Spy Glass

15

I COULDN’T BLAME HIM FOR GIVING UP ON ME. I’D lost Kade. Despite the wrenching inside my chest, I ruminated on the word lost as I stared at the ceiling. Lost his love, not the man since he slept upstairs. I had planned to leave early in the morning if Kade couldn’t stay with me. Why wait? I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Not now. Quartz enjoyed traveling at night and she had all day to rest.

But I needed to say goodbye. Tiptoeing upstairs, I paused on the landing. Three closed doors ringed the short hallway. Which one was his?

I stood in front of each door as I decided. A slight draft caressed my bare toes from under the door on the right, but air blasted my feet from the left one. Only Kade would have his window wide-open.

Biting my lip, I tapped on the door before turning the knob and peeking in. If he was asleep…

“I’m awake,” Kade said.

With no shirt on and wearing only short pants, he lay on top of the bedspread. A knot formed under my ribs and I shivered.

“I understand your decision. I’m leaving tonight and wanted to say goodbye.”

He gazed out the window. And I studied his face, committing the strong line of his jaw and his smooth skin to memory. The consequences of my quest had been very high. I turned to go.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Home for Mara’s wedding.”

“You can’t leave so soon. If I’m going to spend time with your family, it’s only fair you spend a few more days with mine.”

I spun around.

He pushed up on his elbow. “I don’t want to give up on us. This thing with Devlen isn’t love, is it?”

“No. He’s like my Story Weaver.”

“And he’ll help you?”

“Yes.”

Kade drew in a deep breath. “You know what I want and need. And you love me.” He quirked a smile. “I can be happy with that for now. After the wedding, you know where I’ll be.” He patted the bed and I slid in with him. He settled back and I snuggled in close.

“Although,” he said, “you’ll have to deal with my mother for the next couple of days.”

Dealing with his mother seemed a mere inconvenience. I’d been given a second chance with Kade and I wasn’t going to blow it. My thoughts returned to my earlier assessment of Sarrah. “I think I know why she hates me so much.”

“After one day?”

“I’ve learned a great deal about human nature from Valek.”

“Go on.”

“She needs to know you still love your sister. Your father already knows you’re not trying to replace her with me. When you released Kaya’s soul on the Northern Ice Sheet, you had a moment with her that your parents missed. You said goodbye, and even I experienced her joy at finding peace. They didn’t. I think if you tell them what happened, your mother might feel better about us.”

“Once I decided to let her go, I never considered waiting. So wrapped up in my own grief, I had forgotten my parents’ pain.” He looked at me. “It was a very selfish thing to do.”

“At that time, you couldn’t see past your own pain.”

“Sounds like you have some experience with this.”

It would explain my actions with Devlen. “Yes I do, and it usually leads to trouble.”

When I woke the next morning, Kade was gone. I stretched and felt a rare moment of contentment before getting up to find him. Halfway down the steps, his mother’s voice reached me. I slowed.

“Sounds like wishful thinking—harvesting Kaya’s soul. Honestly, Kade, you’re a Stormdancer not a Soulfinder. You didn’t have these delusions about your abilities before you met that girl or got that horse. All this running around, for what? Nothing.”

I cringed for Kade. Deeper issues lay between him and his mother, and I might have made it worse. His reply was too quiet for me to decipher.

“Why can’t you pick someone like Helen? She’s beautiful, talented…”

Unable to endure any more, I hurried through the living room and out the front door. When had she met Helen? I thought the Stormdancer’s new orb maker worked in Thunder Valley during the off-season, selling her glasswares.

Helen was pretty and her glass statues were unparalleled works of art. And she was sweet. And she spent three full seasons working with Kade. I stopped that line of thought. Despite all the pain I caused, he had stayed with me. Love trumps logic.

I found Quartz and Moonlight grazing behind the shed. Her copper-and-white coat looked fuzzy and unkempt. Shedding season. I retrieved a shedding blade from my saddlebags and pulled the thin metal loop through her thick cold season coat. Hair rained to the ground, piling around her hooves like drifts of snow.

Kade arrived. He groaned with annoyance. “I combed her last night.” He gestured to the piles of hair. “Not that you would know it.”

Moonlight snuffled Kade’s hair and sneezed.

“Ugh.” Kade wiped his face on his sleeve. “Good morning to you, too.” He scratched the horse behind his ears and then sighed when he noticed the black hairs sticking to his hand. “Now he’s shedding.”

I ducked behind Quartz to hide my smile, but Kade joined me. “I’ll finish grooming Quartz. You need to get cleaned up.” He wiped horsehair off my chin.

“For what?”

“Shopping with my mother,” he deadpanned.

“But she—”

“Agreed to spend time with you for my sake.”

“But I heard…”

He tilted his head, waiting.

“Er…I only caught a sentence or two, but I don’t think my idea to tell her about Kaya worked.”

“Nothing’s a quick fix, Opal. But it was a step in the right direction. After I reminded her about her own often-repeated advice to not jump to conclusions about new people, she thought a day in town with you would be acceptable.”

