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After Ilea left me, I tried to catch other girls for chats as well. She and Chai had proved useful, but I couldn’t slack on my first assignment as a spy, and more information was never a bad thing.
Sadly, I couldn’t get any more out of people. Whenever I brought up the case, everyone told the same things, sometimes with indecorous jokes about the prince and his alleged lover, but nothing useful.
After a while, I switched out the lemonade for cocktails to better loosen some tongues. Looking back, it might have been a bad idea, since some girls insisted that I join in the drinking and after the eighth round, the evening blurred into a cloud of silk, perfume and music. I vaguely remembered a guest pushing me into a pool at one point, but I just laughed it off.
It was already dawn when I came to my senses and headed upstairs for some rest. It didn’t take long for the storm of shapeless thoughts to drag me down into a drunken sleep I hoped would last for the next noon.
I was wrong.
“Zaira. Wake up.”
Ezair stood leaning over me, but his face constantly jumped away.
“Just five more minutes...” I mumbled and pulled the blanket over my head. My head was spinning and the much-awaited hangover didn’t arrive, which meant I was still drunk.
“Interesting. Everybody only asks for five minutes. What difference does it make?” he said. The mattress slowly sank on one side, so I guessed Ezair had sat down next to me. I half expected him to yank the blanket off and let the sudden cold wake me up, but he was more considerate than Osmi used to be.
I hugged my pillow, moving a little to the side so he could lie down next to me, in case he wanted to share the wonderful five minutes I could still spend in my comfortable bed.
“Five is a convenient number,” I said. “You can easily bargain for five minutes, then five more, and five more...”
Ezair watched me squirm for a few moments, then sighed. “I’m terribly sorry for what’s about to happen, but time’s kind of tight at the moment.”
The mattress suddenly stopped sinking as he got up, pulling the sheets with him, dragging me towards the edge of the bed and an inescapable fall.
“No... please, for the love of....” I moaned then hit the floor with a loud thump. “You little... If I figure out how to do the djinn thing, you’ll pay for this. I will lift you to the ceiling and throw you on the ground in the middle of your sweetest dreams.”
He looked back at me arms folded, waiting for me to gather the rest of my dignity and cooperate. I squeaked on the ground like a dour cat, but eventually just wrapped myself in the blanket and got up.
“Want do you want? It’s stupid o’clock in the morning.”
“I thought I’d meet with the Two-Headed Viper.”
I rubbed my eyes and looked at him as complaining as I could. “Please tell me you didn’t wake me up just to tell me this...”
“Sort of. I want you to come with me, as dangerous and reckless as that sounds.”
It did sound all of that and more. But at this point, I was so curious about this illustrious guild of mercenaries, that I was willing to deal with the rushing nausea and grumpiness. Or at least give it a try.
“I’ve only been in this world for three years, but isn’t it too early to introduce me to your friends? Did you tell them I don’t do wishes?” I said while walking behind a screen to change, just to pick on him. When I finished, he still looked at me like he couldn’t believe something. “What?”
“That went easier than I thought.”
“I just got dressed. How long did you think it would take?”
“I didn’t think I could convince you to walk into a snake’s nest with a single sentence.”
I just rolled my eyes. “You talk like I should be afraid of something, but I’ve no idea what. So please enlighten me. And buy me breakfast while you’re dragging me with you.”
“Just so we’re clear, we’re not going on a date,” Ezair said. “The thing is, it’s very dangerous for you to get out of here after what happened to me yesterday. Going to the Vipers is especially dangerous because now it’s clear they aren’t completely on our side. Which means someone knows more than I thought. I want to find out exactly who, and to do that, we have to take the risk.”
“That sounds reasonable. So, you need me to fish out the bad apples.”
“Something like that. If someone from the Vipers knows something, they certainly don’t expect to see you. If you surprise a mercenary, it’s much easier to corner him and get what you want. Think of it as if you’re the storm on the sandhill so we can dig up the hidden treasure from underneath it,” he explained. As we passed by Chai, hard at work already, she looked back at us concerned. I could understand that she didn’t want to waste any more valuable grains of magic sand on any of our injuries.
I saw several girls I had made friends with last night. We giggled at each other with some of them, especially Ilea, now sipping a glass of cucumber water with a wet cloth on her head.
