Dimas chuckled. “What a very diplomatic way of calling someone a right royal bastard,” he drawled, raking a disdainful eye up and down Skye.
“Cool it, Dimas.” Taly stepped between the two men. “Any idea where Brenin was headed?”
Dimas’ face relaxed, and he went back to picking at his nails. “Strio, I think.”
“Why the hell would anyone go to Strio with the grendels moving in?” Skye asked, unable to hide his surprise. The little village on the east side of the island had been evacuated almost two months ago when the southern grendel population had finally encroached on the town border. The local fire brigade still hadn’t managed to put out all of the fires.
“He told his guide he wanted to inspect the farmland, but I don’t buy it,” Dimas replied. Having grown bored of trying to antagonize Skye directly, he let his eyes drift down the length of Taly’s body suggestively. She had no doubt that the smile hovering around the edges of the trader’s mouth had everything to do with the way Skye started to bristle beside her.
Taly arched a brow. “Is that so? Well, don’t keep us in suspense. What do you think he’s after?”
Dimas shrugged indifferently. “Strio is situated near a tear in the veil. Fewer people means better salvage, and some very valuable items have been known to fall through so close to a gate connection. You tend to be the high-risk, high-reward type, Taly.” The trader leaned back as he spoke, his coat shifting to reveal a gnarled wand. Judging from the clumsy rune engraved on the scratched surface of the fire crystal, it had probably been illegally modified. His fingers drummed against the shaft, and his eyes flitted over to Skye before landing back on her. “I’m surprised you haven’t made an attempt yet.”
Taly laughed. “I might be crazy, but I’m not stupid.” She saw Skye shift his weight, casually moving a hand to rest on the blade strapped to his waist. Patting the edgy highborn on the shoulder, she said, “Sorry, buddy. No more guides means you’re stuck with me.”
“Where are you headed?” Dimas interjected, leaning forward.
“Ebondrift,” Taly replied as she turned back to the trader. “I need the latest reports.”
“Sure.” Dimas reached underneath his table and pulled out a small roll of papers. “That’ll be three gold.”
“I’ll give you one,” Taly stated simply. She pulled out a single gold coin and threw it on the table.
“No deal.” Dimas’ eyes dropped, lingering on the swell of her breasts revealed by the slim cut of her leather coat before meeting her gaze again. “I might consider two, but only because it’s so rare that I get something so nice to look at it.”
Skye frowned and took a step towards her. Before he could say anything, Taly scoffed and placed both hands on the table. As she leaned forward, she subtly pushed her breasts together. She knew Dimas could see down the front of her shirt, but she wasn’t above exploiting her charms if it helped her get what she wanted.
“One gold. And before you give me any more shit, I know that your business has been a little lean lately. Especially since the guides haven’t been back in… what? A week you said? More? And I didn’t see any other salvagers out front. I’d be willing to bet you’d go as low as 50 silvers, but I don’t have the patience to sit here and haggle with you all day. So, you’ll take the coin, and I’ll take the papers. Deal?”
Dimas grimaced, glaring at her for a long moment. She saw him glance discreetly behind her, most likely trying to ascertain what kind of threat Skye posed. His eyes then flitted to the shiny viridian dagger strapped to her thigh before sliding back up to her chest. After a pause, he laughed, revealing a toothy smile as he placed the papers on the table. “Always nice doing business with you, Taly.”
“I wish I could say the same, but…” Taly gave the trader a subtle wink, earning her a genuine laugh from the man as she stood. Stuffing the papers in her pack, she turned to leave. Skye followed her as she led them back towards the main room, his hand finding its way to her shoulder as he walked a step closer than he had on their way in.
Taly could tell that Skye was irritated as they concluded their business at the Swap, but that couldn’t be helped. Dimas was the best information broker on the island, and everyone knew he gave better deals to anyone that flirted with him a little. While she might have shied away from dealing with someone like Dimas when she was first starting out, having the lecherous trader in her corner had proven useful on more than one occasion.
