Skulduggery

by Logan Jacobs

  It was best to trust no one when you traveled to the area, but it was my best hope for a workshop. If this didn’t pan out, I was out of options.

  I pulled the hood over my chestnut locks and began the long walk to the Entertainment District. It was on the opposite side of the Halfling District, far enough away from Hagan’s all-seeing eye yet close enough to where it wasn’t too far out of reach. Dar and Penny had their own plans today, so I decided to make this journey alone. It was easier to go unnoticed when I traveled by myself, and anonymity was key for this entire whiskey operation.

  I could tell I was nearing the district when sound began to creep louder like an approaching ocean wave. It grew louder with every step I took, a mixture of music, creatures who roared, and the cheers of the rowdy crowd. It must have been the circus everyone chatted about on the street corners, but I’d never witnessed it for myself. The air smelled of spiced meats and sugary desserts, as well as the odor of the less fortunate humans who lingered here, whose bodies were rancid from weeks without a proper bath.

  There was a thick wall of people lining the streets, and I watched as the performers made their way to the famous theater. There were men on stilts, fire breathers, sword swallowers, a zoo of mysterious creatures and … the dancers.

  They caught my eye.

  The dancers were works of art themselves. They wore colorful silk garbs that left little to the imagination, with a cropped bodice and a transparent skirt, and I was forced to make a readjustment in my pants at the sway of their hips alone.

  Their chastity belts that protected their virginity were on full display, but after I saw the long-tanned legs of the lead dancer, I was hooked. I always loved a good challenge, and I wanted to be the one who unlocked the unattainable treasure it held within its iron bars.

  The lead woman was beautiful in an exotic way, with long curled locks of raven black hair and a body I wished to explore. Her wide-set eyes were a vibrant shade of blue, so clear they were like an untouched oasis in the desert, and the twitch of her full lips and the gyration of her narrow and taut waist called to me.

  I pushed through the crowd of dwarves, halflings, and elves so I could reach the front of the crowd and get closer to this beautiful woman. I’d completely forgotten the real reason I’d traveled here, as any thoughts about where I could have found a workshop were banished from my mind by her exquisite beauty. Every step I took toward the theater pushed thoughts of the workshop further and further away.

  The theater was a colossal building with crumbled stone walls and chipped pillars, but I heard it was roomy enough for a crowd of hundreds to find seats inside. I flipped the doorman a coin as I passed, a small fee for anyone who wanted to witness the extravagant performance. Next, I made my way up the steps and into the stands, and I was astounded when I laid my eyes on the magnitude of the theater.

  The interior was even bigger than I’d imagined and filled with a variety of cheap cloth banners. They were an assortment of colors I’d never seen brought together under one roof. Reds, blues, purples, and greens of every shade, and each had a painted image of a different magical creature. There were garlands of flowers and woven fabric hung between the pillars that helped hold up the gargantuan building.

  The theater was circular and surrounded a sunken sand stage, or rather a circular ring for us to look down upon the performers. It was huge and could have held a crowd of one thousand, but only a few hundred of us filtered in through the doors. The ceiling was domed and painted by a true artist, and it depicted a series of acts and talented performers throughout the ages the theater had been around.

  The seats were decrepit, and many people brought pillows to sit on. But, since this was my first time here, I was forced to take a seat upon the hard stone. It was utterly uncomfortable, since the stone was jagged in some places and pitted in others. I wasn’t sure how I would manage to sit through an entire performance on its odd surface, but I figured the exotic dancer was worth it.

  I searched for the dancer I’d set my sights upon, but she was nowhere to be found. I almost left in disappointment, but then the lamps behind us were snuffed out, and the show began.

  A man in colorful garb came out to the stage. He wore an old red cloak, and the front of his black velvet jacket was covered in golden buttons. He had velvet pants to match and a worn pair of white and black oxfords on his feet.

  “Welcome to Count Kieran’s Circus,” the strange man on stage began, “where our illustrious array of magical creatures and beautiful girls will entertain you with their ferocity and talent. I am Count Kieran, of course. Now, prepare to be amazed as your adventure begins with the mermaids.”

