Page 55 of Deadly Maiden

Rorsyd places a hand on my back, steering me around a pile of droppings—donkey or similar. “He’s hiding here, he told me. From an irate ex. I guess he thinks they won’t come looking in Venin.”

“Yet he finds customers?” I frown at a sign we pass.BOSWORTH, BOTTOM & RAMSBOTTOM. To the right of thetext is an illustration of a toothily-grinning ram showing its bottom. “I’ve no idea what’s in there.” The windows are dirty as hell. “But I hope it’s bottoms.”

“Definitely. Illusionists find customers anywhere, Wyntre. I should put your bottom in there and see what I get.”

“Pfft.” I poke my tongue at him. This is a new and wonderful thing—being able to joke with Rorsyd about almost anything. “So this Hunder can disguise us both?”

“He can. Here.” He speeds up, heading to the right where a small sign sits above a red door.ACCREDITED ILLUSIONIST.

I guess we aren’t going to an inn first.

Within is well-lit due to the big glass windows to left and right of the door actually being clean. Behind a desk, painting her arm, sits a young fae. Her face is pixielike, pointed of chin as well as ears. She lights up with a smile and rises as the door tinkles.

Her arm, I realize, as we near the desk with rucksacks in hand, has an animated scene of baby hedgehogs bouncing about. It repeats, looping over and over.

I peer at it. “Wow. That’s enchanting.”

“Hunder’s work?” Rorsyd enquires.

“Yes, it is. Beautiful, no?”

“Yes,” I butt in.

She looks from me to Rorsyd. “Would you like an appointment to see Ser Rekson?”

“To see Hunder?” Rorsyd raises his voice and shouts down the hallway behind her. “Hunder! Are you there? Come out or I’ll do something terrible to your waiting room!”

My blush strikes. The receptionist is equally shocked, from the widening of her eyes and fish-gulping mouth.

“Insufferable, isn’t he?” I shrug at her. Rorsyd has leaned on the right-hand corner of her desk and ignores us both as a door opens, a few yards in.

“Hunder!”

“Rorsyd, you bastard!”

They shake hands and thump each other’s shoulders while Daisy and I wait for them to settle—the name on her other arm is spelled in flowering blossoms. Least, I think it’s her name.

She sighs, smiles at me, and returns to dabbing at her arm with a small brush.

“Come in!” Hunder beckons to us. “Daisy, the next client isn’t for an hour. Keep the time clear. I’ve catching up to do. Rorsyd’s an old friend.”

“Yes, Ser. I’ll close the front door and put up a little notice.”

“That sounds grand, Daisy. You two can leave your gear here.”

Rorsyd shakes his head.

“Or not.” Hunder smirks. “I should have thought harder on that one.”

I decide to hold onto my rucksack too.

Gold, Rorsyd has gold in his. The sun exploding is more likely than for him to leavethatwhere he cannot see it. Unless, I suppose, he can lock it up.

The open door in the hallway leads to a square room with a wide, timber-framed window. It holds a pair of brown leather couches, a large bookcase, silver sculptures of birds, and a white display plinth with a large globe in the likeness of Artreos. His illusionist art shows there, for it appears to revolve. The continents show the seasons changing—snow slowly spreads over the miniscule mountains, as does greenery. I swear a teensy herd ofsomethinggallops over one country.

We sit on a couch opposite him, and I let my hood fall back for the first time since we entered Venin.

“Rorsyd, am I detecting a hint of something between you two?” Hunder’s eyes are bright with curiosity. He adjusts his position on the couch and waggles thick eyebrows.

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