15. Raithe
Raithe
For nearly two weeks I had perused the bustling streets of Gemini’s royal city, Dioscuri, for whispers of a dancer associated with a black rose.
Nothing significant emerged, especially as I remained discreet under the ever-present city guard, who seemed to pay more attention to a group of boys kicking a ball back and forth than a crying child in distress.
After the woman’s ill-mannered thanks, or lack thereof, I should have turned away.
I did, in fact, try to, but she ran right back into oncoming wagon traffic.
A second later and she would have been trampled to death.
Geminians had a reputation for impulsivity thanks to their quick thinking, but all thoughts seemed to disappear from that woman entirely.
She was lucky I’d been there in time.
Follow, my intuition insisted.
I scanned the crowd in search of something that would justify the need to track her.
Then I saw it. Or rather, him.
A scrawny, young man moved in the same direction as the woman now did, his body definitely angled at hers.
I waited a few seconds, watching them both disperse before trailing.
The fading sunlight spilled atop the woman’s brown hair, casting her locks in a dark, crimson glow. Heads turned wherever she walked. She remained utterly oblivious to her surroundings, fretting over the contents of her bag and unaware that she had not one but two followers.
Reason told me to ignore her and carry on with my mission.
Follow.
So I did. She must have been connected to my mission somehow.
An hour later, I hovered outside a two-story building nestled in the foothills of a small town attached to the royal city by a wide, albeit rickety, suspended bridge. Night blanketed the gardens I hid in. Given all the herbs and plants I smelled, I gathered this place to be an apothecary.
The other man chose a less covert method and snuggled right up against the window overlooking the living space within.
The woman sat with an elderly couple at a table lit by a few taper candles.
A fire roared behind them. The picture appeared almost wholesome if not for the fact that they had lurkers unbeknownst to them.
There had to be a reason I’d been compelled here. My instincts had never led me astray before.
I prowled quietly until I stood behind the leering stranger and said, “Anyone ever told you it’s impolite to stare?”
The man jumped. I covered his mouth before he could scream in surprise and pushed him against the home’s exterior.
“The woman you followed.” I removed my hand and dug my elbow into his neck. I had little patience for creeps preying on women. “Who is she to you?”
He scrambled for air. “She’s my… betrothed.”
“Betrothed,” I repeated doubtfully. “If that were the case, you wouldn’t need to stalk her, would you?” He choked something in response. “Shall we go inside and confirm your betrothal?” When his eyes widened at that, I hummed. “Thought so.”
“If any harm comes to me—”
“It would be because of your own stupid choices.”
“I was just making sure she got home safe!”
I noted the flattened shrubs beneath the window. “Seems you do that a lot. Safe from where?”
“She’s been involved with a… dangerous crowd of late.”
Perhaps my intuition wanted me to follow her in order to find this man who’d take me where I needed to go. “The apostai?” When he didn’t answer, I pressed into his throat. His eyes bulged.
“Serpentine,” he choked out.
I loosened my hold on his neck. “Elaborate.”
“It’s a whorehouse. Beneath her.”
I tilted my head. “Judging from your hesitancy, it’s more than a whorehouse, though, isn’t it?”
His lips flattened. “It’s… an elite pleasure and entertainment hall.”
“Is there dancing?”
“Yes.”
My pulse kicked up. “Is there a black rose?”
He swallowed, eyes flaring with surprise. “You know about her? You’re one of us?”
His words confused me. “Take me to Serpentine.”
The man—Jere, allegedly—was the son of a baroness.
Thanks to my inconspicuous attire, he couldn’t tell I was a guardian.
I needed to keep it that way in case his mother actually was a baroness of Dioscuri, who undoubtedly held a close relationship to Gemini’s King Zephyr.
Once he described me as a golden-eyed man of visceral strength, King Zephyr would discern that a Scorpion guardian lurked about his kingdom and threatened a noble family.
His seer would undoubtedly use Blood Sight on Jere to verify.
I didn’t know how far back the mushroom tincture I bought in Alhena would go to wipe his memories of me. I had to assume not long, so my time with Jere needed to be fast regardless of whether he recognized what I was or not.
“Does your betrothed know you stalk her?” I prompted on our way back into the city.
“I have never been treated so poorly in all my life.” Jere sneered up at me. “I am a son of a baroness—”
“Yes, you’ve mentioned that once or twice.”
