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“Something to wet your whistle?” the young woman at the bar asked.
Mattias laughed. “Halima, I come in here every evening. You know what I want.”
“Well, I’m at work,” she smiled as he sat down across from her.
“I’ll have a lager, actually,” he said.
“That’s not what you usually get,” she commented.
“We’re heading up north tomorrow,” he explained.
“Yes, I heard about that,” she said.
“I might be gone a week,” he added.
“Well, I’ll be here, you know that. Just like always.” She set down his drink.
“It’ll be quiet here, I imagine. He has nearly everyone attending, you know.”
“Quite the ceremony, then,” Halima nodded, wiping up the spot next to where Mattias was sitting.
Mattias took a long sip. He wanted to ask Halima something, but he didn’t want to ask now. It wasn’t the right time. She might think it was the lager talking.
“Want anything?” he asked suddenly. “I mean, I saw some interesting things when the Northuldra came here before. I could try to keep an eye out if there’s anything you’d like.”
Halima stopped and gave him a smirk. “I don’t know. But if you see something pretty I could put on the wall here, maybe?”
Mattias looked at his drink then around at the walls.
A foreign merchant walked in, sitting down nearby, and Halima took his order. Mattias finished his drink, then looked at the time.
“I need to turn in early tonight,” he apologized, “but I’ll see you in a week or two? And save a spot on the wall, I’ll find something perfect.”