I knew it was the spell and out of my control, but I turned my irritation inward. Why wasn’t I strong enough to resist? Why couldn’t I shake him off and get back to my life, rather than waiting on him hand and foot and dreaming about his pretty eyes?
Those same pretty eyes were half hidden behind a swathe of black hair. As I entered, he puffed out a breath to blow it away and managed to make even that look elegant. He was sprawled across his chair as usual, one hand pillowing his head, while the other bounced something that looked like a yo-yo up and down—although there was no string, and the ball that slid up and down from his finger to the floor looked as though it was made of fire.
Such pretty toys he made, and he seemed to sit there all day playing with them. How many hearts did it take to make them, I wondered? Was mine already all burned up in the makings of some pointless plaything?
He watched me as I set his dinner down on a black table that had politely presented itself to one side, as it always did. He rarely commented favorably on anything I made, and so I was surprised when he tried a forkful and said, “This is good.”
I refrained from saying thanks, because I wasn’t about to thank him for getting me away from Da in the first place. I had been in tears for most of the time I was cooking it, if I was honest.
“It tastes ...” He paused, pressing his lips together, as if to squeeze the flavor from them. “I can taste the heart in it.”
Well. From anyone else that might have been a nice, if rather maudlin, compliment. From him ... I felt the urge to clutch at my chest. What else had I inadvertently given him, feeding him my Da’s recipe?
“You are a good cook,” he said now.
“It’s not hard to be a good cook with a magic kitchen,” I replied. “Anything I ask for is right here, at my hand.”
“But this is no illusion,” he said. “Whether the ingredients are or not.”
I still hadn’t learned to look the sorcerer in the eye without flinching—it was too overwhelming, and I was too ashamed of the upsurge of love, and how ridiculous that love must seem to him—but I lifted my gaze now and stared at him. We looked at each other, and I could not read his expression.
“What do you use the hearts for?” I asked suddenly, surprising myself.
He coughed, as if a piece of meatloaf had gone down the wrong way.Good, I thought maliciously. “What?” he sputtered.
“The hearts. We all know you take them. What are they for?” I teetered on the brink of telling him about my own heart but couldn’t quite bring myself to do it.
“We ...” he stopped. Was he really lookinguncomfortable?He twiddled his fork between his fingers. It seemed to change shape as he did so, becoming a little silver snake with four darting tongues. Another trick. “We protect the kingdom,” he said at last.
“So I’ve heard. But how?”
“Heart magic is the most powerful magic there is,” he said. “We take only enough from our people to ensure the safety of all.”
It had a rehearsed sound, as if it was something he had been taught by rote.
“The safety of all. Right. Except the people who lose their hearts.”
“Rarely a whole one. They barely notice.”
I managed to stop myself from actually scoffing out loud. He filled his mouth with another bite of meatloaf, scowling as if he regretted saying that much. I waited, but he chewed for an inordinately long time, as if avoiding further speech.
“I knew someone once,” I began carefully, “who had his heart taken.”
He swallowed convulsively and did not meet my eye.
“He certainlynoticed,” I continued. “In fact, he hasn’t been the same since.”
“I suppose it might affect some more than others,” he said vaguely, as though he was talking about nothing more consequential than a bad head cold.
“To the point of looking like the walking dead?” I asked. “Barely able to speak?”
He chewed on another mouthful. I got the feeling he was deliberately keeping his mouth full to avoid speech, because while Da’s meatloaf was good, it wasn’tthatgood.
“What happens to the ones you take from? Afterward?” I pressed.
His strange eyes flickered a little. “I’m not sure,” he said after a while.
My own heart pounded with my audacity. “Ever go back?” I asked. “Make sure they’re all right? After all, you said you only take what you need, and leave thembarely noticing.That’s what you said, isn’t it?”
