Page 22 of A Legacy of Storms and Starlight

Kopi made his quiethoosound, nudging his head up to her fingers.

“I thought so,” Zylah murmured. “What do you think of the new look?” she waved a hand at her damp hair and her glasses. The eyeglasses were ever so slightly tinted, just enough to make her eyes look dark blue or grey, but the glass didn’t change her vision at all, just did a good job of hiding her features.

She noticed the smudge of erti root Holt had pointed out over breakfast just as he stepped back into the room.

If he saw her inspecting her new look in the mirror, he didn’t say anything, and she ducked under his arm to towel dry her hair some more and clean the erti root off her skin. Her heartbeat still hadn’t quite returned to normal, and she drew in a few deep breaths to try and calm her nerves.

“What’s Kopi got planned for the day?” Holt called out from the next room.

Zylah smiled as she dabbed oil at the dark stain on her face. “Napping.”

“Tsk.Lazy.Some of us have to work, you know, Kopi,” Holt said quietly.

She could hear the laughter in his voice as she dried her hair and Kopi’s quiethooin response. She smiled again. It hadn’t taken Holt long to warm to the little owl, and the thought of the two of them side by side had her biting back a laugh.

She scrubbed at her hands with the naptha oil, rinsing off the stain in the sink.

“What’s so funny?” Holt asked from behind her in the doorway.

She threw her towel at him. “I’m going to get you a bell if you don’t stop creeping up on me like that.”

Holt peeled the wet towel from his face and dropped it on the floor with athwack, one eyebrow raised at her. “Rule number six: no bells. Ready?”

“I just need my—”

He held out his hand and her cloak, his sister’s cloak, appeared in it.

“You really don’t want to miss thesedeliveries, do you?” Zylah asked as she shrugged into the garment.

Amusement danced across Holt’s face. If she knew him better, she might think he was enjoying himself. “Don’t forget your key.” He patted Kopi’s chest of drawers as they passed.

She whispered a goodbye to Kopi as she pocketed her key, following Holt out of the room. Their room.Gods. He locked the door behind them, and Zylah sucked in a deep breath as she braced herself for the city.

The start of a new life. A fresh chance. Or… the prelude to her new life. The part where she gathered up her supplies to make a clean break and explore the world, laughing at the king who’d never be able to find her. Gods above. No more books. But it was an easier thought than the reality of her situation. The posters didn’t bode well for life in Virian, and she’d been lucky this far, but how long would her luck last?

“You’ll need to use a fake name.Anotherfake name,” Holt said quietly behind her as if he’d known where her thoughts had taken her.

Zylah clicked her tongue. “And what makes you think Zylah’s not my real name?”

“Better to keep switching it up.” He shrugged as he glanced down at her, and she turned her attention back to the corridor.

“Liss.”

“You came up with that rather quickly.” He tugged her hood up, squeezing past her as he did so, close enough that she could feel the warmth radiate from him.

“It’s short for Alyssa. My middle name.” She swatted him away and adjusted the hood herself.

“Do I get to know your full name?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Do I get to know yours, husband?” she muttered.

“Point taken.” Holt waved a hand at Arran as they passed and held the door open for Zylah as she stepped out onto the street.

“You certainly behave like a husband.” Zylah looked up at him and smiled sweetly, her head angled just so Arran would see.

Holt narrowed his eyes and his jaw seemed to tighten. “Now, now,Liss, let’s not argue right before work.”

But Zylah wasn’t listening. She was too busy taking everything in. Now that she didn’t have to hide her face, she looked up and spun around to take in the front of the tavern and the sign that swung above the door. The Pedlar’s Charm. Fitting.

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