“Why were you following her?” Jere stopped abruptly. “What do you even want?”
I took in his messy brown hair, round cheeks, and ignorant eyes. “Get me into Serpentine and I’ll let you leave with your balls intact and your betrothed oblivious to your lewd habits. Sound fair?”
“Ass,” he growled.
He reached into a pocket inside his jacket and procured two brassy, intricately carved coins.
He reluctantly handed me one. I weighed the heavy metal in my hands, studying it.
I’d never seen metal quite like it. Not gold or copper but something in between.
Denser. One side of the coin depicted a distinct formation of stars, while the other…
The other resembled the barely-there brand I’d seen on the apostate’s foot weeks ago. The lines and curves of the coin struck some distant reminiscence buried in my subconscious I couldn’t yet pinpoint.
“That’s your entry,” Jere grunted. “If you’re who you say you are, then you won’t need it.”
I didn’t bother to clarify that I never stated who—or what—I was. Hopefully such a fallacy could prove prosperous.
An hour later, Jere gestured vaguely up a hill stacked with opulent homes. “We’re here.”
“Remember.” I gripped his arm tightly. “Go along with everything I say, otherwise kiss your balls and that woman goodbye.”
“Quit talking about my balls.”
I let him shake my hand off as we descended a long tunnel guided by a guard. Before letting us pass, the guard uttered the name, “Andreas.” As if pleased by his ability to do so, he granted us entry.
Jere, on the other hand, raised a skeptical brow—as if he wasn’t sure what to make of such an easy admittance. “So you are one of us.”
After handing over an additional coin to a white-masked woman, we were ushered into a vast room with rows and drawers of all sorts of clothing—all white.
I didn’t like the idea of these strange workers holding on to my clothes while I changed into their frivolous costumes, but without doing so, entry was forbidden.
All patrons were required to wear a mask and an odd bracelet with an eye at its center, the band consisting of the same metal as the entrance coins. It conformed perfectly to the width of my wrist—like magic.
I kept my communica necklace beneath a hooded white tunic with long sleeves. My Athenian blades remained hidden, strapped to my back beneath the fancy material. A pair of white linen pants, socks, and gloves concealed the rest of my glyphs. I mussed my curls to conceal my forehead.
The mask and hood would help deter attention from my eyes when kept at the right angle. As long as I didn’t tap into any of my senses, they wouldn’t glow.
Though since changing into the attire, my senses were… dulled. My hearing had been reduced to almost mundane levels where I could barely hear the murmuring voices in the rooms beyond.
Alarm crept up my spine.
Such a sensation shouldn’t have been possible. The only time my senses became so diminished was when I removed my ring, severing access to my guardian abilities. I kept the panic at bay, resigning to stay here only as long as necessary.
There was something wrong about this place.
“I’ll hear if you try to leave or send a signal to anyone,” I said from outside Jere’s curtain while we changed, even though I wasn’t so sure I would.
He snorted. “Whatever.” Jere thrust the curtains aside and stalked to the entryway.
In addition to the entrance coins, the eye-bracelet was required upon entry into the main rooms. Signs were posted along the wall threatening immediate removal—or worse—if caught without the bracelets on.
I rubbed it, wondering if it was perhaps made of some sort of stone that contained properties capable of reducing the magic of even a Chosen’s talisman. Such a thing shouldn’t have been possible.
Even with dulled senses, the room was filled with overpowering odors, smoky haze, and pulsing music. Bodies writhed and lounged in the shadows. White was everywhere.
As I took everything in, I had a creeping sensation that I’d been here before. The dark and vulgar setting struck a chord in my memory from a time in my childhood I’d long forgotten.
I’d never been to Gemini as a child, only as a guardian for King Zephyr’s ceremonial trial and subsequent coronation. I wondered how a place like this could have possibly been familiar.
Jere cut through the crowd to a seating area tucked behind two gauzy gold curtains. A lanky man and leggy woman tangled together. Her white nails threaded through the man’s spiky white hair intimately. Upon our arrival, the woman pulled away to observe us with curious eyes beneath her mask.
The man’s swollen, pierced lips formed into a grin.
“Look who it is,” he greeted us, shifting the woman off his lap.
She smoothed her long, silky hair over her bare shoulders and reached for a glass on the table centered amidst the square-shaped sofa.
“Back again so soon, Jerrome?” The man emphasized the name—Jere’s real name, it seemed—and nodded at me with approval.
Strange.