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The hulking barman cleared his throat. ‘First round’s on me, Kipp, but born here or not, son, after that you’ll still need your own coin.’

Kipp grimaced. ‘Ahh, about that Albert, any chance you could —’

The man groaned. ‘Don’t tell me you came here with an empty purse again? You’ve still got an unpaid tab from last time!’

‘Uh… I may be able to help with that,’ Thea said, sliding the king’s coin across the table.

The man stared at the small disc of silver. ‘Holy shit… The coin of the king. I’ve never seen one in the flesh.’ Blinking slowly, Albert picked it up and turned it over between his thick fingers before letting out a low whistle. ‘You’re her then? The lass from Thezmarr who saved his life?’

Thea blushed furiously. ‘Yes.’

Beside her, Kipp beamed and clapped her heartily on the back. ‘Of course she is! Albert, this is the incomparable Althea Zoltaire! Thezmarrian shieldbearer and hero to the king!’

Thea elbowed him to stop, her face still burning.

‘And that’s Cal,’ she pointed to their other friend.

But Kipp was swept up in the occasion. ‘Albert, we’ll have the boar! And three growlers of your sour mead. And roast potatoes. And some of Malva’s sticky toffee pudding and —’

‘Kipp…’ Thea warned. ‘Be sensible.’

‘Thatissensible, my friend! Or do you think we should get two boars?’ He got to his feet and chased after Albert. ‘Albert, make it two boars!’

Thea shook her head in disbelief and Cal laughed.

‘You shouldn’t have shown him that,’ he said, nodding to the coin Albert had handed back to her.

Before long, the trio sat with the largest tankards Thea had ever seen and filled to the brim with fresh, foaming mead, awaiting what was surely enough food to feed an army.

Kipp raised his drink. ‘To Althea Zoltaire, the shieldbearer who saved the most powerful empath in history and shared her good fortune with her friends.’

Cal snorted. ‘You hardly gave her a choice in the matter.’

Thea blinked. ‘I didn’t realise King Artos held that title. I mean, I knew he was an empath, but… The most powerful?’

Kipp nodded enthusiastically. ‘Oh definitely. Much of the lasting peace in the midrealms is attributed to him.’

‘Truly?’

‘Cross my heart.’

‘And I saved his life…’ Thea said in wonder.

Kipp clapped her on the back, her mead sloshing onto the table. ‘That’s what I’m told!’

Cal was shaking his head at their friend, looking around at the tavern, bewildered. ‘Now we’ve got that out of the way. Are you going to tell us how in the realms you’ve been able to frequent this place so often?’

‘Are you forgetting that I’ve been a shieldbearer for… Well, a while… Who do you think the commanders use to deliver messages when the rest of the cohort can’t possibly be dragged away from training?’

Thea chimed in. ‘How long’s a while?’

‘Long enough to know all the toasts, all the staff and all the beautiful women,’ he replied with a wink.

Thea took her tankard back and took a deep draught. The liquor was cold and crisp on her tongue. ‘Tell us a toast then.’

‘I need another drink to toast, or it’s bad luck.’

‘You’ve hardly made a dent in that one!’ Cal argued incredulously.