They were drunk when they stumbled out of the Point. A bad way to start an adventure, Tierce would later reflect. But on the other hand, if they’d been completely sober, there might not have been an adventure at all.
“I can’t believe you’re really going to see her again,” Barris said as the door swung shut on the noisy tavern behind them. It was a warm evening with no need for coats or coverings as the trio headed across the Bridge of Blades. The bridge was dark, but they were armed and had drunk just enough to be unconcerned about potential dangers. They moved unhurriedly, relaxed and easy in each other’s company.
“Why not?” Romeric flashed a smile at his friends. It was the same, not-quite-decent smile he’d had when he described the encounter with his “ailenia” earlier in the evening. “I think she likes me.”
“Her brother is gonna kill you when he finds out,” Tierce said. Of the three, he’d had the most to drink. Or at least, he had the least experience handling it. His words felt thick in his mouth, and he had to concentrate to make sure they came out in the right order. Talking and walking at the same time were proving to be a particular challenge, though he was sure he could compensate if he just spoke louder.
“Cael?” Romeric dismissed the notion with a snort, but the others were not convinced. Barris shot him a dour look.
“Besides Cael,” he said. “Her parents will never approve. Even if you have money, they’re never going to let her marry a foreigner.”
Romeric’s laugh was sharp and shameless. “Marry? Who said anything about marry? I just think she’s pretty.” He thumped Barris in the arm, Barris pushed him back, and then they shoved each other back and forth in a brief contest that was gloriously inconclusive.
Neither of them noticed Tierce’s sudden flush. Barris’s words hadn’t been aimed at him, but they stung all the same. Surrounded by his friends and the boisterous crowd in the Point, he’d managed to push aside the memory of Neda’s kiss, but now it returned with a pang that stopped him in his tracks.
It’s why he’d gone to the tavern in the first place, because he was so confused and frustrated by what had happened in the garden that he couldn’t even think about going home. The others had found him there later and joined him in drowning his sorrows without needing to ask what they were. Which was just as well because how could ever tell them about what had happened?
Head spinning, heart aching, Tierce swayed on his feet in the middle of the Bridge of Blades, unable to stop the maelstrom of conflicting emotions that assaulted him. For the first time since he came to Corregal, he wished that he’d never met Sieur Eristan, because then he never would have met his beautiful daughter, who never would be, never could be, his. He wished he’d never come to Corregal at all.
“Tierce?” The other two had stopped their scuffling long enough to notice his apparent distress. Barris peered at him with concern. “Are you all right?”
“I think he is going to be sick,” said Romeric.
Tierce opened his mouth, but whether he was actually going to be sick, or whether he was going to disgorge some heartbroken confession to his friends, he was never sure because, at that moment, there was a sound. A great reverberating peal that rose out of the darkness upriver and echoed off the sides of the gorge, splintering the quiet of the night.
The Gatehouse bell.
Whatever thoughts they had in their heads disappeared in an instant, and the three boys craned their heads simultaneously toward the source of the sound.
“D’you think it’s a skreik? Tierce asked in a low, worried voice.
Romeric shook his head. “In the city? It is too well protected.”
Barris only listened, counting silently as the bell rang out twice more and then fell silent. “Three chimes,” he said as the last of the echoes died away. “It’s just a warning. Not a summons.”
“Warning for what?” It was Romeric who asked, but they were al wondering the same thing, staring upriver in the darkness to where the Gatehouse lay. Every Gatehouse ever built had a bell hung over the doorway, used to alert locals in times of crisis. Even in cities as great as Corregal, warded by means both magic and military, the sound of the bell sent a shiver through the stoutest hearts. There were plenty of ordinary dangers in the world, but when the Gatehouse bell spoke…that meant something worse.
“Come on,” Barris said, finally, gesturing them onward. “Sieur Eristan probably knows. Let’s get home.”
It was late enough at night that the streets and bridges of the city were mostly deserted. As the trio hurried toward Fleuracy House, they only passed a few people, usually in groups of three or more and usually in just as much a hurry as they were. Once, they crossed paths with a Black Shield patrol but got nothing worse than warning looks from the officers before going on their way. Bridge abutments, terraced landings, and the difficult geography of the riverside city made it impossible to take a direct route anywhere. They had to cross the river multiple times to get home, and the quickest route was via Shinetower Stair.
Shinetower was a massive spire of rock that jutted out from the cliff at the point where the Cille River met the Aris. Four bridges were anchored in the spire, each at a different height and splayed at odd angles across the rivers, and a slender watchtower perched upon its peak. Carved into the face of the rock, a stairway spiraled down the spire’s length, connecting the tower, the bridges, and an ancient boat dock at its base. Steep, uneven steps, with nothing but a rope to protect against a fall, made the twisting stair a difficult path to take on the best of days. But it was the fastest, and for the three inebriated young men in a hurry to get home, it was the best.
Tierce tried to keep up with his friends, but the higher they climbed, the dizzier he got and the slower his steps became. They didn’t notice when he fell behind or when, overcome by a wave of sudden nausea, he finally stopped. Catching his shoulder against the wall of the tower, he tried to steady himself. He knew he was going to vomit, but he refused to do it there on the stairs. He might be drunk, but he was not disgusting. He remembered passing a bridge landing just a short distance back, and quickly (as quickly as he could), he headed back down, one hand pressed against his mouth to delay the inevitable. Somehow, he managed to keep his feet under him as he went, and in a few short turns he found the wide platform that led the way onto Soz Bridge.
The breeze coming over the river was invigorating, but not enough to stop his rebellious stomach. Clutching the bridge rail, he leaned out and spewed the contents of his stomach into the river below.
When he was empty, he slid to the ground, propped listlessly against the railing as he tried to recover his breath.
That’s when he saw the cat. It was sitting on the railing on the opposite side of the bridge. It was a bit larger than most cats, but it was treating him with the same disregard with which most cats treated the world. There was nothing unusual in that. There were plenty of cats in Corregal. What was unusual was that it was glowing. Red, shimmering light dusted the creature’s black fur, and it flickered and sparked whenever it moved.
“Cats don’t glow,” Tierce mumbled in drunken confusion.
“Maybe I am not a real cat.”
Tierce blinked. The cat blinked back at him with eyes that shone with eerie reflections.
“Did you just…” He stopped himself. Shook his head to try and clear it. “I’m not having a conversation with a cat.”
“That would be ridiculous,” the cat agreed. It stood and stretched itself down to the toes, a lithe and languorous movement that ruffled its sleek fur and caused its glowing red light to shift in color, from red to blue to green and back to red again. As it settled back into place, it seemed somehow bigger in size.
“I am so drunk,” Tierce said. He wondered what had happened to his friends. Surely, they hadn’t left him to wander the city in this condition. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, hoping it would make a difference, but the cat was still sitting there when he was done. Still glowing.
“If you’re not a cat,” he asked it, “what are you?”
“I’m exactly what you wish,” the cat said with a swish of its tail. “And you are wasting time.” It took a few light-footed steps along the railing, away from the entrance to Shinetower. Then it paused to look back at Tierce. “Are you coming?”