Twenty-One - Alan
Twenty-One
Alan
???
Powell hadn’t noticed anything amiss. He didn’t know the charms were broken, which made me doubt the wisdom of going to the festival and making him wonder. All he had to do was open the display case in the shop and pull out the goblet to discover that I had found the charms. What he’d do after that, I couldn’t guess.
But Mina was right that the festival would be the ideal time to turn people to my side. Without magic forcing them to see me a certain way, the jovial atmosphere would help them push past years of ingrained prejudice.
But the real reason I planned to attend was because I wanted to spend the day with Mina. She’d return home in four days’ time. She hadn’t invited me to travel to the city with her, but her questions about my ties to Skorsa made me wonder if she had hoped I would ask to join her. Ward save me, but I was willing to beg her to let me stay with her, if that was what it took. But I knew Mina. She didn’t want me to beg.
There was something she hadn’t told me yet, a secret that forced a sliver of distance between us. I heard it in all the things she didn’t say as we spoke of the past and future. I saw it in the way she sometimes couldn’t meet my eyes. I felt it when she held herself back when we kissed .
Her secret wouldn’t change the way I felt. Compared to having my stepfather use a magical charm on me for years, Mina’s secret would probably feel trivial. But until she trusted me enough to share, I couldn’t ask for more than what we had. I needed to wait. Even if time was running out.
Once the festival was in full swing, I left the house. Powell had left almost an hour earlier. Everyone would be on the green, children running around, visiting each of the stalls set up selling treats. The first competitions, the ones meant for the youngest, would start soon. If I didn’t show up, I suspected Mina would be at my door before the first award was handed out.
I made my way to the green, but stayed on the edges, scanning the crowd. I didn’t see Powell, but he’d probably be sitting on the far side where the Hervors ran their outdoor tavern. Best to avoid that end of the green. With any luck Kayla would stay over there too, but she probably wouldn’t be helping her sister and parents much.
I expected to spot Mina easily, her blond hair standing out in the crowd, but I couldn’t see her from where I stood. I’d have to venture farther.
“You’re late.”
My head whipped around. It felt odd for anyone to talk to me without prompting. Especially since the words held no malice, despite being an admonishment.
Sam stood a few feet away, two cups of lemonade in his hands. He raised an eyebrow when I said nothing.
I was really out of practice having normal conversations with anyone but Mina. “I didn’t think there was such a thing as being late to the festival.”
“Mina expected you nearly an hour ago; therefore, you are late.”
I looked back over the green. “You know where she is?”
“I do.”
“Are you going to tell me? ”
Sam stepped up next to me, looking out over the crowd at my side. “Did you know Mina gave my mother a gift this morning? She said she had intended to save it as a going away present, but she wanted her to be able to wear it today. It was a necklace. The work of a skilled goldsmith. It is a wonder that she had the present, because Mina admitted to me several weeks ago that she had bought a necklace in Haiwella that she realized would never suit my mother, and she had to scramble to replace it.”
“Get to the point, Sam.” I wasn’t sure if Mina had told him the truth once she knew the charm was broken, or if he had pieced everything together himself, but either way, I didn’t understand why Sam was bringing up the necklace.
“Did you make Mina’s ring, too?”
“Would you believe me if I said I had?”
“I would. A week ago, I struggled, despite all the evidence, but today I can believe it easily. Then again, I have spent the past week picking apart everything I know about you and Powell. When Mina mentioned you at breakfast this morning, my father was less than complimentary.”
“I’m still waiting for you to get to the point.”
“You might have broken the charm, but you still have an uphill battle ahead of you. If you want to change the village council’s opinions today, you won’t be able to enjoy the festival. And Mina will be right by your side.”
“Meaning she won’t get to enjoy herself, either.”
“Exactly. And as much as she wants to help you, I know she has been looking forward to the festival since she first arrived in Skorsa.”
I laughed, though I kept the sound quiet. “Are you trying to tell me that I need to evaluate my priorities before you’ll tell me where Mina is?”
