Chapter 11
CHAPTER
Eleven
There she is! Tell us everything.’ Zofka’s apple cheeks were rosier than usual when Thea walked upstairs and into her private quarters.
Home, at last.
She cast off her heeled shoes and perched on one of her armchairs, opposite Talibah, who was stitching a frayed book spine back together. ‘You look like one of Zofka’s cream cakes,’ Talibah grinned as Thea’s layers mushroomed around her.
Her home glimmered with candlelight. Cinnamon’s whiskers twitched as he slept on her bed, and a rich tomato scent emanated from her little stove, making Thea’s stomach groan.
‘And we know Malek found you delectable,’ Zofka chimed in, crushing herbs and salt and pepper with a pestle and mortar as she came to hover at Talibah’s side, giving Thea a knowing smile.
Thea couldn’t help laughing as she shook her head. ‘You’re incorrigible,’ she said affectionately as Zofka performed an exaggerated curtsy. ‘How long were you spying on me?’
Zofka’s clear blue eyes sparkled with mischief. ‘Long enough.’
Thea feigned a sigh. ‘I regret the day I gave you a key.’
‘Then who would feed you tomato soup and dumplings when you come home late at night after being out on the town with your beau?’ Zofka sing-songed, dancing back to the little stove that was cranking out enough heat to warm Thea’s entire home, along with Biscuit, who was sleeping in the bed Thea had cobbled together for him.
As Zofka dished out their late dinner, Talibah assisted Thea in removing her gown, pannier and petticoat, until she was sitting in her shift and stays.
Zofka returned with the promised bowl of tomato soup and dumplings, sliced like fresh bread, with a side of fried cheese.
‘I forgive you,’ Thea said promptly, going for the cheese first.
‘How was the opera?’ Talibah leant forwards, intrigue radiating across her face. ‘Doesn’t Alena sing like a dream?’
‘It was wonderful,’ Thea gushed. ‘I could listen to her every night. It . . . It stirred me.’
Zofka curled up at Thea’s feet like a contented housecat, idly dipping a dumpling into her soup. ‘And Malek?’ Zofka was a relentless force. ‘Did he stir you, too?’
Thea shuffled, attempting to ease the discomfort setting in.
Zofka bit into her dumpling, her voice softening, turning wistful. ‘First kisses are their own kind of magic.’
‘Not all first kisses,’ Talibah pointed out, watching Thea’s face. ‘Some improve with time.’
Both women fixed their attention on Thea. ‘It was . . . fine.’
Zofka winced. ‘That bad?’
‘Not at all,’ Thea protested, squirming with guilt that she was sitting there wearing the gorgeous gown Malek had presented her with, after enjoying a beautiful evening at the opera with him but feeling .
. . less than enthusiastic. It had to be her lack of heart.
She was moving through life, lost in a sea of feelings that never made sense because there was only a spell holding her all together.
Some days it felt as though, if someone looked at her the wrong way, she would fall apart.
As though she was nothing but a collection of hopes and fears, dreams and worries, masquerading as human.
‘I was just distracted. You know how I struggle to rein in my thoughts.’
Talibah tilted her head, giving Thea a pensive look that missed nothing. ‘What were you distracted by?’
‘It means nothing.’ Thea shrugged. ‘My mind races from dawn to dusk – you know I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to. And I did want to. Very much.’
Talibah’s pensive look grew talons.
‘Fine,’ Thea groaned. ‘Jasper popped into my head at the most inopportune time. It was a very unwelcome intrusion and—’ She trailed off, catching the significant look traded between her friends.
Zofka’s hands flew up. ‘I’m not telling her, she’ll bite my head off.’
Talibah gave an elegant sigh and set her bowl aside. ‘Thea, we love you dearly but when it comes to Lord— Jasper, you seem somewhat . . . blinkered.’
‘Blinded,’ Zofka amended with another mouthful of dumpling. ‘For goddess’ sake, Thea, the man looks like he was carved from marble. He’s ridiculously handsome.’
Thea’s spoon hadn’t made it to her mouth.
She put it down. It clattered against her plate harder than she’d intended.
She’d been so busy loathing Jasper that she’d never considered him in that way before; when she looked at him, all she saw was the man who had walked away with her heart in a box.
Now that she thought about it, she supposed there was something hypnotic about those eyes . . . She swallowed.
‘Haven’t you seen the way other people look at him?’ Zofka continued, with no little amusement. ‘Just the other week, a witch practically fell over her own petticoats to get a second look as she scurried away from him.’
