The Mountain Dancer

Chapter 29: Shaynike & Rekness

Monarec intercepted them as they passed through the Lower Feasting Hall.

“Ay lovebirds!” she shouted at them as she fell into step beside Shay.

“Hey Mona,” said Rek. Shay didn’t respond. Mona had been bugging her lately.

“Where you going? To make out? You’re going to make out aren’t you.”

“Shut up, Mona,” Shay said. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Well you were supposed to come show me some of the arrangements you were considering for the Dance, so that I might counsel you on how they compare to previous ones, offer critiques, and steer you true,” Mona said. “But I suspect you’re going to be busy tonight, hm?”

Shay had forgotten all about that. “Ella has changed the strategy, so I’ll have to get back to you,” she said, hoping that that would be enough.

“Mmhm. Well let me know when you do pick some. I’ll be... around.” Mona stopped following them, standing motionless on a step.

“Thanks,” Shay said.

“Bust a lip!” her friend called after them.

Shay grimaced, and looked at Rek. He was smiling like a goof. As if the whole thing with Ellawek hadn’t just happened. She thwapped him on the arm. “Rek! What’s this plan of yours? We are in some deep crap here.”

“Deep crap? Why? What’s the worse they can do? Beat me up again? Not likely.”

Shay bit her lip. “Ella said ‘an exercise in agony.’ I’m not sure I want to find out what that means.”

“I don’t even know what that means at all. I told you, don’t worry about it.”

They continued downward, silent. Shay fiddled with her hairpin and tried to find the truth in Rek’s reasoning. If you can even call it reasoning, evil-brain observed. She frowned again, somewhat inclined to agree. Yet Rek was getting a lot better at some of his Artwork. In the past few weeks since the magical moment on the roof walk, he’d demonstrated some really interesting Distanceska that blended with his Icevein, such that he could cause fairly accurate numbness on someone at a distance. Shay was nowhere near competent enough to have a handle on either, let alone start the advanced technique of blending them.

She was trying to imagine the most likely revenge tactics that a scorned Fae and/or Ellawek could muster when they reached the Grand Library. The heavy, rich taste of the air and the soft multicoloured glow set her mind at ease. This had kind of become their place, as massive and open to the public as it was. Shay sometimes felt like it held secrets that were just for the two of them.

They held hands then, almost unconsciously. Thirteen platforms down, they found a sheltered nook with a clear yellow hue about it. Rek plopped down in a big, squishy couch and she sat down next to him. He drew out the Daxish poem book from inside his tunic.

“Have you had a chance to think about any of these yet?” Rek asked her.

“I did some research on its origins and meanings,” she said.

He wrinkled his nose. “Will that help us find the next book?”

“I don’t know. How can you be sure there even is a book-quest in it?” This wasn’t the first time she had asked. She liked a good quest as much as the next bibliophile, but she had seen none of the usual (or more unusual) hints or clues buried among the somber poetry.

“I told you, it’s marked with Wayfaring Artwork. Just a bit. Just because you can’t sniff it out doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

She sighed. “Okay, okay. Did you want to hear what I found?”