by A J Gala
“Not as long as the others,” he said. “I only came to the Spire about three years ago. I like him. He’s nice, and he and Doddie are a riot when they’re drunk.”
“The troll gets drunk?”
“Boy, does she ever.”
Tizzy’s eyes were wide imagining it. She had brought the mug to her lips when Naia came out of the kitchen, carrying a full tray of mismatched bottles and stale bread.
“Mornin’, princess!” She sang it, but there was a hint of acid in her voice.
“Could you guys please stop calling me that?”
Naia set the tray down on the bar top and came over, wiping her brow. “We’ll put it to a vote. Hey! What are you doing? Quit wasting Lovers Tea. That shit is expensive!” She yanked the mug out of Tizzy’s hands and passed Yasuo the satchel. “Here, dry this out, quick!”
“Uh—” he held it out and watched it drip on the floor, “—it feels like a really bad idea to reuse this.”
Naia grumbled. “Fine. Tell Doddie to make use of it somehow. Tizzy! What is the matter with you? First, you drop a surprise guest on me, and now this?”
She cocked her head. “I’m sorry, did you just accuse me of wasting it? Is this a joke? Do you not think I can get laid?”
“No! That’s not—” she waved her hands. “Ugh, you idiot. Nightwalkers can’t make babies! Gods, did nobody tell you that?”
Tizzy folded her arms and jammed her hands in her armpits. The revelation felt cold, like something might have been robbed from her, but beyond that, she had no idea what to make of it. “No. No one told me that.”
Then, Naia’s face twisted up with a devilish grin. “Wait, who were you hooking up with?”
“I don’t know,” Tizzy scoffed. “Just some guy down the hall. Why does it matter?” She saw the woman brush the short brown bangs out of her third eye’s vision. “No, wait, don’t you dare do that!”
“Relax.” Naia stopped and put her hands on her hips. “I already know. I could’ve bet money on it. There’s always something wrong with your kind, you know that?”
“What just happened?” Yasuo asked. “I completely missed something. Who did she hook up with?”
Naia snorted. “Just some loser.”
Oblivious to the timing, Aleth came down the stairs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. The three of them were staring at him when he made it to the last step.
“Rise and shine, boy!” Naia hollered.
He rolled his eyes and took a seat beside Tizzy. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
The triclops sauntered up to them both. “Hey.”
“Do you ever quit?” Tizzy asked her.
“No.” Aleth scratched the back of his head. “She doesn’t. How are you, Naia?”
“Wonderful! Amused as always. Putting up problem guests, sorting out my patrons’ many issues… and at the moment, trying to get rid of some questionable bottles of old, watered-down wine. Thirsty?”
“Old, watered-down, questionable wine is my favorite.” His sarcasm was drowned out by a yawn. “I’ll polish off a bottle if you throw in some stale bread.”
Naia picked out a bottle and handed it to him with a hard remnant of brown bread. “Praise the iron stomach of a bloodkin.”
Tizzy weighed her next words, watching Naia pick through half-clean cups before finally passing one to Aleth.
“So—” she cleared her throat, “—how is Maran doing? We’re calling her Maran now. Can she stay?”
At last, the glare Tizzy waited for came. Naia’s eyes were hard as she turned them on her and folded her arms.
“Yeah. She can stay. But she’s gonna have to work, and so are you two.”
“Is this the special person Ziaul brought down to the Convent?” Aleth poured a little wine into the cup.
“Yeah. When her tribe learned of her condition, they named her Amaranth and negotiated a deal to get rid of her. I just started calling her Maran. It has fewer edible implications… thought she might appreciate that.”
His jaw clenched, just a little. “What do you think of her?” It was the second time he’d asked the question.
Tizzy shrugged. “I didn’t think I was going to like her, but you know what? She’s tough. Really tough.” She nabbed the cup before he took a sip and tried it for herself. Immediately, she started coughing. A spicy, sour, and altogether vile flavor stung her tongue and throat. “Gods, this burns! What the hell is it?”