  He abruptly raised his hands into the air, and a wall of water replaced our view of the stage. I started backward as the stench of magic filled my nose, but then I investigated the cascading liquid further. That’s when I saw them.

  Mermaids.

  I’d heard tales of the mythical creatures, but I didn’t quite believe my eyes. They had heads of flowing seaweed hair and multi-colored tails made of scales that glittered as they reflected the lamplight. I was intoxicated by their sweet smiles and the power of their tails as they performed an acrobatic underwater sequence to the tune of a drum and a fiddle. They moved in time with the music’s steady beat as they sang their siren song. They flipped and twirled within the crystal blue magic pool and mesmerized us with every note that slipped from their mouths.

  Earlier, I’d debated leaving, but now I was hooked on whatever this place was selling, and I was curious as to who was behind the heavy magic used to create the water wall.

  The mermaids suddenly disappeared, and a water unicorn took their place. It was majestic and more magnificent than any horse I’d ever seen. It had razor sharp fins on its back that shimmered like a rainbow of colors, and its body was as smooth as the stones of the Omelian River. The single horn which stuck out from atop its head shone bright like a rainbow against a clear blue sky after a spring storm.

  The water unicorn entertained us as it ran its fins through the edge of the water wall and jumped into the air to perform miraculous stunts through hoops of fire. Suddenly, it dove down to the sand, splashed into the grainy ground with a loud plop, and disappeared. The magical water wall followed shortly after.

  I sat up in my seat as the dancers entered the sand-covered stage atop a horde of elephants. The elephants were as tall as halfling houses, and their thunderous steps shook the entire theater. Phoenix foxes danced beneath their feet, with their bodies that consisted of only flame and a call like the crackling of a fire.

  The girls danced atop the elephants even as they reared into the air, but my eyes were locked on the raven-haired dancer with the light blue eyes I’d seen earlier.

  Her gaze met mine from across the large theater, and then she winked.

  My mouth dried in an instant as my cock twitched in my pants. Had she meant that wink for me? There were others in the audience, but I was sitting a bit separated from the next closest member.

  I had to know who she was, and I knew I needed to get closer to her. I clutched the bottle of whiskey in my hands and let my eyes follow her perfect form through the fluster of activity onstage. I planned to sneak back to her dressing room after the performance was over so I could meet her. We’d have a chance to do more than just talk, if I was lucky.

  The chastity belt might pose a problem, but hell, I’d unlocked the elven door everyone claimed was unpickable. I bet I could have the lock on her belt picked in under ten seconds.

  The dancers leaped off their elephants to perform a variety of aerial stunts with flips and tucks from rope to rope. It showed off every inch of their amazing bodies, from the bounce of their breasts to the curve of their asses. All of the women were beautiful, but the dark-haired jewel with the ice-blue eyes held all my attention.

  The elephants and phoenix foxes left the stage, and the dancers gracefully made their way to the ground. Then a saddled animal was brought out and fenced in th
e middle of the sandy center.

  I recognized it immediately. It was a hippogriff.

  The hippogriff was part falcon and part horse, with mighty feathered wings in various shades of brown and white. The talons were knifelike and glinted like the sharpened blade of an elven sword. Its brown horse’s tail swished back and forth as it paced its enclosure, but the beak and its beady eyes truly terrified me. It cawed at the crowd as it snapped its mighty beak that could surely break a man’s neck in one chomp. The beady eyes were amber, but sharp, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention as it stared down the crowd.

  Count Kieran entered the stage once again as the girls danced seductively around him, and I spared a glance at the other men sitting in the crowd. Their eyes bulged out of their skulls, and their mouths hung wide open. I even saw a dwarf a few rows over who wiped at some drool that had escaped down his long beard. I might have laughed, but I was no different. We were all glued to the way their bodies moved, and it was also the reason many of us had walked through the theater’s doors.

