35. Nora
35
Nora
M elody had been just as eager to attend, nearly tugging me out the door. She encouraged me to hurry while I insisted on stopping at the closed bakery stand to leave a note. I explained it was a request for a certain type of bread Eucinda wanted to inquire about. Since Melody didn’t deal with the task of errands, she didn’t question it.
It wasn’t the only thing I had to keep her in the dark about.
Since Alaina had given me information about magic wielders being targets, I had to navigate tonight carefully so Melody wouldn’t overhear. She didn’t need to know, didn’t need to worry. No one outside of our household, aside from a few of her former flings, even knew she possessed the gift.
Melody had already tossed her hand up, waving and calling someone’s name across the room before padding off with delight in her steps.
If Alaina’s suspicions about the motive for the abductions were correct, I wondered how safe a meeting such as this would be. Kind of perfect to scope out your targets in a place they freely mingled. By stepping inside, I’d branded myself. Maybe that would be a good thing, if they’d marked my face. If someone in the kidnapping ring thought I possessed magic, and they orchestrated my abduction, I’d get to learn more about their operation from the inside.
I spotted Alaina, already seated at a booth in the corner, sipping a pint. Inviting myself to join, I slid onto the bench beside her. “I learned that your friend would have been cremated,” I spoke quietly, close enough that no wandering ears would overhear.
She set her mug down from the swig she’d been taking, the heavy glass thudding on the wooden tabletop. Without taking her eye off the mug, she swiped her thumb over the surface, leaving a clear line through the condensation glistening on the side.
“I’m sorry,” I said, though I knew it wouldn’t help. Alaina just stared at that mug, and I couldn’t be sure if her blue eyes guttered from the nearby candlelight, or from anger. Blue? Her eyes had been brown before? Maybe the tavern light was playing tricks on me.
Melody’s lighthearted laugh trumped the noise of conversation, stealing my attention. She chatted with a young woman close to her age. Not that Melody ever had issues making friends, but it warmed my heart to see her, knowing for the first time she didn’t have to carry any shame. Part of me wondered if I would ever have that chance, what it would feel like to be completely myself, and accepted for it.
Clearing my throat, I dismissed the nagging question that would only dampen my mood. I had enough things to balance and juggle from the many personas I’d created over the past weeks that I needed to concentrate all my focus on getting through my tasks. Chol and I were on the cusp of something big. I could feel it.
“Is everything else going alright?” I asked.
Before answering, she took another swig of ale. “Your vendors have been less receptive than I’d anticipated. Only the baker has been helpful, and without knowing what happened to Raf…” Her lips pursed to the side in an attempt to dam up her emotions.
I’d come here and dashed her hopes of closure for her friend. Without knowing why exactly she wanted rotten food, and why it mattered, I couldn’t offer any more assistance.
“Nora, how lovely to see you again.”
My heart turned stone cold, despite the warmth in the friendly greeting. Evenita’s soft smile breaking through her wrinkles greeted me as she slipped into view.
“Evenita,” I said in greeting. “You as well,” I lied, a nervous sweat breaking under my clothes.
Her deepening smile almost made me believe she knew it, too. “Thank you for helping Alaina with the baker.”
“It’s no problem.”
“I knew it wouldn’t be.” She threw a hand up, flagging down the one working server.
Had she been the one to tell Alaina I’d help, even before meeting her in the market that day? My skin dotted and tightened along my arms as I contemplated the vast knowledge this woman held about me, if she’d known I had an established relationship with Alejo. Wondering what else she might know about it chilled my blood.
She ordered from the waitress, dismissing her with that kind smile. “I have a gift for you.” She returned her eyes to me.
That gave me pause. “Y-you do?” I glanced a peek at Alaina, who merely looked deep into her emptying cup as she tilted back her head.
“It’s not ready, though. In two weeks time.”
What sort of gift could she possibly have for me? “Why?”
“Because good things take time.”
“No, I mean, why give me a gift at all? You don’t know me,” I countered, folding my arms.
She merely held my stare, her smile unflinching, as she ignored my question to say, “One of my favorite spots in this city has been on that stage, in the town square. You can see it clearly from between the two stalls that sell furs, especially on a cloudless night.”
“I don’t particularly like any part of this town. I want to get home and see my family,” Alaina said bitterly, slamming down her empty mug, giving Evenita a glare that could cut as sharp as a dagger. I shifted in my seat, noting the rub of leather against my hip that held one of my own beneath my shirt. Protection, just in case.
“Family?” I asked, ignoring the blatantly odd choice of scenery Evenita said she liked so much.
“My brother is a baker. A damned good one. I’m missing his saffron buns right about now.”
