by W.J. May
“Gotta go.” He swung his pack over his shoulder as the little man eagerly weaved his way through the crowd. “One hour. Don’t go wandering off by yourself. Stay at the pub.”
Katerina quickly slipped the shilling into her pocket, fighting the rising panic in her chest. “But I thought we were supposed to stick—”
A second later, he was gone.
“—together.”
Her shoulders wilted as she was left standing perfectly still in the middle of the bustling crowd. Then her head turned towards the pub and she started trudging forward with a quiet sigh.
“They’d better have biscuits…”
* * *
After her last visit to a tavern, Katerina had learned to be cautious. After being stolen by a band of thugs away from said tavern, that caution had developed into a healthy fear.
She sat at a private booth in the back corner, where she had a good view of the action without really being a part of it. It was a wise decision. Over the course of the next hour, she witnessed no less than nine fights, five dance-offs, and one very uncomfortable proposal.
A dwarf drunkenly serenaded a nymph. A shifter proudly proclaimed he could turn into the ‘king of beasts’ before accidentally shrinking into a hedgehog. And unless Katerina was very much mistaken, the same troll she’d seen dancing in the first tavern was dancing here as well—eyes closed with a beatific smile on his face as he swayed back and forth to a melancholy ballad.
And this is why we’re supposed to stick together…
As it neared the hour mark, Katerina got up from the table and made her way up to the bar to order some food. They seemed to have a wide selection, but she had yet to see anything remotely edible for humans. Although a part of her dearly wanted to order Dylan some scarab shells just to see the look on his face.
“What’ll it be today, miss?”
Her eyes flickered up to the bar as a man with three too many arms wiped off the counter while simultaneously offering her a menu. She took it quickly, not wanting to stare, and ordered the first thing innocuous enough for her to recognize.
“Two sandwiches and two ciders please.” She laid her money upon the counter and tapped her fingers nervously as he disappeared into the kitchen. It had only been about thirty seconds since she’d gotten up from her table, but already she was getting ‘the eye’ from no fewer than seven different men seated around the bar.
Don’t accept drinks from anyone, and don’t let anyone drink you. Rules to live by.
To live by is right.
When Katerina finally chanced a peek around, she saw a man grinning at her from the end of the bar. A grin that was made all the more feral by the two giant fangs hanging all the way down to his collar. The man by his side wasn’t much better. He was suave enough to blow a kiss, but when he turned to the side Katerina could have sworn she saw a pair of gills.
She stifled a shudder and took the tray of food as soon as it was offered. With a hasty “keep the change,” she swiftly headed back to the table, keeping her head down and her eyes locked firmly on the floor.
If only it was enough.
“Well, hello there!”
The tray vanished right out of her hands, disappearing into thin air. Her lips parted with a gasp, and she jerked up her chin to see the tallest man in the world smiling down at her. At a first glance, he seemed to be all limbs. Legs as long as her body. Arms that stretched down to the floor. But upon closer inspection, he was actually quite small. The impressive height, as well as everything else about him, was nothing but an illusion. The same sort of illusion that had stolen her lunch.
“Hello yourself,” she snapped, her temper getting the better of her. She’d watched these hooligans long enough to have no patience with them now. “Want to give me back that tray?”
He lowered to the floor with a toothy grin. “What’s the hurry? I’ve been watching you for a while, you know. The most beautiful girl in the village.” He curled his finger through the air, and a sprig of flowers popped into his hand. “I was hoping we might spend a little time together…”
“Absolutely not!” She swiped the flowers away and cast them to the floor. “Now give me back that tray before I—”
“Before you what?” he taunted playfully, thrilled that she was talking to him no matter how angry her tone. “You know, I think you’re even cuter when you’re mad.”
Oh, that’s it!
Without stopping to think, she swung her fist towards his face. It was a strong punch. One that came with absolutely no warning. She might have made contact, too, if the man hadn’t seen it coming and vanished into the air. The second he was gone his magic went with him. The flowers disappeared while her tray popped back into sight, sitting innocently on her table.
“That’s right, you’d better run!” she gloated, smoothing down her dress. Those who had seen the altercation lifted their hands with a polite smattering of applause, further boosting her rapidly inflating ego. “You have to use force with upstarts like that,” she said authoritatively, wishing very much that Dylan had been there to see her success. “Little coward—”
If only she had stopped there. But ever since her father was murdered and she was chased out of her rightful kingdom by a pair of hellish dogs, the princess was stuck with the very worst luck.
Her foot caught on the edge of a table, and her dress twisted around her legs. Less than a second later, she was falling in what felt like slow motion. Falling right…through one of the patrons?
She let out a frightened shriek as the man flashed her a cartoonishly-somber look. But just like clockwork, a strong hand came out of nowhere and caught her a second before she hit the floor.
“Making friends, I see.”
She straightened up to see Dylan staring down at her with a beaming smile. There was a flush of color to his cheeks and a windswept look of triumph about him. It only made things even worse.
