Page 63 of Jeweler to the Blessed
The paper had been rolled, like maybe it was the next riddle he intended to hand me. No. I shook my head. He’d meant for me to find it—because he intended not to be here.
I hope your trip brings you the answers you seek.
Your mother is taken care of. If I’m not here, don’t stay.
No matter what you choose, I love you, Ember.
He was gone. What was worse: He had planned to leave. Father’s words rang in my head. I was just a project. When I planned to leave, Alaric left to find a new one.
And he hadn’t told me. He hadn’t wanted to say goodbye.
I let the anger seep in at the second sentence.
If I’m not here, don’t stay.
I hadn’t even considered continuing with my trip when he was missing. Not that I’d had an option with Vaddon’s arrival. Would things have been different if I’d found this note instead of Vaddon finding me in his shopthat morning?
Your mother is taken care of.
Fire curled in my chest. That is not the story I’d received from his seller, and it was also one of the reasons I didn’t think leaving was an option. I should not be surprised that Hart would lie to me about this, but it felt like another kick in the ribs.
Hart had extracted a promise from me for the youngleaf delivery. He’d exerted power over me, knowing what it was for. Was this all a game to him? This note said he’d already made a deal with Alaric to care for Mother.
My fist closed around the paper, crumbling it.
I needed someone I could trust. Nothing Hart could say would make me believe him. Not when he’d leveraged his position.
Ava would have answers. The bartender at Forest’s Edge was one of only a few who’d been straight with me since Alaric went missing. I could tell she cared about Alaric. If I couldn’t trust Hart, I wanted to hear about the delivery from her. I believed she would be honest with me.
“Alright, Chaos?” Hart called.
Swiping the tears from my eyes, I pushed my shoulders back. Maybe Ava would be at the Cornucopia tonight. I could speak to her then. I walked out of the storage room and secured it.
“Not bringing anything with you?”
“Just checking something.”
His lip twitched like he might smile again, but it fell before it fully curled. His gaze searched mine. I was afraid of what he found there. He said nothing as he parted the curtain again, holding it open for me to leave.
His silence behind me was unnerving. Pretending it didn’t bother me, I walked toward the window to tend to the plants. Outside the shop’s front window, the tables were setin the middle of the street. I didn’t hate the sentiment this event represented. The idea of the city coming together to celebrate its citizens. A feast in honor of those who made the city better by living, contributing, and enjoying their lives here. It wasn’t about the Glanmores, and it wasn’t actually about the Blessed. It was one time the entire city came together.
The problem was that the sentiment was just that—a feeling, not reality. I pressed my fingers into the dirt of the plant I tended. It was like my false sense of control over the Oldwood—a feeling only, not my reality. Tomorrow, I’d have to face the Oldwood again.
It was a presence impossible to deny.
Just like, during the Cornucopia, it was impossible not to notice that the Blessed ate on the western side of the street and the rest ate on the eastern. The groups only mingled after dinner when residents proceeded to establishments like Forest’s Edge.
Finished with the plants, I turned to Hart, meeting his gaze. He’d been waiting for me to do so. It was only then, with eyes locked, that he spoke.
“I’ll keep you safe. You have nothing to fear.”
Nothing to fear. I highly doubted that.
Alaric wasn’t coming back. He’d left of his own volition, thinking I’d also be gone. Clearly, he hadn’t intended for me to take his position, but there was nothing he could do about that now. As much as his actions stung, I had to believe he was doing what was right for him.
I’d ignored the thoughts earlier today but knew I had to confront them eventually. It was time to decide what to do about my role and what I could live with. Now that the royal family knew of my skills, they might not accept my disappearance as easily as they’d accepted Alaric’s. But if Alaric didn’twant to be found and Mother didn’t need me to make the tonic, what were my options?
Maybe it was time to find out.
