Kingdom of Sea and Stone (Crown of Coral and Pearl #2) - Mara Rutherford Page 0,49

harnessing it. I sense you are one of those people, Nor. I think that’s why Roan told you about me.”

I blushed, staring into my bowl of soup. “What would give Roan that impression? He hardly knows me.”

“Because Roan’s mother was a healer, like me. And because he’s an empath, believe it or not. He hides behind sarcasm and crude humor, but he’s far more perceptive than people give him credit for. He sensed you were searching for something that you might find here. I think he was right.”

I dug back into my soup to avoid responding. I wasn’t ready to talk about my healing powers or the fact that Ceren needed my blood, and more importantly, I didn’t want to admit that Roan might actually be perceptive, despite his smug exterior.

By the time we finished eating, the storm had blown away, leaving an innocent blue sky in its wake. A man with a cart came by with my little wooden bed, which was placed in a corner of Adriel’s workshop. I was about to sit down and start reading the book Adriel gave me when she knocked on the door.

“Come on,” she said, tossing my still-damp cloak at me.

“Where are we going?” I asked, slightly cranky at being interrupted. I didn’t have much time to figure out how the bloodstones worked, and Adriel’s constant questioning made me anxious.

“I’m taking you to see the bone trees,” she said, and disappeared outside before I had a chance to respond.

15

Adriel and I left the house on foot and headed for the forest that began less than a mile away. Since the ground was soft from the rain and our boots got stuck in the muddy road, we kept to the fields, tromping through the damp grass and wildflowers. Every now and then, Adriel would stop to pluck a specimen and place it in a satchel she wore across her body.

“Tell me about Talin,” she said after we’d been walking in silence for a while. “Roan said you told him you aren’t lovers, but somehow I don’t believe that’s entirely true.”

“What is it with Galethians and personal questions?” I stepped over a rotted branch as we entered the forest. “My relationship with Talin isn’t any of your concern.”

Adriel cast me a questioning glance. “Apologies. I didn’t realize that was considered personal where you come from.”

“It is,” I huffed. “I haven’t asked you about your relationships, have I?”

“I wouldn’t mind if you did. Although my last lover moved to Leesbrook over a year ago. She wanted to become a blacksmith’s apprentice, and I couldn’t very well move to the city.”

“Oh.” I blinked in surprise.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me only men and women are allowed to be lovers in Varenia. I know how strict the Ilarean royals can be when it comes to marriage and procreation, but I thought the Varenians were a little more evolved than that.”

“It isn’t that,” I said, shaking my head. Varenian girls were groomed to marry a prince, whose sexual preference was irrelevant as far as the crown was concerned. His duty was to carry on the royal bloodline, and he would have to marry accordingly. But if we weren’t chosen, we could marry freely, as long as our parents and the elders approved the match. “I just assumed you and Roan were lovers.”

Adriel laughed. “My tastes are far more discerning than you give me credit for.”

“And the woman who left?”

“Ana.” She pushed a branch aside and waited for me to pass. “I loved her, but the truth is that most hedge witches live alone. I knew she wouldn’t stay forever.”

I mulled over her words over for a moment. “Do Galethians marry?”

“Some do. It’s more of a formality than anything, though. Are you and Talin going to marry?”

I should have been prepared for the blunt question, but it still caught me off guard. “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I was betrothed to his brother, Ceren. But I never loved him.” I told her the story of how Zadie had been chosen to marry Ceren and I’d gone in her place, elaborating on how Talin had helped me while I was at New Castle.

“It sounds as if he would do anything for you,” Adriel said after I’d finished. “Do you love him?”

I knew that I did, but it felt strange to admit that to someone I barely knew before I had told Talin. I nodded instead. “But his goal is to help his mother overthrow Ceren, and I have