He turned and held my hands, rubbing the calluses along my fingers. “It’s just…I don’t want you to have regrets, Maia. You’re young, with dreams and a family to care for. And now that you’re the imperial tailor—I don’t want you to throw it all away on a foolish boy like me.”
“I wouldn’t stop sewing for you, Edan,” I said lightly. “I’d open a shop in the capital—one by the ocean, preferably. I’d draw by the water and sew all day.” I wiggled into the hollow of his shoulder and rested my head there. “And you’re not foolish—not for chasing magic. I can see in your eyes how much you love it. Enough to pay such a terrible price.” I paused to chew on my lower lip. “Would you lose it, if you were freed?”
“Enchanters are born with magic,” he answered, “but yes, I would lose my sensitivity to it, and my ability to channel its power. Something I would welcome if it meant being with you.”
I swallowed, feeling an ache rise in my chest—but one that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. “What would you be, if you were free?”
The deepness in his voice faded, and he sounded like the boy he was. “If I were free? Perhaps I’d be a musician and play my flute, or work with horses in a rich man’s stable.”
“You do love your horses.”
He winked at me. “Or I’d be an old, fat sage with a long beard. Would you still love me then?”
“I can’t imagine you with a beard,” I said, touching his smooth chin. My fingers slid down to his neck, stopping just before his heart. A throb in my chest again. “But yes. Always.”
“Good.” He grinned, the dimple on the left corner of his mouth making an appearance. “I’ll be in charge of tutoring the children. I hope you know I expect many. At least eight.”
I slapped his shoulder playfully. “Eight!”
“I had six brothers, after all. I’m used to a big family.” He sat up to kiss me, and despite the tiredness on his face, his eyes shone with a contentment I’d never seen before.
“We couldn’t afford eight children in the capital.”
“Then I’ll grow a money tree when we’re back in the palace.”
I couldn’t tell if he was joking. “A money tree?”
“How else do you think freed enchanters become wealthy?” Edan snorted. “I have the seeds tucked away in a secret hatch in my room. We can use it to buy a nice mansion for us and your father and brother, with a hundred servants.” He looked worried. “Do you think your baba will like me?”
“My baba cares nothing about wealth,” I said, laughing. Happiness bubbled in me as I thought of Edan trying to impress Baba and befriend Keton. “He’ll only want you to be good to me.”
“I will be,” Edan promised. “Better than good.” He reached into his pocket and took out a small leather book with a blue cover and a thin golden cord and tassel for tying it together. Its edges were slightly bent from having been in his pocket. “For you.”
“A new sketchbook?”
“I picked it up in Samaran,” he said sheepishly. “You looked like you were almost done with yours.”
“You are observant.” I brought the sketchbook to my nose, inhaling the scent of fresh paper. I reached for Edan’s cheek and traced his hairline to his jaw. A brief shiver tingled down my spine. “I wonder who should be my next subject.”
Edan made a face. “Enchanters don’t often sit for portraits. We’re too restless. However, I will be in need of a new cloak soon.” He gestured at his fraying one. “In case you wish to thank me, Master Tailor.”
“A sketchbook for a cloak? Hardly seems like a fair trade.”
“It’s a magic sketchbook,” Edan said, reaching for it.
I rolled my eyes. “Really.”
“See, when you turn it upside down, sand falls out.” Edan smiled widely as he caught the desert’s golden grains in his palm. “Sand, sand, and more sand.”
“Oh, you!”
He laughed. “So, Master Tamarin, can I count on you making me the best-dressed enchanter in all the Seven Lands?”
I turned out his collar, straightening it. I clicked my tongue. “You can hardly be the best-dressed enchanter in any land if you can’t even button your shirt properly.”
“Ah.” Edan looked down at his shirt helplessly. Laughing, I reached out to fix it. But the laughter on my lips faded as he drew me