Chapter 11 Ariana
ARIANA
Soren and I weaved through the streets for hours.
Nothing looked quite the same. Houses made of stone lined every road, yet none were identical, just like the people.
A vast majority harbored the pointed ears of the Sidhe nationality.
However, there were others, some with the half-points of crossbreeds.
Some with the sharp teeth of the Lysians and some with the dull teeth and ears of the Bavadrins.
“Do all the races get along?” I asked Soren under my breath after catching a glimpse of children playing with a ball.
They kicked it around a small courtyard.
Dirt caked their skin and stained their clothing, clearly marking them as coming from less fortunate families.
However, their smiles appeared genuine. Their laughter and spirit spread through the surrounding streets, bringing a certain charm to the area.
But most remarkably, all races made up the group of children.
“They do,” Soren stated, glancing at the kids before turning back to the street. “Here, we do not separate based on race.” The way he said it was as if an underlying meaning was hidden amongst the words.
“And how are you separated?”
“We keep apart the gifted from those without conjuring abilities.”
I turned to him. “So, everyone within these mountain walls...” I couldn’t finish the sentence, for it scared me.
“Is a conjuror,” he confirmed.
So many. Thousands of people, all conjurors, all under the Sidhe King’s command.
As we weaved through the streets, we eventually made it to where the roads and buildings ended and trees began.
A forest took up a chunk of the valley surrounded by mountains.
Dark, green, and lush, it breathed a sense of freedom into the city perimeter.
Offering an escape, even while within the mountain-made walls.
Shay released a soft whine, looking from the forest at me. Her tail rhythmically swayed side to side.
“Is it safe in there?” I asked.
Soren glanced at Shay before turning to me. “Your wolf will be fine.”
I looked at Shay’s wide, awaiting eyes. “Would you be able to find your way back to me?”
She released a soft snort and dipped her head.
“Then you may go.”
The wolf shot forward, rushing into the woods.
“I take it I can also explore if I ever felt the desire?” I asked, shifting my attention to Soren.
He folded his arms across his chest, skin marred by intricate cuts from blades.
His gaze held mine, though I could not read him.
“You too can explore whenever you would like. But I would advise you not to go alone or risk getting lost. The forest is quite extensive. And if you wish to go on your own hoping to find a secret way into this city, then allow me to save you the trouble and tell you that you will not find one.”
My gaze narrowed. “What makes you think I would want to find a way into the city and not out of it?”
Soren’s dark eyes scanned my face. “The Sidhe King is many things, one of them being a man of his word. If you wished to leave, he would let you.”
A low laugh slipped through my lips, tinged with anything but happiness. “Yeah, with the promise of war if I was to do so.”
“Still, the choice is yours.”
“And what kind of choice did you make that led you to stand at his side?”
Soren’s jaw clenched. He offered no answer. Instead, he tilted his head to the side. “We should continue. So that we get you back in time for dinner with the King.”
I turned and began walking in the direction he gestured towards, dropping the subject for now. He clearly harbored no fondness for me, and that was something I needed to work on if I ever wanted to get answers from him.
We were nearly back to the main castle when a long rectangular-looking compound grabbed my attention.
The building itself was nothing interesting, but the surrounding people caught my eye.
There were several of them, spanning from old to young age, made up of all the various races.
An elderly Lysian looking man hopped on one foot, supported by a younger Sidhe under one arm and a Bavadrin under the other.
None of them noted me while I stood in the street, watching as they helped the injured man.
They disappeared into the building, leaving the front door wide open.
“What’s in there?” I asked.
“It is a building that houses some servants.”
I turned to him. “May I have a look?”
Soren shrugged. “Yes, though I doubt there will be much to look at,” he mumbled, following me as I crossed the street.
I passed over the threshold and paused, taking everything in. The compound was essentially a single room with a couple dozen beds throughout the space. My eye drew to the two boys lowering the older man onto one bed.
Someone sitting in one of the other beds, leaning against the wall, coughed, gaze settled on me. Suddenly, the entire room froze. Noticing my presence, all eyes turned to me.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt,” I said, uncertain of the best way to introduce myself.
“You lost, highborn?” The one leaning against the wall asked. Piercing green eyes cut into me with thick judgment behind them. His ears came to slight points, and his mouth was void of elongated canines. Mixed blood likely ran through his veins, part Sidhe and part Bavadrin.
“Watch your mouth.” Soren stepped up beside me. “She is a guest of your King. You will show her your respect.”
The man looked to the Dunes Clan leader, completely unbothered as he whistled lowly. “A guest with Soren as her guide?” His gaze cut to me. “Interesting.”
I glanced around the room. It was filthy. Tracked in dirt left a film on the wooden floors, cobwebs dusted the corners and ceilings, and the beds looked like no one ever washed the sheets.
“You all live here?” I asked.
“These beds aren’t here for decoration.” The man who had addressed me already stated flippantly.
