Eventually, I found Tania, the jeweler. She was bent over her wares, either putting something back or rearranging things. I couldn't be sure, but her dark, nearly bald head reminded me a bit of my mother when she'd been younger. Tania pulled the look off, though. Mom hadn't.
"I need a torc," I said when I got close enough.
She flinched, startled by my voice, but still looked up with a smile. "Zasen! A torc, huh? Well, I have some steel over here. That will go nicely with your scales."
"Gold," I said. "It's for a token."
She slowed, turning her eyes up to give me an incredulous look. "You're buying a token?"
"Weare," I corrected.
And her eyes narrowed. "For Lessa?"
That made me scoff. "No. I know she's bought at least three from you - "
"For you," she said pointedly.
"But I think she's finally moved on," I finished. "This? This is for the one woman Rymar, Kanik, and I think we can all agree on."
"Dare I ask?" she teased.
"The Phoenix."
Tania's reaction was not at all what I'd expected. The woman didn't laugh, scoff, or ask me to repeat myself. She simply turned around and began rummaging behind her. I could hear metal rattle with her movement, and before long she pulled out a wooden box that seemed heavy.
"Zasen, a torc is a nearly permanent thing. To get them on and off isn't easy. Some call them a collar, and I'm not sure a former Mole would like that association."
"Which is why I am looking for something specific," I told her. "I want open ends. I need spaces for four signs. I would like it to be beautiful, butopen, Tania. Yes, it's a collar, but one which will never be closed. One she's free from. One that will prevent her from ever being trapped again."
And the woman's lips curled into a smile. "So you've thought about this."
"We've been thinking about it for a while now," I promised. "And it has to be gold."
She cracked open the box and began laying out items for me to see. "This is a simple torc. Effective, bold, and plain. This one is a common twist, but you'd have to stamp two of the signs on the bottom, which means they wouldn't be seen.
I shook my head, rejecting both. "No, she deserves something beautiful, functional, and that won't get in her way."
The jeweler ran her tongue over her teeth behind her lips, but there was an arrogance behind it. "How much are you looking to spend?"
"Hopefully less than a dog?"
She chuckled and pulled out one more item. "I can't promise this will be much less, but I think I have exactly what you want."
And before me, she placed an ornate golden band. It was no bigger than Ayla's pinky finger, and probably smaller, but made of four obvious strands of gold. Each one was a slightly differentcolor: pale yellow, bright yellow, dark yellow, and pinkish yellow. The main, bright-yellow color bent back on itself on one side, forming a loop that reminded me of a vine twining around itself. In the middle of that was a round spot perfect for a sign to be stamped.
The other side had three smaller versions of the same thing. One was pale, nearly white-gold. The others were the pink and the darker, nearly-bonze shade of gold. Combined, it had four places perfect for different signs, and even without being stamped as a token, it would make a beautiful necklace.
"I swear that was made for us," I admitted.
She flashed me a pleased smile. "No, but it's not uncommon for one person to be the center of a relationship. I can also modify this design to have more bands if necessary."
"Four is perfect," I assured her.
And the truth was I liked how one side was clearly for her. The other side had the three of us, making us equals. The asymmetry of it worked, even though I hadn't even considered the implications of who might be stamped on the same side as her.
"How much?" I asked, reaching for my money.
She pulled out a tool and spread the torc open wide enough to fit around someone's neck. "For this much gold, ten would be fair."
