She sucked in a breath, her hand flattening against my chest. “There’s a second charm.”
“See? You are changing your theory over and over. First a mind-bending charm, then a heart-changing one. Now you are saying two charms? There is too much magic for me to overcome, even if it isn’t a curse.”
“No.” She looked up at me, the anger from earlier completely erased. “Powell is using two charms. One to influence the villagers. One to influence you. You don’t want to try, because he has already magicked you into believing it is pointless. You said you never really tried to change anyone’s mind, right? But why wouldn’t you? Why give up without a fight?”
Her words struck a chord. At first, I hadn’t even realized there was magic involved. Why hadn’t I tried to force someone to see that Powell was spreading lies about me? Why had I always been so convinced that leaving Skorsa would accomplish nothing?
Why had I walked away from Mina without a backward glance last night, when she was the only person in years to see me as a person and not the embodiment of disappointment?
I looked down at the hand still pressed against my chest, the rose ring on her finger. “How do you keep the magic from sweeping you away?”
Her hand dropped, and I immediately missed it.
“I didn’t at first.” She twisted the ring around on her finger. “I know you made the necklace for Eliza. Logically speaking, you must have made the ring, too. If you can create those, then you must have talent. And logical arguments skirt around the influence of a heart-changing charm. Even when it wants me to see you as a disappointment, I know you are a skilled smith. Which means you can’t be a disappointment. And the more I remind myself, the easier it is to remember.”
“I need a reminder of all the reasons I have not to give up hope. Something I can’t ignore just because a charm wants me to despair.”
“Exactly.”
I met Mina’s eyes and realized she was my reminder. She was my hope.
We still stood nearly toe-to-toe, neither of us having stepped back even after Mina dropped her hand. When my gaze drifted down to her lips this time, I didn’t overthink it. I tilted my head, closing the distance between us.
Her hand splayed against my chest once more, and for a fraction of a heartbeat, I feared she was pushing me away. But she wasn’t. She braced herself against me and met me halfway.
Her lips were soft as a petal, but nowhere near as fragile. She kissed me like she dreamed of never doing anything else. My hands landed on her hips as her tongue licked at my lips. I gave in and took the lead once more, sweeping into her mouth. She tasted like honeyed wine and was even more intoxicating. I pulled her flush against me and kissed her until I was forced to gasp in a breath of air. Then I kissed her again.
The caw of a bird flying overhead reminded me of the world enough that I was able to pull back, though I didn’t take my hands from her hips. Nor did her hand leave my chest as she dropped back to her heels.
She looked up at me, her lips wet and swollen. “Alan.”
I dipped my head and claimed one last quick kiss, then stepped back, shoving my hands into the pockets of my trousers. “I don’t think even the strongest charm could make me forget that.”
She blinked.
“You are my reminder,” I clarified. “My way to remember all the reasons I shouldn’t give up hope.”
She took a step back. “You kissed me in order—”
“No!” Damn it. I should have realized that was how she’d interpret my words. “I kissed you because I couldn’t resist. Because I had already figured out that I would think of you every time the charmtried to make me give up. But now that I have kissed you... well, magic doesn’t stand a chance compared to that.”
A flush of color spread over her cheeks. “It was rather powerful.”
???
I woke froma dream of doing far more than just kissing Mina. It was, without a doubt, the most pleasant dream I’d had in years. Even the frustration that came from waking up couldn’t dim my mood.
In fact, it buoyed me enough that I searched the downstairs while I ate my breakfast. I found nothing that might be a charm, but I pushed away the surge of gloom that followed. It wasn’t likely Powell would keep the charms downstairs. He’d hide them away. Most likely in the bedroom that I couldn’t search while he was still asleep.
I’d have to find a time to search his bedroom. In the evening, when he was off at the tavern, would be best, but it would mean giving up a chance to see Mina. Well, searching his room could wait.
I made my way over to the smithy and threw open the doors. A scoop of coal and time with the bellows got the forge up to temperature. Once I had a bar heating, I laid out the tools I needed this morning. I wanted to work on Mina’s belt knife, and there were a few other commissions to finish.
Soon, I lost myself in the work, barely even noticing when Powell walked through on his way to sit in the shop and claim all my work as his own. I felt the usual rush of negativity when he came to get a piece I had made for the customer who had ordered it, but the phantom taste of honeyed wine on my tongue reminded me not to give into those feelings.
In the afternoon, a shout pulled me out of a world made only of heated metal and careful strikes of a hammer. I looked up, belatedly recognizing the shout as my name.
The man standing with his horse outside the wide doors in the backyard called my name again. “Alan, can you get Master Powell? Dandelion threw a shoe.”
