Mihail took the envelope, flipping it open and drawing out the paper inside. Giato didn't have the patience to wait and see what it said.
"What other options?" Giato asked. He didn't know of any other way to get rid of a spell.
"There's one option." Lea grimaced. "I'm not sure how viable it is. The University in Hirane has connections with a fairy who can break spells. It's a rare, poorly documented phenomenon, but the prince is subsidizing research or training to see if it's an effective way to deal with curses and other spells that have no feasible way to be broken otherwise."
"You think this fairy could help Mihail?" Giato asked. It was worth a shot, even if Hirane was three days' flight from Caelfall. Mihail turned the page toward Giato, showing the text Renato Durante, followed by an address.
"I think it's your best chance. If he's actually able to do it," Lea said. "I don't want to get your hopes up, but I do want you to have all the information we do. I am sorry we couldn't break the curse traditionally, but I can promise that the Delacroix are no longer a threat; you don't need to worry about them."
"That's something," Giato said, mustering a smile for Lea. She didn't seem reassured by that, and promptly made her excuses and left. She made Giato promise to come to the Guard again if he or Mihail were bothered, and Giato locked the door behind her before hurrying upstairs to talk to Mihail.
He'd get Chara to take care of the fish. She'd done it for him a few times before, and she knew what they meant to him and how to keep them alive. He'd have to go by the bank, make sure he had enough money to pay whatever the fairy would charge to break the spell. Giato reached the top of the stairs, pausing when he found Mihail was no longer seated at the table.
"Mihail?" Giato called, stepping further into the room. Mihail wasn't in the living area either, and Giato headed for the bedroom, as there was no other place Mihail could be. Mihail was packing, shoving his things into his bag roughly.
"Hey," Giato said, but Mihail didn't look at him, continuing to pack up his things. "Good, you're packing." Mihail tensed, but Giato ignored that, continuing as he walked over to his wardrobe. "Though I think it'll be better to leave in the morning. We can get a whole day's travel in—oof."
Giato blinked, thrown, and then picked up the pillow Mihail had thrown at him. Mihail was glaring at him with tear-filled eyes, and he shook his head violently when Giato looked at him.
"I'm going," Giato said, tossing the pillow back on the bed. Mihail shook his head again, wiping at his eyes. "I'm not going to throw you out just because the assholes who cursed you are dead."
Mihail mouthed something Giato couldn't make out. At Giato's blank expression, he dropped his bag, threw up his hands, and stormed from the bedroom. Giato followed him, perplexed, but he wasn't going to let Mihail just leave like the danger from the Delacroix was the only reason Giato had let him stay.
Mihail was in the kitchen, bent over the table and scrawling something on the paper that Giato left there for him. He brandished it at Giato like a weapon when Giato got close enough, and Giato took it.
I can go on my own. You've helped too much already.
Giato snorted. "I'm going to help until I can't anymore. You'd do the same, wouldn't you?"
Mihail scowled, his face scrunching in annoyance. Not the same.
"As what?" Giato grinned. "With me, you can get to Hirane in three days, and we'll find this Renato fellow on the fourth. Then I can take you home."
Mihail shook his head, but with less vehemence than he had before. He grabbed the page back and wrote something else. How in three days?
"Flying," Giato said. Mihail's mouth dropped slightly, like he hadn't been expecting that. "Fastest way to travel."
Mihail shut his mouth, his eyes filling with tears again. Giato gave into the urge to step forward, folding Mihail in his arms. Mihail tensed and Giato thought for a second he'd overstepped his bounds, but then Mihail all but melted into him, burying his face in the crook of Giato's neck. Giato held him close, memorizing the feel of Mihail in his arms and the sweet way he smelled.
If everything went well, in a week they'd be parting. Giato tried to stifle that thought, but it was hard not to think about it. If they were able to break Mihail's curse, he'd have to go back to his ocean home. Giato couldn't live in the ocean, and Mihail wouldn't be able to even visit him, as Caelfall was too far from the ocean.
