“That’s extortion.”
“That’s business,” Byron says dryly. “Isn’t it my friend?”
The man shrugs again.
Marvin holds up his hand, reaching into his pouch. “Don’t worry, I can handle this. I might not be much good for anything, but at least my father has money.”
“Nonsense, Marvin, you’re plenty useful,” I say. I’d rest my hand on his shoulder, but I don’t want to move toward him and risk putting too much weight on one side of the ferry. Instead, I settle for leaning back against the railing. It digs into my lower back, but I take comfort in it being there.
“Yeah, for one he can afford to get us places.” Byron smacks his arm. “Thanks for this.”
Marvin shrugs. “Think nothing of it.”
Byron will probably do just that. I look over to Istaria to see her opinion on the matter, but she is simply staring up at the city over our heads longingly. “I cannot wait to return to some semblance of civilization again.”
I’d count this rickety little village as some semblance of civilization, but I suppose that I haven’t been where she has or witnessed the grand halls that she has.
The ferryman nods at whatever Marvin puts into his hand before he snaps a gate shut. “It will be a slow but steady progression; I suggest you not fall out because I’m charging to clean up whatever messes you make as well.”
I open my mouth to ask what he is going to use to pull us up since I doubt it will be his skinny arms, but just then I catch sight of some movement behind the ferryman’s house. One end of rope disappears over there and seems to be wrapped around a cog built into the ground. Tethered to it are Wildenbeasts, large reptilian omnivore creatures. They’re usually gentle, so much so that they can be used as beast of labor, but they also have been known to eat enough small animals and fish that I wouldn’t trust any around a child. The kid might just disappear…
Still, they are very powerful creatures and normally good natured, known to build a very dependent relationship to the humans that feed them, so I suppose that it makes sense that these would be the creatures to be working the pully.
The ferryman steps toward them, clicking his tongue, and they begin pacing around the wheel, pushing on its ends forcing it to move. With a groan, the platform lifts off the ground. I widen my stance, grasping the ropes desperately as we begin our slow ascent into Skyshire, the place where I very well could have been born. It’s certainly where I plan on spending the rest of my life, and yet it’s a world I have also never known.
I’ve only read about it, and I know that books can sometimes lie.
After all, they say that the Maker loves us, that all fae are powerful creatures, and storybooks paint people like Byron into heroes.
Chapter Ten
Ican’thelpit;I’m gaping by the time the ferry makes it to the end of the rope. Riding up, I’d felt a little nauseous and had spent most of my time focusing on breathing andnotlooking down to the steep drop that would surely spell my doom. But now that I have made it to the top and am able to step out on firm ground, my worry and unease has melted away replaced only by awe.
Skyshire.
In all my dreams I’d never imagined it half this resplendent.
Grand buildings line streets that are paved with a type of stone that glimmers in the sunlight, which is brilliantly bright now that we are out from under the shadows of the floating city. The air is crisp and clear, and the clouds are so close that it almost feels like I could reach up and touch them.
“Wow,” Byron breathes. He turns back to us, his eyes glittering as he grins. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”
“I don’t think so,” I whisper, but for some reason I can’t seem to turn my gaze from him and the way the wind whips up his hair and sends it flying around his face. His eyes, I notice are the exact shade of the sky and for just a moment, I can see why all the girls of Woodsbury would fall for him.
“I saw something more beautiful,” Marvin says, finally pulling my gaze away from Byron. “I met her this afternoon.”
I look up to Istaria who sniffs loudly at Marvin’s comment. Her hair and skirts are being whipped around, but in the opposite direction of the wind. Hopefully when we reach the academy and her betrothed, we’ll be able to figure out what sort of dark magic has been used on her. She reaches up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear but in a second it flies free and begins floating around her face again.
She doesn’t look amused. Or impressed. “This city is too close to the humans, look at how their architecture has ruined this space. There are probably more humans living here than fae, this is why you shouldn’t anchor Skyshire to Commonweald, after all it is called common for a reason.”
I blink, pulling back a bit. Byron just looks amused by her statement, and I’m pretty sure that Marvin only knows that her lips moved and has no idea that she actually said anything with the blank way that he is staring at her. It’s like he’s never seen a fae before.
Which I know isn’t the case since I am in fact a fae.
“You’re so right,” he murmurs after an overly long moment of strained silence.
This causes Byron to start laughing outright. Marvin blinks surprised, seeming to finally snap a little out of his daze and look over at Byron who is standing there with his hand covering his mouth trying to stifle the laugh.
“What?” he demands.
