The lies surface more readily, it is true. I’m not sure how I feel about it.
“Shall we?” The West Wind offers me his arm, which I accept, allowing him to steer me along the boardwalk.
The woman, Ailith, awaits us on the front porch. She isn’t naked as I first presumed, but she might as well be, with her dewy olive skin exposed but for scraps of sapphire cloth covering her chest and backside. The curve of her stomach reveals a brutal scar. Small white horns protrude from the top of her skull, cutting through her inky tresses.
She frowns as we climb the steps onto the porch. “That’s certainly your unruly hair and flouncing gait,” she says, examining Zephyrus in confusion, “but what happened to your face?”
“It’s not permanent.” He rubs the tip of his crooked nose with a grimace. “At least, I hope not.”
“I see.” Her frown deepens. “Shouldn’t you be at the tithe?”
He smiles. I’m impressed by his ease. “Nothing to worry about, my dear.”
“I will have to take your word for it.” Though she addresses the West Wind, her dark, uptilted eyes rest on me. I’m so fixated on her presence I don’t think too deeply on the exchange she and Zephyrus shared. “You’ve brought company,” she mentions. “A mortal woman? This pleases me.”
“Calm yourself, Ailith.” The words thrum with suppressed amusement, yet warning, too. “We’re not here for your services.”
“You bring your pet to my place of business, dangle her before me like ripened fruit, and claim no interest in my services?” Her gaze slinks eagerly over my ample chest. “What a waste of beauty.”
“She is no pet.” His kindness has frozen into a far more dangerous expression.
Low conversation drifts through the open door. Someone pulls aside the curtain, peeks through the wide bay window, then vanishes.
“I see.” Ailith retreats a step with a muffled clack. “If she is not your pet, then what is she?” Two of her fingers skim up my arm, across my shoulder, where they alight like small birds. “Because as far as I’m concerned, she is too good for the likes of you.”
“You would not be wrong. She is a Daughter of Thornbrook,” he responds, and the woman’s smile reveals a pronounced gap between her two front teeth.
“One of the faith? Even better.”
Zephyrus snorts, though remains close to me, a hand on my lower back. “Do you have a minute for a pair of weary travelers?”
Ailith winks. “For you, my dear? I will give you seven.”
The front porch, cobbled together from buckling boards, creaks as we cross the threshold, the yellowing door stripped of paint. A bell chimes upon our entrance.
Despite the neglected facade, the Estate’s interior is well-maintained and tastefully decorated, with white satin curtains draping the tall windows, the space cloaked in the haze of candlelight. A lemony fragrance offers relief from the putrid reek outside. Unlike the front porch, the wooden floor gleams with fresh polish beneath the rugs, and the bar tucked against the far wall shines impressively.
The fair folk gather around low tables, busy smoking, gambling, drinking, and conversing. A blaze blackens the central fireplace, having attracted a group of sprites relaxing in upholstered armchairs, passing cards from hand to hand.
“Back in a moment,” Ailith says. “Make yourselves at home. Drinks on me at the bar, if you wish.”
As I press nearer to Zephyrus, the hand on my back slips lower, grazing the curve of my backside, and I momentarily cease to breathe. “Has Pierus called for you yet?” I murmur.
“No.” He scans the area, taking in the patrons observing us with open curiosity. They see the West Wind, and something changes in them. Their spines straighten. Their meals go cold. “And I think I know why.”
He crosses the room, and I follow, my attention drawn to the charcoal sketch he rips from the wall, a portrait which bears a startling likeness to his face.
A bounty for the West Wind.
What was it Zephyrus said about this place?It’s not safe.“Should we leave?”
“No.” A few patrons return to their gambling. “It is merely a scare tactic. The hounds are my greater concern.”
“How long before they reach us?”
“Hours.” He does not sound particularly enthused. “The quicker we meet with Yakim, the quicker we can leave.” Turning, he meets the eyes of those still staring, smiles charmingly, and saunters toward the hallway Ailith disappeared down.
I stick close to his heels. “I thought Ailith said to wait here.” We climb a set of curved stairs overlooking the great room, the air warming the higher we go.
