A Dark and Starless Night

Chapter Thirty-Three

Sett

Sett poked at the bowl of food in front of him, shoving chunks of meat to the side. He managed to fish out what he assumed was a vegetable and ate it slowly. Layla looked like she was enjoying her meal as much as Sett was.

The food in the inn they had secured lodging at was nothing like what Sett had experienced while he'd walked the streets. There he had eaten spiced vegetables and sweetened fruits, as well as pastries and sweets he never could have imagined. Here, the food was bland and always full of some strange meat. He didn't eat meat, but he knew what fish and rabbit looked like. What was in the bowl was neither, and he would wager it wasn't fowl either.

"This is disgusting," Kaseff said, cursing in Islan as he placed his spoon down on the table with a clatter.

Sett's older cousin – who had done his best to train and guide Sett – was not easy to please on a good day. But today was not a good day. Kaseff folded his arms across his broad chest, leaning back in his chair and glaring around the room. His black hair was braided and pinned to his head. His thick brows lowered over his eyes and Sett felt the atmosphere in the room change as Zyrnans began to grumble with each other.

"I talked to someone today," Sett said, in Islan, leaning forward to catch Kaseff's attention. "Who says he's seen a man and woman he doesn't recognise moving through the borough Priestess Alexis mentioned."

"And?"

"I'm wagering they must be who we're looking for."

"We're chasing a man, or at least a piece of scum that used to be one," Kaseff snapped, stabbing a vegetable. "Our information was clear about that. No one mentioned a woman."

"I still think-"

"If you want to speak your own language," a man at the bar interrupted, his words almost slurring into one, "go back to your own country."

Several others chimed a chorus of agreement, and Sett felt his stomach drop and his heart lurch into a sprint. He kept his hands steady, laying them flat on the table. He inhaled long and slow through his nose and exhaled quietly through his mouth. But all he did to stay calm, Kaseff had no plans of doing the same.

"Fucking Zyrnans," he spat, still speaking Braillan. "Think they own every thing and every one."

"What the fuck did he just say?" someone demanded, and Layla visibly flinched as the man slammed his hand on the bar.

"This is just a misunderstanding," Sett said, his heart hammering in his ears as he stood, hands held out in front of him in supplication. "We mean no offence."

"Offence?" Kassef hissed, but Sett pinned him with a pointed look. Sett ignored his cousin, offering an easy smile to the room. The woman behind the bar looked nervous, unsure of what she should do, whose side she should take. If she decided to take the Zyrnan's side – which he couldn't blame her for as she probably knew them all by name – it was likely she would go find a city guard and have them removed. He didn't mind sleeping rough every now and then, and certainly wouldn't mind it when it was so warm, but he wouldn't put Layla through that.

"Please just shut up for once," Sett whispered and his eyes were hard when they met his cousin's obsidian ones. Something like surprise shun in his eyes before being replaced by anger. But he conceded.

"Friends," Sett said, in Zyrnan and loud enough for the whole room, "let me buy you all a round. We're here to enjoy ourselves, not cause trouble for you and yours."

The men grumbled quietly before accepting. They might be racist, but they weren't going to turn down a free drink. Sett almost sighed with relief; he had read the room right. He trembled with relief, but kept his hands moving so no one would notice. He talked to each of them as he gave them their drinks, and, although they were still stiff and clearly uncomfortable with him, they muttered their thanks and answered his questions about good places to visit, where to get the best clothes, where to find the most authentic Zyrnan food. It was probably an hour before he and his companions headed up stairs to the small room they shared.