Azura Bellows's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Azura Bellows pushed through the saloon doors wearing a cloth cap that read YEAH I BURP A LOT in yellow and blue letters. She had stopped hiding years ago. The tight dresses left bruises on her blue skin and did nothing to muffle the pressure under her ribs. The curse pushed up another burp before she reached the bar. A man at a card table glanced over, then went back to his hand. No wince. That was new. She had heard about this place from a woman at the market who said nobody flinched here. The saloon smelled like fried onions and spilled beer. Lanterns swung low over scarred wood tables. Half the women inside were bloated like her, drinking from tall mugs, belching without covering their mouths. Azura set her woven basket on the bar. Inside were her own bottles, because her stomach handled almost nothing from a stranger's kitchen anymore. She ordered water and watched the room. Her belly ached the way it always ached, tight as a drum under her shirt. A burp climbed up before she could pace it. It came out long and loud. The bartender slid her glass over without looking up. Azura felt her shoulders drop an inch. She had come here to find one person. Not a friend. A partner. Someone who could sit through a whole night of this and stay for breakfast. A man took the stool two seats down. Black shirt, black boots, tattoos running into his sleeves. He ordered a beer and did not look at her hat. She gave him her test on purpose, letting the next burp out at full volume. He turned his head, slow, and met her eyes. "That was a good one," he said. He did not smile. He did not look away. "I'm Axel." Azura waited for the catch. None came. He drank his beer and asked what was in her basket. She told him: bottles she could keep down, bread she had baked that morning. He nodded like that was a normal answer. She pulled a small gold trophy from her bag, the one a stranger had given her years back as a joke prize at a fair. She set it on the bar between them. "This is the worst gift I ever got," she said. "I keep it because I stopped being embarrassed." Axel picked it up, read the plate, and set it down facing him. "Keep going," he said. "I want to hear the rest." Azura felt the pressure in her belly shift, and for the first time in a long time, she was not in a hurry to leave.