Chapter 3

Chapter

Three

SILAS

What the hell am I doing?

Not that I have much else better to do, but to become some rich man's plaything? Although, I could always use more money in the hopes of enticing a new chef since the former chef ran off.

So with the weight of the coins in my own coin purse, I find myself trailing after the fae. Callisto's practically skipping in front of me, he's so thrilled by the notion of having his very own wyvern to… what? Ride around and show off? Catch the attention of the ladies before the wyvern decides to eat them?

Having left the bustle of the inner residential area, we've gone beyond the wall that encompasses the capital, and into the wilderness. Since the high fae palace resides in the middle of the capital, there is sophisticated security in that area. Surrounding the palace is another wall that cuts it off from the rest of the town. Then the high-class homes and businesses wrap around that before it shifts to middle and eventually lower class. While it's uncommon to see beggars out on the street, the lower-class area has its fair share of seedy establishments that the high court turns a blind eye to because of the money they bring in. My tavern resides right on the outskirts near the gate that leads to the outside, which makes me wonder how the fae stumbled upon me, of all people.

My eyes are on him as he takes a step and the weeds and plants beneath his feet seem to burst with life, flowers coming to fruition with each step. I could lose sight of him and only have to follow the trail of flowers to find him.

I've literally never seen a more suspicious man.

Noticing that I'm lagging behind, he stops and quickly turns to look at me. "Am I walking too fast for you, my dear?" he asks, a playful tone to his voice.

The foolish man has obviously been pampered his entire life and is unaware that tugging on a servant's clothes that are two sizes too large for him and rubbing some soot from the fireplace on his face is not enough to fool most.

Callisto's white hair falls in waves nearly down to his shoulders. The shine of it alone is enough to tell me that he receives regular baths, a luxury not many are given. His eyes are a striking mix of blue and purple that are one of the colors unique to fae. "Should I slow down?"

"No, I'm just practically taking you for a walk, right?" I ask. "It's much like having a dog I'm taking out to stretch his legs."

He laughs like what I said was even remotely funny and rushes back to me. "You could at least pretend to put in some effort."

"Do you understand what you're wanting?" I ask. "Wyvern riders practice from a young age to learn to control those beasts. Many lose their lives after making even a simple mistake."

"Then I won't make a mistake," he says confidently. It's a shame his pretty face will likely be unattached as soon as he sniffs a wyvern out. Maybe I can enjoy it before then…

Callisto turns back and my eyes drop to the flowers blooming all around him as I consider how hard it'd be to talk him into my bed.

Quickly, I push that thought back as I realize that I'm looking to get myself hanged. Instead, I stare at the flowers at his feet. "Are you doing that on purpose?"

"What?" he asks as he glances back at me.

"The flowers."

His eyes shift down and he hesitates, and it's like the moment he does, the flowers lose all purpose for existing as they wilt. "Eh, ignore that," he says, but I notice they stop blooming around him after I'd said something, which I find weirdly disappointing. I guess I kind of enjoyed the strangeness of it.

"Tell me about yourself, Silas. All I know so far is that you have a knack for murder through inedible food," he says, and tacks on a smile, like that'll keep me from finding it irritating.

"Not much to say."

"Hmm…" Callisto stops and waves me forward. "Why don't you lead the way?"

"Of course," I say as I wander with no specific direction in mind. I'm starting to feel confident that he thinks that this wyvern is my pet or something, and that it's going to just swoop down to say hi if I stagger around.

"How do you plan to capture and train a wyvern?" I ask, amused by this very idea. Evidently, the man has never seen the temperament of a wyvern.

"I was going to offer you up for it to eat," he says, and I… can't quite tell if he's joking. "But then I realized that if you've been eating your own food, it might poison the innocent creature!" He's quite amused by this.

"Lovely. I think I'm going to head back. Thanks for the money."

"No! I'm joking. Just a joke. Just a…"

His eyes are trained on something, and I realize that there are some people on the road making their way toward the town.

"What… is that?" he asks, but I also can't tell from this distance. We're not too far from the main road, so he starts to make his way toward it as I realize that it's a trader likely bringing something in for a sale. There are four stocky draft horses pulling a slaver wagon behind them, but instead of people packed inside, there are small animals stacked in crates.

"The Donray sale takes place in a few days," I say, though his attention isn't on the wagon, but what is being pulled along behind it.

It's a beast that looks like a large feline, larger than the horses that drag it. Its coat is orange with black stripes. And while reminiscent of a tiger, it doesn't have a narrower face; instead, its head is boxy and its fur is thick around its neck, almost like a lion's mane. Two black horns twist out of its skull but one is broken off close to its head. All four legs are shackled and it's muzzled. There is absolutely nothing about the beast that screams "I will make a fabulous mount," but boy, oh boy, does Callisto look like he's just been smacked in the face with the most brilliant plan.

"No, absolutely not," I say.

"I'm gonna ride it," he decides.

I look at this man in disbelief. He clearly has a death wish. "You don't even know if it's rideable!"

"It has a saddle on! Someone's at least tried to ride it, which means that it is definitely rideable."

