Gavin took the mug, tipping it to his mouth but obviously not taking the huge swig his father had. Even so, he winced and cleared his throat loudly before handing it to Markam. Aiden felt Chari move close to him, whispering in his ear. “It’s spicy. Only take a small sip,” Chari raised her eyebrow, making sure he knew she wasn’t joking.
Markam handled it well, blinking his eyes a few times but otherwise showing no ill effects. Aiden was surprised to see Chari take swig larger than either of the two boys and grinned when she was done before passing the mug to him. He inspected the large container, sniffing slowly before pulling his face back. The aroma of the drink curled into his nose and stayed there; burning like someone had dropped a hot coal into his face but he knew he couldn’t refuse. The duke was nodding subtly to him, encouraging him to take a drink. He blinked fast, dreading even letting the creamy pale liquid near his lip but slowly raised the mug and took a small sip.
The liquid was thick, creamy and at the very first it almost tasted like milk until the burning hit. Mixed with the smooth glow of the alcohol, it turned in his mouth and felt like his tongue was both being caressed and stabbed repeatedly. The sensation just continued down his throat and it took everything Aiden had not to drop the mug as he struggled with the Suelosa.
Poor Glowby raced back from playing with the leaping cutter fish, flashing frantically while bobbing around his head trying to figure out why Aiden was in distress. It was about then that the Suelosa began to mellow, the bright burning spice settling until it finally just lingered with a faint, creamy aftertaste. Aiden didn’t have a clue how anyone could handle a mouth full, but he had to admit if the burning terror of the first few moments weren’t included, he might actually grow to like the taste at the end.
“Well done! Especially for you, young Aiden, being your first taste of it,” The duke smiled, congratulating them. “It is bad luck to drop the mugs, but they can’t tell you that until after you drop them. Clever, eh? Setting up that great trap for the unsuspecting? They’d have dunked you in the ocean three times for your trouble! Believe me, I didn’t enjoy it,” The duke laughed, “Suelosa is not for the faint of heart, but then neither are the clans.”
Valeran held his hands up like an uncle with candy. “Now! Who wishes to go down into the festival? Come closer, I’ve got coin for you all,” He said, dropping several shiny coins into hands that were thrust towards him by the students.
Aiden froze, not knowing what he was supposed to do. A horrible thought flashed across his mind of being grabbed and chucking him into the ocean while his friends laughed if he held his hand out. Thankfully, Chari noticed his trepidation and came to his rescue.
“It’s okay, Aiden. He means you, too. It’s not like he’s giving away his treasury or something. Did you think Gavin invited you to come just so you could watch us have fun?” She elbowed him playfully, grinning.
Despite Chari’s reassurance, Aiden held his hand out with some misgivings. He’d not had a lot of coin in his life, and taking it from others just seemed odd to him. As he stretched his hands forth, Duke Terek winked at him and placed two piles of coins in his hand with one being larger than the other by double. It was more coins then Aiden’ had seen in a year.
“Now, Aiden, listen carefully. There are two piles. It doesn’t matter where you keep them, except do not keep them together. The clans will take what belongs to them.” He tapped the smaller pile first, grinning. “This pile here is called the father fishers pile; the other is called the mother’s milk pile. Guess which one you’ll end up keeping? Don’t give him any hints, you lot,” the duke mock growled at Aiden’s friends.
Aiden looked up into the friendly face of the duke, his dark beard and mustache framing his grinning teeth. He could see Trelakor watching him as well, a slow fishy smile on his wide, thin lips. Aiden thought furiously, trying to think. He hoped it would be the larger pile, but why? What is the difference between the father and mother pile? Of course, it had to be a mother and father question, with him having neither.
Glowby drifted over the coins, refusing to give him any hints either because he knew Aiden was smart enough, or he was enjoying watching him twist in the wind. It could be either as Glowby sometimes had a strange sense of humor. Aiden watched Trelakor, considering him for a few moments as he pondered the question.