Naia stifled a laugh and picked up the bottle, squinting at the worn label. “Oh, it’s goblin wine. Well, that explains that.”
“What’s in it?”
Aleth rested his face in the palm of his hand. “Garlic, probably a lizard or two, and elderberries. It’s okay with bread.” He grinned, enamored with her faces of disgust. “Doddie won’t even drink the stuff straight up.” He took the cup back and started sopping up the contents with a corner of the bread.
“I wouldn’t have done that even for money,” Yasuo said, vanishing into the kitchen.
Tizzy shuddered, still recoiling from the bad taste in her mouth. The next thing she knew, an awkward silence had crept in. She searched for something to say, but by the time she had come up with something witty, Naia stood in front of them and slapped her hands on the bar top.
“Alright, you two. What’s the plan? I’m guessing this is only a temporary fix for something, as usual.”
Aleth shrugged but said nothing through a mouthful of bread.
“Well,” Tizzy started, “before we left the Convent, we had talked about going back to Suradia. Is that still on the table?”
He swallowed. “It can be. Timing is off, though. I’m not sure how the Convent is going to react to us—to you and your new person—being gone. Might want to see how that plays out first before we lead them to Suradia.”
Tizzy chewed the inside of her cheek. “We’re going to have to go back to the Convent, aren’t we?”
“Probably.” He sopped up more wine with what was left of his bread.
Then, Maran emerged from the kitchen, tucking stray wisps of brown hair into the veil that she’d tied up to work in. She smiled when she saw Tizzy sitting at the bar.
“I think I can work with Troll Daughter.” She put her dainty hands together, not noticing Aleth’s eyes locking onto her bandaged wrist. “The language barrier is interesting, but it won’t be a problem. And I know how to do many of the things she needs help with.”
Naia raised her arms grandly in the air. “Wonderful! Maran, get ready for your day. Eat something, stretch, whatever you need to do. Doddie can have you for a couple hours, then I’ll have you help May and Vel with laundering and mending.” Then she raised her finger to the woman. “But, if they try to make you clean the baths, you come get me. That’s their job, and they know it.”
“I shall. Thank you, Miss Naia.”
Aleth hadn’t moved a muscle since the woman came out. He met her eyes for only a second, then stared into his cup, his face more sober than anyone had ever seen it. He didn’t watch her as she came out from behind the bar and stood in front of them.
“Lady Tizzy!” She tried to keep her smile as contained as possible. “Is this him? Your brother? You two look very much alike.”
Tizzy cleared her throat of the incessant burn of goblin wine and nodded. “That’s him. Maran, this is Aleth. And Aleth, this is Maran.”
The woman’s grin was rosy and gentle. “She was very worried about you. It’s nice to meet you, my lord.”
Naia howled in the background.
Aleth’s jaw clenched again. “Did Tizzy put you up to this?” he muttered.
Maran froze. “P-put me up to what? I’m sorry, my lord, please forgive—”
“Why are you calling me that?”
Naia drummed her hands on the bar top. “Gods, Aleth, why are you such an asshole? Just tell the lady ‘hey, nice to meet you too,’ and get it over with! You know, I’ve never met a single prince who wasn’t an absolute dick.”
Tizzy patted him on the back. “A
lright, Maran, I think he’s had enough.”
Maran pouted. “You made it sound like it would be funny.”
“I know.” Tizzy tried to show him a smile, but he wouldn’t look at her. “I thought it would be, but now I just feel kind of bad.”
“You should,” Aleth snapped. “You know how I feel about this shit, Tizzy! Sorry, Maran—” he stood and started to put his hands up, “—I know she put you up to it, I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“It’s alright.” She flashed her wrist. “But please, let me know if either of you needs to—”
Before Tizzy could get a word in, could stop Maran from saying anything else, Aleth got up and stormed away. She leaned on the bar top and watched him go.
“What was that about?” Naia asked.
Tizzy shook her head. “He’s real sensitive about something.”
“Tizzy, he’s real sensitive about everything.”
