Serpent in the Mist

by Cleave Bourbon

  “Aye, we are.”

  “Well, I do have one way to get you there quickly, though I don’t think you will like it much, and the Kylerie do not travel by this method anymore because it is detectable by Enforcers.”

  “Please tell me you are not talking about bending!”

  “Aye, I just have to bend a space between us and the inn, and we are there in two steps, easy.”

  “Bending also takes a lot of essence and will be a beacon to every Enforcer in the city. Also, it works fine for someone your size, but it could actually kill me even if I wasn’t wounded!”

  “Aye, I told you that you wouldn’t like it. It is something I can do exceedingly well. I am sure you will be fine.” He looked around nervously. “One more issue—the healing I performed earlier, it is also a beacon, as you put it, for Enforcers. I am sure we will have them upon us shortly.” He glanced at the body of the thief nearby. “And you would have to explain him.”

  Gondrial thought he heard footsteps and shouting nearby. He wasn’t sure if it was Enforcers, but he couldn’t take the chance. “All right, Kyrie, we bend.” He held up his finger before Kyrie could start drawing essence. “But as soon as we arrive at the inn, we have to figure out how to hide or defend ourselves.”

  “I am familiar with the inns of this city. I can bend us right into the hallway with your room. Just give me the inn name and the floor.”

  AS KELLE, BREN, AND Shadesilver made their way to the Winterhaven festivities, Shadesilver stepped in front of them. “One other point of contention I forgot to remind you of earlier. There is a tradition in Trigothia that differs somewhat from Symboria when it comes to Winterhaven. The weather is different here, and when the snows come, there is very little traveling about. Because people are stuck indoors, this is the last great holiday before springtime for marriages. Many of the customs and games will be played to couple up the eligible. Be very careful that you know what game you are playing before you partake.”

  Kelle waved her off. “No one will end up coupled.” She looked at Bren.

  “Absolutely not. We will watch ourselves.”

  “See that you do, because I will not be here to watch over you. I have been stuck in this form for far longer than I care to be, and I need to stretch my wings.”

  “Be careful out there,” Kelle cautioned.

  “We are near the water; I will fly out that way, so I do not alarm any locals. I will be fine.”

  Kelle nodded. She and Bren headed to the town square, and Shadesilver went into the woods toward the ocean.

  “I must admit that I’m excited about this,” Kelle said. “It’s been so long since I have had any time to just enjoy myself. We can feast, dance, and mingle with people who are not so serious about life all the time. Just like Brookhaven used to be for me.”

  “Aye, it will be nice to get away from pressing issues for a time.”

  “Look, there is the mayor!” Kelle’s voice was tinged with excitement.

  The festival officially began the same way it began in Brookhaven. The most prominent member of the village, in this case the mayor, stood on a petite wooden platform in the middle of the square and announced the serving of the Winterhaven feast.

  The mayor was a tall man with white hair and a white beard. He wore fine-stitched linen clothing and carried a long stem tabac pipe. “Welcome, friends.” The mayor spoke in a pleasant, masculine voice. “It is that wonderful time of year again when the harvest is in and the hearth fires are used for more than just cooking. Winterhaven is upon us.” Cheers and clapping rang out from the gathering crowd. “I invite you all to share the bounties of our harvest in a great feast in the main hall.” More cheering erupted. “After we feast, everyone come back out here for the rest of the festivities. I have talked to the seers, and there is no rain nor wind nor cold to impede our party this night. Let the feasting begin!” He threw his arms up in the air and leaped from the platform. The villagers stepped in line behind him to enter the great hall.

  The food was lined on both sides of the hall with tables in the center. Two lines formed at either side where the villagers could take a plate and gather what they wanted from each food setting. The meat presented ranged from suckling pig to beef, chicken, goose, duck, and several varieties of fish and seafood. There were steaming pots of vegetables Kelle had never seen before and mounds of golden-crusted bread and rolls.

