But then again, what good was having a gift if you never got to use it?
As she left her final shop, the apothecary, with a little package of dried licorice root for Nanny’s favorite tea, she spotted one of her friends being courted by a young man. And though she was happy for her friend, who was blossoming under the young farmer’s attention, Norah couldn’t help the little stab of desire that flared through her–the wish that some young man would look at her the way the farmer was looking at her friend.
But she was all too aware of how Nanny’s careful ministrations made her look peculiar, at the very least. Her heart-shaped, freckled face was at odds with the straight, silky black hair Nanny forced her to wear. It was the costume she’d been wearing for the last ten years.
Which was why it surprised her when, three streets over, a neighbor boy pulled her into a street dance that was taking place beside a group of musicians playing for coins.
“Come on, Norah!” he cried, laughing as he tugged on her hand. “You never dance!”
“Johnny, let me go!” she laughed. “I’ll spill my basket!”
“I’ll take your basket, dear.” Johnny’s mother, another friend of Nanny’s, appeared at her elbow. “Johnny’s right. You never have fun with the young people. Go. I’ll be waiting here when you’re done.”
Norah, for all the duty she did her best to keep, was undone at this. Johnny’s mother was right. She never had fun with people her age. And though Johnny was still two years her junior, he was tall enough to lead her into the fun country dance that a dozen other couples had fallen into, flying over the cobblestone street in time to the song of the lute and pipe.
If Nanny could see Norah now, she might have a heart attack. But, Norah reasoned as she was passed into the arms of another partner, leaving in the middle of the dance would attract even more attention at this point than simply finishing the song. So Norah simply let her dance partners lead her into the music, their laughter ringing out over the usual noise of the city, and tried to ignore her conscience.
What harm could a dance do? After all, it was the most fun she’d had in a long,longtime. And just for a moment, she could pretend that she belonged.
Chapter 3
Better Off
Norah tightened the handkerchief over her hair before taking a deep breath and opening her cottage’s front door. Her heart was beating as though she’d just run the entire length of the port, and her cheeks were flushed from the spirited dance.
She hadn’t danced for long, she assured herself as she tried to open the door as quietly as she could. She’d only danced until Johnny had stopped protesting, and his mother had handed Norah her basket back with a smile. It hadn’treallybeen that long…
“That was quite an excursion you took.”
Norah briefly shut her eyes before opening them and turning to face Nanny. The woman was sitting at the table with a pile of half-shelled peas beside her. But neither the knife nor the peas were in Nanny’s hands, and that was a bad sign. Nanny was never idle.
Instead, her arms were crossed, and she was glaring at Norah as Norah could never remember her doing before.
“I… was caught by friends,” Norah said carefully. And it was true. To anyone else in that square, she’d simply been detained byfriendly neighbors. “I couldn’t leave without making a scene.”
“Oh, I know,” Nanny said darkly. “I was there.”
Norah felt her face pale, but she stood her ground, even if her knees did tremble slightly. Though why they should, she didn’t know. She was nineteen, far old enough to take part in an innocent street dance now and then. It wasn’t as though she’d done anything wrong. “Then,” she said, clearing her throat, “you know I behaved as I should have.”
“Except that you exposed yourself to those who might do you harm!” Nanny stood and strode toward Norah, taking Norah’s hands in her own. “Norah, dear, you havenoidea what kind of danger you’d be in if they discovered where you are!”
Norah sighed heavily. “Nanny, we’ve been through this a thousand–”
“You might have been too young to remember the faces of your family,” Nanny said, her voice now quivering. “But Idoremember! And I’m haunted by the nightmare in which the pirates findyouand do the same! Or,” she added darkly, “most likely worse!”
“Which is why I don’t understand why we stay here!” Norah blurted. “Nanny, why must we stay in TiFiore? I have family back in Cuicaine! We could hire ourselves out to work on ships! And then, using the money we earn, we could go there and find my cousins and–”
“And what? Abandon your legacy? Your gift?” Nanny took Norah’s face gently in her hands. Norah had to control her urge to step back.
“Norah, you are all that’s left of their legend! Your people are still on that island, waiting for you!”
“So we can do what?” Norah’s chin trembled, and she did her best not to cry in her anger. “Stay here forever, knocking on the palace gates that refuse to open for us? Nanny, I can’t even get my betrothed to address me. How in the world am I supposed to helpwhoever stayed on the island after the fire?” She swallowed hard, but the lump in her throat remained.
“Some stayed because they believe in you, love! Because they trust you’ll be back!”
Norah closed her eyes and shook her head, willing the faces of those she’d left behind to disappear from her mind’s eye. When she spoke again, her voice was subdued. “The fire ruined most of the island. Everyone knows that. They’re… all better off starting again on their own. And from what I’ve heard, those who stayed have done so.” She opened her eyes to blink away the stinging suddenly in their corners, and in her frustration, she ran a hand through her hair, removing the band that cast the black shade over it.
“Norah, the windows!” Nanny ran to pull the shutters closed. Then she turned to Norah and shook her head. “You were too small to understand such things, but your family and King Astin had a pact!”