“Morning!” I said, then turned to Ezair. “It’s a shame you went to bed so soon, the evening was nice. And before you think I was slacking at my job; I learned a couple of things.”
“Already? What did you get?”
“Let’s go outside first.”
I didn’t want the girls to hear me pass onto him everything they told me, especially Chai and Ilea, so I waited until they were out of earshot.
“I talked with everyone I could and they all pointed towards three possibilities. Some said the Shardizians were behind this, others blamed the Arisian sealords. Chai even said something about a relative of the prince, named Kherim. All three can profit off of the prince’s tantrum. Oh, and did you know the treasurer was his lover? They hit him where it hurts the most. Someone really wants this thing to pay off.”
Ezair paused for a moment, but then moved on quickly to avoid catching the attention of any passers-by. It wasn’t like anyone would notice his stagger, though, considering that the few people wandering the town this early seemed half asleep.
“Kherim is a dangerous man,” he said. “He’s Charta’s younger brother and holds the title of qrahr, so he technically leads Kahlaran’s whole army, along with a personal squadron he calls the Third Regiment. But I assure you he’s not behind this.”
“What about Shardiz?” I asked.
“Well, if it’s them, we’re out of luck, but I hope not. The sealords would be the most convenient. But at least we have something to ask now,” he said. “Good work.”
My face lit up for a moment, but I quickly turned away. “Why the sealords? It seems easier for me to get Kherim out of the way.”
“Kherim’s untouchable, cunning and decisive. We’d be better off hunting Charta himself. Sealords are much less protected,” Ezair said. “Before we get there, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“If you saw this water djinn again, would you recognize it?”
“What do you mean, if I saw him again? I didn’t see him. I just heard his voice.”
“And would you recognize that?”
It got me thinking. So far, I had only heard him through his mysterious power to manipulate water drops, but still, it was hard to mistake him. I suspected he was too proud not to announce himself in some grandiose way.
“I will. And I have a gut feeling that if he sees me, he won’t be able to resist provoking me. If nothing else, that will reveal him. Why?”
“Because I’d prefer if we surprise him, and not the other way round.”
***
I lost my sense of direction after the fourth turn, and I was pretty convinced the Vipers had deliberately made it harder for outsiders to find them. Kahlaran was a maze of a city, with narrow streets and walls meandering around with no obvious design. We passed through a dull abundance of brownstone walls, and even the dusty stones of the streets looked the same. The heat slowly turned unbearable as we left the refreshing light wind of the main roads behind. On top of that, Ezair completely forgot about my breakfast, so I got more and more irritated as my hunger grew.
Finally, after about twenty minutes of walking, we got to a plain stone wall with a small door, pitiful even for a back exit.
“We’re here,” he said.
“I thought it would be...flashier. After you. It’s your home.”
Ezair smiled. “This isn’t my home. It’s the back entrance to the Desert Wind.”
I faintly remembered Ezair mentioning it, but personally I’ve never even been around here before. We were deep in the suburbs, surrounded by nothing but sleazy pubs and street whores. Not exactly the regulars of my shop.
Ezair opened the door, and the smell of cheap spirits and sweat instantly rushed at me, giving my nausea a fresh surge of power. We walked into and through a short corridor, stopping in front of a small, pudgy man blocking our way forward. I counted at least three daggers pinned to his belt, and he had one more in his hand, trying its edge against his fingers.
“Only two kind arrive through the back door,” he said, not even looking at us. “Thief or Viper?”
I was about to reply with ‘thief, of course’, but I wasn’t sure if he was in a humorous mood, and those daggers looked pretty sharp. Ezair raised his arm to show him his snake bracelet.
“It’s me, Bitan. Is chief Irshan here?”
“Oh, Aspis. Yeah, the Chief’s upstairs. But I wouldn’t waltz up there if I were you. Hain just returned, and it never goes well when those two are in the same room.”
Ezair let out a long sigh. “Trust me, I know. Unfortunately, this can’t wait.”
“Well, I pray to the Divine that it’s true. Else it might be your last trip up there. And please, don’t tell them I didn’t recognize you.”
