Lament (Scars of the Sundering Book 2) (5 page)

Gisella stopped, mead sloshing
against her lips. She peered over the rim of her tankard at Grímar. He
continued, heedless of her reaction. “Can you imagine? The Lich Queen? Again?
These folks are as cracked as the land around here.”

History told of the Lich Queen’s
ultimate defeat decades ago, and of the Witch Queen’s defeat a decade or more
before that, even. The Witch Queen died, and from her tomb arose the Lich Queen.
She was utterly destroyed, and from her ashes, nothing could rise. Or so the
stories said. Gisella knew better than to trust stories, no matter how popular
they were, when it came to the affairs of wizards.

She set down her tankard. “A new
world tree in the Dragon Spine Mountains. More different types of fae folk
emerging into the world, dragons, too. The healing of the world has well and
truly begun. I could believe almost anything.”

Grímar waved over a servant and
ordered a plate of sausages. “But the Lich Queen? Again? How many times must
someone die before they’re truly dead?”

Gisella picked up her tankard and
drained the sweet mead before replying, “Some people don’t have the sense to
stay dead, you know.”

* * *

After a day and a half of bouncing
along on a hard wooden bench at the mercy of Edric’s driving, Delilah decided
she’d walk all the way to Muncifer if need be. She feared her backside might
never be the same again and winced as the wagon bounced and dropped as it
crossed from the road onto the stone bridge that led to Honeywater.

On the other side of the bridge,
as they made their way to Honeywater’s market square, human guards wearing the
livery of Almeria’s royal guard flagged down the wagon, grabbing the horses’
reins as Edric brought the team to a halt.

“What’s your business here,
travelers?” The guard, a tall, lanky human with a weathered face and scraggly
beard, peered at the draks in the back of the wagon.

Kali poked her head up between
Pancras and Edric. “I’m a Firescale from this village. We’re heading south and
need to trade for supplies.”

“All right. No funny business,
though. We’re watching.”

Edric maneuvered the team and
wagon toward the location indicated by the guard. As soon as the wagon stopped,
Delilah scrambled out and planted her feet in the grass. She resisted the urge
to fall to her knees and kiss the land.

“I guess Princess Valene is
serious about fixing this town, huh?” Kale hopped down next to his sister.

“Looks that way.” Kali climbed
out of the wagon. “I figured she’d send a few guards to clear out the slavers
and then leave us alone. But, royal guards?”

Yeah, yeah, the princess is
great, the princess is grand.
Delilah wondered where the
princess’s grace was when she was dangling by her wrists in the palace dungeon.
She grunted and hobbled her way around the wagon to Pancras, who worked with
Edric to secure the horses.

“Are you hurt?” Pancras tossed
the lead rope to Edric and knelt down to examine Delilah.

“My butt hurts! I’m not riding to
Muncifer in the back of that wagon, Pancras. I’ll walk.”

Pancras chuckled and stood. “I
don’t think that will be necessary. We should be able to trade this wagon for
more suitable mounts.” He pointed across the square. “It looks like there are
some stables over there.”

Edric finished securing the
horses and joined Pancras and Delilah. “The wagon would be good for the open
road, but if I’m remembering right, the road isn’t the quickest way to get to
Muncifer from here.”

“That’s my recollection as well.
The road skirts the plains and passes by the western edge of the Abbar Moors.
It should be faster if we travel cross-country. It’s certainly more direct.”

“If more direct means we get
there faster, I’m all for that.” Delilah rubbed her bottom through her cloak.
She feared the ache from hours of bouncing on unyielding wood would never
abate.

Pancras placed his hand on
Delilah’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take Edric and Kale and find us accommodations
for the night? Kali and I will figure out what to do with these horses. We’ll
meet back here shortly.”

“Fine.” She gestured for Edric to
follow her and walked to the back of the wagon. Kale and Kali spoke in hushed
voices, standing closer than Delilah thought was necessary. “Break it up, you
two. Kale, we need to go find lodging for the night. Pancras wants to take Kali
and trade in these horses.”