"We've got a few errands to run," Giato said, forcing himself to pull away from Mihail. "To get ready for this trip. Go get your cloak; we can get dinner while we're out."
Mihail nodded, giving Giato a soft smile before disappearing back into the bedroom. Giato stayed where he was a minute, and then forced himself to move, heading downstairs to get the things he'd need to get money from the bank.
CHAPTER FOUR
Giato paused at the doorway to the shop, fretting one last time about leaving the fish. Chara would take good care of them, he knew that. She'd fish-sat for him several times before and nothing bad had happened, but he still didn't want to leave them. He envied the dragons out there who hoarded simple things like feathers like his grandmother had, or gold, like his grandfather. Feathers and gold didn't get old and die or die of neglect or illness or cold or...
Mihail shifted behind him, and Giato shut the door firmly. He wasn't going to let Mihail down. He locked the door and led the way across the street to Chara's shop, where he put the keys through the mail slot in her front door.
"Ready?" Giato asked, though it was a moot point, given they were now officially locked out of his shop.
Mihail nodded, pulling on the rim of the hat Giato had gotten him the previous day. It fit closely, a dark navy blue that complemented his pretty blue-black hair.
Giato led the way down the street. There wasn't enough room in Caelfall for him to shift properly, so they were going to leave town before he did. Giato carried a bag that held enough provisions for them for the next few days, and a large basket he could carry in his dragon form that would hopefully keep Mihail from getting too cold. It was still chilly enough that he was worried Mihail would freeze, especially since it was usually colder the higher he flew.
Mihail walked close to him, occasionally darting nervous glances around as they made their way out of the city. Giato couldn't blame him. Even with the reassurance from Lea that the Delacroix had been handled, it was hard to believe. Luckily, most people didn't tangle with dragons, so he doubted they'd face much in the way of trouble as they travelled.
It took nearly half an hour for them to get out of town. Once there, Giato tugged off his cloak and laid it out in the basket. Mihail reluctantly climbed into the basket, settling both his pack and Giato's bag on his lap. He looked even smaller and more vulnerable tucked into the basket—and uncomfortable as well.
There was nothing for it, though. They'd both be cold and uncomfortable if they walked, and this way the journey was cut into a fraction of what it would be otherwise.
"Pull your hood up," Giato said, leaning forward to do it for Mihail. Mihail scrunched his nose but pulled his cloak tighter around him. He'd reluctantly allowed Giato to buy him a new one, with the promise that he'd pay Giato back for it. Not that Giato intended to collect. His grandfather had hoarded gold, and when he'd died, that gold had been passed along to his grandchildren. Giato had plenty in the bank, and Mihail wasn't anywhere close to putting a dent in it.
"Ready?" Giato asked, stalling. He'd always been uncomfortable with shifting in front of others. It seemed a private thing to him, but most every other shifter he knew didn't hesitate to throw themselves into their other forms without so much as a word of warning.
Mihail nodded, shifting in the basket seat. He clasped one thickly-gloved hand at the base of his hood, pulling it close. Stifling a sigh, Giato focused on shifting, pulling out his biggest form, as it was the only one with wings. Shifting was hard; it required concentration and intense focus on the form he wanted to change into. Then there was the uncomfortable sensation of his bones gr
owing, his muscles shifting of their own volition, the way his skin hardened and thickened...
Finally, it was done, and he stood six feet taller than the basket Mihail rested in. Mihail was staring up at him, his eyes wide. Giato's heart briefly stopped—he didn't want Mihail to be afraid of him too—but Mihail didn't recoil when Giato shifted where he stood. He looked fascinated, and Giato could deal with that. He was decent-looking as dragons went, with shimmering green scales he'd inherited from his mother. He'd gotten his father's horns, though only two instead of three.
Snuffling, Giato tentatively took a step forward, toward the basket. Mihail settled in, clutching his cloak tightly around him, and Giato carefully grasped the basket in the claws of his right paw. Stretching his wings, Giato gave a few experimental flaps. Everything seemed to be in order, so he crouched and then leapt into the air, beating his wings hard to catch flight.
