"Christ, Remora, you already had your smoke break! Urgh! Look at you, did you go swimming or something???" Remora's boss excimed gruffly, wiping down one of the tables. Remora sighed and came over, snagging the rag from him before going to some patrons and setting their food and drinks down, muttering an "enjoy".

  "Sorry, sorry, I got it boss..." Remora got straight to work, stacking trays and gsses, moving quickly as she cleared the crumbs and drink stains off the empty table tops. Her eyes kept darting to the darkened backroom, her mind occupied on the frightened princess hidden amongst the boxes... If her boss found out... She shook her head and wiped her brow of the rain that ran from her hair. "It's really coming down out there... and there's a fog rolling in." She idly commented as she dropped off the dishes in the kitchen. The old man wasn't in his best spirits tonight, hunched over his work.

  "Yeah, well you're mopping tonight, dragging all that water in here." Her boss responded, doing talleys for orders off to the side. Remora rolled her eyes and smirked.

  "No different than any other night what with your back, old man." She rebuted as she took the gsses off the tray, pcing them in the sink. Her boss's lips curled up a little as a short huff was his only response.

  "Agh... I wonder if that shipment of potatoes came in..." He stretched his back and started to walk towards the backroom. Remora's eyes widened as she gasped to herself and swiftly stepped in front of him.

  "I already checked...! Seems tomorrow morning is when we'll be getting them in." She smiled as she leaned against the doorway. He raised an eyebrow at her, huffing once more.

  "They weren't in the right back corner? That new guy likes to put it there..." He mumbled, attempting to pass her. Remora leapt in front of him again.

  "Yep, there too." She smiled wider. He narrowed his eyes at her, before the sound of the front doorbell jingling turned their heads. Remora felt her chest tighten at the sight of three royal guards entering, shaking the water off their armor. Her throat suddenly went dry and now she had an entirely new problem. She gnced at the backroom again, praying for the princess to stay hidden.

  "Royal guards? Ah boy... what now?" He dusted off his hands and clothes. Remora from her frozen terror jumped to put a hand on his shoulder.

  "I'll handle them..." Before he could respond, she was already chin up and sauntering towards them, her heart in her throat.

  "Gentlemen... How may I be of service?" she shifted her weight to one hip... she just had to keep them distracted, make them comfortable, and make sure they don't become suspicious. She noticed one of the bigger guards eyeing her up and down, and while she was used to this treatment from her male patrons, she particurly felt her skin crawl when it was from royals.

  "We're on investigation... where's your boss, girlie?" The guards scanned around, arms crossed or hands on their hips. Remora could practically smell their macho stench, but kept a smile up nonetheless.

  "Ah, he's in the back, good sirs... Afraid his back has been hurting him so I've been serving most the patrons around here... perhaps I can be more of service for your... investigation...?" She interced her fingers in front of her, putting on her best charm. She schooled herself to not once look back at the room behind her where the missing princess remained. The guards chuckled, especially the perverse one that was raking her up and down with his eyes. She felt her mouth twitch as she made eye contact with him.

  "Yeah... We'll need someone a little more... professional to speak to..." The lead guard replied with his chest puffed out, an arrogant smile pstered on his face. Remora felt her eye twitch.

  "Oh, but you certainly can be of service to us, little dy..." The guard who was eyeing her gave her a toothy smile in return. He made himself right at home, pulling out a chair and sitting in it. "A beer will do. Wheat if you have it." He smacked his lips and scratched his chest. The other guards turned to him.

  "Dude, we're on the clock... You could take this a little more seriously." The younger, seemingly less experienced guard harshly whispered with his arms crossed. The sat guard rolled his eyes.

  "How the hell are we gonna find her like this? In this weather?" The perverse guard argued. "Besides, they mentioned doing a thorough investigation, so that's what we're doing... being thorough. So come on, sit down, make yourselves at home... And you." He pointed to Remora, who flinched at his sudden attention. The perverse guard grinned zily. "Go get your boss, sweetheart."

  Remora felt her mouth twitch again as she forced it into a smile once more. "Sirs, I would be more than happy to answer your questions for him, like I said, he's not feeling all that well and-" She could tell they were getting frustrated as their smiles dropped, especially the lead guard's. Then a voice startled her from behind.

  "Remora." She jolted and turned to see her boss with his arms crossed. "Evenin' boys... my waitress giving you any trouble here?" He questions with a gruff politeness. Remora shot him a gre to which he replied with his own.