Kali nodded and nuzzled Kale.
“There should be an inn or two down the road.” She pointed toward the far end
of the market before she jogged away to catch up with Pancras.

The sun hung low in the sky. Long
shadows cast by the surrounding buildings stretched across the market like
dark, ethereal fingers. Delilah pulled her cloak around her as she led Kale and
Edric through the scant crowds. A few vendors vied for their attention, but
most ignored them and closed their stalls for the evening.

In contrast to the other inns,
shops, and taverns they encountered on their journey, almost every building in
this town was drak sized. Most were built from rough-hewn stone, and gentle
curves featured prominently on most of the older structures. The hard edges and
tall, squared-off doorways of some of the larger buildings marked which ones
were built and used by former slavers. She followed the road to the far end of
the market. The sign above the edifice that stood near the intersection of the
market square and the street proclaimed itself to be Hag’s End. From the sounds
emanating from within, it was a tavern or inn.

“Looks like the right kind of
place.” Edric pushed the door open. “I don’t reckon the minotaur’ll fit,
though.”

Delilah followed Edric and her
brother into the tavern. “Maybe they have a back door.” The air within was
filled with the aroma of roasting meat. The din of a dozen conversations paused
for a brief moment as the patrons took stock of the newcomers, but it resumed
as Delilah shut the door. When her eyes adjusted to the lower levels of light
in the tavern, she noted there was no bar, but there were plenty of empty
tables.

A dwarf waddled up to them, his
wiry, black beard braided and parted to make way for his prodigious gut. He
offered a smile and a raised hand to Edric. “Welcome to Hag’s End, my friends.
I can tell you’re not Firescales. Just arrived?”

Edric clapped the dwarf on the
shoulder. “I need ale. Good ale.”

Delilah ignored Edric. “Do you
have rooms? We’re four, plus a minotaur.”

The dwarf showed Edric and the
drak twins to a table. “If the minotaur doesn’t mind sleeping in what those human
slavers were using, we can accommodate you. There’s a door for the longshanks
around the side. You draks want anything?”

“Mead!” Kale scooted his chair in
as he scanned the room. The tavern was packed with draks, most of whose scales
were a similar burnt orange color as Kali’s.

Delilah waved a hand in her
brother’s direction. “What he’s having. Got any food? Whatever you’re roasting
smells good.”

“Coming right up!” The rotund
dwarf waddled toward the back of the dining room.

“Oh hey, shouldn’t we wait for
Pancras?” Kale reached over and grabbed his sister’s arm.

Edric patted his stomach. “He can
catch up. That meat they’re cookin’ is callin’ me name!”

Delilah tapped the butt of her
staff on the floor. Azure tendrils swirled around the skull atop her staff as
she summoned arcane energy. “
Ageliofedros
.” A glowing, fuzzy blue boggin
appeared on the table, formed from the strands of aether around her.

“Find Pancras and tell him we’re
at Hag’s End, at the far end of the city market. We got rooms, and we’re eating.”

The boggin yipped and hopped off
the table, darted under tables, and ran straight through the door, leaving a
tenuous, fading azure trail in its wake. Delilah realized the entire room had
fallen silent, and the assembled draks gawked at her. She heard their hushed
whispers.

“They have stripes!”

“Did you see that? Magic!”

“Paz said striped draks were with
Kali. The ones that freed the slaves!”

Delilah’s eyes flicked and met
her brother’s. “Uh-oh.”

* * *

With Kali’s assistance, trading
the wagon and horses for more suitable mounts proved to be a quick and easy
transaction. The owner of the livery, Chana, was more than happy to acquire a
wagon and two draft horses.

