Page 21 of Envious Of Fire
“Need a full moon, the most vital part. Don’t let the worms or flies get to that body just yet, if you can help it. Ought to give you time to collect what I need.”
And you do, in fact, need all of those specific items for the—?
“Yep. Every last one of ‘em. Includin’ the books and un-pissed-on bark. Except for that baby heart, that was just a test.”
Tristan is suspecting that most, if not all, of his instructions tonight have been tests.Until the full moon, then.
“And don’t forget my price.”
Mance chucks his cigarette at Raya and Tristan, causing them to flinch. It lands upon the trail of wine, at once igniting it into a bold red fire that vanishes as quickly as it appears, taking with it the sight of Mance, if he was even there at all. Where once the candle was, now sits the little box with its green ribbon and bow.
It doesn’t seem so cute anymore, despite its appearance.
Without hesitation, Tristan marches right up to the box, tucks it carelessly under an arm, then heads off.
“Wait, wait, wait,” comes Raya, following hurriedly behind Tristan, heels clacking on the floor. “You aren’t … You aren’t seriously giving that box to Lord Markadian, are you?”
Of course not, sings Tristan blithely.There is no telling what this freaky little thing contains.
“Do you think it’s a bomb?” she asks. “That’s my guess. A bomb, or a bunch of locusts … no, more likely a bomb.”
Considering its source is an exiled necromancer, for all we know, this may be the very real and literal Pandora’s Box…or a devious magic prison that will unleash the Four Horsemen themselves to come galloping over Lord Marky’s face.Or it just contains stale macaroons, and he knows we are too paranoidto trust it, and this is all a joke, so the real gift is simply driving us all crazy.
“I hated that man.” Raya keeps wringing her own hands as they move. “Despicable, repulsive, wretched man. Ugh, how he looked at me. The way he made me … t-touch myself …”
I’m truly sorry for the way he treated you.I did, for what it’s worth, regret inviting you along.
“Intolerable, horrible, disgusting person. How do you even keep a relationship with someone as obscene as him?”
Purely business.
“I can’t believe you trusted him, eating beads off a bracelet, offthatbracelet.” She turns her nose up at it. “I can feel its ugly aura oozing off of it like bad breath.”
Are you sure it’s not Mance’s cheap cologne?
She turns to him. “Why does he want to harm Markadian?”
Because Mance and Markadian have a decades-old blood feud, of course, answers Tristan with a flippant sigh,though I am afraid I do not know the exact nature of it, nor do I want to, honestly.I suspect it would make for a very boring story.
Raya huffs. “Great. Now I’m guilty of consorting with an exiled asshole who’s also a sworn enemy of my boss. Tristan, I do hate you nearly as much right now as I hate that man.” Her eyes narrow upon the box under Tristan’s arm. “If you don’t deliver it, won’t he know? Wouldn’t that be bad?”
Wouldn’t it be bad if Ididdeliver it?
“It seems ill-advised to cross a horrible person like that.”
There are many ill-advised things I have done over the years.I don’t see a reason why this thing should be any worse than the others.
“And who is this person you want to protect, anyway? Who are you eating beads off a bracelet for? Oh.” Her voice softens. “Is it Kyle? I saw him. Briefly. He is … cute. If not a bit plain.”
Tristan sighs.Don’t mind who I am eating these beads for.It is quite important that no one knows who I wish to protect, even you.
“Do you still love him? Kyle?”
Tristan hugs the box tighter under his arm. It is a mistake to think about Kyle at a time like this, yet it is impossible not to. Tristan has spent so much time and effort detaching his heart from that boy after their twenty-six years together. Much of his safety in the House of Vegasyn rides on convincing Lord Markadian of that very fact, that the boy from Texas is no longer the one who owns his heart. Ever since Kyle’s stint in Nowhere that made hiding him impossible without some kind of intervention, old feelings have been rushing forth ruthlessly, robbing Tristan of the peace he was so close to finding again.
“I often wondered if Kyle isn’t the reason you grew so fond of Kaleb, the sweet violinist in the lower cells. They look alike, especially in the eyes. Doesn’t one remind you of the other?”
Tristan comes to an abrupt stop.
