Page 16 of Faeling
A soft breath ruffled her hair, and Callistix dropped her head, allowing Ravenna to pet her velveteen muzzle.
You’re my favorite, you know.
Ravenna grinned smugly. “I know.”
Mother—
Now, tell me more about this plan of yours with the spiders.
It was difficult leaving the herd. Two new foals had been born just that spring, and there was always news and gossip to learn whenever she visited. However, the hour grew late, and the sun began to drop. The longer summer day granted her a little more time, but eventually she had to follow her feet back to Balmirra.
Bidding farewell to the herd, Oberon and the new foals walked with her part of the way, but she sent them back when they neared the bend in the path that would make them visible to the city garrison. The watchtowers glittered in the sun with the many scopes pointed in every direction, hunting for incoming threats, and the enmity between orcs and unicorns was ancient.
Please be safe,Oberon said before turning back.
I will, I promise.
He huffed an affectionate breath in her face, warming her cheeks, and she kissed his muzzle.
Good evening, Crow.
Goodnight, Oberon the Put-Upon.
You aren’t funny!he called after her, but she only laughed and waved.
The path she followed was a small one that wended and wove around the shallow rises of the craggy scrubland that characterized the land to the east of Balmirra. Hares bounded and wrens fluttered about in the late afternoon, and she thought she spotted the triangular ears of a fox not far off the path.
As the great shadow of the city fell upon her, Ravenna lifted her cowl and put on her false face. Although there was nothing truly corporeal about the glamour, it still stuck to her like afilm, a layer she could sense just above her own skin. She’d gotten so used to wearing it now, she hardly felt it anymore, and maintaining it for long periods wasn’t so taxing.
Thankfully King Vallek didn’t require her presence for more than a few meetings with his generals and their evening games oftalfon,so, alone in her room, Ravenna could wear her own face for a while. However, she was always careful to eat and bathe at times less popular with his other staff, and whenever she ventured into the city proper, she kept her face hidden deep within her cowl.
Of course, her height marked her as other. But the orcs of Balmirra had grown used to her presence by now, as she was a common sight in the lower city’s bazaars. The king paid her a tidy allowance, which she used to buy threads for embroidering, sweet-smelling oils for candles and lotions, and once in a while little honey cakes or sugar cubes for the herd. Between the embroidering and pack of cards she’d brought with her from the bower, she kept herself fairly entertained in her comfortable little room in the royal quarters.
She couldn’t say she’d made any friends or allies in the city per se; most were wary of her, worried perhaps that she might tell them an inauspicious fortune. Still, her money was good, so she procured what she wanted. The bazaars were also excellent places to gather information, and she always kept her ears out for news of the faelands.
The orcs and fae had always been fractious neighbors, but it was a time of at least tenuous peace, so some trade was managed at the borders. The king and his warriors may have gotten round the kingdom, but it was the merchants and traders who knew the land best. They brought commodities and stories, each more valuable than the last.
Nothing of real note had come up in her eavesdropping, but she was hopeful. The everyday orcs of the bazaar knew and spoke of things never mentioned in Vallek’s court, so it was worth visiting whenever she could.
The city loomed above her, her little path spilling into a wide packed-earth road that led right to the formidable curtain wall. The rounded scalloped edifice of the wall was broken only by the eastern gate, manned by a contingent of guards. The wall itself was four layers thick, successive additions by different chieftains. The third wall included crenellated ramparts for guards and archers, and conical watchtowers had been built into the fifth wall. Each layer combined into an impregnable defense, making Balmirra nigh on invincible. The bridge was drawn and the portcullises lowered at night, but she wasn’t too late to hurry back inside the city.
At the gate, a guard stopped her. They all knew her on sight by now, but she still dutifully lifted the brooch at her neck, the crossed double axes of the king done in silver filigree. The guard nodded at it and waved her past.
She hadn’t gone a handful of steps before she was stopped again.
Her breath caught in her throat as she looked up and up into Ulrich’s sneering face.
“Out for a walk, were you?”
Ravenna hid her trembling hands within the folds of her cloak. She’d never faced him down outside the citadel before.
Had he followed her?
“Is that a crime now, lord commander?” she asked.
His nose wrinkled, and without warning, he tugged the cowl from her head.
“Don’t touch me,” she spat, hurriedly stepping outside his reach.
