Over the Sea [Dual Trilogy Book 1]

Kano

When we returned to the tavern, only one torch remained lit, and one of the fires had seemingly been left to die on its own; no more than a pile of orange embers. One person remained behind the bar, drying glasses with a rag; everyone else had gone to sleep. The knights I had left behind met us when we entered, and told me, as we walked to our rooms, they heard nothing. They had attempted to talk to several people, to bring about the right conversations, but no information had been offered. They both claimed that no one recognized those names.

For me, the night had been a bust, and before going to sleep, I secretly took one more drink.

***

Evan and the knights still slept as I woke up the next morning. Looking outside, the grey sky made it hard to tell how early or late in the morning it was. I took another drink before I made my way up to the tavern. Most sat around the fires with a plate of food in their laps, though the amount of people in the tavern seemed less than yesterday. Only a couple sat at the bar, though they did not have a cup in front of them.

I made my way further into the room when I saw Melai sitting in a booth in a dark corner of the room. I made my way over, and as I got closer, I saw the lines that had scrunched her face last night had disappeared, and her eyes themselves no longer looked heavy.

"You look better," I blurted as I took a seat.

"Better?" she questioned, unsure whether to take offense or not.

"I just meant--last night, you looked like you were about to fall over." I did my best to smile. "And now, you look well rested. Better."

She gave a polite smile before turning back to her food. Her phonx walked around her shoulder, sometimes flying to the other one. After a few bites, the quiet became too uncomfortable. "This interaction went a little differently in my head." Why did I feel the need to say that? "I guess it is hard to make conversation with someone you do not know very well."

She set down her spoon, and met my eyes. "So let us pretend this is the first time we have ever seen each other. If we were back in Broasau, what would you be eating?" She spooned up an unappetizing glop of creamy, brown-grey oats and nuts, and let it drop back down into the dish.

Cringing, I told her about the delicious breakfasts Maggie makes every morning. "My favorite breakfast she has ever made is scrambled gruff eggs with Veiran berry juice, and some little balls of fried pairet dough."

Her eyes widened, and she almost laughed. "That is very extravagant, Your Highness. My breakfast usually consists of a bowl of creamy hirash mixed with berries and nuts. If my mom bought some, I will add a slice of toasted pairet, or maybe some gruff eggs." She shrugged. A gust of wind blew against the outer walls of the tavern, making both of us shiver.

"Would you not rather sit by the fires?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "I already tried. But if you can grab a couple seats, I will happily join you."

I hesitated, suddenly unsure of what she meant, but I stood up and walked over to the fires. People had begun to file into the tavern as we had talked, and the benches around the fires had quickly filled up. I found room on one of the benches, enough for two people, so I sat down.

The person next to me spoke quickly--and what sounded angrily--in Verinak. I shrugged in response.

He repeated himself in Oglena. "What is western scum like you doing, sitting around our fires?"

"Same as you, just trying to keep warm."

"Well that seat is taken."

"No one was sitting here, and nothing left behind to claim it."

The buff man leaned closer, and with gritted teeth, he said "That seat is not for filthy dïrkshenax. Leave." Someone to my right shoved my shoulder, and, clearly receiving the message, I stood up and walked back to Melai who had observed from her booth.

She frowned as I sat down. "Welcome to Uskyae, Your Highness. Where people are not inviting."

"Were you treated the same way?"

She opened her mouth to answer, when a fist slammed onto our table, and silenced her. Five men stood at the end of our table, each of them buff with pale hair and skin. The one who had slammed his fist onto the table was the same one who had called me a dïrkshenax.

"I must not have made myself clear when I said to leave." His eyes darted to Melai, and he must have seen her black phonx, for he said "You and your little Meldita vich should scurry back to wherever the shen you came from."

I did not understand the word vich, but Melai clearly did. She slammed her hands on the table, stood up with a scowl, and said, "We were just leaving." She tried to get past them, but they would not let her through. I heard her sigh before I saw the blast of darkness that shoved them aside. I quickly followed her down the stairs, heading back to our rooms.

Melai led us out of the tavern moments later. Evan complained about leaving before he could eat. The snow had fallen all night, so walking beyond the edge of the town through the untraveled woods took a while. We finally set down our phonxes and took off.

***

It took us two days to reach Vore. Whenever we stopped for food and rest, I always attempted to talk to Melai. She seemed eager to talk to me, though I found myself initiating most of the conversations. She told me about how incredible she found the library, and voiced her grievances about the maze of hallways at Kalhaire.

"Do you think you would ever present your skills at a Mastery Presentation?" I asked her as we sat around a fire in a tavern, the first night of our travels to Vore. Neither of us worried about rude Uskyaeans; we had the whole floor to ourselves.

"Absolutely," she replied. "Why do you think I have hoarded so many books on Shadow Magic?" She took a sip from her cup of warm milk. "Would you?"

I shook my head. "I have never wanted to be a Master." She took another sip when I thought of a question. "Do you have Uskyae's book?"

She stopped drinking, but looked at me over the brim of her cup. "I do not have it, no. The Skills Master has not been to Uskyae yet."