The Journey of the Marked (The Miyran Heir Book 1) by Rebecca P. McCray

clothing covered whatever the trader had meant. Well,
given the smell, he was unlikely to see for himself, despite her attractiveness.
As he doubted bathing facilities were available in the underground, he pushed
the thought from his mind.
    “What’s your name?” he asked.
    “Does it matter?” she returned
without bothering to look at him.
    Ouch! She sounded angry. He tried
again: “My name is Eros. Thanks for helping me back there.”
    “Right. Whatever.”
    “I owe you my life, so ...”
    She turned abruptly, her face not
inches from his, and said firmly, “Stop talking. Do you want the Graeliths to
find us?” She rolled her eyes, shook her head, turned back, and continued
walking.
    He looked down and followed. Her
large, black boots had a thick sole and buckles clasped the length of the boot.
They made squishing noises with every step. She wore the full, lightweight
pants common in the city, but she tucked the pant legs into the boots. As the
pant legs were flared and could interfere with quick movements, this seemed
quite sensible. Yet they struck him as rather comical, though he couldn’t
exactly say why. They were likely red at one time, but the color had faded and
dulled with dirt to a grim, rusty hue. A flowing shirt was generally worn with
pants of that style. Instead, she wore a tight, long-sleeved, black top of a
soft-looking, bulky material. Over this, she wore what appeared to be a small
bag, and on top of that, a full, calf-length black leather vest, which was
equally worn-looking and had small rips around the bottom. What a strange
combination of clothes. Over the vest, she carried a larger, dark bag. What did
she carry around the city? The bag appeared to be as full and heavy as his. He
lifted his shoulders and shifted the weight to his other side.
    They continued through the tunnels
in silence. The girl must have spent considerable time in the underground,
since she never hesitated at a junction. Eros tried to keep track of their
location, based on his memory of the city’s layout and the few glimpses of
buildings and streets through the overhead grates they passed. They were
probably still on the south side of the city, the poorer section, evidenced by
the lack of transport noises filtering down to the passageways. At one time,
city transports provided regular and quick travel all over the city, as well as
to the outbound regions. However, as the city degraded and the power resources
became more scarce, transports traveled less frequently, particularly in less
wealthy sectors.
    As they turned the next corner,
Eros heard voices. He strained to listen, to separate voices from the city
above from voices in the underground. While he was uncertain as to the source
of the voices, they grew louder with each turn. Within minutes, they were close
enough to distinguish angry shouts. He assumed — hoped, even — that the girl
would turn away from these angry undergrounders, but she continued onward.
    They turned right and a flickering
light shone ahead, light that wasn’t from the streets above. In this region of
the underground, openings to the city were scarce, so any sounds they heard
were from below ground. The end of the passage opened into a larger space
toward which they now walked. As they reached it, she slowed down and paused,
looking around. Eros joined her and peered into the great, cavernous space. The
floor dropped ten feet below them, creating a dwelling nearly eighteen feet in
height. Eros gauged the dimensions to be roughly thirty feet in each direction.
In all his visits to the city, he had never ventured into the underground and
was amazed to realize such large spaces existed, completely hidden from view.
    He scanned the vast room, guessing
there to be twenty or more beings engaged in a tense argument over something. Two
men stood not a foot from one another and yelled loudly without stopping to
listen to each other’s words. One of the two was startlingly tall and hulking,
with equal