Page 33 of Chasing the Night

I wasn’t sure where I was going or what I intended to do with myself. I just knew I had to get out of that house. It was playing tricks with my mind. One minute everyone was great and welcoming, and the next, people were being traded and ordered about. Now they were having family meetings without me.

That couldn’t be good.

I might have been young, but I wasn’t stupid. They were planning on bartering me off, too. I could feel it. Just as deer stilled and listened before the arrow found them, I, too, was quickly feeling like prey in wait.

The more I thought, the faster the stalls passed. A blur of faces and voices carried me around the same square twice. I stopped, realizing my absent-minded error when my eyes met that of the seamstress.

I smiled at my former customer which only caused her eyes to bug even more. She nearly tripped over her own basket of goods trying to back pedal into her tent.

“Ah, the power of the Krypt,” a voice sang on a whistle behind me.

I turned and had to look up to find Keifer’s gentle eyes and easy smile. “You feeling alright, Lady Chalice?” The back of his fingers tenderly brushed my cheek, and his eyes filled with concern. “Has this peasant offended you? I’ll have my slave girls beat the sleeves off her, have no worries.”

I stood staring up at the immaculately dressed man before me. The genteel suit and family heirloom cufflinks starkly contrasted his deep-toned, gruff Inlet talk and stocky, labor-conditioned appearance. Men who wore cuffs that cost more than most men’s coffers didn’t come with muscles. Lazing about in luxury day after day had a way of softening a man’s physique, not hardening it.

Lost in my own thoughts and observations, my hand came out and rested on his upper arm. Realizing I was doing so, I jerked it back toward myself and motioned toward Blazian’s tent, suddenly realizing why it had been Reverie’s favorite spot. It was somewhat secluded with a lot of dark corners.

I led him to the back, instinctively choosing the table that had always been mine and Reverie’s. He sat down and tossed Blazian a wink, leaving me no choice but to sit or risk standing out. It was too late to change course now.

She flashed a brilliant smile and wiggled her fingers in a friendly greeting. Moments later, she presented us each with a goblet of her best syrup. We sipped them in silence—well, I sipped mine in silence, he slurped from the thing like he was in an Iron Inlet long hall. I’d never met a Fallen God, that’s what my mother used to call them. She said they were as dreamy as any God known to man and twice as fierce in battle, giants amongst men. She always swore their ancestors were of the Sacred Few.

“Silver for your thought…” He teased, reaching out to cover my hand with his. A simple gesture, but one that conveyed his concern and blanketed me with warmth and reassurance. I stared down at the contrast between my long slender fingers and his thick digits, while using my thumb to tease along his.

“I was just… memories.” My voice trailed off, and another rose confidently above it.

“She was just leaving,” Messiah announced before peeling Keifer’s hand off mine. He stared down at the unflinching man but said nothing. Neither did Keifer; he simply stared back with the smile still reaching his eyes.

Messiah’s fingers coiled around my upper arm and abruptly hefted me from my seat. I was forced to hobble along behind him like a fucking toddler in front of the Mountain and everyone on it. Humiliation burned through me. When we rounded the corner to our district, I jerked my arm free and glared back at him.

“Am I a hostage or a member of House Krypt? I won’t have this half-life,” I passionately announced. People trickled by us, but no one acknowledged our heated and none too concealed confrontation.

“Lower your tone and mind your position. You are not a painted lady to be uttering profanities over polite society. You are Chalice of House Krypt and far too good for the likes of any Kantor.” He reached for my arm again, and I lunged to the side.

“Chalice…” He said my name like it pained him. “I’m just saying you’re worth more.”

I shook my head and stared toward the Villa in the distance. “I’m not a part of the Krypt. They held a meeting without me this morning. They mean to pawn me like Reverie. I won’t do it, Messiah. I won’t be steered or whored!”