“I wasn’t…” Her cheeks blossomed bright red as she gestured back to the tray. “If you must know, I was actually teaching these good people a lesson about…holy hot-sticks!” She both forgot and remembered all at once. “That man! Dylan, I think that I actually—”
“—went through him. Yeah, you did.”
She paled in horror as she glanced back to where he was still sitting, but Dylan merely flashed the man a cheerful smile. A smile that was absolutely not returned.
“Don’t worry about Lester—he died ages ago. Hardly even notices anymore.” The translucent outline of the man seemed to shimmer in rage as Dylan grinned again. “You all right, Lester?”
The ghost flipped him off and returned his eyes to the table, staring longingly at an untouched drink. Dylan waved obliviously and led Katerina back to their table.
“Yeah, he’s great…” She stared at him in shock as he settled down at the booth—tearing into his sandwich with the hunger of a thousand men—before perching tentatively beside him. He might be unaware of the giant elephant in the room, but she was unable to let it go so easily. And, no, it wasn’t the ghost.
“Did you really just kill someone?”
There was a pause in the eating. Followed by a splash of cider.
“Not someone so much as…something.” He lifted his arms and looked down in disgust at a thick layer of green ooze covering the front of his jacket. “That’ll take ages to clean…” A rather mournful expression flitted across his face before he lit up again. “But hey, I got the new hatchet I needed as well as some shoes for you. They’re in my pack—I’ll show you later.”
So many questions. So little time. But, strangely enough, now that the world had settled back on its axis and the two of them were reunited, eating sandwiches, it was a different question entirely that rose to the princess’ lips. “What did you mean earlier? When you said I wasn’t your type?”
Dylan choked on a piece of bread and washed it quickly down with a drink. He resurfaced a moment later with an unexpected smile. “Where the heck did that come from?”
He froze a moment in absolute surprise before setting the sandwich back on his plate. “Kat, I never wanted to give you the impression that—”
“Because I get it,” she said quickly. “You’ve been out on your own for longer than you can probably remember. You know how to live off the land. You know how to fight. You can take care of yourself.” A sudden pang tightened her chest. She didn’t realize how jealous she was of those words until she said them out loud. “It isn’t any wonder that someone like me isn’t your type.”
His lips parted as a very strange expression flickered across his face. One that bore a strong resemblance to that soft tenderness she’d seen back in the woods. It was gone before she could say for sure. Replaced with an enchanting smile. “Yes, except that’s not what I meant in the slightest.” His eyes twinkled as he took a deep drink of his cider. “Beautiful, inquisitive, resilient, stubborn…that’s not my type at all.”
* * *
The two of them finished eating as quickly as possible and made their way out of the outdoor marketplace, heading back to the main road. Dylan told her quietly over their food that he’d heard rumors and bits of idle talk that groups of strange men had been combing the countryside—working their way deeper and deeper away from the kingdom. While the news hardly came as a surprise, especially after what the giant, Bernie, had seen, it was plenty of motivation for them to get out of the open and into the woods.
“I still can’t believe you bought me shoes,” Katerina murmured as they headed past a caravan of shifters and goblins who’d set up shop on the side of the road. “The mighty Dylan Aires, shopping for women’s footwear. I certainly hoped you remembered that red is out this season—”
A low whistle interrupted her teasing, and the two of them glanced over to see trio of shifters gawking appreciatively from the side of the road. They may have looked like men on the outside, but whatever beast lay within had most certainly endowed them with strength. Even hidden beneath their clothing, Katerina could see the thick, muscular arms. Their powerful frames leaning casually against the side of a wagon, an assortment of needless weapons dangling from their belts.
“Well, aren’t you the luckiest man in the kingdom?” The tallest one called to Dylan, peeling himself away from the wagon and walking towards them with a surprisingly friendly smile. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such a pretty girl in person. She yours?”
Am I…his?! What the heck kind of place is this?!
Dylan avoided the question but smiled back, keeping things intentionally light and cheerful. “Where are you folks headed?”
By now, the other shifters had joined them and a group of goblins came out as well, each one looking Katerina up and down before joining in the conversation.
“We heard there was a market nearby.” The man gestured to the wagons behind him, each one filled to the brim with everything from food, to clothing, to blankets, to blades. “Thought we might try our luck. See if we can unload any of this merchandise.”
And I wonder where you got that merchandise. Katerina’s eyes flickered over the wagons, suddenly convinced that everything she was looking at was either stolen or forged.
Dylan obviously thought so, too, but he kept a smile on his face and his opinions safely to himself. “I’m sure you will. The place is packed.”
“You just came from there?” The shifter pretended to be surprised, although it was clear they’d been walking down the road. “Shame. We were hoping we might entice you to trade. The girl for some food?” he asked coaxingly. “Or maybe a new blade to keep you occupied?”
Are they freakin’ serious?!
Both she and Dylan stiffened at the same time, although he kept his face a perfect mask of calm. For a second he raised a teasing eyebrow, pretending to consider, before refusing outright.
