out front. Not a very good ambush, if you ask me.”