“Until now?” I needed clarification before my dreamer’s heart read meaning into them that Acantha had not meant.
“Until you.” Acantha’s words offered clarity but no peace.
If anything, they made me more uneasy. If this was so different for him, then how must he be feeling now? How must he have felt that morning when I did not show up to his stall because I needed to help Mother? I fumbled around the counter until I found the pen meant to write purchases down in the logbook. I pulled out the note and scribbled seven words at the bottom:I will meet you tonight after closing.
I passed the note to Acantha and made them give me a solemn oath that they would deliver it to Castien as soon as possible. I did not want him thinking for one moment longer that I had abandoned him. I could not stomach the idea.
Mother would be able to make her way back to camp without me, or I would walk her back and then race to Castien.
Acantha was right. Mother was right. Raylen was right.
I needed to tell Castien how I felt.
Chapter Ten
Castien
Oleander was late to meet me. The stall was busy, packed with patrons, and I was able to partially distract myself from his absence. But my eyes wandered to every new face that entered the stall, searching for him. Every time I saw that it was not him entering, my shoulders slumped, and I refocused my attentions on the patron in front of me.
Acantha milled about the stall with me, assisting customers and making sure the shelves were stocked.
Customers came and went, passing beyond the curtain and returning with pleasure devices or choosing timepieces from the shelves.
It wasn’t until the early morning crowd thinned that I accepted Oleander was not coming.
After the night we’d shared, I hadn’t doubted him when he said he’d see me here. When he did not show up at the usual time, I thought he was simply cleaning up before he saw me. I’d seen his face at the idea of wearing the same garments he’d had on the day before. I’d offered him a solution in the shirt I’d purchased for him, but that only addressed half the issue. I knew that Oleander was a proud man, particularly when it came to his appearance.
After all, had he not told me it was part of the reason he’d chosen his name? He’d declared it wishful thinking, because the oleander plant was both beautiful and dangerous, and as a child, he’d dreamed of being dangerous in any way.
With how I felt now, waiting for someone who did not show, I was certain he’d gotten his wish. Feeling as I did for him was dangerous. My chest ached with loneliness.
“You’re quiet,” Acantha commented as I pocketed the coin from our last patron.
“Oleander did not come,” I explained with a sigh. “I had thought—” My words trailed off. What had I thought? That our attraction to one another and his sudden change in plans had meant he’d formed feelings for me? That he’d be willing to sacrifice his dreams of marriage for someone who lived across the realm from him? That he would be content with the dust and smoke of Gearwick after spending his life among the forests of Emberleigh?
Had I really believed that the things he told me he was seeking in a marriage would have suddenly changed since he’d gotten to know me?
“Thought what?” Acantha questioned. They leaned across the counter, resting their elbows on the wooden surface, and staringme down the way they had when we were children and I was holding secrets close to my chest.
This time, I would not allow them to pry my feelings from me. “It’s nothing.” They continued to stare at me, and I felt my will beginning to bend to their whim. “Take the day off.”
Acantha shot up. “The entire day?” They looked around the shop and down to the open logbook. There were more entries for today already than there’d been in any of the past few. What they saw as a potential challenge, I saw as a welcome distraction.
I pulled coin from the pouch and passed it to my sibling. “The entire day,” I repeated. “I only ask that you bring me something from the food stalls for a midday meal.”
Acantha pocketed the coin and sloped off, but not before offering me one last curious look.
Another hour passed.
Customers came and went, and with them, whispers and rumors. It started with one. An engagement had shaken the market to its core. There was a common elf who had somehow managed to ensnare the attentions of some renowned elf. The story stayed the same each time I heard it, though details changed.
Sometimes, the common elf in question was from Dun Steorra and sometimes from Emberleigh. Someone swore the elf’s name began with an O… or perhaps a P? Another pair of customers gossiped that the elf was one of the most beautiful men they’d ever seen with striking eyes they would never forget.
I did not make a habit of listening to gossip, but something stuck under my skin with each whisper.
It wasn’t until someone said the name Raylen that concern took hold.
Raylen was the name of the elf from the Pavilion the day before. I’d seen the way Oleander had lit up upon seeing him. I’d sent Oleander to converse with him. I’d watched their body language. Oleander had hung off his every word, and he’d looked so dazed upon his return. Had Raylen intercepted him on his way back from my cabin and proposed?
