Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

T he city offered so many diversions, it wasn’t hard to find one suited to their mood. The first tavern they stopped at was good for drinking, but the people were reserved and definitely gave them all side eyes or outright scowls whenever they became too loud.

They wandered down a few streets afterward, still giggly and buzzed, their spirits high.

Terena grinned as she meandered behind the others, laughing when Croak did a cartwheel. She recalled another time when his antics had gotten them kicked out of a tavern in Metilai, and Terena sobered a bit. Thoughts of Lerek crashed down on her cheerful mood. Sonah grabbed her arm and twirled. Terena smiled at her, glad she was feeling comfortable enough to let loose.

“I want to dance!” Sonah shouted as she did another twirl in front of their group.

“Oh!” Croak called out, his hand flying to his ear. “I hear music!”

And then belched.

They all let out a chorus of disgusted outrage and pleas for him to stop. Croak ignored them, grabbed Sonah around the waist and spun her around and round before crashing into a group of bystanders walking in the opposite direction .

“Another round?” Gabriol asked. “There’s a tavern right there,” he added, pointing to their left.

Rydon and Terena followed, Sonah and Croak skipping along behind them.

A group of soldiers from the City Watch—hopefully, off-duty—held court near the front doors, greeting every newcomer with a boisterous cry and salute with their drinks.

Gabriol flinched, his hand shooting to the hilt of his sword. His lips cracked a grin when the men began serenading Sonah and Terena.

Every citizen on this side of the city seemed to pack the tavern. Terena lost Rydon and Gabriol in the thickness of the undulating crowd, catching up with them a minute later. Looking at everyone to see if they were looking at her, Terena relaxed her shoulders. No one cared or knew who she was.

Gabriol motioned to her when she caught his eye, a tankard of ale held up over his head. Someone jostled him and his hand sloshed ale on the person in front of Terena. The man’s only response was to scream, “Again!” as he tipped his head back.

Gabriol grinned and poured ale into the man’s mouth and the crowd around them cheered.

By the time Terena got close enough to grab the tankard from Gabriol, the bartender turned it into a game, pouring ale into the mouths of those closest to the bar.

“Hey, hey!” Croak yelled at the bartender, cupping his hand around his mouth as he leaned in. “Where can we find some music around here? My lady’s desperate to dance!”

Terena turned her gaze to Sonah. Instead of cowering low with a deep flush staining her cheeks, as was her typical reaction to anything obnoxious Croak did, she was grinning and hopping up and down. Terena smiled to see the grip she had on Croak’s arm.

“Music, aye!” The man called back with an enthusiastic nod. “Give me a minute. I have just the boys we need.”

The bartender went to the far end of the bar and leaned down to another man, whispering something in his ear. The man nodded and ducked under the counter, disappearing somewhere in the crowd .

“A toast!” Rydon yelled, his voice booming over the crowd. They all crowded close with glasses raised. “Gabriol—never doubted you, brother. You,” he winked at Terena, “of course we knew you were a badass from the beginning. But to almost best a Liodari with only daggers? Fucking goddess!”

Terena flinched at the word, but the others all cheered so she joined in, holding her tankard up and slapping it against the others.

“How did you move like that? You were a blur!” Gabriol yelled over the noise after taking a swig of his drink.

Terena shrugged and took another drink. “Wasn’t fast enough.”

“You were plenty fast,” Rydon said with a chiding look. “You turned your back on him. That’s what cost you.”

She was spared answering when the bartender jumped onto the bar, and whistled so loud Sonah squealed at her side.

“Listen up, you degenerates!” he called out in the common tongue.

The crowd erupted with joyous agreement.

“Live music out back! And get ready to dance!”

If possible, the roar from the patrons became even more deafening. Sonah and Croak jumped up and down, sloshing their ale all around them and Terena shrieked as some of it landed on her head. Rydon wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her along as they headed out the back, along with half the crowd.

Two men seated to their right were playing instruments resembling small guitars, their fingers flying so fast over the strings Terena was transfixed as she watched.

A woman was singing in Greek, although Terena couldn’t see her through the crowd already in the large open space, people lining up and dancing in one giant circle. Croak pushed past her, tugging Sonah along as the two separated dancers so they could join in.

They didn’t know the steps, but quickly picked it up from the dancers on either side of them, and Terena’s heart squeezed to see Sonah’s shining face laughing up at the woman to her left. Rydon pushed Terena in front of him and she let him pull her into a line a few people down from where Sonah and Croak had joined. Gabriol joined on her left and Terena turned to smile up at him .

