Kizzi shrugged. She leaned her elbows onto the table and rested her chin on her hands. “There’s not much to know, really.”
“Nonsense. There’s more to you than just an amazing apothecary witch. Do you have any family?”
“No.”
I nodded, giving her time to continue.
She sighed. “I’ve been alone for as long as I can remember. Well—not alone,” she interrupted herself. “The coven has always been there for me. Ani took me in when I was young and practically raised me as her own. And Fiella, of course. And her Ma and Pa.”
“It sounds like you have a wonderful family, then. Family isn’t always your blood and bones.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “I agree with that. How about you, are your parents running around the realm somewhere?”
I took a large swallow of ale. “Not anymore. My Ma and Pa both left the land of the living some years ago.”
Her face scrunched. She reached over and patted the back of my hand where it rested on the handle of my pint. “Oh, Gods. I’m sorry, Tandor.”
I tried to smile, but it was weighed down by the painful twinge in my chest. “I miss them every day, but they lived a long, full life. They wouldn’t want to see me moping about them, wherever they are.” I glanced up to the ceiling, imagining the sky and the two moons beyond. I pictured my Ma’s face smiling down at me, her perfectly straight teeth and dimpled cheeks.And my Pa’s, wrinkled around the mouth and at the corners of the eyes from a life full of grins.
We sat in silence for long moments, lost in thought and surrounded by the idle chatter of the diner around us.
Eventually, she broke the silence. “No siblings, then? Any other Sablesmiths out there?”
I glanced at her face to find her watching me intently. Her hands were tucked into her tunic pocket.
“One—a sister. Rune. She’s a few years older. Settled down with a family in Tidegrove. She always loved the waters.” I smiled fondly. “I don’t see her much, but every time I do, it’s like we never parted. She’s just… easy.”
Kizzi’s eyes brightened. “She sounds lovely. Does she have the same incredibly silky hair?”
I choked out a surprised laugh. “You think my hair is silky?”
“I regret asking.”
I laughed louder. “Yes, she does. And her little ones do too.”
Her face softened. “I can just imagine it—tiny, green-skinned orcs running around with pigtails. Do you want to visit them?”
“I would love to, but I know how out of the way Tidegrove is. If the fates take us there—absolutely.”
“Up to the fates, then.”
I nodded, and then a question tickled at my mind. “What happened to your parents? Any siblings that you know of?” I asked gently, afraid that I was prying too hard.
She let out a huff of air, pulling her hands out of her pocket to grip her pint glass. “I don’t know. Isn’t that strange?” She stared into the liquid in the glass, but her focus was faraway. “I suppose they could be out there somewhere, but they left me behind. They didn’t want me. So why should I want them?”
“That’s a terrible thing to do to a little one.”
She nodded glumly. “They just dumped me in the park in town square. Left me on a bench all alone. I was three or fouryears old, I think.” She lifted her gaze to mine, and my chest squeezed with tenderness. “I try not to think about it too much. It makes me sad for little me. She went through a lot.” Her eyes bored into me with a painful heaviness.
I couldn’t help myself—I ached to comfort her. I reached out and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. My fingers curled over her shoulder blade and my thumb rested softly over her collarbone. I tried not to notice how soft her skin was there. “They are fucking idiots for leaving you. Whoever they were, wherever they went, whether they be alive or dead—I don’t care what their story is. They’re the dumbest folk in the realm for leaving you behind. I would slap them if I could.”
She cracked a watery smile. “Wow, you’d inflict violence on strangers for me? How chivalrous.”
I released her shoulder with a careful squeeze and snorted out a laugh. “Only when it’s deserved. In this instance—yes, absolutely.”
Kizzi looked at me strangely for a moment, tilting her head and squinting her eyes.
“What?” I asked.
