The sun has begun setting by the time we make it through to the other side of the city. Purple and pink hues streak the sky, staining the clouds and when I look up, I can begin to make out the first stars, shyly peeking out. Their twinkle is barely visible, looking more like a faint dust sprinkled across the sky. The temperature has begun to drop with the sun and now a cool wind blows across us, replacing the sweltering heat of earlier today.
The buildings immediately stop, replaced by an open area filled with round flat stone circles. They stretch on across the space, sometimes overlapping, some stone areas higher than the rest. To the right, I can make out a massive structure. It looks like stalls, like what Marvin’s father would have on his farm to house his horses, only it is much larger. To the left the world just simply ends, it drops off to sun-streaked sky and the dark form of what must be trees below us.
I swallow feeling a little squeamish. If that’s the top of trees so far below us… then I don’t want to think about it.
“This is the landing field and stables,” Istaria says. She’s come to a stop just in front of us. She turns, her nose scrunching when her hair whips in her face. “This is where people who travel through Skyshire keep their beasts or those that wish to travel to Skyshire must rent some.”
“So, if you came from Skyshire and you were heading straight to another part of Skyshire… why did you feel the need to pass through Commonweald?” I ask, reaching up to tuck a portion of my hair behind my ear so that it will stop whipping in my face. Although it’s not nearly as bad as Istaria’s hair so I suppose I shouldn’t complain. “Wouldn’t that put yououtof your way?”
“I uh… I had to go to Commonweald on some business,” she says. It’s getting rather dim, but it seems as if her cheeks are colored slightly.
“Huh,” I mutter. It seems odd that a pureblooded high fae would have business in Commonweald, the land of the filthy humans… or so they would call them. But despite Istaria’s lacking explanation, I don’t see why she would lie about something so small.
If a fae is caught in the act of a lie they must pay recompense to the person they lied to. In some cases, they have been forbidden from ever lying again. This is not a threat that my people take lightly.
If we lie, we lie carefully so that we will not get caught.
Well, I speak of other fae here. The ones who have to resort to cunning to get ahead. I’d much rather focus on my own merit, work hard for what I want. Perhaps that makes me like a human, but then the humans raised me when the fae wouldn’t have me, so it makes sense that I would pick up on their ways.
A figure striding toward us catches my attention. He’s a tall fae with straight shoulders and hair as white as the clouds.
He doesn’t greet us at all, just looks us over with a keen eye. “I’m the stablemaster,” is all he says.
“We need transport to the Gilded Academy,” Istaria says, smoothing a hand over her skirts which lift back up, whipping through the air.
The fae grunts his eyes flicking over her. “What’s wrong with you?”
It’s the first real acknowledgement of her condition. I think we’re kind of trying to ignore it, but this fae’s statement makes it difficult to do so.
“I would rather not talk about it,” she says her voice going a little high like she might descend into hysterics if he pushes the issue.
He shrugs, his eyes flicking over the rest of us. “Just the four of you, then?”
She nods. “Indeed.”
“Demetrius!” he hollers and a boy a year or two younger than me pops out of almost nowhere. He must have been under one of the elevated platforms.
“Yes, sir?”
“Saddle up two dragons for our visitors here.”
The boy bobs his head before turning and racing off toward the stables.
“Only two dragons?” I ask with a frown. I hope he doesn’t expect us to all ride on only two dragons.
He rolls his eyes. “You won’t be riding on theirbacks. They will pull the carriage.”
“Oh,” I mutter, quietly.
“Imagine how amazing it would be to ride a dragon though,” Byron says, his eyes on the massive beasts that the stable boy has begun leading out of the stable. Their wings trail along on the ground behind them as they shuffle forward onto one of the large platforms.
“Keep imagining,” the stablemaster says gruffly. “I’m not going to risk your family coming after me and demanding recompense if you happen to fall off my beasts.”
“A pity,” Byron breathes.
“Not really,” Marvin says with a nervous chuckle. “I’d rather not have to watch you fall to your death. That would be traumatizing.”
Byron starts toward the dragons, following the stablemaster who turned and started walking away without a word. “Why are you assuming that I’d fall off the dragon?”