  After the meal, Kelle and Bren moved with the rest of the villagers back out into the village square. Booths were set up around the square one after the other. At the center of the square, acrobats and musicians performed. Every other booth offered some kind of intoxicating drink . Kelle ushered Bren quickly past the kissing booth, although she didn’t really understand why it might bother her. The girl just didn’t look like she was someone Bren should kiss. Honey mead was the drink at the first stand they came to, and Bren took a couple of goblets. The next booth contained a shallow, water-filled wooden barrel with apples floating in it. Patrons could win a prize by bobbing for the apples. Kelle grinned at the fellows bobbing and pulled Bren to the next booth, which was that of a fortune teller.

  “Bren, have your fortune read.”

  Bren hesitated. “I’m not so sure that would be a good idea.”

  “It’s all just fun, right?” She turned to the fortune teller for an answer.

  “Yes, it is all good fun. You have nothing to lose, only to gain,” the fortune teller stated.

  Bren sat down on a stool provided in front of the booth. Kelle, excited by hearing more about Bren, stood behind him. At first she thought the fortune teller was Sylvan, but now that she got a good look at him, she wasn’t sure. “I’m sorry,” Kelle said, “but are you an elf?” She immediately regretted asking. “I am so sorry. That was incredibly rude of me to ask.”

  “Not at all, mistress, I get asked all the time. Yes, I am an elf, but I am Siladil from Darovan.”

  “I thought so. You remind me of Sanmir the Apothecary from back home.”

  “Oh, I do?” The fortune teller seemed surprised. “Not many Siladil venture out of Darovan.”

  He closed his eyes and took Bren’s hands in his. “Forgive me, mistress. I must concentrate.”

  The fortune teller focused his attention on Bren in a way that made Kelle feel like he was trying to change the subject. “Of course,” she said.

  “First, I must discover the past. I see dragons and the red city. Ah, you are a dragon knight.”

  “Aye, he is!” Kelle blurted out.

  The fortune teller went on. “Now I must see the present. You have stolen something precious.”

  “I never steal!” Bren almost yanked his hands back, but the sand elf held them in an iron grip.

  “No, I speak not of trinkets, goods, or possessions of this world. What you have stolen cannot be sold, bought, or collected. It cannot be traded, but it can be given. It can destroy kingdoms or unite them.”

  “Some kind of weapon?” Bren asked.

  “Aye, the worst kind of weapon, but also the greatest hope for peace.”

  “I have plenty of weapons. I have stolen nothing, I assure you.”

  “Very well. Now I will look into your future. War, destruction, horror.”

  “Well, aye, I am a dragon knight. Battle is what I am trained for, and my charge will send me wherever I am needed the most.”

  “But I also see love, hope, family, and a marriage very soon.”

  Bren laughed aloud. “You have been convincing so far, seer, but now you have revealed yourself. I am not allowed to marry nor have a family. I would never do such a thing even if I were allowed. My knighthood would doom such an endeavor, and it would not be fair to the woman I married.”

  “Your situation is a unique one, I think.” He looked directly at Kelle.

  “Me? Oh, now I see. We are not a couple. I am to marry another. Bren is only my trainer and mentor.”

  The fortune teller shrugged his shoulders. “What do I know? It is all in fun.”
r />   “And it was fun,” Bren said as he placed a silver coin on the table.

  “Ah, a silver. The knight is very generous. One more bit of advice to give the knight his full money’s worth. Do not drink too much and do not visit the booth of Ni’esa.” He pointed to a booth decorated in flowers and garland. “She is sweet on the outside but determined on the inside.”

  “Thank you for the advice,” Bren said with an obliging wink. He turned to Kelle and whispered, “Thanks for that.”

  Kelle giggled. “It was all in good fun. What? You didn’t find it the least bit amusing?”

  “Oh, I found it extremely amusing. Can you imagine me married and still a dragon knight? It would be . . . well . . . it would be . . . terrible, for lack of a better word.”

  “Terrible?”

  “You know, always worrying about a family at home. Who would take care of them if I were killed, or what if enemies tried to use them against me?”

  “You have enemies like that?”

  “Not that I know of, but I am never sure of what the future holds.”

