Page 12 of Shardless
“Or perhaps” —the edges of Sarina’s mouth lifted— “you’ve just been hiding in the back of Synna’s cart this past month. Skye says he scented you out on the road today.”
Taly blushed but kept her mouth shut. Sarinahad no proof other than Skye’s stupid shadow senses.
The fey noblewoman shook her head disapprovingly, her copper curls bouncing around her. Then with a weary sigh, she gestured for them to continue down the street. “You are going to age me before my time, Miss Caro.”
“Just doing my job,” Taly said with a smile. “Besides, you’re fey. I’ll be old and gray long before you get your first wrinkle.Ifyou get your first wrinkle. I have to level the playing field somehow.”
“Fair enough, I suppose,” Sarina replied, chuckling and throwing a familiar arm around Taly’s shoulders as they walked side-by-side. “How is Jay treating you? Any better?”
Taly couldn’t stop the groan that escaped her lips. “He needs to reconsider his definition of the words‘leftovers’and‘meals included with rent.’”
She felt Sarina tense beside her as the woman gave her shoulder a curious squeeze, feeling for her slight frame beneath the oversized coat. In a disapproving tone, she said, “I thought you looked thinner. I’ll have to have a word with him.”
“Please don’t,” Taly said, pushing back her hood. She felt safe enough now that Sarina was here. “I’ve already told you—this is my problem. I’ll handle it on my own.”
Sarina eyed her skeptically. “How many meals has that man given you in the past week? Including the rotten ones?”
Taly looked away, fidgeting with a lock of hair that had fallen across her eyes. “Laurel’s been sick,” she hedged, wincing when her stomach decided to protest, quite loudly, at that very moment. “Once she’s back on her feet, Jay will go back behind the bar where he belongs, and theissue should resolve itself.”
Sarina sighed, and the hand at Taly’s shoulder gave another squeeze. “While I understand your need for independence, little one, this is a matter of public health. I’ve told Jay before, saving coin here and there is all well and good, but he’s going to make someone sick with his‘leftovers.’If not you, then somebody else, and that simply won’t do. So, until I can have another chat with him, why don’t we try to get some meat back on those bones?”
Taly suddenly found herself steered off the dirt path towards a tiny food stand. This place was familiar. She’d visited it countless times as a child, and the owner, a kindly lowborn, always used to give her an extra dollop of frosting on her sweet rolls. Now, however, she avoided coming anywhere near the booth. The owner’s son had taken over two months ago, and the young man ran a disdainful eye over Taly as Sarina pulled her over. The baker glanced pointedly at a sign hanging off to the side—bright, red letters sloppily spelled out “NO SHARDLESS.”
“No, I couldn’t.” Taly raised her hands to protest as she pulled against Sarina’s firm grip.
But Sarina shooed away her complaint.
“Sarina,” Taly mumbled through gritted teeth, trying to back away. “I can’t be here.”
Sarina stopped, her brow crinkling in confusion before her eyes alighted upon the sign.
One heartbeat, and Sarina had ripped the sign off its tack. The next, she was tearing it in two. A look of stark disapproval colored her delicate fey features as she stepped over to thecounter and tossed the remains at the shopkeeper.
“I’ll be speaking to your father about this,” Sarina said, honeyed venom lacing her words.
The shopkeeper, who couldn’t have been much older than Taly, had the good sense to hang his head. There wasn’t a person on the island that didn’t know and respect Sarina. Or fear her fiery temper.
Taly felt a tightness in her chest release and give way as Sarina pulled her over to stand in front of the counter. Some of the loneliness that had settled deep inside her started to ease. Even though the way Taly had left the manor had been unintentionally abrupt, Sarina had never stopped fighting for her.
Sarina made a show of dusting off her hands before handing the flustered man two gold coins. He fumbled, dropping the coins and dipping behind the counter to pick them up as Sarina began stuffing several pieces of the most decadent, ripe fruit Taly had ever seen into a small burlap bag.
Handing Taly the sack, Sarina raised a perfectly manicured brow. “And did you really think I’d forgotten it was your birthday today?” A glazed sweet roll suddenly appeared in Taly’s open palm.
Taly couldn’t help but smile as she stared at the steaming pastry. She had expected her birthday to go by completely forgotten. As she accepted the bag, she did her best to school her expression into something that said,You don’t have to do this but thank you anyway, and I’m doing just fine.Failing miserably, she settled for trying not to look too hungry as she took a bite of the roll. The delicious combination of butter and sugar burst onto her tongue, and she had to suppress a moan of pleasure. She’d always had asweet tooth, especially when it came to pastries. “Thank you,” she mumbled through a mouthful of bread.
Sarina laughed and gestured for them to continue. Taly chewed thoughtfully, savoring each bite of the sweet treat, as she allowed herself to be led down the street.
“You know,” Sarina said quietly, interrupting her thoughts, “everyone misses you back at the manor. You could always come back—even just to visit.”
Taly winced, the lie she’d repeatedly told herself and others slipping past her lips mechanically: “You and Ivain were far kinder to me than you needed to be—I acknowledge that, and I’m grateful. But I’m still mortal, Sarina. I’ll start aging faster than you all very soon, within a few years, and… I don’t want you to watch that. I don’t want you to watch me grow old and feeble, watch me die.”
Sarina huffed. “You act like you’re already going gray.”
“Sarina, please,” Taly sighed. They’d been over this before. “I need my own life. One separate from the Marquess and the manor. This past year has been hard.Reallyhard. But I still think cutting ties was the right decision. I need to look forward, not back.”
“I know, I know,” Sarina said with a wave of her hand. “You’ve told me all this already. And while I still don’t agree with your reasoning, you’re well past the age of me being able to tell you what to do. All I will say is what I’ve always said. My brother and I—we knew the dangers of entangling our lives with mortals when we took you in. We knew, and we did it anyway because the joy of a life lived together exceeds the pain of parting.”
Taly swallowed her last bite of bread, the taste to turning to ash.
