A Whisper of Night

12.3 || MAJAEYRA ❄️

Jae frowned, turning to Brennia. "What do you mean?"

Brennia's eyes flickered to her lap. She looked almost ashamed. "Never mind," she muttered, but she still looked shaken, as though she'd seen a ghost.

"No - tell me," she said. "Is that...is that the handmaid who was blamed for your disappearance?"

Brennia shrugged. "I don't know."

"Please tell me," she said. "We need to know..." but what did she need to know? Why did it matter?

The bartender started slamming flagons of beer onto the counter. The conversation in the room resumed - several men went up to the Brown Bear, laughing and talking. The Bear's voice rose above them all.

"Why's he called the Brown Bear?" Jae asked the Priest.

"He bested a bear with his bare hands," the Priest said, repulsion painted in every crevice of his face. "He caught it between his hands and crushed its skull."

"That's not possible," Brennia said.

He turned to her. "It is - I was there."

"That must've been thirty years ago!" Brennia said. "How old are you?"

Jae studied the slaves as Brennia continued snapping at the Priest. Several of the men around the Brown Bear were passing him coins. In exchange, the Bear unlocked the chains on one or two of the slaves.

He's selling them, Jae thought.

Brennia noticed, too. "Jae," she said. "Jae...could you buy that slave? The girl? I don't know if she's my handmaid, but she...she looks familiar."

Jae bit her lip. "I...I don't know. I don't think so." Brennia could've easily been mistaken. It was more or less impossible to imagine the girl - with her unevenly-cropped hair and dirt-streaked rags - serving in any court.

"It wouldn't take much," Brennia insisted. "One or two golds."

"And our identities," the Priest said. "You wouldn't want - "

"But he wouldn't know us. Not if you go and - "

"Y'all ready?" hollored the Brown Bear. "To Sapainya!"

Several of the slaves handed over their flagons to the bartender. The girl stumbled slightly over her chains - with a pang of sympathy, Jae realized that her shackles had been tightened to fit her skinny ankles.

"Please!" Brennia said desperately, as the slaver began moving out. "I made her life miserable. And when I was kidnapped, she was blamed and nearly murdered - let me do this for her! Please!" She fished around her own pockets, but came up with no money.

"No," the Priest said. "Absolutely not. What advantage would having the girl give us?"

Jae bit her lip. The Brown Bear banged open the door.

And the Priest's eyes narrowed. A shrewd smile curled over his lips. "The Lion Queen might not trust us if we have her daughter," he mused, "but if we had her daughter and an escaped criminal - an escaped traitor, no less - we would have a much higher chance of gaining refuge."

"No!" Brennia said, horrified. "You can't give her to my mother - she'd kill her - take her to the Nightfire Isles!"

"You two, stay here." Over Brennia's stuttered protests, the Priest produced a pouch from his robes and started shoving his way towards the Brown Bear.

Jae and Brennia were silent. The eyes of the entire tavern seemed to follow the slaves as they trudged out of the hall.

Finally, Jae turned to Brennia. "What do you mean, you made her life miserable?"