“I’m telling you that I need to know your priorities before I decide if I’ll tell you where Mina is. ”
“She’s the only reason I’m here. I will happily spend the day with her, enjoying the festivities and forgetting about anything else. But if she can’t relax knowing that the charm’s lingering effects are still impacting my life, then I’ll let her push me to talk to people and try to reverse the damage.” I crossed my arms. “She’s a grown woman, Sam. She can spend the Midsummer Festival doing whatever she wants. If you interfere, you only increase the odds she doesn’t have fun.”
Sam grinned and held out the cups toward me. “In that case, you’d better bring her the lemonade I went to fetch. She’s with Gemma, Cole, Hannah, and Phillip on the far side of the children’s race area.”
I took the cups. “No Kayla?”
“She wasn’t there last I saw.”
“Thank Ward.” If my hands hadn’t been full, I’d have twisted my fingers into Ward’s symbol of protection. I’d rather not have to deal with Kayla twice in as many days.
Sam chuckled. “Don’t thank the gods yet. The day is still young.”
I gestured with the cups. “I’d better get going. As you said, I’m already late.”
???
I spotted Mina the instant I passed the crowd of parents watching the egg-and-spoon race. Her eyes weren’t on the contest. She was looking around in every direction, while trying not to let her companions notice her distraction. She probably wanted to know what had happened to Sam with her drink.
Then she spotted me, and I knew she hadn’t been watching for her cousin. Everything about her brightened. I moved as quickly as I could without spilling the lemonades, reaching the blanket where everyone sat before the rest of the group figured out what had caught Mina’s attention.
“You made it! ”
Gemma, Hannah, and Phillip looked between me and Mina in confusion. Cole, on the other hand, watched me with a faint furrow between his brows. I nodded at him, then handed Mina one cup. “I did.”
“You were... expecting Alan?” Gemma asked, stumbling over the question.
“I told you to leave room for one more person.”
I looked at how everyone was sitting. To Mina’s right, Hannah sat with her legs tucked under her, her arm wrapped around Phillip’s where he sat at her side. To the left, Cole sat with Gemma in his lap. After yesterday’s meeting with Kayla, I wasn’t afraid Mina would pull away from me in public. So I settled behind her, stretching my legs out on each side of hers. “No extra room needed.”
She settled back against my chest and tilted her head to look at me. The green in her hazel eyes flashed bright. “How convenient. That means there will still be room for Sam if he ever makes it back.”
I tapped the rim of my cup against hers. “I think he planned to wander around a bit more. That’s why he sent me with the lemonade.”
“Did he?” Mina said so softly that only I could hear. She seemed to understand that he had done more than hand me drinks in passing.
I didn’t respond. The other couples on the blanket were staring at us, as were a few other villagers nearby. Mina’s free hand sought mine out, and I let her lace our fingers together. I tried to ignore the stares.
Cole’s frown deepened. “Does your decision to join the festivities this year mean none of the rest of us have a chance of winning the weight-throw?”
I smiled, remembering the good-natured teasing Cole and Jeff had thrown my way years ago, complaining that they didn’t even want to enter if I was competing. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I might sit it out. ”
Mina twisted around, placing her drink on the ground. “Why wouldn’t you want to enter?”
“It’s been years. I’m out of practice.”
She recognized my excuse as exactly what it was. She lowered her voice. “Competing in the games would be a great way to make people question their opinions of you.”
She was right, but it was hard to work up any enthusiasm. Competing would draw attention toward me. For years now, attention had been the last thing I wanted. Even before Powell, I had never sought attention, though I hadn’t shied away from it.
I glanced around. I—we—were already attracting attention. A relationship between Mina and me might have nothing to do with blacksmithing, but it didn’t fit neatly into the villagers’ impression of me. It was enough to cause cracks in their certainty about my worth. I wanted to drag them all to the forge and show them that I was a skilled smith, but a direct confrontation wasn’t the way to go.
Mina licked her lips, and I focused once more on her. Only her. The hand not holding mine rested on my thigh, as if she needed the support to stay balanced as she turned back to speak with me. Her voice dropped even lower. “Weight-throw sounds like a very muscle-dependent game. You did say I could make use of your muscles however I wished.”