“No.” Tizzy gave her an unsuccessful smile full of regret and nerves. “I think I fucked this one up. This was a stupid idea. I’m an idiot. I should go check on him.”
“Whatever you gotta do,” Naia sighed, pouring out a decidedly spoiled bottle. “He’s probably in the nook. Go all the way down the hall till you see a narrow little staircase on your left. It goes to a storage closet.”
“He locks himself in a closet?”
“It’s a nice closet.” Naia shrugged. “We all do it when we need to. Besides, he always comes back with something useful.”
Tizzy grumbled and started down the hall as she’d been instructed. She’d never been to this part of the Spire before, and the halls were narrow and humid with barely enough room to pass by the other patrons as they sped through in towels. She averted her eyes, even though most of them didn’t care for modesty in the slightest, and breathed through an open mouth. The scent of minerals was cloying.
She found the end of the hall, which was a sheer rock wall. She was fascinated by the inclusion of the mountain in the different parts of the Spire’s layout.
There it was, to her left—a short, narrow staircase ascending to a closed door. She took the four steps up and gingerly turned the knob, letting herself inside. It was a cramped room—which she expected with words like “nook” and “closet” being thrown around—but it was an odd shape with sharp corners. A giant, four-foot-tall quartz formation that grew from the outside in cast a hazy gray light into the space. A second, narrower staircase was in the back of the room, leading up somewhere else.
Aleth leaned against a table with a broom under his chin, staring into the crystal. “There has to be one place I can go where you can’t find me.”
“This would have been it,” Tizzy said, closing the door, “if it weren’t for Naia.” She stood by him, but not too close. She could feel the tense air around him. “What happened?”
“I was an asshole. I’m sorry. I’ll apologize to Maran again.”
“Yeah, but Aleth, what happened?” When he didn’t answer, she rubbed her arms and tried again. “I don’t mean to be patronizing when I say this. I don’t. I promise. But are you having a bad day?”
He scoffed, obviously feeling patronized anyway. “No.”
“You can have a bad day! You’re going to have them, you do have them, I know you do!” She took a deep breath and sighed loudly. “Look, I don’t know everything you’ve been through or the real magnitude of it all. But I keep seeing you make all these jokes, laughing about these horrible, awful things you experienced like it’s all fine. But you’ve been through a lot. I know you’re not really okay with it. I know you, Aleth. Don’t forget that. I know when something haunts you.”
It was his turn to take a deep breath, but he let it out slow and planned his words.
“I am not having a bad day. I have worked hard to get this far, to get to a point where I’m not reliving all the shit the second I’m alone. A bad day for me used to be closing my eyes and being right there, right in the middle of whatever dumb fucking trauma of the day I was stuck on, like it was happening all over again. It did haunt me. But this is not that.”
“Then what is it?” she asked. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have prodded at your touchier subjects and made a joke out of them back there.”
“Yeah, you know what? You shouldn’t have. They are touchy. I hate where I come from, and I hate what I am. But in time, I’ll be able to deal with those things, just like I’ve grown to deal with everything else.” He clenched his jaw and shook his head a little. “Just… just give me a little bit more time. I’m not there yet. Be patient, and someday you can slap a crown on me and make vampire jokes.”
“Then it was Maran that set you off.”
He sucked in a breath and kept shaking his head. “I have fought this life since the beginning, Tizzy. I’ve told you that. I didn’t want it then, and I don’t want it now. I’ve always wanted out. And when it came time to get you, I prayed that you would want out too. But in the back of my mind, I knew that wouldn’t be the case. We both know what kind of person you are. You were going to take to it.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“You’ve never tried to fight it. Fuck, Tizzy, I can smell her blood on you. You love what you are. I knew you would, but I kept lying to myself, telling myself there was a chance you might want to fight this life, to try and feel human again. I pictured us fighting this together.”
When she heard the word, she was awake for the first time. “Together. That’s what you meant when you said that.” Some of their more passionate moments flashed through her mind. “I misunderstood you, big time.”
He cracked a smile. “Not entirely.”
