Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
This city has no power over me.
At least… I tell myself that. Because when I step out onto that terrace, the colors of the sky—blue and purple and red—reflecting off the sandstone buildings and the mountains all around us, I feel a pull.
It does have power.
I belong here… I can feel it.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - EROS
When I get out onto the street, I cross it, then look back at the hotel. And there she is. Standing right out on the terrace wearing the chains, the fortune in godsmetal hanging off her body like it’s nothing more than tin.
That stupid, arrogant woman. I wait until her gaze lazily passes over the crowd and finally finds mine. Then I point at her and bare my teeth, directing her to go inside. “For fuck’s sake, woman. Have some sense.” I mumble this, but she’s looking right at me, probably reading my lips because she sighs heavily, rolling her eyes, and then turns her back and disappears beyond view.
I turn as well, looking for somewhere close to buy a meal. But there is nothing over in this quarter but saloons and hotels—which both probably serve food, but it’s not going to be good food. And it’s been a long day. Two days, I remind myself. I just want to settle for a moment and settling involves a good meal, not a shitty one.
I decide to check on the pegásius. He’s fine when I get inside the barn, munching contentedly on some very green hay inside a stable that is probably the size of a paddock for a regular horse. But I really came in to talk to the groom. He’s another dog-man, only more of a child. Something in between, maybe. He bows when I come towards him.
“Where can I find good food that is close, boy?”
“My godling!” He rights himself and looks me in the eye. “There is good food in the flower market.” He points. “Right over there. Just a few streets away. Don’t be fooled by the condition of the carts, that’s where we all eat on payday.”
It’s probably mediocre food at best, but I’m sure it’s better than what they serve here at this inn.
“Thank you. Take good care of this beast for me.” I point to the pegásius. “His name is Ire and he’s… good.” I don’t know anything about this pegásius, but his life can’t have been easy. And he hasn’t given us any trouble.
“I will, godling.” The boy bows again.
I want to tell him to stop calling me that, but it’s not worth it. He’s irrelevant. A random someone who I have met on the way to a random somewhere that I will never see again. So I just nod my head and toss him a coin from my pocket.
He looks at it, curious. And I wait. Because I don’t even know if the money is accepted here. But the boy’s bright eyes when he looks at me tells me all I need to know. The coin will be accepted and it’s worth far more than I should’ve given him.
“Thank you, godling!” the dog-boy says. Then drops to his knees, bowing his head to the floor.
I turn and walk out.
The boy was truthful—the flower market is only a few streets over. But the sun has mostly set now and nearly all of the tents have been shut up for the night.
The food carts, however, are still very busy. And the various restaurants and saloons around the small square have patio tables filled with people.
I’m scanning the carts, trying to find one with lamb, when that familiar melody starts playing. I look around, trying to figure out where it’s coming from, but it seems to be coming from everywhere.
Her song.
My song.
‘Ball and Chain.’
I stand in place, spotting a musician through a crowd, then turn to the right and spot another one. I continue the circle and realize that every busker in the square is playing the same song, at the same tempo, but with different instruments.
Which should be impossible. It’s not even an ancient song. In the time I just came from it’s a couple decades old. And when they start to sing—those modern phrases that have no place here—it feels like I’m in a dream.
It doesn’t make sense.
None of this makes sense.
But then, unbidden, her voice is in my head, spitting out her spelling. I see you now, I see you then, I see you everywhere you’ve been. And you will know my name forever, you will know my spell is clever.
I’m caught in it too. The world stops and only the music remains. My vision narrows down into a tunnel and I don’t move. I don’t even try. I just stand there, like a foolish halfwit, listening as they sing and make those ancient instruments play a rhythm that won’t be invented for millennia.