They were, though Raven was sure it was no accident. No one wanted to anger a centaur, least of all Benton.
As soon as he was in human form Raven wrapped her arms around his neck. He smelled of trees and pristine streams and solid rock and she took in a deep breath, savoring the one thing in her life she had done right. Picking a mate.
He kissed her on top of the head and pulled her close.
Raven’s tears came now, unbidden and unstoppable, and she focused her hate on them. Her body shook, more from anger and shame than sadness, and she buried her face in his neck. She didn’t like to cry, but something about the centaur always made her come undone. That, and losing jobs.
Between the two, she hadn’t held on to much composure lately at all.
His muscles tensed, and he rested his cheek against her head. “What’s wrong?” His voice was soft, yet strong. Comforting without being condescending.
“I already screwed up.” She leaned against him harder, wishing she could fall into his embrace and never face anyone alone again. “I got fired.”
He stroked her hair. “I’m sorry.”
The low-grade resonance of kids squealing reverberated off the damp walls in the alley and Raven squeezed her eyes shut, willing Lostmere away and holding on to the moment. “Me too.”
The fact he wasn’t asking her what happened made her feel somewhat better. Benton accepted her, like he always did. He knew she wasn’t perfect, or even close, yet he still wanted to be with her.
“It must not have been the right job.” He hugged her to him, tight. “Let’s get something to eat and talk about it. If you want to.”
“Okay.” She pulled back, not daring to open her eyes and let the world back in yet.
He took her by the hand and tugged her to follow. Raven let him lead her, not caring where they went or what they did. At the moment, she didn’t want to think about elves or fancy clothing or solaris. She wanted Ben to take care of her.
And he would. That was what he did. He loved her.
And she loved him, even on the craziest and most mixed-up days when she was sure the world was going to implode on itself because of her.
The market echoed with the competing sounds of callers and animals and trade. Benton had gone back out on patrol at her insistence after they’d had lunch. Raven had stayed in the village, not wanting to face her family with the news yet. Though they were used to her foul-ups, and dealt with them, Raven knew that deep inside, they were disappointed.
Footsteps clattered, and birds clicked and clucked as strips of fabrics and colorful beads swayed from stall posts. Scents of spices and cooking drifted through the air and Raven wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her chin on top, watching the villagers go about their business.
The stone bench cooled as the heat of the day waned. She rocked side to side and watched the farmers return from their fields, some carrying tools, others just knapsacks and hats. Harvest season was almost over, and the market stalls erupted with the shades of the season. Gourds as golden and plump as rineberries pyramided beside baskets of colorful beans and potatoes.
Raven loved shopping for ingredients, though her mother did most of the cooking. Benton had already promised her he’d cook when they lived together.
Fine with her. She’d rather do other things to help out.
Getting a job would help the most.
A pingot bird approached her, pecking at her boot.
“Shoo. I don’t have any food for you.” Raven waved her hands at it and it fluttered off to beg elsewhere.
The glint of solari caught her eye—silver coins dropped into merchant’s hands as people navigated the crowded streets to buy food, fabrics, or housewares imported from other provinces or kingdoms. Clink! Clink! The tinny sound of metal hitting metal was a clipped reminder of her misfortune.
Surely other kingdoms in Oriste were as populated and varied as Lorkhit Ka. How could a world not thrive on the commerce and movement of the market? Even the finfolks’ and freshies’ towns probably centered around the exchange of money for goods.
To get money, you usually had to have a job. Unless you were born into royalty or fortune.
She set her jaw. Her fortune was going to change for the better. She’d make it change. Whatever it took, she wasn’t going to fail.
Ben would be back any time now, and she fidgeted with her long braid, waiting. In the distance, the western mountains lit up in brilliant relief as the sun pooled on the edge of the cliffs, painting the peaks with a ribbon of fire as bright as molten gold.
She squinted at the orange sunshine, letting it pour into her eyes, and temporarily fill her vision with light.
“You look like you need a friend.”
The voice crept up on her like mulled wine and she jumped, spinning to see who had spoken. A muted figure with the afterglow of the sunlight around him stood beside the bench. His willowy form didn’t match the depth of his voice.
Elf.
He laughed. “Didn’t mean to startle you. Just making an observation.”
Raven sank back to the bench. “I’m fine. Waiting on someone.” Meaning, move along, I’m not interested in your wares.
He nodded, his face obscured by the fuzzy blur in her vision from staring at the sun too long. “He’ll be back.”
“I know.”
He sat beside her, and she turned to watch the pingots hop around the puddles of water beside the well.
“Know anyone who needs to earn some extra solari, or maybe even some ingots?”
She peered at him, his elvish face clearing in her sight. “Who doesn’t?”
His smirk almost caused her to shoo him away like the annoying pingot, but his bright-blue eyes made her pause. Usually, it was elves descended from royalty that had crystalline eyes.
“I came to Lostmere to find people who might be interested in a game of chance.” He folded his hands and leaned back. “A game where you can win wealth and power.”
