Page 14 of Snake Eyes & Bad Luck

“It’s true,” he laughed. “Look, ya walk into a place like you belong, don’t make a ruckus, pay the staff well, and no one bats an eye. No one cares if ya come in for a pint and a biscuit. But you walk in, give a big stink? Then people notice ya. Just don’t give them nothin’ to remember.”

“Okay, sure, that works in a place like this, but what about in Parandor?” she growled through gritted teeth.

“You think I ain’t been inside those walls?” His face pinched, pitying her. Avelina’s heart, stomach, and most of her intestines dropped into her feet. No, no he—no! Parandor is the Stronghold! It’s impenetrable! Yet, she kept thinking back to that cursed moment with her patron. The rot was inside Parandor and all it took was her becoming a warlock.

No, it can’t be that simple. She refused to believe the SunBringer’s palace, the temple for which all of the Paladins were raised, trained, and prepared to keep the continent safe was so easily broken. Especially when I matter so little. How was she the instrument of their destruction? One girl who wasn’t even good enough to sweep the temple floors?

A single finger poked against the center of her forehead, and she blinked back to life. She sputtered, sitting back in her chair. Callum arched a brow at her, “Ye alright in there, little viper?”

“Yeah,” she bit out fast, settling her hands in her lap. “Just thinking how this plan of yours isn’t going to work.”

He smirked, big enough to make his fangs glint in the hazy, amber glow of the tavern lanterns. “Wanna bet?”

“No,” she rolled her eyes, returning her focus to scanning the crowd. “You might think I’m some naïve little girl, stumbling through life, but I’m not a fool. Alright. Sheltered, yes, maybe, but I’m not falling for the same trick twice. Get your kicks or jollies or whatever else off elsewhere. I’m never kissing you again.”

“You kissed?” Rat squawked, eyes darting between them. Avelina glanced at him, realizing with abject horror that she’d forgotten about him. Thankfully for her, Grahm returned with a basket of rolls, arm full of ale mugs, and a story he desperately needed to tell them about the fine lady behind the counter. All conversation about her, the kiss, and whatever was bothering her was smothered as their party grew slightly bigger with three newcomers from the shadows. She couldn’t help glancing at Callum in random intervals between pockets of conversation to find him studying her. Always with a discerning stare, sharp and keen, like he could see the darkness welling up in her chest. A putrid, festering evil in the cavity where her heart used to reside, horrors she’d been squashing down in her need to survive finally seeping into her blood.

Sat at the table, surrounded by people, in a humming, muggy tavern full of noise…she’d never felt more alone. Hollow. Cold. Desolate.

Avelina Dalethorn shivered down to her bones.

Chapter Nine:

Cottonmouth

Initial walk-by confirmed what he knew: that the vault was fortified and well protected. Parandor was set up like a maze for a reason. The temple of SunBringer to the north west, the vault to the southeast, and the Order’s main hall to the center of the whole Stronghold. It meant that, no matter who tried to siege Parandor, and for whatever reason, that other sections could be cut off. Paladins and clerics would descend upon the wicked fools who thought themselves strong enough to take on a holy army.

Too bad for his crew and Avelina that he never intended to rob the vault. In fact, he imagined they’d all die in that exchange. Well, it has to be believable. If he were going to get away with faking his death, it needed it to be so thorough that no one would question it.

They finished up their food and headed for Parandor as the sun turned burnt orange in the sky. They’d have to stay the night at the tavern, which is why Grahm and Hog stayed behind to get rooms for all of them. Best if they slithered in late in the night and went straight to bed. Rat, Jed, Avelina, and Callum followed the crowd of people shuffling back into Parandor for the evening.

Unlike the northern entrance that was partially a train station, the southern entrance was a giant road surrounded by parked stalls for those meandering their way across the bridge into the Stronghold. Guards stood at the archway, the iron gate ready to slam down over anyone at any time, but he’d never seen it actually closed.

Rat was ahead of them, talking with Jed animatedly while the pair ate out of a giant, oily paper bag. Callum caught the shift in Avelina, her body tensing as they approached the walls. He slung an arm over her shoulders, “Relax, ain’t no body gonna even look our way.”

In fact, no one had since they left the tavern. Even with his tail, or Rat’s horns or Jed’s feathers, no one spared them a second look. Always too busy with the heavy crowd of people shouting at each other, other men getting into scuffles that needed to be broken up. No mind was paid to the four people minding their own business in dusty travel cloaks. They passed through the gateway without a Paladin so much as asking to see their papers.

“How…is this possible?” she gasped softly as the four lingered near a building inside the walls.

“Told you, it’s all about confidence.” He grinned.

“Your poster was all over the train. I knew who you were the second I saw you!” she grumbled.

“True, but if we’d met like this? Me in a crowd of people, would you have even looked me in the face?” He cocked his head to see her face shift. A furious understanding bleeding into all her features as she sighed. He chuckled, patting her opposite shoulder. “It’s alright, Darlin’.”

She huffed, stomping out of his touch and down the street. The group followed her, Rat and Jed because they were curious where she was going, Callum because he knew she was headed toward the vault. A different route than he would have taken, but he usually took the scenic route through the city anytime he had to slither up into it. The last time he came to Parandor, it was to see a man about a debt.

Avelina took the route he imagined a Paladin on a schedule would take, because it was quick and precise. In a manner of minutes, she stepped out of the shadowed alleys into the open courtyard before the vault. It was a giant, three-story building. Much like the rest of Parandor, built with beige stone, cracks of gold and black like marble. Its pillars were shaped like dancing flames, and the sun embedded on the front of the doors. A crest for the SunBringer glowing in the setting sun. There was little light left from the sky, lanterns steadily being lit around the courtyard. Bushes full of golden roses as well as short, charming trees framed the cobblestone.

She stumbled back into the shadows, into Callum’s chest as a man in full plate armor stepped out of the gardens into the courtyard, deep in conversation with someone else. In fact, a whole pack of paladins in their golden armor, crisp capes, and boisterous voices stepped out.

One thing he didn’t account for, that suddenly filled his skull, was what did he do if any of those fuckers recognized Avelina. Him? He was just another guy in a city full of all sorts of people. Travelers, citizens, Parandor was a hub of people seeking refuge, rest, or riches. Rat and Jed? Regular people.

She was the daughter of the Knight Commander, recently slaughtered.

“I’m surprised you let me do that,” she breathed, as if thinking the exact same thing. “What if I just ran away?”

“And go where?” He bent over to whisper in her ear.