He wore a hat, but even so, I could see the scarf tied around his forehead under it. His hair was long, dark, and flowing over his shoulders and down his chest. His short jacket was open, the shirt beneath unbuttoned low. He had many necklaces hanging down his bare chest, some with medallions, most made of beads. His wide eyes were rounded heavily with black kohl. The sword at his back had a large jewel at the bottom of the hilt that blinked in the moonlight.
“An Airenzian soldier and a Nadirii warrior?” he asked. “Have we interrupted a spat between two forbidden lovers?”
“Be on your way,” Cassius growled.
“I have not seen this in all my years,” the Zee stated.
“You look naught but twenty-five,” Cassius returned, and the man burst out laughing.
Through it he put his hand to his chest and said, “You flatter me.”
“I’ll say it only once more, be on your way,” Cassius demanded.
“We shall, oh, we shall,” the man replied. “After you toss your coin pouch through the veil. And I like the look of your sword and dagger, thus we shall take those too.” He tipped his head my way. “Your warrior’s dagger as well.”
“We will not be doing that,” Cassius told him.
The man quirked just one dark, arched brow. “No?”
“No,” Cassius confirmed.
“You felt the magic around you through your steel,” the man declared. “Please believe me, it is far worse when it contacts skin, and with a nod of my head, our witches will shrink it.” He looked to me. “I respect your magic, witch. I truly do. But you are no match to ours. We Zees have been practicing far longer than you Nadirii, as you know.”
This was lamentably true.
Many a Nadirii, alone, without a sister at her side, could be bested by Zee magic, if there was more than one witch in the tribe.
And they definitely had more than one witch in their tribe.
Though, lamentably for him, he had no idea who he was dealing with.
“You really should be on your way,” I advised.
“Should we? Really?” the man mocked.
“You should,” Cassius said in a tone I’d never heard before, and it was disquieting. “Really.”
I took note.
Do not mock Cassius, even if he was arse to the leaves in a dark forest.
“We do not wish to hurt you, Airenzian, even if you are an Airenzian,” the Zee replied.
“I will have no problem hurting you, Zee, and I don’t give one fuck you’re a Zee,” Cassius retorted.
Some of the joviality shifted from the man’s face as he moved closer to the veil.
The others moved closer too.
“Cass,” I whispered, “be calm.”
“I am fucking calm,” Cassius replied, his eyes never leaving the leader of the Zees.
“You aren’t.”
And he wasn’t.
“I bloody am.”
“You aren’t, Cass. Just give him your purse,” I instructed, looking toward the leader. “We must keep our weapons. You understand.”
“I do not,” the man said, his tone having deteriorated too. “You are beaten. Give us what we ask, and we will not harm you.”
“Take my man’s purse and be done, and he will not harm you,” I returned.
“He cannot harm me, Nadirii.”
“Please do not test us,” I requested.
“It is not me on my arse, caged with righteous magic.”
“Lamb,” Cassius growled, and I knew he didn’t use my name because he didn’t want them to know it.
But, damn it all, I liked it that he was calling me “lamb” again.
“Don’t hurt them,” I ordered Cass.
“Are you mad?” he asked.
“No,” I spoke truth.
“They would not hesitate to harm us,” Cassius replied.
“This isn’t harm. It’s just a little humiliation,” I noted.
“Let us loose, my warrior,” Cassius growled.
“I will if you promise not to hurt them,” I returned.
The Zee was again grinning.
“One Nadirii alone? You cannot break this cage,” he shared, then jerked up his chin.
The cage started to grow smaller.
And glow brighter.
Bloody hell.
“Now give us your purse and your weapons,” the man ordered.
“Ellie,” Cassius gritted.
Ellie.
And I liked that from Cassius far more than “lamb.”
I could not dwell on that.
“Cass.”
“Ellie.”
“Cass!”
“Gods damn it, Elena!” Cass shouted.
I sighed.
Then I closed my eyes.
The thrill scored up my spine and then there were shouts of surprise mingled with short screams of fear right before I heard bodies thumping to the ground.
Though, those bodies did that much farther away from us.
Right after that, I heard steel meeting steel.
I opened my eyes and shot to my feet.
“Cassius!” I screeched.
The cage was gone.
And worryingly, the moonlight was too.
We were surrounded in naught but night and stars.
Feet upon earth, we were in the heavens.
I’d learned what this meant.
This meant Cassius was very, very angry.
Proof: Cassius had beat the leader down to a knee and back on a hand. Fear was on the man’s face, his sword raised in defense across his body, Cassius’s braced against it. The Zee was struggling to keep Cass’s weapon at bay as Cass loomed over him, a dark specter in a starry sky on earth.
I moved swiftly to him, put my hand light on his back and whispered, “Cassius.”
In an instant, he stood down, taking a half step back, doing this moving into me in that protective way of his, his sword still held at the ready.
The others who had been propelled back by my bursting of the cage recovered, taking their feet, moving cautiously, and I felt every eye on us.
It took some time, but slowly, the stars drifting about us flickered out.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” Cassius purred. “I am Prince Cassius of Airen, and this is my bride, Princess Elena of the Nadirii.”
