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“Why would you be sorry? You finally met someone you really like.”
“Do not.” A hot exclamation met by Palla snorting.
“Please, don’t lie. It was so obvious.”
I turned from her, chewing my lower lip. “I don’t want to like him.”
“Too late for that.”
“The good news is he’s not likely ever coming back.”
Palla shook her head. “I will wager you a hot bath drawn by the loser”—which meant about forty buckets that had to be heated two at a time before being dumped into the basin— “he’s back within three days.”
“Not one?” my harsh retort.
“He’s a king. It might not be easy to get away.”
“He’s a king, so why would he get away to visit a whore?” I used the nastier word to describe it.
“He knows that part isn’t true.”
“It doesn’t matter.” And that was all I’d say about it. Because I couldn’t bring myself to even hope for a second he might want to see me again. My confidence wavered, and I hated it. Hated that it took one man to shake it.
Distracted, I chose to not work the next night. I went to bed early, hearing the distant sound of music as the gradeena entertained. I’d wanted to head over to Qynn’s but feared getting her involved should the King not be done with me.
People could do weird things. And those betrayed were the most heinous of all.
So, I stayed in my room, ears covered with muffs, and I slept until the smell of smoke woke me. I’d left the drapes open and the shutters wide, the window propped enough to bring in outside air. Air tainted with the char of something burning.
Was the gradeena on fire? I would have expected to hear a bell ringing or cries of alarm. I rose and ran for the window. A glance showed the night still dark, and yet people thronged the streets.
What had happened? I woke Palla, and we wrapped ourselves head to toe in thick cloaks before heading outside to join the murmuring crowd.
Apparently, the smoke I smelled came from fires burning at the lowest level of the mountain. However, the city wasn’t just ablaze. According to people fleeing the lower levels, we were under attack by monsters! It seemed so impossible, especially insulated on our elevated level. Yet, even at our height, we could hear the occasional piercing shriek of someone dying, and the roaring of the creature causing it. It pimpled the skin in fright. The smell of burning lasted all night.
I spent most of it lying in bed, faking sleep. Palla alongside me. She’d chosen to stay with me even as I told her she could go fight the monsters. She declined, despite the fact I could see she wanted to. She stayed behind because of me. To defend me. Never mind the fact she’d seen me handle myself for years, she still worried about my welfare. I wasn’t sure what it would take for her to feel comfortable enough to go off on her own.
I wished I had the inclination to join the fight. However, while I tended to be decent with a knife, potions were my true strong point. Their drawback being I had to be close to my target to use them. What if they didn’t work with monsters? By the time I found out, I’d be dead.
Luckily, as it turned out, the city beat back the sand lizards with few casualties. The King and a large cohort of soldiers, armed with spears that many claimed crackled with lightning, went after the monsters, slaying them all. There would be much barbecuing of meat tonight.
Much cheering, too, as it turned out. I could hear it through my open window. Another night with me not going on stage. I had no interest.
Knowing I wouldn’t get any sleep, I stayed awake long enough to hear when the alarm went off.
Another monster attack. But this time against a city prepared.
The lowest levels had been evacuated, and the soldiers in place easily beat back the mixture of sand lizards and zkarabs, nasty oversized beetles.
It didn’t stop us from being swarmed again the next night.
Everyone was talking about monsters and why they kept attacking. Those living in the city had been rather insulated from them until now. The people panicked. The tent city that had sprouted outside the walls disappeared almost immediately. Caravans left, heading for other cities, preferring to brave the desert rather than stay in such a dangerous place.
It never even crossed my mind to leave. Better the home of stone I knew. Besides, the King and his soldiers appeared to be doing a solid job holding the line. No monsters had penetrated the first level yet.
For five days the city held strong. The monsters couldn’t breach our walls, nor could they tunnel underneath. The city sat on stone, although I couldn’t help but think of Qynn and her talk of tunnels. More aqueducts? I kind of hoped not because, for the moment, we had water for drinking and irrigating the gardens. So long as it flowed, we would survive.
I might, however, go a little crazy. The daily attacks led to an increase in patrons at the gradeena as anxious people sought distraction. I recognized many of the King’s closest advisors, most of them regulars of mine. A few soldiers began attending nightly too. Not one was the King.
