4. Chapter 4 #2
“Levi, I don’t believe you’ve met Luccite, have you?” Ashmedai introduced them .
Luccite extended a hand, covered in soft gray fur and with claws she kept retracted.
Levi trembled slightly as he accepted it. “M-Madame Healer. I suppose Braxton saw no need for us to meet, since I am not alive in the traditional sense.”
“Feels like a normal pulse to me,” she purred, lingering her grip on Levi’s wrist, which made him blush with a bashful glance at Ashmedai, though there was no way for her to know what had transpired between them.
Levi glanced again at Braxton, but the alchemist was a good distance away, engrossed in discussion with Daedlys and Klarent, among others.
“I was hoping you might enjoy visiting Luccite’s shop,” Ashmedai said. He kept his voice moderate, not purposely low, but he also cast a subtle spell that pulled invisible shadows around them so their voices wouldn’t carry. “She is curious to learn more about you.”
Levi’s astuteness was in no way dulled when he was anxious, for the continued aversion of his eyes proved he knew they didn’t want Braxton to hear about this—or he was simply that nervous being near Ashmedai when Braxton could see them.
“N-now?” Levi asked.
“It doesn’t have to be now,” Ashmedai said. “How about tomorrow? You and Grillo are taking a break, aren’t you? So he can build and repair a few stalls to better gauge how much more lumber he needs? You can tell Brax you’ve been asked to assist with other festival business.”
“This is about festival business?” Levi cocked his head.
He was astute; he was also sweetly na?ve.
“Yes,” Luccite stepped in. “We were hoping you might assist with one of the booths, but we don’t want to ask anything of you that you can’t handle. A small examination would help me understand what you’re capable of. Shall we say my shop at half past sunrise?”
Levi looked at Ashmedai, and it felt terrible to lie to him, so Ashmedai whispered a truth.
“I want to be certain you are always safe and protected, and there are some things Luccite knows that Brax does not. You could meet me at the top of the market steps. The carriages from Emerald should be arriving. We could see them together before continuing to Luccite. Will you come?”
The offer eased some of the tightness in Levi’s shoulders. “Yes, I will be there.”
Ashmedai would have risked a gentle touch, might have even kissed Levi’s fingers again, but he didn’t want to push Levi’s boundaries with Braxton nearby.
He said good night and watched Levi retreat to Braxton’s side, where the discussion had just ended, and Daedlys and Klarent offered boisterous good nights as well.
Braxton nodded once more at Ashmedai before beginning to head for the exit with Levi beside him.
“You’re right. Something is different about him,” Luccite said. “A strong soul.”
“A construct isn’t supposed to have a soul.” Ashmedai had known that from the beginning but hadn’t been sure how to address it.
Luccite’s catlike grin was as interested as ever. “Exactly.”
Levi
A dish shattered on the kitchen counter, falling due to Levi’s foolish haste to be gone before Braxton questioned where he was going. Surely Braxton would come out of his workshop now .
Levi hurried to clean up the mess, taking deep breaths to keep from shaking too hard and inevitably breaking something else. To his relief, once he was finished, the workshop door hadn’t opened. There was purple light coming from beneath it again.
Hoping to further calm his nerves, Levi poured his draught to take it as expected of him before he left. It never failed to make him grimace, but it did its job, clearing his mind to think of better things—like Ashmedai, concerned about Levi’s safety enough that he wanted him to see the healer.
Levi was certain it wasn’t only to ensure his safety while manning a festival booth, but he trusted Ashmedai’s intentions. He trusted him implicitly. He didn’t think Ashmedai could have sinister aims. The king was caring, selfless, attentive. He’d risked his life to save Pentelyn.
He’d risked his life to save Levi, though Levi hadn’t realized the breadth of that until he was headed back home after the hunt.
There were so many wondrous people in the Dark Kingdom, but no one compared to the Shadow King. No one could ever compare to Ash.
The pulsing of purple light started to increase like the last time Levi had noticed it, drawing his attention from his straying thoughts. He wondered what the light was. Part of Braxton’s experiments to weaken the barrier, certainly—but what exactly?
Before Levi realized it, he had set his empty teacup aside and traversed half the lower level toward the workshop door, drawn to that light almost but not quite as potently as he was drawn to Ashmedai. The increase in pulses seemed to hypnotize him.
“Help me in the garden, won’t you?”
