The scent of spices and burning incense welcomed me. Rows of shelves lined the three walls, full of jars and canisters. Swaths of dried herbs hung on the back wall and from the ceiling, scenting the air with a pungent aroma. To many, it was overwhelming to the senses, but I found it pleasing to the spirit. Perhaps that was because Euphemia reminded me of the kind of woman I could’ve been. Headstrong and outspoken and… free.
“Greetings, Thea,” I said upon entering.
The sweet-faced blonde who’d begun working in Euphemia’s shopa few months ago looked up from the bar where she ground herbs with a pestle and mortar.
“Salve, Lela.” She set the pestle down and wiped her hands on an apron. “How may I help you today?”
I liked Thea. She didn’t grimace or curl her lip in disgust at the obscene bridle I was forced to wear.
“Actually, I wondered if Euphemia might be available.”
Thea nodded with a smile and didn’t ask why I wanted to speak to her. It was known that Euphemia could and would get the kinds of herbs a woman wanted for nefarious reasons.
“Of course, Lela. Let me get her for you.”
Thea walked to the curtain of shimmering scarves that separated the front of the shop from the back and spread it open. Her husband—a large, quiet man—worked on something at a table.
“Love, tell Euphemia to come to the front. A customer would like a word.”
He nodded and turned toward the corridor.
Euphemia was the first person who recognized why I wore the bridle. When I first came into her shop, she’d arched a brow at me, and without a proper greeting, she’d said, “You must have a great deal of power for him to cage you in that thing.”
She was right. I had immense power. I’d never believed my bunica, who’d told me my gift would arrive when I needed it most. She’d been right. But after I’d tried to use it that first and only time, Valerius had beaten me so severely that I’d been too afraid to try again. What if I failed a second time? He’d kill me for certain. I’d tried to run away twice after that. And those punishments were worse than the beatings.
So yes, I had power within me. But Valerius had stolen it all away with violence and fear.
Thea returned to me. “Is there something I can help you withwhile you wait? Perhaps an herbal tea to help you rest at night, calm the nerves?”
“I could always use that, Thea. If I could have a few leaves to take with me for later.”
She smiled and lifted a stone jar from the shelf behind her. She scooped some of the brown tea leaves into a piece of muslin.
“I made this one myself,” she said proudly.
She appeared to be close to my age, but I felt like I’d been on this earth a hundred years. She didn’t wear her troubles on her brow or even in her eyes. Not like me.
“You’re learning your mentor’s trade quickly, aren’t you?”
She looked up, smiling as she tied the muslin with a string. “There is much to learn. And I am hungry for her knowledge. Bless the gods, she is eager to share it. She keeps threatening to die any day now, but I tell Euphemia all the time she will live forever.”
“Ha!” said the elderly woman striding through the curtain of gossamer fabric. “Nonsense, girl. No one can live forever.”
Her gray-black hair was wound in a knot on her head, her eyes lined with kohl. She wore a cream top—stained with soot or dirt—and a colorful skirt. The skirt reminded me of the fustamy sisters and I used to wear when we danced onstage. A piercing ache stabbed me in the heart.
“If anyone could live forever,” I said mildly, “it would be you, Euphemia.”
“That’s for certain,” she agreed with a wink. “Now, what can I get you, my dear? Silphium?”
“Of course, yes.” But that wasn’t what I’d come for.
She recognized my hesitancy. “Why don’t you come to the back with me? Thea, prepare a vial of silphium powder.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Mitko and Grigor still stood outside, sentinels at the entrance. They knew there was no back exit for me toescape the shop if I’d dare to do so, and they didn’t like Euphemia. They thought her a witch. I thought so too, which was why I liked her so much. Their dislike of her was a boon, giving me privacy with her inside the shop. As long as I didn’t take too long.
“Don’t worry. If they come in asking where you are, Thea will take care of them. She flirts so prettily, men forget what they were even doing.”
“Hush, Euphemia. You’ll upset my husband.”