She was already dizzy from drink, and the dancing—how fast they moved!—had her breathless. She didn’t know how long they danced; one song bled into another. Soon, people were jumping into the center of the circle, dancing in a way too intricate for Terena. And there was no way she was sober enough to do it.

She laughed in surprise as Croak jumped into the center, his dramatic leap making everyone cry out with encouragement and laughter. He pushed back a lock of sweat-soaked brown hair, then tried to copy the last dancer but tripped over his feet and fell in a heap, making Terena double over in a fit of laughter. Gabriol missed a step and fell on top of her. Since she was holding Rydon’s hand, she pulled him down with her and he pulled down the poor woman on his right.

Terena couldn’t stop laughing as they all sat there for a moment in a mess of limbs. It took them forever to rise, overcome with giddiness. The line of dancers reformed around them until it was only Terena in the middle.

The dancers began to clap and Terena twirled, arms up in the air as she spun. Terena closed her eyes and let the music fill her world as she moved. The crowd sang the song, and soon the voices of those dancing and watching made her heart soar.

She was carefree in that one moment. She wanted to freeze it, and stay in it forever.

Just one night without nightmares.

One night without thinking of him.

Terena opened her eyes and sighed, stumbling as a heady dizziness overtook her. Ready to rejoin the dancers, she moved to the people in front of her, smiling as they made room for her and lifted her smiling face to the dancers across the way.

Her smile slipped.

Daris Antonius stood in the line between two women, one of them smiling up at him as if he hung the moon himself.

Heat rushed to her face as their gazes locked. Surprise and something else on his face she couldn’t name crossed his features, but instead of looking away, Terena grinned across at him before looking around the circle of dancers. She spotted Sonah and Croak singing along with the others, Croak’s head thrown back as he belted out what Terena was sure were the wrong words, Sonah playing along at his side. Terena’s gaze shifted to Rydon, who saw her at the same time and moved across the center to come to her side.

There were shouts from the other dancers as he passed the center, but his only concession to the unspoken rule those in the center of the circle must dance was to raise his arms up and snap his fingers as he came quickly to claim a spot next to her.

“I think I need another drink!” he yelled over at Terena as they shuffled first to the right, then back a step, then right again.

“Same! I want wine, this time,” she called back, leaning closer to his ear so she didn’t have to shout. He nodded and tugged at her hand. She pulled the woman’s hand on her right toward the man standing on Rydon’s left as they left the circle, then trotted after Rydon, weaving her way through the crowd around the dancers and back inside.

Gabriol, too, had had the same thought as them and Rydon yelled when he spotted him at the bar. Gabriol lifted his chin in their direction, then leaned over the bar so his face was obscured by the other patrons nearby.

When they were beside him, he held out a tankard. Rydon shook his head. He leaned in to say something to Gabriol, then the bartender, who nodded and placed a cup on the bar top as he reached for something below.

Terena grinned at the bartender when he handed them the wine and she raised her cup to Rydon and Gabriol.

“Let’s go find somewhere to sit, I’m fucking tired,” Gabriol yelled over the crowd, and Terena nodded. She followed behind Rydon as Gabriol led them through the crowd toward the front right corner.

He leaned over a table nearby and after some nods from those at the table, he grabbed a chair and brought it over to an empty one behind them. He set it down and moved to the one in the corner, Rydon taking the seat at his side and Terena the remaining one looking out over the rest of the room. Not that she could see over the sea of bodies, but she was grateful for Rydon making sure she was seated where she could see everyone.

“Gods, Terena, take it easy, or we’ll have to carry you back,” Gabriol said with a grin, watching her drain the last of her wine. Rydon clapped him on the back and rose.

“I’ll get another round,” he said, then strode off, disappearing through the crowd.

A minute later, a woman came over to their table carrying a tray filled with tiny glasses. She bent over and placed three of them on their table and said in a loud voice, “This is from Jason, the gentleman at that table.” She gestured with her head over her shoulder.

Terena looked over, her eyes landing on a man holding one of those tiny glasses, his brown eyes holding hers as he lifted his glass and nodded at her.

She blinked, her mouth dropping open in recognition. He was the opponent she’d fought earlier. Terena looked back down at the glasses in front of them, then up at Gabriol. “What is this?”

He shrugged, picking up one of the tiny glasses, the clear liquid inside sloshing at the lip. He put it to his nose and sniffed.

