“I likely won’t have a chance to get any but noted.”
We said our goodbyes, and the mirror went dark. I stared at it for several moments after they were gone, feeling both a heavy sense of foreboding but also a lot lighter.
“There,” Seir said, getting to his feet. He picked up one mirror, and I took the other. “Now you have a plan. I’ll ask Hailon to let Ophelia know you’ll be coming, they get on well.One step at a time.” We headed toward the door, relief washing over me when I unlocked it. Out in the hall, Seir spun on me. “Can I see some of the other ones?” He had on that begging pup expression again, the one I could never resist.
“I suppose.”
He beamed, and I was gifted another small window of not thinking about everything all at once while my brother pushed all the symbols on the door frame, gushing over each and every workshop he looked at. Faced with what I was, I appreciated the distraction more than he knew.
It seemed it wasn’t a mage I needed, but rather a sorceress. One with ancient knowledge and insight into things much of the world had already forgotten.
Thankfully, I also knew where to find one of those.
Chapter 25
Phin
Ithought at first that I was imagining things, but after he spent the whole of dinner unable to meet my eye, I had to admit to myself that Tap was in fact, avoiding me.
My stomach was knotted as I dried the last dish. He was standing right next to me at the stove but might as well have been at the far end of the great hall.
“Tap?”
“Yes?”
“I was thinking about spending some time practicing with my quill. Would you like to join me? Maybe keep looking for that lettering style you wanted to show me?” I cringed at the desperation in my tone.
His response was painfully slow, but my shoulders relaxed a bit when he finally answered, a quiet, “Okay.”
“Would you mind bringing the tea?”
“Of course.”
He followed me down the hall, and I pressed my palm to the little book to access the library. The silence was heavy as I got settled at my beautiful new desk. Tap sat stiffly on the edge of a sofa cushion, still avoiding my eye.
My heart squeezed. I didn’t understand what I’d done wrong. He was not exactly being cold to me, but he was unbearably tense and resisting even the most basic conversation. I’d gotten one-word answers and diverted eye contact all day.
The only logical conclusion was that he regretted what we’d done. Nothing else made sense. And the very idea of that made my chest feel like it was going to collapse.
Quill in hand, I practiced my favorite scroll design with exaggerated loops and swirls in the rich blue ink. Over and over, I drew them, lining all four edges of the page before I swapped for the gold ink and did a thin outline of them all to change them from flat to more realistically dimensioned. Tap was flipping through books, but I wasn’t convinced he was seeing anything on the pages.
I called out for Ramsey in my mind, wondering if perhaps she could lend me some of her wisdom on the situation, but unfortunately there was no response. Not that I expected one, there hadn’t been anything but silence since she left the crossroads, but I was already upset and that just dug the blade into my sore emotions a little bit deeper.
I did another row of symbols, then another round of outlining. When I finally reached for my cup, the tea was cold.
That was my limit, apparently, because tears began to flow as I fought the urge to spit the tepid mouthful of brew back out. I put my face in my hands and sobbed silently, shoulders shaking and heart sore. At the same time, I felt completely out of control. Crying over such things, overanything, really, was unlike me.
It was my sniffle that finally made him look at me, and I could see the change in his demeanor immediately.
“Phin?”
“Tea’s cold,” I managed over a shuddering breath.
“Here.” He rushed over with the pot and swapped out my cup for a new one before he poured. “Sorry, I didn’t bring the honey. I think it helps your throat.”
“I don’t need it.” His thoughtfulness about how I drank my tea made the tears come faster. “Are you angry with me?” I stuttered, and he nearly dropped the cup on my freshly drawn pages.
“No, of course not.”
