Chapter Fourteen
Austin peered out the window as the wild green pressed back from the road and civilisation took its place.
They passed a crowded dock teeming with oxen, carts, and men, where goods were loaded off ships and whisked away into the city.
Inx rode out ahead to clear the road, though the carriage did most of the work for him.
People saw it coming and scattered aside.
Warehouses became businesses, and before long, they were on the edge of the market street, bustling with activity.
Tristan climbed out of the carriage first and turned to offer Austin his hand.
Nerves fluttered through Austin’s stomach as he accepted it.
It had been a while since he’d been near so many people.
The crowd gave their group a wide berth, though curious onlookers peered at them.
Austin felt the prickle of attention pass over him and tensed.
Tristan’s chin lifted. His expression was…proud, maybe? Austin puzzled over it. Proud of the market? Proud of the city?
The ocean was one row over, visible through little streets between buildings, and busy with ships. Tristan followed Austin’s gaze. “The water is unpolluted. If you wish to swim, we can do so here.”
“This close to a city? It can’t be clean.”
“This city has always been ruled by merfolk. Not even used tea leaves end up in the water,” Tristan insisted.
Austin’s natural inclination was to suspect people broke rules as soon as they could get away with it, but the water was very blue. “Hm.”
Tristan stuck close to Austin’s side as he began walking, and bar Eli and Reba, their entourage peeled away. Tristan greeted the occasional vendor and received greetings from every city guard who wandered past. Austin took his time going from stall to stall, examining what each had to offer.
Earthy, woody scents filled the air around a stall of tanned leather and the adjoining stall of leather jackets, trousers, shoes, weapon sheaths and book covers.
Through a jam of people, Austin spotted a stall with rolls of fabric, soft stuffing and pillows.
Embroidered edging and lace. A stall tucked in the shade of a bright orange awning held a table of glass jars, claiming antidotes and rare ingredients.
A woman with comically large glasses and nimble hands guarded a table of jewellery.
Austin stopped to examine a string of sapphires, strung on a bright silver chain with a lariat drop.
Little hooks joined it to a cream, lacy garter.
Tristan leaned in. “Would you like to try it on?”
Austin looked sharply at Tristan. The vendor gave Tristan a similar look. Tristan’s blue eyes darted between them and settled on Austin with a puzzled look. He leaned in close and spoke into his ear. “Did I misspeak? I think it would suit you.”
Austin made the conscious decision not to be irritated with Tristan. The suggestion didn’t seem aimed at embarrassing him. He slid a look at Eli and moved on. When he wandered to the next stall, Eli stayed behind to buy the piece.
Austin kept his attention carefully off the man selling the string of horses.
He looked at stacked crates of strange lizards on one side of him, then woven baskets filled with colourful birds on the other.
He stepped to the very edge of the horse merchant’s stall and asked the bird merchant about a sharp-eyed falcon perched in a metal cage among all the baskets.
“He’s a hunting bird. I breed them carefully, and his line has some psychic abilities,” the man explained.
Austin gave the bird merchant a prompting look. “Oh?” But really, he was listening to the argument between the horse man and his customer.
“They’re worth five times that,” the horse man was saying. “Look at how quietly they’re standing amongst all this bustle. They’re the soundest animals on the ground you’ll find on the continent. They’re trained for riding, pulling carriages—”
“Carriages?” the customer interjected. “That one’s ewe-necked, that one’s got one eye, and his toes are almost pointing at each other! And look at the pastern line on those back legs? They’re meat, man!”
The horse man reddened. “None of their conformation issues affect their way of going. They’re all sure-footed and sound, and sound of mind too. They’d ride to war for their handler.”
“I’ll give you five silvers for him.” The customer gestured to the biggest of the lot. “He can feed my wildcats. I have a pretty batch from the east.”
The horse man’s answer was immediate. “No.”
“Oh, ten silvers then, if you think he’s worth so much.”
“I’m not selling you any of them to be butchered.”
“And how are you going to feed them if you won’t sell any?
I can see those empty hay mangers from here, and I see an empty corner where last week, you had a stack of bales.
