She didn’t say anything for a moment.
Had he pushed for too much, too quickly?
“I don’t know,” she said softly. “I’ve never seen this before. I grew up in a hidden community of magic users. We lived in the mountains to the north, where the king and his anti-magic laws couldn’t reach us. But living up there came with problems. The growing season was too short, and we couldn’t grow enough to supply ourselves. It had been one thing when magic was tolerated in Galamereand our people could come down and trade for what we needed—or at least, that’s what they told us.”
She paused as if she wasn’t sure what else she could reveal.
Roan couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. There was a whole community of people who used magic? Did she use magic? And why was she here?
“I was supposed to marry a man down here. My father arranged it all. He was trying to take care of me,” she said, her fingers curling into the dirt beneath her palms, “but he didn’t do it well.”
Roan’s heart nearly stopped. Was she married? Or spoken for?
“The marriage didn’t happen. It all ended up being rather disastrous, actually, and I’m not sure where my father went after that. But that’s why I’m here, on my own, and why I know things about magic. It’s why I know that whatever spell was used to do this is more than is normally taught, and I’m afraid it means whoever used it is dabbling in a black magic that ought not to be used.”
She shivered and Roan fought the urge to put his arm around her shoulders. She didn’t want comfort—she wouldn’t even meet his eyes.
“I don’t know who the sorcerer who cast this spell was, or if I even know them. We had to abandon our home when I was young and my father and I became nomads, which is why sleeping on the floor doesn’t bother me.” She let out a dry laugh. “I just hope that whoever cast the spell knew enough about what they were doing to give us a proper out. You don’t remember anything else, do you?” she asked hopefully.
Roan shook his head. He’d been racking his brain ever since that day when he woke up, with no memory of the actual curse happening.
“I wish I did,” he said. “All I remember is hitting my head. I do have a question for you, though.”
He hammered a new board into place. He could feel Abigail waiting beside him but wasn’t quite sure how to word it. How did you ask a question that could possibly be incredibly offensive? But he had to know.
“I hope this isn’t a bad question to ask,” he said quietly, “but are you able to do magic?”
He leaned over to grab the next board to avoid making eye contact.
Abigail let out a small humph. “I wish I was,” she said. “I’m not talented enough to do real magic. I can enhance things, which made me a valuable commodity as a child,until I stopped allowing myself to be used by people for the express purpose of amplifying their magic. But I can do things like make the tavern a more welcoming place, or make the soup taste more delicious, or anything like that. It’s useless in most cases, but a man like my father found it a very useful skill, until I realized what was happening. I—”
Roan looked over at her. She was looking down at the garden bed, avoiding meeting his gaze, but he still saw the tear that fell from her face into the dirt.
“He used me until I stopped letting him, and then he tried to marry me to someone down here. I’m sure he had some underlying reason that I don’t know, but to me, it felt like he no longer had any use for me. Since I stopped letting him use my talent to enhance his own magic, he was only trying to get rid of me.”
She cleared her throat. “When that fell through, I ran away from him. I don’t know where he is now, but I know that I don’t want to see him again.”
She still wouldn’t meet his gaze, and he couldn’t blame her. Baring her heart to him had to be terrifying—especially since she’d just admitted to using small magic in his tavern in a country where magic was illegal.
In her place, he’d be scared, too.
Roan reached over and lifted her chin gently until she looked up at him.
“You are so much more than just a tool to amplify someone else’s skills,” he said. “You say it’s not much, but since you came here, you have changed everything in my life for the better.”
The honesty behind the words surprised him—he meant every bit of it.
“I hope that you never think I’m only using you for your talents, but I do want you to know how much I appreciate them, Abigail.”
Abigail smiled, and he dropped his hand, unwilling to admit how much he liked touching her.
“You say that now,” she said with a self-deprecating grin, “but I’m sure someday it’ll wear off.”
Oh no. Did she really believe that?
Roan set down his hammer and shifted on his knees to take both her hands in his.
She had to know better.
