Page 29 of Jeweler to the Blessed
She smiled. “Now, I’m off to try my hand at that guard again.”
I hoped she knew what she was doing as she bounced toward the Eastern Gate.
The Blessed’s white banners waved in the evening’s soft wind. Mother and Father were just ahead of me, but I didn’t want to push through the crowd to return to their side. I took my time inhaling the scent of the doknots and deciding which stall to purchase one from.
I scanned the packed street. The chatter and excitement of the other festivalgoers were a low roar around me. My life was changing beneath my feet. Serena’s news about Forest’s Edge had me tense. And on top of everything, I hated being around this many people. It made it impossible to predict the actions of the Blessed.
Colors flashed around me.
I expected the yellow of joy being taken andeven the orange of lust. The festival celebrated hope, possibility, and all manner of dreams. It was easy to imagine how Serena could convince herself tonight was the night—not to be Selected but to finally catch the eye of the Blessed she hoped would take from her. Just as easily, I could imagine a Blessed taking the evening’s joy from happy families or couples like Matthew and Jasmine.
Red flashed in my periphery as much as yellow. The red of anger surprised me. It only further impressed what I’d been thinking on the walk over. Kavios was a city on the brink of … something.
I thought of the shout from the crowd this afternoon.The Feared will have your gem for this.They were whispered about in Woodside, but I’d never heard them spoken about so brazenly before the Blessed. Maybe the manic energy in the crowd tonight was their doing.
Passing the alley where I’d encountered the guard earlier, a Blessed woman took from a man. She wore her adamas in a necklace pendant, marking her as important to the king. My brows raised in surprise as the red flash lit up the face of the man she pressed against the wall—it was Macen.
Unsure how it happened, our gazes locked across the crowded street. I tried to look away, but he quickly pushed her back and stumbled toward me. “Emberline!” he shouted as I tried to escape farther into the crowd. The Blessed woman he was with let him go, unbothered by the interruption, and I was not fast enough to slip out of sight.
“Emberline!” he called again. I hoped this wasn’t some misplaced guilt. Truly, I didn’t care what Macen did with his time. But neither did I want my name shouted down the street, drawing attention. Macen elbowed his way to me. I kept my parents in sight as he slowed with his approach. “I’dhoped to find you tonight.”
Not interested in spending time with Macen, I gestured ahead, where Mother’s chair was still visible. “I need to catch up with my parents.”
He nodded. “I’m glad she’s feeling up to it. Let me help you.”
The red glow I’d seen on the woman’s gem earlier should have warned me that the smile on his face was false. Before I could respond, he began pushing forward with an aggression that matched the harsh light of the Blessed woman’s gem.
The crowd split where he shoved through. It took me a moment to realize he wasn’t precisely aiming toward my parents.
As he pushed, the crowd pushed back. That wild energy spilled across the mass of people in the street. I wanted to hide in an alley until emotions returned to simple joy, but there was no path out of the fray.
Someone grabbed my wrist.
Fear, pure and raw, shot through my limbs. My gloves were on, but whoever this was had found the slip of skin where my tunic pushed back with the jostling. My vision tunneled in panic, but I couldn’t focus on the threat—too many people were around. I didn’t feel the pressure of the Blessed’s magic attempting to pull what it could not take.
Whether they were Blessed or not, I didn’t care. Breaking the hold was my goal, and I twisted and kicked with everything I had.
I just needed to get free.
“Oomph,” sounded behind me as the clasp around my wrist was loosened.
Shooting forward, I followed a cleared path down a side street, needing space to breathe. The street opened to another path south of Cross. I told myself I wasn’t trapped. No one had me. My head craned, trying to keep an eye on my parents as thecrowd in the street continued with an animation that no longer seemed capable of containment.
Macen appeared before me.
I didn’t know what he was doing, but I didn’t want to be anywhere near him. “I need to go.” I turned to walk past him. My parents had slowed, purchasing the snack I wanted from a vendor. Mother tilted her head to look through the crowd for me. Now was the time to get back to them.
Macen blocked my path. “Not so fast. I have some friends who want to speak with you.”
I cursed myself for not getting away from Macen faster. The side street may not have been a dead end, but a wall of people filled it as I looked behind me. One of whom I unfortunately recognized: The scar on Soren’s face was evident beneath his dark hood.
I stepped toward Macen. “What are you doing?”
He might have set me up, but I didn’t think he would physically restrain me. Unfortunately, the group didn’t seem to think he would either. More men and women filled in any gaps I could have slipped through to return to Cross Street.
Awareness of the knife at my hip flashed through my thoughts. But at least a dozen people were surrounding me here. I was, once again, outnumbered.
“What do you want?” I asked, my voice shaking more than I cared for.
