“Don’t tell me what she needs.” Uriah bit out. “Just…don’t. I will deal with her how I choose and don’t need a client’s input on that, thank you.” He started down the road. “My crew is my business.”
“How about if I make it mine?” Dom threatened.
“Something tells me you wouldn’t much like my business, Mister Giant.” Uriah calmly retorted. “The pressures of running an enterprise such as mine would surely be too great a burden for even your mighty shoulders to bear.”
“I think I’d manage just fine.” Dom pushed past him on the road. “Don’t give me a reason to try.”
Ahead of him on the path, Taylor’s brother was still walking next to the scarred girl. “I can help you get away from him.” Rai-El whispered to her so that her captor didn’t hear. “You don’t have to be afraid.”
The scarred woman was silent for a moment, then laughed for some reason. She was still chuckling as she started walking at a faster pace, holding out her arm. She put her fingers to her lips and blew a shrill whistle. Uriah’s strange multicolored pet flew from its perch in a nearby tree and soared through the air, finally coming to rest on her outstretched forearm, like a falconer and her bird of prey.
“What’d he say to her?” Uriah asked no one in particular, then raised his voice. “Ransom, what did that boy just tell you which is so amusing?”
The scarred woman ignored him.
“Was it about me?” The pirate asked again, refusing to let the issue drop. “Tell me, I want to know!”
She continued to ignore him.
Uriah’s eyes narrowed and he hurried forward to rip the reigns from Rai-El’s hand. “Give me Horse, boy.” He snapped. “And leave my crew alone.”
“You named the horse ‘Horse’?” Taylor asked in amazement.
“What else was I supposed to name her?” Uriah pointed at the animal as if drawing her attention to a fact she might have overlooked. “That’s what she is.”
“Horse.” She repeated, then pointed at his pet cat-bird-thing. “Dinner.” She pointed at his partner. “Ransom.” She looked over at him again. “I’m getting the sense that you aren’t very imaginative when it comes to naming, are you? In fact, you’re downright literal.”
“True, it certainly lacks the creativity of a tailor named ‘Taylor,’ that’s for sure.” He retorted sarcastically.
She thought about it for a moment. “I’m guessing you named your boat ‘Boat’ or something, didn’t you?”
“Of course not!” He sounded truly insulted. “She is a ship, not a boat. And though currently out of my reach, she had a proud name: ‘The Deceitful Whore.’”
“That is a terrible name.” Taylor made a face. “Even worse than ‘Boat’ would have been.”
“How is that a terrible name?” He asked in apparent confusion. “Lots of people name their vessel after their mothers.” He straightened, obviously offended by her disrespect. “I can’t help it if I have other things to worry about besides names.”
“Like terrorizing the girl in your care?” Dom guessed.
He disliked the pirate and humanity on general principles, but people who held the innocent captive were even worse. He had no use for them and would take great pleasure in killing them at the earliest opportunity.
Uriah stopped in his tracks and pinned Dom with a vicious glare. “I warn you again: don’t get involved in my business, ogre. It’ll cost you.” His face darkened. “My crew is my concern.”
It was so cute the way humans seemed to think they could be intimidating. He covered the distance between them in two strides, towering over the pirate and reminding him how quickly their fight would be finished. “Your business now involves Tay-Lore.” He told them man in a low voice. “Which makes it my business.”
The pirate foolishly held his ground, refusing to back down. “And yet, you couldn’t get it done, could you?” Uriah asked, his voice dripping with fake innocence. “You still needed me in order to protect your precious little ‘Tay-Lore.’ Because when it comes right down to it… she still requires another man to get her where she needs to go.” He met his eyes. “How extraordinarily impotent that must make you feel right now.”
Dom could feel his skin growing hotter as his hands fisted at his sides. He had managed to control his temper his entire life, but it was growing more and more difficult. The Pyra was causing his emotions to be on edge anyway, and this tiny human insinuating that he needed him to protect his mate was the height of disrespect.
