Page 27 of Jeweler to the Blessed
She didn’t cause chaos. She inspired it.
— FROM CHAMPIONS OF KAVIOS
“Absolutely not,” Father said when I told him I started work for the Glanmores tomorrow.
After encountering the guard, I came home to give Mother the tonic. Father arrived shortly after, confirming all the orders we completed yesterday had been collected. Like many other shops in our neighborhood, he closed early for the festival. Initially, we both focused our attention on Mother. She hadn’t gotten out of bed today. The tonic’s effect was immediate, though. Color sprang to her cheeks as she downed the vial. She sat up before it was drained. We couldn’t wait thislong again.
Father and I had returned to the family room to make a meal, where I told him about Alaric.
His voice grew quiet. “There is no way you’re going to Glanmore Castle. It’s the one place she doesn’t want you.”
I glanced down the hallway to Mother’s bedroom. I had been about to question Father’s concern, but this made sense. There was no question who theshewas in that sentence. Even I knew that everything Alaric did to teach me history, to teach me about the world outside Kavios, and to defend myself, was because Mother requested it. Were any of us living our own lives, or were we each doing what we thought she wanted of us?
I paced in front of the fire. Feeling caged wasn’t unusual for me, but my day had left me on edge. Alaric always said not to make decisions from a position of weakness, but that was all I’d been doing today.
“We don’t have a lot of options, Father. Do you know where Uncle is?”
“He’s finally gotten himself killed.” Father turned again to look down the hallway to Mother’s room.
I sucked in a breath. “You don’t know that.”
He rubbed his hand through his hair, considering. “You know better than anyone the kinds of contraband he had in the workshop. If someone found them …”
“No one found the storage room. The workshop was just how Alaric would have left it. No one but myself and Vaddon had been in there.”
Father sighed. “If not the books, then chasing down the information within them. He didn’t know when to let something go.”
I tilted my head, not sure I understood this line of thinking. What from the books was Alaric tracking down? It was just another reminder of how little I knew about him. What did itsay about me that even Father, who didn’t like the man, had ideas I didn’t about his whereabouts?
“What was he researching?” I wasn’t too proud to pursue any lead that might come my way.
Father’s lip flattened into a thin line as if realizing he’d said too much. His brow furrowed in thought, and then he waved dismissively. “Oh, it could be anything.”
“That’s not what it sounded like.”
He shook his head again. “We can’t count on Alaric’s return.” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Neither can we have you in the castle.”
My hands balled into fists at my side. The weight of the day hung heavy like a millstone around my neck. Alaric was missing. I was dragged to the castle. My journey to Forest’s Edge was only a stopgap to the problem of Mother’s tonic. The plans I’d so painstakingly made for myself were now out of reach. The near street brawl impressed how volatile the city was. I must have stopped paying attention when I decided to leave.
That all changed now.
“We can’t talk about this like it’s a choice, Father. I have two options. One, I do what the prince requires. They will assign me a bodyguard. The prince guaranteed the Blessed wouldn’t take from me. Or two, I run. I leave Kavios and leave you and Mother to fend for yourselves. You’ll have to procure the youngleaf with money we don’t have.”
He sighed deeply. I didn’t dare hope he finally understood the responsibility I carried for this family.
“Let me guess. The prince will also pay you Alaric’s salary so we can afford the youngleaf?”
I nodded. “It’s the only choice, Father. You have to see that.”
“I could go.” This was unexpected. Even as Father made the offer, his gaze darted toward Mother’s room, and I knew it wasan empty one. He couldn’t be separated from her. I said the one thing that would free him of guilt for not taking my place. He couldn’t do what Alaric and I could.
“They know I can source the adamas.”
Father’s head hung heavy with my words. “Fine.”
When he finally lifted his head, and his eyes met mine, they were resigned. “Go see your Mother. I’m sure she’s more alert now.”
I held in a sigh. Father and I would never truly understand each other in this. We’d both lost Mother the day the Blessed stole from her. What he didn’t seem to realize was that I’d lost not only my mother but also my father. His whole world became caring for her, even at the expense of caring for me. Turning, I strode down the barren hallway to Mother’s room.
