Page 60 of The Tenth Muse

“Christine McManus at your service.” He gives a half bow. “Just visiting?” he asks with an eyebrow raised. White skin and golden blonde hair give him a human look that would dupe me if not for his fangs that shine when he smiles at me.

“Yes, I got kidnapped by witches trying to kill me. I want to stand witness for their trial.”

“Mmhmm,” Christine turns to Donella, “So how didyouget involved?”

“The very agile and quick-thinking human before you finished the spell meant to kill her,” Donella winks at me, “and I answered the call, simple as that.”

Woah, was that their way of telling me I impressed them?

They’re still looking at me, violet eyes soft but unwavering and I feel that same kinetic energy again, wanting to pull me towards them. I try to say “yeah” just to ease the tension a little bit but it comes out soft and breathy. Their gray lips pull into a smile; I fear the butterflies in my stomach are starting to shake off their cobwebs.

“Yes, simple indeed.”

Christine’s voice shakes me from my suspension, I almost forgot he was there. Donella turns and engages him in conversation but I need a minute.

That wasintense.

I imagine I feel just as out of sorts as the goat being rocked back and forth by the teams of water gods on the field playing below us. One team plays defense, trying to knock the goat out of the boat with different water techniques while the other team keeps the goat’s balance, and all the while the poor thing bleats for dear life.

Yeah buddy, same.

“Lellies, what have you seen since you’ve been here? Has Nellie been a good host to you?” I turn around just in time to catch Donella shoving Christine with a laugh.

The crowd around us starts to cheer so I shout to be heard over the noise. “Nellie’s been the best host.” I pause to see how Donella will react to me teasing her with Christine's nickname, she rolls her eyes but doesn’t look mad or uncomfortable. “We picked up a spool of charmed yarn on the way here. We would have been here earlier but a few of their neighbors stopped us to talk because they’d never met a human before. I’d never met a dragon, seraph, or a griffin so I figured we were even. Oh! And also, they’re a great chef. We hadtekemulast night and it was delicious.”

Christine makes a big scene of play-pouting and crossing his arms. “Wow, you never make that for us anymore, guess you don’t love us.”

“I just made it for you last moon.”

“If it wasn’t within the last day, it doesn’t count.” Christine turns his sulky act towards me, “Isn’t that right, Lellies?”

“Yep, sure is.” We both laugh at the exasperated look on Donella’s face, their tail flickering behind them.

We chat easily after that, Donella and Christine taking turns explaining different games to me and the three of us making commentary in between. We found an abandoned pamphlet on the row below us and I use it to keep track of all the gods I’m seeing. Vishnu from Hinduism, Melqart from the Phoenicians, Shangdi from the Shang dynasty, and so many more. And every so often I see the goddess that must be Asherah, leaning forward from her judges’ balcony to get a closer look at things. She’s beautiful with brown skin, dark, wavy hair, and a soft pink fabric wrapped around her like a saree.

It looks like she’s taking notes on the gods racing the flowers they’ve just grown from scratch when a—centaur? Okay, yeah, sure, a centaur walks up to her. He’s tan and has deep brown hair combed into a long, thick braid.

Christine nudges my shoulder with his, “That’s your judge right there.”

“That’s Jarren?”

“Yeah, and he’s just as pompous and conceited as you’d expect. It’s the main reason why you and Nellie have to wait for court, he loves to show off and flaunt his power over everyone.” As if on cue, a frog comes up next to him with a palm leaf and begins fanning him softly. He flicks his hand and the frog moves away, but then he grabs their head and pulls them closer like some Goldilocks bear on a power trip.

Yeah, conceited isn’t a strong enough word for all that.

“Will we have to talk to the entire court, or just him?”

“The court will be an audience, you only have to address him.” Donella gives my shoulder a soft squeeze, “And he might be full of himself but hewilllisten to you.”

“Very true. Just make sure you don’t speak until you’re asked to. One of his little rules.”

I nod, taking that information in. A horn sounds in the distance, and folks in the seats start stretching and getting up.

“They’re taking an intermission,” Christine says, “do you want to see what games we can get up to ourselves?”

I would love a distraction right now after seeing what we’ll have to deal with in court. I look at Donella who’s nodding their head at me, it’s my choice.

“Sure.”

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