She laughs. “And you’re locked up in Sitri’s chambers all the time.”
I nod.
“And, Sitri?”
“We didn’t get along at first,” I admit. “But now he doesn’t…he doesn’t seem so bad,” I say weakly.
She regards me with interest and then inquires as to how exactly he’d healed me again. She’s no less puzzled when I tell her about waking up in the Ettin Woods. “He exhausted his magic?” Her brows shoot up her face. “Wow,” she mouths.
“Is that unusual?”
“Sitri is really powerful so yes, it must’ve taken a lot of magic if it exhausted him. Did you want something to drink?”
My arm twitches as the daemon pulses through me. “Do you have any…wine?”
Her grin turns mischievous. She beckons me, and I follow her back into a store room filled with bottles of wines and a variety of liquors. A bottle and two glasses whiz down into her hands. After spending so much time with Sitri, the casual displays of magic hardly even phase me anymore. She pours us both a glass, and I smack my lips as the tart liquid hits my tongue.
“So…you and Sitri have known each other a long time?”
“Mhm,” she nods. “We go way back.”
“Did you meet here in this kitchen?”
She raises her brows. “He hasn’t told you?”
I grimace. “He doesn’t tell me very much.”
“My parents were friends with Sitri’s mother, Rhiannon. When my parents died, Rhiannon took me in. Let me come live here in the castle and gave me this job managing Kobold and the kitchens. I’m really lucky she did.”
“What happened to your parents?”
“Casualties of the war,” she says somberly.
“The war? Who were Magi at war with?”
“With each other. Went on for a century. It was only Samore’s alliance with the Gorgons that finally stopped it.”
“I’m so sorry,” I say.
She gives me a sorrowful smile. “I’ve been here ever since. Rhiannon was like a second mother to me. Let me spend holidays with them and everything.”
“And, you like working here?”
She nods. “It’s a lot better than anything else I could ask for. But it does get lonely sometimes down here in the kitchens with only Kobold for company. Kobold does most of the work, of course, but he has to have someone managing him, or he’d get way out of hand. Which reminds me, I better check on the line--I’ll be right back.” She darts behind the swinging door, and I pour myself another glass and swig it down and another before she makes it back in.
“Kobold, we’ll need more bread rolls, and the levin is starting to get low.” At her instruction, several cabinet doors open, and potatoes peel themselves on the counter as a pot of water assembles on the stove. “But yeah, it’s been especially lonely since Imen disappeared.”
“Who?”
“Sitri’s sister. He didn’t tell you about that either?” I shake my head. “She disappeared not too long after...well, after what happened with his parents,” she says with a grimace. “He did tell you that, at least, didn’t he?”
I give her a blank look, and she gapes at me. “He really hasn’t told you anything?”
“I mean…I know they passed away, but that’s all.” Her eyes widen. “And, he did mention a sister once, but honestly, I completely forgot about her. What happened to them?”
She backs up and clasps a hand over her mouth. “I should shut up. I should let him tell you about it when he’s ready.”
“No, Vera, come on, he’ll never tell me anything. He won’t even tell me where he goes all day.” Her eyes widen a fraction. I throw my hands up. “And it’s not like I have anyone else to tell me.” I can see her considering it. “Please?”