Ezair just smiled and passed by the guard. The staircase squeaked with each step of the way, and before I could feel relieved, I realized the floor was no better. The mercenary approached the sole door upstairs, but he was hesitant to enter.
“This is your last warning. Things can get weird here on out.”
Before he could elaborate, the door swung open so vigorously, I thought it would splinter, only missing Ezair’s chin by an inch. A very angry, gray-bearded, square-faced man stormed out of the room. Given what I’ve heard before, I guessed he was Irshan, chief of the Vipers.
When he realized we were standing there, he looked at me with a mix of confusion and irritation. “I don’t know you,” he said, then turned to Ezair. “You, I do.”
“I’m Ezair Hazra, Chief,” Ezair said, bowing his head slightly, helping the obviously drunk man out a bit, but the nod he got in reply wasn’t really convincing.
“Whatever you may want, it has to wait awhile. I need a drink.”
And just like that he swayed past us, towards the ground floor.
“Wait up. My friends tell me the best cure to hangover is getting drunk again, so let me join you.”
It was a really weird offer from someone like me, but Ezair had said my job was to surprise the mercenaries. That was a success, because Irshan stopped mid-step and scratched his chin.
“Well, why not? Drinking in company is much better than drinking alone.”
“That’s the spirit. And while we drink, Ezair might as well propose what—”
I was interrupted by a sarcastic laugh by the door. It came from a young man with vivid, metallic blond hair and ice-blue eyes resembling Sheen. There was an ugly white scar running from the corner of his mouth up to his left ear, distorting his face into a constant, grotesque half-smile. He was probably a year or two older than Ezair, and that laugh was not sympathetic at all, even without the scar.
“So, you’re backing him. Marvelous.”
Irshan took a deep breath and clenched his fists, but Ezair stepped between them before things could spiral out of control.
“Chief Hain, I wanted to have a word with you as well.”
I pouted and turned to Irshan. “I guess Ezair prefers other company.”
“Pups are like that. Let’s hope he beats a little sobriety into him,” he grunted and rumbled down the stairs. I could barely keep up with him, because he moved like a small landslide.
I followed him, and when we got down to the bar, I rushed to the tapster. “You know what the old man’s favorite is. Two of those, please.”
“Are you sure? What that old goat’s drinking can kill half of this town,” the tapster said laughing, but Irshan told him off with a handwave.
“If she doesn’t want it, I’ll drink both. Just give us two. And don’t forget the cherries. Tell me, lass, what are you drinking to?”
“Well, I’m not celebrating anything, nor do I want to forget, so maybe to friends,” I said while watching the tapster pour some red liquor into two cups. “I’ve got three new friends in one day, which is pretty good compared to the last three years. And I hope there will be a fourth today. But you seem like you need a drink to calm down. What did Blondie do?”
“Eh. Nothing. The brat’s just an idealistic fool,” Irshan said. The tapster just managed to drop a sugar-coated cherry into the spirit before the chief snatched it up and gulped the shot down. He wasn’t joking about how angry he was. “This time, he’s put the whole gang in danger. I swear he refuses to think sometimes, or just doesn’t care. I wonder who he got it from.”
I sniffed at my own glass. It felt insanely strong, but I was determined to drink it, even if Ezair had to carry me home on his shoulder.
“From his mother, perhaps?” I guessed as I raised my drink towards him.
“Not from me, that’s for sure.” He threw the glass to the bartender who quickly filled it again, then raised it to mine. “Well then, to new friends.”
I downed the liquor, and the world went blank for a moment. I coughed, hoping it would help get rid of the burning sensation in my throat, but that only made it worse. Just when I thought my drunken state would fade a bit, I felt my skull catch fire from inside, the pub was spinning, and I swear I saw the chairs and tables dancing.
“That’s... that’s really...” I said, still coughing. “It tastes really good; it only kills me for it... Just a moment...”
The mercenary leader laughed. “That’s the whole point, lass. If you die, die of something good.” He took a sip of his own, this time restraining himself from gulping it all down. “I’m really sorry I dismissed your friend so hard. Did he want something important?”
“I think he wanted to talk about how a partner stabbed a hole in his side yesterday, and that he almost bled to death. He looked pretty rough.”
Irshan’s forehead creased. “One of his partners? A Viper attacked him? Do you know who?”
