Miya goes first, walking straight into the wall. Instead of stopping, he simply vanishes.
I exhale a breath and watch Rupert follow. Armin holds out his arm, gesturing for me to go first. With my eye on the tavern I take a step forward. As I move so does my environment; I sense the Academy hallway fading, and the light flickers in the window. Another step and the wall blurs, stretching and opening just enough for me to step through. It’s seamless, one foot is in the Academy, the other across realms. I blink, and my ears fill with the noise of a public space, the clank of metal and glass. The scent of mead.
I turn back and see Agis and Armin right behind me. Rupert and Miya stand at the bar.
I say the only thing I can think of. “Someone please get me a drink.”
The tavern is cozy with a roaring fire in the big stone fire pit in the middle of the room. Music plays from some undetermined source. Piped in, or magic. I don’t know. I don’t care. Chairs padded with animal fur circle the pit and I take my drink from the bartender and find a soft place to sit.
“Where are the other patrons?” I ask, running my hand down the soft bear coat. I don’t recognize any of the faces in the bar.
“This place simply a stop from one realm to the other,” Miya says. “We just happened to hit it during a lull.”
/> “And the bartender?” Agis asks, holding a mug of mead. “What’s his story?”
The man stands behind the bar, cleaning glasses.
“Assigned here by whoever controls these places.”
“I’m thankful no one is here but us,” I say, easing my boots off my feet, and then propping them on the edge of the pit. The burning heat feels good. “Today was a shitty day.”
The guys glance at one another.
“We heard,” Armin says.
“From who?”
The guilty look on their faces says it all. Marshal. I wonder if he told them about kissing my fingers. “You gossip like a bunch of women.”
“Victorine is out of line coming after you like that,” Agis growls.
“Is she?” I ask, taking a sip of the warm drink. It burns my throat on the way down. “She’s here to win and taking me down a notch isn’t a bad idea. I have something she wants. And I’m refusing to give it to her.”
Agis frowns and tips back his mug. Rupert watches me carefully.
“What?” I ask.
“How long do you plan on playing her game? Because she doesn’t tire.”
“As long as it takes. Which is why,” I say, knocking back the rest of my drink, “I don’t want to talk about it. Not tonight.”
“We just pretend she’s not coming after you?” Armin says.
“For tonight, yes.”
Miya’s eyebrow raises. “Then what do you want to do?”
I stand and walk to the bar, pushing my cup to the bartender. “What all people do when they want to escape their problems. Drink, dance, and have a good time.”
17
Rupert
When Hildi said she wanted to dance, I didn’t really believe it. Dance? That’s a celebration, or at least how I was raised. We danced for the summer solstice or fall harvest. We danced in the palace halls when dignitaries came to visit. We didn’t dance for the hell of it, or to simply forget, which is exactly what Hildi seems to be doing.
I watch from by the firepit as she charms the bartender to increase the volume of the music. Her body twisting, thrusting, bouncing to the beat. I think about the kiss we shared, how I’d been too excited. Embarrassing myself.
I feel the heat in my groin, knowing I’ll get hard again just watching her.