Serpent's Kiss || Kingdom at the End of the World - Book I

[1] The Stormrider

The knock came late at night.

The sound was swallowed by the wind, the angry lash of branches against walls and windows. A storm ravaged the earth. It flooded roads, unearthed trees, rolled boulders down steep hills. Even Beaufort Manor, sheltered as it was in an alcove in the mountain's body, rumbled and creaked under the storm's siege.

Valeri Beaufort rose from his seat. A reclusive being, he was not pleased with the sudden interruption of his nightly routine. He contemplated the fire, the rain drumming against the windows, and hoped he had heard wrong.

A second knock dashed his spirits. Valeri considered feigning ignorance to his visitor's plight, but curiosity swayed him toward benevolence. He strode into a dark foyer. The door flew back as soon as it was unlocked, urged open by the storm.

A cloaked figure stood just beyond the threshold. "Sir Valeri Beaufort?" the stranger asked, the voice decidedly female.

"Yes," Valeri answered.

"Pardon the intrusion," the woman said, "Are you still in need of a housekeeper?"

Rain turned to ice. Hail the size of bird hearts thundered over the mountain, pelting trees and naked stone. Valeri ushered the woman inside. The door fell shut behind her, cutting off the outside world. Valeri helped the woman shed her soaked cloak. Water dripped from its hems, plick-plocking against the floor.

"This way," he said, and led his guest to a spacious sitting room. He bid her sit while he busied himself with feeding the dying fire.

"I apologize for the trouble," the woman said.

"No need for apologies," Valeri told her. His curiosity had not abated in the least, and the promise of finally satisfying his need for house staff was worth any amount of trouble the woman thought herself capable of bringing.

Flames licked up the stone bed, painting the room in color. Valeri took a moment to study his companion. The woman's features were sharp and pronounced, as if cut from stone rather than flesh. She offered Valeri a polite smile that went no deeper than the shadows that flickered over her eyes.

"My name is Ira Hale," the woman said, at last remembering her manners. "I was passing through Elsendorf, and heard about an open position. I did not foresee the storm," she added with a self-depreciating smile.

"Did you travel on foot?" Valeri asked.

Ira shook her head. "Mule. The poor thing spooked halfway, and bolted."

Valeri feigned sympathy. "Where do you hail from, Miss Hale?"

"Please, call me Ira," the woman demurred. "I come from Sinith."

"Does Sinith lack for work?" Valeri asked.

Ira straightened in her seat. "It does not. I lack the desire to work there."

The sudden archness of her manner reminded Valeri of an affronted cat: paws flexing to reveal claws, eyes slanting in displeasure. He bit back a smile. "That is a long way to travel."

"The work I found along the way was always temporary, and I ended up drifting farther north than I intended," Ira said.

Valeri nodded. Harvest was well past, and with winter coming people were tightening the strings of their purses. Few would take a chance on a stranger. "I am still in need of a housekeeper," he began, holding up a hand to stave off Ira's words of gratitude. "I am afraid this position is also temporary. Five months at most."

"That is acceptable. What will the job entail?" Ira asked.

"Basic housekeeping. I employ several women as maids, but they do not live with me and are not reliable during the winter months. The snow falls deep this far up." Valeri trailed off. He thought of all he needed, all this woman would have to do, and almost dismissed Ira out of hand.