For himself, Pancras chose a
horse more suited to carrying a rider. Because of his stature, he ended up with
a muscular blue roan steed that once belonged to the slavers. It was a
magnificent creature, standing nearly as tall as he at the withers, and was
called Stormheart according to Chana. The drak threw in a riding saddle, as
well. For Kale, Delilah, and Kali, Chana had three nailtooth lizards from the
Western Wastes. Green-scaled bipeds, the nailtooths had long, muscular tails
and strong, clawed feet suited to running. Finally, for Edric, Pancras found a
dun-colored pony. Inclusive of tack and saddle bags for all, Pancras paid only
twenty silver talons out of pocket.

“We did well.” Kali rubbed the
neck of her lizard. It hissed and snapped at the air. “We should be able to
move overland much quicker with these than in that wagon.”

“Do you know this place they’re
at? Hag’s End?” Pancras grabbed his pack from the wagon and double checked to
make sure all their belongings had been unloaded before heading across the
market with Kali.

“Sure, but I doubt it’s the same
as I remember it. The slavers drove most of us from our homes and businesses.
The last time I was there, to call it a den of thieves and murderers would be
charitable. I can’t imagine the slavers let that stay.”

She led Pancras through the
now-closed market square to Hag’s End. The sign above the door hung level with
the minotaur’s chin. He coughed and eyed Kali.

The drak shrugged. “I’m sure they
checked for a larger door. They must have, right?”

The aroma of roasting meat wafted
into the street as a pair of orange draks exited the building. Pancras ducked
his head and peeked inside. “They probably forgot.” A mass of draks crowded
around one table, oblivious to the minotaur sticking his head in through the
door. They seemed to be celebrating.

Kali pulled on Pancras’s arm to
move him out of the way. She clapped her hands as she entered the tavern. “Hey,
you lot! I’m back. What’s going on here?”

A few of the draks turned to
regard Kali. They seemed to recognize her, but through the cacophonous roar of
a dozen drak voices shouting at one, Pancras couldn’t understand what they said
to her. She gestured for Pancras to go around to the alley alongside the
building.

Pancras located a human-sized
door on the alley side of the building. He still had to duck, but he entered
with minimal discomfort. Inside, however, was a different matter. Pancras
towered over all the patrons and tables, including the one at which Kale,
Delilah, and Edric were seated. Kali had dispersed the crowd and joined the
dwarf and drak twins by the time Pancras arrived, seating herself next to
Edric.

“I don’t suppose there’s a bigger
table?”

Kale drank from a tankard and
then wiped his mouth with his arm. “I don’t think there are any, but there’s a
room big enough for you.”

Pancras moved one of the chairs
to the side with his leg and sat on the floor. His legs barely fit beneath the
table. “Have you paid yet? Perhaps after we eat, we can find accommodations
that are more… spacious?”

A dwarf approached the table, carrying
a platter laden with vegetables and a steaming leg roast. He laughed and
slapped Pancras on the back. “Not to worry! There’s some human-sized beds in
the cellar. Push as many of them as you need together.”

After the dwarf left, Pancras
leaned over the table. “This is not ideal.”

Delilah stabbed a hunk of meat
with her fork and waved it at Pancras, sending bits of juice flying toward him.
“It’s just one night. Besides, this place is close to the road. Did you get
different horses?”

Kali nodded as she chewed. “Three
lizards, a horse, and a pony for the dwarf.”

“Pony?” Edric glanced up from his
ale and shrugged. “Better than a mule.”

“Lizards?” The excitement in
Kale’s voice was obvious. “What kind of lizards?”

“Nailtooth.” Kali pantomimed a
snapping maw with her hands.

Delilah’s eyes narrowed. “What’s
that?”

Pancras held his hand at about
the height of Delilah’s head. “You know those big lizards you find on Deep
Road? The ones you don’t mess with? About that big, but they run around on two
legs. Mouths full of teeth.”

Kale’s wings fluttered, and he
scratched the back of his neck. “So why are we messing with these?”

“These are bred for riding.” Kali
placed her hand on his arm. “There’s villages in the Western Wastes that raise
them. They’re fast, loyal, and good hunters, too. Um yeah… hey Pancras?”