He nearly crashed immediately, unused to the lopsided weight of carrying Mihail, but thankfully he managed to right himself and pick up speed. He flew higher than the nearby trees, but not too high. He could already feel the chill of the air even through the thickness of his scales and hoped Mihail was faring well.
Giato stopped after a few hours, partly to rest his wings and partly to check on Mihail. He set the basket down first, then flew back around and landed next to it. Mihail tumbled out of the basket after a minute, looking pale and a little shaken as he stumbled a few steps away from it. Giato snorted, not pleased, but there wasn't really much to be done for it. He didn't have a better way for them to get to Hirane.
Giato hadn't flown that long in a while. His wings were sore, but his claws were worse off. He may have been gripping the basket too tightly, but that was certainly better than dropping the basket while he flew. The provisions might survive a drop from flight height, but he doubted Mihail would.
Mihail was walking around, stretching himself, and Giato snorted out a sigh. It was going to be a miserable three days.
*~*~*
Unfortunately, Giato hadn't been wrong. The three days of flying and travel had been cold and miserable. It had rained a few times, cold sprinkles that had thankfully not frozen or been worse than a few splattering squalls. If only they had been traveling in the summer. Summer was the best time for travel, in Giato's opinion. The rain was always warm, the sun was even better, and they wouldn't have had to huddle together for warmth at night.
Giato would admit—to himself only—that he didn't really mind the last part. He'd stayed shifted, keeping his dragon form at night because it was better protection and because it was warmer for Mihail, and Mihail had spent each night curled up right next to him. He snored softly, quietly, and Giato drifted to sleep content and happy despite the cool night air and the stiffness in his wings.
Hirane was a large city, one of the biggest port cities in the kingdom. It boasted a huge port where the Gosfane river reached one of the greater lakes of the north, a large citadel that housed a huge portion of the Kingdom Guard, and a huge library attached to the largest mage school in the Kingdom.
Giato had visited it a time or two, but it was too busy for his liking. He liked smaller cities like Caelfall, where he could make strong connections with the locals and build up his networks. Caelfall was just far enough from the major cities of the kingdom that it was a main thoroughfare for most traveling between them, which was perfect for a business like his.
He'd landed on the city outskirts, just past the gates, to give himself the chance to shift again without a huge audience. He vaguely remembered that there were shifter platforms inside the city, but he didn't remember where, and he preferred the relative privacy of shifting out of the city.
Mihail climbed out of the basket as Giato paced a few steps away, stretching slowly. His eyes were on the city walls, however, and Giato reluctantly began to shift. He couldn't put this off forever, and he didn't want to. Mihail deserved to be free of the curse, no matter what the cost or the toll it took on Giato. He'd pay a thousand times over to make sure Mihail was safe and free.
Giato ignored the question niggling at the back of his head asking whether he was only going to this much trouble because Mihail was a merman, a lovely addition to his collection—
The shift completed, and Giato shook out his arms, making a face at the pins-and-needles feeling left crawling across his skin. It dissipated after a second, and he offered Mihail a smile. "Shall we?"
Mihail nodded, giving him a smile in return. It was hesitant, like he was unsure of what they were about to do. There wasn't anything else to do, however. Giato fetched his bag from the basket and passed Mihail's to him. He hesitated a moment, then hefted the basket and tucked it up in a tree.
There was no guarantee it would stay there, but at least it would be out of easy reach of anyone who might want to scavenge it. If they did, well, Giato could get another. It was a better option than hauling it through the busy streets.
"Come on, let's go find this university." Giato grinned, hoping his own nerves weren't showing. He fell into step beside Mihail, and they made their way to the gates. The guards there barely gave them a second look, nodding at them when they passed. Once inside the city, Giato gestured to the grand spires of a large building that towered over the city. "If I remember correctly, that's where we're going."
Mihail gave him a questioning look, and Giato shrugged. "I've been here a few times but not often. Too busy for me."
Mihail nodded, making a gesture for him to lead the way. Giato grinned, offering his arm. He wasn't going to act like he was in charge. This was all about Mihail.