And on that, he swept low in a deep bow, sword arm still raised, other hand to his chest, his head tipped back, his eyes never leaving the leader, a taunting salute.
“Well,” the man replied, pushing up to his feet and sheathing his sword at his back, “why didn’t you just say?”
Cassius rose while growling.
I pressed my front into his side, reaching out a hand to his sword arm, wrapping my fingers around and pushing down.
It took a moment, but he finally lowered it.
I let out a breath.
However, he still did not take his eyes from the leader.
“Now, if you’re assuming I’m not in the mood to be further trifled with, you would be correct,” Cass informed him.
“So rumor is true. The Firenz takes a Dellish. The Dellish will take a Firenz. And day and night join in a marriage of impossibility,” the man declared, sweeping a hand to Cassius and me.
“And now I can see you don’t understand that by ‘further trifled with,’ this includes not wishing to engage in unnecessary discourse,” Cassius explained.
The man ignored this, put his hand to his chest just under his throat and stated, “It is my deepest honor to meet you both. I am Silvanus. I am head of the Patra.”
Cassius said nothing.
I was not surprised. It was obvious he had little to naught experience with the Zees.
I, on the other hand…
“It is our honor to meet you as well, Silvanus of the Patra,” I replied.
In a bow of pure gallantry, he bent double at the waist, one foot forward, back leg cocked, and even went so far as to doff his hat and drop his head.
He came u
p, returned his hat and planted both hands on his hips.
He then shouted, “This demands wine!”
“Fucking hell,” Cassius muttered.
I almost smiled.
Silvanus’s people trilled audibly and milled about, and in no time, we could see lanterns bobbing in the wood all around and a black-haired woman rushed up to Silvanus.
She had a scarf wrapped around her forehead, it disappeared under her hair, and she was wearing a white blouse that ended under her breasts, a full red skirt with big pockets at the front and gold embroidery at the hem. Also, a thick leather belt on which hung a dagger, several pouches and a small purse. She had wide hoops in her ears, innumerable bracelets on her wrists and necklaces at her neck.
All, save probably the hoops which were not Dellish fashion, were likely stolen from unsuspecting travelers.
As the small glade lit with lanterns, she handed Silvanus a bottle with a bulbous base that was sealed at the top of the neck with red wax.
He did not peel the wax to get to the cork.
Cassius went solid at my side as he withdrew his weapon from its scabbard, and with a dramatic flourish, cut the top of the bottle off with his sword.
“We drink with royalty tonight, brothers and sisters!” he decreed loudly.
A higher pitched trill rent the air and I wondered, even at our distance, if the others would hear it and come to investigate.
“We’ve buffered the sound, Your Grace,” Silvanus said to me, reading my thoughts as another woman approached him carrying three silver chalices (all mismatched, all lovely and all likely stolen). “We thought we could handle one Airenzian and one Nadirii. Three of the former, four of the latter would be foolhardy.”
So they knew of the others.
In fact, they might have even followed me.
This was not advantageous for I’d not sensed a thing.
Zees were known to be stealthy, but I’d never been caught out.
Not once.
He shot me a wide, white smile, taking me out of my thoughts as it occurred to me I would consider lying with him, for he was shockingly good-looking.
That was, if I did not have Cassius.
Which I did not (of a sort).
Nevertheless, his smile was infectious, therefore I returned it.
Silvanus poured wine sloppily and handed me the first chalice, Cassius the next and then tossed the final chalice to a man hanging close before he raised the bottle.
“Na zdrowie!” he called.
To which was shouted, “Salud!” “Proost!” “Santé” “Cin cin!” “Sláinte!” “Yamas!” “Skål!” and “Saúde!”
“We travel widely,” Silvanus said on a mischievous, and mysterious, wink at me, explaining without explaining some of these odd salutes, then he put the bottle to his lips and tossed his head back to take a glug.
I began to lift my glass to my lips, lips that were curving in another smile aimed toward Silvanus, when I was stopped by Cassius commanding, “Elena, do not drink from that chalice.”
I looked up at him. “It’s rude not to drink with a Zee.”
“I do not care.”
“And I do not care that you do not care,” I retorted.
He turned fully to me as I continued to raise my goblet and said warningly, “Elena.”
I held the vessel to the side and mimicked his tone. “Cassius.”
“Do not drink.”
“I’ll drink if I want to drink.”
“If you raise that chalice an inch higher, I’ll strike it out of your hand before I turn you over my knee.”
He did not just say that.
I felt my eyes narrow and replied, “If you try anything that ridiculous, I’ll magic you straight to Sky Bay.”
He bent into me. “And if you do that, I’ll ride right back to you and do it again and again and again until I achieve my goal of tanning your arse so red, you won’t be able to sit Diana for weeks.”
I opened my mouth to retort but did not as Silvanus was right beside us, chuckling cheerfully and pounding us both on our backs.
“This is beauty!” he cried. “Magnificent!” he yelled.
He stopped pounding and looked at Cassius.
“Does she climax as magnificently as she quarrels?” he asked.
I felt my cheeks flame.
