It occurred to me I’d never actually seen Lady Sera before. Vague impressions, distant memory of a light forehead kiss. But never laid eyes on the woman. She is, in fact, stunning. Unnaturally stunning. Light seems to fall on her differently. It is a beauty that is captivating yet out of place.
She started when she saw me. There was a flash of fear. I saw her turn to run but as I opened my mouth to shout, she stopped. “Harold?”
“That’s me. Heard you got a little lost.”
“Harold.”
“Yeah. Um. I know we didn’t part on the best terms last we spoke but…”
She turned back and embraced me hard. She has a good foot on me, so it was almost like she was scooping up a child. “I’m so sorry, Harold. I should have told you.”
I hugged back. “Not gonna argue with you on that count.”
She slowly released me. “I thought I’d found her. I thought I’d found a way back home. But this is not my Eminence. So I got confused. Started looking for family.”
I adjusted my glasses. “Klepzigs?”
“Yes! My name is, well, not Lady Sera. I was born Myria Klepzig. Just not here, apparently.”
“Nice to meet you, Myria.”
“Thank you, Harold.”
“So I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume you’re not about to raze the town.”
She chuckled, full of rue. “I’ll admit the thought had occurred to me. The people here are…uh…”
“I believe the technical term is ‘shitty’.”
“I’d prefer less technical terms, but yes. I’ve just been on sort of…autopilot since I got here. I know I had a plan. Something Tay sent me had a Safe Zone flavor to it. I thought it would lead me to Thistle.”
“Thistle being…?”
“My all. My emerald warrior. My cranky little rebel. All the stars in the sky.” She actually blushed. I guess I hadn’t expected Lady…Myria…to be such a romantic. “I can feel something of her here? But it’s not right. I don’t know what to do.”
I scratched my beard and studied her for a moment. “Will this mystery keep for an evening?”
“I suppose it could, why?”
“Because sometimes the best solutions to problems are found once you can forget the problem for just a little while. What’s say you and I get out of this graveyard and go get drunk?”
Her brow furrowed and she opened her mouth to say no, but then paused. The left corner of her lip curled up. “Can we smoke cigars, too?”
“Yes. Actually, fuck yes.”