“But, I don’t need anything.”

“Really? I thought you needed a dress for Mara’s wedding.”

It was my turn to groan. Dress shopping with Kade’s mother. Kill me now. The alternative—arriving home without a gown—was equally unappealing.

“Okay, but I’m taking my switchblade along.”

“To defend yourself against my mother?” he asked with an incredulous tone.

“No. To slit my throat if the day goes badly.”

He laughed. “Make sure you don’t bleed in front of her. She faints at the sight of blood.”

“I’m so glad you have your priorities straight,” I said. My voice dripped with sarcasm.

Unaffected he pushed me toward the house. “You’ll have…Well, you’ll have an interesting day at least. And you should listen to my mother. She has an excellent eye for color.”

Sarrah eyed my short locks as we walked to town. “First stop, the hairdresser. Those dark roots look awful.”

I sucked in a breath and held it for a moment. It was going to be a very long afternoon. When we arrived in the town of Cumulus, I followed Kade’s instruction and listened to Sarrah, letting the hairdresser return my hair to its natural color. I tried to ask Sarrah questions about her life in an effort to get to know her better, but she either ignored me or gave me a vague answer that implied that I really didn’t want to know so why should she bother.

The dress shop was busy. Sales staff hustled, and the seam-stress fretted over her customers with a measuring ribbon. I didn’t have time for a custom-made gown, so we searched through the racks of finished pieces.

When I moved to the back row, Sarrah stopped me. “Kade can’t afford those. They’re silk. If we can’t find something here, we can ask if they have any other cheap or rejected gowns.”

I blinked at her a moment. Did she just say Kade? Did she actually think I would let Kade pay for my gown? Or I needed him to pay for it? Her opinion of me was worse than I imagined. I endured her abuse for two reasons—guilt over Devlen and keeping the peace for Kade. No longer.

“Outside,” I said. “Now.”

She fussed about wasting time as she followed me. Surrounded by indigo fields, Cumulus’s entire downtown area fit within a two-block radius. I stopped at the edge of town and turned to her.

“I get it. You don’t like me. That’s fine. But you’re making the wrong assumptions about me and that isn’t fine. Kade and I are together. We’re not going to change because you don’t like it. And I’m no longer ignoring all your snide comments. If you don’t have anything constructive to say, then keep your mouth shut.”

“Or what?” She crossed her arms, daring me.

“Or I’ll leave and I’ll take Kade with me. He wants us to spend more time together, but if you’re going to continue to be nasty, then it won’t be here with you.”

“Finally!”

Not the reaction I expected. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t like you, Opal. But weak people who don’t defend themselves I like even less. Come on.” She hurried down the street.

I rushed to catch up. We passed the dress shop. She cut down an alley and knocked on the back entrance of a residence. When the door opened, a young lady peeked out. Laughter, shrieks and wails of children sounded behind her. A mane of blond hair framed her round face and she wore old clothes. A row of straight pins had been stuck in her shirt.

She smiled and greeted Sarrah as if they were old friends, then invited us in. The comfortable living area had been invaded by romping children. We bypassed the troops and she led us to a quieter sewing room.

Sarrah introduced us. “Tori, this is Opal, Kade’s…friend. She needs a gown right away. Do you still have the one you made for Anya?”

Tori frowned. “Yes. After all that work, she changed her mind and wouldn’t pay for it! And you had mixed me such a gorgeous color.”

“I think Opal is her size.”

She scanned me and squealed, dashing for a closet. After sorting through it, Tori pulled out a gorgeous emerald-green gown. Simple and elegant, the sleeveless V-neck bodice was lined with lace and crystals. From the waist down, layers of silk overlapped with crystals sewn along the ends of each layer.

Tori handed me the gown. “Try it on in there.” She pointed to a curtain.

Behind the material, I found a small changing room with a bench and mirror. Careful not to rip the fabric, I squirmed into it. The cool caress of silk touched my skin. I loved it.

When I came out, Tori squealed again.

Sarrah said, “It’s a little big.”

“Minor adjustments,” Tori said as she tugged and pulled. “I’ll take it in around the waist and shorten the straps. A few hours at most.” She used the straight pins in her shirt to mark the changes. “Oh my.”

The rows of scars on my arms had caught her attention. Sarrah also noticed. Great.

Tori patted my shoulder. “No problem. I have a pair of long white gloves and some extra dye. Plus I can dye a pair of shoes to match. Can you wait until tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

She quoted a price and I paid her without looking at Kade’s mother. It was the most expensive garment I ever bought, but it was worth every extra silver.

Mission accomplished, we walked back to Sarrah’s house. We didn’t talk, but it was a comfortable silence. When we arrived at the kitchen door, I thanked her for taking me to Tori’s.

She nodded. “It’s the perfect color for you.” Then she went inside.

Her comment reminded me of a similar one from Valek three seasons ago. He was going to be smug and all I-told-you-so when he saw me in emerald green. I still hated him and thought he was evil, but the man did have an eye for color.