When Skye stopped at one of the crafting tables at the front and began negotiating for a new set of quills, she wandered through the rows of stalls, following the scent of food. Despite Eliza’s very generous portions at both breakfast and lunch, Taly’s appetite was already back.
The harpy meat was by far the freshest offering. As she purchased a large slab of meat sandwiched between two thick slices of bread, she secretly hoped that this was the same bird that had attacked her. That would be fitting.
She met back up with Skye at the shadow crafting booths, and the pair made their way outside. The air was still damp and cool after the rains, but the warm afternoon sun felt like heaven on her skin as she guided them over to a shaded area away from the main thoroughfare. Throwing her pack on the ground, she gracelessly plopped down against the trunk of a nearby tree and started tearing into her simple meal.
“Are you going to stop to chew?” Skye teased as he sat down beside her, leaning back against the old oak.
“Who has time to chew when there’s eating to do?” Taly mumbled around a mouthful of food. Swallowing, she said, “Leave me alone. I’ve been starving all week—even with that awful nutrient paste Aiden’s been shoving down my throat.”
Skye watched her curiously, one brow raised, but said nothing. A slight frown creased his brow.
“Also, stop judging me,” Taly grumbled, turning back to her sandwich and pulling out the papers she’d purchased.
Skye cleared his throat. “So, about… what was his name? Dimas?"
“See, there’s the judgment. Right on time,” Taly interjected without looking up. She had been expecting this. “Look—Dimas might be a pervert, but he’s a useful one.”
“I don’t like the way he was looking at you,” Skye protested. He sat up and peered over her shoulder at the handful of papers in her lap.
“And how’s that? Like he wants to sleep with me?” Taly finished off the last of her sandwich and started licking the juice off her fingers. She only half-registered the low growl coming from behind her as she continued to study the newest scouting reports.
“Yes. I mean, no. I…” Skye huffed out an irritated sigh. “I just don’t like it. Even if you were already doing that sort of thing, that Dimas guy isn’t good enough for you.”
Taly let out a loud bark of laughter and turned to look at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Are you kidding? If? C’mon, Skye—I’m 21 years old. And while I’m not some fey beauty, I’m not completely terrible to look at either. Give me a little credit here,” she muttered, turning back to the scouting notes.
The growl was unmistakable this time. “Who?” Skye demanded.
“Why?” Taly asked, unfazed by his obvious disapproval. She wasn’t at all surprised by his reaction. She knew he still saw her as some kid he needed to protect, and that incident in the street this morning already had his hackles raised. “So you can go rough them up? Defend my honor? No.”
“Wait. Them?!” Skye pulled at her shoulder, turning her around to face him. “Just how many men have you slept with?”
“A lady never kisses and tells.” With a wink and a smile, she elbowed him in the side. “Besides, this is all a bit hypocritical coming from you, don’t you think?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Skye replied evasively.
Taly smirked and shook her head as she moved to stand. Skye had always been very tight-lipped when it came to his love life, and she could tell that this was a topic he really didn’t want to discuss. For Taly, however, that just made it all the
more fun.
“You think I don’t know how much of a ‘ladies’ man’ you are when you go to the Dawn Court? Hmm? You think I don’t know that you have a new girl every night? By my estimation, your number is way higher than mine.” Skye was about to say something, but Taly interrupted him. “And don’t even try to deny it. Just because you were attending fancy balls in Arylaan all those years doesn’t mean that word didn’t travel. Villagers do love to gossip about the highborn nobility. Whether you like it or not, you, my friend, have a reputation.”
“I met a lot of women in Arylaan, but I didn’t sleep with all of them,” he said defensively. “Sleeping around is expected at court.” When Taly just continued to stare at him, humor evident in her expression, he threw his hands up. “What?! It is! And Shards, those balls are always so dull. Most of the time, I just pair up with the first noblewoman I meet that can string a few sentences together and then people draw their own conclusions come morning. Regardless of what actually happens, I get to leave the ball, and she gets to use my name the next morning to social climb. Everybody’s happy.”
