Chapter 4
K allistra and I had all but given up on the job hunt. The few questionable leads we had bothered to follow up on had turned out to be far too questionable upon further inspection. Kallistra was already breaking most of her personal tenets by letting us take on a job in the first place, so pushing her toward the more unsavory types would cause her to shut down the idea completely. So, I’d decided to let her take the lead, and as a result… we were getting nowhere.
After spending the entire day outside on a wild goose chase, we were exhausted, starving, and ready not to think about our dwindling funds and hopeless prospects. We retired to a table in the corner of the inn and ordered as much of a meal as our budget allowed. I couldn’t complain, given that it was a significant upgrade from what we’d been eating for the past several months. Bread and cheese were a luxury at this point .
“Pardon my intrusion, but I’m making rounds and didn’t think it fair that I ignore the two of you simply because you’re sitting inconspicuously in a dark corner.”
I didn’t move an inch, only moved my head to stare out of the window, to keep my face out of sight. Kallistra did the same, ignoring the male, in sure hopes he would give up and go away. I almost felt bad. The voice was kind. But many had been before—before they saw me. We’d been careful exploring our leads, making sure I stuck behind Kallistra, hiding or forging lies about how I was a unique sort of Faeling, if necessary. In the close quarters of the Minstrel’s Menagerie, the poor lighting was the sole thing helping to hide my features, and not well.
A female’s voice grumbled incoherent words before speaking to us clearly. “Ignore him. We have ale and a proposition that may be of interest. One that will reward.”
Kallistra was the first to turn her head at attention, assessing the two strangers with a pointed glare while I gauged her reaction to them. Of course, with her, it was near impossible to tell what she was thinking. She was probably trying to scare them off with that mean look. But I had heard the female’s words. Reward. Coin? There was potential there. I dared to turn my head, keeping my hood low over my face to get a peek at them.
The female was a young, Elven beauty with long, bright red waves and green eyes that sparkled like gemstones. Various jewels and chains of gold adorned her pointed ears. Just a single one of those earrings would have the potential to provide enough food for Kallistra and me for a month. She was bold to wear such a thing to an inn like this, but I was certain she was well aware of that. The sharpness of her eyes, the way her smile curved with feline-like coyness—it was as though she dared someone to touch her. The dagger on her hip and the bow on her back were no decoration. With that much confidence oozing from her, she had to be skilled.
The Elven male beside her was just as stunning. His black hair shimmered with shades of deep blue—long and straight, ending just below his chest, while wild pieces framed his face and forehead. It was his eyes, though, that truly shocked me. The blue in them was so icy they appeared silver. But there was warmth there, and a kindness to his smile that contradicted everything else about him. He didn’t wear weapons other than a dagger, but his attire had me guessing he was a noble of some sort. Not traditional robes, but a flowing top with loose sleeves tucked into a pair of black leathers, exposing more of his chest than I could comfortably look at.
I waited for Kallistra to speak, directing my eyes to the table in front of me. The silence was awkwardly long before she tilted her head to the side, indicating for them to take a seat beside us.
“Kallistra,” my companion offered her name. “And this is… Nairu.” She motioned to me, and I nodded in greeting, keeping my head down while their attention fixed on me.
“Call me Zorinna,” the female spoke. “And my companion here is Alandris.”
Zorinna eased into the spot next to Kallistra, while Alandris took the spot just across from her, next to me .
“Are you well? Nairu, is it?” Alandris directed his attention to me, causing me to choke on my own breath. Most people would ignore me in Kallistra’s presence, so long as she spoke for the both of us. It’d worked with everyone else we’d encountered in Fernfallow.
I had my arms wrapped firmly around my stomach, contemplating if I could disappear rather than answer him, if I closed in on myself tight enough.
Alandris yelped, a boot slamming down onto his toes the moment the words left his mouth. No doubt, his fiery partner in crime.
“Please, stop talking,” she glared.
“It’s quite alright,” Kallistra interjected. “His honesty is refreshing compared to how we are typically treated.” She bit down on her lip, eyes drifting toward her lap. “Nairu’s appearance is… different, for a human girl, so we are not used to, uh… pleasant guests?”
Alandris ignored Zorinna’s obvious wish for him to shut up. “I once came face to face with a Keldrigg. Horrid creature with twelve eyes and half as many pincers. Surely, you’re not so bad? Are you, Nairu?”
“Oh, by the Gods! You absolute idiot.” Another vicious kick from Zorinna sent Alandris into a fit, but I couldn’t muffle the chuckle that left my lips.
“It’s okay, Nairu.” Kallistra looked at me with a gentle nod. “You may remove your cloak. They won’t harm you.” Her last statement came off as more of a threat, her eyes meeting Alandris’ gaze with a deadly chill.
He mustered a most pleasant smile in return.
I took a pause before heeding Kallistra’s words. I pulled down my hood with shaky hands and felt the light of the tavern wash over my features. And then their eyes were on me. Zorinna’s first, there and then gone again in a matter of moments, as though she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to keep looking at me. As though she wasn’t entirely comfortable looking at me. It was the reaction most people had the first time they glimpsed my unusual features. She’d masked her shock much quicker, though. Impressively so.
Alandris’ gaze was different. There wasn’t a hint of surprise or disgust or anything of that manner. Just curiosity. Intrigue. And he didn’t pull his eyes away as Zorinna had. He met mine with a smile that lit up his face, so bright it made something foreign stir inside of me. Even when his gaze lingered on mine so long that even I felt I needed to break away, he remained, never drawing back from the sight of me.
“You’re staring,” Zorinna quietly warned her companion.
“I’m admiring,” Alandris replied, not bothering to keep his voice down.
