Sarabande: River of Falcons Book 4

36. Dancing with Mordax

That evening had started out much as the previous one had. Drift and Sal helped each other into their tight dresses and went downstairs with the rest of the girls. Pan teased Drift all the way down, saying she was a "fresh fish" and that the sailors would "want to get their hooks into her."

"Shut up, Pan," Sal snapped. "Leave her alone."

"Got a new favorite, Sal?" Pan replied. "I hope you can keep this one safer than the last—ow! Cut it out! What's the matter with you?" Sal had slapped her on the cheek.

"Are you all right?" Drift asked. Sal was panting and flushed.

"She shouldn't have said that. She's the one who got Esmerelda into trouble. She told the Matron that she saw her using a charm to cure one of the other girls of a fever. The Matron's scared of magic so she told Esmerelda she was going to turn her in, and Esmerelda ran away that very night."

"Where did she go?" Drift asked.

"A fisherman I know met us at the docks at midnight and rowed her across the river. She said she'd walk to the north and try to find, um, well I can't tell you more about it now, someone might hear. But it was Pan who forced her to go."

"That's terrible! Can we talk later?"

"Sure," Sal said as she was whisked away by an eager customer. "After this dance."

However, as it turned out, Drift did not get a chance to talk to Sal after the first dance. She did not even get a chance to dance. Several men were arguing over her when the Matron called, "Come here, Sarabande! I have a special assignment for you." The Matron was speaking to an unusual looking customer, but she broke away and began to push through the dancers toward Drift.

Sal spun past Drift, a tall sailor in tow, and mouthed something that Drift could not make out.

"What?" Drift asked over the loud music.

Sal swung her sailor around and came by again, just ahead of the Matron. "Watch out for him!" she hissed in Drift's ear, and pressed something small and cold into Drift's hand. It was the little bottle that her aunt had given her. Drift slipped it into the bosom of her dress, then turned to face the Matron.

"Sarabande! Didn't you hear me calling you? There's a special guest who has purchased a private room with you." She jingled a handful of gold coins, then turned and pointed toward the new visitor; a tall, dark-cloaked man who was standing by the entrance with a corkscrew-patterned staff held firmly in his right hand. Although it was crowded in the tavern, other men seemed to be giving him plenty of room.

"But I thought—" Drift began.

"I'm sorry, Sarabande," the Matron interrupted, "but he is a very powerful mage. Although young, he has risen to the second-highest rank already. Also, they say he is the favorite of Lord Panathera. We can't deny him what he asks for, and he asks for you. Take him to the big private dining room with the fireplace. Do you know it?"

Drift nodded.

"I've already ordered his dinner to be served there. You are to keep him company while he eats and drinks, and give him whatever other comforts he requires. Anything he asks for. Is that clear?"

"But I—"

The Matron grabbed Drift's wrist and squeezed it painfully. "Is that clear?" she repeated in an angry whisper.

"Um, all right. I'll see to the guest."

"His name," the Matron said, "is Mage Mordax. Be polite to him no matter what he says, and don't disobey him or Spirits only know what he might do to us all. It's just for the first half of the evening. His ship sails with the turn of the tide around midnight. You're lucky he did not request a bedroom."