Premature aging sounded better than extreme trauma. Truth was, I’d developed one streak at a time, each highlighting some terrible event from my past. Since I’d met Granny, I hadn’t developed any new streaks. I’d take rules and punishments over my past any day.
“Sure, white, why not?” I said with a shrug. “Not red, though, like Nadia’s. Who everyone calls Red...”
“But Nadia didn’t get a fancyredcloak from Granny and you did.”
I squinted up at him. “Who’s been talking?”
“Joss, who heard from Alexander.”
Alexander, Granny’s chief muscle. The guy had a mean streak ten miles wide and he didn’t care who he took it out on. He liked the feel of bones breaking under his fists. He’d said as much when he’d broken a couple of my ribs. With a smile.
“Not wise, passing around Alexander’s gossip,” I said noncommittally, going back to my work.
“So Granny didn’t get you a lavish gift?”
“It’s just a cloak,” I deflected.
“It’s a velvet cloak with silk lining and it cost her a fortune. Alexander was there when she bought it. She’s gotta keep her prized drug maker warm in the cold.”
“Cute,” I murmured, emptying the fine powder into a bowl and adding more thistle into my mortar.
His smile slipped a bit. “Does it bother you, what the village does now?”
“How many times are you going to ask me this question?” I worked the thistle.
“I don’t know. At least once more, probably.” He grinned at me, but his expression faded quickly. “It’s just... it seems like things are getting more serious.”
I paused in my work.
I hadn’t been joking; it really wasn’t wise to pass on anything Alexander said. He sampled the product, but he was smart about it when he did; he made sure Granny wouldn’t know. Sometimes, when he was in the midst of a journey, he talked. Often it was about trivial matters, like the women he bedded on the Outside, or how nice his horse was—something the village wasn’t afforded. Sometimes, though, he talked about the business. About Granny’s strategies and how things were going. On those occasions, once he’d sobered up, he’d realized he’d made a grave mistake. Granny prized him for his discretion, or so I’d heard. On the Outside, he was her most trusted helper. If she knew he’d loosened his lips when in the village, she’d be furious. To stop that from happening, he silenced those he’d told—almost always with his fists.
I scraped my teeth over my bottom lip. If it wasn’t for last night and my misgivings, I would’ve avoided this whole conversation. As it was...
“What’d you hear?” I finally asked.
He licked his lips, glancing behind him. “It’s just . . . Well . . .” He hesitated.
“Tell me,” I pushed.
He took a deep breath. “Apparently Granny has got the blessing of the king and queen.”
I shook my head. “What does that mean? Blessing for what?”
“To sell it, what else? Right out in the open.” He grimaced. “Not front and center, mind. Her booths have to be in the way back corner of the royal market in a shaded stall, but everyone knows where she is. She has a guard and everything, and the line is a mile long.”
“Wait, wait.” I held out my hand, trying to process this information. “No, selling unlawful products in theroyalmarket, the main kingdom market, is absurd. That can’t be right.”
His eyes widened, nodding. “That’s what Alexander said.”
I frowned at him before going back to my work. “When Alexander is in the middle of a journey, he fabricates.”
I had no idea if that was true, but given what Xarion was saying, it must be.
He pushed closer to the gate. “He wasn’t even that far along. Jennece was fondling him, how he likes, and he was just underway on the journey. He was letting it all spill out. He said that Granny got in to see the king and queen—she’d made special contacts or something—and for a sack of gold, asack, they’d let her sell in the market. In the corner, I mean. Like way in the far corner.”
I stopped working again to level him with a look.
“Xarion, be reasonable. This product is against the law of the land. The law that the king and queen uphold. There is no way they’d let it be sold to common folk in the main market.”
