His smile fell the second Reve slid up beside me, already reeking of ale. “You came!”
His grin was wide, eyes drowning in glass as he nearly stumbled into me. Judging by the way he swayed on his feet, he’d been here for far too long.
“You promised free wine,” I said, lifting my arms at my sides as if that explained everything. “Also, I brought Callum.”
Reve’s dilated eyes slid to Callum, who gave a two-fingered wave. He cleared his throat, cutting through the mortal’s latest song as he sat still perched on the bar, singing now of Liraern’s— creatures of the endless waters who needed no claws or chains, their faces and voices were so beautiful, so persuasive, there was no thrashing, no struggle, you simply dove to your own death.
A shiver of awareness ghosted over my skin.
How Reve and his crew had ever sailed past such creatures untouched was beyond me.
Maybe they sang louder than the sea. Maybe they huddled in silence, terrified of what stirred beneath the waves.
I vowed to never find out.
“Pretty sure I said ale,” Reve corrected, slurring over his own laugh. “Not wine.” The look I shot at him was honed to kill, but he only chuckled harder. “Don’t worry, I’ll find you some.”
He stood, barely, swaying ahead, leading us through the crowd, ale sloshing over both our boots. We reached a scarred four-cornered table, the wood carved and battered by too many knives, too many drunken hands.
I slid onto the bench beside Callum and a man whose name I wasn’t given, my fingers brushing the cool bite of my dagger as I sat.
Reve thudded two mugs down, liquid slopping over the edges.
No wine, then. Just the same brown filth.
“You’re just in time.” He tugged at his tunic, sweat slick across his brow. “She’ll be here any minute.”
She.The infamous village-hopper who sold gossip as prophecy. The one who claimed to know me.
“Who paid her to sing tonight?” Callum asked, swallowing half his drink in one careless gulp.
Wonderful. No wine, and I’d be dragging him home over my shoulder.
“Everyone,” Reve slurred. “Even the pub shelled out coins this time. People will buy any story when they’re thirsty enough.”
The tavern swelled around us, bodies swaying, voices raised. The promise of a stranger’s song hummed in the air like static before a storm. My gut twisted from it.
Why would Obrann allow some wandering stranger into our lands—let her belt out songs of a creature who he himself hunted and wanted burned from existence?
The steel toe of my boot cracked against Callum’s shin beneath the table. He hissed, golden eyes flaring like struck flint.
Explain.My glower speared into his, voice threading through his mind.
He leaned closer. Too obvious.
So, I kicked him again. Reve’s bleary eyes darted between us, suspicion sharpening.
He’s watching.
Understanding, finally, flashed across Callum’s face.She presented herself to the king a few days ago. Brought him a generous gift. He was pleased. She said she was a traveler from down south, near the Feyglades.
My stomach sank lower. The Feyglades lay perilously close to Morrhold, the witch queen’s domain. This girl could be a sorceress, steeped in blood magic, come to poison us from within.
Is that how you already know her?
A muscle flexed in Callum’s cheek before he smoothed it away.I was in the throne room when she arrived.
The brew was bitter, but I forced it down anyway, nearly spewing it across the table when Callum’s boot foundmyshin. It was a sharp kick, subtle only to anyone not sitting at our table.
