Page 18 of Compass Points
This was a problem. The last thing they needed was some rumor of her and Luc as mist survivors following them back to Compass Lake. That would ruin all their plans. Luc’s romantic partner or not, the Compass Points would never leave them alone if they thought Rose was a survivor of the plague of mist. She dared a glance at Luc, a worry line forming on his brow as if he’d come to the same conclusion.
“They saw two people leaving?” he asked.
She nodded.
“We’re going to have to find the trader,” he said, sounding regretful.
“What are we going to do? The damage is already done. We can’t make people forget what they’ve already heard.”
Luc looked pained but said, “I can take care of it. We have to find him. There aren’t any other villages between Bury and the next, so if he’s still there, we should be able to make the story disappear.”
Rose flinched at the callous tone. “Killing him won’t stop the story from spreading. It’s better to flee and pretend that we came from another direction. So we couldn’t possibly be the travelers from Bury.”
He rolled his eyes at her. “I’m not going to kill him. I’m not an idiot. That wouldn’t change his actions, but we have other options.”
“Such as?”
“Pack up,” Luc said, ignoring her question. “We need to get there before the trader leaves.” The black bird on her shoulder tilted his head as if he were reassessing Luc.
“What is it, Arie?” she asked. Since Luc wouldn’t tell her anything, she might as well get some information from Arie as she packed her things.
“What do we know about Luc?”Arie asked.
“That he’s the Suden Point. Isn’t that enough?”
“I wonder…”He trailed off.“He may be more interesting than I thought.”Arie flapped his wings and flew off to scout ahead of them.
Rose shook her head at his unhelpful responses and finished strapping her pack to the horse.
Chapter Eleven
20years ago - Compass Lake
Rose was last to wake. She suspected Mom had let her sleep in due to staying up late to listen to the story again. She wandered into the kitchen.
“Grandpa, have you seen Mom?” she asked.
“Yes, she’s out in the workshop. She wanted to get some work done before the ceremony this morning. She should be wrapping up shortly.”
He was cooking breakfast, putting together a big family meal before they went to the lake’s edge.
“I’m going to go watch her finish.”
“Okay, tell her breakfast will be ready in twenty minutes.”
Rose ran out of their small cottage and toward the workshop on the property. She hadn’t seen Dad, but he had to have caretaker chores at the big house before today’s event. She ran into the workshop, slowing down as she crossed the threshold. This was Mom’s first rule for her being in the workshop—no running or horseplay when you’re in the forge area.
“Good morning, Rose,” her mom said without looking away from her project. The heat from the forge hit Rose like a thick steam the second she stepped into the room. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, Mom,” Rose replied as she watched her smooth out the piece she was working on with repeated mallet swings. Rose’s fingers went to her compass pendant as she watched.
“You want to help?” Mom asked.
This was Rose’s aim in coming to the workshop. She loved when Mom asked her to help. Their training sessions were never enough. Rose always wanted to make things, to feel the magic and push it into metal.
“Yes.” Rose almost ran but remembered the workshop rules and took great pains to walk over to Mom’s side.
“Here you go, darling. You can take some swings.” Mom pointed to the edge of the blade near the handle. “Will you work this area for me? I haven’t quite got it right.”