Terena picked one up, then looked back over at the man—Jason, the woman had called him—and he lifted the glass and tossed back the contents in one motion. Terena watched as he grinned, then set the glass down on the table.

“I think you drink it all at once,” she said to Gabriol when she turned back. Rydon came back then and sat down with a big sigh. He saw the glasses they were holding, another on the table and looked at them.

“What’s this?”

“We don’t know,” Terena said, then glanced over her shoulder at the Liodari, Jason. Rydon looked over, too, frowning when he saw all four men looking back at them. She saw the moment he recognized them, too, from the fights.

“But I think we’re supposed to drink it all at once,” she added, drawing his attention back to her. “That man, Jason, did that. So maybe we should? ”

“Smells strong,” Gabriol said.

Terena looked over at Jason again, who was trying to seem like he wasn’t watching her, but failing. She lifted the glass to her lips and tipped it back, letting the liquid pour into her mouth.

It left a trail of fire down her throat, eyes bulging and watering. She coughed and Rydon clapped her back and she chanced a look at Jason. His entire table was laughing, heads thrown back like her death was the funniest thing they’d seen in an age.

“Gods that’s disgusting,” she said hoarsely when she could speak. She wiped at her eyes, still feeling the liquid slowly sliding down into her belly.

Rydon and Gabriol drank theirs at the same time. Rydon did much better than Terena had, coughing only a couple times, but Gabriol’s eyes watered like hers and he wiped at them several times before he could even speak.

They looked at each other at the same time and laughed, Terena’s chest protesting a bit as it still burned from the drink.

Rydon leaned back in his chair and shouted across at the men, “What the hell was that?”

Jason grinned, looking at Terena before shifting his eyes to Rydon. “Ambrosia,” he said, “the drink of the gods.”

Gabriol lifted his empty glass to him in salute.

“Did you like it?”

Surprised he’d spoken to her, Terena turned back to Jason and nodded with a smile. “After I got over the almost dying part. Aye, I liked it very much.”

He winked. “Good, you’re Spartan now.”

Terena laughed. “Is that all it takes?”

He shrugged. “We’re a welcoming people.”

Gabriol leaned across the table and muttered, “I think he’s flirting with you, Terena. You fighting with him turned him on, I guess.”

Terena flushed and swatted at him. Before she could reply, Sonah wedged through a few people in front of their table and smiled wide when she caught Terena’s eye. Croak came up behind her, looking green .

Terena caught sight of the woman who’d brought them the drinks and quickly stood, grabbing hold of her elbow before she disappeared. She ordered a round of Ambrosia drinks for their table, and ordered one for Jason’s table as well.

When she sat back down, Sonah was excitedly chattering about the dancing and the friends she and Croak had made.

Croak brought back two chairs, dragging them to their table between Gabriol and Rydon as the barmaid came back, setting the glasses down carefully on their table, then moving off to Jason’s table.

“This is something the Greeks call Ambrosia,” Terena said to Croak and Sonah. “You drink it all at once but—wait!” She reached across to Croak to stay his hand as he was about to toss back the drink. “It burns like fucking crazy. Just a warning.”

“Hey!” Jason yelled from his table.

They all turned, and the men were all holding their small glasses up high as they looked at them.

“In Sparta we say ‘Yiamas!’ And then you drink,” Jason said with a grin. “To our health!”

Terena looked around at her table, all of them lifting their glasses at the same time and yelling “Yiamas!” She waited half a second, watching the others toss back their drinks before she drank hers. The same burning sensation tore down her throat and through her lungs; she felt like she could breathe fire.

Sonah sputtered, coughing hard and stood up in panic, fanning her face. Gabriol surged to his feet, pounding on Sonah’s back.

Croak puked on the table.

Rydon and Terena swore as they shot to their feet to avoid the mess. Terena saw movement to her right and looked up as Jason went to Sonah’s side, offering her something in a large tankard.

“It’s water,” he said as she looked at him through bulging, tear-filled eyes. She tried to suck in air, taking the tankard from him and took a quick sip. She took a couple more and seemed to calm as she started muttering to the gods.

“It’s not for everyone,” Jason grinned, a dimple flashing in his cheek, once he’d made sure Sonah wasn’t going to die. The barmaid had come back, yelling something in Greek and wiped up the mess, shooting dark looks at them.

“What the fuck?” Croak squeaked, wiping his mouth when the barmaid finished and stalked away.

