my favorite places on the island,” Elias says as he draws the creaking door open. “It’s private, too. I figured it might feel more…”
“Intimate” is the word he’s looking for, but my skin crawls at the idea of it.
All I hear are Bastian’s words banging around in my skull.
The woman I love.
The woman I love.
I love.
I take a deep breath and try to clear my mind.
No matter how mouthwatering the scent of baking honey bread wafting from the tea shop, I’m about to suggest to Elias that we find another plan when Ilia’s willowy, ice-spirit figure emerges from the store’s depths. Elias stiffens immediately, clearly as surprised as I am.
“Lee?” He squints at his sister. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.” Even her voice is sharp as an icicle, impaling me. “As we discussed, you’ve duties to uphold today. You should be in the woods now, helping the rest of the gatherers. There’s no time for … this.” She waves her bony hand between us, the sharpness of her cheekbones deepening her scowl.
Elias looks mutinous. “Amora’s only here for a few days—”
“I’m sure she’ll understand.” Ilia’s eyes blaze so fiercely that I nearly draw a step back. There’s something lethal in her eyes that wasn’t there yesterday. Immediately I find myself wondering if she’s angry I’m still here, today. If she’s angry that I survived.
It’s as though she’s disgusted by the idea of her brother anywhere near me. Even Vataea and Shanty are rigid at my side, ready to intervene.
“I understand perfectly,” I growl, suspicion itching at my skin. I could easily tell her to turn away and leave Elias and me, but even with the girls at my side it’s not worth the risk. I won’t put them into that situation when it’s avoidable.
“Perhaps we could reschedule for dinner?” Regret fills Elias’s voice. His shoulders slump, face apologetic.
“Perhaps,” I say, though I’m not looking at him. I stare back at Ilia’s pale, icy eyes as she holds her chin high and defiant, waiting for me to challenge her.
“I read the parchments this morning,” she says coolly. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Your Majesty. Feel free to explore our humble island to your heart’s content, but for now I must take Elias. I’m sure your chambermaids will be wonderful company.”
Though Vataea scowls, Ilia doesn’t see it. She turns instead to her brother, taking him by the arm and pulling him from me as though I’m diseased. She has him out the door within seconds, leaving the three of us in the middle of this small, empty tea shop. Only then do I notice the woman behind the counter, thin and elderly. Her eyes have rounded with surprise as we’ve caught her staring directly at me, looking as though she’s about to faint.
In a croaking, nervous voice, she asks, “Tea, Your Majesty?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“This might take a lot less time than I anticipated,” Ferrick says, assessing the marketplace that lines the road.
Late that afternoon, after several hours of entertaining the shop owner by pretending to drink her tea—all but Shanty, anyway, who claimed to be immune to most poisons and was able to happily sample everything—the marketplace has grown busier.
It’s built at the edge of the dense jungle, upon the meeting place of sand and root. While some merchants sell their wares from wooden huts, others lean against thick, gnarled trees. They use the canopy of leaves for shade, with their goods spread onto a blanket before them. But unlike Ikae’s marketplace, here there are no shouting merchants touting overpriced snapper or yelling about their daily goods. No one is selling fine gowns, or sampling ale from a street full of competing vendors.
Curmana’s marketplace, like the rest of the island, is so unsettlingly calm that I can’t shake the nerves that skitter down my spine. It’s not that people aren’t talking; there’s some chatter and laughter. Barter, even. But so many conversations are happening without words. I catch a couple locking eyes now and then, nodding along to something the other must silently be saying. A child runs, trying to play among the vendors. But before she can stray too far, her father uses levitation magic to lift the girl into the air and bring her back to his side. The girl does little more than blink, unsurprised, before darting away again.
If they’re having a conversation, they too have it in silence. And while I admire the privacy of the magic, there’s something odd about humans being so … still.
“This place