“Being beneath her notice was one of the only advantages of the charm.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll go with you to see her.”
Alan’s grip tightened. “How am I supposed to go see her without Powell noticing? If those marbles weren’t the charms, then I can’t risk making Powell wonder about my behavior. If they were, I still don’t want him to know I broke them. Not when we don’t have a plan in place to deal with him.”
That was a fair point. “I’ll figure something out. Maybe I can get Sam to distract Powell. Just be ready; we need to figure out if the charm affecting the villagers is broken tomorrow. We can’t delay.”
“Why not? Until half an hour ago, we didn’t even have any idea where the charm might be.”
“Yes, but if it is broken, then the Midsummer Festival is the perfect chance to start countering the charm’s influence. And that’s the day after tomorrow.”
“You want me to go to the Midsummer Festival?”
“Of course. Even if the charm isn’t broken, I’d want you to go. I just assume it would be harder to convince you under those circumstances.”
“I haven’t taken part in a festival day for years. Powell will know something has changed the second I go.”
“But he will no longer be in a position to do anything about it. If you make the right impression at the festival, Uncle Conrad will watch Powell too closely for him to try anything. Unless you want to wait until I can summon a magistrate from the city?”
He shook his head. “You really think I can shift opinions just by attending the festival?”
“You have to start somewhere, and the Midsummer Festival seems like the perfect opportunity to interact with people without every sentence reminding them of their opinions of your skills at the forge.”
“So, you are not only making me talk to Kayla tomorrow but also making me attend the festival the next day?”
I frowned. “I’m not making you do anything. If you really don’t want to—”
“I’m teasing, Mina.” He squeezed my hand. “If it means more time with you, I won’t even complain.”
There was just enough doubt, a hint of a question, to make me throw my arms around him. “Of course it means more time together. I’m not going to abandon you.”
“People will talk. Whether they throw off the effects of the charm quickly or not, they will talk if they see us together.”
“Let them talk.”
Twenty
Mina
???
Sam crossed hisarms. “Why?”
I had risen ahead of the sun to make sure I caught him before he went to work that morning, but I should have factored in more time for convincing him to help. “Because I need to make sure Powell doesn’t notice when Alan leaves the forge this afternoon.”
“I repeat: why? I’m not going to make Powell visit the village hall to answer questions I don’t have just so you and Alan can...” Sam trailed off with a shudder.
I rolled my eyes. “If that was what I was interested in, I wouldn’t be asking for your help, Sam. And there is no reason to look so disgusted by the idea. Alan and I are consenting adults.”
Sam covered his ears with his hands. “I’m not listening to this.”
I knocked his hands away. “Don’t be a prude.”
“I’m not being a prude. I simply don’t want to contemplate such things about you and Alan.”
My eyes narrowed. “Because of me or Alan?”
“You. I do not need to know that you are sighing over the blacksmith’s muscles, even if they are worth sighing over.”