They wouldn’t even make it to the Crossroads before Dom killed him. He was going to do it right here!
His hand shot out to grab the front of the pirate’s coat, intending to crush the man into a fine paste.
“Names are meaningless.” The scarred woman suddenly interjected, quickly situating herself between them and somehow managing to herd her captor away before Dom started ripping him limb from limb. “Right?”
The pirate didn’t seem at all pleased to be escorted from the scene, but he should be on his bony human knees thanking that girl. She had just saved his useless little life. Another five seconds, and he would have just been an unpleasant memory and a stain on the bottom of Dom’s foot.
“I don’t know what you mean, Dove.” The pirate finally got out, casually straightening his coat, pretending to be unaware of how close he’d just come to a fight. “I have no problems with names. Things are what they are and knowing what something is called is a great power to have in this world. Names are a natural part of life.”
“You have like twenty of them.” She countered. “That’s not normal. Or natural. Because names are meaningless. Just made up words.”
“What?” Taylor called. “What’s going on?”
Uriah shrugged. “I have no idea what she’s talking about.” He turned to look at Taylor, and mouthed “Crazy,” then put a finger to his lips indicating that Taylor shouldn’t mention the girl’s alleged insanity.
“’Ballast in a Hat.’” Ransom mumbled in her hoarse whisper, somehow still managing to make the title sound almost dignified due to her Adithian accent.
Uriah shot her an angry look. “They only called me that because I steadied the men and…”
“’The Drunken Eel.’” Ransom continued, cutting off his protest.
“Once.” Uriah corrected, holding up one finger to drive the point home. “That was once and an isolated incident.” He put up his hands to stop her. “And I really think that’s enough sharing.”
“’The Ocean's Shame.’” She supplied again, sounding amused and ignoring his protests completely.
“Hush, Dove.” He admonished, putting his hand over her mouth… playfully? “There’s no need to share the colorful and habitually erroneous jargon of our vocation with our clientage.” He removed his hand. “It makes us appear unprofessional.”
Dom squinted in surprise as the smallest hint of a smile appeared on the girl’s face and caused one of her scars to twist upwards. The girl pushed her partner away good-naturedly, her small smile growing larger until it became a grin of genuine mirth.
Huh.
And that’s when Dom completely understood the pirate and the scarred girl.
He was still going to kill at least one of them once they reached the capital, but he understood them now.
Humans, like all animals, weren’t overly complicated.
Dom decided to ignore them, and instead returned to the task of trying to decipher exactly what he wasn’t supposed to talk about.
Chapter Ten
Dom was in a bad mood.
He was beginning to suspect that whatever Taylor had done to trigger his Pyra, it was obviously only one-sided. She seemed completely unaffected by the firestorm of emotion which was burning in him and the utter desperation he felt for her touch. The desire screamed in his head so loudly he could think of nothing else.
It was sheer torture.
Ogres weren’t meant to ignore their mate like this. If an ogre didn’t make love to his mat
e at least every night, the rest of the village would have assumed that he had gone insane or was somehow physically incapable. They needed their mates. It meant survival and solace. It meant safety and power.
It meant… love.
Yet his mate continued talking to her human friends, as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
And thus Dom wallowed alone in this torment.
Not that he really blamed her. If he had been stuck by Fate with someone who was so utterly the antithesis of everything his people valued, he’d try his damnedest to get out of that arrangement too.
Well, strictly speaking, he really already had been paired with his people’s mortal enemy, and his only goal in life was to be near her, but the basic principle was the same.
Besides, humans were beautiful.
Dom was not.
Beauty was not an attribute which was really valued by the ogres, since they possessed so little of it. Their lands were beautiful. The sky was beautiful. The love of their Sacred Mountain was beautiful. They, however, were harsh and built more for utility than appearance. It had been thought that beauty really played no part in survival.
But this human girl was built for elegance and splendor. Her every curve and line seemed designed to entice his gaze and heat his blood.