An image of a mother holding a child flashed across his mind’s eye, suddenly giving him the answer he thought was best. “I…get to keep the mothers pile? Because…Because you keep children. Take care of them. The fish pile is… where they catch fish which are then eaten, sold, or even used to catch other fish? And the fisher goes out, while the mother stays. That’s what the clans would say, right?”
Duke Terek’s eyes widened and he laughed loudly before turning to Trelakor. “Ha! Ha! I say. We’re not all stupid, Trelakor!”
For his part, Trelakor was smiling broadly, obviously pleased at Aiden’s response while he bobbed his head up and down. “Perhaps your schools are not so useless, Valeran. Perhaps. But yes, that is an answer that is as right as any other I’ve heard.
A large, powerfully clawed hand landed on Aiden’s shoulder. “Tell me, boy. What lord’s house are you from? There are few that are friendly towards us, but perhaps you come from one of those?” He squinted, turning to Duke Terek mock-suspiciously.
For his part, Duke Terek just shook his head. “Not even close, Trelakor. The boy is an orphan at the school you so gleefully despise. In fact, he’s the one that saved young Baron Crean Wilthorn. Master of the house you currently contract with. His name is Aiden Finn.”
Surprise crossed the Arakuul’s face, membranes closing over his large eyes for a few moments before turning back to Aiden. “This Aiden? Ah yes, we have heard of you. Yes, we have.” Trelakor nodded, studying him anew as if realizing he was a gold coin instead of copper. “Truly, you bring something special, Valeran. Perhaps we have more to discuss than you think. In the meantime, we are very pleased to have you here, Aiden Finn.”
Trelakor released his shoulder, spreading his four hands outwards as if to encompass the mass of beings around them. “But, before we speak we should send the children off to enjoy the festival. Trelakor promises that you will not forget your visit, eh? Now, go and enjoy.”
Gavin grinned, nodding while he tucked his coins into two different places. One was in a coin pouch, and the other in his socks. Aiden watched while Markam and Chari did the same, though picking different places for each pile. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it, so Aiden chose to keep it simple and just placed them in separate pockets within his jerkin. He had no clue what to expect and didn’t want to make it too hard.
When they were done, Gavin led them towards one end of the large dock, and then out onto the sprawling walkways crowded with an ocean of beings.
“The coins are a game. Or a game within a game, really,” Gavin spoke while walking, “The clans will take the smaller as their due, but the challenge is they need to find it themselves. Even worse for them, if they take the larger pile by mistake they need to seek you out and give you something worthwhile before the day is out. It’s a matter of honor.”
Aiden just shook his head. The sea clans were strange but very interesting as he watched them mix in and amongst the crowds. There were a lot of them of all ages. Some were moving like they were also tourists, staring about them like Aiden himself was doing. Many were tending to some stall selling food or trinkets but by far the ones Aiden liked the best were the groups in drum circles, playing instruments or singing loud, vibrant music.
It was a chaotic beautiful mess, and all of the colors and different faces passing him intrigued Aiden immensely. He stood and watched as a group of Orchoran’s dressed in their full body clothes with only their eyes showing haggled with a Riften merchant whose five husbands were serving tea to them while she spoke.
The group of friends made their way through the crowds in a chatty haze, all of them enjoying the afternoon and chewing on
one bit of food or another as the mood took them. Aiden even saw Markam smile at a pretty clan girl as they enjoyed the fair. The feathers and bangles weaved into her hair making pleasant sounds in the ocean breeze.
In the end, their paths led them to a large flat area that seemed to be alive with dancers. There was a vigorous group of musicians in one corner beating out a fast, heart thumping beat while many young sea clan and others danced to the rhythmic music in any of fifty different ways. Some barely moved, eyes closed as they took in the beat and just shuffled back and forth, while still others jumped and turned in fantastic feats of acrobatics.