Early the next morning Heli visited. At seventeen, she was the youngest Stormdancer, and her enthusiasm for life was contagious. Bounding into the kitchen with a wide smile, her energy spread to all of us in the room, including Sarrah. I marveled at the first sign of happiness from Kade’s mother.

“Opal,” Heli cried, spotting me sitting at the table. “Good to see you! Are you why Kade sent me a message?”

I glanced at Kade.

He flipped sweet cakes. “One of the reasons,” he said.

Sarrah set another place at the table. “Stay for breakfast.” She tsked at Heli. “So thin! You need to eat more.”

Heli plopped into the chair next to mine and rolled her eyes. “You sound just like my mother.”

“At least no one nags you on the coast,” I said.

“I wish.” Heli sighed dramatically. “If Kade isn’t fussing at me about something, Raiden thinks he’s my surrogate father. It’s why I spend so much time on the beach.”

“So you don’t really like hunting for treasures from the sea?” I asked.

She slapped the table. “That reminds me! Remember that sea glass I found?”

Hard to forget the glass that had caused everyone to fight over it. A magical compulsion had been attached to it by an uncontrolled young magician named Quinn. I wondered if he could purposely attach magic to glass now that he should have control over his power. Then I recalled the cold glass Mister Paul had in Hubal. The two bits of information linked and I felt as if I’d been smacked. If Quinn made the cold glass, he might be able to do more.

“Opal? It wasn’t that hard a question,” Heli said.

I pulled my thoughts back.

Heli waited for my answer.

“Sorry. What was the question?” I asked.

“Sea glass?”

“Of course. What about it?”

“I’m this close to deciphering the message scratched on the pieces.” Heli held up her finger and thumb with a half-inch gap between them.

“But the markings were just a way for Quinn to keep track of his collection.”

“Did he tell you that?” she asked.

“I don’t remember.”

“From your description of the Bloodrose family, I think the glass was a call for help.”

I shook my head. “Heli, the family was… All right, they were creepy, but I didn’t see anything illegal going on. They’re just oyster farmers who don’t want to be bothered by outsiders.”

Kade served the sweet cakes. “That sea glass already caused enough trouble, Heli. Just leave it alone.”

She snapped her mouth shut, but the gleam in her eyes gave away her intentions to continue despite Kade’s order. Ah. Youth.

After breakfast, Sarrah and Ink went to the shed, and I cleaned up while Kade and Heli discussed the upcoming storm season.

When she shrieked with delight, I looked over. Kade wore his sternest frown, but Heli practically bounced in her seat.

“It’s a huge responsibility,” Kade said. “Their safety is in your hands. If anything should happen—”

“Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to happen. I’ve got it covered. Thanks, Kade. Have a great trip!” She hugged him around the neck, waved goodbye to me and dashed off.

“That may have been a mistake,” Kade said.

“What?”

“I’ve put her in charge of the Stormdancers until I arrive on the coast.”

The other three dancers were older and more experienced. “Why?”

“She’s the strongest of the four, and when it comes to unpredictable storms, brute strength can be more valuable than experience.”

“At least it’s the heating season.” The storms were milder in comparison to the cooling season. “She’ll be fine.” Then I grinned.

“Should I even ask?”

“You may have an…interesting reception when you return. I’m sure Prin and Raiden will not be happy about the new boss.”

He laughed. “She’ll drive them crazy. Good. Maybe they’ll appreciate me more.”

Kade and I left the next morning for Booruby. Fitting a silk gown into my packs wouldn’t work, so I had to tie the box to Quartz’s saddle. There were twelve days until Mara’s wedding and it would take us seven to reach my house, leaving five days for me to help my mother. I was in big trouble.

I set a quick pace. When we arrived at my family’s home, I paused before pushing through the gate. The house seemed quiet. White smoke billowed from the glass factory’s chimneys. No one was in sight. Our courtyard had been transformed for the wedding ceremony and reception. Large arches decorated the space, tables and chairs had been set up and a fabric ceiling hung above the yard to protect everything from the rain.

Leading Quartz and Moonlight to the shed/stable, I realized Kade had never been here before. I pointed out the various buildings. We removed the horses’ saddles and rubbed them down. As soon as we finished, they trotted into the Avibian Plains. The grasses in the plains had returned to green and their long stalks rippled in the breeze.

When I could delay no longer, I headed toward the house. It was time to face my mother’s wrath.

“Perhaps I should wait outside,” Kade said.

“Oh no.” I grabbed his hand. “She can’t kill me if there is a witness.”

“I think you’re exaggerating. It won’t be that bad.”

I steeled myself and stepped into the kitchen—also known as wedding central. My mother bustled about the hearth, stirring pots and baking pies. I called a hello.

She turned and gave me a cold stare. “Can I help you, miss?”

“Mom—”

“Excuse me? You must be mistaken. I’m not your mother. No. Because my daughter wouldn’t be so inconsiderate as to arrive so late for her own sister’s wedding. Especially when she knows how much work is involved. No. I’m afraid my daughter is lying dead in a ditch somewhere.”