Chapter 13

CHAPTER13

There was something unique about city markets, about the way the wares changed from day to day and even the vendors came and went. Athan loved browsing them, and he’d often buy the goods that were left forgotten, a little scuffed, not quite perfect enough for the average marketgoer.

Walking through the market now with Elric, Athan felt the swell in his chest that even the knowledge of the new hole in Elric couldn’t quite dampen. Even the new clothes were worth it just for how proud Elric had been to dress Athan.

“I think I saw a vendor with perfumes down this way,” Athan said, pointing. “They’ll have oils for shaving too.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind the extra expenditures?” Elric asked, and he looked a little self-conscious in a way he rarely did. This journey was changing him—for the better—and it made Athan smile.

“Of course not. You want to look your best for the king.”

Elric nodded and followed Athan down the busy street, until they finally ended up at the correct vendor’s stall. The scents of various flowers intermingled here, along with other, more woodsier notes. The combination was strange and a little overwhelming, although Athan knew any individual perfume or cologne would smell different once mixed in with a person’s individual scent.

Elric lifted up the stopper on one jar and took a sniff of it. “This is nice. What is it?” he asked the vendor.

The woman on the other side of the stall grinned widely. “Ooh, you have a very discerning sense of smell, sir. That’s our specialty, made from a combination of spices and the pinecones from the Redwood Forest.”

Athan took the stopper off Elric’s hand and sniffed it. There was a tree in there, and there were certainly spices, but he wouldn’t have been able to tell if she was being truthful or not. It smelled nice either way.

Elric nodded. “I’ll set this aside while I browse,” he said, and the woman gestured to the side of the table. Elric set it down, then went back to sniffing different scents. He shared a few with Athan, but in the end, he went back to the first one he’d chosen. “I think this one is the best. Do you know where we could find shaving supplies?”

The vendor was happy to recommend a friend of hers who sold the necessary shaving supplies, and that sent Elric and Athan ambling down more of the market square, occasionally bumping against each other.

Athan noticed Elric looking at him, and he smiled. “What?”

Elric shook his head, but he smiled back, if a bit more reserved. “This is… strange. I’ve never gone to the markets without guards. I’m not used to having to walk around people like this.” He paused, then added thoughtfully, “Of course, they get out of your way, so it’s not too terrible.”

“You can just say you’re enjoying yourself,” Athan teased. “We’re having a nice day out, the way people who enjoy each other’s companionship do.”

Elric scoffed at him, but that small smile lingered on his lips. “It’s still strange,” he murmured, but he didn’t sound upset about it.

They approached the stall they’d been given directions to, and Elric began looking through the scissors and razors and everything else he might need. He started to have a conversation with the vendor, and Athan was content to simply listen until he felt something brush against his feet.

Athan looked down to see a big, fluffy gray cat. His eyebrows went up. Most animals avoided him. Even cats, who generally had a bit too much hubris and not a lot of sense, were wary of him. This one stared up at him and meowed, as if demanding something.

After it was satisfied it had caught Athan’s attention, it scampered off—and stopped, looking back at him, as if demanding he follow.

“I’ll be right back,” Athan said, a little too curious about this strange creature to ignore it.

Elric only nodded, absorbed in his conversation.

Athan followed the cat down a side alley, where more cats had congregated. Cats on top of awnings, sitting on planters and flattening the flowers, getting underfoot…

He also saw, bent over a small box, a dragon.

Well, a dragon in human form, horns tucked away, but she exuded the kind of magic only a dragon had. Her long, orange-blonde hair was pulled back into a braid, and she wore a loose yellow dress that was of the completely wrong style for the region.

The gray cat he’d followed went right up to her and meowed again.

The dragon glanced up, and her expression stuttered into wariness. “I don’t need your help. Go away.”

That sounded very much like a dragon. Athan nodded and tried to turn to leave—only two more cats appeared beneath his feet, and he nearly tripped. He caught himself on the side of the alley, while the cats continued to meow at him.

“Stop it, Coriander! Just let him leave!” the dragon said in a pained voice. “We don’t need him.”

The fat calico at his feet mrrped in a way that suggested she very much disagreed with that assessment.

“Well,” Athan said, scratching at his neck. “Maybe I can just take a look? Maybe there’s nothing I can help with at all, and the cats will be satisfied.”

The dragon picked up the box and clutched it to her chest. Her lips wavered. “I know how a phoenix’s help looks. Swoop in, drop a few feathers, create all sorts of chaos, and then disappear again. No, thank you.”

Internally, Athan cringed at that assessment. It wasn’t… It wasn’t wrong. But that was why Athan tried to be careful about whom he helped. Never mind the trouble he’d already gotten into with Elric. “I’m sure I can’t create a lot of chaos here. What’s in the box?”

The dragon looked like she wanted to keep fighting about it, but all the cats suddenly broke out into a cacophony of meowing, yowling, and other sounds only cats could make. Athan had to cover his ears against the noise, and even the dragon looked pained.

“Fine, fine! But if it’s a disaster, I’ll get to say I told you so,” she said to the cats, her voice wavering. She grudgingly extended the box toward Athan, and the cats scattered enough that Athan could get close enough to take a look.