  "Oh no, we fancy her really nice... But I suppose we could fancy her more with a few beers." The perverse guard grinned even wider. The other two rolled their eyes but didn't seem to want to argue. Remora shot her boss another look, begging him with her eyes to just let her take care of it... but she knew it was futile as he motioned his head towards the bar. Her shoulders slumped in defeat for only a moment, before she recovered and smiled politely to them all once more.

  "Of course... be right back with those." Remora replied as she turned on her heel towards the bar, her eyes drifting back to the backrooms. Her heart was pounding rapidly as she heard the guards coax her boss to sit down to interrogate him. Her eyes darted between them and the dark room, weighing her choices as she pced a rge gss underneath the dispenser. As her eyes drifted back to the guards and she began to consider...

  She could turn her in... she could cim she never saw her... and she wouldn't get in trouble. Hell, she might even make a pretty penny off of it... After all, the girl was royalty, it's not like anything bad would happen to her anyways... right...? But as her eyes drifted back to the dark room, the image of that girl's face shot back into her memory... the fright in her red and puffy eyes, the smeared mascara, her mangled and soaked hair, the state of her dress, the injuries on her feet... No princess would ever endure such conditions unless it were for a good reason. But even then... she hated royalty. She loathed royalty. No royal had ever treated her or her family with care before... But at the same time... the princess... she didn't seem like someone fit to harm Remora. She simply seemed scared and lost. And she was just a girl. Something about that made Remora's chest grow achey... Her thoughts consumed her so, she didn't even notice the beer spilling over the rim of the gss onto her hands, her dress, and the floor.

  "Remora!" Her boss turned in his chair with a grunt. "The hell are you doing?" The guards began to ugh at the sight.

  "Sorry, I'm sorry, I got it, I'll clean it!" Remora quickly answered, grabbing the nearest rags and soaking up the liquid from herself and the countertop, then to the floor. She could see her boss in her peripherals shaking his head.

  "Woah-ho! Someone trying to get us drunk?" The perverse guard snickered. "Need help pping that all up, little dy?" He catcalled. Remora felt bile rise in her throat and as she ducked behind the bar to wipe up the floor, she couldn't help groaning to herself.

  Moments ter she approached their table, a smile pstered on her face and a tray of three beers which she dispersed between the guards... Perhaps she could sneak away... get the princess to somewhere more hidden and safe without any of them even noticing. "And can I get you boys anything else besides that?" She asked, tucking the tray under her arm.

  "Yeah, how about some company? Best seat in the house..." The perverse guard patted his p. "...right here..." He grinned, taking a generous swig of his beer as he eyed her up and down once more. Remora felt her bile rising higher at that request. She simply ughed like it was a joke. The guard didn't ugh in return, and her smile dropped. She shot a look to her boss who had a hand on his temple, begging him to intervene. He sighed.

  "That'll be alright, gents... My waitress is busy keeping this pce running so I'll have to ask you to allow her to do her job." He folded his hands on the table. Remora felt a wave of relief hit her. Her boss might be a grouch but she preferred his attitude over the attitude of people like the perverse guard anyday.

  "Agh." The perverse guard waved his hand, then sighed in disappointment. "Fair 'nough. But, yes... Princess Marina Amon has gone missing on this day. Ran from her wedding the crazy dame..." The perverse guard expined. The younger guard elbowed him, the lead guard scorned him. He just shrugged. "Anyways... her highness was st spotted fleeing into town. Got eyes all over the city looking for her, and its of most importance we find her and return her safely. Poor little thing is probably scared to death, so there's likely a chance she's gone into hiding... That being said, we'll wanna search your establishment." The perverse guard adds. Remora felt her breath fail again at the mention of a search and she quickly pced herself on the guard's p without thinking.

  "Goodness... searching for a missing princess in all this rain and fog...? Sounds like finding a needle in a haystack." Remora commented, crossing her legs. The guard looked up at her with shock, but his grin quickly widened as he rexed back into his chair. Remora felt her throat close as she looked over at her boss who raised a curious eyebrow.

  "You can say that again, dollface." The perverse guard puts his hand on her hip. She felt her skin crawl and she ticked her head involuntarily, her mouth twitching once more into a smile. The lead guard sighed and slumped back in his chair.

  "She has a point... Gods... who gets married on a day like this anyways?" The lead guard added, crossing his arms as he tipped his chin up in a scoff at the downpour outside the window.

