Birdcage

Chapter 2: Meeting Miss Cassidy

Vix went back to watching the Tucktuck on its perch, her skin crawling with each piteous chirp it made.

'Yes, but how?' she wondered. How was she supposed to protect Caine from the Al'Vidar? Vix knew precious little about them, and even that was second-hand information, obtained through Professor Belkin, an odd academic she had met in the canals of Delmin.

The Al'Vidar were powerful and dangerous, that much was certain. They had hunted Caine across the centuries to try and regain the souls that he had inadvertently robbed them of. But to what end? Belkin had said they were obsessed with immortality. But was that all there was to it?

A persistent sort of pressure formed just behind Vix's eyes, as though someone was pushing as hard as they could against the inside of her skull. The more she tried to think, the worse it got. Her head throbbed.

All the while, the bird continued to scoot across its perch, its head swiveling endlessly on its neck as it peered at the bars around it, as though hoping they had disappeared since the last time it had checked. Its piping chirrups, shrill and sounding full of panic, pounded inside Vix's head.

No plan would come to her. Instead, her headache only worsened. The street, the stall, the sunshine, and the sea in the distance all seemed to darken around her, minor distractions that faded from her sight. There was only the bird, crying endlessly before her in its cage, and the same thought repeating itself in her mind, endlessly.

'What do I do?'

A shadow fell across the cage, making Vix start and look up. She expected it to be the merchant, back to try his hand at a sale one more time. But it was not.

A tall, willowy woman stood beside Vix, her hair a perfect waterfall of raven black that swept down to the small of her back. She was extraordinarily beautiful. Her full, red lips stood out like a blot of blood in the midst of the rest of her pale face.

The woman seemed to take no notice of Vix. Her large, curved eyes were focused only on the bird within the cage.

Vix, conscious that she was staring, looked away quickly and stepped to one side to give this new customer more room.

“Please, stay," the woman said in a soft, throaty voice. She glanced up at Vix and smiled. “You were looking at this extraordinary little creature first, after all."

Vix found herself struck speechless. There was a depth to the woman's eyes that seemed to suck her into them, like two bottomless gray pools.

Vix covered her moment of silence with a cough. “It's all right," she told the woman. “I wasn't planning on buying her."

“Ahh, that's a shame." The woman began talking almost before Vix was done, as though impatient for her to finish. “It is a sad thing to see something so special cooped up in such a dreary place. Don't you agree?"

“I... well, yes, I suppose I do." Vix was thrown by the question. “I'm sorry, but who are you, exactly?"

“Eva Cassidy," the woman said, inclining her head. “And you?"

“Miss Cassidy, then? I'm Vix."

“A pleasure to meet you, Vix. What brings you to Alenza?"

Vix blinked. Once again, Cassidy had nearly spoken over her in her haste to ask her next question. It seemed to go beyond mere rudeness. Vix had the oddest feeling that the woman had known what she was going to say before she said it.

A prickle of foreboding began to itch at the back of Vix's brain.

“I'm only here a short while," Vix told Cassidy. “My ship, the 'Macua,' made berth two days ago. After we resupply, we'll be back on open water again."

She smiled. “I'm enjoying these last days on dry land as best I can until then."

All of this was a lie. Caine and she had come to Alenza by the overland route, and had only just arrived this morning.

Cassidy's smile widened, and her eyes glittered peculiarly. “How interesting! It seems many adventures are looming on the horizon for you."

Vix barely kept her smile in place. There was no longer any doubt in her mind; there was something definitely wrong with this woman.

“What about you, Miss Cassidy?" Vix asked, careful to keep her tone politely curious. “What brings you here?"

The woman waved a hand carelessly. Jeweled rings sparkled in the afternoon sun on her fingers. “I deal in exotic species, Miss Vix. There's a particularly interesting exhibit in particular that I've had my eye on. Undiscovered until now, but still..."

Her gray eyes glittered. “Breathtaking."

Vix let the smile slip from her face at last. “What do you really want?" she asked softly.

Cassidy laughed, throwing her head back. When she stopped, her eyes were cold. “Whatever do you mean?"

Vix had enough. “Pardon my saying so, Miss Cassidy," she said levelly, “but I'd sooner believe you were a squirming nest of vipers than a harmless traveler."

A slight tinge of pink crept into Cassidy's bloodless face. “How rude you are, girl. I'll have you know I told you the entire truth."

She flashed a perfect smile. “I don't believe I ever claimed to be harmless."

Vix took a step back. “Al'Vidar," she whispered, fear coiling in her belly.

Cassidy smiled wider, her cheeks squeezing her eyes into slits of gray. “Now that's a dangerous name to be bandying about, girl. That recklessness could get you into trouble one of these days."

Vix wanted nothing more than to turn and run, to find Caine as quick as she could and get him far away from the harpy standing in front of her. But she forced her trembling legs to steady beneath her and said, “Leave Caine alone. If not, you'll have me to deal with."

“How frightening," Cassidy sneered.

“I killed your assassin, the Riverman," Vix said steadily. “I can do the same to you. Caine's souls are lost to you; I released them all myself. You have no reason to come after us, now."

“Oh, how little you understand anything, girl." Cassidy tossed her hair carelessly over one shoulder. “But you need not fear for Caine. The man will get his due in the end, make no mistake, but that is not my task."

“Then why are you here?"

“I told you." Cassidy took a step closer. Her hands contorted at her sides until they were like claws. “I have my eyes on a far rarer prize."

Vix felt her body tense, like a wire stretched to the breaking point. “Stay away from us," she said.

“I would, Vix. I would, but... I just so hate to see something so wondrous caged."

Suddenly, the cage of the songbird, which had been sitting forgotten between the two women, burst open. Vix whipped around to look at it in shock. The Tucktuck inside seemed equally stunned for a moment. Then, with a joyous trill, it opened its wings and soared out through the broken cage and off into the blue sky.

Cassidy's eyes had never left Vix for a moment. “Fly, Vix," she said softly.

Then, every single cage, crate, and container in the menagerie burst apart all at once. The merchant's howl of distress was swallowed immediately by the riotous shrieks and caws of dozens of birds taking to the air.

Vix stumbled backward. A storm of wings and feathers filled the air and the menagerie was lost beneath the plumages of the escaping birds. The world disappeared in a blur of green, red, and yellow feathers. Buffeted left and right by the wildly fleeing birds, Vix finally managed to stagger out of the menagerie stall.

She spared one last look back at the chaos. Cassidy was nowhere to be seen.

Vix's heart constricted. 'Caine!' Without losing another second, she turned and ran as fast as she could.