Page 63 of Anwen of Primewood
Rosie seems completely at ease as she turns a trio of grouses on a spit over the fire. “Why?”
My stomach growls at the savory aroma. Suddenly I’m starving.
“You know Dimitri.” The woman waves her hand. “He’s entertaining, but he can be cruel.”
Rosie’s eyes flicker to us, and she gives us a welcoming smile. “What did he do?”
The woman shakes her head and leans in as if to share a secret. “When we were in Vernow earlier this summer, there was a rumor of a wealthy merchant in Primewood with a changeling stone—a man by the name of Baron Thomas Millner.”
Galinor tenses at my side, and my heart starts topound. Marigold’s eyes meet mine, and I shake my head so she won’t announce our presence just yet.
“A changeling stone?” Rosie scoffs, laughing out loud.
“Dimitri was obsessed. He had to have it,” the woman continues. “We traveled to Primewood—and you know how welcoming that kingdom is to our people.”
“I’m sure you made very little along the way,” Rosie says.
The woman nods. “Once we arrived, Dimitri visited the village every day, nosing around for information.”
I stand as if frozen, barely daring to breathe. Galinor wraps his arm around my shoulders.
“Dimitri found out the merchant had a daughter,” the woman continues. “We bided our time, and eventually, the girl came into the village. Dimitri befriended her—charmed her and made her fall in love with him. It didn’t take him long to convince her to steal her father’s stone.”
Tiny black dots begin to cloud my vision. This woman is wrong—it wasn’t like that.
“Poor thing,” she says, shaking her head. “She ran away with him to join our troupe. He behaved so strangely, many of us were convinced he was in love with her. She was a lovely girl—curly honey-blonde hair, pretty eyes.”
Rosie’s gaze flicks to me, and her eyebrows knit. “What happened?”
“The girl assumed they would be married, and Dimitri decided she was more trouble than she was worth. He left her in the woods.”
The man next to her shifts forward. “Dimitri even took her horse.”
“He couldn’t take the little fox, remember?” Thewoman pokes her friend in the side, laughing at the memory. She then turns back to Rosie to explain. “The girl had a strange little pet fox. Dimitri thought he’d make a funny act for the children. He tried to take him, but the animal bit him—sliced his hand good.”
He tried to take my Danver.
I begin to tremble—I don’t think I’ve ever been this livid.
The man wraps his arm around the woman’s waist. “We left the troupe in Estlebrook. Dimitri has done some shady things, but I’ve never been so disgusted with him. That poor girl. I often wonder if she’s all right.”
“She’s managing,” I say from behind them.
They turn, startled by my voice. The woman’s eyes widen with recognition, mirroring my own. She’s the woman I saw that first night, and next to her—yes, it’s the man whose lap she sat on. I don’t recognize the other three, but from the way they look at me, they apparently know who I am.
Rosie’s eyes narrow as she tries to work out this story with the one Irving has fed her.
“How did you get here?” the woman asks.
“It doesn’t matter.” I wave my hand. “Can you tell me where Dimitri is?”
She gives me a look of pity. “You’re better off without him.” Her eyes then drift to Galinor, and she raises her brows. “Much better off.”
I find a seat next to Marigold. Galinor sits on my other side. Sparks from the fire fly into the ever-darkening sky, and I watch them for a few moments before I speak. “I don’t want him.”
After hearing the story, I wholeheartedly mean it.
“I want my changeling stone back.”