  "Well, to be fair, it was supposed to happen earlier in the morning, but with the complication of-" The younger guard chimed in before he was promptly elbowed in the rib by the lead guard, gaining a gre from both him and the perverse guard. He cleared his throat as he met the eyes of both peasants. Right... not everyone knows... or should know for that matter. "Anyways... obviously no one expected this to happen..." He sidetracked.

  "Imagine that though, marrying that rugged Prince Camaro... That the dream, huh, sweetheart?" The perverse guard ran his hand up her back, causing her to force down a shudder.

  "Camaro...? From the Kingdom of Furlinver..." She commented to herself. She's heard of the politics overseas... the unruliness of King Camaro and his son. What would that mean for Alverot? Likely peace for the royals and hell for all else... Her gaze drifted once more back to that dark room, her eyes narrowing as her thoughts swirled.

  Her thoughts were interrupted as the door opened, three more guards coming in. Remora felt her heart drop again... there was no way of getting out of this.

  "Lieutenant, what is the meaning of this?" The guard in front crossed his arms. He was just as tall as the perverse guard, if not more, and he was fit, almost burly, a dark beard accentuated his sharper features.

  "C-commander-! Uh, we were just..." The perverse guard stammered. The commander narrowed his eyes at him, looked at the half drunken beers on the tables, then his gaze met Remora's.

  "Taking in the sweet pleasures of life are we? You do realize we have a crisis on our hands here? And yet I find you lot here... Why am I not surprised...?" The commander excimed gruffly. The guards behind him shook their heads. The lead guard stood to meet him, raising his hands to de-escate.

  "Commander, we were simply interrogating-" The lead guard/lieutenant stepped forward.

  "Interrogating? Do you suspect that is how we'll find the princess? We go around interrogating each and every passing peasant? Kicking your feet back? Exchanging words with dames?" He motioned to Remora who sucked in her breath. The perverse guard cleared his throat and coaxed Remora off his p. The commander sighed. "Did you even bother to do a search? Or have you forgotten protocal too?" The three sat guards exchanged looks. The perverse guard cleared his throat once more.

  "Yes, commander, of course we did a search... We were simply snuffing out any further information, sir." He gnced his eyes to his buddies who did their best to school their expressions. The commander tapped his foot impatiently.

  "Sounds like a bunch of measly cats who didn't wanna get wet from a little rain." The commander motioned his head to the door. "Get back to work." He ordered in a low tone. The three guards stood from the table and rushed out the door. The commander looked to the boss then to Remora once more and narrowed his eyes for a moment.

  "Apologies, sir... miss." The commander nodded his head to them. "Sorry for the trouble these boys have caused. You both have a good night." He added. Remora felt a wave of relief wash over her shoulders, but strangely, her face was still hot as her eyes met the commander's. She stammered and nodded to him.

  "Good luck..." She murmered. The commander nodded and made his exit with his fellow guards, leaving Remora and her boss as well as some staggering patrons alone in the tavern once more. Remora couldn't help but sigh, and all she could do was run on autopilot as she went back to doing her work, cleaning tables and checking in on the patrons, her boss side-eyeing her.

  "So... a missing princess huh?" Her boss commented idly as the st patrons made their way out. Remora felt her muscles tense, but calmly turned to him. "Bet it'd be a hell of a reward to find her... I could do some good renovating of this pce." Remora chuckled and nodded in response. She hummed to herself and looked back at him.

  "Wanna go join the search? I can close for the night." She smiled. He raised his eyebrow at her.

  "Please... I'm sure they've already found her... A royal like her couldn't have gone far." He continued to clean, stretching his back again. Remora sighed.

  "Well, either way, I can tell you're hurting. And the rain is lightening up a little. You should head home... in case it gets bad again." She put a hand on his shoulder, patting it. He grumbled and looked up at her.

  "Sure you can handle it?" He scratched his chin. Remora smiled and nodded, already grabbing his umbrel and pcing it in his hand.

  "Go on. I'll handle it." She replied softly, going to the dishes in the sink. Her breath hitched and she quickly added. "Oh, and you can go out the front. I have my key so I'll lock up." She met his eyes, hoping he wouldn't find her behavior suspicious. He narrowed his eyes once more then rexed with a gruff sigh.

  "You're a good woman, Remora. Have a goodnight." He fixed his hat and walked to the front door. He turned to nod to her then opened his umbrel as he stepped out into the drizzle outside, disappearing into the night. Remora sighed and looked again at the backroom, before quickly getting work to clean and close up as quickly as possible.