She’d fussed around, milking small talk out of me with that trilling tone of hers, and by the end of it, I’d exited her shop weighed down by too many sweets to count and a package of red, stringy, dried pyrroot.
“This is the last of it, the next shipment is in four weeks.” She’d patted the pyrroot in my hand tenderly. “Careful with the ratios.”
I nodded like her warmth could actually reach me.
“It can sting,” she said. “Both on the way in and the way out.”
Poor Dax.
“Will do. Thank you and have a productive day of sales.” I’d forced a smile and turned.
“Dear,” she’d called after me.
I swallowed my sigh and turned. All I wanted was to be alone with my troubles, but duty came first.
Mrs. Mallowmere’s heart-shaped mouth opened and closed.
“I’m sure you’re all busy with training up at the fortress,” she said at last, wringing her fingers. “But could you tell the Commander that the east spring is behaving rather oddly?”
Alarm bells rang in my ears. I closed the distance between us, lowering my voice. “Odd how?”
“It’s swelled too much for this time of the year. I haven’t seen it so large in…” Her soft curls bounced and she shook her head. “Ever. I get water from there for the taffy, it’s difficult when it’s spilling over the banks, you know?”
I knew something was seriously wrong.
I thanked Mrs. Mallowmere again and raced back to the fortress, a million different thoughts fighting for my energy.
Lake defrosting, springs breaching their banks, Veghearas falling from the sky.
The magic that held this crater stuck in a never-ending winter was thawing.
As I escaped the labyrinth of back streets, my gaze roamed over the vast expanse of snow. Even the crater’s walls, hazy in the distance, were glazed with a thick, shiny layer of ice.
If it all melted, this crater would become one lethal lake.
City destroyed.
Solkar’s Heart flooded.
Civilians drowned–
A glimmer at the rim caught my attention.
It looked like one of the shards pulsed in the light of the rising sun.
I was so absorbed by the sight, I almost walked into another body. A prickly body, that instantly flinched, fists raised, scowl on her face.
“Good morning, Nadya,” I said.
“You sure know how to sneak up on people.” She exhaled and ran her hands down her leather uniform as if I’d stained it, though we hadn’t even touched. Then she frowned at the same shard, now devoid of any glint. Which only made it worse. “Did you see that, too, or am I imagining things?”
I looked again, but my Huntress eyes detected nothing. “Does the rim usually glow?”
“Sometimes. At sunrise and sunset. But I’ve never seen it so bright.” She shrugged and licked her teeth. “Any idea what could it be?”
“I’ve been an outsider for a shorter time than you.” And I was still one, shut out of everything that truly mattered. I kept walking. “But we both know there’s someone else you can ask.”
Someone whose mere name rattled my heart.
