The Pegasus's Lament Read Online Free PDF Page B

and surveyed the room with arch superiority.
    The regulars were just starting to trickle in. There was a table toward the back of the room where a group of sailors were playing dice. Most of them were stripped to the waist, their arms well muscled and their fingers and torsos scarred with the ravages of salt, sea, and line. Just beyond the table of seamen, there was an open spiral staircase that snaked its way up to the rented rooms. Tionne had never been up there, but she had heard enough stories that piqued her curiosity in the most devilishly sensual ways.
    A long bar ran the length of the room on the left and that was where the young mage made her way now. There was a lanky blond behind the counter. Her butter yellow hair was pulled back in a long braid that hung to her waist. Deep grey eyes, the color of witchmetal, flicked over the bar and the patrons, as if tallying up the number of crowns that would be in the till at the end of the night. Those eyes caught Tionne's and held them for a moment, the corner of the barmaid's mouth lifting in a smile.
    Tionne's stomach did a little flip when Aluka smiled at her like that. She didn't know if it was because she found the older girl so pretty, or just because she relished the singular attention that Aluka lavished on her when she was nearby, but Tionne knew that she had never felt that way about anyone else. If the rough company was enough to make her shy away from the Turgid Eel, Aluka's smile was always a stronger reason to come back.
    “Hey beautiful,” Aluka said to her in low voice as Tionne sat down at the bar. She produced a thick, well-frosted glass filled with deep amber liquid and slid it front of the mage. “Honey for my honey?”
    Her milky pale skin did nothing to hide the blush that crept up Tionne's neck and spread all the way up to her ears. She felt as if her entire face was burning. Aluka smiled at her again and then drifted down the bar, her attention caught by a figure in a thick traveling cloak.
    Tionne watched the newcomer out of the corner of her eye. Surreptitious investigations came as naturally to her as breathing. Her guile and subterfuge had kept her one step ahead of officious Masters and conniving fellow students alike. She prided herself on her knowledge of things that were thought well guarded secrets and only divulged that knowledge when it would profit her to do so.
    Aluka was drawing a drink for the stranger in the cloak. The mysterious figure kept its head low, letting the voluminous folds hide its features and grant it anonymity. They must be roasting under all that cloth , Tionne thought. It was still warm outside and even though the windows were open, the air inside was thick and hot. The barmaid passed the ale to the stranger and took a coin in return. During that brief exchange, Tionne noticed that the stranger was wearing thick leather gloves.
    She leaned back in her chair to get a look at the feet. It was an inadvisable action, a s it called attention to her, which was something one usually didn't want in a place like the Eel. Still, her curiosity got the better of her and she gave the stranger a closer look. Not that it helped all that much. The cloak ran almost to the floor. Only a pair of black leather boots peeked out. The boots were unremarkable, save for the brilliant shine of the silver hardware. If nothing else, it was obvious that the footwear was well cared for.
    Shaking her head, as if to clear the curiosity, she took a long pull on the mead and shivered as the alcohol sparked a fire in her belly. The warmth was a welcome visitor and she nursed it along with small sips throughout the evening. Aluka would stop by and chat when she wasn't busy with others, scampering off only when drinks were shouted for or when she caught the master of the house giving her the evil eye.
    It was during one of these absences that Tionne realized that the stranger in the traveling cloak had ended up on the stool next to hers. The newcomer was