Page 10 of Oaths & Vengeance
After dinner, Briauna provided me with a map of the city, helping me plot my route to the tavern. It wasn’t too far. I only had to travel about six blocks in a zigzag pattern. Checking my surroundings one last time and finding no one, I began my trek onto the dark streets.
Part of me wished I’d brought a cloak, but it would have hindered my movements if I needed to fight. Thankfully, my tunic had a hood, which I pulled over my head to hide my golden blonde hair. It would have drawn attention with the moonlight shining on my locks otherwise.
All the buildings were one to two stories high in this area and consisted primarily of closed shops and private homes. Considering Siggaya had been established nearly eight hundred years ago, it was no surprise the buildings had a worn and dated appearance with their gray or beige stone walls covered in vines and moss. The windows were wide, but the doorways were narrow. All the gabled roofs boasted chimneys to heat the inside when winter brought its chill. The place felt familiar, with a design reminiscent of the larger towns in Therress, and yet, I knew I was an outsider here.
Walking through the empty cobbled streets, my soft footsteps sounded loud to my ears. After the second block, I spotted other fae ahead as I moved into a busier area with taverns, inns, and gambling dens. Sounds of laughter and shouting filled the air. My nose wrinkled at the stench of sour ale and urine.
A few large male faeries walked in a group together ahead of me, with their luminescent wings drawing my attention. They had enchanting personalities but rarely interacted with anyone other than their own kind. Those three likely visited Siggaya for trading purposes from the Isle of Penoria, where most of their kind lived. It was one of many lands belonging to the Kingdom of Zadrya.
I passed others going in the opposite direction. There were sylphs, sprites, nymphs, and many elves since we were the most numerous in this area of the realm. None of them seemed interested in me, for which I was grateful.
It wasn’t until I was two blocks from the tavern that two large ogres stepped out of an alley and blocked my path. Each had clubs in their hands. I stopped about six feet from them and put my hands on my hips. One thing I’d learned in my travels was to project confidence and never hesitate when force was needed.
“Move,” I said, lifting my chin.
The two of them grinned. “Give us all your coins, and we might not harm you…much.”
Their kind were total brutes and couldn’t be trusted. I had a few coins in my pocket, but even if I handed them over, it wouldn’t satisfy the ogres. Most of them reveled in violence and any opportunity to start it.
I laughed and began gathering my power. “No.”
The moment they moved, I thrust my hands out and shoved a torrential force of wind straight at them, angling it so they swung down the alley into a pair of large rubbish bins. They hit them so hard that their bodies smashed the wooden containers and splintered them into pieces. I didn’t bother waiting to see how they fared and hurried toward my destination.
The stupid ogres had likely assumed they were dealing with a lesser fae since elves came at all power levels, and most were nowhere near my strength. Highborn ladies didn’t usually travel alone at night, especially in a city like this.
I’d like to say that relief filled me when I finally reached the tavern after more than twenty minutes of crossing the city, but my journey to this point was the easy part. The next step could end with me dead. I took a deep breath and opened the door. Inside, I found the dimly lit place teaming with fae. Some sat at scarred wooden tables chatting, others stood at a wide bar to the left, and still more were doing interesting things in the back booths that would have made me blush when I was younger. The mood was a mix of joviality and lust inside.
When I entered, no one paid attention to me, so I headed straight to the back. There were several doors. One was marked as a privy, while another was half open, revealing a bustling kitchen. That meant the door on the far right was my best bet for where to find Darrow.
A dryad bumped into me near my destination. She was covered in foliage, and soft twigs made up her hair. Her arms and legs appeared stumpy compared to humans, but her eyes were dark green and almost normal. She inclined her head, countless little leaves rustling with the movement, and wandered away. They tended not to speak unless it was something important.
I finally made it to the door, turning the handle easily. Fear clutched at my throat, but I shoved it down in that place that helped me deal with my uncle during one of his tirades. I had to do this for Rynn. If this were the only chance she had to live, I must take it.
The room was bigger than I expected. To my right, about ten elves sat at a large oak table littered with bronze mugs. The booth had custom seats on three sides attached to the hunter-green walls, plus a few chairs at the fourth end. They drank and chatted, not even noticing me for the first minute I stood watching them after shutting the door. I took a few steps closer, debating what to do. This was going to be awkward with such a large audience.
“Darrow!” I said just loud enough to reach over all the other voices.
It quieted to a murmur, and nearly everyone turned to look at me.
A man with familiar brown and black hair tied at the nape of his neck had his face buried in a female elf’s ample chest. He lifted his head without turning, keeping his eyes on the woman.
“Who is asking?”
Here goes nothing,I thought, and lowered my hood to reveal my blonde hair. “Aella from Therress.”
The room went from quiet to deathly still.
He stiffened and turned to face me. It was all I could do to keep from gasping. He was unlike any other man I’d seen before, with startlingly good looks that should have been criminal. His slate-gray eyes stared at me as ifhe could penetrate my soul. He had firm, high cheekbones and a strong jaw that might as well have been carved from stone.
His skin was a light, sandy color, indicating that he had seen a decent amount of sun, but I couldn’t recognize the shade as being common anywhere. At best guess, that was because he was half-light elf and half dark elf. He had a muscular build with broad shoulders. I was certain that even without his powers, he could knock down almost any opponent with a hard punch. The man was even larger than I’d estimated on the battlefield. I’d never seen a more stunningly lethal elf, which made me wish to the nameless ones he wasn’t my enemy. Recalling the memory of my father’s fire-scorched body, burned by Darrow’s sire, helped me put the dangerous killer into perspective.
“Aella?” he asked, lifting an arched brow. “The same half-elf who sent me flying off my horse last week?”
Oh, good. I left an impression on him. “Yes.”
Darrow lifted a hand, and the next thing I knew, my back slammed against the wall behind me. The airwhooshedfrom my lungs. I had expected a less-than-welcome response, but not exactly this. It was all I could do to keep from trembling.
“Hmm, you’re prettier than I expected. It was difficult to tell from a distance.”