Soren tensed, attention flickering to me as though suddenly waiting to follow my lead. He looked poised to strike if I requested. Did he expect me to attack a man for not being friendly?
“It’s okay,” I said under my breath, and Soren’s muscles loosened.
I turned to the older Lysian sitting on one of the beds. The middle of the mattress sank under his weight. Such a bed offered no comfort, used as only a barrier to separate a body from the floor. The two younger boys who had helped him moved towards the back, each took to their own mattresses.
“I saw you limping outside,” I began, taking a step deeper into the room.
The old man laughed lowly, a hand scratching the back of his gray wiry head of hair.
“Ah, yes. I am afraid I irritated an old injury. I assure you, I am still up to perform my tasks.” His gaze slid to Soren’s briefly before returning to me.
Caution tinged his blue eyes, throat bobbing as he swallowed. Was he afraid?
“Mind if I see your foot?” I took another step towards him.
He looked at his leg, a brief look of mortification passing over his features. “I uh... It’s really alright. I assure you.” He moved his foot onto his thigh and gripped it roughly, as if to show that it was not bad. However, I caught the slight jerk when pain shot through him at the touch.
I stepped even closer to him. “Maybe I can help you,” I offered.
His gray bushy brows pulled together. “Are you a conjuring healer?”
I shook my head no. “Not the conjuring kind, but I know other ways to help. Herbs, ointments, using the gifts of the natural world.”
“Maybe you should let her help, Gorm,” one of the younger boys said. Concern shined in his eyes when he looked at the elderly man.
Gorm sighed, glancing at the boy sharply before turning back to me. “Well, you now know my name. Everyone calls me Gorm. I suppose I would like to know the name of the woman I am about to assault with the view of my disgusting smelly old foot.”
Rumbles of laughs simmered around the space from the boys, breaking some of the tension. Even the grumpy man with the piercing green eyes released a rough chuckle.
I smiled, closing more of the space until I stood at the side of Gorm’s bed. “My name is Ariana.”
He began untying his leather boot. When he looked at me, his blue gaze warmed yet remained tinged with uncertainty. “Well, Ariana. I am sorry for what you are about to experience.” It took him a minute to finally remove his shoe and sock.
A hideous wound on the heel greeted me. Yellow, red, inflamed, and the surrounding skin looked hot to the touch.
“How did this happen?” I knelt beside his foot. He wasn’t wrong. It smelled like rotten flesh, and yet I could not deny that being next to it was far more appealing than having dinner with his King. Revulsion twisted in my stomach at the thought of Clause.
Gorm frowned, looking over his toes at me. “I stepped on something, and it cut into my foot. I didn’t realize until late that night, and now it’s just been slow to heal.”
He didn’t even realize it? I reach out, gripping the back of his foot.
“Dear Spirit, why are you touching it?” He grumbled, yet allowed it.
I brushed my pinky nail over the underside of his foot, some distance away from the angry wound. “Could you feel that?”
Gorm’s cheeks became splotched with red. “I feel a lot of things right now, the primary thing being mortification. As for your touch, no. I didn’t feel a thing.”
I released his foot, turning to Soren. “Do you all have a place where I can get some medical supplies?”
“You’re serious?” he asked, looking at me as though he didn’t understand.
I rose to my full height. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You’re…” He didn’t finish the thought as his attention instead moved over the people in the room. Soren then glanced towards the entrance behind him in thought. “We need to head back. It is almost time for your meal with the King, but perhaps after that or if you’ll be tired then tomorrow.”
“You’re eating with the King?” One of the young boys asked, eyes large in wondrous surprise.
“Apparently,” I said to him with a small smile, noticing a closed door behind him.
“What is beyond that threshold?” I asked no one in particular.
The boy turned, looking at what drew my eye. “Oh, it’s just a small room with some supplies.”
Soren did not oppose as I walked over, grabbing the knob. Figuring it safe, I twisted, and the door opened with a creak. It was a small room with a window and even a sink, though broken parts of beds and who knows what else filled most of the space.
“Does any of this stuff get used?” I asked, looking around, and taking a mental inventory of the clutter.
Gorm released a gravelly laugh. “It’s used to store stuff. I have been here a good long while and have only seen more things added to the collection, never to be removed.”
I closed the door, turning back to the elder. “After my dinner, I will be back, and we will have your foot healing in no time.”
His brows drew together. “Thank you.” There was a sincerity to his voice that warmed me just as it saddened me.
Had no one shown kindness or compassion to the servants if they injured themselves?
If so, then I wanted to help them in the moments when I couldn’t collect information to destroy their King.
Perhaps I could protect them when the Sidhe kingdom came crumbling down, or perhaps they could even help me bring it down.
I would free them of the shadow Clause cast over them.
With a small smile and nod, I left them to go share a meal with their King, hoping that just maybe he would allow for my time within his prison of a city to be meaningful.
That with my help, he would place a noose around his own neck without even realizing it.
I just needed to find a rope strong enough to withstand him to do it with.