Chapter 30 THE ROOKERY
Chapter thirty
THE ROOKERY
Ornella
Iwas not sure how long we would be gone in the Vale, but Ciaran said to pack lightly.
Not that I had much aside from the clothes Asha had brought me from Sage’s trunk, Amira’s letter, and everything Ciaran gave me to train in.
And of course the unwashed shirt I kept under my pillow because it still smelled of Sage.
I tucked that into my pack last after checking the wool wrap, which would prevent it from mingling with other scents in my bag.
I stood and looked up at Serafin and Pyrope who were taking up almost all of the small space in the bedchamber. Both vargr gave an anxious whine that almost split open my heart, especially when I felt the faint, nagging worry down the bond from Pyrope.
“I will come back,” I swore, stepping forward to lean my head on hers. “Thank you for being my lifeline.”
The purest gratitude and devotion poured into me in warm and gentle waves that threatened to break my heart all over again, but they also made me feel invincible.
I pulled back from Pyrope and turned to Serafin whose purple eyes still made me catch my breath.
“I will be back,” I whispered to him fiercely.
Serafin flattened his ears as if he felt the ferocity of my declaration and mirrored it. Then he stepped forward and rubbed his head all over me from shoulder to thigh.
With my goodbyes said, I passed through the curtains into the main room of the tent where Nuala knelt folding the sheets from the cot she made every night by the fire. éadrom lay beside her as usual, and he raised his head to watch me with Rian’s striking emerald eyes.
“I would invite you to use the bedchamber while I am gone but…” I trailed off with a wince.
“But you do not want my scent in there,” she finished with a smile that, like all her smiles of late, failed to truly reach her mismatching eyes. “I prefer it by the fire.”
“Are you sure you are going to be alright?” I asked her tentatively, since it seemed like something Sage or Ciaran would have inquired about.
I had been relying heavily on what social graces I had learned from the aes sídhe males in order to navigate this new living situation with Nuala.
She had been subdued, which was honestly a relief, although I couldn’t help the feeling that I was failing her somehow.
I absolutely hated it when people pried into my personal affairs, so I told myself I was just respecting her privacy.
Even if I knew respecting people’s privacy would not normally stop me from prying.
No, the truth was that I was hesitant to open up any heartfelt communication because I knew it would probably require me to divulge my own struggles as well.
And that was not something I was willing to do.
So while living together had forced us to become comfortable in one another’s company, we were not exactly friendly.
“Yes. I have my own mission,” Nuala revealed softly. “Rian will come soon after you and Ciaran leave.”
“Oh,” I uttered in surprise. I had not thought either of them had even sought out the other since he’d denounced her in the war tent. “You should have seen him last night when he defended you with the Sua!” I smirked.
I had no idea why I wanted her to know he had spoken out so passionately on her behalf. Aside from perhaps the foolish hope that they could still work things out.
I had been unsure how I should feel about Nuala using Rian’s incredibly terrifying power at first. But after seeing him wield it the night before, it occurred to me that she frightened me less.
Even when she was using it to murder another fey, the magic had felt so much less chaotic in her hands somehow. More controlled.
“Do not mistake his jealous protection for affection,” Nuala insisted with her eyes on the fire between us.
Right. Ciaran had said something similar about how Rian could want to keep her close and protected without giving her any genuine love.
“Is that why you didn’t tell him right away?” I asked, too curious not to pry now that there would be distance between us soon. “You knew he would pull away?”
She wavered as she folded the last blanket and stacked them all on her pillow before she raised her eyes to me.
“I had hoped for him to come to the conclusion on his own first that he… wanted me.”
“He would have?” I pressed my luck further.
“I have seen versions of our future when he… Yes,” Nuala confirmed with another painfully vacant smile.
Before I could say anything more, a portal gleamed in the antechamber. I turned as Ciaran strode into the yurt with a large pack slung over his shoulder.
“Good luck, Ornella. I hope we see each other again soon in happier circumstances,” Nuala said.
