Marrow Charm

Bonus Story: The House of Seven Smiles

"There you are at last," said a low voice.

Safiya startled, her vision slowly returning to focus. She lay in her cage. The Snatchers fed her, but nothing else, leaving her to stew in her own filth. Beneath the stink she felt the sores along her side. Her skin felt baked, the fever of an infection blazing through her flesh. Safiya took the registry of her sorry state and slid her gaze to the speaker.

The back of the cage was exposed to the outside. The Snatchers' caravan bounced along a rough hewn road in the low afternoon sun. The shallow light spilled over the dark mane of the rider, carving shadowy crags on his face. His hair spilled to his shoulders, entangling with a beard that framed his mouth and draped to the cravat of his fine suit. A genteel wild-man. It was difficult to observe him, not that she bothered once their eyes locked. Deep blue, the exact shade of cobalt. No warmth exuded from their depths, but they held an intensity that raked over her feverish skin. She closed her eyes and shuddered.

The interest was clear. Safiya had a buyer.

The Snatchers halted a mile from the city. She could see the metallic spires flashing in the dying sunlight, glinting through clouds of smog that belched from enormous columnar smokestacks. The city itself was a sprawling mass, spreading out like a dark growth, the clusters of tall buildings giving way to low squat buildings and individual dwellings. Slums and campsites inhabited the borders of the city to glean what scraps could be found. There were no walls, no wards, nothing to protect them from the dangers of the Above.

Safiya's cage opened. The Snatcher handled her as if she were carved from glass. She was dipped into cool sweet smelling water that made her sores sting. They scrubbed under a ruddy glow returned to her skin. An earthy paste was smeared on her wounds, the familiar scent of home a mockery to her senses. She recognized the healing herbs, her mother's voice whispering their names in her ear. Bandaged and redressed in a fine mesh tunic, she waited, subdued for what happened next.

The Snatchers spoke to the man, their misshapen mouths made the speech garbled by recognizable as they demanded a high sum for the trouble of cleaning her before reaching the market. The gentleman said nothing, watching her as she watched him. The steed he rode in on scratched the ground behind him, making the Snatchers jump. Like most creatures of the Above, it was an amalgamation of animals that once were; fine feathers coated its body, ruffled at the sharp talons that dug into the earth. Forward facing eyes marked it a meat eater, though the pupils were wide, somewhat avian, a theme that continued to its wickedly curved beak. It fluffed itself up whenever someone got to close, hissing and spitting.

The man hadn't looked away from her once. She continued to study him, hiding her curiosity behind a mask of disinterest. Safiya never saw such fine clothing before. It covered every inch of him from the neck down, including a pair of velvety leather gloves. The whole outfit felt wrong.

The healing paste broke her fever, but the humid breath of summer still licked the air, ignoring the oncoming night. The man's clothing was heavy, encompassing, and not a drop of sweat dotted his brow.