Chapter 88

Once they entered the lodgings, Ava understood instantly what the driver meant. Beyond the door was a bar full of men drinking beer and ale, chattering and laughing in loud voices. The men were not the kind she frequently met at her country. They were different. They looked dangerous, and, she noticed with a tingle of fear, savage.

Most of the men were rugged, bearded and brawny, with a worn-out, grubby casual outfit. She couldn't really tell what exactly the men were. They didn't look like traveling farmers or merchants. They looked uncouth and uncivilized.

The room was filled with an odor of male sweat, cheap spirits and cigarettes smoke. All eyes were drawn to her as she appeared on the door. Her breath caught at the outright lecherous gazes. She drew her shawl higher to cover her face and hurried to the doorkeeper, that seemed to be the owner of this place. The man was sitting behind a small table. She ignored a brazen whistle from somew