I approached the vanity stationed between our two narrow beds, and erected a dressing screen to change behind. “We can all hear it. Why am I the only one in this family ridiculed for listening to it?”
“Because unlike us, it consumes you.”
So what if it does?I almost voiced before thinking better of it. No one could fully understand its power over me—myself included.
I slipped into a modest, stifling yellow dress Nahn had gifted me forTempus. It reminded me of a wedding gown, and I suspected that was intentional on her part. I detested the bright color that represented Gemini, preferring darker, enigmatic colors, much to Nahn’s chagrin. DuringTempus, it was considered bad luck to wear anything but the kingdom’s sacred color.
Other territories—like Aries, Capricorn, and Virgo—were stricter about such practices. They enacted laws requiring the wearing of only their respective colors.
I stared at the hand-drawn map of Gaianos painted over my bed. Small golden stars marked the cities Pahn had seen for himself before settling down with Nahn. I wanted to find my way to each of them, andnotas a nobleman’s pet.
Except for Scorpio, of course. Rumors had swirled of the queendom’s dark skylands and twisted people that filled it long before the curse even started. I doubted I’d ever find myself there, even though stories of its enigmatic people intrigued me.
I combed my thick curls. The rain had washed most of the mud away from my hair, but the comb snagged on stubborn knots. “Have you ever considered marriage?”
Behind the screen, Basil was quiet, undoubtedly thrown off by my abrupt question.
“You haven’t mentioned a woman in a while,” I added. “You know, Mel’s always had eyes?—”
“I would never go after my sister’s best friend. Besides, my duty is to protect this family. To protect you. Why do you ask?”
I set the comb down. “No reason.”
“You know I’d never force you to stay and run the shop with me.” Basil’s footsteps rounded the screen, his palm shielding his eyes. “You decent?”
“Mhm.”
He lowered his hand and leaned against the wall. “Just as I’d never force you into a marriage with someone. But what do you think you would do without the apothecary?” His inquisitive eyes searched mine. “Honestly. Dance?”
“Maybe.” I loved dancing, in the elements especially, but my body yearned for music. “Would dancing be so terrible?”
“You can’t make a living from it. Not unless you’re… well, you know.”
“I just want the chance—the support, even—to find out. Even if it means failing.”
Basil’s brows pressed into a deeply contemplative line. “I’ll always support you. Even if I don’t agree with you. You know that, don’t you? That I’ll do what I can to protect you?”
He’d said that word too many times of late to ignore. “What’s going on, Baze?”
My brother ran his hands through his hair, tearing more locks from the tie at his nape. “Maybe we shouldn’t go into the city tonight.”
“It’s June 20th. Mel and Kole will be expecting us, like every year when we celebrate the end ofTempusin the city.”
Basil toyed with a tarot card in his fingers before presenting it to me. An eerie drawing was painted on the face of it, depicting a black-cloaked, skeletal figure. A foreboding scythe protruded from its bony hands. In the background, a full moon hung from the sky over shadowed branches.
“Death?”
“It could mean anything.” His gaze sharpened on the back of the card. “It’s the card of Scorpio, often representing thedeathof one thing leading to rebirth of another. Change, the cycle of life.” He shook the card. “I don’t know. All morning I’ve had this nagging feeling that something bad is going to happen.”
“What makes you say that?”
He held out a second card that had been hiding in his other hand. “The Tower.”
Unease slid under my skin. It was perhaps one of the most ominous cards to pull in a reading.
“After Pahn’s fit last night, I had another dream. I’m certain it was about us. All I can remember is that we kept getting separated, our linked hands torn apart.”
“You have a trip coming up,” I reminded him. “To visit some of our further clientele across the kingdom soon. That’s all it means.”