The four of them stood there, ogling the parade of youth and exuberance. Chari was tapping her feet, practically dancing where she stood and Aiden could tell that she was just about to grab one of them, secretly hoping that it would be him instead of Gavin. His stomach had already half dropped at the prospect when he felt himself grabbed, but not from the direction that Chari was. The strong pull made him almost fell flat on his face, but instead he crashed into a warm, interesting mix of soft and firm instead.
When he looked at what he’d crashed into, he was overwhelmed by a grinning clan girl, caramel-skinned with dark curly hair who laughed up at him gleefully. He tried to apologize but the girl just shook her head and pulled him further into the dancing maelstrom. “I’m sorry is not your name, is it? Did your parents hate you?” She grinned up at him, winking and holding his hand as she danced. She had calluses, but her hand was warm and inviting; strong like her body and limbs. She was about his age, perhaps a bit older and her eyes danced with happiness.
“N…no,” Aiden stammered, “No, my name is Aiden. Aiden Finn. I was just apologizing for bumping into you.”
She laughed again, her head thrown slightly back as she did so even as she half-danced with him. “Well, Aiden, then you’d be the first to apologize for bumping into me. Most boys thank me when they bump me.” She winked, wiggling her eyebrows playfully and giving him a mischievous look that made him blush furiously. At first, he was speechless, not sure what to say but she just spun in his arms, laughing as if his discomfort wasn’t a concern. He could see Glowby bouncing happily above the beautiful girls head as he squirmed.
“Are you going to ask what my name is? It’s customary you know, usually before bumping, but now that you’ve done it, it’s a bit more necessary, right?”
“Oh…uh…yes. God, I’m so sorry, you’ve just startled me but yes. I… um…what is your name?”
She laughed again, a beautiful musical melody that danced in the air. “I suppose I can tell you my name. I’m Skay Dawad. You were so sad over there, I had to come and make you smile. Will you smile for me, Aiden?” Her big brown eyes pulled Aiden in, making him realize that yes he really did want to do that for this beautiful girl.
“I… yes. Yes, I can smile,” He gave her an over-exaggerated smile which quickly turned into a grin as she giggled. He tried to dance or at least replicate some of what he was seeing around him which Skay seemed to find amusing. She slowed a bit, showing him a few moves that were easy and made him feel like he was flowing with the music more naturally. Finally, after a few minutes, he relaxed even more, which got Skay to smile even wider. She had the most amazing wrinkles on the sides of her eyes.
It was during one of his turns that he saw a man with only one hand standing at the side of the crowd. Aiden might not have even noticed had the man not been staring intently at him. His face was exposed this time, with an aquiline nose and thin lips. But it was his eyes that really gave him away. They were the same, hard ice eyes that he’d seen in the alley when he’d been kidnapped.
Aiden felt the blood flow out from his face as he tried to find his friends in the crowd. He expected to see them back towards the sides of the dancing, not far from the man but they weren’t there, making him start to panic. Suddenly Skay eased up to him and pushed her lips close to his ear. He was almost distracted from the man, feeling her very interesting body push against him, but her words brought him back.
“You’re friends are safe, to your left. They are dancing as well.” Startled, Aiden glance in that direction and saw Markam, Gavin and Chari dancing with others. Gavin was dancing with an Arakuul girl, her four arms turning him in all sorts of different ways while Markam was involved with a graceful, dark-haired girl who he was keeping up with quite well. Just a little further on, a far-too-handsome boy was dancing with Chari and getting too close to her sparkling eyes for Aiden’s liking.
Teeth bit into his ear, causing him to yelp in pain and turn his attention back to Skay who was almost bearing her teeth as her warm breath melted against his neck. “Aiden Finn, no girl likes to dance with someone who is getting jealous of someone else. Pay attention to me, Aiden. I may be trying to save your life, but I will bite you again.”