  The two walked along the booths, trying different foods and drinks, even though they had just had a huge feast. They carefully avoided Ni’esa’s booth.

  As the night wore on, Kelle noticed that Bren began to sample the beverages offered more and more. Sensing that he was nervous about something also made her nervous. She began to invent scenarios in her mind. What if he was planning on kissing her at the end of the night? So she also began to sample the mead and wines offered. It wasn’t long before her fingers were tingling and her words were slurring. It was when Bren began to sing to her, however, that she knew he was no longer tipsy but fully drunk. When his first song ended, he took another drink.

  “I know another song you may like,” he slurred.

  Kelle said the first thing that came to mind to avoid his singing. “We might as well see what Ni’esa’s booth is all about, that is, unless you believe in the fortune teller’s nonsense.”

  “Not at all. Let’s go see what the fuss is about,” he responded.

  Ni’esa’s booth was larger than the rest and was set back away from the other booths of the square back toward the village hall.

  As they neared, Kelle realized what Ni’esa did. “It’s an imprint booth. I have heard of these. They draw a design on your skin and then magically imprint it so it will last forever.”

  Bren nodded. “All right, I have heard of these too. I have even heard that some of the images can be imprinted in motion, like a galloping horse.

  “I would think that would be distracting, a horse always running,” Kelle said.

  “It only runs when you command it to, otherwise it is just another imprint.” He looked into her eyes. “You have such pretty eyes. Did I ever tell you that?”

  Kelle immediately downed her almost full goblet of mead.

  “Whoa, slow down,” Bren said in a slur. “I only said your eyes were pretty; I didn’t ask for your hand or anything.”

  Kelle’s head was swimming. “I know,” was all she could think to say. Bren stared at her, and she could feel him scrutinizing every line of her face. She had to do something. “We should get matching ones,” she blurted out, “you know, to show we are united as dragon knights, or something like that.”

  “Comrades in arms, I like it,” Bren agreed.

  As they approached the booth, Kelle’s hair stood up on the back of her neck. Shadesilver had warned her about something to do with the local population. Whatever the feeling was, it was quickly overshadowed by the alcohol.

  The one called Ni’esa was a pretty woman with dark, somewhat wild, hair and piercing hazel eyes. She looked like the kind of woman one knew better than to cross. She immediately came to greet Kelle and Bren as they walked up.

  “Welcome to my booth, strangers. I am Ni’esa, imprint artist. The magic I use is sanctioned by the Enforcers as harmless and legal. What can I do for you two?”

  Kelle tried not to show that the woman made her nervous. “We would like to get a small imprint to signify we are united.”

  “We are soldiers,” Bren interjected.

  “Ah, what did you have in mind?”

  “What about a dragon head on the back of our hands between the thumb and forefinger? Nothing too large, just a small dragon.”

  “Are you both quite sure about this?” Ni’esa asked.

  “Aye,” Bren said and Kelle nodded.

  “Mo’rune, come here for a moment,” she called to the man working with her in the booth.

  The big, muscular man with greying hair complied, wiping ink from his hands on the white apron he wore. “Yes, mistress?”

  “Okay, you two, before Mo’rune and I, do you swear you want this dragon imprint to unite you?”

  Kelle chortled uneasily. “Aye, united in the spirit of the dragon knights. I am not sure why it is such a fuss.” She almost felt the need to change her mind.

  Ni’esa grinned and patted Kelle’s hand to comfort her. “No fuss, my dear, but the imprint is permanent. I do not wish you to change your mind tomorrow and find you cannot remove it. I do smell drink on you, and I do not wish for you to make a foolish mistake.”

  Kelle liked the way Ni’esa talked with a distinctive western accent. “As long as the imprint is small, there is no mistake.”

  “Come in through the small wooden door to your left, and we will get started.”