She finally broke the barrier and came in close, resting her head on his shoulder. “Look… when I realized Louvita and Ziaul knew who I was, who we were—who our family was—I realized that there are a lot of terrible things that could happen, and I feel responsible for them. I have to stop them, and I can’t stop them by running.” She fingered a lock of his hair. “I would love to run from it all with you, I would. And maybe someday I will, but for now, I’m going to use what I am to fight for us.”
“I know.” He stared at the ground. “It was different before. I thought I could do that with you. But then she was thrown in, and now I just, I just can’t.” He shrugged. “You’re doing this as right as you can, you’re trying to be human about it, to be good to her, but Tizzy… that’s just not in our nature. You will change, and you will put her in danger. You will hurt her. I don’t want any part of it, and if I see it happen, I’m going to stop you.”
She folded her arms and leaned against him. He still smelled like the spices from the soapweed. “She told me about her trip. About how Torah and his sister hurt her. I won’t do that. I’m not going to be anything like that! I’ll take care of her, give her a better life than the one she’s been doomed with. And if you see me doing anything other than that, you had damn well better stop me.”
“You’re still going to feed from her.”
“Only when she offers. I’ve made it more than clear to her that she doesn’t have to, but I think she prefers it. I think bloodletting on her own is kind of lonely and scary for her.”
“Don’t keep telling yourself that. That’s how it starts. She’s a grown woman, Tizzy. She can handle herself when she has to.”
“Aleth, stop.” She took a step away from him. “At some point, you have to start trusting me. I have to be strong. You have to be strong. And that means embracing this—drinking blood like we’re supposed to, growing our abilities, all of it—embracing it until we’re all finally safe.”
Aleth could feel it in every fiber of his being that this was a tipping point. This was another place he told himself he’d never let himself go. But he stared down at her, deep into her eyes, and felt a darkness trying to coax him out. The path was there, and it was time to go. Those eyes would never look at him the same if he turned away.
“I don’t want to become a monster,” he said.
&nb
sp; “Neither do I.”
“But we will. That’s what’s going to happen.” He couldn’t get the rest of the words to come out. He knew. He had to tell her he’d seen it. But her smile was so gentle and reassuring.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise.” She brushed her fingertips along his jaw. “I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of feeling like I have to apologize for who I am. I’m not going to do it anymore. You once told me that this wasn’t my fault and that I didn’t choose this life for us. It was out of my hands. The Nightwalker Father made this decision, and the rest fell into place. So I refuse to feel guilty about it. I’m going to be the best person that I can be, but we’re in the thick of some shit right now, and some sacrifices are going to have to be made before we can truly go back to normal.”
Sacrifices. He didn’t want to imagine what that meant. He’d already seen it. He’d known it his entire life. He was hardly an oracle like their father, but the family gift had given him one crystal clear vision. He had tried to stop it at every opportunity, but could it be stopped?
He’d been gifted one quick glimpse into a future that he’d always imagined was impossibly far away. And until Maran, he had never truly believed in it, though he’d always felt compelled to turn Tizzy away from the path when it showed its face. Tizzy was going to leave her mark on the world, one way or another. He pushed the thoughts of the vision out of his mind with as much force as he could.
“Come on.” She rubbed his shoulder. “Let’s get back to the others, alright?”
He followed her out of the nook, taking the broom with him.
Sinisia tracked him easily. Despite the trouble he was getting himself into, Rhett liked making his presence known, and he left an impression on people wherever he went. When she’d taken all her shortcuts and made it to Suradia, she learned he was with several Hunters at an inn called The Clarinet. It was infamous between Saunterton and Davrkton as the Hunter hotspot.
It didn’t surprise her that he’d found his way to such a place. She was prepared to be there. Besides the Hunters, The Clarinet was a favorite among traveling performers, and they were usually a colorful bunch no matter where they came from. She perched atop the building, hiding from the bright gray light of overcast in the nooks and crannies of the uneven stucco. When she saw the four Hunters leave the building, she climbed down and went inside.
