“I left her in my chamber,” he says. “She’s got a load of food and a comfy bed. She’s in the Crystal Realm right now.”
I laugh.
From a short distance away, I spot Thane walking into the courtyard. He scans the whole area, assessing, before pressing on.
“Wonderful. The sorcerer has arrived,” I announce sarcastically.
He spots us rather easily. I mean, it’s not hard to find a mortal and a charmer in a scattered crowd of beastials. The woman who offered us a skewer also gives him one. He accepts it and bites right into it.
“What’s the story between you and Thane, anyway?” I ask as we approach one of the fires. I sit on a smooth slab of stone, and Algar joins me, taking another hefty sip from his mug.
“The story?” he repeats. “We’re friends—well, wewere. That’s all there is to it, really.”
“Close friends, right?” My eyes dart to Thane, who now has his back to us while he requests an ale from one of the stands.
“We used to be. Before I stumbled across you two in that leaky building, I hadn’t seen Thane in almost three years.” The flickering flames make Algar’s face seem fiercer, as if it has hardened all the features that make him appear kind and approachable. “When we bumped into each other the time prior to this one, he’d changed. I could see it in his eyes. He wasn’t the same person from all those years ago.”
“What do you think changed him?”
“I don’t know.” He takes another gulp before consuming more meat. After chewing and swallowing it down, he goes on. “Truth is, Thane didn’t have a great life when he was younger. We were neighbors living in the Scraps. Neither of us went to school, so we spent most of our days teaching each other stupid things, like how to strike with cheap wooden swords, or throw rocks at wealthy people in the Commons so one of us could keep them distracted long enough to steal their food.”
I chew slower, too busy digesting his words.
“My mum, Orvena rest her soul, was a good person.” Algar’s smile is soft, eyes lost in the fire, as if he’s remembering her. “She knew Thane was troubled and that his father wasn’t a good man, so she’d tell me to sneak food through his window. If you’d seen him then, Zaira, you would’ve wondered how he was even breathing. He was skin and bones, that one. Being so naive back then, I used to wonder why I could see the imprint of his ribs on his body. In fact, at one point, I thought it was interesting that they were so visible, so I poked them, and it made him incredibly angry. As I got older, I realized it was no interesting feat at all. He couldn’t help it. I mean, we were both poor, but my mother never allowed a night where we didn’t eatsomething. Even if it was half a loaf of bread.” Algar presses his lips together as he darts his eyes toward Thane, who is swapping coins for the ale.
“His father was a shit person who was even shittier with his coins. His mother wasn’t around at all. During his ninth year, I stopped seeing him altogether. Weeks went by, and it got to a point where I had to knock on his front door and ask for him. I received a rather ignorant greeting from his drunk father,who shouted in my face for me to fuck off.”
I lower the skewer as my stomach churns. “Did you find out where he went?”
“Didn’t find out for a few years,” he says, along with a humorless laugh. “Not until I spotted him one day. This was back when I was trying to live a decent life by making my coin the ethical way, yeah? I was hired as a tour guide for the Crystal Palace grounds. Showing people the gardens, courtyards, and what have you. But on my first day of work, I saw Thane marchingwithThe Divine.”
I blink at Algar, stunned. “Wait…are youserious?”
“I wouldn’t lie about this. I saw him but couldn’t bring myself to go over and speak to him. I walked away instead. No one approached The Divine without consequences anyway. Five years later, I stumbled into him again, only this time he wasn’t wearing the same white uniform The Divine wear. He was in all black. He didn’t have those scars on his face that he has now, but his eyes were lost. There was still some innocence left in them, like what I saw when we were children, right? But he triedreallyhard to hide that softer side of him. He hardly spoke to me that day. He kept looking over his shoulder every few seconds like someone was coming after him. Then he disappeared when I offered to buy him a pint, and I never saw him again. At least not until yesterday. And, oddly enough, he was withyou.”
Algar turns his head so his hazel eyes lock on mine.
My heart drums a beat faster.
“I saw him with you and had even more questions than before. But I have to tell you, Zaira, I look at him now, and I don’t see that lost boy anymore. I see someone who’s been hardened to the core. Someone carrying way too many secrets. I see a person willing to risk his life over and over again just to prove something to this world. I don’t know what thatsomethingis, but I know it’s dangerous, and that’s why I worry for you.”
“Forme?” I gape. “Why?”
“I worry about your safety. I don’t think he agreed to travel with you all the way to The Shallows just because he got a few coins from you.” Algar’s head shakes gravely as he stares into my eyes. “I think he’s doing it because there’s something he wants. Something he’s chasing. And he needsyouto obtain it.”
A nervous warmth coats my throat. I recall the conversation I had with Thane after the brawl at the Kamtaur Inn.
I lean in closer to Algar. “I thought the same thing, so I asked. He said he’s looking for a tome of some kind…” I snap my greasy fingers. “The Tome of Azidel. Apparently, there are spells inside it that can increase the power of his magic.”
“Ah. I knew it was something.”
“But it’s just a book,” I say. “He could’ve gone at any time to get it if he wanted to. Why would he need me if that’s all he’s after? I’m no more than a mortal.”
“You’d be surprised how valuable a mortal can be under the right circumstances.”
I turn my attention to Thane, who tosses his empty skewer aside while walking toward us.
“Just be careful with him, Zaira.” Algar places a hand on top of mine. “You’re a good person, and you don’t deserve to get dragged into whatever mess he’s created.”
