Entwined Realms Volume One(141)

Chapter Eleven





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The party to celebrate the end of the first round of fighting took place in Beylor’s home. The décor of the huge pile of bricks was loud, ostentatious, obnoxious – in short, exactly what Nalah had expected.

Of the sixteen fighters left, one was Rorth. The huge half-orc stood in the corner. He was quiet, watchful, not disrupting the party but not part of it either. Esh might have dismissed him as a threat, but she still couldn’t shake the unease.

Yet Esh was Esh, and he went straight for that corner, calling out, “You’re still alive.”

“Not surprised to see you either,” the not-literally-but-almost-a-giant replied, giving a smile that showcased teeth with a slight tuskish quality to them.

“Wasn’t going to get beaten and lose the opportunity to fight you.”

Something in Rorth’s eyes shifted, and his smile went from genial to almost approving. “So, you’re that.”

Damned if Nalah could make out the meaning, but Esh only smiled a rare smile, his tone conspiratorial as he replied, “Hells yeah.”

“Well then, you and I, we’ll give them a show.”

“Would have it no other way.”

With a half nod to Rorth, Esh grabbed her hand and left the half orc to his corner. The moment they were out of earshot, Nalah asked, “What was that about?”

“Finding common ground.”

“Don’t be cryptic. What did you two mean?”

A man gave Nalah a once-over, and Esh scowled at him, pulling Nalah close and putting his arm around her shoulder. “It means he’s like me, even if you don’t see it. That’s why I’m not worried about him. The reason he fights is the reason I fight.”

The reason Esh fights? She always thought it was something he fell into and was the only thing he could make money from that was at least a little aboveboard.

Esh’s statement crystallized something in her, a back-of-the-head musing that started with their reunion  . She didn’t know Esh, not really. Yes, in some ways she knew him better than anyone alive – meeting at seven and ten and then spending the next decade in constant proximity assured that.

Still, because of that, she became lazy and assumed so many things about him, assumptions this re-meet challenged on a daily basis.

Tiffany bounded up, breaking into her musings, her smile wide and white and directed at Esh. “I heard all about what you did today! For the first time I actually wished I was at a fight! I’m Tiffany. Me and Nalah have been hanging while you boys do your fighting thing!”

In other times Esh’s dumbfounded expression upon being confronted with Tiffany would have Nalah doubled over, but her attention was focused on the ring on Tiffany’s finger, bright red, the color looking foreign and wrong against the paleness of Tiffany’s skin versus the warm brown tones of her mother.

Tiffany must have noticed her focus, because she asked, “You like the ring, Nalah?”

“It’s stunning,” she said, at least she thought she said it. The ring held her enraptured. She shouldn’t stare, shouldn’t give so much info away.

“I’ve never seen you wear jewelry! You totally should. Your man should have enough winnings to get you a piece or two!”

The ring called to her in a way it never had before. Its magic was sharper, clearer, a song that she had forgotten the lyrics to, but if she kept humming the tune, it would come to her. She would know everything.

Beylor was approaching now, his eyes going first to the deep cleavage Tiffany was displaying before coming to look at Esh. “Quite a display, Cage King.”

“Didn’t want to waste my time.” And Esh, the magic in him was growing as well, slow and subtle, and now his magic jumped in the presence of the ring. His eyes grew more alight every hour, and Nalah still did not know what to attribute it to.

The ring was singing again, and Tiffany kept talking. “With your coloring you just need deep, rich colors, like emeralds or sapphires!” As Tiffany went on with a fervency that would make a street-corner preacher proud, all Nalah could see were the exclamation points that surrounded each of Tiffany’s excited utterances. The woman didn’t seem to know how to speak in anything less.

The ring sparked, the song lyrics became clear, and magic around it grew and enveloped, ran through her…

Here was sunshine and humid air, all lush foliage and earthy scents, a haven of comfort. It was green and good and warm, rich soil, the scent of which perfumed the air, earthy with a hint of floral.

Here was desert. Here was arid, a dry that cut deep, that sucked out the moisture through your pores and a dry you could not get rid of, no matter how much of the very precious water at your side you drunk.