I’d ask where they lived to continue the conversation, but it seemed moot. The server brought over a water and some rotting apples. The apples skins were soft enough to form to the wooden table beneath, the wrinkly exterior barely holding the mush inside together.
“Seeds,” Evenita said brightly to Alaina.
Alaina flashed a look that indicated she approved, the wash of relief cleansing her of that foul disposition of failure that I knew well.
“Remind me never to eat from your gardens,” I said, cringing at the fermenting fruit.
Alaina laughed.
Just when I was about to ask more about their business in town, a flicker of white light caught my eye. I looked up to see Melody wrapping bright ribbons of light between her fingers. Before my heart could beat again, I was up and moving. Cutting through the ever-growing crowd, I barged up to her, grabbing her arm and hauling her away so violently she almost tripped.
“Hey! What are you doing?!” she cried, the light instantly vanishing when I’d distracted her.
“Are you crazy?!” I whispered, leading her to a corner to give us some privacy.
“What? You told me how proud you were of me just the other day! Didn’t you see what I was doing?”
“Yes, I did, and so did everyone else in this damned tavern!” My rage was breaking the surface.
“And? Isn’t this the one place I’m actually able to show off my magic?” She folded her arms in defiance, anger creasing her beautiful features. Something I rarely saw.
“Not when it’s those with magic who are being targeted for the kidnappings,” I hissed.
Her anger slipped, concern now glazing her beautiful blue eyes. “What? How do you know that? Why didn’t you tell me?” She turned her attention to the dozens of people she’d been around, and the dozens more who’d filtered in since our arrival.
My heart dropped into my stomach. She was right, I should have told her. Should have warned her, so that she wouldn’t do something stupid like flaunt her magic to a crowd of strangers. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think…” I didn’t want to finish my thought.
But my sister wasn’t imperceptive. She stared at me with the hardest glare I’d ever seen from her gentle face. “That I could handle it?”
“ No . I just didn’t want you to worry.” Both of us knew she’d scented the truth. Melody was lovely, always had been. A woman to be protected, sheltered, cared for. Not someone who needed to face the harsh realities of the world by working off a debt in a tavern among vile men every week, or trudge through muddy markets in harsh weather for errands. I’d gladly taken on those roles so that she didn’t have to.
“You know, you never give me credit.” She huffed, a false smile adorning her flawless skin.
“What are you even saying? Of course I do.” I glanced around, trying to keep our exchange quiet to avoid drawing attention.
“No, you treat me just as mother does. Like I’m some wallflower, like there are things that go on in the world that I’m oblivious to.”
I worked down the lump in my throat. We had never gotten into this kind of argument before. My fists balled at my sides, and I couldn’t steel myself against the rising tide of anger that erupted. “You are oblivious to a lot of things in the world. Things that I’m subjected to, have been subjected to, because I’m not your mother’s blood. All while you and your sister stand by, because standing up for me would mean going against her, and gods forbid you ever do anything that could mark your precious beauty.” Every word was doused in searing venom, meant to inflict the most damage. But when her hardened face softened, and her blinking slowed, a tightness worked through my gut.
Regret.
“At least I know how you truly feel now.” She calmly walked past me, settling back into her usual picture of poise.
“Where are you going?” I barked out before she reached the crowd.
“Home,” she replied without so much as looking back over her shoulder.
I trailed her through the maze of people now stuffed into the tavern until we walked out the front door.
“Don’t follow me,” Melody snapped, marching into the street now painted with the dimming orange glow of the setting sun.
“I’m not letting you go home alone.”
She turned around, her skirts twirling with her. “Much to your surprise, Nora, I’m as capable as you to walk a couple blocks to our house unaccompanied.” Her chest rose and fell with every heated breath. Her knuckles whitened at her sides.
My sister was too lovely, too kind to be made to feel how she was. I wanted no part in it. “You’re right,” I admitted, letting her words sink in. Maybe I had treated her as something too delicate, something to be protected more than a person with free will. I’d had no idea she sensed it, what that would have made her feel like, but seeing it written on her face now…
She went to say something else, but paused. She took a deep breath, clearly thinking better of it—something I wished I had done earlier before I’d eroded our evening with my caustic words. My throat clamped on the apology that wanted to come out, but I didn’t know if she was ready to hear it. Or if I was ready to give it. I couldn’t separate the truth from my ego yet.
We’d never had this wall between us, or at least acknowledged it. Something built from years’ worth of resentment and locked away sentiments. I didn’t even think I’d recognized that I carried that amount of bitterness until the moment it came spewing from my mouth.
Instead of saying anything, I simply watched as she walked down the street with all the grace of a lady that hadn’t just been attacked by an unkind sister.
Letting her walk home would be the first step in mending this rift between us, proving to her that I’d been wrong before.
When she was out of sight, I returned inside. I had some attendees to question.