A Dark and Starless Night

Chapter Forty-Three

The tavern that Tarlough and Eve entered was not on one of the nicer streets of Teryon. It wasn't part of the Greydocks; in fact, it was in one of the rare areas that was even poorer and rougher than the Greydocks. The building blending in perfectly to its surroundings, made of the same dark wood as its neighbours. It was in desperate need of repairs, but she didn't think there would be anything that could be done for the smell.

The patrons weren't in much better condition, some barely upright in their stools. Eve spotted the group of Tarlough's associates almost immediately. They stuck out like a crooked nail. They were clean, for one thing. And Islans in a room full of paler Zyrnans for another. They looked up as Eve and Tarlough approached, and the two men in the group of three jumped up. As they greeted Tarlough like an old friend, Eve looked over them.

The young woman or teenaged girl – Eve couldn't quite decide – remained seated. Her face was round, her cheeks full. Her skin was the colour of desert sand, nearly exactlyu the same shade as Eve's. Her long dark hair was tied loosely on top of her head.

Oh, she thought as she realised, she recognised the girl. She had seen her in the streets after Oen's party. She looked between the two men.

The shorter of the two was muscled and had a face that Eve took an almost instant disliking to. His mouth was set arrogantly and his eyes flashed with a superiority that riled her up. Those eyes were obsidian in the candle light, so Eve knew he wasn't the man she had bumped into when she'd first seen the girl.

The taller man was. His amber eyes warmed with a smile as he looked at Tarlough. His broad smile was genuine, trustworthy, but he was handsome enough that Eve knew better.

She folded her arms across her chest as Tarlough introduced her.

"This is Evelyn," he said, in Zyrnan, "a student of mine."

"We should care why?" the shorter man asked, speaking in Islan and looking her over with contempt.

She smiled her court smile, despite the anger that charged through her. The other man looked utterly embarrassed, but Tarlough spoke quickly.

"My friends don't speak Zyrnan well, so I need to speak with them in Islan. I'm sorry to leave you out," he said. She kept her surprise under wraps. He knew that she could speak Islan. And she had heard the taller man and the woman speak quite well. Tarlough turned back to his companions and gestured for them to sit. The taller of the two men gestured for Eve to take his seat, but she declined, grabbing a chair from another table and pulling it beside Tarlough's.

"Why is she even with you? She looks too Zyrnan to possess any power," the shorter man said.

"Kaseff," the shorter man hissed, his cheeks flushing slightly. "Just because she doesn't understand the words doesn't mean she can;t understand the sentiment."

"If you have a problem, Sett, you know the way home."

"You boys never change," Tarlough said, a tut slipping out of him. "She was attacked by the star eater. Twice."

"What?" Kaseff hissed, leaning in. "How did she survive? How did you survive?"

"You misunderstand. I didn't save her," he replied. "The first time, her power's presented and she managed to escape. The second time, it happened in the Inbetween. And she used her powers to free herself."

"She used her powers in the Inbetween?" Sett asked, leaning in and glancing at Eve, as if trying to gauge how she could do such a thing. She kept her eyes downward, fiddling with some carvings on the table, doing her best to look like she didn't know they were talking about her.