  “Here we have the mighty hippogriff,” Count Kieran gestured, “untamable, and sure to throw off any rider. We are asking which of you is brave enough to try and tame the beast? Which of you is strong enough to handle a creature of this magnitude?” The count paused for emphasis. “The man who manages to stay atop the illustrious hippogriff’s back will be rewarded with a kiss from our most beautiful dancer, Cimarra. So, do we have any takers?”

  My heart stopped as the girl I had my eye on throughout the entire show stepped forward at his command. She blew kisses to the crowd with her rose-colored lips, and before I knew what I was doing, my hand was in the air.

  “Yes, you sir!” Count Kieran bellowed at me from down below. “Come down here and see if you can tame the beast and win a kiss from a beautiful girl.”

  Shit, what had I done? I’d heard about the kiss and raised my hand, but was that a mistake? The crowd probably thought I was a lovesick idiot, and they had not been wrong by any means. My heart thundered in my chest as I approached the stage, and for a brief moment I thought I was a fool and wished I could have taken it back. I should have stuck with my original plan to sneak backstage after the show, but I couldn’t back out now. I took a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart, but it wasn’t working, so I risked a quick drink from my whiskey bottle. The liquid burned and soothed my throat at the same time, and I figured they would all think it was a bottle of medicine or something. After all, no one was allowed to drink alcohol, and you couldn’t even get it on the black market.

  I descended the precarious stairs toward the blue-eyed girl I wished to bed. Then I entered the sand stage, and the crowd cheered at my stupidity over a pretty face, but I wouldn’t back out now.

  I’d never been a quitter, and I sure as hell wasn’t about to start.

  “Alright sir, when you are ready, hop into the hippogriff’s saddle,” Count Kieran yelled loudly enough so everyone could hear. “If you hold on for at least one minute, then you will win a kiss from Cimarra.”

  I took off my cloak and hid the bottle of whiskey inside of it as I placed it beside the gate. They had the hippogriff by its halter, and with the pissed-off look it gave me, I started to wonder if it was the end of the road for me.

  We’d had steer on the farm, and I’d ridden them a few times on a bet from some of the other village boys. I eventually got so good at it that my bets with the boys repaid themselves tenfold. I was a decent rodeo rider, but a steer was a lot different than a sharp-beaked hippogriff.

  I took a shaky breath before I climbed the edge of the fence, and the drumroll didn’t help calm my nerves. I reached over, wrapped the rope of the saddle around my hand, then threw my legs over and onto the massive beast.

  It bucked immediately, and I knew I was in for a wild ride. Thankfully, my body remembered more about my rodeo days as a kid than I could have hoped for, and I clenched my thighs tight against the beast’s sides and moved my hips in time with the rock of the hippogriff’s back. It was strong and whipped me back and forth, but somehow, I managed to keep my one-handed grip.

  The crowd roared as the thirty-second bell rang.

  “Thirty seconds down folks and only thirty more to go! Can he do it or will the hippogriff win once again?” Count Kieran asked the crowd.

  My legs burned where my thin pants chafed me, but I was determined to earn that kiss.

  Cimarra.

  Cimarra.

  Cimarra.

  I repeated her name over and over in my mind. It kept me focused on my goal and distracted me from the blood that gushed from my hand where the rope had sliced it open.

  It became harder and harder to hold on, and with only ten seconds left I thought I would lose my grip on the beast. But I locked onto Cimarra’s gaze, and I knew I needed to finish. I rode harder than I had ever ridden in my entire life, and when the final bell rang and proclaimed my victory, the crowd roared so loudly I was sure Hagan heard it all the way over in the Thief’s Guild.

  “Wow!” the Count shouted. “This is amazing! Ladies and gentlemen, it appears we have a winner! Come down off the beast young man, and Cimarra will take you to the back so you can receive your prize.”

  I slid off the back of the hippogriff as it bucked, and then I jumped the gate just in time to avoid the snap of its beak. I snatched my cloak and whiskey bottle off the ground seconds before the dancers swarmed me and placed a leather crown atop my head. Then the beautiful girls giggled as they pushed me forward to face the crowd.

  I bowed for the fans, and I was met with hoots and hollers, as well as some other vulgar suggestions of what else I should do with Cimarra. I had to admit it was hard to disagree.

