Page 9 of The Heartless One
It took them two days of walking. They’d taken the longer path, avoiding the Factory District entirely. They were too easily recognized there after their battle with Callum. Which meant they had to walk along the coast with all the other folks denied easy passage through any of the districts.
At first, she assumed the others that continued to gather with them were travelers who would wander off eventually. But they quickly created a caravan. Groups of people were safer from the infected, others mused. Together, they would stay safe.
Jessamine felt anything but with so many strangers surrounding them.
She’d slept with one eye open and Nyx keeping watch on top of her. No one wished to anger the yellow-eyed demon who crouched over her heart.
The first night was when she heard rumblings of a god having returned. She had set her bedroll down beside Elric’s and Sybil’s; the latter began preparing dinner over the fire Elric started.
“Did you hear what that farmer was claiming?” a passerby mentioned, their voice carrying over the fires. “The gods are coming back.”
“That’s a myth. The gods are all dead and you know it.” His companion had a bristly silver beard, and he scratched at it as though it had bugs.
“Not according to him! He said the god looked right at him, some black beast with strings of viscera hanging off his form. He looked right into the man’s soul and told him, ‘The Deathless One has returned.’?”
Everyone was quiet, listening in on the conversation without even attempting to hide their eavesdropping. Clearly, the storyteller liked the attention, though. He kept going, adding embellishments that simply couldn’t be true. The Deathless One had fangs like a bat, and wings like a raven. He’d eaten the cow in two bites. First the head, and then the rest of it.
Jessamine sat down in the sand across from Elric, plopped Nyx into her lap so her familiar could also give him a judgmental stare, and raised her brow.
He mirrored her expression with a raised brow of his own. The god was quite pleased with himself.
“You said you visited the sacrifice and that was it. What did you do?” she murmured, making sure not to be overheard. But no one was paying attention to their odd trio, not when the man was now talking about how the god had summoned the crows to attack the farmer.
“I accepted the sacrifice.” Elric shrugged. “I can’t control if someone was there while I did it.”
“You could have looked around!” she scolded.
“Next time, perhaps I will heed your advice.” He took the bowl Sybil offered him and grinned.
His smug expression didn’t budge for the rest of the night or the next day. He was still grinning even as the Pleasure District came into view. The damned man was far too pleased with himself.
The caravan they traveled with was far more subdued after the conversation about the gods. Perhaps they were all wondering if they should start sacrificing and worshipping again. They would have rioted if they knew they were traveling with one of those very gods.
The golden buildings and gleaming towers overtook the horizon, however, and Jessamine forgot all about the previous evening. This area of her kingdom was blindingly beautiful, a stark contrast to the corners where Jessamine had been dwelling these past months.
They’d once called it the Pleasure District because it was home to those who sold their bodies for pleasure. But over many years of flourishing business, it had grown into so much more. Now it was a feast for the senses, a destination for those who wished to dine on fine foods, or who sought the finest clothing or the rarest of jewels. Every building gleamed, dripping with gold and silver and gemstones that sparkled in the sunlight.
Even from afar, she could see how the district gates were made of plated gold. There were figures sculpted into it. Men and women, nude and in repose, beckoning all those who sought to indulge their senses. All were welcome here—if they could afford it.
There were blue-coated guards at the front gate as well, asking people for paperwork to enter. The buttons on their jackets were made of gold, and their clothing was so perfectly pressed she swore she could smell the starch. But it was the swords at their sides that made her far more uncomfortable.
“Papers?” she muttered, looking to Elric and Sybil for direction. “No one’s ever needed papers to get into the Pleasure District.”
“Papers proving we’ve been invited, I’d guess,” Sybil muttered, lingering at the back of the crowd. “Considering all of the king’s men surrounding the place, I’d guess this means the Pleasure District has rather important visitors. They don’t want just anyone walking in. We’ll have to try again later.”
“No, we won’t,” Elric muttered.
The last thing she wanted was for a god to get involved and cause a scene. Everyone was already talking about him, and he’d made it very clear that he couldn’t handle himself in public.
“Elric!” she hissed, grabbing his arm and trying to yank him back to her side. “Don’t you dare.”
The glare he cast upon her would have made anyone else freeze in their place. But Jessamine knew he wouldn’t hurt her, no matter how much he wanted to in the moment.
“Do you want to get inside or not?” he snarled. “We have a witch to find, and I was under the impression you wanted to get your throne back sooner rather than later.”
“What’s another few days when I’ve already been waiting for months?” Jessamine tried to stop him again. She clung to the fabric of his shirt, but he would not let her stop him.
Elric shook her off like she was a gnat. He stalked through the crowd, pausing to speak to one of the guards. She’d never been very talented at lipreading, but she could see the guard’s face go bright red.
