Kyros Valen's Arc

Chapter 6 of 8

Kyros left the dragon curled in the toy and locked the trapdoor. Corvus would return at dawn. Before that, Kyros had one problem to end. Luna had sold his door twice. She would sell it a third time before the week was out. He could not buy her silence with more favors. He had to take her hold off him. He walked the dark road back toward town and stopped at the tavern on the way. He needed a room with people in it. He needed a witness who owed him nothing and saw everything. Inside, the bar was loud with off-shift crews. Behind the counter stood the tavern's keeper, small and blue-skinned, mushrooms crowded on their head like a second crop. Mycel Sporecap. Kyros had seen them refuse a drunk captain last month without blinking. They were counting bottles against a slate, marking short lines. "You're not a regular," Mycel said without looking up. "I need you to hold something for me. One night." "No." "You've been losing stock." Mycel set the slate down. "Go on." "The witch at the palace takes it. She trades it for favors on the road. I can show you where it goes." Mycel's eyes stayed on him. "Proof." Kyros pulled a small wax seal from his pocket. It was the second seal Luna had given him, unused, marked with her sigil. He set it on the counter between the platters of strange fruit and the bright bottles. "This came from her hand. Your owner knows the mark. Show it to the captain and say where you found the missing casks." Mycel picked up the seal. Turned it. "What do you want." "Tell the captain tonight. Not tomorrow. Tonight." "Why." "Because she talks about people who owe her. I'm one of them. If the captain hears her name first, she spends the night explaining herself and not talking about me." Mycel weighed the seal in their palm. "The casks are hers." "Yes." "Then she stole from my house." Mycel pocketed the seal. "I'll go now." They untied their apron and left it on the bar. They walked out the front door without another word. Kyros stayed for one drink he did not touch. He counted minutes. By the time he stepped back into the yard, a lantern was moving up the palace road, and two guards were with it. He walked home the long way and did not look toward the tower. Before sunrise he heard the bell that meant the captain had taken someone in for questioning. The name traveled through the market by first light. Luna was in a cell. Her enchantments were sealed until the captain finished with her. Kyros stood at his window. His debts to her were frozen. Her mouth was shut for now. But Corvus was still coming at dawn, and the wizard did not answer to any captain.