Chapter 20 #2
“Because it’s true. We’re going to have to build even more apartments and get you a larger kitchen if people keep moving in because of your meals,” Greta laughed.
“We already had to get a bigger family table.” Grace waved her hand, but I could see the affection in the teasing.
These women adored one another. There was no fakery or cattiness. This was love. Family.
My heart throbbed with a desire to have that.
Calla persisted, “It will give us more time to get to know you. Besides, we never see Tap. I really would love to have everyone here for a big family dinner. Wouldn’t that be so lovely?”
Grace nodded. “I’d hoped for something over Yule, but we had too many other exciting things going on. At least we were all together. Mostly.” She frowned for a brief moment but caught me looking at her and turned it into a smile instead.
“I wish it were warmer, I’d walk you around the grounds,” Calla lamented. “Maybe next time.”
“Yes, next time,” I promised, and the smiles I got in return made my heart do a funny flip behind my ribs. They carried the conversation on, making sure to include me as we prepared to go as a group into the city to shop.
Tears prickled again, unexpected and from a mix of happy emotions I was unused to feeling.
The carriage ride into Revalia proper was fairly short, but between the women I was with, I got a full education on everything I could see out the little windows as we passed.
The library and cathedral were hard to miss, even from a distance, and there were people moving about in droves as though the cold was no bother at all.
I’d never seen so much life in such a compact space.
The city was impressive as well.
“What are you looking for?” Grace asked, enthusiastic at the prospect of showing someone new around the markets.
“Clothing, I guess?”
“What kind?”
The words were out of my mouth before I even processed having made a decision. “A dress, maybe two. Warm leggings. A coat that fits me, maybe some new tunics?”
Grace beamed. “Cloak and Dagger to start then, perhaps the tailor by the bridge. We’ll get you squared away in no time.”
I pulled out my envelope of money. The currency in Vincara was different, and it wasn’t like I was able to shop regularly there. I had no understanding of what things cost here, only that the envelope seemed to contain quite a lot of paper money. “Will this be enough?”
Calla gently took it, and her eyes widened as she flipped through. “Oh, yes. More than. But even if it weren’t, we’d make it work. There’s no shortage of coin between us.”
Satisfied, I stowed it away in the inside pocket over my chest and tried to keep track of where we were in relation to the collegium.
The carriage slowed as foot traffic grew heavy, then pulled to the side and stopped altogether.
“Come on. We’ll go on foot from here.” Grace led the way, Calla and Greta both giving me reassuring smiles as I climbed out after her. With the sun at its peak and the buildings blocking most of the wind, the temperature seemed to have warmed quite a bit.
“Thank you, Clem. Do you mind waiting a while?” Calla asked.
“Not at all, ma’am. You ladies take your time. I’ll be right here. Send for me if you need something carried.” He sagged in the seat, tipping his hat over his eyes. How he was going to sleep out in the cold was a mystery to me.
Calla stopped to rub the horses’ noses, and then I was tucked between them all and swept toward a shop.
I’d never been shopping with anyone besides my mother, and having four other women there to advise on how something fit or how a color suited me was a novel and thrilling experience.
Once the ladies working the shop found out what I was looking for, I was sent to a little room with a curtain for a door and brought an assortment of things to try on.
Every time I was in something new, I had to walk out to see how it looked in their incredible person-sized mirror, as well as get approval from the council of women accompanying me.
“Definitely the lavender, though the pale green suits as well,” Calla said with finality as she stacked two new tunics onto the counter. She’d confiscated my envelope for safekeeping, tucking it into her little bag once I’d taken my coat off.
“Merry will be sad to have missed this,” Hailon lamented, holding two equally beautiful hooded cloaks against me, gauging fit.
“She loves to shop.” Her head tilted to the side.
“Well, she’s getting used to it, is probably more accurate.
She likes to browse, and will help me choose things, but I still have to convince her to spend on anything for herself most of the time.
” She pursed her lips and consulted the others. “The gray? Or the brown?”
“Gray,” Calla and Greta said in unison.
Grace smiled, taking it from Hailon and adding it to the stack on the counter.
The cloak, several tunics, three dresses, a weeks’ worth of undergarments, and four pairs of leggings later, the shopkeeper was only too happy to wrap up my parcels and deliver them to the carriage for us as we continued on to the area of the markets with home wares.