‘She was probably scared of him,’ Thea said stubbornly. She refused to admit that she had noticed how he drew attention on the rare events he entered the apothecary before nightfall. What did it matter if he had a perfect jawline, when he was keeping Thea’s memories hostage?
Zofka pointed her spoon at Thea. ‘That doesn’t mean she didn’t notice his looks.’
‘It’s more than that, though. The way you two look at each other,’ Talibah began, either ignoring or oblivious to Thea’s incredulous stare, ‘the air between you could catch fire.’
‘Because we loathe each other,’ Thea said. ‘I can’t believe you’re even considering this . . . You know how often I’ve complained about him.’
‘Oh yes.’ Zofka’s eyes widened. ‘Often. It would seem that you can’t stop thinking about him, in fact.’
Thea threw her hands up. ‘Because I detest the man!’
‘Tension,’ Zofka countered. ‘Because you have this deep, sexual tension running between you like a canyon. The day you two become better acquainted, well . . .’ She fanned the air, throwing a mischievous smirk at Thea.
Talibah cut herself another couple of dumplings. ‘According to all the great writers, hatred and love go hand in hand.’
‘Like cake and books,’ Zofka said.
Thea slumped back. ‘You cannot be serious.’
‘As a curse,’ Zofka said.
Talibah’s voice gentled. ‘We are not telling you to pursue anything romantic with Jasper, only that it seems that there is . . . something there.’
‘He took my heart.’ Thea tipped her head back. ‘I’ve spent the past seven years playing his little game, listing names that never belonged to me. I lost my heart and memories to a fate-weaver for some reason I can’t remember.’
Her headache returned, threefold fiercer. She rubbed a knuckle against the bridge of her nose.
‘Let’s change the subject.’ Talibah gathered their bowls and plates, putting them into a pail of water in the kitchen. She glanced at Biscuit. ‘How is the raven healing?’
‘Well,’ Thea said, distracted by Jasper and her missing heart and the pain that thudded in her temples, along with the constant needling of the price she had not taken from the witch she’d helped a few days ago.
Her first memory. Something within Thea kept forcing its way through her head and dreams, reminding her, chasing her to get it.
It was stubborn. But she was stubborn, too.
She could outlast it. It was worth it not to take any more prices.
Talibah returned with three cups of lavender tea. ‘If you make him too comfortable, he’ll never want to leave.’
‘The poor thing was nailed to a door!’ Thea whispered. ‘He needs time.’
Zofka snorted into her teacup. ‘Time, maybe. A scented pillow, no.’
Thea sighed. ‘Fine, I’ll release him in a few days.’
Zofka sobered. ‘The Hunters have paid us a second visit. Gretel insists I have nothing to worry about, but it’s starting to feel like a witch-hunt.’ She shivered.
Thea pulled one of her many yellow knitted blankets over both herself and Zofka. ‘Actually, it’s the opposite.’
Talibah handed a cup of tea to Thea. ‘Why? What have you learnt?’
Thea stared back at her, her headache pounding as a faded memory crept back into place.
‘I overheard something. Last night, near the Crossroads. I—’ She pressed a couple of fingers to one temple.
‘I don’t know how I forgot to mention it.
I meant to tell Jasper too, but I just .
. . forgot. This headache, I swear I’m losing my mind. ’
Zofka stood, peering into her eyes. ‘How long have you had this headache? Did it start in the forest?’
Lavender-scented steam rose like mist as Thea wrapped her hands around her cup, thinking. ‘No,’ she said slowly. ‘It started before, I’m sure of it.’
‘Then it can’t have been someone meddling with your head to compel you to forget.’ Zofka slid back under the blanket and took her own cup from Talibah, though her forehead was still creased.
‘No.’ Thea put her cup down on her blanketed knees. Half of it splashed out. Zofka twitched her fingers like a conductor, and it flowed backwards, returning to Thea’s cup. ‘Thank you.’ Thea’s voice cracked. ‘I . . . I can’t lose more of my memories, I—’
‘We don’t know that that’s happening,’ Talibah said.
‘Your original memories were exchanged as per a bargain with a fate-weaver; you never lost them. Maybe your headache and fuzzy memories have something to do with the wards weakening. One of the weather-witches’ powers has been malfunctioning, too. ’
‘Yes!’ Zofka perked up. ‘And I almost set fire to my stove yesterday.’
‘You do that every other week,’ Thea said, though she smiled. Maybe her head pain was just a consequence of the wards. Or maybe it was because she hadn’t been taking prices and this was how fate was balancing the debt. She pursed her lips, wondering.
‘What did you find out in the forest?’ Talibah prompted.