“I’m in awe of your generosity, milord,” Taly chirped as she gave him a teasing smile. Sobering, she slapped him on the shoulder. “But you still need to get over yourself. We’re all grown-ups here. Now come on. It’s already well past midday, and we need to get going if we’re going to make it to Della before dark.”
“Sure,” Skye replied irritably as he gathered his supplies. Pushing himself to his feet, he took off in the direction of the public stables where they had left their horses tethered.
Taly frowned as she watched him walk ahead of her. She could tell that he wasn’t happy, but, in all honesty, he was just going to have to get used to the fact that she wasn’t a kid anymore. It was inevitable that she would end up having relationships with other men. Even though she had lived a sheltered life back at the manor, she was an adult now. With adult desires.
Why was that so hard for him to understand?
Chapter 13
-An excerpt from Della: A Visitor’s Guide
The capital city of the Fey Imperium, Della is the ideal destination for your next holiday. From the sparkling waters of the Arda to the glittering spires of Infinity’s Edge—the Lucent City boasts a never-ending parade of wonders, ready to delight and amaze.
Skye felt inexplicably irritated as he rode side-by-side with Taly, heading south on the island’s main highway. He had no reason to be upset—none that he could articulate, at least. But despite his attempts to redirect his thoughts, his mind kept wandering back to Taly’s little show at the Swap that morning.
Taly can do what she wants, he reminded himself for not the first time.
Shaking his head, he tried to focus on the striking scenery around him. Despite the heavy rains of the past week, it was a beautiful day for a ride—almost annoyingly picturesque. The late afternoon air felt cool against his skin, and scattered rays of sunlight filtered through the canopy, painting the forested road in dappled shade. The plodding of the horses’ hooves on the cobbled pavement and the songs of the crickets and sparrows were the only sounds that could be heard echoing through the trees.
Taly had long ago given up trying to draw him out of his bad mood, and she rode on the far side of the road, staring off into the distance as they approached what used to be the outer edge of Della. This tiny township was located almost in the exact center of the island and served as a crossroads of sorts—almost every town on the island connected to Della in some way. Given the amount of traffic it received, Skye was always surprised that the village remained so small. It seemed everyone that passed through just ended up leaving again.
Of course, when the Time Queen was still alive, that wasn’t the case. Before the Schism, Della was the capital city of the Fey Imperium and the home of Infinity’s Edge, a magnificent crystal citadel from which the High Lady of Time once controlled every gate on the island.
Now, however, in the wake of the Sanctorum’s holy quest to eradicate time magic, Della was only a humble village. The last vestiges of this once-sprawling metropolis consisted of little more than a tavern and a few rows of houses that lined the main road. Most of Della’s infrastructure had either been destroyed during the Hunt or reclaimed by the forest after the fires were finally extinguished.
“Is it just me, or do the roads seem a little… empty?”
Skye jumped slightly. He had been so lost in his own thoughts that he had failed to notice that Taly was no longer staring off through the trees and was instead looking at him.
“I noticed that too,” he said, pulling his horse up beside her.
Wrapping her reins around the horn of her saddle, Taly pulled out her scouting notes. “We haven’t passed anyone for almost two hours now. Considering that the Seren Gate is open right now, these roads should be filled with travelers. I’ve been through my notes backwards and forwards, but I can’t come up with a reason why. There was a tree blocking the road south of Della, but that information is a few days old. It should’ve been cleared by now.”
Skye frowned. “That could explain it. If the tree damaged the wards, people would have had to cut through to Bago to get to Ryme.”
“Maybe,” Taly said, frowning. “I still don’t like it, but, then again, this part of Della always puts me on edge. I did a few jobs around here with some buddies, Syn and Caleb, and they always liked to tell stories about the ghosts of time mages still haunting the forest around the old palace.”
Skye barked out a laugh, his bad mood evaporating. “Don’t tell me you still believe in fairy fire. How many times do I have to tell you? The dead can’t come back from across the veil.”