“It’ll grow on you,” Jason laughed as he moved back to his table.

“Thank you,” Terena yelled to him, impulsively reaching out to touch his arm as he passed.

He nodded, the movement causing strands of blond hair to fall over his right eye. He was about to say something when the other men at his table rose abruptly. Jason’s head swiveled to his right, his body going rigid beneath Terena’s hand.

A second later she realized why.

Daris Antonius appeared, standing behind one of his men at their table. He held a tankard in his right hand as he looked over at Terena and her friends, curiosity in his sky-blue eyes.

Terena’s stomach dropped when his gaze finally met hers and she turned, dropping her hand from Jason’s arm to retake her seat.

Jason moved back to his table. The men spoke with their commander, and Terena looked over at Sonah, who was once more breathing normally.

“Gods, Terena,” Croak said with a belch. Rydon cursed and shoved at Croak’s shoulder. “You undersold it.”

“I kinda like it,” Gabriol said.

Terena sighed, a smile flashing on her lips. Warmth spread through her body, sliding down her limbs. “I feel… good.”

Rydon had his head tipped back, but he grunted. “Same.”

“Another?” Gabriol asked.

“I don’t?—”

Before she could protest, Gabriol rose and left.

“Who is that?” Sonah whispered loudly, her fingers digging into Terena’s wrist.

Terena winced and tried to pry Sonah’s fingers away as she asked, “Who?”

“The one who came to my rescue!” Sonah said in a breathy voice and leaned forward, her head close to Terena as she peered over Terena’s shoulder. “He’s beautiful, and did you see that dimple?”

Terena grinned and folded Sonah’s hand in hers. “That’s Jason. He’s the man I fought in the pit earlier.”

The look Sonah shot her was priceless and Terena threw her head back and laughed.

“And which one is your Daris,” Sonah slurred, a smirk on her face when she turned her narrowed green and brown-eyed gaze to her.

Heat crawled up Terena’s neck and face. “He’s not my anything! And he’s the one that came to their table just now.”

Sonah snapped her gaze back over to the other table and her eyes widened when she spotted the man in question. “Oh…. aye. That’s… that’s a man. A gorgeous man.”

Terena chanced a look at Daris Antonius and caught him staring at her. She turned away quickly, but Sonah was merciless. “Oh, I think he likes you, too,” she said, her smirk turning wicked as she shifted closer to Terena. She flicked another glance at the commander before turning back to Terena. “Do you think he has sex dreams about you, too?”

Terena shrieked and lunged for Sonah as the girl flung her head back and guffawed, the two women embracing and cackling like idiots.

Gabriol came back with a tray filled with more of the miniature glasses. After he’d plunked down enough for their table, he took the few steps over to Jason’s table and dropped the tray with the rest in front of him. “Yiamas!”

Terena watched out of the corner of her eye as Jason smirked, but she shifted to look at Daris, seated across from Jason. She cursed under her breath to catch him watching her still.

“All right, one more, then more dancing,” Sonah screeched at them and they agreed with much laughter. They lifted their glasses and screamed out the toast, earning them laughter from Jason’s table.

They stood almost at the same time, Sonah slower as she tried to control her coughing again. Terena pushed out her chair and rose, ready to follow the others, when a wave of dizziness rocked her and she pitched back. Rydon shot forward to grab her, but Jason, sitting just as close, had a hand tight around her elbow. She thanked him breathlessly, then laughed as her friends began wending their way through the crowd toward the back and the music.

Terena shot a quick glance at Jason’s table as she followed and saw they, too, had all finished their Ambrosia.

All except Daris.

Terena didn’t know if it was the drinking making her bold, or that she felt alive for the first time in a long time, but she stopped in front of the commander and arched an eyebrow as she looked down at him.

He watched her, a wary look on his face.

A slow grin spread across Terena’s face. “Not taking any drinks from us?”

She saw a corner of his full lips rise in a small smile as he regarded her. “I don’t drink.”

Her heart thudded, her body languid as she looked at him and the way his mouth moved. She thought again of how beautiful this man was.

Dangerously so.

But she was carefree right then. Instead of doing the smart thing and walking away, Terena’s smile turned wicked and, without taking her eyes off him, she lifted the glass of Ambrosia to her lips and tossed her head back. The drink once more burned a path down her insides, and she closed her eyes for a second before looking back at him.

She turned the glass over and set it softly down on the table near his hand and whispered, “Yiamas,” as she walked away.