“Mother was in love with you from the moment she saw you; it was clear. And so was I.”
“Eis…”
“My little sis.” Grinning, he reaches out to ruffle my hair. “The witch with the magical mark.”
“Don’t say that. You heard Naida. I have no magic, unlike you. I’m just a human.”
“Well, I don’t believe knowing stories is magic, either, so how do you explain being able to resist the book?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I don’t know anything about myself.”
“Except that you are an exceptional little thief.” His grin turns into a fond smile. “And a pain in my ass.”
I cluck my tongue. “You’re lucky to have me, big brother. Your life would be so boring without me.”
“That’s so true…”
We avoid any mention of Olm’s book as the cart rattles on, the caravan passing through villages and past hamlets built on the flat plain. We pass outside small groves and big farmsteads where cattle, sheep, and some horses graze on the green pastures.
We stop at the first big town on our way, built on the Styges river, which continues on its way to wind through the capital, Siris. My city. It’s cleaner here, judging by the distinct lack ofa stench, and the town is filled with trees, the scent of flowers wafting over the riverbank.
We locate a stone-built fountain and stand in line for the pack animals to drink, then allow them to graze and rest for a while. Meanwhile, the muleteer—whose name is Afram—takes advantage of our presence to leave us in charge of the caravan while he calls on various houses with bolts of fabric and returns with his purse heavy with coin.
He keeps shooting me narrow looks as he reharnesses the mules together. I’ve been walking up and down the meadow where he left us to stretch my legs, and poor Eiras is sitting on the cart to rest his.
“What?” Eiras finally asks him, a little too sharply, after a while. “Why are you staring at us? What’s the matter?”
“It’s not often you see humans traveling together with the fae,” he says.
“And yet you’re friends with my brother,” I say.
“Your brother, is he? Did you cut off your ear points?” He snorts. “He’s fae, and you’re not.”
“It’s none of your business,” Eiras says. “We paid our fare.”
“She’s eldritch,” he says, nodding at me. “Or else, gone funny in the head. She keeps talking to herself. Think I didn’t notice? What are you two doing together? Eloping? Running off into the wilderness with the dark fae and the goblins? Are you both fucking crazy?”
“That’s enough,” Eiras snarls. “We paid. You take us to the last town. That was our deal.”
“The deal is off,” the man snarls right back, beard bristling. “I won’t remain involved in your little heist or elopement or whatever this is any longer. The mountains are right around the bend. You can hike over there.”
Throwing the leather satchel off the cart, Eiras climbs off to stand beside me, wrapping an arm over my shoulders. “You can’t do that.”
“Watch me. Or did you think you fae can frighten me?” The man finishes tying his mules together, one behind the other, and starts pulling them away. “Your days of glory are long past, boy. The only fae who can scare me are the dark fae hiding in the forests and mountains you’re heading toward. Get it?”
“I’ll show you what I get, you witless son of a legless lizard!” Eiras starts after the caravan, but I grab his arm, pulling him back.
I also lift the satchel and sling it over my shoulder. Can’t risk Olm taking over my brother again. “Eis. Stop.”
“He can’t leave us here.”
“He already has.” I gesture at the mules passing us by. “The mountains aren’t all that far now. We can walk. We’re not saving that much time and we avoid trouble.”
Eiras shakes his fists at the last mule walking past us. “A punch to his face was warranted.”
“Perhaps. But if you fight with him and get hurt, who’s going to look after me?”
He sighs, glaring at the caravan that’s returning to the road, moving farther and farther away from us. “That was a low blow, sister.”
