Page 21 of Foul Days

“Roksana.”

“Would you look at that?” said Nur, already slipping away into the crowd. “More guests arriving. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“I’ll come and help you, darling!” Sevar stumbled and nearly fell in his rush to run after her.

Roksana and Kosara glared at each other for a long moment. Kosara struggled to place the monster hunter’s familiar face in this strange new environment. In the background, the band started a cheerful tune, the flute player’s cheeks growing redder by the second.

“What are you doing here?” Roksana asked, stealing Kosara’s line.

“No, what are you doing here?”

Roksana pulled on her pipe and spat a cloud of smoke in Kosara’s face. Kosara’s eyelids grew heavy. She shook her head to dispel the effect of the seer’s sage—she wasn’t going to be distracted that easily.

“Sevar’s been my best friend since we were little,” Roksana said. “You can’t expect me to miss his engagement party.”

Kosara was surprised by how much that hurt. They weren’t close—she’d never let anyone close after what happened with her sister—but nevertheless, she liked Roksana. The monster hunter had been there for her after Nevena’s death, always ready to fix her a stiff drink and play a round of cards with her, no questions asked.

“He stole my money, Roksana,” Kosara said. “Your friend is a thief.”

“Oh, please don’t make me take sides.” Roksana tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but Kosara took a step back. “I told you, I’ve known Sevar since we were in diapers. He’s like my brother. He’s a good guy, deep down.”

“I thought you already took my side, after you let me dribble and cry all over your shoulder that night Sevar left me in Chernograd.”

“That was five years ago, Kosara. You know he needed the money to escape, what with his debts and everything.… But I promise you, he’s changed. Perhaps realising what he did to you was the catalyst.”

Kosara rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to be anyone’s catalyst. Besides, Sevar wouldn’t have been in debt if he hadn’t wasted his money on drink, gambling, and useless trinkets.

“How did you even get here?” Kosara asked. “Did the stranger offer you a deal too?”

“Oh no, Sevar gave me a lift in his hot-air balloon.”

Kosara swore internally. The lying bastard! “I don’t associate with smugglers anymore,” Sevar had told her. In a way, she supposed it was true: he didn’t associate with them, he was one.

Which, of course, meant that he’d been able to come back for her this entire time. “I’m so happy you finally crossed the Wall.” Yeah, right. He’d hoped to never see her again. Kosara had assumed that old wound had long scabbed over, but she felt it again now, stinging.

And then, there was this big stupid idiot right in front of her.

“Are you insane?” she asked, her voice higher pitched than she’d intended.

Roksana grinned, her gold tooth glinting. “Not our best idea, I admit. You know how they always say crossing the Wall by air is terribly dangerous? They aren’t joking. I can’t tell you how many times we nearly got killed. I lost count at ten.”

“You would’ve deserved it. Honestly, Roksana! You risked your life crossing the Wall in a hot-air balloon to go to that waste of breath’s engagement party?”

“I told you, the guy’s like my brother. Besides, since when are you so upset about people crossing the Wall? The Belogradeans would just love it if we stayed behind our Wall, nice and quiet, wouldn’t they? If it depended on me, I’d raze the whole bloody thing to the ground.”

“I’m not upset you crossed it! I’m upset you risked your life doing it.” Kosara measured Roksana with her eyes. There had been something about that last comment which rang truer than the rest. “Why did you cross the Wall, really?”

Roksana hesitated. “Promise not to tell?”

Kosara stepped closer to her. “I promise.”

“I wanted to see it from up close. After you got taken away, and I realised I’d never gone anywhere near it—”

“See it up close? Why?”

Roksana shrugged. “We’ve all been living in such fear of it, you know? It’s like a giant monster that’s captured Chernograd and wouldn’t let go. Well, I’m a monster hunter. I know that even the scariest monster can be defeated.”

Kosara scoffed. Utter nonsense. The Wall wasn’t a monster; for starters, as far as she was concerned, it wouldn’t simply crumble into dust because you shot it with a silver bullet.

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