I could not help pausing to revel in the feeling of Summer magic flowing in my veins as soon as I stepped through my portal tree and into the Vale. I had come to love the Autumn Court, but there was nothing that could compare to the feeling of Summer.
“What would you all do without me?” I demanded of Ciaran proudly when he joined me in the lush forest.
He looked back at the portal tree that was a fusion of magics that only I could create.
“It would be better if it was mobile,” he deadpanned.
My grin flattened along with my furred ears as I glared up at him. Thankfully, I had gotten to know Ciaran well enough to know when he was teasing me back.
And that he was not very good at it.
Ciaran was unimpressed by Summer Quadrant, but he felt better once we’d made our way into the Rookery in Kórinthos.
The vibrant city was in the centre of the Vale where the four elemental magics in the realm converged.
This allowed every kind of fey to coexist together the way we must have once in Uile Breithà.
“Have you ever been?” I asked Ciaran when I caught him eying fey from different courts as they conversed and bartered seamlessly. He shook his head without looking away from the street vendors. “It is amazing, isn’t it?”
Ciaran grunted noncommittally and jerked his head for me to continue leading the way through the busy street toward the entertainment district.
I knew it was the best place to exchange currency and haggle for cheap lodging.
Rian had provided us with more than enough money to last a couple weeks, but Ciaran declined to splurge on account of a necessity for discretion.
Personally, I had no idea why we could not be discreet in luxury, but perhaps we did run more risk of running into someone who might recognize what we were.
We passed out of the fey market and entered one of the residential areas where we began to pass griffins.
“Easy there,” I muttered when Ciaran glowered at the laughing trio of females who were clearly on their way to the market with baskets on their hips.
It did not take me long to find an inn with an available room with two beds. Ciaran insisted we stayed together, which I was unhappy about since I had a habit of waking up in tears. But he was immovable on the subject.
I heaved my pack onto the first bed, but Ciaran picked it up again and tossed it onto the bed that was the furthest from the window and door without a word. I rolled my eyes at his overprotectiveness but did not contest it.
“I am going to change, and then we can go back out to start asking around for Amira. The best place for us to get information about the comings and goings of the nobility will be the entertainment district,” I advised him.
“Sounds agreeable. I could use an ale,” Ciaran mused, although there was a calculating glint in his eye that made me smirk at him knowingly.
“Just remember that we are sharing a room,” I insisted, and he looked surprised that I’d seen through him before he scoffed at me as if offended.
“As if I would bring someone back here. I am hardly a stranger to brick walls in alleyways.”
“Eww! I don’t care where you fuck as long as it is not within my hearing or my sight!” I warned before closing the door to our private bathing chamber.
Autumn wine was good, spicy and sweet, but I had sorely missed the subtle floral taste of Summer wine.
We had already taken the Summer Court currency that Rian had procured for us and exchanged it for drachma, the currency used in Kórinthos. We could have brought óir from Autumn with us, but Rian had not wanted us to run the risk of being flagged for exchanging it.
We had then purchased a meal at a street vendor and eaten it as we wandered down brightly illuminated streets.
The fall of darkness marked the commencement of the infamous nightlife in the Rookery, and I was pleased that it had not dimmed since the last time.
Pubs and patios lined the cobblestone streets where live music was played and dancers performed for coin.
High above the rowdy boulevard were fine-dining establishments with balconies overlooking the river that bisected the district.
It had occurred to me that I should bring Sage one day, but then I’d thought better of that immediately. He would be lucky if I let him out of our yurt once I got him back.
“What did he say?” I asked when Ciaran returned to the little table we had secured with another round.
“He confirmed what the faun told us in the last bar. She comes into the city every three days with soup to feed the poor in the fish market,” Ciaran advised me.
“And she comes tomorrow?” I verified. He nodded, and I hummed thoughtfully before swallowing the rest of my wine so I could sip the fresh glass Ciaran had brought. “She will be heavily protected in the city. It may not be the best time to take her,” I mused aloud.
“Once we get eyes on her, I can use my shadows to watch her and learn her schedule so we may determine the best opportunity,” he reassured me.