But I desperately missed Stella’s tea shop and the kitchen sprites at the Academy and…
“Eat.” Her words were harsher this time, and I obeyed.
I picked up a strawberry first. It looked perfect. Bright red. Fresh. Tiny seeds caught the sunlight. It seemed normal. But the moment I bit into it, bitterness spread across my tongue so sharply I nearly winced.
It wasn’t rotten or poisoned. It was purely…wrong. It tasted as if sweetness had been drained from it and replaced with something tainted.
The Priestess watched me from the far end of the table, one elegant hand resting against the back of a chair. She didn’t eat. Didn’t even pretend to.
“Not what you expected?” she asked. She curled her fingers into her palm, making a fist.
I swallowed carefully. “A little more sour than I’m used to.”
Her mouth twitched faintly. “Shadowick’s soil produces stronger fruit. It isn’t by choice, but a person gets used to it.”
I forced myself to eat a few more berries anyway because I had the unpleasant feeling that refusing food here would somehow become symbolic. Everything around the Priestess eventually seemed to become emblematic.
The raspberries were worse, and the blueberries tasted faintly metallic.
I missed Stella’s cinnamon scones so fiercely that my chest physically hurt.
The Priestess moved toward the doorway. “Barlen will accompany you.”
“I’m touched by the trust you have in me.” I moved my gaze to hers.
“You misunderstand.” Her eyes stayed on me. “He’s there to protect Shadowick from you as much as the reverse.”
Before I could answer, she moved from the dining table and out the door.
The silence afterward pressed strangely against my ears.
I looked down at the bowl of berries again.
I shoved away from the table and stood just as Barlen poked his furry little head around the doorway.
“You’re done?” he asked.
“I’ve suffered enough.” I rolled my eyes. “Those berries were awful. No offense.”
His whiskers twitched. “You should have eaten more. She won’t be pleased.”
“Were they tainted?” I asked.
“You mean with a spell?” He frowned. “That’s rude. Berries are a delicacy.”
“They taste unlike any berry I’ve had. They’re awful.”
“Only to outsiders.”
That made me pause, and I studied the little creature more carefully as he adjusted the tiny satchel hanging across his chest. His fur was dark brown with silver streaks around his ears, and his little claws clicked anxiously against the stone floor every few seconds.
“Do they taste different to you?” I asked. “Do you like them? Are they sweet?”
His gaze flicked to mine too quickly. “Berries are supposed to be sweet?”
Barlen’s question tore my heart a little. “Yes.”
He gestured impatiently with both paws. “Come along. The fog thickens later, and the pathways become difficult to see in Shadowick.”