“Do you all live in the city?” I asked as they led me down a street lined with tents and tables, each one a separate vendor.
“At d’Arcan itself, actually,” Calla said, stopping to buy some delicate-looking candies from a man who clearly knew her well.
“Vassago and I keep one of the staff apartments upstairs too,” Greta agreed, waving at a woman selling scarves.
“There’s still one available for you and Seir, should you need it,” Calla teased, winking at Hailon. “You too, Phin. We have a couple that are freed up at the moment. You and Tap are always welcome to stay if you like.”
“Thank you.”
“I have a small suite at d’Arcan, and Magnus technically lives at the stone kin conclave, though he mostly stays with me or at a way house close by. We’ll be moving into a house soon,” Grace said. “Still on the grounds at d’Arcan, though.”
“Do you all teach?”
“Greta and I do, but only every great now and then.” Calla shifted her parcels around. “Rylan and Vassago have regular classes, and Grace manages all the inner workings of the school.”
“I have help! Thank goodness.” Grace chuckled, pride making her cheeks glow. “My girls came to us shortly after Calla did. They get their education and help me with the chores.” Grace chuckled. “Though Stella will likely be off soon, seeking her own way.” Her smile faded a bit at the edges.
Hailon smiled at me, seeing that I was hesitating over asking another question. “Ask whatever you like, Phin. We’re mostly open books.” Greta nodded enthusiastically in agreement.
“How did you all end up there?”
Calla smiled. “That’s several lengthy stories, actually. The short version is that the Fates put us there.”
“The Fates?”
“Indeed.” Grace’s smile was slow, her response interrupted as she stopped to haggle over a basket of assorted cheese.
“Come on. Let’s get warm, shall we? The shop with hot chocolate is just over there.
” She swept us into a café, and we all settled into a table at the back once we’d gotten a steamy cup of chocolate and a pastry.
“How are you doing?” Hailon asked, leaning close.
“I’m okay.”
She squeezed my shoulder. “This hot chocolate is to die for. Might put you off sweets for a week, but it’s worth it.”
I took a tentative sip and agreed. It was like someone had just melted down several bricks of chocolate and poured them into a cup. Just a few sips in, I was warm enough I took off my coat.
“What do you know about fated mate bonds, Phin?” Calla asked, her cheek resting on her fist.
“Not a lot,” I admitted. “I suspect my parents were fated, but they didn’t really talk about it. It’s supposed to be pretty rare.” They all wore a similar lopsided grin as they stared at me. Realization dawned, and I sat forward in my seat. “Oh. All of you?”
“And Merry, with Coltor,” Hailon added.
“And Lovette.” Grace omitted the mate’s name, but I recognized Lovette as one I’d heard while speaking with Merry and Hailon in the glade.
“But how?”
Calla sipped from her cup of rich chocolate before speaking.
“Multiple complicated stories, as I said. But that’s what I meant by the Fates bringing us together.
They had a significant hand in assembling this family.
” She reached into the collar of her shirt and pulled out a necklace.
Greta did the same, and Hailon. Their necklaces all looked exactly like mine, just with different stones.
I floundered, opening and closing my mouth several times but never finding the words I needed to express my questions.
“Family heirlooms,” Hailon said, “from our mothers.”
I glanced down at the bracelet Rylan had made me, remembering his interest in my own necklace, and my thoughts spun, pondering what all of it meant.
“We’re all here, Phin. For whatever you need. Just ask.” There was nothing but sincerity in Calla’s tone, and everyone at the table agreed with her.
My heart swelled. I believed them.
Seeing I was a bit flustered, nobody pushed. They simply left me to parse out what I needed from what they’d shared.
We finished our chocolate and continued to loop around the market streets, and I was encouraged to choose things that brought me joy.
None of them were shy about picking items up either, and before long, we were headed back to the carriage with full arms and lightened purses.
Not one of them had minded when I went quiet, all of them somehow able to keep me in the conversation even when I couldn’t participate.
It was as perfect a day as I could have dreamed up for myself.
At least until we were within sight of the carriage and my heart decided to start racing, my fingertips went numb, and they had to catch me before I sagged to the cobbled street.