He slowly reached down and drew Azurelight, feeling a smile sneak across his face as he held the other man’s gaze. He knew that Eva was right, but a mischievous, reckless part of his ego had taken a firm hold of the reins of his self-control. He could at least push the situation as far as it would go before being the bigger man.
“My armor is new,” said the man. “Paid for by the Baron himself. It’ll look as good after I’m done with you as it does now.”
“It does look pretty good,” said Ari. “I can even see my reflection in it. Be a shame if somebody scuffed it up.”
He made a quick movement forward with his shoulders and the man flinched as he brought his sword up into a guard stance. Ari chuckled and sheathed Azurelight.
“I’m just messing with you, friend,” he said. “I mean you no harm.”
The man glared at him but said nothing until Ari motioned for Virgil to step alongside him as he stepped toward the door.
“Hold,” said the man. “I recognize your face.”
“My face…” Ari swore under his breath, realizing that he’d never reactivated Miragion’s enchantment after leaving the smith. “Mud and blood. It’s always the small mistakes.”
The man was already moving to attack, slamming his sword forward into a quick lunge. Ari summoned Azurelight into his hand and blocked in a single, swift motion. He followed the strike up with a slash across the man’s breastplate, more out of spite than good tactics.
“That’ll certainly take some coin to have buffed out,” said Ari.
The man snarled and hurled himself forward. Ari deflected his strikes without too much trouble. There was no technique to the assault, and the man’s movements made it clear that he wasn’t used to fighting in heavy armor. Ari was more concerned about the others in the room potentially joining in on the man’s side than the actual danger presented by his opponent.
He knocked back another strike and then twisted as the man attempted another forward thrust, catching the blade of the thin sword on his Feathercloak, which flashed blue as the defensive enchantment activated. The man took a step back in surprise.
“This fight was over before it started,” said Ari. “Really. I don’t want to have to hurt you, but I will if you keep attacking.”
The man scowled at Ari and swung his sword through empty air. “This isn’t over. I’ll tell the guards! There’ll be no safe place for you in the city by nightfall!”
“You should have listened to me,” said Eva.
“Oh, shush.” Ari pushed his will into his Ring of Insight, querying it for a way out of the hole he’d dug himself into. “I may not know your name, but I’ve seen your face. I wonder if you’ve heard some of the rumors about me?”
Ari used Miragion to shift his face to some of the ones stored within the enchantment, assuming Diya’s visage, and then that of an elderly man. The man in the breastplate’s eyes went wide with surprise.
“If you insist on making my life difficult setting the guards on me, I will take your face,” said Ari. “It’s no trouble for me. I can do it with a single thought.”
It was a bluff, but a good one, given how he’d already demonstrated the enchantment. Ari still hadn’t figured out how to store a new face within Miragion, which limited its usefulness somewhat.
“I’ll murder,” said Ari. “I’ll steal. I’ll insult Baron Luka. All while wearing your face. Is that what you want? Are you really interested finding out what it’s like to be a wanted man within the walls of Cliffhaven?”
“I–I’m sorry!” stammered the man. “I won’t tell anyone! Please, just let this be.”
Ari acted as though he was considering it for a moment before nodding and raising a hand toward the door. “Good. Now if you don’t mind, my friend and I will be leaving.”
Nobody said a word as he and Virgil hurried outside, and he could only hope that same silence extended into their recollections and conversations about what he’d just done.
CHAPTER 33
“I know, I know,” said Ari. “That probably wasn’t the best idea.”
He was talking to Eva, still in her sword form, as much as he was Virgil. Virgil was the one who answered first.
“He didn’t give you much choice, really.” Virgil flashed a small, appreciative smile. “You also managed to defuse the situation without actual violence or killing. I thought you handled that well, Lord Aristial.”
“Thank you, Virgil,” said Ari.
“He is only saying that because of how he idolizes you,” said Eva.
“And you don’t?” he whispered, toward the pommel of his sword.
He headed back through the market district of the city, pulling his Feathercloak tighter around his shoulders against the late afternoon chill. A group of women with matching hair and braids that looked enough alike to be sisters gave him and Virgil a wary berth as they passed by, studiously avoiding eye contact.
Ari took it as another sign of the general mood of the city. The people were right to be scared, or at the least, nervous. He didn’t know what would happen over the coming weeks and months any more than they did. It was always possible that Diya could make peace with the city, but given what Ari had seen of the man, both through his eyes and Mythril’s, he found it rather hard to imagine him sitting down to negotiate fair terms with people he considered to be his lessers.
He paused as he and Virgil were walking past a market stall that must have been set up in the last few minutes, as it’d been absent on his last trip through the area. A young girl barely old enough to be taken seriously as a merchant was sitting behind a small table upon which an array of clothing items, mostly socks, underwear, and gloves, had been set up.
“Hold on a second,” Ari said to Virgil.
The girl gave him an uncertain smile as he approached the table. Ari smiled back and ran a finger across a pair of white silk gloves.
“Kerys’ family used to farm silk,” said Ari. “Did you know that?”
“She mentioned it once,” said Virgil. “Are you thinking of getting her a gift?”