No ogre had ever appreciated beauty in their mates. Their company? Sure. Their bodies? Quite frequently. But physical attractiveness wasn’t very high on the list of most desirable characteristics for them.
He was now beginning to see its benefits however.
He was the last of his kind, so really it only made sense that he should be paired with the best mate any ogre could possibly have. Generations of his kinsmen had been satisfied with ogresses who had a good personality or a clever mind or great strength. But the Mountain had given Dom a mate with all that and more. Taylor had been gifted with every good quality he could name, and Dom was finding himself more and more at peace with that idea.
True, it wasn’t like he had a lot of choice in the matter, since she was quite literally the only mate he could ever have, but to have her be Taylor was just beyond lucky.
The Mountain loved him, obviously. Or at least, that’s what he’d thought before the woman decided to torture him like this.
Just being around the girl was exposing him not only to her attractiveness and delightful ideas, but when she was there, the entire world seemed to be more alive and colorful than it had ever been. Sights he’d once taken for granted now seemed miraculous and so awe-inspiring that they took his breath away.
Except of course for his current surroundings, anyway.
At the moment, he was sitting on the side of the road with the pirate and Taylor’s little brother.
He was not having fun.
The three men sat staring at one another in awkward distrustful silence.
It was apparent that all of them were waiting for the others to either think of something interesting to say, or preferably, get up and find somewhere else to sit.
Sadly, all of them were too stubborn to break first.
So they simply sat and stared.
Taylor had wandered away moments before to talk to the pirate crew about something and had suggested quite strenuously that he not be involved in the process. Evidently, he was not “comforting” or a “people person.”
His eyes narrowed at the thought.
He was plenty comforting to humans.
He’d butcher those men for filling his mate’s head with lies about him.
He had known this whole pirate plan had been a mistake.
He should have just killed the bandits.
He had assumed that the Sacred Mountain had sent Taylor to him as a reward for his years of torture and degradation. Now he was beginning to suspect that the Mountain had just found some new way to mess with him; forcing him to watch as his mate killed herself through unremitting recklessness and her soft heart, or got him killed while trying to stop her. Probably both.
He really should have known as much.
He and Fate had a strained history. It was a toxic relationship which both of them seemed determined to get out of, one way or the other.
Ryle absently took a bite of his roll and watched as Ransom rested against a tree a short distance away. “Is she really blind?” He asked Uriah in curiosity.
“If she’s not, she’s gone to staggering effort to continue the long charade.” The pirate rolled his eyes. “Method acting at its finest.”
“But, I mean, she could be faking, right?”
Uriah stared at the boy in bewildered amazement. “What a remarkable world you live in, young man. Truly. It must be a much more interesting place than reality.”
“So… you’re sure then?”
“I am 100% positive, yes.” Uriah’s jaw ticked in anger, obviously not liking this conversation. “If you wish her to submit to medical testing to prove her disabilities to the satisfaction of your curious yet imaginative mind, I’m afraid it will have to wait until we arrive at your destination, and the costs of the examination will be added to our fee.”
“It must be so hard to be blind.” Ryle thought out loud after a moment’s pause. “I can’t even imagine that.”
“The last thing she wants or needs is your pity.” Uriah’s face darkened, momentary irritation passing across his features and then disappearing. “But since she was blinded, her other senses have ramped up.” The pirate told The Brother seriously. “It’s gotten to the point that she can hear arrows and pluck them from the air.” He nodded at the idea. “The Adithians are an amazing race.”
Ryle turned to stare at him in astonishment. “Really?”
“Here.” Uriah handed him one of the rolls from lunch and pointed at Ransom. “Give it a try.”
“What?” Ryle stared down at the bread as it was pressed into his hand. “Just like… throw it? That seems like a pretty awful thing to do.”
“It won’t get anywhere near her.” Uriah assured him. “Her reflexes are too sharp.”