  Throughout the imprint, Ni’esa talked about her marriage to Mo’rune and their five, now grown, children. Mo’rune imprinted the same design on Bren’s hand, and they put both hands side by side to compare and make sure they matched. Bren and Kelle were offered a curious drink of western origin that was supposed to dull the pain when the imprint was magically sealed into their skin. After Ni’esa and Mo’rune finished with the artwork, they waited for Kelle and Bren to approve the design. Once approved, they chanted a delicate poem in a language Kelle did not understand. As the words flowed in unison from their lips, the imprints glowed and etched themselves into the skin. When it was over, Bren and Kelle had matching, permanent imprints of a dragon head with maw opened in a ferocious roar.

  Walking back to the inn, Kelle felt increasingly woozy, and Bren did not fare much better. The euphoric effects of the alcohol were wearing off, replaced with slight nausea. The strong drink Ni’esa and Mo’rune had given them also made them drowsy. They staggered into the gardens next to the inn’s side entrance before Bren stopped.

  “I had a nice time with you tonight, but I must admit that I am completely drunk,” he said with a half grin.

  “That makes two of us. I am glad you are a gentleman,” she said to deter him from feeling the need to kiss her goodnight. “I am sure Devyn would be happy to know you are a gentleman too.” Her words came out shaky and clipped, almost silly.

  “Aye, I am a dragon knight,” he slurred. “I am never compromised, and I am sharp as a dragon fang, quite immune to your womanly wiles, my lady.”

  Both stopped and stared into each other’s eyes with forbidden longing.

  Kelle shied away first from Bren and turned her head; she knew what the look on his face meant. When he put his hand on her shoulder, she turned back to him. He moved his face closer, and before she knew it, his lips were pressed against hers. She felt the urge to pull away but didn’t. Bren’s lips were softer than she expected, and she melted in his embrace. Devyn flashed for a moment in her mind, and she managed to push back on Bren’s chest. He pulled her back in, and that was the last of Kelle’s resistance.

  “Hmm hmm, what is this then?” It was Shadesilver, walking up the garden path. Bren and Kelle separated in one quick motion.

  “Nothing, it’s nothing,” Kelle’s words were garbled.

  Shadesilver eyed Kelle with suspicion. “What has happened between you two?”

  “Nothing. We were just coming back from the Winterhaven celebration. We both had a little too much drink and—”

  “I should say so,” Shadesilver interr
upted. “What do you have to say for yourself, Bren?”

  “It is as Kelle has told, my lady dragon.”

  Shadesilver moved closer to Kelle until she was just inches away. “There is something more. I can sense magic, not essence wielding or dragon magic, but magic.”

  “Oh, yes, we both got an imprint to unify us as dragon knights. You know, dragon knight soldiers. Here, look.” She offered Shadesilver her hand. Bren held his hand up too.

  “Oh, no, a matching western imprint done at Winterhaven.” Shadesilver was distressed. “Please tell me there wasn’t another person there asked to witness?”

  “Aye, her husband. She said she wanted to make sure that we were serious because the imprint was permanent,” Kelle told her.

  “Did you say it like that?”

  “Like what?” Kelle was confused.

  “Did you say you wanted to be united as dragon knights?”

  “I believe so.” Kelle was worried at Shadesilver’s tone. “Why, what’s wrong?”

  Shadesilver closed her eyes and rubbed her hand on her forehead before addressing Bren. “Oh, Bren, I expected more from you. Kelle is naïve, but you have been out in the world.”

  Bren looked confused. “All right, you are beginning to make me nervous. What are you so concerned about?”

  “This is a western Winterhaven tradition. You two idiots just got married!”

  FAYNE CRADLED KIMALA’S head in her arms. The poison had been swift, and Fayne had no time to react, which is what Trendan, no doubt, had in mind when he administered it. Fayne waited patiently while tears streamed down her face, not tears of sadness or mourning, but tears of abject anger. Fayne knew her mother well; she knew the story of why she had to leave her family, why she had become a spy, and what gifts she possessed. The anger was for Trendan. She had trusted him to trust her, and he had chosen to betray her.

  Kimala, who was cold as stone, began to writhe in Fayne’s arms, but Fayne held her close just like the resentment she now had for Trendan. A few moments more and the writhing abated. Kimala’s eyes popped open, and she sat upright next to Fayne.