Page 4 of Tides of Shadows

I snorted. “More like a nightmare if you have to live here longer than a day. Behind all that white and gold, hides the stench of intrigue and rot. The Families can drone for hours about alliances and ancient bloodlines, but in truth it’s only about who sells whom for the highest price.”

Her eyes flicked to me, a touch frightened, but she kept stealing glances at the city, as if it might vanish the moment she looked away.

“Shall I find a carriage, my Lady?” Roderick asked.

“Not tonight. I’m exhausted from the voyage, and I have no energy to start the political dance yet.” I sighed. “Let’s find an inn for the night. At first light, we’ll head to the palace.”

As we searched for a tavern, we passed stalls brimming with Elementars. Merchants haggled loudly, voices rising in heated negotiations. The greatest crowd gathered before a stall where the seller hurled fire into the air, the flames twisting like living things above his head. Heat rolled outward in heavy breaths, and the smell of scorched oil clung to the square. Coins rang in purses. Children stared open-mouthed. Even the guards lingered longer than duty allowed.

“For the finest price,” the merchant cried. “Shipment straight from Emberhold, capital of fire and flame. Twenty coins for one Elementar with cornelian. Thirty-five for two.”

Kael and Brenn drifted toward the stall at once, as if pulled by a current. Though they were born of the islands, fire had always sung to them. I saw it in the way their shoulders squared, in the hunger that lit their eyes.

Roderick and I approached more slowly. In the White City, nothing came without a price.

“Show me what they can really do,” I said.

The merchant’s grin widened. “Ahh, a wary young Lady. A wise habit.” He slid rings onto his fingers, palladium bands heavy with stones that glowed from within. With a practiced motion, he thrust his hands upward.

Flame erupted, a roaring column that surged at least twenty feet into the air before breaking apart in a shower of sparks.

I schooled my face, though it took effort. The stone was good. The craft was sound. And the price, by city standards, was almost kind.

Still, we did not have that kind of coin to spare.

I hesitated for a moment before reaching into my pouch. I drew out two tanzanites, cool and dark as deep water. They were not Elementars yet. They were not set in palladium. But the stones themselves were pure.

“What would you say to barter?” I asked.

“Barter?” He scoffed. “Lady, this is a city of coins.”

I held the tanzanites up for him to see. When his hand darted forward, greedy and quick, I closed my fingers and pulled them back.

“Clean cut,” I said calmly. “Straight from Thalrock. You know well enough we do not trade in refuse.”

He paused, weighing me with shrewd eyes. The noise of the crowd pressed in around us, impatient, curious.

“We both know how little tanzanite has been mined recently. So, you know how valuable they are.” I added.

At last he chuckled low.

“For those eyes alone,” he said, reluctant, “I will make the trade.”

I allowed myself a gentle smile, horse shit, but a bargain was struck.

I slipped a ring onto Kael’s hand, then another onto Brenn’s. They stared at me as though I had placed crowns upon their heads.

“You cannot walk this city unarmed,” I said. “A weak creature invites attack.”

They glanced at one another, and the same spark of joy flared in their eyes.

But the truth was, that display of fire didn’t mean much. True magic was no longer the force that toppled kingdoms. In scattered places of Dominium you could still find the ashes of old eras. Ruins of realms mapped differently, where people with godlike powers had once ruled. Now men settled for echoes of the ancient elements. Water. Fire. Earth. Air.

To command the force, Elementar was always needed. Palladium jewelry with the right stone. The stronger the stone, the higher the price. Anyone who wished to wield an element had to use a charm.

Well, almost everyone.

The harbor tavern was packed to the rafters. Smoke from candles and pipes curled beneath the beamed ceiling, sailors’ songs mingled with the clunk of pints. The moment we crossed the threshold, a recognizable scent struck my nose. This place smelled more like home than I expected.