SERENDIPITY EXTRACT
“Murúch skin?” Thorstein’s
eyes grow round. I have never before
seen a shocked seal, before tonight I should not have thought it possible that
I could. “You cannot be serious.”
“It is but for a few
hours,” Sirius says, his tone as beguiling as honey and a soothing smile upon
his lips. “They will be returned.”
“You expect my people to
be frozen as men?” Thorstein
rocks back on the ledge. He looks ready
to slip into the sea. Sirius makes a
scoffing sound and his black brow rockets quizzically.
“It is a full moon – do
you expect me to believe they are not in man-form seducing the mortal women of
the island? We both know they are. They will have their skins back by dawn –
they will never even know.”
Thorstein’s eyes
narrow. “And what do you give me to take
this risk?”
“Dragon piss.”
A tut escapes me and
Sirius grins at my obvious revulsion. “Dragon
urine is very useful, Perdita. If you
soak a cloak in the stuff, it will become immune to fire, even dragon fire.
Only the Ignisari Fae and the Dragon
Sídhe themselves usually have access to it – it is very rare in the Outerlands.”
“True, true,” Thorstein
sighs. “How much? For a gallon you can have three cloaks. Only
until dawn, mind."
“We need only two. And you will have them long before dawn. Actually no, we will take three. We could use a picnic blanket. Throw in some saffron bread and álfar mead
and you have yourself a gallon of the finest gold elixir any dragon can piss.”
“A picnic blanket!
By Lir, I did not hear you say that.” He shakes his sleek head. “You will ruin me, you thieving son of a
goblin.”
Sirius grins. I can feel the taut excitement in his
muscular arm; it is obvious he is enjoying bartering with the beast. “I am sure you have a son in law you would
like me to squat on.”
Thorstein bares his
teeth. “Aye, you can take Sett
Lodansson’s pelt.” Tremors of laughter
shake the grey slabs of his flesh. “I
like that. A deal!” He slaps the ground with his tail.
“What pool will Abelard
use?”
Thorstein rears up and
cranes his neck. “I’ll show you.” Before our eyes his great bulk quivers,
bulges and grows indistinct. In the bright
moonlight his metamorphosis is obvious and striking. I gasp, fascinated as he roars and stretches
his arms, shaking his shaggy mane of hair.
“Good gracious!” I
exclaim. “He’s a Viking! And a most immodest one at that.”
Thorstein smirks into his
chest length beard. “Why be modest, when
you have my looks?” He rumbles, his colossal shoulders shaking. “You’re not far wrong though, little
human. I have many sons amongst those
Vikings, many grand children. A fine,
strong people.”
“Quite,” I say, feeling
rather faint. It is difficult not to
feel somewhat awestruck when faced with such a mighty and unashamedly nude
male. I had thought Sirius’ shoulders
the broadest I had ever seen. I was wrong. Sirius glances down at me sharply, detecting
the trace of awe in my tone. A frown appears between his eyes, but I barely
notice. “So you are not a Viking
then,” I muse. “A titan? No, who was
that fellow with the world on his shoulders? Ah, yes – Atlas?”
Thorstein grins, his
teeth gleaming white in the dark wool of his beard. “Getting colder!” His eyes glint. “I expect you’ve heard the legends of the Murúch;
famous lovers of mortal women. Unforgettable. Potent! Lesser folk beg for drops
of our blood, just to deliver a flicker of what we have to offer.”
“Really?” I lean forward,
intrigued by this information. “How
fascinating!”
Thorstein takes a step
towards me, muscles bunching in his tree trunk thighs. “Perhaps you would –“
Releasing me, Sirius
steps in front of him and grab a fistful of his beard, yanking him off balance.
“It may be full moon, blubber-belly, but I don’t see Perdita weeping into the
water do you? So keep your hairy charms
to yourself before I gut you with a fish hook.
Show us the pool, give us the skins and we will be gone. And you might even keep your potency that
way.”
3 comments:
Haha! I want to read MOAR of this too! Love it! So much fun.
Um. I have to know if Perdita and Thorstein make it happen, because I am rooting for him SO HARD.
Sadly not - she's merely intrigued by his Selkie allure, but she gets whisked away by her Fae bloke!
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