fireworks that were bursting overhead underscored the drumbeat.
After the dance finished, the masked stranger took her hand and dodged through the festive couples toward a brightly painted building. “Are you hungry?” he asked.
Una looked back over her shoulder. Peter and Indy were nowhere to be seen. “And thirsty.” Whoever the stranger was, Una felt safe. For the few moments she had been dancing with him, she had forgotten who she was and what she was about to do.
“Do you know if there are any castles nearby?” As soon as Una said it, she realized it was an odd question, but she plowed ahead. “Or cemeteries?”
Her companion stopped just short of the inn door. “Now, what would a lass like you want with a cemetery?” he asked.
“I’m . . . um . . . looking for relatives,” Una managed. Let him think she was looking for their graves.
“I think I know where you might find them,” her partner said. “But first come have a bite to eat.” When they pushed through the swinging doors into the busy common room of the inn, the smell of roasting meat made Una’s stomach rumble.
“Why, Kai! I didn’t know you were back in town,” the innkeeper said as they sat down.
An old witch seated on the other side of him raised her pint glass in the air. “To Kai!” The entire room erupted in a shout, and Una’s companion turned to face them with a grin. His black eyes twinkled, and he stood on his stool and gave them all a comic bow.
“To my friends!” He pumped his fist up in the air. “To Winter’s Eve!”
The room might never have stopped cheering for Kai, but the innkeeper came over and began loading their table with platters of fresh bread, fruit, cheese, and a dish of the roasted meat that set Una’s mouth watering.
While Una ate, she watched a checkered assortment of characters greet Kai. There was a grizzled dwarf who didn’t eat any food but instead propped his muddy boots up on the table and chewed an old pipe stem as he talked about the grave conditions of the underworld. A man with dark skin and a very pointed beard sat across from Kai and debated the merits of the New School of Sorcery. A nearly silent fox perched nearby, picking genteelly at chicken bones and adding his opinion when needed. At different points in the meal, a witch, a harpy, and a watchful Siamese cat joined them.
“Tell me what I’ve missed since I’ve been gone,” Kai said as he scooped a generous spoonful of roasted vegetables onto his plate. “How fares the Hollow?”
Una learned that Kai had been traveling through the far reaches of Story for some time, but she discovered little else besides that. Kai dodged every question that his companions put to him.
“Did you see aught of the Endless Sea?” The dwarf recrossed his ankles, and a powder of dirt fell onto the tabletop.
“You mean the Blue Pools of Summer? Talk is that they are no more. What say the dwarf scouts?”
Then the dwarf was off on some long story of his latest journey to find a rumored stash of quicksilver.
“Impossible,” the sorcerer scoffed. “Quicksilver consumes everything it touches. If someone had discovered it, we’d all be dead.”
And so it went—from debates about the rumors from the Scorpion Desert to bickering over who had, in fact, discovered the Lost Princesses—with Kai laughing over it all.
Even when Una’s least favorite of his companions—a beautiful woman who sat on the other side of Kai, very nearly draping herself across him—asked, “Have you found another siren, Kai?” he didn’t actually answer, only tilted back on two legs of his chair, gave a hearty laugh, and said, “There are no other sirens like you, Lorelei.”
By the time she had finished her meal, Una had come to several conclusions. First, she was sure that Kai would do her no harm. The way he treated the other characters made Una think he had more Hero in him than Villain. Even the way he avoided answering a question by asking one of
After the dance finished, the masked stranger took her hand and dodged through the festive couples toward a brightly painted building. “Are you hungry?” he asked.
Una looked back over her shoulder. Peter and Indy were nowhere to be seen. “And thirsty.” Whoever the stranger was, Una felt safe. For the few moments she had been dancing with him, she had forgotten who she was and what she was about to do.
“Do you know if there are any castles nearby?” As soon as Una said it, she realized it was an odd question, but she plowed ahead. “Or cemeteries?”
Her companion stopped just short of the inn door. “Now, what would a lass like you want with a cemetery?” he asked.
“I’m . . . um . . . looking for relatives,” Una managed. Let him think she was looking for their graves.
“I think I know where you might find them,” her partner said. “But first come have a bite to eat.” When they pushed through the swinging doors into the busy common room of the inn, the smell of roasting meat made Una’s stomach rumble.
“Why, Kai! I didn’t know you were back in town,” the innkeeper said as they sat down.
An old witch seated on the other side of him raised her pint glass in the air. “To Kai!” The entire room erupted in a shout, and Una’s companion turned to face them with a grin. His black eyes twinkled, and he stood on his stool and gave them all a comic bow.
“To my friends!” He pumped his fist up in the air. “To Winter’s Eve!”
The room might never have stopped cheering for Kai, but the innkeeper came over and began loading their table with platters of fresh bread, fruit, cheese, and a dish of the roasted meat that set Una’s mouth watering.
While Una ate, she watched a checkered assortment of characters greet Kai. There was a grizzled dwarf who didn’t eat any food but instead propped his muddy boots up on the table and chewed an old pipe stem as he talked about the grave conditions of the underworld. A man with dark skin and a very pointed beard sat across from Kai and debated the merits of the New School of Sorcery. A nearly silent fox perched nearby, picking genteelly at chicken bones and adding his opinion when needed. At different points in the meal, a witch, a harpy, and a watchful Siamese cat joined them.
“Tell me what I’ve missed since I’ve been gone,” Kai said as he scooped a generous spoonful of roasted vegetables onto his plate. “How fares the Hollow?”
Una learned that Kai had been traveling through the far reaches of Story for some time, but she discovered little else besides that. Kai dodged every question that his companions put to him.
“Did you see aught of the Endless Sea?” The dwarf recrossed his ankles, and a powder of dirt fell onto the tabletop.
“You mean the Blue Pools of Summer? Talk is that they are no more. What say the dwarf scouts?”
Then the dwarf was off on some long story of his latest journey to find a rumored stash of quicksilver.
“Impossible,” the sorcerer scoffed. “Quicksilver consumes everything it touches. If someone had discovered it, we’d all be dead.”
And so it went—from debates about the rumors from the Scorpion Desert to bickering over who had, in fact, discovered the Lost Princesses—with Kai laughing over it all.
Even when Una’s least favorite of his companions—a beautiful woman who sat on the other side of Kai, very nearly draping herself across him—asked, “Have you found another siren, Kai?” he didn’t actually answer, only tilted back on two legs of his chair, gave a hearty laugh, and said, “There are no other sirens like you, Lorelei.”
By the time she had finished her meal, Una had come to several conclusions. First, she was sure that Kai would do her no harm. The way he treated the other characters made Una think he had more Hero in him than Villain. Even the way he avoided answering a question by asking one of
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