Anelize closed her eyes, running her fingers through the soft tresses of her hair.
“So do I.”
The sound of something clattering from the back room made them break apart. They exchanged a glance before Anelize strode for the door and paused in the threshold.
“What is it?” Enid asked as she peered around her shoulder.
Anelize walked toward the opened window that overlooked the frozen garden behind the shop. The cold breeze ruffled her hair as she reached up and pulled it shut, switching the latch to lock. Anelize looked at the table. To the two silverruenslaying atop the bloodied mess the Vedran had left behind. His parting gift.
6
The next morning, life returned to normal. As if the night before had never happened. Neither Enid nor Anelize had discussed all that they’d seen, nor of the Vedran they’d saved. All seamlessly returning back to normal to their mundane, bleak life in the port district. As it had always been.
Their aunt hadn’t said much when she’d ambled down the stairs the next morning and noticed both Yarrow sisters were gathered at the table in the kitchen, drinking tea over slices of hard bread they’d saved from last market day. Save for the scolding looks Magda cast their way before striding past the kitchen, she hadn’t uttered a word.
Enid murmured that the saintshad blessed them with the silence for once. Anelize couldn’t help but agree as she sipped her tea.
Patrons had filtered in and out of the shop throughout the day, each coming to her with requests for salves and tonics to aid with common colds while Enid watched the front of the shop, providing patrons with herbal remedies. Magda had gone out to market—to neither of their surprise. Normally, she forced one of them to accompany her but after the conversation Anelize had with her last night, it was no wonder the last thing she wanted was to be alone with either of them.
“Be sure to boil the decoction before drinking it tonight. It will have a bitter taste that will weigh heavily on your stomachso drink it after dinner,” Anelize advised as she walked the elderly woman toward the door.
“Bless you, my girl. I cannot properly express to you how fortunate we all are that you have taken to look after your father’s shop after his passing. My husband and I will always be grateful for your care,” the elderly woman said, patting Anelize’s hand as she stepped onto the landing. “And thank you for allowing us to receive it without paying such a high amount?—”
“No thanks are necessary,” Anelize insisted, as she so often did whenever her father’s oldest patrons came into the shop. “I’m merely doing what my own father would have. He was quite fond of you and Avos.”
The woman smiled up at her, her hand gripping the top of her cane.
“My husband would have come with me today. He so loves to see you and Enid working the shop so diligently. But his joints haven’t been the best lately. He can barely walk during this cold season.”
Anelize frowned. “I can pay him a visit again later today if you wish. Perhaps a moxibustion will do him some good.”
She’d learned the technique for soothing aches and pains from old medical journals her father had obtained from a merchant who had hailed from the southern isles of Iashen. She’d always wondered what lands were beyond the sea and what other remedies and treatments there were that none of the Madacian physicians knew of. She supposed if she allowed herself to dream as Enid did, she’d let herself imagine the possibility of one day venturing off in search of more knowledge, more perspective.
“If that isn’t of an inconvenience to you, then we would bein your debt. We shall eagerly await your arrival, then. I’ll put out some tea for us,” the woman said before slowly making her way down the steps, mindful of the patches of snow that had melted only to ice over once more. A ceaseless pest that it was, this winter that never wavered.
Footsteps hurried down the street, catching her attention before she could turn back into the shop. Unruly red hair stood brightly against the dreary sights of the city as Wellyn made his way past the crowds heading to market, his cheeks red from the cold air and a smile on his lips. A small bundle of snowdrops held in one of his hands. They were the only flowers in Elvir that could be found in the winter. They also bloomed as quickly as they withered, their lives fleeting. They were also Enid’s favorite.
His bright mood only sobered when he noticed the apothecary surveying him from the stoop as though he was a curiosity, her amusement no doubt evident as she grinned.
“Wellyn.”
The Dobrin boy straightened as he reached the steps, looking up at Anelize as if she were barring his path by her presence alone. She never quite understood why she had such an effect on the boy her sister fancied. It wasn’t as though she were cold or rude toward him, at least not more than she was to anyone else.
Wellyn fidgeted with the bundle of flowers. “Good morning, Anya. You’re looking…well. Busy this morning?”
“Very,” she hummed. “I doubt you’re here to make talk with the likes of me, though.” Anelize eyed the young man with an arched brow until he finally looked away, clearing his throat with asmile.
“Is Enid here?”
She motioned toward the opened doorway. “Eagerly awaiting your arrival, I’m sure.”
Wellyn took the steps two at a time until he reached the landing. He strode into the shop after giving Anelize a timid nod, calling out to her sister as if they hadn’t seen each other in weeks.
Anelize rolled her eyes, secretly smiling as she spun on her heel and closed the door behind her.
“Enid,” she called as she spotted the two already embracing behind the counter, the bouquet of snowdrops now held in Enid’s hand that rested over his shoulder. The love between them palpable. So sweet it made her teeth hurt. “I’m off to pay old man Avos a home visit. I’ll be back in a few hours. Can you watch the shop while I’m gone?”
Enid and Wellyn broke apart, though their hands never strayed from each other. As if a single inch would be unfathomable. She smiled, the rosy blush on her cheeks brightening her face as she turned to face Anelize. “Yes, you can count on me.”