Ari nodded. “Just a small something to thank her for being her. How much for this set, young lady?”
“Oh!” The girl stood up a little straighter, though her head still barely came up to Ari’s chest. “It’s twenty copper for the set, sir.”
“You only have to buy one,” said Virgil. “I mean, Kerys, with her injury probably wouldn’t get much use out of having both.”
Ari nodded, but his focus was on the make of the gloves. They were elbow length, which was perfect, and they seemed to be about the right size.
“Here,” he said, handing the girl a full gold coin. “You can keep the rest.”
The girl’s eyes bulged, and Ari watched as she started to thank him and then decided to bow deeply instead. He gestured to Virgil and tucked the gloves into his pocket.
***
The Cornerside Bunkhouse was close to empty when they arrived back, with only Demira tending to the pot on the hearth in the common room. Ari asked her if she’d seen Kerys or Amber, but the questions didn’t seem to register to her ears.
“Have a seat,” she said. “You two are growing boys! Supper will be a while, so you can relax for now.”
Ari nodded politely and sat down at one of the tables. Virgil took a seat across from him and fished a pack of Betrothal cards out of his pocket. Ari played a few games against him, losing the first after his Princess absconded with Virgil’s Bard, and then winning the next two through by assassinating Virgil’s King each time and forcing the Queen into marriage.
Eva shifted into her incarnate form during one of the moments when Demira was distracted with her cooking pot. The elderly innkeeper didn’t seem to notice or mind the new arrival, and Eva whispered small hints to Ari as he and Virgil played another round of cards.
Demira brought them dinner about an hour later. The plate she set down in front of Ari was laden with thin pieces of soft bread in the shape of fingers and curried chicken an
d peas. He’d been intending to wait for Amber and Kerys to get back before eating, but the smell of fresh bread and complicated spices overwhelmed his willpower.
“This is incredible,” muttered Virgil, through a mouthful of curry.
“What’s that?” called Demira.
“I said…” Virgil sighed, and he settled for giving her a smile and rubbing his stomach, rather than trying to make himself heard.
“Truly, it is quite good,” said Eva. “I feel I dismiss my appreciation for food too often because of how easy it is for me to go without it.”
“I think in this case, you’re lucky that Demira can’t hear,” said Ari. “If she got the idea into her head that you’ve been starving yourself, she’d try to fatten you up.”
“I have not been starving myself,” said Eva. “You know what I refer to.”
“Starving?” called Demira. “Hmmm. Yes, you do seem like you could use some more, dear. I didn’t even notice you were here before. You’re thin like a waif.”
Eva frowned and tried to politely decline seconds by waving her hands, to no avail. Ari grinned and stole a bread stick from her plate, using it to balance out the spicy taste of the curry. Demira also brought out cups of a deep, rich red wine, and the combination of food and drink left him wondering why the inn didn’t have more patrons.
“Kerys said she’d be back for supper,” said Ari, trying not to let the fact feed into his worry.
“She seemed confident about traversing the city on her own,” said Virgil.
“I agree,” said Eva. “Perhaps you are just worrying for the sake of worrying, Aristial. Kerys lived in Cliffhaven for a time, and she is more capable than you sometimes give her credit for.”
Eva reached a hand across the table and set it reassuringly across his. The main illumination in the common room came from the hearth, and shadows flickered across her elegant face. She had her silver-blue braid hanging across one shoulder, and she was still wearing one of his old tunics.
“It’s not that I don’t think she’s capable,” he said. “It’s just… easy to assume the worst, given all we’ve been through.”
It felt as though the more he thought or spoke about Kerys, the darker his imagination became in regards to what she currently was doing. He tapped his fingers against the table and rested his other hand against the pocket he’d put the gloves and the copper hand in.
The common room door opened. Ari stood up on reflex, and turned toward the entryway in time to see Amber striding into the inn. She closed the door behind her, glanced around the room, and raised an eyebrow.
“No Kerys?” she asked.
“She has not arrived back, as of yet,” said Eva.
“Interesting,” said Amber. “Well, that explains why he looks how he does.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” snapped Ari.
“It’s one of those observations that was meant for everyone but you, Ari,” said Amber. “Is that curry I smell?”
Amber didn’t say much else to the others until she’d finished eating. Demira hovered around the table while she was, and somehow, Amber seemed able to hold an actual conversation with her. Though, what they were talking about often jumped from one subject to another, with the only link being two words that sounded similar that the elderly innkeeper could make a logical connection between. Amber spoke of her potions and received advice on making lotion, and so forth.
“She’s still not back,” said Ari. It had been more than an hour since the sun had set, and even through the inn’s dusty window, he could see the regular folk clearing the streets for the night.
“Kerys is fine,” said Amber. “You forget that I was her friend during the time that she lived in Cliffhaven. It wasn’t unusual for her to stay out late, even back when her injury was still fresh.”
“That doesn’t make me feel much better,” muttered Ari.
“You’re like an anxious puppy,” said Amber. “Lucky for you, I come bearing a distraction. I discovered which alchemist is the most likely candidate for the one that sold the poison that killed Baron Ogwell.”
