Page 2 of Chasing the Night
“Yes. It protects us. The mountain and my family.” She smiled, wrapped her arm around me and patted my back.
I placed my hand on the cold flat stone and glanced down into the gladiator-like opening. The floor had been carved expertly, raising up the very center so that it functioned as a stage. There were cages on either side of the large circle. They were empty, but still demanded my attention before it settled on the people gathered in the circle.
There were a few faces, but I couldn’t take my eye off the tall woman with short dark hair. I’d never seen anyone so refined and fancy. She wore a long black cloak with rich fur that wrapped around her upper arms. Her eyes, like her hair, shone brilliantly despite their dark color.
Her gloved hand rose, commanding the room as easily as her appearance had.
“People of the Mountain. You are on sacred ground.” Her gaze swept across the tiers and she nodded reaffirming her own words. “Nothing can harm you here.”
“The Krypt,” people whisper hissed around us.
The sound of the word travelling through the crowd gave me chills. I wanted to tell them to shut up, but I was too busy leaning forward. She was like a siren, her voice soothed and cradled us all.
“Nayana of Rochambeau, our Excellence, the Lady of the Mountain and fearless defender of the chosen.” She waved her hand toward an older, gentler-looking woman beside her and a deafening applause sent my shoulder toward my ear.
The white-haired woman waved and smiled as the applause went on. I thought it would never stop, and she certainly made no effort to cut it short.
A man beside her broke from the line of important looking people and jogged to the back of the circle. He took a ramp that zig-zagged into the air a few hundred feet before disappearing into the shadows. Light slithered in as if a door had been opened way up there, forcing me to squint to see him. Everyone around me seemed too enthralled by the elderly woman’s praises to notice him.
“You are all so effective and responsive. We owe our continued safety to all of you as well as our brave young men and women on the frontlines.” She nodded, pleased with her own choice of words, and I noticed the man coming back down again.
He approached the woman in black and whispered to her for several moments before she promptly moved back to Lady Nayana’s side and seemed to relay the message.
“Indeed. It is as I say, we are successful once again.” Nayana smiled.
Cries of relief sounded around me, and the crowd subtly began to thin.
Go, Chalice. Get, my mind screamed.
I knew I should. I had to before something else happened. But before I could move, the lady who’d brought me here laced here hand around my wrist.
“You’re new here!” Lady Reverie announced. I stared at her momentarily. I’d never met anyone so bright and bursting with cheer.
“I uh...” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to admit to such a thing. Especially with everyone on edge as they were.
“Well, I’m Reverie!” She beamed and held out her hand. When I took it, she quickly wrapped her arm through mine like we were the oldest of friends.
“Come.” She smiled. “You must try Blazian’s Syrup. It will put those nerves to sleep, girl.”
Her demeanor was all mountain and old money, but every time she opened her mouth, I heard something foreign and simple. Something I couldn’t really place, but I knew all the same that it meant she didn’t belong here either.
I kept my thoughts to myself and lazily allowed her to lead me through the streets. We turned left from the fanged entrance and found Blazian’s Winery two doors down. A short, curvy young woman was briskly setting up the tables within, smoothing out the tablecloths and folding napkins.
“Blazian! We need some Syrup,” Reverie gushed as we settled over a table. “This is Blazian,” she said to me. “She makes the best wines and Syrups.”
Blazian looked up from the counter and winked toward me. Her hair was in duel knots atop her head, revealing a hint of freckles across the bridge of her nose. The syrup was thick and so sweet I could smell it from where we sat in the corner.
“Lovely to meet you.” I smiled before realizing I hadn’t even bothered to introduce myself to Reverie yet. “Chalice. My name is Chalice.”
I closed my eyes, immediately deeming myself the village fool.
“Take this, it will help with the nerves,” Reverie whispered, sliding a glass of the thick liquor toward me.
I nodded, thankful for the opportunity to escape conversation, and carefully sipped the brew.
I wasn’t sure I knew anyone who had ever drank Syrup. A single bottle was worth more than most people owned. A thick, sweet coating remained on my tongue and pallet long after I had swallowed. There was no warmth or breath-taking kick that cheaper liquors packed.
“That's amazing,” I admitted, chasing the taste from my lips.