And then she turns to the crowd of people watching us out of the corners of their eyes and unleashes a dazzling smile.
Anyone who catches sight of it startles.
I laugh quietly.
Sunani may be shy and not want to interact with people, but there is still rage in her, even if it’s quiet.
We’re going to get along just fine, I think in satisfaction as the first person finally approaches the table.
ZanreturnsjustbeforeI run out of ice cream—he once again manages to save me a cup without my noticing—and we start breaking down the booth.
He’s gone remote again. I’m glad I can bring him out of it, that I can reach him beneath this façade, but the fact that he has to raise so many walls just to be here with me makes me wonder if this really is worth it.
But lacking ice cream, no one is crowding the booth anymore, so Zan can update us on how proceedings have gone.
I didn’t have a view of Waten’s booth from here, but apparently he had a bad day.
The vast majority of people at the meeting apparently agreed to refuse to buy bread from Waten anymore. People began organizing meetups to teach each other how to bake bread, banding together to make sure everyone will still have whatthey need. And more are shifting to other foods—rice for savory meals, other desserts that aren’t baked.
Like ice cream.
“We’ll still sell him the flour he needs,” Jiran’s voice says from behind me, “but if Crystal Hollow holds the line, that will drain his finances faster. It’ll depend on how long they’re willing to hold out, and how it affects prices.”
The rogue priest is with Nomi.
I straighten up. “Does that mean you’re not leaving yet?”
“Depends,” Jiran says. “I think you and I need to have a conversation.”
We sure do. “Do you want some ice cream? There’s one last cup.”
It pains me, but I have more at home now.
I can practicallyfeelZan’s unhappiness at my offering what my mate did for me to another man, but he manages to keep his instinctual growl pretty quiet.
Jiran raises his eyebrows. “Are you trying to bribe me with ice cream?”
I blink. “No. But this is going to be a weird day for you no matter what you decide, and you could at least have some ice cream for your trouble. It’s good.”
Jiran stares at me.
Sizes up Zan.
“Another time,” he says finally. “Can you show me what we’re working with on the mountain?”
“Sunani and I will get all this home,” Nomi says, and then when Zan and I both turn to her she holds up a hand to forestall our questions and objections. “We’ll be in public all the way there, Haben’s taking care of bringing me what I need to fix the door, Romasa is coordinating a rotation so I’ll never be with fewer than five people at a time—with at least one who’s a fast runner—and people are going to start bringing me reports thereof what’s falling apart in town. I’m as safe as I can be without being attached to your sides.”
Zan and I exchange a look. Nomi is wearing the only other dragon scale talisman, but that doesn’t fill me with as much confidence after what happened to the first. “Maybe you should be—”
“No,” Nomi cuts me off. “You two can’t be everywhere, and Crystal Hollow needs to do this to prove that we can.”
I start to ask, is this really the time?
But the answer is yes.
The best time to start standing up was before; the next best time is now.
“Learned Mujin miscalculated,” Nomi says. “He may have gotten one person to panic, but he’s just pissed the rest of us off.”