Rolling his eyes, Mihail took Giato's arm, but he was smiling. Most of the tension that had plagued him in Caelfall was gone, and Giato was happy to see that. Now he only needed to get Mihail about three more weeks of good sleep and a broken curse, and then Mihail would be good to go.
Even if go meant that Mihail would be leaving him.
Shunting that thought out of his mind, Giato focused on getting through town. It took a few hours. Hirane was huge, with a hodgepodge of streets that went from straight to twisting, from narrow to wide, but always cluttered with people. Giato spotted plenty of non-humans, but that was unsurprising, given the University was supposed to train human and non-human mages. Hopefully that meant the whole city was good about dealing with non-humans, but Giato wasn't going to bank on that until it was proven.
The University building was near the center of town, not far from where the river met the lake. It had a wrought iron fence erected around it, but the gates to it were wide open. A neatly arrayed cobblestone walk led from the gates to the front of the center building, from which dozens of buildings were connected. The main building was the tallest, with the overarching spires, and the buildings to each side were smaller, stretching outward instead of upward.
Giato walked with Mihail up the front walk, unable to not feel the way Mihail's shoulders tensed up. They still walked arm in arm, Mihail closer now than he'd been when they'd walked through the city, where the foot traffic had occasionally forced them apart. There were plenty of people about in the courtyard and on the walk, but no one gave them a second look. Giato spotted several dragons, a few fae-looking humans, and several other shifters scattered about the yard.
The doors to the main building were propped open like the gate had been. There were two enormous staircases leading up and curving in the direction of the added-on wings on either side of the building. The ceiling reached up, large enough that Giato would be able to shift inside if he wanted. The whole place was bright with mage lights, their clean white light shining off the gleaming white-and-gold surfaces of the room.
Ahead, there was an enormous counter set in the center of the huge room. At it sat several people, all dressed in smart forest green with silver insignia stitched on their chests. One of them had horns, which was new to Giato, but he didn't stare. There were lines of people in front of each of the desk workers, and Giato supposed they should probably join a line. He p
icked the shortest and went to stand behind a woman with shimmering orange scales along her temple and a wicked set of claws.
Behind the counter was a huge hallway that stretched for an age. It seemed to branch off in different directions, and Giato watched with curiosity as people left the counter to head back that way, disappearing into the labyrinth. Occasionally someone would head up the stairs instead, and a few people ended up waiting in the sitting areas that were hidden behind the enormous staircases.
It took several minutes before they reached the counter. The woman behind it appeared to be entirely human, with gray-streaked brown hair, dark brown eyes, and soft brown skin that complemented her uniform neatly.
"Afternoon. What can I help you with?" she asked, her voice completely toneless.
"Ah," Giato said. He should have spent the time in line figuring out what he was going to say. "Afternoon. We're here to meet with a Mr. Durante?"
"Do you have an appointment?" The woman asked, her eyes flickering down to the desk in front of her. It was covered in papers, but Giato couldn't read any of them. There was something—a spell, undoubtedly—that obscured the words, blurring any text on the other side of it.
"Oh, uh, no, sorry," Giato said. He tried a smile. "Can we set one up?"
The woman pursed her lips, her gaze slipping to Mihail. Whatever she saw in his face made her expression soften the barest bit. "What's it regarding? I'll have to consult with his assistant on when he'll next be free."
"A curse," Giato said. He wasn't sure how much information to give her, but he supposed she could always ask more questions. "The caster is dead."
"Your name?" The woman asked. She tore a sheet of paper off a pad on top of her desk, her pen hovering over it, poised to write.
"Giato. He's Mihail," Giato supplied.
She scrawled a note, slipping from her chair. Without another word, she disappeared into the hallways in the back, going through the first doorway on the left. She was back a moment later, climbing back into her seat. She pointed to the waiting area under the nearer staircase. "Have a seat. Someone will be with you as soon as they're able. It might be an hour or two, depending on where Mr. Durante's assistant is."
Mermaid Tails Page 4
