Story : Atop the Long Mynd

From Ars Magica

I knew I should have cast a ward around his bed, Ambrosius thought to himself. He cast around the common room for some sign of his brother’s passing, but found none. As Llewys grew older and more adventurous, this had become a morning ritual while on the road. Sometimes Alicia was the first to discover him missing, sometimes Ambrosius was, but always he managed to sneak out of the room, regardless of the obstacles. This morning was no different. With a quick glance at the drawn shutters, the mage guessed that it was sometime before dawn, maybe mid dusk. Ambrosius stretched and began the process of putting on his boots and cloak. He paused as he was about to bind his hair with the chain, thinking twice. Instead, he withdrew a leather strap from his backpack and tied his hair back with that. Almost as an afterthought, he reached down and grabbed his brother’s staff. While he’d originally crafted it as a gift to excite Llewys about the upcoming trip, his brother had been using it steadily since they’d left Spiritus Draconis, making it a handy arcane connection for those times when Ambrosius or Alicia had trouble finding where the boy had gotten off to. He hoped it would not be needed this morning, as this was the first time in several weeks that Llewys had wandered off in a public place.

Picking his way around the others in the room, he set out for the door. Not wanting to wake anyone, he considered casting a silencing spell around himself, but to do it without voice or motions, so as to keep it hidden from those not associated with the order already, well, that would be difficult, so he did his best to leave the room stealthily.

He came down the stairs quietly and passed through the nearly empty common room and headed for the door.

Several of the regulars had passed out around the snug, and the barmaids had picked their way amongst them, draping some scruffy looking blankets over them. The dog had taken the opportunity to place itself before the glowing embers of the fire, and was moving fitfully as it dreamt of chasing hares.

As he starts to creep across the room in order to leave them inn, a floorboard creaks suddenly under his feet, almost waking the dog, and one of the patrons near to him. After a few moments, the patron rolls back over and slumps back over his chair, while the dog appears on the verge of waking.