It was on the tip of my tongue to invite him to travel to Haiwella with me. But I had to tell him the truth first. And just like last night when we had found the charm, this was not the right moment. Alan had to get back to the forge before Powell returned. I didn’t want a time limit hanging over this conversation.
“You’ll attend the Midsummer Festival tomorrow?” I asked. “With luck, we can start winning people over to your side without Powell realizing what has happened.”
“I’ll attend, but he is going to know something is going on the instant he sees me on the green.”
“But he won’t be able to do anything in such a public setting. If we can convince Uncle Conrad and the village council that you are the victim of illegal magic, they’ll take care of everything before I can even ask a magistrate from Haiwella to travel here.”
We reached the smithy, but Alan didn’t release my hand. “You leave in only a few more days. That’s not very long.”
I met his eyes and knew he wasn’t counting the hours until I could send authorities from the city. He was counting how long I’d still be in Skorsa.
I was counting, too. “It isn’t. But the city is only a few hours away.”
“That’s a few hours more distance than I want between us.” He cupped my cheek and kissed me softly. “But that is a conversation for later. You should go before Powell gets back. I don’t think I’ll get to the stream tonight. The tavern will close early to prepare for tomorrow.”
“Then it is a good thing I get to spend the day with you tomorrow.”
Twenty-One
Alan
???
Powell hadn’t noticedanything amiss. He didn’t know the charms were broken, which made me doubt the wisdom of going to the festival and making him wonder. All he had to do was open the display case in the shop and pull out the goblet to discover that I had found the charms. What he’d do after that, I couldn’t guess.
But Mina was right that the festival would be the ideal time to turn people to my side. Without magic forcing them to see me a certain way, the jovial atmosphere would help them push past years of ingrained prejudice.
But the real reason I planned to attend was because I wanted to spend the day with Mina. She’d return home in four days’ time. She hadn’t invited me to travel to the city with her, but her questions about my ties to Skorsa made me wonder if she had hoped I would ask to join her. Ward save me, but I was willing to beg her to let me stay with her, if that was what it took. But I knew Mina. She didn’t want me to beg.
There was something she hadn’t told me yet, a secret that forced a sliver of distance between us. I heard it in all the things she didn’t say as we spoke of the past and future. I saw it in the way she sometimes couldn’t meet my eyes. I felt it when she held herself back when we kissed.
Her secret wouldn’t change the way I felt. Compared to having my stepfather use a magical charm on me for years, Mina’s secret would probably feel trivial. But until she trusted me enough to share, I couldn’t ask for more than what we had. I needed to wait. Even if time was running out.
Once the festival was in full swing, I left the house. Powell had left almost an hour earlier. Everyone would be on the green, children running around, visiting each of the stalls set up selling treats. The first competitions, the ones meant for the youngest, would start soon. If I didn’t show up, I suspected Mina would be at my door before the first award was handed out.
I made my way to the green, but stayed on the edges, scanning the crowd. I didn’t see Powell, but he’d probably be sitting on the far side where the Hervors ran their outdoor tavern. Best to avoid that end of the green. With any luck Kayla would stay over there too, but she probably wouldn’t be helping her sister and parents much.
I expected to spot Mina easily, her blond hair standing out in the crowd, but I couldn’t see her from where I stood. I’d have to venture farther.
“You’re late.”
My head whipped around. It felt odd for anyone to talk to me without prompting. Especially since the words held no malice, despite being an admonishment.
Sam stood a few feet away, two cups of lemonade in his hands. He raised an eyebrow when I said nothing.
I was really out of practice having normal conversations with anyone but Mina. “I didn’t think there was such a thing as being late to the festival.”
“Mina expected you nearly an hour ago; therefore, you are late.”
I looked back over the green. “You know where she is?”
“I do.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
Sam stepped up next to me, looking out over the crowd at my side. “Did you know Mina gave my mother a gift this morning? She said she had intended to save it as a going away present, but she wanted her to be able to wear it today. It was a necklace. The work of a skilled goldsmith. It is a wonder that she had the present, because Mina admitted to me several weeks ago that she had bought a necklace in Haiwella that she realized would never suit my mother, and she had to scramble to replace it.”
“Get to the point, Sam.” I wasn’t sure if Mina had told him the truth once she knew the charm was broken, or if he had pieced everything together himself, but either way, I didn’t understand why Sam was bringing up the necklace.