Silvanus raised both hands high and wide, bowing his back as he did so.
“Why has no one thought of this before?” he asked the heavens. “An Airenzian and Nadirii! Explosive!” He dropped his arms and smiled hugely between Cassius and me. “The Sky Citadel will crumble around you the first time you make love under its roof.”
I took a small step away from Cassius and Silvanus and both men looked to me.
But only Silvanus spoke.
“What’s this? What’s this?” he asked, studying me closely. “Untried?”
Bloody, bloody hell.
He slapped Cassius on the back and shouted, “A boon! You get to train her…in everything.” He leaned toward Cassius with a wicked grin on his face. “And the Nadirii are very good learners.”
“You speak of my bride,” Cassius said low.
Silvanus took his point, but did it still grinning unrepentantly, murmuring, “Of course. Of course. My apologies.” He then tipped his head to the goblet Cassius held. “Drink, my friend. We would not poison the saviors.”
“The what?” Cassius asked.
“The saviors,” Silvanus repeated, bending to pick up the bottle he’d set on the ground. “You will end the quakes.” He nodded between Cassius and me. “Am I correct?”
“You know of this?” I asked.
“Elena,” Cassius murmured warningly.
“We are all friends here, my man,” Silvanus declared, apparently forgetting not ten minutes before, he had us imprisoned under a cage of magic. His attention came to me. “And yes. We are older than the Dellish. We remember when Airen and Firenze was one vast kingdom. We remember the days when the mermaids swam the seas freely. We remember the Beast. And we have heard of the prophecy.”
“What do you know of it?” Cassis demanded.
“Come!” he cried, whirling with his arm out, and more women came rushing forward, these carrying large, plush cushions they threw to the ground.
Men also moved into the glade, some with rocks, some with twigs, some with branches. They made short work of clearing away leaves and forming a large stone circle in order to build a fire.
Silvanus threw himself on three great cushions, one of which was up against a tree, and then gestured to five more, all together, which was evidently where Cassius and I were to sit.
Together.
I knew better than to spurn the hospitality of a Zee.
We had might and magic and Cassius’s command of the night sky.
But Zees had very long memories.
Therefore, I sunk to the cushions, reached, grasped Cassius’s hand, and tugged.
He resisted, but after another, harder tug, he dropped down beside me.
Silvanus took us in and then swung his bottle toward us.
“You will make beautiful children,” he decreed.
I clenched my teeth and lifted my chalice to him.
Cassius did not do this, but he did drink with Silvanus and me.
The wine was exceptional.
“This is marvelous, Silvanus,” I told him.
“Of course it is,” he replied. “We took it off an Airenzian merchant on his way to the Thicket,” he explained unabashedly.
“Bloody hell,” Cassius muttered.
I smiled at Silvanus and took another sip.
“The prophecy,” Cassius prompted.
I heard the striking of a flint, looked to my left and saw the fire was ready to spark.
Something it did, with a male Zee bending to it and blowing, dried leaves catching kindling on fire as a female Zee fed more leaves to keep the flames burning to catch the branches at the top.
“Quakes emanating from below
earth, where the Beast dwells. It was not hard to put it together, Airenzian prince,” Silvanus said, drawing my attention again. “And now, the mermaids and mermales have been driven away. There will be no one to stop him, if the prophesied fail.”
I felt my heart skip a beat.
“The mermaids and mermales?” I asked.
“Indeed,” he said on a sharp nod of his head before putting the bottle to his lips and tipping it back. He drank deeply and returned his attention to me. “They rallied all the beasts in the sea, forced him into one of their underwater caves, and created a great marine avalanche over the mouth, imprisoning him. Until, it would seem, now.”
“You know this, or is it lore?” Cassius asked.
“A year ago, my friend, you asked this question,” Silvanus said to him, “I would say lore. The quakes?” He shook his head. “He is surfacing. We heard of the Savage King wedding the Silent One, our True King to be wed to the Sage Bloom, the two of you. We knew.”
“And the mermaids and mermales?” I pushed.
“Gone forever,” Silvanus declared. “Some say they dwell in the seas around The Mystics. Some say they occupy the islands between The Mystics and the Northlands and Southlands to that west.”
He shrugged, took another drink, I took another sip, and he continued.
“Some say they adapted. Over the centuries, they created magic where they formed legs spontaneously as they swam closer to the shores and could pass as legged beings, thus they walk amongst us. I do not know. I like to think the last. That in our ignorance and maltreatment of them, we did not drive them from their homes.” He threw an arm out expansively. “But we Zees know of ignorance and maltreatment, so their escape? Well, that is one part of the lore I tend to believe.”
“I do too,” I mumbled, lifting my chalice and casting my glance up to Cassius.
He was gazing at Silvanus dubiously.
“Which part do you not believe, great prince?” Silvanus’s question was directed at Cassius, showing it was not only my thoughts he could read, though Cass wasn’t hiding his. “That the merfolk walk amongst us or that the Zees know ignorance and maltreatment?”
“We are drinking stolen wine,” Cassius remarked.
“That we are,” Silvanus replied, tipping the bottle his way.
“You are feared by many,” Cassius went on.
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