“It’s not your fault,” she sniffled, smiling behind her tears. “You can stop patting me now, Temir.”
I dropped my hands to my side. “Oh, right.” I poured her a glass of her favorite honeysuckle wine and guided her to the couch, where I moved a few notebooks I had been working on.
“Honestly, Temir. I’m coming to clean this room whether you like it or not. It’s a disaster. How do you even find anything?” She swiped her hands over her cheeks and forced her sadness away, as if happiness was a mask she was used to wearing.
“It’s only a disaster if you don’t understand my perfect organizational process. Everything is exactly where I need it to be.”
She shook her head. “I’ll put everything in a nice, organized pile. Your dust has dust, Tem.” She smiled at me, and her cheeks flushed.
I nearly forgot she had a small crush on me. Here we were, alone in my rooms, as I gave her wine and tried to console her. I jumped from the couch and scratched the back of my head while stepping away. “Uh. Yeah, okay then. As long as you don’t feel like you have to.” I couldn’t make eye contact with her. “I’ve got to find Oravan to deliver a message. Take as long as you need.”
I grabbed a full flask and headed for the door.
“He’ll be in the forge,” she called after me.
Obviously. Where else would the blacksmith spend his time?
Oravan had a small forge in the bailey near the lists. Most of his work was done with magic, so he didn’t need much space to work. I had only been there a couple of times, but as I opened the door and the heat of the small building struck me, my eyes watered, and I had to take a moment to see past the large fire in the middle of the room.
“What is it?” I heard him call from the other side.
“Got a minute to talk?” I hollered over the clanking of his hammer.
“Not taking orders right now,” he yelled back.
“No. No, I’m not putting in an order.” I took a step onto the soot-covered floor and moved to the side so I could see him beyond the flames. “I just wanted to talk to you.”
“No one ever wants to just talk to the blacksmith.” He continued to beat on his project, though his magic swirled, heating the tip of the weapon.
“Alright. I just wanted to say thanks for the ring. It works great, but I’m sure you knew that already.”
The hammer stopped as I walked back to the door.
“Wait.” He set the hammer down and ambled over to me. His long white hair was tied back in leathers—as it usually was—his hands permanently stained black from his work. “Don’t think I haven’t seen you with that ring on since I made it. You’ve had it for a while. Why come thank me now?”
I thought back to the king’s order. He enchanted everyone in the council meeting to make them hunt for suspects in Thane’s murder. I hoped Oravan wore his own shield against enchanting, but I couldn’t risk it.
“Care for a drink?” I asked.
He tilted his head, pressing his lips into a fine line. “S’pose I could spare a minute or two.”
I pulled the flask from my pocket as he pointed at two folded chairs in the corner. We took our seats, and I held the flask out to him first.
“Woah. Rough day?” he asked, indicating my split knuckles.
“Just a little training. Can’t be too careful these days.”
“Too true.” He lifted the flask to his mouth and swallowed nearly half the liquid. He handed it back to me and wiped his dripping chin with the back of his dirty arm. “Your wine tastes awful, Temir.”
“Yeah. I’m working on it.”
He looked at me curiously but didn’t say anything.
I held the flask to my lips and faked a swallow. “Are you protected from the king’s enchantment?” I asked as casually as I could.
“Of course.”
“Why didn’t you join the Marsh Court when they tried to recruit you?”
