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“We could head into town and find somewhere to eat? We aren’t far.”
“Food?” Margo sat up so quickly, Ace jolted against the tree trunk with a laugh.
“By the gods,” Shelby hissed with similar shock.
Plucking a browning leaf from her hair, Margo squinted into the daylight. The way her lips turned down was an odd look on her normally cheerful face, but it did give her some resemblance to her brother.
“I was kind of hoping it was all a dream,” she murmured to herself before rubbing her stomach as it too growled.
“Alright, let’s go to town.” Shelby pushed off of the tree, rising and offering Ace his hand.
She accepted but waved at their attire. “Not looking like this, we aren’t. We stick out like three terribly sore thumbs.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for Rehan?” Margo reminded them.
She was right of course. What would he think if he returned to their little hiding spot only to find them gone? She couldn’t do that to him. Not after all the kindness he had offered.
“He is a big boy, he’ll be fine—” Shelby tried to say, only to be cut off by Ace.
“We will survive until Rehan gets back.”
With whatever news he might be bringing. Ace truly could not fathom what Idalia was thinking. She hadn’t seen Ambrose, but she was certain she had fled Marlux. Unless of course, something had happened that Ace didn’t know about.
Ambrose had always been a relatively kind soul. She’d mothered Farah and only showed her capacity for cruelty when it came to Idalia. Though most sisters could harbor some sort of menace toward each other so that should not have been surprising in the least.
Idalia on the other hand was everything an older sister could be. Bossy, selfish, and always plotting up some way to get them into trouble while she remained with her innocent image. Idalia looked pretty well the same. Though wealth had certainly helped her quite a bit.
It didn’t take long before Margo was up and chatting. Though there was still a tinge of sadness behind her gaze, she did her best to hide it. She took to quizzing Shelby, finding him suddenly the most interesting person in the world. Though when he asked her why she wanted to know so much she’d only said, “I want to get to know my brother.” Then he returned to giving her mostly one worded answers to her never ending inquiries.
Listening to them bicker helped distract Ace from her hunger. Not only that but time moved much faster when she wasn’t sitting in silence playing with a stick. After a while, Rehan emerged, his presence announced by the crunching of leaves under foot.
Ace practically started drooling when he walked into their circle of trees holding a white box stuffed to the top with donuts, pastries, and even bread and honey. Wrapped around one of his wrists was a bag stuffed with shiny red apples and an excessively large canteen.
“I’ve come bearing gifts!” He held the food up as if they might not have seen it before.
“Finally!” Margo shouted, shrinking back when the noise sent a few birds scattering to the skies.
Shelby sent her a dark glare.
“We were just talking about leaving to head into town for some food,” Shelby looked over the box. He looked unimpressed as he took a chocolate iced donut and the canteen.
“Good think I beat you to it,” Rehan said. “I figured Ace might be missing some delicacies from Maipeg and it might be easier to deliver the news if she had a full stomach.”
“Don’t tell me till I’ve eaten then.” She tried to give him a convincing smile in return but the way he studied her face suggested he didn’t believe it. “Or tell me now.” Breathing in the delicate sweet scents she was so familiar with—Rehan was right, the smell alone brought her right back to the City of Sugar—she picked up the bread, honey, and a vanilla iced donut. Then for good measure, she grabbed an apple too. Maybe she’d come back for what looked like a turnover too. Couldn’t be too sure when it came to her empty stomach.
“Do you want to know now?” Rehan raised a brow.
“Yes. No.” She shoved the end of her donut into her mouth. Then said again, through the food in her mouth. “Tell me. Ah, tell me after I eat.”
“I’m sorry. Are you saying you do want to know or you don’t?” Rehan lowered to the ground. He set the box and bag in front of them, but far enough away it didn’t look like he was trying to keep it all to himself. There was plenty for seconds after all.
“Both.”
“Just say it,” Shelby cut in.
Rehan slid his gaze to the warlock before looking back to Ace, the question still hovering between them.
“Just tell me.” She had to resist the urge to cover her face. Focusing on the delicious flavor of her donut and the ground at her feet, she waited.