“Ezair does.”
I wasn’t sure what Ezair planned to reveal, and I thought it would be better if he told the leader personally how he killed one of his colleagues.
“That’s a serious accusation, lass. Why would anyone turn a blade against him?”
“Well... To sum it up: they had a deal, but his partner got a better offer. Ezair wanted to stick to the original plan and they got into a disagreement.”
Irshan studied his glass for a long time. “We get a dozen jobs a day. I can’t see all of them. Maybe someone paid off a recruit.”
“That must have been it,” I said. “But Ezair will tell you the rest.”
The man sighed. These mercenaries were always sighing. “First Hain and his stupid, nation forging ideals, now internal battles... What else can come?”
“Your son plans to forge a nation?”
“No, he just heard some Shardizian propaganda and it got stuck in his head. Like that Seiran will surely perish if the provinces don’t unite and choose a king again. Young, reckless bullshit that resurfaces every dozen year.”
Shardiz again. I had to make Ezair teach me the foreign dialect he used to swear, for situations like this.
“I don’t know politics, unfortunately, but why would that be such a bad thing?” I asked.
“Because it’s impossible. You can’t ask every man and woman to bow their head to the prince of Shardiz, calling him a king. You’d have to force them, with blood and steel.”
War. A familiar concept, even though my kind was much more destructive when it came to it. Still, it always brought a wave of suffering and pain and I had already seen too much of it before.
“So, the problem is the path leading there, not the end result,” I said.
“Eh, that’s one way to put it. You can build a path through the desert to the fucking New Garden, but if it’s paved with horseshit, nobody will take it. Even a good ruler couldn’t do it, but Idranil?” He spat out the name as if it was a swear word, and he clearly referred to the prince of Shardiz.
“Worse than Prince Charta?”
“Charta is just useless and childish. Idranil is threatening his neighbors and schemes to undermine everyone but himself. He’s an arse, there’s no denying it.”
“Irshan, the soldiers can come in at any time,” the tapster whispered, but he could barely hide his grin. “I think it would make the prince’s day if your head was hung up in front of his prison cells.”
“I’d like to see him try! Let’s have another drink. May both Charta and Idranil choke!”
I glanced at the tapster in agreement, and when he poured the drinks for both of us, I lifted mine like a toast.
“May them choke!” I said, hitting my drink to Irshan’s, then quickly downed it. The second was not as terrible as the first.
The mercenary leader ran his thin fingers through his hair and stood up, as if these few cups of liquor hadn’t even gotten to him.
“I think that’s enough not to strangle that stupid kid. Come, I’ll hear your friend.”
I managed to get up from the chair, but I might as well have been on a ship on the high seas. I had to hold on to the bar to keep my balance.
“Why— why don’t they come to us?”
Irshan laughed and grabbed my shoulder with one hand. It was like a rock in the storm when I needed it.
“You have to toughen up for this, lass.”
He basically dragged me with him, but at least I could put one leg after another. His gait was a little uncertain, but he was much more accustomed to feeling like this than I was.
“When I’m a big old mercenary leader, I will toughen up, I promise...”
“Watch your tongue, lassie. I like you, but calling me old? See if you can look this good at my age!” he grunted.
“I think I know your secret now. That red liquor has to be a potion,” I mumbled as we climbed the stairs.
When we got to the room, all I could hear was a smothered conversation, sometimes accompanied by a sarcastic snort. Irshan opened the door with a wide swing, but paused immediately.
“What– What are you two doing?”
I was stretching my neck curiously to see what had happened in the room. Irshan’s wide back almost completely obscured the view, but he noticed my efforts and slowly turned his head towards me.
“Lassie...You should wait outside.”
The blood in my veins froze. Ezair’s dying body appeared almost in detail in front of my eyes on the floor, soaked in his own blood... I shoved Irshan to the side and surprisingly, he let me slip through. Ezair stood on the edge of the ornate carpet, with a blade pressed to his throat, held by Hain. He was half a head taller than Ezair, so I could clearly see eyes flashing at me.
“Zaira,” he said. “Interesting. You look human.”
I raised my head, half-relying on Irshan, and faced Hain. I had to play the arrogant djinn to him, now that he had given himself away.
