Because I knew she’d gone tohim. Luc Denoren. There had been multiple caravans throughout the day that had departed for Laras, though each one had different stops along the way and arrived into the capital on separate days. It didn’t stop me from sending out scouts after each one of them, to try to track them down. Short of stoppingeverycaravan they came across, however, I didn’t think they would find her. Even still, I’d sent them on to Laras. They would intercept the traveling parties on the other side.
You can’t keep her if she doesn’t want to be kept,I thought, gritting my jaw. How the nobles would gossip and whisper about me if they found out I abducted a human female in broad daylight from Laras and had her chained to my bed in the keep.
That wouldactuallygive them something good to talk about for the coming months.
I drained the contents of my tumbler, refilling it back up from the crystal bottle on the small table beside me.
She was gone. She’d left of her own accord. I’d misjudged her own pride.
And strangely enough, despite everything I’d thought she wanted, despite everything I could offer her…I didn’t think she wanted to be found.
In the quiet of my own quarters, half-drunk on Kyne liquor, my berserker beast calmed bylore, I could admit that that scared me most of all.
CHAPTER 26
ERINA
Much like at my old room in Vyaan keep, my room at the inn in Laras held a small window, one that overlooked a bustling street of the market.
Laras was just like in the stories. The imposing and bustling capital city of the nation, with Azur of House Kaalium at the helm. He’d married a human woman, I’d heard, from a noble family from the New Earth colonies. Gemma, I believed her name was. I’d heard their names mentioned in passing more times than I could count as I’d searched for Luc these last two weeks.
The address where I’d been posting letters to hadn’t seen him in over two months. It had been a temporary home, nothing more than a room rental.
He hadn’t been receiving any of my letters.
Worry had been my constant companion ever since I’d discovered his absence. I didn’t know how else to find him. The keeper of the building, whose name was Ikrin, had grumbled that he didn’t enquire about his renters’ personal lives. Luc had paid for the room by the week, and then one week he’d stopped paying. His things were gone, and Ikrin hadn’t seen him since.
That’s how it is,Ikrin had said, shrugging, seeming annoyed he’d been wasting his time speaking with me.These workers come and go. One letter did come for him a few days ago.
It had been mine—posted from Vyaan.
Ikrin had told me little else. All of my questions about Luc’s well-being or state of mind had been met with a raised brow and an expression of amusement. Then he’d shooed me away, firmly closing the door behind me.
For a few days, I’d lingered around the building, just in case Luc returned or passed by. Finally, annoyed by my continued presence, Ikrin had told me to go to the archives if I was looking for someone. They might have record of him there, he’d said.
But after two days spent in the archives, I’d realized that was a dead end as well. Residents weren’t required to submit their information to the archives upon arrival, though they were meant to. Julin, the Bartutian archivist, had tried to help me as much as he could. But he’d said it was nearly impossible to keep accurate records of those living in Laras, since so many came and went.
Thatstruck fear in me because what if something had happened to Luc? What if he was hurt? Or what if he wasn’t even here? And if he’d left, why hadn’t he written? Why hadn’t hetoldme?
All I knew was that he ran a shop somewhere within Laras—and I was chastising myself for not asking for the address in my letters.
My only comfort was that Kaldur, of all people, had found him. He’d told me that there was a Luc Denoren living in Laras because he’d checked, hadn’t he?
But I’m not a son of the Kaalium,I thought. I didn’t have the resources—or the money—to find Luc on my own. Laras was huge, the villages sprawling out from the capital’s center in all directions, like rippling waves from the sea. Not to mention the bustling city center itself, where a plethora of people lived incharming little buildings and the crowds grew so large in the afternoons that it could get difficult to wade through.
Two weeks I’d searched already. And I was beginning to lose hope. I couldn’t afford to. Both figurativelyandliterally.
I’d checked my creditory account and taken out all the money that was left. My room at the cozy inn I’d found—small but clean—was nearly fifty credits a night. A hefty price, but I’d quickly discovered thateverythingwas more expensive in Laras than in Vyaan.
I’d already spent over 1,000 credits—onevron—on food and lodgings during my time here. I had a little over threevronleft. It would last me another two or three weeks if I was careful. Four weeks if I moved into the building that Luc had rented out, and maybe then, he might return.
And that was how I found myself packing up from my little room with the window view of Laras…and moving into an even smaller room with thin walls and a sagging mattress. The same room that Luc had stayed in, according to Ikrin on my return to him. He’d only been too happy to rent it out to me, since he’d had trouble filling it.
This room had a small window that overlooked what I thought might’ve been docks in the distance. From here, there was a tiny sliver of the Silver Sea visible. When the sun rose, it looked like a golden crescent.
I could have stayed at the other inn if I’d kept Kaldur’s payment,I couldn’t help but think.
No.