“What kind of game?” She shouldn’t have asked. The last time she’d entered into a dice game, she’d lost ten solari. And the time before that, she’d lost her whole purse.
And she really knew better than to believe an elf.
“Big stakes. In Wildhold.”
“Wildhold? That’s more than a day’s travel. And it’s dangerous.” Her words caught in her chest as she forced them out. Wildhold, where so many dragons were said to live. Though it was an adjoining kingdom to the west, it was a world away in mythos. Raven’s heart thudded at the thought of going there.
“No more dangerous than some other places. Besides, wouldn’t it be worth it to win something that would change your life? Maybe something magical.”
“There aren’t many magical things left, what with the dragons around.”
“I know. That’s part of what makes this contest so…appealing.”
A shout went up in the market and Raven glanced at the crowd lining up at the butcher’s stand. Hunters must have brought in more meat. Maybe even dragon meat, though that was illegal. It still made it to the underside of the market and anyone who really wanted it could get it with little searching.
She turned back to the elf. “What’s in this for you?”
His face tightened and he tugged at his tunic. “Very little. I work for the master of the game. I track down contestants and he pays me for sending them to him.”
“What would I have to do? What’s the actual game?”
“Solve riddles before anyone else can. Be the last one standing. Too bad it’s a brain game, ’cause I’d enter it myself if I was any good at that sort of thing.”
Raven clutched the edge of the bench. She loved riddles. “Where can I find out more?”
“You’d need to leave soon because the game starts in two days. You’d have to go to Cliffhold.”
“Isn’t that one of those floating towns?”
“Yes. The pegasusi will help you get there. Tell Rupe that I sent you, so I get paid.”
“And who are you?” She quirked an eyebrow.
“I’m Zelonga, the one who changed your life.”
“But we have to go.” Raven skipped a rock across the pond, waiting on it to dip and careen across the flat surface before turning to Ben.
"You've got to be kidding me." Benton shook his head. “We can’t go to Wildhold. That’s at least a day’s travel.”
“I know. One night on the plains, and in town by the next evening, I think. Then the games. That’s plenty of time.” She put her hands on Ben’s chest and looked up at him. The evening picnic had been a ploy to get him onboard, but if he wouldn’t go, she’d go by herself. Now that dinner was over, she had to convince him. Once they went back to Lostmere, he’d go home, and she’d head back to her parents’ house.
“And you still want to go? Even if it means spending a night camping?” His eyes lit with mischief.
She’d balked at camping with him before.
“Yes. Maybe my fortune lays outside of Lostmere. Surely you can see that it’s important to at least try?”
He tugged her into a hug. “I can see that you really want to do it. But does that make it the right thing to do? We both know that you’re sometimes a bit…impulsive.”
Raven sighed. “I don’t know. But I do know one thing, this is a chance to prove that I’m not a failure.”
“You aren’t a failure.”
“I feel like one.”
Ben kissed her forehead. “Exactly what is this game? Did he give you any information about what you’ll have to do, or what you win, or how long it’ll take, or anything at all?”
“Not really, just that the stakes are high, and that the winner will receive not only a big prize but maybe even something magical.”
“I doubt that.”
“You don’t know. Zelonga said it was.”
“And exactly what is the game? Dice, cards…?”
“I don’t know. I think it involves some type of puzzle or puzzles, I’m really not sure. I just know that it’s open to anyone who wants to compete, and it’s already drawn a large crowd.”
“Is there an entry fee?”
“Not that he mentioned.” Raven tensed. All the questioning was annoying, but she knew it was how Ben came to a decision. She needed to keep calm and let him find his way.
“What will your family say? As if I need to ask. Your father isn’t going to be happy.” He sighed. “He’s going to be less happy if he thinks this is my idea.”
“You know they aren’t going to like it, but I may never get another chance to prove myself.” She moved to the picnic mat under the tree. “And Dad will be fine. He likes you. He’ll know this is my crazy plan, not yours.”
Ben followed, sitting near. She waited on him to speak, knowing his silence said much more than his words would. He was worried. He didn’t think the contest was a good idea. Raven knew him well enough. She took the cover off the basket and began packing the remaining things up.
Was she the only one who saw this as the opportunity it really was?
Ben stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth and chewed. The breeze lifted his hair and it fluttered behind him like a stallion’s mane. Even in human form, he was stately and strong, and gave off a presence of power.
“I’m not convinced.” He scanned the mountains in the distance, not meeting her gaze. “What if the whole thing is a trap? Or a scam.”
“I don’t think so. This sounds legitimate.” She shook the crumbs from her napkin. “What’s the harm in checking it out? It’s not like I’d miss work.” She held a laugh back.
Laughing at herself had become her therapy.
“The trip could be dangerous.”
“I know.” She didn’t look at him. Like any other time, she needed to give him the chance to think through it. His process couldn’t be rushed.
“We’ve never been there. We don’t know what to expect.” His voice held resignation.
“We? You’d really go with me?” Her voice sang and her heart leapt. “What about work?”
“I can take a few days off. You really think I’d let you go alone?” His lips tugged into a smile.