Yeah, to make rich dumb men think they can make it into a mount. But apparently… I'm with one of those at this moment.

"I need it." It's like he breathes the words out of pure excitement.

"No one needs that thing," I say, wondering how long it will be before he's eaten by it.

"I want it," he says, and I notice flowers are blooming around him in overtime. Obviously, they're as excited as he is.

"You know most fae royalty ride around on like fucking unicorns and other pretty shit? Why the hell do you want that thing?"

"It's cute."

As they get closer, I stare at the monster—what else could it be called—and question whether we're looking at the same thing. The side of its face is all scarred. Through the metal muzzle around its mouth, I can see large canine fangs that will surely eat this man. They look very good for tearing and puncturing. "It's not cute!"

"It's kind of cute."

"It looks like it crawled out of hell because even Satan didn't want it."

"Well, that's good. I would hate to fight him over it."

And that's the moment the beast stops moving. The wagon that it's tied to is slammed to a halt, causing the stout horses pulling it to be jarred to a standstill.

One of the men who'd been riding near it starts beating it with a whip as the beast begins to thrash and flail. I can see the shackles it wears start to glow, telling me that someone in the group is a mage or some kind of magic user that has at least some control over the beast—it's quite clear that without that, the animal would likely escape and maim along its way. The man atop the horse keeps beating the beast, whipping it until I see a spray of blood as I notice the way Callisto tenses next to me.

"Come on, we don't have to watch this shit," I say right before I hear one of the chains break. The beast turns and slams into the horse, knocking it back as the man falls off. The beast has a muzzle on so while it gives mauling the man a valiant effort, it only seems to accomplish some light dismemberment.

I slowly look over at Callisto, positive he's changed his mind now that he sees what the beast can do, but he just gives me a shrug.

"He didn't want that arm," he assures me as the mage rushes forward and regains control of the situation.

"Are you sure he didn't?"

Callisto shrugs again. "Maybe the arm had some like… disease in it and the creature actually saved his life. Anyway, this sale you mentioned… what exactly is it?"

"It's not for your kind."

"Not for fae?" he asks, confused.

"No. Innocent rich boys who have no idea what they're doing," I say. "It's not a good place."

"Obviously, but I'd still like to go. And you will take me! This is already decided." He seems quite pleased with this fact. He appears to struggle to listen to good advice.

"What about like a… I don't know, a good sturdy horse?" I ask.

He grimaces like I've suggested something awful to him. "Ew. No. When's this sale?"

"Tomorrow."

"I'll meet you at your tavern and will make sure I eat first since I know where I definitely won't be eating," he declares.

"You're going to die playing with something like that and… you know what? As long as you pay me first, have at it."

"So that means we're going to the sale?" He looks positively thrilled by this idea and I have to curse myself for thinking about how handsome he is.

"Sure, I'll take the goddamn fae prince to the most notoriously horrible sale."

Callisto hesitates. "Who the fuck told you I was the prince?"

I watch him for a moment since the identity of the prince isn't exactly public knowledge as of yet. From what I've heard from rumors, the king, unable to bear any heirs of his own, has summoned his brother's son to take place as his heir. While he hasn't made his public appearance yet, it won't be too long before he does so, and until then, this foolish man seems to think he can trot around town and bribe people into taking him to the sale that could risk his life.

"No one. I know many of the faces around the capital, so seeing a new one stands out. And there aren't too many fae who have magic oozing off of them like you do, now are there?" I ask.

He looks down at the mess of flowers at his feet. "Fuck."

"I don't think that's how princes are supposed to talk."

"Nah, I'm totally princely, I promise. I shall see you tomorrow! Wait… how should I dress?"

"Dress nice. It's the upper class who can afford things like that."

"Splendid," he says, and with that, he races back off for the city. I'm not even going to be surprised if someone mugs him along the way, he's so damn oblivious and carefree.

I rock back on my heels and look over my shoulder. "How long are you going to follow me?"

A woman steps out of the trees with a smile on her beautiful face. She's wearing a long white dress that flows in the wind that is also catching her black hair. She stands out so much that it's fascinating how she could have blended in and followed us the entire time without anyone being the wiser.

Her red lips twist up in a grin as she saunters over to me. "My, my, my, Silas. Making friends with princes, are we?"

"Nah, just taking his money," I say as I jingle my coin purse, quite pleased by the sound it makes.

She slides around behind me, running a finger over my shoulder before drawing it around my back. "We'd pay you handsomely if you bring us the prince's head."

She squeezes my shoulder as she comes back around to face me. Her eyes are strangely hypnotic, drawing me into them as I force myself to look away.

"Naledi, I'm a tavern keeper, nothing more," I say.

She laughs, her voice chilling to the point where it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. "Cute."

"I wouldn't worry about it; he's trying very hard to get himself killed and then all of your worries will be over."

"All?" she asks. "No, it's just getting started. Give it some thought."

I smack her hand off me and she laughs again, not at all offended that I don't want her touching me. Instead, I draw back and start toward the gate a moment before I see the wyvern flying overhead.

Too bad the prince is long gone.