Page 60 of The Oracle of Dusk

“No, naked dancing is reserved for when you want new bed linens,” Aurora quipped, following the sound of his voice to the far corner.

“Ah, of course, how foolish of me.”

“This is a dreadful place, to be sure, but at least you’re not—” She rounded the next corner only to come face first with the king. Nude. “Small…” she trailed off, eyes as wide as saucers when they lit on a rather large part of his anatomy. And what a gloriously nude body he had. She turned around, face flaming and heart skipping several beats. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t come to pester you, I swear.”

“Oh? Then what did you come for?” he asked, his voice deepening.

“I… I was hoping you might answer some questions I had.”

“Regarding?”

“Trisia.”

“Hmmm, I thought you had a strange accent. Are you a foreigner, then?”

“I…yes. My home is very far,” she answered, her heart aching.

“Then it is a pity you arrived in Viridis first. Had you landed anywhere else, you would have been treated with dignity.”

Doubtful, given how desperate and foolish she’d been when she’d woken up in the ancient past. She’d have just as likely made a mess of things wherever and whenever she’d landed.

“I want to ask where the high priestesses of Passion and Justice currently reside.”

“High Priestess Myrina of Passion resides in Altanus, the capital of Aureum. As for Justice’s Nerio, I cannot say. With no interest in marriage or romance, she is often on the move, travelling the length and breadth of Trisia. She last visited Niveum.”

So it was Aureum she needed to travel to. It was a shame. That was a two-week journey if the weather held and the roads were safe. Now that the cycle of calamity had begun, travelling would be extremely dangerous. As a lone woman with no family, friends or even acquaintances, she had no one she could rely on but herself. Suddenly, her sad travel bag full of pilfered little nothings seemed wholly inadequate. She supposed she could try sneaking intothatplace, but it wouldn’t be without risk.

“I’m sorry to say, madam fairy, but I doubt you will be able to meet them. Royal hostages rarely get audiences with such influential women.”

No, she couldn’t let herself be dissuaded. She wouldn’t know unless she tried. Phaedra would move mountains for her and Aurora could do no less.

“Were you actually attacked by monstrosities?”

“Yes,” he replied.

His tone suggested he didn’t wish to speak more on that matter, but Aurora was aching with curiosity.

“Where?”

“At a place called the Colonnades Of The Colossus. Why do you ask?”

Bitterness nearly stole her breath. Damn Orithyia. The high priestess had known for a while now that Aurora had spoken true, yet left her here in this nightmarish place. It only strengthened her resolve to leave, monstrosities or not.

“I promise to leave you alone after this but… would you be able to take a look at a drawing? If you’ve seen this creature before, please tell me where and when.” She unfurled her scroll to the right section. “I promise not to look,” she said, turning around, dutifully closing her eyes as she held up the scroll for his perusal.

He padded over, his wet feet slapping the tiles of the bathhouse. She could feel the heat of him this close, and was grateful he’d managed to wrest the soap from the attendant. Gone was the stench of refuse, replaced by sandalwood and musk.

“I’m afraid I must disappoint you. But what reason do you have to be looking for such a beast?”

Aurora swallowed down her disappointment and turned away, rolling up her scroll and placing it in her satchel.

“It is Drakon, and it killed the person I love the most.”

“And you intend to slay it?”

“I must, or it will never stop. Thank you for your help, Your Majesty. I will leave you to your bath.”

Theron sat in the hot, clean waters of his bath, rubbing his newly shaven jaw with oil as he chewed on what had just transpired. Whoever the little fairy was, she knew of Batea’s secret beasts. Was she a spy? If so, she was an odd choice. She would stand out no matter where she went. Green eyes were a rarity, her long, pointed ears even more so, and her stature was downright unnatural for a Trisian adult. And whatever magic she possessed allowed her to escape his grasp so quickly he’d not even seen her do it. He was lucky she was not as capricious as her mythical ancestors were rumoured to be, else she could have slit his throat.

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