At this point, Dom really should have done something to stop what was about to happen. Rationally, he knew that. But he didn’t really want to. He was frustrated with humanity in general and didn’t feel like getting involved in their shit right now.
With the exception of his mate, the entire race of man was just so unrelentingly stupid and annoying.
All of them were getting a “time out” from him.
If it got out of hand, he’d protect his mate’s brother though. But until then, humanity was on its own.
Ryle looked down at the roll for a moment, then hurled it at the girl’s head… where it impacted her forehead and exploded in a shower of crumbs. “Ow!” She cried, falling backward off her log. “What the….!?!”
“Oh God!” Ryle gave a horrified gasped. “I’m… I’m so…”
“Ryle!” Taylor snapped, stalking back towards the road. “I saw that!” She grabbed the boy by his ear and pulled him away. “What the hell is wrong with you!?!”
Uriah erupted in laughter, obviously delighted by the whole incident.
His partner brushed the bits of roll from her poncho. “Grow up, Uriah.” She tried to hide her smile, obviously recognizing the cruel prank. “That’s not funny.”
The man continued chortling with glee. “His face was just…” He put his head back in fits of laughter over Ryle’s horrified expression at realizing he’d just pegged a blind girl with something. “I think he’s going to cry!” Ransom tossed a stick at Uriah in annoyance, somehow managing to hit him with a glancing blow, which only made him laugh harder. “Faker!” He yelled back at her, waving the stick which hit him like he’d just uncovered her secret. “Caught you!”
They both laughed uproariously at The Brother’s stupidity.
Dom watched him silently. “Once.” He informed the pirate. “Try to harm my mate’s boy again and I’ll kill you.”
Uriah stopped laughing and rolled his eyes. He glanced over at his partner. “It seems ou
r oversized friend objects to fun, Dove.”
“He hit me with bread.” Ransom wondered aloud to Uriah. “How did that hurt the kid?”
“I don’t know, Dove. I think this gargantuan fellow just wandered in from another argument, that’s all.” Uriah leaned back against a rock. “Perhaps there are difficulties in the trans-species romantic paradise we’ve been bearing witness to on our journey.” He took a bite of food. “Do you want to talk about it?” He asked, his voice filled with fake sweetness and understanding. “We are excellent listeners.”
“It’s one of the benefits of being blind.” Ransom added. “It’s all I got, really.”
“And we promise not to laugh.” Uriah continued.
“I can’t promise that.” The scarred girl deadpanned. “And I’m positive you can’t either.”
“Well, I’d try, Dove, but my heart isn’t made of stone.” He sounded genuinely affronted by her allegation. “I can’t help it if this poor fellow’s tragedies amuse me.”
Dom bared his teeth again, his temper building again.
“Did you hear that?” Ransom frowned slightly at the noise. “Uriah?”
“I believe he’s attempting to intimidate us again, Dove.”
Dom got to his feet and began stalking towards him, once again intending to kill the man where he sat. Another growl escaped his lips as his anger built, echoing through the clearing.
Ransom put her finger to her lips. “Shhh. Use your words.” She advised with mock sincerity.
Uriah chuckled in amusement, like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Getting shot down by his lady love is making him cranky, I fear.”
“Ain’t The Pyra a bitch.” Ransom commiserated, making a pouting face. “Poor little lamb.”
He grabbed the man by the front of his coat and lifted him up to eye level, Uriah’s feet dangling helplessly in the air. He slammed him backwards into a large boulder like a ragdoll. “Don’t push me, pirate.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Uriah held up his empty hands. “I am getting paid to transport your body to the capital, not discuss what the young girl does to it in the meantime. Your inexhaustible sexual frustrations and recurrent romantic misunderstandings are merely an amusing dramaturgical theater piece which I am forced to endure, yet feel compelled to critique as a patron of the absurd.” He shook his head. “But frankly, I couldn’t possibly care less if you two live forever in marital bliss or if you dunk her into your soup and consume her raw, just so long as I am paid.”
Travels With a Fairytale Monster Page 15