  The dancers pulled me backstage as they giggled and danced their way to the exit. Their laughter intoxicated me as it erased my exhaustion. I used my cloak to wipe the sweat from my face and neck, and I didn’t bother with my bloody hand. I’d earned a kiss from the beautiful Cimarra, and I planned to take it.

  We pushed past the blood-red fabric that acted as a door for the performers, and they led me over to the horse stalls.

  The gorgeous dancers pushed me into a pile of hay and stood around me with their delicate arms crossed. Cimarra pushed to the front of the group, and her jaw was set in a grim line.

  “What magic was in the bottle you drank from before you climbed down to the stage?” Cimarra demanded. “I saw you drink it, and we here at Count Kieran’s Circus don’t take lightly to cheaters.”

  “Take a sip.” I raised my hands and handed Cimarra the bottle of whiskey. I planned to save it for whoever I had to bribe for a workshop, but I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to appear heroic to a horde of beautiful women.

  “What is it?” she asked as her ice-blue eyes narrowed.

  Now that I was standing closer to her I felt the full impact of her beauty, and I had to take a deep breath to keep the room from spinning.

  “It’s only whiskey,” I told her. “Taste it for yourselves. I promise there was no magic involved in taming the hippogriff. It might be a crime to drink a little liquid courage, but I felt I had to before hopping onto a beast with flesh-shredding talons.”

  Cimarra inspected the glass bottle, and then she opened it and smelled the substance. Her eyes lit up like expensive sapphires as she took in its essence. Then the dancer took a tentative sip.

  “Wow,” she gasped as she ran her tongue across her full lips to savor the taste. “You weren’t lying.”

  “Nope,” I laughed before she handed it over to the other girls to try.

  “Well ladies,” she said as she passed the bottle back to another dancer, “it looks like tonight we are having ourselves a party, courtesy of the man who tamed the hippogriff.”

  The girls took the bottle and ran off as they told the others of the find, and they delighted in the taste of the whiskey. I froze as the bottle disappeared from my view. I hadn’t meant for them to take it away, and I wanted it back.

&nb
sp; “I need to get my bottle back,” I explained to Cimarra, but the dancer took my hand and helped me up, and my skin tingled everywhere she touched it.

  “They won’t tell, I promise,” Cimarra replied. “They don’t even know your name or where you are from, so who are they going to tell? There are a lot of humans who frequent the district who have brown hair and eyes. Although, you do have a handsome face and nice thick hair. Maybe you’ll tell me your name? I’ll keep it a secret.”

  “My name is Wade,” I responded as her eyes twinkled at me beneath a set of dark lashes.

  I didn’t exactly trust Cimarra, but she was right. Who would they tell when they knew nothing about me? Not to mention they had already drank the substance, so if they told the elves then they would lose their hands. And for what? A few coins?

  “Come, let us take care of your hand,” she insisted. “Then we can come join the party.”

  “What about my kiss?” I asked.

  “You can have it now,” she purred as she gave me a sexy smile, “but if you wait till later you might get even more.”

  I grinned. “That sounds like a deal.”

  I’d fallen into the well of this girl’s beauty and even if I’d yelled or clawed at the stones, I couldn’t have found a way out. She had enraptured me with a few simple words and her exotic looks, and I couldn’t wait for what she alluded would come later.

  Cimarra walked me over to their dressing room, and she guided me into a metal rimmed chair with a cracked leather seat cover. Then the dancer lifted my hand to her face as she inspected the bloody gash the hippogriff’s rope had granted me. Every touch was practiced, like she had inspected wounds thousands of times. She smelled of spices and rich vanilla perfume, and the scent was as strong as the toned muscles in her legs.

  My hand was sliced deeply in the center where the rope cut into the depths of my palm. I was sure I would need stitches, and I would have to wear gloves for the next few weeks to hide it from Hagan. He always swore if any of us hurt our hands and couldn’t pickpocket, he would have us on chamber pot duty for a month. How could a man without hands earn him money as a thief?