One of the stones on my necklace sings back, and the Fuegorra flickers.
Her eyes grow wide. “What the hell was that?”
I smile.
“Trolls get their magic from the hard things of the earth: metal, stone, and crystal. It’s beautiful. Each has a different purpose—I’ll be honest, I don’t know most of them. But I know this.”
I hum a short melody, and it’s amplified in the room. The woman is absolutely mystified. Before she can stop herself, she copies my clumsy tune.
They sing back to her, and her mouth falls open.
“That’s…” She trails off into stunned silence and when she speaks, she murmurs mostly to herself. “How did I not know this was possible?”
I pick up the small necklace I had made of gold buttons and stone silk and hand it out to her.
“Here. I made this after I saw you looking at my dress. It was my wedding dress. There aren’t any gems for you to sing to, but you should keep it.”
“So you wish to bribe me?” She rolls her eyes, shaking off the wonder from moments before, and stands, walking to the fireplace. She kneels down and begins to light sparks with a flint.
“Please,” I try again. “There’s a place near the eastern slave pens where I used to live. I have a hollowed-out tree where I keep herbs and supplies—keep it there if you wish. It was a place for me and my brother when we were young.”
She eyes my hand for a minute longer and then takes the necklace and stuffs it in her pocket.
“Herbs mean little when you don’t know how to use them, but I will happily steal them for other reasons.”
I shake my head.
“It’s not stealing if I am giving them to you. I can tell you how to use whatever you need.” My eyes drop to her wrist, where there is a faint cut stretching down to her forearm. I gasp, my insides twisting. Gods only know where she got it from. “Thatfor example. You want to keep it clean. Even in the winter, there are trees, a type of elm, that have small pockets of sap scattered across the bark. Pop the bubbles and use the sap to create a bandage for the wounds at night; it will help prevent them from getting infected. Even better if you can put some moss on top of that, but it will be harder to find in the winter.”
She looks down at me, wary.
“I’ll come back later for the dishes. Consider today a day to yourself.”
She leaves the fire running but picks up the bucket by the door. Something inside of me relaxes at the thought of not having to be bathed.
The door opens.
“Me llamo Melisa.And you don’t have to keep annoyingRholker with your incessant questions. Your brother is alive—I know where he’s kept.”
Then she closes the door. More relief bubbles up, joining the relief from not having to take the bath. I press the gems to my chest, letting their songs mingle with my Fuegorra as I smile.
Thank you, thank you. Thank. You.
I need to get her out of here and show her just how precious the gift she gave me is.
Chapter 11
Euclase
TEO
My few moments out of the waking world were filled of nightmares with large, haunted faces appearing in the ground and endless chatter.
When I gather enough strength to reopen my eyes, there are trees above me that have grown into a dome shape. It’s impossible to tell where one starts and the other ends as they reach across the clearing and form an arch.
My brows furrow, and the voices of a crowd continue to hum in a river of unintelligible noises. Instead of cutting down trees like they do in Zlosa or Shvathemar, it looks like they’ve used magic to shape them according to their needs.
The knotty bulges in the trunks look like carvings, and the wrinkled brown bark has been manipulated into the appearance of flowers and butterflies. Like a painting. Blinking away the crusted moisture in my eyes, I see squirrels, spiders, and ugly creatures with fangs sharp enough to tear a grown man’s throat crawl through branches and leaves.
