“I do not think that someone in your position can be too particular,” Larten said.
‘What are you talking about?” Vancha frowned. “I’d be a first-rate catch. No woman could go wrong with a specimen like me.” To prove his point, he spat into his palm and wiped phlegm into his scalp. “I mean, seriously, what lady of taste could resist a shiny green head of hair like mine?”
Chapter Seventeen
Soon after their meeting with Arrow, Vancha was summoned to Vampire Mountain on business. Larten chose not to travel with him. They made vague plans to meet up again, but their paths took them elsewhere and several years passed without any contact.
Larten spent those years falling back into the dark pit from which Vancha had briefly rescued him. His time with the General had refired his love for the clan, reminding him why he’d agreed to become Seba’s assistant in the first place. But he still didn’t want to return to Vampire Mountain and complete his training. Not yet. He had a sense that he wasn’t finished with the human world, that until he worked whatever was troubling him out of his system, he would never know peace.
One night as he glumly considered his options — trying to pick a country or city he hadn’t visited before
— he found himself thinking about Lady Evanna. He hadn’t thought of the witch in a long time. He’d meant to take advantage of her offer to visit her at home, but it had slipped his mind.
He knew instantly that this was what he craved. Something different, a place part of neither the human nor vampire world. He had no idea where Evanna lived, but he was sure he could find her. She’d given him that ability. All he had to do was set off and his feet would lead him.
It was a long trek. He had meant to use trains and carriages, but whenever he got on one he lost track of where he was going. Flitting disoriented him too. Evanna’s directions only revealed themselves when he was on foot, so he had to abandon the easy alternatives and walk. But the path wasn’t difficult and it was a pleasant time of year. He enjoyed the journey more than any he had undertaken recently.
Finally, months after setting out, he arrived at a small hill in a clearing. There was a cave near the base ofthe hill and a pond farther down. Larten didn’t see the mouth of the cave the first time he looked. If he hadn’t felt certain that this was the place, he would have walked by. But when he forced himself to peer harder, he saw the cave clearly and went towards it.
There were lots of frogs by the rim of the pond, croaking noisily. Some were oddly colored and a few had strange inklike markings on their heads and backs. Larten decided to investigate further and set out to catch one ofthe frogs.
“I wouldn’t do that,” someone said as he crept towards the pond. Larten looked up and spotted a girl no more than twelve or thirteen years old. She was carrying a bucket and staring at him seriously. “They’re poisonous.”
“Poisonous frogs?” Larten asked dubiously.
“Sacs along their tongues,” the girl said. “If they hit your skin, they’ll break and poison will seep in. Death within minutes, even if you’re a vampire.”
‘You know what I am?”
The girl nodded. “My Lady has been expecting you.” She pulled a face and shook the bucket. “That’s why I’m dragging this. Evanna said you’d want a hot bath when you arrived, so I’ve been fetching water for the last couple of hours.”
“My apologies,” Larten said. “I can carry that for you if you like.”
The girl smiled shyly. “That’s all right. I can manage.”
They chatted as they walked to the cave. The girl was called Malora. She couldn’t remember her surname — Evanna had taken her as an apprentice when she was five or six and much of her early life was a mystery.
“Did your parents let Evanna take you, or did they sell you to her?” Larten asked.
“They didn’t sell me,” Malora huffed. “I’m not a slave, even if my Lady treats me li ke one much of the time.”
Larten smiled. “I have heard such tales of woe before. Does Arra Sails still serve here?”
“Never heard of her,” Malora said. “Was she one of Evanna’s apprentices?”
“Aye. She did not like her mistress any more than you seem to.”
“Nobody does,” Malora snorted. “She had four other girls when I came. I’m the only one left, and I don’t think I’ll hang around much longer either. As soon as I find someone to escort me safely back to the normal world, I’m gone!”
Larten chuckled. The girl was young but feisty, like Arra had been. It was a pity she wasn’t older — maybe he would have had more success wooing her than he’d had with the fiery Miss Sails.
As they neared the cave, Evanna appeared. She looked exactly as she had the last time he’d seen her. She hadn’t changed or aged. Her hair was long and dirty, she still wore ropes, and her nails were cut in the same unusual fashion.
‘Welcome, wanderer.” She curtsied before Larten, then hugged him hard. She didn’t pick him off the ground, but she did pinch his cheek. “I thought you were never going to pay me a visit,” she chided him. “Come — the bath is ready.”
Larten frowned. “What makes you think I am desperate to have a bath?”
“It’s not for you, fool,” she snorted. “Don’t you remember what you said when we last parted?” He stared at her blankly. “You promised to scrub my back,” she reminded him, and as he recalled that brash boast, his face dropped and his cheeks turned several shades redder than they had when she’d pinched him.
Larten spent the next few nights with the Lady of the Wilds, Malora always in close attendance, although the apprentice didn’t say much, so he often forgot she was there. The vampire and witch sparred — she enjoyed testing herself in battle against him, although he was sure she could have flattened him with a flick of a wrist if she’d wished — and she treated him to a variety of vegetarian dishes. He had been skeptical of the food at first, but Evanna had surprised him with a variety of extraordinary concoctions. It wasn’t enough to sway Larten away from meat, even though she kept urging him to put his carnivorous side behind him, but he wouldn’t turn up his nose at vegetables and fruit again.
Evanna had some news of Seba and Wester, which she shared. It was all minor — reports of changes Seba had made in his role as quartermaster, news that Wester was close to becoming a guard — but Larten lapped up the tidbits.
In return Larten told Evanna of his indecision. It was good to get the doubts and regrets off his chest, to admit how sorry he felt about the way he’d spoken to Seba, bemoan the years he had wasted and wonder aloud at what the future held. He asked her for advice, but she was reluctant to give any.
‘When it comes to the future, I have to be careful,” she said. “I have the gift of foresight — I see things that have not yet happened — so I can’t interfere.”
“Have you seen my future?” Larten asked eagerly.
“Parts of it,” she said cagily. “I try not to learn too much about the destinies of those I like. It’s not nice knowing how much time a friend has left, the hardships they’ll face, the pain they’ll suffer.”
‘You see hardship and suffering in my future?” Larten asked quietly.
“I was speaking in general terms,” she corrected him. “We all suffer one way or another. In your case…” She seemed set to reveal something and he leaned forward eagerly. Then she paused and cocked her head. Larten thought he heard a faint ticking noise — a watch perhaps — but he couldn’t place it.
“Destiny watches over all of us,” she said softly. “But some catch its eye more than others.” She gazed at Malora and her expression was troubled. Then her head swung towards the mouth of the cave. By the way her face creased, Larten thought that somebody must be lurking there. But he could see no one, and moments laterthe witch waved away her worries.
“This is not the time to worry about what the future might bring,” she said. “Let us drink and be merry. Your fate will reveal itself in due course, as it always does. But muse on this the next time you fret about your path — we always travel the way we must. You might think that you have strayed, but no one ever steps from the path of