“Let me? Really?” She widened her eyes in mock surprise. “I didn’t know you were in charge of what I did.”
He leaned forward. “I am. Don’t forget it.”
She laughed and smacked his arm. “I just let you think so.”
“I know.”
She covered the basket and watched the sky for dragons. The constant scanning had become an automatic thing. She couldn’t remember the day when it wasn’t necessary, and yet it hadn’t been that many years since the beasts had descended on Oriste. There had been tales of dragons before that.
Mythos. Not the real thing.
But now, dragons were very real. They’d thundered onto the continent with fire and death and terror. And now they were taking the magic away, bit by bit. What would be next? If they ever decided to take over everything, they certainly had the power.
It was too bad there were so many kingdoms in Oriste, and though everyone was at peace, sometimes it was an uneasy peace. But the world was a big place, and maybe that would be in its favor.
“I’ve always wanted to see the mountains of Wildhold…” Her voice trailed off as fantasy took over her thoughts.
She’d heard travelers talk of a giant mountain that breathed fire, and cliffs that jutted into a raging sea that smashed boats to splinters, maybe even intentionally. Then there were strange mountains that floated in the clouds, like islands in deep, blue, frothy water. Wildhold was a land of secrets and stories and she couldn’t wait to see it for herself.
Ben tugged her close. Jerked out of her reverie, she gasped. He brushed a lock of hair out of her face and tucked the dark spiral behind her ear. His eyes often foretold his emotion, the green swirling with brown and gold flakes. Today, his eyes were deep mossy green, almost like a primeval forest in a misty jungle.
“I love you, Raven.”
Warmth flooded through her. “I love you too. For once, I want to achieve something and make you proud of me. Make my family proud.”
“I know you’ve had some trouble but that’s just because you haven’t found the right job yet. You will find your calling, then no one will be able to stop you.”
Raven laid her head on Ben’s chest and listened to him breathe. He wrapped his arms around her, and she sank into the safe and warm feeling he always provided.
Ben was usually the voice of reason, she knew that. Almost always, he turned out to be right. But this game felt like it was meant for her and no one would stop her from trying. She felt in her gut that she had to go. Had to face whatever the game presented.
Had to win.
She lifted her head. “I’m going to Wildhold. I have to.”
He closed his eyes and nodded. “I know. But you’re not going without me.”
“Thank you.”
“Then let’s go. The game starts in two days and it’s a day’s travel. We can head out tonight, get as far as we can then camp. That will give us a full day to travel tomorrow and be ready for the game the next.”
“You mean it?”
He planted a kiss on the top of her head. “You know I do.”
“I’m going to win!” She raised her arms to the sky.
“It wouldn’t surprise me one bit.” He laughed.
One thing was for sure, this was either going to be the best idea she’d ever had or the worst thing to ever happen to her. And after the sewing job, it really couldn’t get any worse, so what was there to lose?
“What in hag’s name are you carrying in here?” Ben strained to get her large case over the rail and into the cart.
Raven grinned. “My armor.”
The crescent moon carved a low arc in the sky and a dusting of stars flickered overhead. Even in the half light, she could see his frustration. His eyes were probably completely dark green with rims of fiery gold. She’d seen that look up close plenty of times.
He put his hands on his hips. “Seriously? You’re going to Wildhold to play a game, not fight a dragon.”
The horse whinnied and Raven lay a hand on his velvet flank and patted. When she stepped back and grabbed her bag of clothing, the horse stomped its foot. It was ready to be on the way, too.
“As far as you know.” She tossed her knapsack into the cart. The drawstring bag held her essentials, plus a few days’ worth of clothing. The rest of her stuff was in the case with her armor, or with her sword.
No one said a hero had to travel light. After the games, she’d be that hero.
“Not funny.”
She hid her smile. She loved annoying Ben. “There might be dragons. Zelonga didn’t say there weren’t any. He just said there were riddles.”
“There better not be any dragons involved.” He stomped his foot.
“That’s more effective when you’re a centaur.”
“No dragons.”
“Better to be prepared. Wouldn’t want to be caught without armor and needing it.” Made sense to her. Why travel to another kingdom and not be prepared? Who knew what they might run into, and she couldn’t shift into a large beast like Ben was able to do. Fairy wings weren’t exactly defensive mechanisms unless flying away counted.
“You just want an excuse to wear it.”
“I look good in armor.” He knew her well. “My sword’s in that long case there. Don’t cut yourself.”
Ben scowled. “Very funny.” He hefted the second case into the cart.
“I don’t get many chances to wear armor, it’s true. I’m going to walk into the game with it on. I’ll look menacing.”
“At your height, I don’t think so. I’ve never known a menacing fairy.”
She poked him. “Don’t pick on me.”
“I’m not. Wear your armor to the game. Whatever you want to do, do it.”
“I will.” She grinned. he always felt taller in armor. “I can’t wait. It’s going to be life-changing.”
“I hope so.” Ben set a box of supplies into the back of the cart, near the wheel. “We should’ve borrowed a bigger cart.”
Raven's Game Page 2