Fellfire Summer by Blayre Delecour

Author:Blayre Delecour
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-08-28T18:43:17+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

Jenevier was, as ever, a sight to behold—rightly deserving her place as second-highest (or, in light of recent events, highest) Hold. The furnaces in her belly roared with bright, hot Fellfire feeding off of greater Starfell stores than all the lower Holds put together, and she drifted aloft on gentle breezes, well above the worries of the world. Unlike the crowded, bustling Hollister, which seemed to be a whole town scooped up and hung from the heavens, or the comfortable rustic expanse of Eizenthley, which was dominated by Everet’s vineyards, Jenevier was nothing but tall, glittering mansions lined up one right after another along lazily winding lanes. The grand procession was broken up here and there by a small pond or garden in full bloom, and even the docks were immaculate, with carriages waiting in full kit, ready to receive any new arrivals and transport them in style from one end of the Hold to the other. The streets were all smoothly cobbled, with none of the refuse or runoff that simmered in the slums of Anheim, and the breeze carried fresh floral scents rather than the stench of humanity like the lower, more crowded Holds.

He always experienced a degree of whiplash whenever he had occasion to visit, particularly given that they’d spent a good portion of the previous day down on Anheim. Alaric was likely feeling it too, having traded a dark and dreary populace for one that seemed to be carrying on as if nothing were amiss. He’d tried to explain the situation in their impromptu lesson the evening before. Jenevier was where most of the well-to-do called home, largely residential in nature with almost no businesses to speak of on Hold grounds. Servants fled the Hold daily to do their shopping in lower Holds, leaving the wealthy nobles to entertain themselves with garden parties and coming-of-age ceremonies and picnics under the warmth of the blazing sun and the everlasting Fellfire summer.

This was a Hold apart, its nobles more removed from the real plight of their fellow citizens than any others. “They’re frightfully dull, too,” Everet reminded after they touched down on the launch pads, flashing a simpering grin at the docking crew as he waved away their offer of a small day coach. “We’ll be best served getting through our business promptly and making a hasty exit. Sometimes I feel as if it’s a competition for which Hold is truly the more trying to endure: Anheim or Jenevier.”

“Careful; you’re starting to sound like Tenneforr.”

“Slander me like that again and I’ll have your things moved back into the Prince’s room to share—don’t think I won’t.”

Two Ladies out for a morning stroll dipped small curtsies as they passed, their tittering chuckles muffled behind a parasol, and the occupant of a fine gilded carriage hailed Everet with a bright greeting as they passed alongside. Everet offered a wave and a polite nod; they had business to attend to, and he wasn’t in a mood to trade niceties.

“You come here often?” Alaric asked after the carriage passed by.

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