|
Maybe I’ll dance with him. See how they like that.
The thought surprised him; it seemed to come from another man, one he had never expected to find whispering inside his head. Amon hated people staring at him, for one, and he’d never danced in his life. He grimaced to himself. Not that he was about to begin now. He wasn’t here in order for Caedian to have a slightly illicit good time in the dirtier corners of the Rim—he was here to protect the elf while he looked for his missing brother, and that was all. Amon Vraja, last of the halfdead, tries to stay out of sight. His kind, twisted by the gift that grants them superhuman strength, are loathed and shunned. Under the enchanted leaves of the Last City, ruled by imperious elves whose love of beauty leaves little room for his ugliness, he's not much more than the ghost of a dragon-haunted past.
When the young, headstrong elf-lord Caedian takes an interest in Amon, however, Amon's days in the shadows may be over. Caedian needs Amon to find Caedian's missing twin, and a halfdead brothel guard can't just refuse an elf's desires. Throughout the search, Caedian and Amon rely on each other's strength and generosity, and Amon is struck by an impossible yearning for his elvish patron. As they peel away layers of deceit and spiral closer to one another, they also near the horrifying truth of the elves' protection. And when they discover it, they'll face a choice: step outside the shelter of the world's last city, or die where they stand. |
The Sheltered City
File under: secondary world fantasy, class and species barriers, curses that are also gifts, gifts that are also curses, hurt/comfort, some really nasty dragons
Content notes: violence, body horror |
