“Sure. He’ll take care of anythin’ you need at your house as well. Lives just down the hill in the old mill house, he does. The wheel does no’ grind grain anymore, mind ye, but he’s repairin’ it nonetheless. One of these days he’ll have it workin’.”
“That would be something to see. A bit of history. Do you live close by, Maggie?”
“Oh, I have something small nearby.”
The kettle whistled so loudly I almost put my hands to my ears.
“There we are then,” Maggie said as she turned the fire off. She poured water directly into our cups that held the teabags and closed the lids for steeping.
I took the cup she offered. “This smells wonderful. So you were going to tell me about the inventory?”
“The pieces arrive during the night. I do no’ know how. They are simply here, in the workroom, when I come in.”
I took a moment to try to digest that and found it hopeless. “Before dinner last night, I would have laughed and said you’re joking, but I suspect you’re not.”
“’Tis no’ a joke. No.”
“Where do you think these things come from?”
“I do no’ bother with frettin’ about it ‘cause speculatin’ would get me nowhere.”
I nodded. “How do you establish value?”
“Well,” Maggie said, “I would no’ say that I establish value so much as slappin’ on a price that I think we can get.”
“I suppose that’s one approach to valuation. Do you ever negotiate with customers?”
She shook her head. “I do no’. The policy of the shop is this. If you do no’ want it, someone else will.”
I laughed. “It’s not an entirely unique approach to commerce. I’m just as glad. Personally, I hate bargaining.” She nodded agreeably. “Would you say that most of the sales go to humans?”
“That brings us to another subject. You see, the Hallows sells things that are pretty or interestin’ to humans, and we also sell magical artifacts to people like us.”
I looked toward the shop. “How do customers know which is which?”
She grinned. “’Tis easy. The magical wares are cloaked in wards so that they can no’ be seen by human eyes.”
I took a few steps into the shop and looked around. “There are things here I can’t see?”
“Aye.”
“If I put on the shoes…?”
She beamed. “Then you’ll have the sight of anyone magic born.”
I set my cup down on a shelf next to a brass lamp that featured a pair of peacocks with sapphire-colored glass eyes and miniature peacock feathers at full spray. In less than two minutes I returned wearing the shoes and I could see that, indeed, there were marvelous things here and there that I hadn’t noticed before.
I considered this. “So, I couldn’t sell a magical thing to a human because they wouldn’t even know it was here.” Maggie nodded. “And if someone magical bought something mundane, it would be deliberate. They’d know what they were doing.”
“Aye. Why do you ask?” Her expression cleared. “Oh. You’re thinkin’ about the statue purchased by Mr. Weir.” I nodded. “You can rest assured he knew what he was buyin’.”
With a frown I asked, “Should I apologize to him? About insisting he buy something or leave?”
‘Ohhhhhhh. O’course no’. ‘Tis a great story that’ll be circulatin’ at the pub for weeks to come.”
“I don’t want to unknowingly make someone local the butt of a joke.”
“My. My. You are sensitive, Magistrate.”
“It’s not sensitive to want to avoid having a vampire hold a grudge.”
“Oh, no worries about that. He’s a brooder, but no’ a bad sort.”
“So…”
The front door burst open and a whirlwind of beautiful male rushed in saying, “Mags! Is the new…?”
He went still and quiet when he saw me and stared in a way that might be considered rude by some. He was about six feet tall with a golden tan, green eyes with prominent gold-orange flecks, and what could best be described as ‘surfer streaked’ curly hair, worn longish to his collar. His jaw was prominent; defined and square with the slightest hint of cleft, and my thumb itched to reach up and press that spot. His age was enigmatic, but I guessed late thirties, maybe.
At length, after staring his fill, his face broke into a grin that threatened to put the light of the sun to shame.
“Greetings,” he said without taking his eyes off me. “I’m Keir. Keir Culain.” His accent was definitely English. I didn’t yet have an ear to distinguish between classes, but it sounded highborn. His first and last names both