He’d never been so cold, and he found his teeth chattering as he shook in the bed. He tried to get up, but he was too weak. Snow? Where was he that there was snow? Merchants had talked about frozen rain, but he’d had a hard time picturing it. It seemed beyond belief.

  Then he was unconscious again.

  Waking again, he was in the same room, yet now, it was too hot. Such a dry heat, he felt like he was in an oven. Something squeezed through that cracked window—a huge bright purple lizard scrambled down the wall and then crept toward him. Its mouth, filled with teeth sticking out at all angles, was too big for its body. Its face was a purple nightmare of horns, fangs, a long black tongue, and hateful angry eyes.

  The purple lizard scurried toward him, fanged mouth dripping venom.

  Gray tried to pull himself up. He had to get away from that thing. Where was he? How long had it been since the snow?

  Gray couldn’t move, not a muscle, and he winced.

  The lizard was going to rip into him, and he doubted he’d survive.

  A second later, a yellow dog came running, barking, snarling, raising a ruckus.

  Gray couldn’t see the fight, but he knew it was brutal. The dog growled, yelped, and then didn’t stop snarling. The lizard’s hisses turned into shrieks of pain.

  Gray managed to get to his side, but then, just that turn exhausted him completely, and he fell back into the darkness.

  He woke to the sounds of rain outside, and he immediately looked for both the demon lizard and the dog.

  “Hello to the house,” Gray called out weakly. “Could someone tell me where I am?”

  The yellow dog came clicking into the room, jumped onto the bed, and sniffed him. It panted happily for a second, gave him a little lick, leapt back down and left him.

  The sounds and smells of the rain lulled Gray back to sleep. He’d always found Cradleport’s rainy season rather comforting. At night, he’d listen to the rain gush out the downspouts. During the day, he’d spend hours, under an awning in the Arena Market, talking with Blind John. What had happened to Blind John? What was happening to Gray?

  When he woke up next, it was warm again, no rain, no snow, no oven-like heat so dry. He was able to lift his hand, but it was like the hand of a stranger. His nails were long, and his arm was so thin.

  He was glad there wasn’t the lizard around, but he missed the yellow dog. He seemed very friendly, and in the end, he had saved Gray’s life.

  Moving was both heaven and hell. Gray felt so stiff, so weak. He’d been thin before, but now, he had withered away almost to nothing. All he wore was his small clothes, which were unexpectedly clean. His legs looked like sticks. His knees were so knobby now. He remembered that Princess Lilian had liked his legs. She wouldn’t anymore. Doubtless, she’d know he’d stolen her ruby necklace.

  A bark made him look to the door.

  The yellow dog barked again, turned, and went trotting away, his nails clicking on the dusty hardwood floor.

  Gray tried to stand but wound up falling into a pile of painful limbs.

  He couldn’t stand. He couldn’t even crawl.

  He closed his eyes. He figured he would die without knowing what had happened to him. He was pretty sure if he did die, he’d get to see what was in Oma’s shack in the ocean of stars. He remembered how lovely her voice had been, how comforting that warm light in the distance.

  “Oh, my precious child. What ever do you think you are doing?” The woman in the mesh mask was back.

  Gray tried to look up at her, but he was too weak. That smell, though, that perfume. It was like heaven in his nose.

  Strong hands lifted him and set him into the bed. He felt the dog leap onto the bed. It took a second, but he was finally able to finally see her benefactor without her mask on. She had long dark hair, a beautiful face, but older, with crow’s feet around her very dark brown eyes. Her lips were so very red. She wore a black tunic, tight against her long, slender frame. She was tall, very tall.

  Gray was struggling to keep his eyes open. It felt like he had run a hundred miles. “Who are you? No, I remember. You are Sette Sevanya, but you will want me to call you Settie.”

  “Will I?” The woman wasn’t not amused. “How do you know my name? You’ve not been awake ten minutes, and I certainly didn’t introduce myself to you.”

  “A dream. A vision. A voice in the darkness. A place of water and stars…so many stars. I don’t suppose I could eat something. I’m very hungry. I would gladly give you my soul for a cup of strong charbrew and a plate of frycake.”

  “Don’t be so quick to barter away your soul. Food can wait. Let me make sure you don’t die first.”

  Her fingers pulled on his arm, touched his forehead, and rolled him over to trace his spine.

  Gray was too weak to feel embarrassed by how little he was wearing. No. This woman had seen him naked, that was clear.

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  She was so beautiful and smelled so good. He could feel her heat. It was like she was burning, and that musky smell was her perfume on fire.

  “Wait. Captain. You had scales, on your hands, your arms. Are you a dragon?”

  “We’ll have time enough for conversation when you are stronger. I think you’ll live. You can thank Yellow for that. My wards failed for a moment, and the demon was able to get in, but Yellow fought valiantly. You should thank him.”

  The dog wormed his head under Gray’s hand, and Gray found the strength to pet his soft fur. “Thank you, Yellow. But there’s no such thing as demons.”

  “Tell the gluttony lizard that,” Settie sniffed. “Now, let’s see if your core can hold magic. If it can’t, well, I’m sure you’ll find some way to get back to Cradleport. It’s only ten thousand miles after all.”

  Gray laughed a little. “It would be a nice little swim. I am fully prepared for the journey. I’ve never felt better.”

  That made the captain chuckle. “Oh, I like a slave boy with a sense of humor.”

  “I am a young man, very handsome, and very capable. There are no slaves in Cradleport, or so the Sea King has decreed.”

  “Decrees are happy things. The truth is never so agreeable. Hush, child.”

  “Don’t call me slave boy, and don’t call me child, and I’m sure we’ll get along just fine, Captain.”

