The Changeling

9

Cetlali whipped through the door flaps and looked around the space with a deep frown, already feeling agitated. A small unlit lantern sat on a tiny table next to a hefty cot, positioned on the wall closest to Ezren's tent. The material seemed so flimsy, she was sure she could hear Ezren's heavy breathing right on the other side.

The panic in her chest swelled and memories from the night she'd been hiding from for four cycles flooded her completely, and she was too tired to resist.

After she and Zeger agreed to their friendly proposal, they emerged from the natural caves the tunnels let out of and onto the starlit beach.

The two laughed and joked as they moved towards the towering fires just around the bottom of the bluffs. There, partially in a hidden little cove, the party started looking pretty raucous.

Cetlali laughed as Zeger cheered and pulled her towards the fires. Five feet tall, cones of wood were aflame while people danced around them like nymphs. Some were getting drunk and bold, while the others laughed at anything.

Everyone was so vivacious, mingling together, mixing, lingering and joyous. It was infectious.

A few people played music on flutes, fiddles, and drums while friends sang ribald songs.

Cetlali hummed between her laughter as Zeger bellowed the chorus to cheers and clapping hands. He stole two wineskins from some soldiers who grumbled, but only for a bit, since it was their eventual vassal who stole the wine for them. Since drinks were so far not lacking in abundance, only in convenience, they laughed it off, too.

"Zeger, where's my surprise?" Cetlali whined, the tone flapping out into her loose limbs as she bobbed like a slug. "And don't tell me it's some new wine I just have to try —," she pointed an accusatory finger at him, " — it's a lie. They all taste like dirt and you know it!"

He just grinned. "Well then! Good thing I got you some dark ale, because I know of your distaste for wine. It's in a cask over there." He pointed towards a large cart, several feet back, close to the furthest towering cone of flame.

Cetlali had to squint as she looked towards the cart. She lifted her hand to block the flames and the people. They were teetering towards overwhelming her senses with their loud voices and erratic movements. The blaze obscured a group sitting on the other side of it, where she knew some of her favorite boulders for perching lay. Once she blocked the rest all out, she spotted the cask at the edge of the wagon's end.

Zeger broke her tilting gaze with his words,

"But the cask's not the surprise."

Cetlali turned back to him and frowned.

"Your big surprise isn't an entire cask of ale for all of me?" She gestured to her short stature.

Zeger reached his full height back when he was fifteen. Cetlali was maybe half a head smaller than him fully grown herself, now that they were two seasons older. She would still never

be capable of drinking as much as him. He had the constitution of a mountain and his liver was likely forged inside a dying star. "What's bigger than a cask of ale that I deserve from my future Vassal?" She teased him and he almost blushed alongside his sweet smile.

"Come drink with me," he insisted with a wave. "I'll fill up this skin for you as soon as I empty it." He winked and walked past her, chugging the wine with leisurely steps.

She rolled her eyes, following him towards the cart. Saying hello to people along the way, she did her best to look at them all at least once.

Her eyes were far too enchanted with the scenery. Nothing quite beat letting her gaze wander across the sands, the stars, the fires, and the frivolity. As she and Zeger skirted the fire, Cetlali reached a hand out towards the flames to feel the kiss of their warmth. Her eyes wandered through the fluid colors and heat.