Taly rolled up her papers and tried to swat him in the face. This only made Skye laugh harder. “It was real! I saw it outside my window every night for a week—a glowing, blue orb of light. I swear to the Shards, I really saw it!”
“Of course you did,” Skye agreed sympathetically, his shoulders still shaking.
Taly’s nose scrunched up as she glowered at him. “You’re a jerk.” Picking up her reins, she gave her horse a sharp kick and proceeded to race ahead of him.
The sun had just begun to set when they stopped to board the horses. Taly stopped at the town message board, flipping through the various flyers while Skye paid the stable boys. As he came up behind her, he frowned in confusion. There seemed to be an unusual number of missing person notices. Glamographs of their faces blanketed the board. While there was always a slight uptick in these sorts of issues when the Aion Gate was charging, Skye couldn’t remember ever seeing so many sets of eyes staring back at him from the patchwork of leaflets and flyers papering the wall.
“I know some of these people. They’re salvagers,” Taly said, her forehead puckering. She gingerly fingered one of the notices. There was no glamograph for that person, just a name and a short description.
Skye placed a hand on her shoulder. “Well, salvaging is dangerous work, especially when the Aion Gate is charging.”
“Only if you’re stupid,” Taly replied with a snort. “These guys weren’t stupid.”
“Even so, I’m glad you’re not out there anymore.”
Taly’s lips quirked to the side. “I was doing just fine until your girlfriend tried to take me out.”
“Would you please stop calling Aimee my girlfriend? It wasn’t funny the first time, the second time, or the 100th time, and it’s not funny now.” Skye smoothed out one of the notices for a lowborn man he recognized. He’d seen him delivering meat to the Gate Watchers’ compound in Ebondrift just a few months ago. “Believe me when I say that Aimee and I are never going to happen,” he added distractedly.
“Really?” Taly asked, and if Skye had been paying attention, he would’ve seen the sly gleam in her eye. “You and she have never… not even once?”
Skye’s head whipped around. “Are you kidding? I can’t believe you would even ask me that. You know I can’t stand that woman.”
Taly shrugge
d. “Last time I checked, you didn’t have to like a person to go to bed with them.”
And just like that, Skye’s bad mood settled back over him like a cloud. “And you would know that how?”
“Sorry, Skye,” she said, enjoying herself a little too much. “You’re going to have to buy me a drink before you get to hear about my conquests.”
Sighing, she gave the pictureless missing person notice one more look before turning and making her way towards the tavern. “I’m sure Caleb’s fine. Knowing him, he’s drunk off his ass in a bar somewhere and forgot to check in.”
“Sounds like you were running with a great crowd,” Skye muttered as he followed her down the dusty path.
The tavern in Della was housed in what Skye could only guess used to be a fine hotel. The columns that flanked the entrance were stained but made of marble, and massive blocks of smooth granite formed the exterior walls. An old sign hung out front, and though the letters had faded, he could still make out the words “The Radiance Hotel.”
“I need to go see someone before she heads out,” Taly said as they ascended the wide stone steps that led to a large, weather-worn veranda. “I’m hoping she’ll have more information on whether that downed tree affected the wards.”
“Sounds good.” Skye reached over and grabbed her pack, slinging it over his shoulder. “While you do that, want me to order you something to eat?”
Taly turned and bounced up and down, her face lighting up with excitement. “Oh, Shards, yes! I’m starving.”
“Again?” Skye asked, laughing. She had downed at least three packets of nutrient paste since they had left the Swap. Considering how little nutrition humans generally needed, he wasn’t quite sure where she was putting it all.
Taly attempted to glare at him, but the effect was lost when she immediately cracked a smile. “Don’t judge me,” she said. “I danced with a harpy and lived to tell the tale. I think that entitles me to a few snacks.” Not waiting for his response, she gave him a wave as she stepped through the open doorway of the dilapidated hotel and made her way to the bar.
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