It had been almost a week since the castle fell and you had fled to the south, princess in tow. You hadn't stopped for more than a few hours at a time to rest, or briefly buy supplies at the occasional hamlet, and the long ride was clearly getting to your charge. Princess Ophelia had always been a sweet, if naive girl, and the sudden attack on the castle, the bloodshed, had shaken her badly. So too did trading in a plush life behind curtain walls for the road, and the many hours of walking proved especially difficult for her. Luckily, you had passed into Alrest the evening prior, and a short while after dawn, you managed to come across a city. If memory served, it was known as Goldcrest, and served as a stopping point for merchants and mercenaries alike on their way between the two kingdoms. You don't need to so much as pass the city walls to find some respite; even outside them, there are inns and taverns to serve the errant traveler. You pick the first one you come across, if only to give the princess some rest, as the poor girl hadn't said much since breakfast, lost in her thoughts and doldrums.
"I'll be right there!" You're met with a feminine voice as soon as you step through the well-worn door, a little brass bell above it rigged to jingle whenever a customer arrives. Being as it's the middle of the day, there aren't many patrons lining the counter or the many tables positioned haphazardly around an ember filled hearth. From the back, a woman a few years your senior manifests, carrying a tray of what must be beer to a few early drinkers, before hurrying over to address you.
"Welcome to the Haystack! You can have a seat wherever, and I can bring you and your..." She tilts to the side just a bit to see Ophelia, who has taken to cowering behind you in the presence of strangers, given recent circumstances. "Wife? Some drinks, if you'd like. Or maybe a meal?"
It's rather strange; you know for a fact that a beast man and a human woman together, much less married, would be quite a scandal back home. Perhaps Alrest was more cosmopolitan than its neighbor to the north? Embarrassing implications aside, the princess tugs at your arm.
"I'd, uhm... I'd like that. I'm still hungry." She murmurs from beneath her hood, demure as always.