And what about that girl, there? Her riding breeches are falling apart at the seams. Is keeping hold of all of them while they starve any better than selling one to pay for the rest? ”
Austin stepped up next to the customer. His presence startled the man, the horse man, and the girl, but not the quiet ponies. Everyone turned their full attention to Austin; there was no recognition in the horse man’s face.
“Show me what they can do,” Austin said.
“I—er—”
“I like calm,” Austin added.
At that, the horse man recovered in a rush. “They’re all extremely calm, sir. And placid. Mella will show you.” He waved to the girl. “Hop on—which one do you want to see?”
Austin waved a hand. He knew precisely nothing about horses, though he agreed with the previous customer that this lot were quite hideous. “Any. The ewe-neck.”
Tristan waited patiently at his side as Austin watched Mella ride the horse without any tack through the busy market, even bringing the horse by cages of large cats the size of panthers. The animal didn’t flinch at anything, not even Reba’s wings, which terrified the carriage horses.
At the end of the display, Austin looked pointedly at Tristan.
“That one?”
“All of them.”
There were six horses waiting patiently in stalls, all with varying conformation flaws, as the other customer had pointed out.
They were far from the sleek, beautiful creatures that had pulled their carriage into the city.
Austin recalled the horse man coming at the crack of dawn every day to ride and work them before the city streets filled with people.
He laboured with patience and persistence.
Austin had even watched him get kicked once, a brush against his thigh that left him limping for weeks.
There wasn’t so much as a flash of anger, just a pained, Startled you, did I?
Austin had found him utterly bizarre. The kind of man who left out dinner every night for a stowaway in the rafters.
Tristan slid his gaze over the horses, expressionless.
Austin placed his hand on Tristan’s chest and rose onto his toes, pressing a soft kiss to his jaw, the highest point he could reach. “Be generous.” Then he walked away.
Eli joined him, Reba following a few lengths behind.
The stall with the instruments was on the far side of the market.
Austin was halfway there when a bark of seal laughter stopped him cold.
A chicken vendor was on his left, little creatures clucking as they ate from grain thrown to the ground.
Baskets of colourful eggs lined the front of the stall, and the woman standing there was finishing a deal to sell a “tasty strain” to a doe-eyed little girl with horns twisting out from curly hair.
As they paused, Eli turned on his heel, speaking to Reba. “You should aim for the back of Oran’s knees. Even if you don’t get in a solid hit, it’ll do some damage.”
“His knees?”
“The back of them. He’s got poison sacks just under the skin there. A small hit will burst them. Of course, he’s immune to his own poison, but it still hurts to rupture them.”
A break in the buildings onto a cobbled street gave Austin a perfect view of the docks.
A book vendor was set up on the edge of the sea—a ridiculous spot for someone whose wares would be ruined by a spray of water—but the position was clearly strategic.
Next to him was a cart of pastries, just as strategic.
Two mermen, one copper-tailed, the other pale blue, crowded shoulder to shoulder, pointing at the pastries. The vendor brought the loathsome Dew and Bee the requested samples.
Next to them, with a tail that refused to settle on one particular colour, was Adonis.
He peered through the pages of a red-backed book with great concentration.
Austin had the flashing, distinctly unkind thought that he wasn’t aware the merman could read.
And then he recalled a scene he’d spied—of Connor asking Adonis to read to him, in a gentle tone of voice that Austin had never heard from the man in his entire life.
Connor would bend to Austin’s will when they dated or offer exasperated nos, but he wouldn’t make requests of Austin. He couldn’t imagine any scenario where Connor would sweetly ask Austin to read to him and then shut his eyes and enjoy his voice.
Of course, Austin thought bitterly, his voice was not something one enjoyed.
The egg must have just emerged from a chicken, as it was still warm when he took it in hand.
He whispered to it, but he felt the egg ignore the command: it was not of the sea and had no mind for Austin to influence.
So what? Austin didn’t need it to listen.
He’d had a funny knack for rounders in school. He cocked back his arm and let it fly.
The egg disappeared into the darkening sky for a few seconds, but Austin glimpsed it as it began its downward arc, a tiny grey smudge falling through the air.
