F3 Famous Face

     "I like it not!" The prince shouted.
     There was a surprise. The plain, brown cloak I held out to him might as well have been plague and lice-riddled rags for the way he looked at it.
     "Listen," the patience in my voice was thin after four times of explaining this, "you want to rescue Princess . . ." my mind fuzzed on the name. There were too many royals in the Realms. "Cleo."
     "The Fair Princess Chloe." The perturbed handsome prince tossed his head back in the way that made his golden hair fly up, but curl back down exactly where it had started.
     "Right. My mistake. The thing is, we don't know where she is."
     "She was taken by a vile—"
     "Villain. Yes, I know, but which one?"
     His eyes narrowed on me, like I was speaking Swahili, but cleverly so.
     "We need to go into the Wandering Ferret," I jerked my thumb to the sign indicating the tavern's direction down the road, "and talk to some people to find out exactly who has her."
     "Nay!" Oh, God. "I shall announce myself, and challenge them all to combat. Once defeated—"
     "They'll be dead or unconscious, and in no condition to tell us what we need to know. We need to talk first, then you can challenge them to honored combat."
     He eyed me, then the cloak, then back to me.
     "If you don't put the cloak on, everyone will recognize you." I produced a thick, silver coin with the Prince's face stamped on one side. "Not to mention your clothing is much too fine to wear to the Ferret."
     "I do not like—"
     "I know, but you asked me for help because you couldn't find her."
     "Very well, Shamus. We will try it your way." Even with leather gloves on, he treated the plain cloak like a poisonous snake, but he put it on.
     I needed a drink.