Page 2 of Night Fae

"These prices are obscene!" The customer's voice rose.

"The quality speaks for itself." The merchant gestured wildly. "I got these lutes straight from the Siren Queendom!"

Zev bumped into the merchant, apologized profusely, and walked away with the coin purse tucked into his sleeve.

The weight felt promising.

His next target presented itself at a clothing stall. While the merchant helped a fussy noble with her selections, Zev's fingers found a dark traveling cloak and a plain shirt. He bundled them against his chest as if he'd just purchased them.

The tavern across the square caught his eye. The Crow's Rest. It looked like just the place he could slip into for a quick meal and some juicy tidbits of town gossip.

It would be interesting to find out what had happened in Veridia during his absence.

He slipped into a narrow alley to change. The new clothes fit well enough, and the cloak's hood would help hide his face. He counted the stolen coins. Enough for a meal and information if he played this right.

The tavern's warmth hit him as he entered. A few early patrons hunched over their drinks, while a pair of merchants conducted business in the corner. Zev chose a seat where he could watch both the door and hear the merchants' conversation.

He'd figured they might be talking about trade deals or maybe their next destination, but instead, Zev heard something that made him forget about securing a way out of the city.

"They say," a fat merchant said, "he appeared right in the middle of the Prince's breakfast."

"Appeared?" the man's gangly friend leaned in. "How?"

"It was like teleportation magic. One moment our esteemed Prince was eating his eggs, the next this human crashes onto the table. Tall fellow, tanned skin, walks with a limp. Started demanding to know where he was, if you can believe it."

The gangly man laughed. "What did the Prince do?"

"What do you think? Locked him up until they figure out how he got in. Though Marina says he's been oddly polite about it. Even gave the human his own suite instead of the dungeons."

Zev's chest tightened.

He had the worst suspicion he knew the human who'd ended up in the palace.

It had to be Malik.

Gods be damned.

Staring down at the table, Zev considered his options. The smart move would be for him to leave anyway. The Court had no immediate reason to harm a human who'd appeared by accident. Malik would probably be fine.

Probably.

No, Zev could not convince himself of that.

He'd experienced the cruelty of the Court first-hand.

Still… Did that mean it was Zev's responsibility to rescue the human from his fate?

It was, wasn't it?

If only because he and the human had been working together before they were transported here, and Zev had decided long ago that he would not abandon his friends. His allies.

He had precious few of those in any world.

And so Zev left the tavern and made his way toward the palace.

The ancient building rose before him, a masterpiece of black stone and shadow-glass. He'd spent years in those halls, learning to kill with blade and magic. Learning to obey—the prince, the Court, and most of all, his family.

He'd left that life behind, but his memories of it served him well.