“If it surprises you, then you’re very uninformed.”
“What the fuck is going on here?” Irshan yelled. His voice rumbled around echoing from the walls of the room, and even my teeth shook as I leaned on him.
“Care to explain to my father?” the younger Chief said, in a tone that made it clear I had to confess even if I wasn’t willing to.
“Well, it didn’t seem important before, but the point is, I’m the djinn the guards are chasing,” I said, looking up at Irshan. To my shock, he either didn’t care about it, or was more preoccupied with his son’s betrayal to take notice.
“So? Does that explain why are you holding a sword to one of your companions’ necks, you ungrateful bastard?”
“Chief Hain has been bribed,” Ezair said, a little hoarsely, as he tried not to cut his throat with the blade of Hain’s dagger. “He hasn’t been working for the Vipers in a long time.”
“Did I allow you to talk, Aspis?”
Hain pressed the dagger closer to Ezair’s neck, pushing in the bronze-colored skin a little underneath. It would have taken one wrong move and blood could flow. A lot of blood.
I wish I could do something to throw Hain against the back wall. I could imagine him flying through the room carried by a strong wind, but sadly imagining wasn’t enough. I needed my power, whatever form it took in this world and this body.
I stepped away from Irshan and headed for the window to let in a little air. That wasn’t going to lift this arrogant asshole, but maybe it could give me some inspiration.
“Where are you going, demon? Stay where you are,” Hain called out. Ezair nodded slowly, signaling that I should do what I wanted, although this time I didn’t need any confirmation. The Viper Chiefling didn’t know what I could or couldn’t do. I just had to convince him I really was a demon.
“Why do you think a fragile mortal can command me?” I said, looking at him with an unearthly smile. I stepped up to the window with slightly more confidence and opened the shutter. The fresh morning air almost splashed at my face, and the breeze pleasantly tousled my curls. It wasn’t any help in how to control it, but at least it helped with the dizziness.
“I said stay where...”
Hain was interrupted by the sound of a body hitting the floor, and when I looked back Ezair was kneeling over him, straining the arm that held the blade over his back. It was a shame I missed the scene when he threw the other Viper over his shoulder, but the sight of the chiefling grinding his teeth in anger still satisfied me somehow.
“Oh, let me do it, let me do it!” I really wanted to punch him in the face, so I walked up to Ezair with the most confident and straightforward steps I could muster, squatted down next to him and took the curved dagger out of his hand. I turned it around so that the blade leaned against my forearm, and clobbered Hain with the handle. “That’s for trying to hurt my friend!”
I nodded to put more emphasis on it, then put the dagger back in its case hanging on his belt.
“With all due respect, Zaira, you just knocked the best swordsman of the Two-Headed Viper out with one move,” Ezair said.
“But only because you held him down. Pathetic mortal...” I said, throwing my hair back, but I hoped they’d see that this move was still part of the show. “What was all this about?”
“I’d like to know that, too.” Irshan folded his pillar-like arms in front of his chest. Ezair just grabbed Hain’s unconscious body by his shoulders and pulled him onto a chair.
“We’ll ask him in a minute. But in short, Chief Hain is one of many hired by a fanatical, cape-wearing cult to hunt us. Is there water around here, Chief?”
“Water? Rookie,” Irshan said, then dusted his hands and slapped his son so hard, Hain fell off the chair.
“Thank you for saving me, by the way,” Ezair said, while the old mercenary dragged the Chiefling back into the chair.
I shrugged with a grin. “You’re welcome. I think it’s time to add distraction to my lengthy resume, after bait and spy.”
“By the Great Divine, if you don’t give me a good explanation for what were you on about...” said Irshan, roaring like a bull at his son who slowly opened his eyes.
Ezair picked up a sword lying a nearby table, then stood in front of the chair. “Now, Chief Hain, you will tell me what I want to know,” Ezair said, holding the sword in front of Hain. He just rubbed his temples and kept eyeing at me furiously.
“What do you want to know, Aspis? What don’t you know?”
Aspis. It sounded like some kind of internal cover name. These mercenaries were more theatrical than me.
“Start with how did you sink to the point where you end up an assassin and kidnapper.”