Athan’s heart nearly broke when he saw what was inside: three kittens, all dying. One of them had a broken paw, and another had a gash that was far too large for its small frame. There wasn’t much life left in them at all. He saw the dragon’s attempts to heal them, but her magic wasn’t made for it, and she’d been overwhelming their small bodies.

Part of Athan knew he needed to simply let them die. Death was part of everything, and Athan had learned not to interfere with nature in that way.

But they were so small. They hadn’t even lived yet.

“I found them like this,” she said, and when he met her eyes, he realized she was very close to crying. “I asked around, and nobody knows where their mother is. I… Please. I’m sorry I said what I did. I just…”

She didn’t want to get her hopes up. She didn’t want him to deny her.

“I’ll… I’ll save them,” Athan said quietly. “Please. Let me.”

She nodded, gingerly passing the box to him. Athan took it, bending his head over the kittens. He breathed in the scent of their death, listening to their tiny hearts getting slower and slower.

His next exhale was imbued with his magic, and he coaxed life back into them. He took life from the crushed flowers in the planters, he took life from the elderly cat at his feet, he took life from the dragon—and he gave a bit of his own. Just enough. A few minutes, here and there, not enough for anybody to notice or care.

When those hearts were beating as strongly as they were meant to, when their little mewls got louder, when they knew to demand food again… Athan stood up straight again and handed the box back to the dragon.

She sniffed and nodded, clearly fumbling for words and unsure of what to say.

“Here,” Athan said quickly, putting a small, downy feather into the box. “Just in case. It isn’t a lot. But if they’re having trouble later…”

“Thank you,” the dragon said, near crying. “I… Everybody says phoenixes cause more trouble than they’re worth.”

Athan laughed, wiping at his eyes. “I think they say the same thing about dragons. The rumors from Kithage these days…”

The dragon burst out laughing, although it sounded like she was on the edge of a sob. “Oh. That’s just Jade. Most of us wouldn’t dream of getting that involved with human politics.”

Athan wondered just how much she knew about the dragon Elric loathed so much. He was about to ask, but then he heard Elric calling out for him.

“I should be going,” Athan said, glancing back. “Take care. And… it’s good the cats came to find me.”

She nodded back at him. “Yes. Thank you. So much. I’ll never forget what you did for me.”

They stood awkwardly for another few seconds, until another “Athan? Where are you?” came from the mouth of the alley. Athan quickly jogged back to the main market square to Elric’s side.

“Hi. Sorry. I saw something that needed… fixing,” Athan explained.

Elric rolled his eyes at that, but this time, he didn’t comment on Athan fixing something even though he had to know Athan had done it free of charge. “I got what I needed. Is there anything you’d like to look at while we’re out and about?”

“No,” Athan said quietly. “Why don’t we head back to the inn? We can grab some food and get freshened up.”

“Already?” Elric asked, looking surprised. “Weren’t you the one who wanted to spend the day out?”

That was before he’d seen the kittens. Athan’s mood had fallen a bit, and all he really wanted to do now was spend it alone with Elric.

Which said something, that he actually wanted company even when his thoughts were filled with death. He took Elric’s hand and smiled at him. “I just want to be with you,” he said, adding a little bit of an eyebrow waggle. “I can think of a few ways we can still enjoy ourselves tonight.”

Elric squeezed Athan’s fingers, his eyes searching Athan’s face. He didn’t seem to find what he was looking for, because he frowned a little, but he nodded and pressed in closer so they were shoulder to shoulder. “I’ll need to groom myself properly. I bought a set of shaving knives and the like. Are you able to help me trim my hair, too, do you think? It’s looking so… ragged.”

“If you’re willing to trust me with it, I’d be happy to,” Athan said, bumping his shoulder against Elric’s. “If I accidentally cut you, I promise to fix it.”

Elric eyed him. “You wouldn’t really cut me,” he said, though he didn’t look too certain. “Perhaps I should find a barber…”

Athan laughed and bent closer to kiss the top of Elric’s head. “If the barber cuts you, are they going to fix the wound? You’ll just have to decide who you’re more comfortable with wielding sharp implements around your face.”

Elric shuddered. “Do you have to make something as simple as shaving and a haircut sound so ominous?” he asked, but a faint smile flashed across his lips anyway. “I’ll trust you.” He met Athan’s eyes. “I do trust you.”

Those words were heartfelt, more than just a passing comment about a shave.

Athan stopped abruptly, tugging on Elric’s wrist. Elric gave him a confused look, but Athan pulled him close and kissed him soundly, right there on the street. He didn’t care what Kithagans or Phassians thought about public displays of affection.

He needed this. He needed to feel the connection; he needed to taste Elric’s life. He needed something that was a little uncomplicated, even though there was nothing about Elric that wasn’t complicated.

Though Elric briefly kissed him back, he soon pulled away. His cheeks were flushed, and he looked furtively around. No one seemed to be paying any attention to them, though—likely because this city was so different from Kithage. Elric relaxed a little, resting his head against Athan. “What was that for?”

“I felt like it,” Athan said, giving Elric one last squeeze before releasing the embrace. “All right. Let’s get my career in barber… barbery? Barbership? started.”

“Barbering,” Elric suggested, and Athan laughed as Elric went on, “I’ll be holding you to high standards.”

“Yes, yes.” Athan took Elric’s hand again, leading them back through the streets to their inn.

Leading them away from any thoughts of dragons and kittens.