Hector heroic? He would probably laugh at the sentiment.
Everly lifts the pouch of coins and shakes it, pulling my focus back to her. “We’re going to buy you so many things. First, some more ribbons.”
“I cannot believe Hector gave you so much coin.”
Everly grins, her eyes twinkling, as if she is in on some kind of jest I don’t understand. “That man is obsessed with you.”
I move around a man pushing a wooden handcart. He nods as we pass.
“How is Cenric?” I ask when I’m walking next to Everly again.
Despite my feelings about him, I want Every to be happy, and she did choose him. So, obviously, she cares for him.
She shrugs.
“Everly.”
She sighs and drops the pouch Hector handed her into the bag tied at her waist. “Cenric isn’t speaking to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I will not move into a cottage with him.”
“Oh, Everly. Why not? The people here are different from the ones in Astarobane.”
Everly bites her lower lip and stares down at her feet as we approach the market.
I stop her with a hand against her arm. “You can confide in me.”
Sadness brims her features, thinning her lips, and tightening the lines near her eyes. “How can I live as husband and wife with him, knowing Kassandra didn’t get to be happy with Luc?” Tears glisten in Everly’s eyes before she swipes them away. “I will never be happy, knowing she’s nothing more than ash scattered to the wind.”
“She’s not.” I adopt a gentle tone, a caring tone, the kind of tone that thinks of the mother I lost when I was just a child. “Kassandra is in the afterlife, and she would want you to be happy with Cenric.”
“Maybe.” Everly shoves a hand against her surcoat and sighs. “Or she would be furious with me for keeping such a large secret from her.”
“Maybe at first,” I say in that same gentle way. “But I saw how much she cared for you and loved you. She would forgive you.”
Everly sniffs and nods, as if accepting my words.
Hopefully things will change between her and Cenric now. He would probably be grateful for the change.
Everly leads me down the street until we reach a large market square. Crowds of people mill around the tables draped with delectable fruits and vegetables, dried meats and cheeses, as well as bolts of linen and silk.
We enter one store after another, where Everly picks out new dresses and undergarments made of gorgeous blue silk. Sunlight shimmers through the window and reflects off the fabric’s shimmering surface. I caress it, amazed that I’ll have such beautiful things.
As we step back into the street, two small girls run by us, chasing the same floppy-eared dog as earlier. They wear wool shawls over their dresses and their hair in long braids. Their laughter carries to us, ringing high and clear.
Everly stares after them and sighs.
“Is something wrong?”
“I hadtwosisters once,” she says, her voice thickened with sadness. “Now, I have none.”
“I had a sister too.” Pain swells in my chest as I speak the words. “Her name was Aniah.”
Surprise sparks in Everly’s eyes. “You had a sister?”
“Yes.” I link my fingers together and walk around a man laboring to get his donkey to move from its stubborn stance in the middle of the street. “She died when she was very young.”
