CHAPTER 29
Kizzi
The tent was dark when Tandor and I finally slipped inside for the night. Embers were simmering in the fire pit, the light dim.
Tandor had hauled the cauldron to the carriage with a surprising amount of effort. We had almost considered borrowing a wheelbarrow, but his pride had gotten in the way. His muscles had heaved and strained as he hoisted the massive bowl across town.
It had certainly been a sight. I shivered as I thought about it. His raw strength. His power. His muscles and tendons gliding beneath his skin.
A tension simmered through the air, low and hot. I couldn’t quite figure out where it came from. Neither of us broke the silence.
Memories of last night flashed through my mind as I wandered over to my bag, letting my cloak drop from my shoulders.
I glanced at Tandor to find him sitting on the edge of the bed, his chin propped up on his hand. He was staring at a point on the canvas wall so fixedly I swore it would burst into flames.
I murmured a warning anyway. “Don’t look.”
It wasn’t like it mattered. He had seen most of my goods already anyway.And he liked what he saw.
I swatted the thought away like a fly.
He didn’t respond, simply continuing his strange stare. His eyebrows were pursed. I ached to know what internal battle he was fighting.
He couldn’t know… could he? He hadn’t walked into the shop early enough to overhear anything particularly damning.
He was thinking about something, though.
I hastily changed into my nightclothes.
As I tossed more logs into the firepit, Tandor finally snapped out of his concentration. He rose to his feet, pulled his cloak off, and planted his hands on his hips. He looked at me with a strange, twisted smile on his mouth.
My eyebrows pulled together. “...What?”
“I know what you did,” he said mischievously.
My stomach bottomed out. My pulse kicked up in my chest and a sweat broke out on my forehead.
This was it. Somehow, he had figured out the truth. This was the moment that Tandor would scream at me, and report me for outlawed witchcraft, and get me thrown in the dungeon.
But… he was smiling.
I gulped. “And what did I do, exactly?”
His smile grew into a triumphant grin. “You tried to ensnare me with a love potion, didn’t you? If you wanted me so badly, princess, you could’ve just asked.”
I choked out something between a gasp and a laugh. “I did what?”
He stepped toward me, still smiling in a way that wrinkled his eyes at the corners. Mirth lit up his features in an endearing way. My stomach pinched.
“You could’ve just asked,” he said again. “I’m afraid I’m already yours.”
My jaw dropped open completely. “Tandor, what in the realms are you talking about?”
He laughed heartily. “I’m just joking, I had to. You can’t blame me.” He grasped my shoulder and squeezed for a moment before letting his hand drop away. “But I know about the love potion. I overheard a few things at the witchy shop, and then I figured it out.”
All the air whooshed out of me in a hot exhale. “You overheard.”
He nodded. “I sure did. It took me a while to put it all together, though. And then I had to decide if I would keep my mouth shut. But I hate secrets. I really, truly do. I would’ve burst on the journey home trying to pretend that I didn’t know anything.”
