In the workshop, I go to the shelf where the diamond earrings sit. This is the pair I fought my own hands to finish and that has cost me an overturned bench and a magnifying lens I still need to replace. I pick them up and hold them to the lamplight. I takea soft cloth and start polishing them, turning each one slowly until every facet catches the glow.
I’ll do anything, give her everything I have, whatever she wants, whatever makes her smile the way she smiled this morning. Whatever makes her reach for me again and lets me feel her small hand on my cracked stone, steadying me the way nothing else in this world can.
I turn the earring in the cloth, and the diamond throws a point of light across the ceiling. I’ll give her whatever it takes to make her want to stay.
Chapter Nine
Sorina
Julie’s knife scrapes down the stem of a dried rosemary sprig, stripping the leaves into a bowl. I tie twine around my bundle of lavender, pull it tight, and set it on the shelf with the others. The back room of the apothecary is tidy and bright, with a wide window carved straight through the mountain wall. The sheer curtains lift and fall with the breeze coming in from outside, and the light that fills the room makes everything look sharp.
“So,” Julie says, not looking up from her work, “how are things going with Korr?”
I shrug.
“Fine. Everything’s fine.”
She rolls her eyes.
“What does that even mean? We’re friends now, you can give me details.” She sets the rosemary down and leans forward on the worktable, knife still in hand. “Is he a good kisser?”
My face goes hot, and I shake my head.
“I don’t know. We haven’t kissed.”
Julie’s mouth drops open. She puts her knife down and crosses her arms over her chest.
“You’ve been together for a week! Not even a peck on the lips?” She waits. “On the cheek?”
“No.”
“Nothing? Not once?”
“Not once.”
“What are you two doing, then?”
“We sleep in separate rooms,” I say and reach for the next bundle of herbs because it gives my hands something to do. “And we talk sometimes. We talked today, actually, about gemstones and spirituality. He has this old book about the spiritualmeaning of different stones.” I wrap the twine twice and snip the end. “It was nice.”
“Nice.” Julie repeats the word in an unimpressed tone. “Korr is more than nice, come on. All the women in the Narrowhalls think he’s one of the hottest golems in Steinheim. Why do you think they gossip about him so much?”
That catches me off guard.
“They do?”
“All the time.” Julie picks up her knife again and waves it in a lazy circle.
“I thought they gossiped because of all the wives.”
“That too. But mostly…” She taps the flat of the blade on the table. “They say he’s kind, a little shy, but that’s only endearing. He’s strong, obviously. And, well… good-looking.”
I stare at her.
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
“You should know better than anyone,” Julie says. “You’re his wife.”
“Current wife,” I say. “Who’s to say I won’t end up like the others?”