Levi blinked, and there was a woman in front of him—human with red hair.
Her face wasn’t familiar, and yet… it was. Like her voice. Levi had heard that voice before, hadn’t he? He hadn’t thought he recognized it, but seeing her, he could almost remember why he knew her .
“Leander?”
The purple light vanished into sudden blackness, and Levi was left staring at nothing but the closed workshop door. He could hear rustling from inside and began to backpedal. He didn’t fear Braxton, but in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to leave and make his way to Ashmedai sooner.
Levi was out the door and on his way to town before Braxton could leave the workshop.
He didn’t understand what his daydreams were or what they meant, but he assumed Ashmedai was just as worried.
Perhaps it was the stray souls lost over the centuries to the demon, finding a conduit through Levi.
Perhaps it was Levi’s mind trying to form a past for him when he had none.
Dwelling on what-ifs made his pace quicken, and he tried to think of anything else.
The festival. The carriages from Emerald.
Ash.
Then all those things coalesced, for Levi was almost to the market steps, and he could see the half-built structures heralding the coming festival, as well as the Emerald caravan having just arrived from the main road into the wood.
Amidst the people waiting to see what the new shipment would bring was Ashmedai, though he wasn’t looking at the carriages, black but sanded down to rid the wood of any Shadow Lands sparkle. He wasn’t looking at the black mechanical horses that were almost indiscernible from flesh and blood.
He was staring down the road at Levi, waiting for him with a smile.
“You might want to stay close,” Ashmedai said upon Levi’s arrival, taking his elbow to tug him nearer. “The crowd can get a bit rowdy on delivery day.”
The warmth and closeness of Ashmedai wiped all recent worries from Levi’s mind .
While people who crossed into the Dark Kingdom would be changed into monsters like the rest, nonliving things held their form, which was why automated carriages were necessary. Levi hadn’t been created yet the last time the caravan came through, though he knew how deliveries worked.
Dreya and Yentriss were at the head of the crowd, keeping eager hands from the carriages.
Specific requests that had been approved during city council meetings would be divvied out first; then necessities, particularly any unplanned, would be given to those in need; finally, anything remaining or unexpected on the carriages would be posed to the crowd, given away if there was but one voice asking for it, but given based on need or lottery if there were many voices.
About half as many people as the number at most council meetings were clustered in attendance, but it still felt claustrophobic to Levi, and he was grateful for Ashmedai’s sturdy presence—and the way Ashmedai’s hand lingered on his elbow as if they were a couple on a stroll.
He was especially grateful for the support when the first carriage came to a stop in front of the crowd and proved to have several arrows lodged into its side.
“Highwaymen,” Dreya said, as though dismissing the playful antics of a child. With a swift grip and yank on each of the arrow shafts, she removed them and tossed them to the ground.
Levi had heard the carriages were often attacked by highwaymen, but the doors were enchanted to only open upon arrival in Emerald and once they returned home. Highwaymen could batter the structure and horses all they wanted, and they’d never get at what lay inside.
The wood beyond the barrier must be full of cutthroats. Some even wondered if a thieves’ guild had been built somewhere beyond the barrier, since it was a place most decent people feared to travel.
After getting everyone to quiet down, Yentriss kept her eyes on the crowd to keep the peace, while Dreya threw open the first carriage’s doors to reveal the contents within.
Each crate was marked according to what lay inside, and Dreya would excitedly call out the item, for Yentriss to more calmly call forward who could claim it.
A few disagreements on orders arose but were quickly squashed by Yentriss’s glare or Dreya’s mediating. For the most part, this monthly occurrence was old hat for everyone—they were simply excited for anything that had come from the outside world.
“Two dozen bolts of Emerald silk!” Dreya called when the carriages were nearly empty.
“Daedlys and Gordoc!” Yentriss announced, glancing at her list. “Even split. Colors to be bartered.”
Levi hadn’t seen Daedlys among the others. The translucent man was able to blend in easily just about anywhere, but his floating form was very apparent when moving swiftly. He might have been a glider monkey leaping from one tree to another, he moved so fast to get ahead of Gordoc.
“To be bartered , banshee,” Gordoc huffed, rushing to catch up. “Getting there first doesn’t give you first pick.”
“I’m not sure you should get any,” Daedlys said without looking behind him, “since you were so certain when telling shoppers there might not be any silk this month.”