His eyes widened as he read it again. TheSerpent. A deadly ship for a disastrous captain.Brace for her what?
Theo pulled away before more confusion settled over him. Amaris had moved to the back of the shop, and she stood with her lips parted as she admired a black crystal chandelier with dozens of candles glowing above her head.
If he was ever going to get her to open up to him, he needed to offer something in return. While he’d watched her work in the tower last night, he had the realization. She was a woman who sought justice. She wouldn’t divulge her secrets to just anyone, let alone someone she frequently called names and screamed at. Theo hoped the moment in the hallway had since changed their dynamic and that her desire to help heal Esaias wasn’t only because she knew it was her duty. His father had asked him to get to know her, but it wasn’t about attaining information for him. She wasn’t a murderer. No, it was for her protection.
Theo had spent most of the time waiting for her to bathe deciding what to share with her. It’d seemed a deep level of understanding was needed for her to reveal her abusive betrothed. The war was, unfortunately, the rawest information Theo felt even compared to what she went through.
“It’s miraculous, isn’t it?” Theo stepped toward her as she still gaped at the chandelier.
“Do you think they have to replace all those candles each day?” she asked.
Theo blinked, waiting for her to burst into laughter, but her gaze remained twisted in a puzzling expression. “You’re serious?”
“Well, yeah. That’s a shit ton of candles.”
“I would imagine so.” Theo took a moment before he spoke further. “A luxury like candlelight was one thing I took for granted during the war. We lived by the sun most days, which, in some parts of Mosfelkov, doesn’t shine all parts of the year, due to the intense snowstorms.”
“Wasn’t it dangerous to make you go in the winter?”
“Winter?” Theo asked.
Amaris sucked in her lips, her eyes darting to the shelves. “The cold…I mean, snow and stuff.”
How odd.Theo continued. “Most of Mosfelkov experiences bitter cold practically year-round. Only a few parts along the southern coast have limited snowfall and experience the full nature of the seasons like we do. We didn’t do most of the fighting during Whitereign or Darkreign, though, but it was still freezing within the confines of our camps and the fortress we held.”
“It wasn’t that long ago?” she breathed, shifting her gaze to the abstract paintings along the wall as she tilted her head to study them.
“No,” Theo sighed. “I returned at the end of Bloomreign only a few weeks before we journeyed to Duncaster.”
“How do you forget about it? Move on like nothing happened?” she asked, her fingers tapping her thigh as her eyes stared at Theo. Those blue things attempted to pierce through every wall he’d built.
His body tensed, and he forced a deep inhale, needing to push himself to say something of value, to offer her something. He hadn’t moved on. He couldn’t. What happened in Oystein Castle would forever be etched in his mind, the atrocities committed, the horror he’d seen.
“Theodoric…”
His vision grew red around the edges. The room became shrouded in a bloody hue.Not again.He gripped the hilt of his dagger, praying to any god to pull back the red, to pull him from his head, to release him from the panic.
“Are you—”
Theo’s chest instantly released. A woman with a dirty rag in her hands, wiping the grime from her fingers, ducked her head beneath a banner and came to the front of the store. Theo attempted to shove the memory within the small crack of his mind.
“What can I do for you?” Her deep-set, silver eyes landed on Amaris leaning against the wall of herbs.
“I need bufomom,” Amaris answered. “Lots of it.” She pulled her attention from Theo.
“Bufomom?” the woman asked, chuckling. “What do you plan to do with that?”
“This is Amaris Carter,” Theo cut in, clearing his throat. “She is Luana’s new mystique and is preparing to bolster her stock. We’ve procured most herbs for her, but this is a rare one.”
Amaris shot Theo a questioning look, but he gave a brief shake of his head. Growing word of scrying fever would be as grim as the disease itself spreading through the city. Panic in the streets was something Theo didn’t wish to deal with, as he could barely grapple it in his own head.
“I see.” The shopkeeper placed the rag on a nearby shelf and came to stand beside Amaris. She pulled her ebony hair back into a knot at the nape of her neck. “The old man who used to reside in your tower took a liking to this shop. He frequented here often, asking for rare items and herbs. Can I hope for the same business from you?”
Before Amaris could turn her head and give the shopkeeper any reason to question why she would need to ask for permission, Theo pinched the back of her arm out of the shopkeeper’s gaze. Amaris flinched and jabbed her elbow into Theo’s ribcage with a laugh.
“Of course,” Amaris said, “I don’t see why not.”
“Perfect!” The woman smiled, turning to the wall of shelves to gather several jars.
