“I did order this so you could try our whiskey, though. It’s served daily in Knowledge.”
“I’ve had whiskey before, human,” she replies, eyes still narrowed.
There’s no disdain in her voice, but I do notice the man behind the counter flicking his eyes at her at the use of the word. He frowns at my Discerni companion but remains silent all the same.
“Of course you have,” I smile sweetly, bringing the liquid to my lips, “Marybeth told me it was the only drink that made you hurl into the night.”
It’s a lie, of course, but I’m growing old of her pet name and coolness towards me.
Alanna scowls and watches me purposely as she takes a heavy swig.
“I think I may hurl you into the night.”
I laugh at the stupid comment and watch her gift me with a rare smile, the look on the man’s face as we walk towards one of the fires completely perplexed at the interaction.
“She told me she’s your sister,” I reply casually, “and you told me you were born in Woodlands Court. How did you two find yourselves in Gaumond?”
It’s an attempt at conversation, though not one I think will garner
much of an answer.
Alanna, surprisingly, looks at me quietly and considers her response.
“How much do you know of Woodlands?”
The fact that she asks that question makes me wonder if I should reconsider everything I think I know.
“I thought I knew all there was to know,” I tell her honestly, “but someone recently began dropping hints that there’s more there than meets the eye. I do know that when they visit our Court they are some of the most proper Discerni I have ever met. They rarely ever engage with anyone throughout the night and instead just sit and watch from afar. They’re never rude, just quiet and stick to themselves.”
Alanna scowls and takes a sip of her whiskey, “you know the bare basics, then. Your travels on behalf of the King never took you into their lands?”
“Not yet,” I reply, “though I plan to make the trip as soon as I return to Bardot.”
Alanna’s drink pauses at her lips before she replies quietly.
“Take your men with you, Alexis. Do not make that trip on your own.”
What an odd thing to say.
The Discerni woman looks at me with a hardness in her eyes, the gaze quickly prompting me to nod in agreement.
“And you and Marybeth?” I ask softly, “why are you in Gaumond now?”
“My mother and Marybeth left Woodlands when I was young. Desmond helped arrange their travel and brought them to Gaumond first. My father and I spent a few more years in Woodlands until we had to leave. We made the trip to the Black Capitol ourselves.”
She’s so vague with her answer.
“Why did your mother and Marybeth leave first?”
Alanna averts her hard gaze and stares into the fire, her face turning stoic and unreadable.
“Because my mother was human, Alexis, and Marybeth shared a lot of her same features when she was young.”
What the…
Marybeth and her mother had to flee because they were human? Because they looked like humans?
I have no words to respond with, nothing that can justify the hundreds of thoughts that are now racing through my mind. That makes Alanna and her sister half-human, and even though they have mortal blood running in their veins, the magical half of a person will always prevail.
