former herald of the East, we knew so very little about you at court.”
Gwen raises her hands slowly. Maybe she’ll try to choke him. Maybe
she’ll blast him with her magic fingers. As much as I’d love to watch,
I know I can’t.
“Guys, come on. That’s enough.” I step directly between them,
facing Gwen. I take her slender wrists in my hands and she brings down
her guard. I can feel Kurt’s hot breath on my back so I turn to face
him. “Are you forgetting that you’re on the same side?”
Deep in my heart, I know that’s not true. Gwen made it clear to me
the night we were on our way to Shelly. She considers herself to be
her own team, like a lone wolf. The way Kurt’s been treating her, I
can see why. They step away from each other, and Gwen takes a step
behind me to be shielded from them.
“I apologize,” he says dismissively. “Let’s resume our search.”
“Not that I’m doubting you, Kurt,” Layla says, “but do we even
know what we’re looking for? A magic cupboard? Enchanted armoire?
Fancy-looking glass?”
“Whatever would we do with that?” He looks down at the ground and
the smooth cobblestone steps beneath his feet. “We have to get
beneath. The underwater entrance is sealed. There has to be a passage
somewhere here.”
“Is there a sewer?” Layla suggests. “Maybe if we find a manhole.”
“As much as I love the idea of wading through muck-” My attention
snaps to a man closing down his tent. His sign reads Felix’s Oölogy
Emporium. Crates are piled with eggs in different sizes and colors.
One egg looks more like a football with its ribbed brown shell and
white stripes. A set of small furry hands creep up from beneath the
table. They belong to a young boy. He’s shirtless, skinny as a wire.
He smiles with the wet nose of a fox and tiny teeth to match, closing
his hands firmly on a golden egg.
“Leave it alone, Tristan,” Kurt warns.
But then I look at the squat, fat vendor, sweating to reach the
back awning of his shop. His face is red and oblivious, and I know
that I just can’t leave it alone.
Fox Boy sees me approaching and starts, losing his grip on the
egg. It falls back into the crate with a thud . The vendor whips
around and, realizing what’s happening, trips off his stool and onto
his knees. Fox Face flips over, scrambling to his feet, but not before
turning around to spit at me. I grab him, but he whines and sinks his
teeth into my arm. I cry out and let Fox Boy go.
I clamp a hand down on the bloody beads sprouting from the round
marks of his teeth.
“That’s what you get for sticking your nose in the foxhole, dude,”
Layla says.
I shake my arm, as if that’ll get rid of the pain. I don’t make a
face, though, because I know I was right.
The vendor comes around, fussing over me with a glass bottle and a
rag. He’s gracious, but he can’t seem to form a proper sentence
because his face is so red. I’m about to tell him, “No worries. It’s
no big deal,” when he tilts the bottle right over my wound.
I don’t recognize the scream coming from me. The liquid burns. It
freezes. It numbs. I want to pull my hand away, but my brain isn’t
connecting to my limbs. I can’t move.
“You must burn away the saliva,” he says. “It’s paralyzing.”
For a moment, I feel as if I’ve just stepped off the ship again.
My legs want to give out and my head spins. Then he holds the rancid,
clear liquid over my nose and the dizziness goes away. I bite down on
my other hand as the vendor wraps the cloth around my forearm and
pulls it tight.
“Better?” he asks.
“Much.” I don’t realize I’ve started to fall down until I notice
Kurt’s arms holding me up.
“Come,” the vendor says. “Come and sit. The venom takes a few
minutes to wear off.”
***
Felix, the vendor, ushers us into his tent. Stacks of crates
marked BEWARE and FRAGILE form a wall between the front of the tent
and a closet-sized living room. They sit me on the lone chair while
the others sit on the bales of hay.
When I look up, Felix is gone and my friends are staring at me
with incredulous faces.
Layla places her hand on my bandage. The bite mark throbs under
the pressure of her hand, but I don’t pull away. “You couldn’t leave
it alone, could you?”
“Really, Tristan,” Gwen whispers. “You’ve got enough problems to
deal with.”
“Leave him alone,” Thalia hisses.
As promised by the vendor, I feel much better. I give my arm a
good stretch. Considering I’ve spent all day abusing my body, I’m no
worse than a full day of swim practice. Whoever said high school
prepares you for real life might’ve actually been on to something.
“Here we have it,” Felix shouts merrily, emerging from the front
of the tent with a fancy-looking teapot and tiny cups like the kind my
neighbor Mrs. Horbachevsky brings out when she has my dad fixing her
computer.
“It is my lucky day,” he pops a squat on a large crate and starts
pouring, “when such a brave youth graces my doorstep. You’ve done me a
great kindness. The fox boys have been nicking my stand all summer.
Think they’re getting close to a dragon egg.” He leans in close,
brandishing a secretive smile. “They don’t know where I keep the real
stuff!”
The tea is a burst of cold licorice on my tongue. I decide I like
it.
Gwen sets her teacup down without drinking from it. “You mean to
say our friend got poisoned for nothing?”
“ Gwen ,” I warn.
“Of course not!” The vendor’s cheeks flood red. “In fact, I am
rather moved. Now those boys will know others are watching. Someone
has to do the right thing. Though what the right thing is around these
parts is hard to tell. I apologize for your trouble-?”
“Tristan,” I say, standing. “It’s cool. Really. I feel great.
Thanks for the tea, Mr. Felix.”
“It’s simply Felix.” He shakes my hand. “Now, now. Sit. Please
don’t think I don’t appreciate your kindness. A reward?”
“That’s not necessary. I wasn’t trying to-” Then I realize that
this is exactly what I need. Someone who knows their way around here.
Everyone else seems to shoo us away. I sit back down, confusing my
friends who are between standing and sitting. “But perhaps you could
do something for me.”
Suddenly his eyes squint at me. I’m afraid I’ve said the wrong
thing. Then a daunting smile widens his face. He slaps his knee and
booms with laughter. Something about him reminds me of Coach Bellini,
and that alone makes me like Felix.
“Treasure hunters, are you? Searching for the Infinite Abyss? I
did my share of traveling in my day. That’s how I ended up here.” His
eyes fall on a rigid Kurt, staring in that intent way of his that
makes you want to run for the hills. Felix’s face blooms with
curiosity. “What an interesting sword. May I?”
Surprisingly, Kurt hands it over. Felix turns it in his hands,
bounces the weight on his open palms, even brings his nose right
against the blade and inhales deeply. “Haven’t seen this kind of
craftsmanship in many years. I should’ve realized. Sea folk, are you?”
We all nod, even Layla. I can’t help but think of what a beautiful
mermaid she would make.
“Seems funny,” Felix says, returning Kurt’s sword. “I’d seen one
mermaid in my whole life during my days fishing up in Maine. Now,
you’re everywhere! Drinking merrily about town. Saving my own shop
from thieves. I tell you, crime rate’s been going up since I moved
here twenty years ago. Mayor Alvarez and his wife have been having a