The Demon's Mistress by Rohse H.C

Author:Rohse, H.C.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: H.C. Rohse
Published: 2023-04-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Maria’s vision returned by morning, her eyes again jet black. Her foot, however, had not yet regenerated, and Tayley helped her wrap it up.

After a night of on-and-off rain showers, the morning clouds seemed to be breaking up. They left the large leather bag behind, but they put their gems, gold, and much of the money into the black bag, which Maria tied off securely and held tight against the small of her back with two of her tentacles. They put some spending money into their purses. Maria made sure to put their coins in her purse as potential ammunition. Tayley tucked their umbrellas under her arm.

Despite Maria’s limping, they arrived at the clothing shop a little early. Ten minutes later, Tayley waved as Prisha approached. The girl smiled but had dark crescents under her eyes. She wore less fancy clothing than what she’d worn at the shop yesterday.

As they greeted each other, Prisha stared first at Tayley’s and then at Maria’s face. Prisha wore a polite smile.

“Well, don’t you two look nice today?”

Maria touched her cheeks. “Is bad?”

Prisha shook her head. “No. It’ll help you avoid attention. I just got used to your exotic ‘foreign’ looks.”

Maria translated. Tayley struck a pin-up girl pose, and Maria and Prisha laughed.

Maria explained her limp with a fib: She tripped and sprained her ankle. Prisha nodded and announced that finding a cane would be their first order of business, but Tayley’s tummy grumbled. So, they stopped first at a small garage-like shop around the corner for fried bread with a spread of a savory mix of some kind of ground meat and vegetables and another spread of sticky and sweet fruit. Prisha also introduced them to chai with milk, and Tayley immediately pronounced her undying love for the hot, sweet, and spicy drink.

It fascinated Maria to learn that there were many kinds of tea, from the green tea loved in China and Japan to the black tea flavored with bergamot oil called Earl Grey, which the English drank. There was even white tea, made from the young leaves of the plant. After breakfast, they found an old man squatting on the street carving sticks. Maria haggled briefly and purchased a beautiful walking stick with the knob handle shaped like a turtle’s head. She hobbled back to Tayley and Prisha using the cane.

“That’s better. Now I really am a feeble old thing.”

Tayley barked out a laugh but said nothing. Prisha nodded and led them south.

They found parts of Kolkata to be squalid, dirty, crowded, noisy, and stinky. The shops, signs, and street vendors; the tall buildings, factories, fine mansions, temples, shrines, ghats, and ramshackle tenements; the trash, sewage, and mud; the smoke, spices, sweat, and perfumes; the music, singing, yelling, horns, klaxons, and bells; and the heat, humidity, clouds, and rain. Most of all, the two felt the press and bustle of people, beasts, and vehicles which seemed to never stop moving. But for as much as there was ugliness and meanness, there was beauty, art, music, smiles, and kindness.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.