A Crown of Gold

City of Snakes

I pulled the thick wool collar of my coat closer to my neck. The breeze from the sea nipped at us in the dead of night, yet there was more at hand in giving me a chill. Since becoming a Rider, I hadn't been without a companion, and now, I was walking into an unknown danger while my Flight lengthened the distance between us at each passing minute. Nik led the way while Lord Gunweld took up the rear, leaving me sandwiched in-between. 

As we rounded the Bay of Gems, I found myself pulling slow, deep breaths in through my nose before trying to subtly blow them from my mouth. My entire body buzzed with anxiety and anticipation. The idea of Wetchport both thrilled and terrified me at the same time. I was fulfilling a long-had dream of mine by seeing far away cities and places, yet I now knew the real danger behind these endeavors. 

As the path from the woods met the wide road which led into the city, I found my hand clutching the hilt of the dagger at my hip nervously. Nik stopped us before we continued to the main road. A few carts were rumbling down the cobblestone road into the city, along with some travelers on foot. "Keep a low profile," Nik said quietly. He eyed Gunweld, drawing my eye to the lord. His flashy armor was about as far away from a low profile as you could get, but it was too late to ditch him, or his armor, now. "All we have to do is pose a travelers who lost their way in the forest. Maybe we took a stop off the King's Vein and lost our boat. If we keep to ourselves, we should be able to make it to an inn and aboard a ferry tomorrow morning without an issue." 

I nodded along while Lord Gunweld looked like he might vomit. My patience for him was thinning just as fast as my regret for convincing Nik to bring him along was growing. Nik and I shared a look, and I found my fingers playing with the ribbon in my pocket. 

"Not much more we can do than just move along, then," he quipped, clapping his hands together before turning to lead us from the little dirt path and onto the main road. 

I followed, hearing Lord Gunweld hesitate before coming along after us. The noise alone coming off of Wetchport was like nothing I had experienced before. Here we were, the night at it's peak, and the city was awake as ever. I quickened my pace so I could walk beside Nik all the while creating some distance from Gunweld who was already drawing looks. "What is the place like during the day?" I asked incredulously. 

"Surprisingly sleepy, actually," Nik chuckled. "Day time is for the workers, and upstanding citizens. At least that's what a local told me once."

"You've talked to many locals?" I asked.

"One or two," Nik answered with a smirk.

As we plunged deeper into Wetchport, I lost my ability to banter. Each building seemed to be stacked up on top of one another and leaning on the next for support. The streets glowed with torchlight. So many fires burned on each street that it felt like a summer afternoon, the light and heat bright enough to ward off the cold and dark of night. I wanted to clutch Nik's arm as we entered the thick of the city, but I refrained, wanting to avoid looking like a frightened little girl as much as possible. We passed buildings with colored fires burning at their doors, a pretty girl with nothing but a slip of silk to cover her calling out to passersby to come inside. 

"Brothels," Nik told me. "They're a common sight in Wetchport."

I suppressed a shutter. Sat in the entryways of other, less rickety looking establishments, were men who looked as though they could cut you to pieces with a look. We passed a well-kept brick building larger than any of the others I'd seen with a sign hung above it, two of these men posted at either side of the door. The sign was emblazoned with gold lettering reading, 'The Sapphire Palace'. 

Nik must've followed my line of sight, because he leaned in again and told me The Sapphire Palace was a casino. "Gambling dens," he said. "Not a place you want to get involved with. They draw you in with the pretty paintings and glittering witch-made fires and the prospect of striking it rich, but once you're in their clutch and decide to get reckless... well, lets just say the people in charge of such establishments are not ones you want to fall in with."