Hain snorted. “I’m the only one who dares to see the bigger picture in this shithole. And I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve it. Even assassination and kidnapping.”
Ezair shook his head. “Too many puzzles, Chief.”
“Does this have anything to do with your enthusiastic support of Shardiz’s ambitious plans?” I said. Hain was surprised for a moment, but then his know-it-all smile crawled back to his face.
“Maybe. You’re smarter than I thought.”
“If I didn’t know you were going to kill me, I might even take it as a compliment.”
“How does it help Shardiz if Zaira dies?” Ezair asked.
Hain shrugged. “It doesn’t.”
Ezair pressed the tip of the blade closer to his shoulder.
“You know, Chief, losing an arm isn’t lethal. Not necessarily. But it’s pretty good for ending a mercenary’s career.”
“Are you threatening me?”
Ezair leaned close to his face, his features becoming expressionless, like a statue.
“I am. Did I stutter?”
The golden light in his eyes was gone. It was as if he was another man, or at least, as if his kindness was hidden in an invisible fort, leaving the cold-blooded killer outside. The one that had killed the soldier chasing us in the alley with perfect calm.
I heard Irshan shift a little beside me, like a coiled cobra ready to spring up. I doubt he’d let Ezair cut off his son’s arms, but so far, he let him believe that.
“Killing nice djinn girls is a weird hobby, you know,” I said.
“Nice...” Hain laughed. “You don’t have to die to benefit Shardiz. Your death is a bargain with someone powerful enough to make the best ending more probable.”
“Ah, it’s very thoughtful, but if I wanted to die, I would have taken care of it myself,” I said, but this was the first time he had said something really interesting. Was he talking about the marid? Had I made him an enemy at home? Even if I did, here in the human world, it shouldn’t matter anymore.
“Who’s the other part of the deal?” Ezair asked. He seemed impossible to disrupt, and his blade didn’t move an inch from Hain’s shoulder.
“You don’t know?” Hain said with honest surprise. “I overestimated you, Aspis. Didn’t you recognize their badges under the red cloaks? Did you miss their rings?”
“They didn’t have any rings on them,” Ezair replied, but Hain’s smile widened.
“They did. The gilded half-disc of a rising sun and tendrils of fire rising from it.”
Ezair froze, his facial features suddenly strained like he was struck by lightning.
“Your friends are dangerous people,” Ezair remarked.
“Could somebody fill me in?” I shouted. I was getting sick of it. More secret signals, secret organizations I should have known about. It was apparent I was the only one in this world left out.
Hain took a deep breath as he turned toward me and away from Ezair’s blade.
“The Court of Fire. An assassin organization straight out of a frightening tale. You never know who they work for, how they get their orders or how they achieve what they do. But when they want to kill someone, they do. Can you imagine what benefits they could mean, demon?”
“Yeah, sure. The Court of Fire. It has to be the most overly dramatic thing I heard, even if it’s filled with... efrits, was it?”
“So, you’re in bed with foreign nightmare figures,” Ezair said. “I have more important things to do, so I’ll ask you one more question, and if you answer that, my business with you is over, Chief. In every way. The people who want Zaira executed hired someone to change her perfume to deadly air. I want a name and whereabouts.”
I was a little surprised that Ezair didn’t care why these lunatics hunted me, but he was right. It was none of his business. His only concern was to get his uncle out of prison.
“Did it occur to you that I don’t know?” Hain asked.
“No. It didn’t. That’s not your style, Chief.”
“I don’t know where she is, but her name is Asha. Asha Roasin, some urban petty thief. She’s scared like a fox from the whip, so you will have to stick your nose in her hidey-hole. Is that all you wanted, Aspis?”
Ezair let the sword drop from Hain’s shoulder. “Yes, that’s all.”
Irshan, meanwhile, slid down next to the wall into sitting position. I stood up from under the window and settled next to him, just like I used to do with Osmi after a hard day.
Ezair got what he wanted. All he had needed was a name, now it was up to him to catch this Asha Roasin. As for me, it was more difficult. Maybe I should have stuck with the Vipers. After all, liking one boss and beating the other wasn’t that bad.
Ezair finally approached us. “I’m sorry, Chief.”
“You’re sorry, eh? Tell me, Aspis, what am I supposed to do with him?”
