Page 29 of Daughter of No Worlds

Beneath the table, my nails clenched against my palm. “I can help you in other ways. I can clean, or cook—”

Max let out a choked laugh, brow furrowed. “Are you implying that I look like I’m in desperate need of domestic help?”

I glanced around the cluttered house and refrained from following up on that particular line of conversation.

“There must besomethingI—”

“I don’t need to be harassed in my own home.” Max stood up, stretching, then took my empty bowl and teacup. “You can stay here for tonight.Justtonight, and then tomorrow we’ll figure out what to do with you.”

I stood, too. Exhaustion sank into my eyelids, my bones, my muscles. Whatever Willa had done to heal me was miraculous, but she had been right: I was still not fully recovered.

“Washroom?” I asked, and Max’s arm waved from around the corner of the kitchen to gesture me down the hall.

That was a relief, at least. I had no idea how common such things were in Ara, and during my journey I had relieved myself in enough disgusting or embarrassing places to last a lifetime.

I splashed some water on my face and then looked at myself in the mirror. It was an unusual piece — clearly very old, framed with tarnished gold that twisted into a morass of little creatures. Bugs, dragonflies, lizards, snakes. My face reflected in the middle fit in far too well. Just another thing that looked like it would be rolling around in the dirt.

I grabbed a handful of my knotted hair, which I had still not managed to fully untangle. But in that touch, all I could feel was Esmaris’s hands clutching it, dragging me down to the ground with him.

Suddenly, the sight of it made me ill.

I peered out into the hallway, where Max was shuffling around the living room.

“Do you have— um—” I racked my exhausted brain, searching for the right Aran word. “Um— It says—” I held up my two fingers, bringing them together, making “snp snp” sounds with my tongue. “This thing?”

Max gave me a look of deadpan confusion. “Huh?”

“It sayssnp snp,” I repeated, frustrated, bringing my fingers together again.

He stared at me like I was insane.

The Thereni word, of course, was screaming in my ears, even as the Aran one was nowhere to be found.

“Oh.” Max snapped his fingers in realization, then opened a drawer and held up a pair of gold shears. “Scissors.”

I’d try to remember that and save myself some humiliation next time. I took them and returned to the mirror. And I did not hesitate, not even for a second, as I hacked my hair off in handfuls between my chin and shoulders.

I had kept it so long, after all, because Esmaris liked it that way. I didn’t have to care about that anymore. And by cutting it all off, I could release myself from his final touch. Cleave away the last place he grabbed me.

A satisfied smirk curled the corners of my mouth.

I could feel Max’s gaze as he leaned against the doorframe. “You’re going to wish that you left it a little longer.”

Another handful. I disregarded Max’s statement. It felt good to have the ability to disregard the opinion of a man.

I shook my head, feeling the lightness, watching my shortened hair bounce above my shoulders. “Is good this way,” I said, handing the scissors back to Max.

He shrugged. “You’re going to have a hell of a time keeping it out of your face. Long is fine, short is fine. It’s this in between stuff that gets you into trouble.” He tucked the scissors into his pocket and jerked his chin toward the basin. “Not my problem, though, as long as you clean all that up.”

I did as he asked. And I had never seen anything so beautiful as the fireplace flames claiming those tendrils of black and silver, shriveling them, reducing them to ash.

Chapter Eight

Bright, midday sun flooded through the curtains by the time I opened my eyes. I was once again awoken by that musical, chattering sound. This time, I recognized it instantly as Willa’s voice.

That got me out of bed quickly.

I threw my single shapeless dress back on — uncomfortably. I’d had to sleep naked simply because I had no other clothes. I hurried out into the living room, where Willa and Max stood somewhat awkwardly. There was a new, nervous tinge to Willa’s voice.

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