The words struck me so quickly I had no ability to stop the blush from rising to my cheeks. Against the pale of my complexion, I was sure it looked ridiculous. I had no choice but to break our eye contact, turning my attention to the table. To the empty plate in front of me. Anything other than ice-blue eyes, attached to an even bolder male.
Still, I mustered the courage to at least respond to him, my hands busying themselves by awkwardly picking at the hem of my olive-green bodice. “Thank you… for addressing me.” I spoke so only he could hear.
“What do you mean?” he pondered.
“Most people ignore me. They ask Kallistra their questions intended for me.” A sad truth, but a truth nonetheless. I was a background object for most people. The dynamic worked for us. It was safer, but I couldn’t deny that it felt lonely.
“Oh, well, my pleasure, I suppose,” Alandris chuckled, the brightness and volume of his voice made even more evident in comparison to my nearly inaudible one. “I wouldn’t thank me for asking you if you looked like a Kelldrigg, though. They truly are hideous beasts.”
I looked up at him then, my nose scrunched and mouth turning up into a smile, the tiniest bit of laughter escaping my lips. “You’re a strange one.”
“I am often told as much.”
“As am I.”
“I beg to differ.”
I bit my lip to hold back another grin, and Alandris turned back to Kallistra, his face shifting to something more serious.
“Here’s the deal. I owe a favor to a Fae,” he started plainly, ignoring the groan from Zorinna as he once again led the conversation against her wishes. “She gave me the location of an item, a flower, which she desires, in the heart of a cave in the Azog Bog. I will take no treasures, and I will pay the way for those who are willing to assist me.”
The task seemed simple enough. From what I had gathered, interactions with the Fae were reputed to be complex, but fetching a flower couldn’t be that terrible. Besides, we needed the coin desperately. Kallistra and I didn’t have a ton of battle experience, and we didn’t exactly have the strength for manual labor. The fact that someone approached us for a job was a godsend in and of itself.
“This Fae—would she be willing to offer a favor to us in exchange for this flower?” Kallistra leaned forward eagerly, elbows pressed into the table. Clearly, she had other things in mind than the gold.
“The flower is payment for my own debt, so she will no doubt want something more from you.” Alandris let out a breath. “I certainly don’t recommend getting involved with a Fae, but if an audience with her is what you desire, I am inclined to believe she will oblige when we return with her precious flower in tow.”
Kallistra leaned back, as if aware of her restless behavior. “Right. Well then, would it be just the two of you?”
“We’d like one or two more,” Zorinna spoke up. “The Fae warned it would be difficult with lesser numbers.”
This made her frown, and for the first time since Alandris had mentioned the task, she appeared hesitant. “I see.”
I worried Kallistra would change her mind about considering their offer, and opened my mouth to speak, but Alandris was quicker. “We will make the decision of who will join us carefully. I understand you have concerns, given that you have someone you wish to protect. If you’d like to be involved in further recruitment efforts, that can be arranged.”
My voice lifted through the tense silence that followed. “Kalli, couldn’t we?”
“I don’t know that this is right for us… I was expecting to take a job with just the two of us.” Kallistra nibbled her bottom lip, eyes darting down to her food, avoiding my gaze, as if she couldn’t bear to disappoint me.
“Will it ever be right?” I brought a hand to my chest. I would beg if I had to. “Please, Kalli, think of the food and the future. We can’t continue on like this.”
More silence. “Fine. Fine. Alright,” she relented. “Alandris, I will, however, take you up on the offer to be involved in your selection of the remainder of our company.”
“Perfect!” Alandris beamed. “We are staying here at the inn. This crowd hasn’t been fond of us, but the morning may prove to be more fruitful.”
“There is one more thing.” Kallistra raised her finger. “I believe I saw you notice the stone around Nairu’s neck, and I, too, noted the emblem on your cloak. The Mages Consortium.”
There was a long pause as Alandris tilted his head to the side, considering her. “Clever.” Something in his expression changed as he spoke the word.
I glanced at his cloak and saw the emblem there. For Kallistra to have noticed the tiny button, half hidden behind his hair lying loose over his shoulders, she must’ve been observing him more intensely than I had initially realized. Alandris ran his fingers across the engraving—a crescent moon nestled inside of a blazing sun.
“I’d like you to teach Nairu what you can about magic along the way.”
I reacted before Alandris had the opportunity to reply. “Really? You’ll allow this?” My hand rose to cover my mouth, which had dropped open in shock.
Kallistra had never let me train my magic with anyone other than her. And since she herself didn’t possess magic, it resulted in little to no progress. It was why we were searching for a priestess. They were the only people she trusted to train me. Or the only she had been instructed to allow to train me. For her to allow a near stranger to teach me, the last message from our village must’ve been truly dire. What she wanted with the favor from the Fae, I did not know.
“Very well,” Alandris nodded. “I will spend one month teaching her magic before we depart. Depending on her current level, that should be enough to manage the basics and help her defend herself on the journey.”
“And you will pay for our stay during that month?” Kallistra returned.
“Of course.”
“It is settled, then.” Kallistra raised her newly provided tankard of ale. “Alandris. Zorinna. May our endeavors be a success. ”
Zorinna stood from her place at the table and sifted through her pouch for a few coins, placing them before Kallistra and I. “We will contact you in the morning.”
And with that, they departed, leaving me with a grim-faced Kallistra. I placed my hand over hers. “It’s that bad, is it?”
She pursed her lips. “It is. Promise me you will be careful with that male. I know he is charming, but do not trust him. Don’t show him more of your magic than is necessary for your lessons.”
“I understand.”
Her hand tightened around mine. “Tell neither of them anything about where we are from, who we are, or our way of life. Do not tell them our goals.”
I winced from the strength of her grip and yanked my hand away. “Yes. I know.”
Trust no one. Ever.