  “Hush, Grayson Fade. This will hurt, so brace yourself.”

  He felt something hot and heavy fill his belly, like he’d just eaten a big meal hot out of the oven. And then, power, such power, filled him. He’d never felt so good. The energy swirled around him, up throughhhis heart, which was pounding, loud and strong, into his head, and then around to his sex, which stiffened.

  “By the slut gods of old,” Settie breathed. “It’s as I hoped. This, Grayson Fade, this is a wonder. You are a miracle, both unexpected and very much expected.” She laughed, and it was musical, so different than her normal, serious demeanor.

  Gray sat up, on his own power, and looked down. He was surprised to see a dull, yellow glow, just under his skin. It was where that warm feeling was coming from. Around him were more wisps of yellow light, swirling around, and it reminded him of the light he’d seen in the distance, in the place of water and stars. More details filled his memories, how the light shone from the little window of Oma’s Shack. Light also glowed around the doorframe, and inside was the mysteries of the universe, he was sure of it.

  Gray laughed. “Do you see that?”

  “See what?” Settie asked.

  Gray shrugged. “It’s nothing. By the slut gods of old? That’s a quite a curse.”

  “You have quite the erection,” the captain smiled. “You might have a lust resonance. I wouldn’t be surprised. Stealing a ruby necklace from the Sea King’s daughter would’ve taken a great deal of seduction skill. I suppose you are charming in your own limited way.”

  “It’s a grand compliment you give me, Captain,” Gray said. “I’m very hungry. I feel like I could walk after…after what you did to me. So there really is magic?”

  “And dragons,” Settie helped him stand.

  She was strangely tall for a woman, and yet, she wasn’t a woman, obviously. He’d seen her scales, and he’d felt her magic, and her scent, that musky sweet scent, made him feel weak in a whole new way.

  “I can hardly believe it, Captain. Where was the magic and dragons in Cradleport?”

  “Let us get you settled in the dining room, and then, we can talk more. Your core is strong now, and yet, your body has withered this past year.”

  Gray slumped against her. If she hadn’t been holding him, she would’ve passed out again. “What about my heart?”

  “Repaired.”

  Gray could hardly believe all the time that had passed. “A year? A year of my life, lost? I didn’t even fucking get to remember the carriage.

  “It was rather grand,” Settie laughed. “But you woke up to the cart. Less grand but cheaper. I don’t have unlimited resources.”

  “But you’re a fucking dragon.” He found himself laughing, and felt like he might completely lose his mind at any moment. “Shouldn’t you have mountains of gold around here somewhere?”

  “It is a common mistake among the ignorant. Let me help you down the steps.”

  They left his room and walked down a hallway. A section of the roof was missing. Under it were weeds growing out of pockets of dirt. Down they went, past other doors, some broken, others sealed tight, to a staircase that brought them down into a central room on the ground floor. From there, past some red couches with the upholstery torn, into a kitchen area, where a fire was already burning in the stove. Near it was kindling, which consisted of busted furniture including a broken chair and hacked-up chiffarobe.

  She stuck in a drawer with the brass handle still connected into the fire. It was a little hotter in the kitchen, but not as much as he would’ve thought, with the fires going. She put a big kettle on while Gray sat in a chair that had been kingly at one time. Now, he could feel the tacks poking up through the cushion.

  “What is this place?”

  Settie didn’t answer.

  The dog came in, panting, and whining a little, staring up at his mistress. “Yes, Yellow, I understand. You can beg all you want, but in the end, you’ve already eaten. Our guest has not.”

  “Is this your dog?” Gray asked.

  “You will eat, and then we will talk,” the woman said sharply.

  She set down a plate in front of him, china, but chipped, and then brought a simple wooden serving board with meats, cheeses, and a little wooden bowls filled with different pickles, olives, and dried fruits. With it came some seedy bread, freshly baked it seemed.

  “I don’t have lust rock for the oven,” Captain Settie complained. “But now that you are awake, you can make yourself useful in any number of ways.” She turned to him. “I don’t mean that in a sexual manner. I assure you, I have ways of taking care of those needs myself.”

  “As do we all,” Gray chuckled. “At least those of us with hands at any rate. I did know a beggar without hands in the marketplace. Not all of his meager income went to food.”

  “Your Cradleport is a savage place.” The woman paused. “But also charming, in its own limited way. Without magic, without any connection to the real world, it really is as innocent as it is savage. The rule of the strong seems to be a constant however, with or without magic.”

  Gray started with a hunk of spicy sausage and followed that up with some sweet pickle. The bread was as crusty as it was fluffy. The cheese was creamy and strong, a nice addition to his meal.

  She gave him silver chalice filled with water, both cool and refreshing.

  “You shouldn’t give me such a fine cup,” he said between bites. “This would fetch a pretty price on the market.”

  “No, it wouldn’t,” Settie returned. “It’s as fake as most of the finery is here. This house was once owned by a merchant with a pride resonance. He so wanted to be seen as a rich man, but the truth was, he was in danger going out of business at any moment.”

  “So there are lust resonances and pride resonances. What am I resonant with?”

  She set two ceramic cups down on the table. She then poured a steaming black liquid into both before adding thick white cream and sugar to both.

  She didn’t even ask how he liked his charbrew.

  Oma had told Gray something about this Settie woman, how she should be pitied. She had known great sorrow, perhaps because she was so selfish.

  The woman sat down. “Now, I shall talk, and you shall listen.”

  Gray sipped his charbrew. It was so creamy and sweet and delicious, he had to pause to enjoy it. Then he said to his strange benefactor, “You want what is best for me as long as it serves you. Is that right?”

  “That, precious Gray, is the way of the entire fucking world. Only idiots and saints think it can be—or will ever be—any different.”