Thea took a sip of tea. It scalded her throat.
Ignoring it, she spelled out the whole ordeal, particularly on the person she’d overheard boasting of their involvement with the Quarter, wondering if the bludi?ka had scared the memory out of her head, though she seemed to have no problem recalling their pointed teeth and empty eye sockets.
‘How intriguing,’ Talibah murmured.
Zofka’s eyes were moons. ‘Why would the fate-weavers – I presume they’re fate-weavers from what they said about weaving a way through?
– want to interfere with the Magic Quarter?
And for goddess’ sake, they have enough power to take us down themselves if that’s the end game – why would they need to go through the Magic Hunters? ’
‘I do not know,’ Talibah said. ‘And that concerns me.’
‘Agreed.’ Thea rose, striding over to the nearest window.
Pulling it down with one sharp tug, she brought her fingers to her lips and whistled.
Biscuit ruffled his feathers, cawing back at her.
‘Not you,’ Thea told him, ‘You’re still healing.
’ A different raven materialised, spreading its wings wide as it landed on the windowsill, the night sky a curtain of stars and cloud wisps at its back.
Thea reached for a nearby scrap of paper and a quill.
Scratching out the names written there – Sybil, Agnes, Margery – she penned a quick note.
Rolling it into a tight scroll, she attached it to the raven’s leg strap. ‘Take that next door, to Rose.’
Returning to her spot, Thea nestled back into the warmth of her blanket, shared with Zofka.
‘I’ve told Rose what I’d overheard before I can forget again, and called for another Magic Quarter meeting.
We need to fix the wards as a matter of urgency now we know for certain it was a targeted attack from a fate-weaver. ’
‘Good thinking,’ Zofka said, reaching for a leftover piece of fried cheese. ‘Let’s discuss something happier now. What’s going on with Malek? Talibah mentioned he’d asked you for something peculiar?’
Thea pulled out her journal, showing them the list she’d jotted down as she let them in on what Malek had told her, about his sister and how he wanted to be the one who bore the price for saving her.
Of the key he had asked for and how she was unsure how to go about fate-weaving around an item, so she had begun searching for ingredients for a complementary potion.
Fate-weaving was powerful, but it wasn’t a tangible object in the way that magic could be.
Combining them both would allow her to create something much more powerful, which was exactly what Malek needed.
‘You told us that Jasper gave you this Compendium in your first week here,’ Talibah remembered, opening the Compendium as if she couldn’t have a book in her lap and not run a hand over the vellum of its pages.
‘That it had been hidden until he’d tapped into his power and untied certain knots that revealed it? ’
‘Yes, of course.’ Thea’s spirits soared, recalling how Jasper had pulled the book from the wall. ‘Then it is possible to fate-weave around a physical object – I am on the right lines.’
Maye she would stop doubting herself when her heart was returned to her chest.
Zofka traded the journal for the Compendium. ‘I agree that you’re on the right lines, with the potion and fate-weaving a physical object.’
‘Interesting,’ Talibah commented, looking through the journal and reading the list aloud:
Silver spot-dapples? Excellent for locating and finding – like a key that draws you to the correct spot.
A firebird’s breath? Could remove all trace of being there?
A single fingernail from a lake spirit?
‘You should add a fairy’s tear,’ Zofka said around a mouthful of fried cheese. ‘Even if you’re not using it for its magical properties, it makes an excellent binder and you’re going to want something really sticky so it adheres to whatever you use as the actual physical key.’
Talibah passed the journal to Thea, who added it to the list. ‘At least I already have a vial of tears in stock.’ It had been one of many ingredients that the apothecary had come supplied with when she first started working here, and a little went a long way.
Which was useful, seeing as she’d never met a fairy in real life, only the pixies and sprites that inhabited the Quarter.
‘Oh,’ Zofka said on turning the page of the Compendium. ‘I haven’t read this bit before.’ She read aloud as the three women huddled in their blankets, snacking on leftovers as the candles burned low.
I love the forest best when the flowers bloom. When all those endless greens and browns burst into a hundred, a thousand colours. It is a jewellery box of riches. Though this year, when the storms finally crest and blow out to ravage the oceans instead, I am searching for one thing only: him.
He awaited me in the forest. We had exchanged more notes after that first one, until I came to know his thoughts and feelings as intimately as my own. Falling into his arms does not feel like embracing a stranger but my closest friend, my confidante. My lover.
I could have lain in his arms, in a sea of petals, forever.
‘Oh,’ Zofka sighed happily. ‘How romantic.’
Talibah and Thea remained silent. Thea’s non-existent heart weeped in its void.