“We have a protocol to punish members,” Ezair said. “Hain’s not the first nor the last to break the rules.”
“But my son isn’t just some riff raff street kid. He’s a leader of the Two-Headed Viper, and yet he’s stupid, like a fucking pack mule. He didn’t go whoring at work or steal something for money, either. He tried to kill one of his associates.”
“No, Chief. He just attacked someone who wasn’t a Viper.”
“What do you mean by this, Aspis?” Irshan asked.
The scuffle of the snake bracelet echoed in the room for a long time. I looked up to him in surprise. Even I’ve understood how much a Viper bracelet meant, and I just couldn’t believe he let go of it so easily. Ezair was throwing away a lot more than a shiny trinket.
“We have to face dangerous enemies, my chief. Defy the will of the prince. Defy the law. Free my uncle and Zaira’s father, all while facing the Court of Fire. I can’t go there by taking the name of the Two-Headed Viper with me, because if I fail, I will drag the whole guild with me. All my brothers.”
“I guess you’re not very literate,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ve read dozens of these tales. The hero tries to thrive on his own to protect the people he loved, but he always realizes that he can’t do it alone. So why don’t you just hide this bracelet in your pocket and if people find it, tell them you stole it?”
“You read too much, Zaira. Life is not that simple, and most people aren’t fooled so easily. Charta, maybe. But not the Court of Fire, and if you want to be free of them, we’ll have to face them on their turf.”
“Why do you care if I’m free or not?” I asked. Although he had just refuted my earlier assumption that he didn’t care, I didn’t want him to put his hands into the fire because of me.
I couldn’t figure myself out. I didn’t understand why it hurt when I thought he didn’t care, and even less so why it was even worse when it turned out that he did. I just knew he shouldn’t risk everything.
“Our prince may not play fair, nor the water djinn or any of our enemies...” Ezair said. “But I’m still adhering to the little honor I’ve got. You could have just run away, but stayed because I asked you to. The least I can do is pay you back with the same thing when the time comes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you want to die this badly before I stopped Hain?” I yelled, pressing every word through the icy grasp that held my throat.
“That’s why you’re mad at me? Because you’re afraid I’ll die?” Ezair asked.
Irshan just scratched his beard. “Aspis is the fastest hand in the whole gang, but even he’s as dense as the bricks in this room. I’m going for another drink, so you can talk it through, kids.”
The old man may have understood us better than we understood ourselves. I wanted to follow him, but it was hard to stand up. I folded my arms and didn’t look at Ezair.
“It’s not a tale, Zaira. There’s no magic snap to fix everything here, no perfect ending. If you want something, you’ll have to make some sacrifices,” he said, then walked out the door.
There was a minute of silence, broken only by the life-filled voices of the town seeping in from outside. I felt as if every thought and emotion flowed out of me when I yelled at Ezair. I was so tired there were no words to put it.
Hain got up from the chair and picked Ezair’s bracelet up from the floor.
“He’s wrong,” he said, in a surprisingly calm tone considering he was knocked out and interrogated minutes ago. If it wasn’t absurd, I would have thought he was trying to comfort me.
“We agree, for once. That is, if you also think he’s doing something stupid. He’s right that there’s no perfect ending.”
“There is. There is a way out of every hole, no matter how deep. There’s always a perfect ending. That’s what I’m doing this for. I just didn’t consider you to be part of mine, but what can we do?”
He threw the bracelet at me, which, although I tried to catch it, ended up landing on my lap. He became more and more irritating because now I was sure he thought he was fighting for some grander purpose.
“You won’t kill me? We’re here alone, no one can see it, and I just got into a fight with Ezair. He won’t come looking for me for a while,” I asked when he got close to me.
“I didn’t want to kill you to begin with. If you die on the floor of an old pub, the Court of Fire can’t see anything. And it doesn’t matter anyways. The world can’t avoid its inevitable fate.”
I leaned my head against the wall. “You could take me as a prisoner. Or should I stop giving you tips?”
“It’s hard to believe that you want to survive all this,” he said, flashing a cynical half-smile at me. “If you excuse me, I need to find some ice before my father beats me for this day’s work. I’m somehow sure we will meet again.”