“If only I could.” He wrapped a deliberate arm around her waist, pulling her closer in an unmistakable display of possessiveness. “But I’m afraid I can’t do without her.” His eyes flashed to her face, twinkling with the hint of a secret smile. “She’s indispensable.”
For a split second, she was terrified they were going to take her by force. Terrified that the entire encounter would dissolve into a bloodbath that neither she nor Dylan would be able to walk away from. But the shifter in charge merely threw his head back with a laugh.
“Like I said…it’s a shame.” He lifted a hand to wave, while simultaneously signaling for the wagons to keep moving. “Safe travels. And please come find me…if you ever change your mind.”
Dylan’s arm tightened around her waist as he forced a tight smile of farewell. It wasn’t until the first wagon had passed them by that he dared to release her. And even then, she maintained a close distance as they walked through the tiny crowd. Dylan didn’t seem to mind. Men and goblins parted in front of them as they cut through, but they got their fair share of whispers and stares. At one point, Katerina could have sworn an especially brazen goblin grabbed Dylan’s derrière as they walked by.
It didn’t matter. He kept moving. Never slowing down. Never making direct eye contact with anyone they passed. It was a good strategy. The only strategy that was guaranteed to keep them both alive apparently. And it worked, too.
It worked all the way until a drunken shifter near the back of the group reached out and caught the edge of Katerina’s skirt.
Dylan had him up against a wagon before she could even turn around. His face pale with rage and the edge of his knife pressed against the man’s throat.
“Dylan, no!” she gasped, but it was too late.
The second the rest of them heard the commotion, the caravan stopped in place. Within seconds, the shifter they’d been speaking to—the one in charge—hurried to the back of the group, stopping short in surprise when he saw the scuffling pair by the wagon.
“What the heck is this?!”
Dylan glanced over his shoulder, but the knife didn’t move an inch. “I’d assumed when you bid us safe travels that you were being sincere. That we could pass through without harm.” He spoke through gritted teeth, visibly fighting the urge to cut the shifter in half. “I’d assumed that your word carried the authority for the rest of the group. Perhaps I was mistaken.”
Katerina’s eyes shot to the man in terror. It was a brilliantly worded explanation, one that required their release in order for the man to save face. She just wasn’t sure that kind of logic would work on people who lived in such a manner. The kind who were always itching for a fight.
She underestimated their pride.
“You were not mistaken.”
The man strode forward and ripped Dylan’s knife away with his bare hands. The shifter pinned against the wagon gasped in relief, but no sooner had he done so than his own leader grabbed him by the throat—punching him three times in quick succession. He crumpled to the ground without a sound. Eyes sealed shut. Out cold.
“And you will have no other problems. I assure you.”
His eyes flashed as he cocked his head towards the open road. It was a welcome dismissal, but a curt one. If Dylan hadn’t so publicly challenged his authority, there would most likely have been a different man lying on the ground.
And Katerina wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.
She stood staring, her breath caught in her throat.
Dylan said not a word. He just nodded swiftly and grabbed Katerina by the arm, pulling her down the road at such a pace it was all she could do to keep from breaking into a jog. They didn’t slow down until the wagons were far behind them. Even then, they kept up a steady clip until they’d lost themselves in the greenery of the woods. It was only then that Dylan suddenly released her, spinning around so that he could examine her for himself.
> “Are you all right?” he asked softly, looking her up and down while avoiding her eyes.
She nodded mutely. Now that the danger was behind them, she was far more interested in Dylan’s reaction than anything the shifters had done.
Indispensable, was she? Impossible to live without?
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” he muttered, still avoiding her gaze. “But with so many of them and just the two of us…I couldn’t see a way to kill the man while keeping you safe.”
Perhaps it’s because I’m beautiful, inquisitive, resilient, and stubborn…
“At any rate, I don’t imagine we’ll be seeing them again.” He took a step back, squinting up at the mid-afternoon sun. “Bands like that usually travel… they usually… why are you smiling?”
It was true. Despite everything that had just happened, Katerina was standing there with a giant smile plastered on her face. She didn’t answer him. She didn’t say a word. She simply took a step forward, stretched up on her toes, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you for the shoes.”
Chapter 9
“I’m telling you the truth!” Katerina exclaimed. “The guy had to be at least nine feet tall! He vanished our sandwiches into thin air, challenged me to some sort of duel, then pulled out a sword!”
Dylan kept his eyes on the ground, a faint smile playing about his lips. “A sword, huh? Sounds intense.”
The two had been walking for the last three hours, mostly uphill, straight into the heart of the forest, losing themselves in the emerald trees. It had been a difficult journey, filled with steep ravines and mountain climbs, but their spirits were surprisingly high. The longer the journey, the taller the tales. When Katerina had started telling Dylan about the tavern twenty minutes earlier, she had more or less stuck to the facts. By now, the magician was a near-giant. The sprig of flowers had turned into a blade. And the flirting had escalated to a full-out declaration of war. After kissing his cheek earlier she still touched her lower lip periodically, swearing she could still feel the faint roughness of his chin. He needed a shave. It had been a few days, and there was a light shadow now showing on his jawline. It made him more rugged, more—