I hastily collect knives, a pestle and mortar, and a couple of my mother’s notebooks that I still have from my time in the slums, although Ruben assures me there’s no need for me to bring my little stove.
With that, there’s only one thing left to do. And it hurts just as much as I knew it would.
‘So I guess you’re going to be gone by the time I get back,’ I say to Benny. ‘Which makes this goodbye?’ My chest aches at the thought.
‘I was thinking,’ Benny replies with a casual shrug, ‘maybe I could hang around for a couple of extra days. Keep an eye on you. There are some people I want to visit in the fourth, anyway. Some things I need to straighten out.’
‘The fourth?’ I frown. ‘What does the future Duke of the Eastern Isles have to do with people in thefourth?’
‘Wait, you’re a future duke?’ Ruben stops in his tracks.
Benny’s jaw tightens slightly as he shoots me a glare for my slip, and then he turns back to Ruben, smirk back in place. ‘I’m just a friend of Rose’s,’ he says. ‘But I’ll get out of your hair and let you get going.’
‘Wait,’ I entreat Benny. ‘Stay here. With me. Won’t you? Better here than one of those stuffy, fancy inns.’
‘You sure?’
‘Definitely. Ask Summer to make up a room for you. If we only get a few more days before you go, I’d like to see you as much as possible while I can.’
Benny smiles. ‘Yeah, me too. Okay, sure. I’ll get my belongings moved here. Thanks for having me, Kultavaris.’
‘Sorry to put pressure on you, but we should get going,’ Ruben says anxiously. ‘I’ve already left Mum too long. She’s not great on her own. I really have to get back.’
‘Of course,’ I reply, offering Benny a swift hug before parting.
‘Happy to give you one too,’ Benny offers Ruben, opening his arms wide at my friend, who shakes his head and lets out a slight laugh.
‘Nice to meet you, Benny,’ he says instead, waving a hand in farewell as he walks away.
‘Oh, we should definitely meet again soon,’ Benny mutters audibly as we leave.
‘Is he always such a terrible flirt?’ Ruben questions as we walk outside.
I think about it and shake my head. ‘No, not really. You should definitely take it as a compliment.’
He gives me a crooked smile. ‘Maybe I will.’ He laughs lightly.
Ruben is the type of man who turns heads wherever he goes, even more so now that he’s dressed in finery. Putting this talent to good use, he has no difficulty in hailing a carriage, even in the pouring rain, and we hastily climb in with all of my baskets of plants and notebooks.
I ignore the drumming of the rain on the wooden roof. It most certainly doesnotmake me think of Kyor.
‘So whereabouts is your new house?’ I ask as we move, rocking with the cadence of the carriage. ‘Other than in the third ring?’
‘Not far from the temple,’ he tells me. ‘Given that it was Etta’s trials, and her favour for you, that gave us this opportunity, I wanted to stay close to her. To show my gratitude. To remember who I owe.’
Something in his voice makes my chest tighten. His is not reverence borne of fear or ambition, but a simple, honest acknowledgement that luck does not arrive without cause.
‘I’m certain she appreciates it,’ I say, and I mean more than just the Goddess. The thought of Ruben choosing proximity to faith over indulgence warms me in a way the carriage never could. It is a reminder of exactly what sort of man he is. A good one. The rarest kind.
He smiles. ‘I can only hope.’
Talking of hope, there’s something I need to address. ‘Ruben, I need you to know that I might not be able to do anything more than the healers have already attempted. Even my mother, with all her knowledge and years as a healer … well, she couldn’t fix every ailment.’
After all, that was why the queen died.
‘I know,’ he replies, the smile dropping from his lips. ‘I do know, Rosey. It’s just a hope and a prayer, really. I mean, your tonics used to work so well, even when you didn’t have magic on your side. I guess I was thinking that now you’ll be able to do even more. If not, then I’m sure she’ll be pleased just to see you. Like I am.’
We travel in comfortable silence for a time before he breaks it. ‘So you defeated a kraken, killed a jötunn, and conquered an ice maze, right? Did I leave anything out?’