That was enough to pique Ari’s interest. He leaned forward, propping his elbows against the table.
“Go on,” he said.
“Ormus Wildeye,” said Amber. “He’s the type of unscrupulous sort that wouldn’t balk at selling potions and charging an extra fee to forget that he ever sold them. He was on my shortlist right after the incident happened.”
“Why do you think it was him?” asked Ari.
“He’s only been selling potions to private parties ever since the old Baron’s death,” said Amber. “Hasn’t opened his shop up once. I know him personally, and he’s got an addiction to drink that would make it impossible for him to sustain himself like that unless he’d come across a major windfall.”
“That seems like scant evidence to base such serious suspicions off,” said Eva.
“Oh, I forgot to mention, he also is one of three people in the city who sells poison,” said Amber, dryly. “I’m one of the other two, and the third only dabbles in women’s needs through the Founder’s Temple. There was a reason why I was confident I’d be able to find out who it was.”
Eva and Amber traded annoyed looks. Ari tapped his fingers on the table, drawing their attention back.
“I’m assuming you know how to find this man,” said Ari.
“His apothecary is in a cellar, underneath Margo’s Tannery on the eastern edge of the market district,” said Amber. “There’s a sign out front, and you’ll know from the smell that you’ve found the right place. I make no guarantees of whether you’ll find him there, but I suspect you’ll at least find something.”
Ari nodded and stood up from the table. Eva sighed and shook her head.
“Is it wise for you to follow up on this lead just yet, or are you seizing on this as a distraction from the absence of Lady Kerys?” she asked.
“Honestly, both,” said Ari. “If I’m going to break in to an apothecary, better to do it at night.”
“I should come along to keep watch,” said Virgil.
“You should stay here, in case Kerys comes back,” said Ari.
Virgil started to object and then hesitated, seeming as though he’d warmed to the prospect on consideration.
“Amber, do you mind looking around for Kerys if she still isn’t back in, say, an hour?” asked Ari.
“She’s fine, Aristial,” said Amber. “Really, she is. She had friends here in Cliffhaven. Friends who she hasn’t seen in a while. They probably went out for drinks.”
Ari chewed his lip, still feeling uneasy. “Please? Just in case.”
“Yes, I’ll look around for her,” said Amber. “Happy?”
“No, but I’m satisfied,” said Ari. “Come on, let’s go, Eva.”
She nodded and stood up from the table. Demira was in the other room, which meant that Eva could shift forms freely, and Ari tucked Azurelight back into the scabbard across his shoulders as he headed for the door.
CHAPTER 34
It was dark outside, and a cold mist slowly ebbed through the streets, obscuring Ari’s view into the distance. He pulled his Feathercloak tighter around him as he started through the city, trying to stay focused on his objective.
The idea of Kerys having found her way into trouble was just another potential problem to add to his already-full plate. The last thing Ari needed, on top of raising an army to defend Etheria, helping the Ravarian refugees gain asylum within the city, and prove his own innocence against the charge of poisoning the old Baron, was to also save Kerys from danger. Again.
“I know what you are thinking, Aristial,” said Eva, through the bond. “It is still premature for you to be worrying about Lady Kerys to this degree.”
“I should get a leash for her,” muttered Ari. “Tie her up when it’s necessary.”
“That is one of the most appalling things you have ever said aloud,” said Eva.
“I didn’t mean in like, a sexual way, tho
ugh that could be fun, too,” he said.
“When Lady Kerys comes back to the inn, I’ll be sure to tell her that.”
“Please don’t.”
There were more people out and about near the city’s center, though the denizens of the night had a distinctly different ambience to them. Groups of men traveled the streets talking in boisterous voices, drunk or looking to soon be. Women stood outside doorways smelling of sweat and perfume, calling out to interested patrons in breathy voices.
Ari wandered through the night, wishing he’d gotten more specific directions from Amber. He turned onto a street that seemed like it might be the right one, and as he made his way further down it, the scent she’d mentioned became more noticeable. A mixture of aged meat, the coppery scent of blood, and something akin to dusty animal fur.
“I think that’s it,” said Ari, pointing to a door at the bottom of a set of basement stairs. He saw the sign next, a wooden oval with the words “Wildeye’s Apothecary” painted on the front.
The shop was closed and the door was locked. There was a small window in the wall next to the entranceway, and from the dust coating it, Ari got the sense that it had been a while since anyone had been inside.
He debated whether it was worth breaking in. There were few people in either direction that would be able to see him through the misty darkness, though the noise might still attract attention. All he’d need to do would be to smash the window, slide Azurelight through, and have Eva open the door from the inside.
“I’m going to circle around the block once, first,” said Ari.
“That would be wise,” replied Eva.
He’d only just made it around the corner when he caught sight of a figure out of the corner of his eye—a man who was doing a masterful job at acting like he was paying attention to nothing in particular. Ari slowed his pace as he continued forward another fifty or so feet, confirming what he already suspected.
“We are being followed, milord,” said Eva.
Reborn Raiders (The Weatherblight Saga Book 4) Page 20