“Mina!” Surprise made me say her name at a much louder volume than she had used. I flushed as everyone looked my way.
Mina turned back around, patting my thigh as she did so. “Sorry, Cole. Alan decided he is going to compete.”
Cole raised an eyebrow. “Did he now?”
I cleared my throat. “I did.”
???
The next hour passed more comfortably than I expected. Mina tried to steer the conversation so that I would have openings to talk, but didn’t seem surprised when I rarely engaged. Cole kept giving me strange looks, but Gemma was too polite to do anything other than accept my presence. Then Hannah and Phillip left to spend some time alone, and I almost relaxed.
That, of course, was the moment Cole addressed me directly. “Alan, why don’t we go gather some food from the stalls while the ladies enjoy the opportunity to chat without us around?”
Gemma kissed his cheek and slid off his lap. “Thank you.”
I pressed a kiss to the curve of Mina’s neck. “Any requests?”
“A slice of Mistress Hervor’s pie.”
“If I can manage to get a slice of her pie, Cole will devour it before we get back.”
Mina laughed. “Then get me whatever the tastiest thing is that will last the journey.”
I stood up, her happiness enough to carry me well into the crowd without worrying about what people were whispering when they noticed me. Then Cole pulled me in the opposite direction from the food stalls.
When we reached a relatively empty area, he spun around to face me, crossing his arms in front of himself. “What in Telika's hell is going on, Alan?”
“What do you mean?” I asked cautiously.
“I mean, you’ve barely spoken to me or Jeff for years, let alone come to a festival day, yet now you are here and cozy with Mina? How do you even know her?”
I ignored his question about Mina and mirrored his stance. “Am I the one who stopped speaking to you? Or did you stop speaking to me?”
“You stopped speaking to us. Jeff and I knew you needed some time and space after your mother died, but then—” Cole stopped, and I could see him recalling that time and realizing that I wasn’t the one who had severed our friendship. He tried again, less certain. “You were grieving, and then it was so embarrassing to associate with you, because you were such a disappointment... ”
“In what way?” I knew the echoes of magic still held Cole in thrall, but I couldn’t stop my anger. “Name one way I was a disappointment, Cole.”
“You were a disappointment as a smith. Everyone knows you only made journeyman status because...” His eyes narrowed. “You couldn’t even make...”
I waited. Without the charm, my old friend noticed that his words made no sense. Would he realize that his emotions didn’t either?
He uncrossed his arms and rubbed his face with one hand. “You can make just about anything. I still carry the throwing dagger you made me. The workmanship is excellent.”
“Not as good as what I can make these days.”
Cole huffed. “You don’t make anything these days.”
“Right, because I’m such a disappointment.”
He nodded before noticing that he had already questioned that conclusion. The furrow in his brow was deep enough I feared he’d never completely smooth it out. He glared at me like he thought I was responsible for his addled thoughts. “Why, in Ward’s name, do I think you are a disappointment? You are such a talented smith. I’ve seen that over and over again.”
“You and everyone else in the village.”
“What is going on, Alan?” This time there was no belligerence, just honest confusion.
“Powell. He used a magical charm to make the entire village turn against me for years. Mina helped me find and break it.”
“When was this?”
“The night before last. But according to Mina, the opinions that have been reinforced by the charm so many times over the years won’t just fade away overnight. That’s why she wanted me to come to the festival. People have to start questioning their own actions, and seeing me here helps. ”
“That’s why she wants you to participate in the weight-throw this afternoon. It is hard to keep thinking that you are incompetent when you are winning a competition. Well, one reason, at least.”
“What other reason do you think she has?”
Cole laughed. “Do I really need to spell it out for you?”
I had no idea what he found so amusing. “Cole.”
“She wants to watch you show off.”
“Oh.” I smiled. “Maybe I should enter more than the one competition.”
Cole rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s find some food before the ladies start worrying what happened to us.” He paused, then pulled me into a back-slapping embrace. “It’s good to have you back, even if you never really left.”