Mention of the festival brought the boy’s easy smile back, and he nodded eagerly. “Alright, Neir.” He hugged my side. I drew my arm around him and ruffled his hair. It was thick and curled, like Kaius’s, like mine was when cut short.
Harlan laughed, and when he broke the embrace, I nudged him on. He took a few steps, then turned back to me, a pensive expression on his soft features. “But you never told me about your wound. I want to know about the thieves.”
“Next time.” How long would that be if I was sent away?
He scrunched his face but made no further objections. “Alright.”
Coming to stand beside me, Nyana too wished Harlan farewell, and the boy set off through the door that led out to the path and castle grounds. He had a short attention span, and I wondered if he would get distracted again before making his roundabout way to the upper levels and his chambers. There, a nervous maid was surely pacing, ready to tame his hair and anxious of reprimands should the boy not be made presentable in time.
“Was I ever that easy-going as a child?”I asked Nyana. Thoughts of the berry brambles returned, a faint glimpse of a memory, impossible to fully grasp, yet I could almost taste the tart sweetness of the berries, recall the pop when I bit into one, could almost hear the birdsong of early spring.
Nyana rested a hand on my arm. “Only when you were very young.” Her somber tone hinted at the words that lay unsaid.Before Thatch’s death.
The depth in her eyes dispelled the warmth of my memories, replacing them with a sobering recollection of that day.
“Is there anything else I can help with?” I asked, clearing my throat.
Nyana’s hand dropped, and she straightened her apron. “No.” Her voice faltered. “The girls and I can manage the rest. I suspect you need to be off.”
It was true. It would be midday soon, and I still needed to return to my quarters to change into my guard’s uniform and retrieve my sword. Rion was expecting me, and I didn’t feel like facing his dour expression at yet another late arrival after last night’s incident with the thieves.It was imperative that I return to his good graces in order to persuade him to send another to Valio in my place.
“Are you certain?”
Nyana drew a forced smile, gesturing to the other side of the kitchen where the doe-eyed girl from before made a faint squealat the attention and dropped a metal ladle. It skittered across the floor, leaving a trace across the stone of whatever soup she’d been getting ready to dip into bowls.
“You distract my girls,” Nyana pointed out.
I laughed, then immediately stifled it when the girl’s cheeks flushed. She knelt to wipe the floor. A second girl, one of my own age, joined her and whispered in her ear, then looked up at me with hooded blue eyes. Age and possibly experience lent her boldness, and when she met my gaze, she nipped playfully at her bottom lip—an invitation.
I let out a breath and turned my attention back to Nyana. “Alright.” I drew her into a hug. “I see you have a point.”
She reached between us and cupped my cheek in her palm, her eyes sad again. My heart ached. When she looked at me like that, I couldn’t help but wonder if she thought of her son.
Nyana never spoke about Thatcher, not anymore. The rippling sensation beneath my skin tensed my muscles, and I fought to level my emotions and push thoughts of the boy aside.
“Go now,” Nyana said, dropping her hand and gesturing with a tip of her head.
I nodded, then pulled her back into my arms once more. Because I was selfish. Because even when her pain and the guilt of my own doings that burdened me, I still sought comfort in her embrace. “I’ll return to see you before I leave again,” I promised.
“You’re to leave again?”
“There’s word there may be another assignment for me.” I simplified the truth, irritated with myself for letting my worries slip out. “We can speak of it later.”
She pulled back, forced a smile, and patted my chest, avoiding the bandaged area where my wound was still tender. “Okay, be sure that you do, then.”
A weight sank in my belly like a stone dropped into a riverbed. I couldn’t leave; my place was here, where I could keepsentry over my brother, protect him from any outside threat. And to do so, I had to remain in the capital.
3
EVERA
Traveling backto our market stall from the community well with a bucket of water, I squinted up to the sun directly overhead. It was midday already. Out of the way of fellow shoppers, I sat the bucket down to flex my fingers. My brother would be growing anxious, with all that remained to be done before the festivities began. Preparing our stall was a sizable undertaking for one man. With a sigh, I dusted my hands on my skirts, the old, muted fabric lacking any patterns or embellishments.
I retrieved the bucket, which was lighter than when I’d filled it at the well, and made my way back to our wagon and the patch of dusty land Aureus had staked out for our booth. We were south of the city in the outer grounds designated for the festival’s market. A line of darkened soil, the effect of the old bucket’s steady leak, marked my path as I walked.
Our chestnut mare, Sorrel, nickered when I approached, tugging a smile at the corner of my lips. I set the bucket down before her, and she dipped her white-striped muzzle to investigate. She sniffed, then gave a disgruntled snort and turned her attention to the pouch that hung at my hip.
“I don’t have anything for you,” I said, stroking absentmindedly at her forelock, its shade a touch lighter than the copper coloring of her coat.