Aiden blanched and nodded quickly, turning his attention back to Skay. She was right. It wasn’t very nice of him to ignore her and really, her teeth had hurt. Glowby circled around, seeming to bop him in the head at the same time, obviously siding against him. He didn’t feel anything, but he could tell. It was then that the words she had sad worked their way into his conscious thoughts. “Okay, but save my life? What do you mean?”
Skay nuzzling her forehead against his cheek, happy to be the center of his attention once again. It was a great cover, and terribly distracting at the same time. “The four goons that have been following you. Plus the one with only one hand? I’m going to have a great time making fun of your guard for not noticing them.” Her eyes flicked over to Markam, before rising once more to look up into his.
Aiden began to turn again so he could look for the other goons but felt Skay’s teeth on his neck. The warmth of it was…very nice, but he could feel her just about to bite and froze.
“If you look at them, they’ll move too soon. We’re almost there, just follow me. Aiden, you’re not very good at sneaking are you?”
Aiden shook his head, trying not to concentrate on those lips so close to his neck. He wasn’t sure if he wanted them to stay or not, since she’d bit him once already and almost a second time in as many minutes. His eyes strayed to Glowby, who seemed to be flickering in a laughing kind of way. His eyes narrowed at his friend before he answered Skay. “No. Not really. There’s really not much reason when you’re an orphan at a school, is there?”
Skay made a derisive sound. “Pfft. That’s not a real school, just teaching you things that don’t help you. What about now, Aiden Finn? Do you appreciate your school now?”
Aiden shrugged, “Well, I’m not even a student there, actually. Just… just an orphan.”
Skay laughed, that silver blue sound that seemed to rise and dance on its own. “Just an orphan? What’s wrong with being an orphan? I was one as well until my father adopted me. Even then it’s not like I wouldn’t have learned? Maybe you’re just not learning the right things? You should come out to the ships with us, Aiden. You’ll learn real things there.”
As they’d talked, they’d danced slowly towards one side of the large platform. There were no rails and he could see the large horns of the cutter fish arching through the water just off of the edge. Some were fairly large, thrusting as much as a foot and a half out of the sea, blowing misty water out of the tips as they hooted and called to one another.
He risked a glance back towards the side of the crowd. The man with one hand was talking to another, his eyes repeatedly flickering towards Aiden. He didn’t keep his eyes there, but let them move past the two men trying not to let on that they’d been noticed and hoping he succeeded. How were they going to get out of this? There were three exits off of the dock, and he expected all of them were covered by the thugs.
“How are we going to get away from them?” Aiden asked, parroting his thoughts before turning and feeling his cheek brush against Skay’s soft hair. She smelled of sea salt and spices, a strange thing to notice when he should be fearful of the kidnappers.
“Oh, don’t worry.” Skay purr
ed softly, “It won’t be any way they’d expect, but it will get you back to the skimmer safely. Just… be sure to hold on tightly.”
“What?”
That’s when he felt his body pushed, going over the edge into the deep water. As he went into the ocean, he heard several other splashes next to him, and the excited hooting of cutter fish moving closer.
Chapter 14
The next few moments were a chaos of cold wetness, panicked splashing, and the sense of very large fish moving around him. Terrified, he tried to swim but not having much skill, his panic was winning out over his attempts to save himself. For a brief moment, he thought he was being fed to the cutter fish as some sort of quixotic clan joke, but instead, he felt hands grab his own and place them onto a smooth but hard ridge that began to pull him through the water.
His upper body was pulled up, almost half out of the water as the fish began to move. His panic was assuaged somewhat once he was no longer submerged, but it was still a crazy few minutes with waves rising up and threatening to cut off his air again. It was easier if he turned his head, placing his face against the smooth, mottled purple of the cutter fish’s hide as it broke from the water. Despite everything, he was struck by the gleaming, opalescent colors that danced before his eyes.
The Glimmer Steel Saga, Boxed Set, Books 1 - 4 Page 16