It landed squarely on Adonis’s head. The delicate crack of shell seemed to echo across the street, a shocked silence descending across the market—even those out of sight of the attack went quiet, heightened senses alerting them that something was amiss.
Egg yolk and whites dripped down Adonis’s hair and onto the pages of his book.
A confused expression crossed the merman’s face.
When he lifted his head, his eyes landed on Austin.
Recognition curled his mouth into a sneer.
Austin sneered back. Recognition became realisation, alerting Austin to the fact that the sneer was merely his reaction to Austin’s presence, and his comprehension of where the egg had come from dawned second.
Apocalyptic rage.
Adonis crashed into the dock, fingers sinking into gaps in the stone to haul his body up. Bee and Dew looked between the egg in Adonis’s hair and Austin. They laughed. Bee laughed so hard he clutched his stomach like he couldn’t breathe. Customers and vendors alike fled the scene.
Austin almost fled too, well aware the only reason Adonis hadn’t killed him before now was because Connor had ordered him not to. He didn’t seem to be in the state of mind to recall such orders.
Reba stepped in front of Austin and drew his sword from its brown leather scabbard, leathery wings going still in a half-folded position. Eli pressed to Austin’s side, clutching his arm and trying to push him in the direction of Tristan, who had just looked up from the horse man wearing a frown.
Despite Eli being bigger than Austin, something stronger than fear rooted Austin in place. An instinct, the part of him too inhuman to let him pass unnoticed in Ireland, wouldn’t let him move. He’d rather stand there and die than flee from this merman.
“Austin, please.” Eli’s voice had gone high with fright.
“I’m sure you’ll be fine, but I certainly don’t fancy my chances against a merman.
And I’ve heard the rumours about this one, too.
He goes around sinking ships when he’s angry, sparing nobody.
Let’s just go stand by Tristan! I’d love to watch mermen fight, of course, that’s family blood for you, but let’s do so comfortably from a distance! ”
A sound of rage tore from Adonis as a chunk of the dock broke off under his hands, but—
Austin’s laugh joined Bee’s and Dew’s snickers.
The bastard was too angry to hold his legs!
Austin shook off Eli’s hold and chucked another egg with sniper precision, staining blond hair yellow.
Adonis ducked his head, trembling with rage.
His furious growl faded. His fists uncurled, palms and fingers planting onto grey stone.
The muscles in his shoulders tensed as he lifted himself, and a knee planted on the dock.
Austin’s soft curse made Reba’s wings twitch. He twisted, meeting Austin’s eyes. He clearly saw that Austin wasn’t prepared for a showdown.
Reba’s voice was strained. “Would you consider Eli’s suggestion?”
When Austin made no attempt to flee, Reba turned back to Adonis. He spread his wings and planted his feet, adjusting his grip on his sword. His exhale was slightly unsteady.
Eli cast a desperate look toward the horse vendor and made a faint, despairing sound. Tristan was farther from them than Adonis. Austin’s heart thundered as Adonis, naked, marched toward Austin, his eyes murderous.
Austin remembered how Adonis had looked trapped on the tanker ship the Infinite, desperately trying to claw his way out of a reinforced cage.
Even as towering waves broke over the broadside of the ship, Austin had fought with Connor to keep the merman trapped, ensuring freedom for him and Connor at the cost of this creature’s life.
Connor would have none of it, already valuing the overgrown fish more than he ever had Austin.
Austin’s power swelled inside, spiteful and determined.
“Tail!” he shouted.
Adonis’s tail re-emerged. He crashed onto the street, bringing down a row of stalls with him.
Austin stared down at the beached, snarling merman, imprinting the vision into his mind.
Then he turned away, walking toward Tristan, meeting him half a pace away.
Adonis was just in view, furious, but clearly he couldn’t manage what he’d done moments ago.
The control to take on legs wouldn’t come back to him.
Between his temper and the lingering effects of Austin’s voice, he wouldn’t manage it.
Though buzzed, Austin felt his power settling into a pseudo-sleep, curling up like a cat pleased with a day’s mischief.