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“What are you here for?” He asked quickly, like he wanted to get this over.
He wasn’t a salesman, but a man who had to make a sale in order to stay alive. There was a huge distinction between the two, and I was getting a taste of it right now.
“Nightsmane,” I blurted out.
Hilda quickly grabbed at me and yanked me down to her level so she could hush me with a finger over her lips. With wide eyes, she glanced around to make sure no one had heard me.
“Keep your voice down, idiot.” Hilda wrinkled her nose disapprovingly at me.
Startled, I didn’t understand what the big problem was. I quickly realized there was more to this interaction than I’d originally been informed. I’d been worried about the stigma of the market and hadn’t at all considered why Nightsmane was difficult to come across.
I straightened and looked Wilbur in the eye. He was studying me with pursed lips like he could see the fault in my plans already. I swallowed back my indignation and complaints almost immediately. Arguing wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
“Your price?” I asked without bringing up the herb again. Surely, he’d heard me the first time.
“You’re not going to like it, mortal child.” He stood and grabbed a book behind him so that he could slam it open on the counter.
While he peered at the pages, his plants began to sing to me. They had a soft melodious song that somehow pushed out all other sounds. The music eased the knot in my chest and allowed me to let out the breath I’d been holding.
It distracted me so much that I belatedly realized what Wilbur had called me:mortal child. I almost laughed at the idea. It’s what I’d believed myself to be up until recently, but that didn’t make it a truth in the least.
For a moment, I debated correcting him. Yet, I still didn’t know if my presence would be welcomed here. The market seemed to be full of small fae like goblins, but I noticed a few Unseelie here and there. Wilbur definitely struck me as an Unseelie. Would he deny me the herb simply because of my battle with his queen?
Wilbur waved a hand in my direction without lifting his gaze from the pages of the book. “Do not fret. I have not called that bitch my queen in over a hundred years. She stole my brother from me, and I will never get him back.”
I recoiled. Leaning in, I asked, “Can you read my mind?”
He snorted. “No, but your face says enough for you. Learn to control that thing before it gets you in trouble with the wrong person.”
I didn’t know how he’d parsed my concern over his affiliation with Beryl from my expression alone, but I wasn’t about to ask. Instead, I focused on this brother that Wilbur had mentioned.
“Oh no,” I breathed when I realized that Wilbur’s brother had been Beryl’s previous second in command, the host at her restaurant.
Wilbur shoved a sigh out through his nose, slammed the book shut, and glared up at me over his glasses. The sight of me gave him pause. He tilted his head ever so slightly like he saw something in a new light all of a sudden.
All I could do was flash an awkward smile as I shifted my weight from foot to foot.
“Ah, I didn’t expectyouof all people to come to me,” Wilbur said softly. He pushed his glasses up his nose.
I gestured to the stall packed with potion ingredients. “You run the kind of shop that I could spend my life’s savings at. It’s only natural that I ended up here at some point.”
I wanted this man on my side. His plants still hummed their glorious tune. My head had never felt clearer. If I could convince him to leave this behind and tend to the garden at the castle, then I would have everything I ever needed for potion crafting.
“Don’t even consider it for a second.” Wilbur shook his head. “I will not follow you into war. Safety is all I wish out of life, and I have a slice of it for the time being. In your domain, I would know nothing but fear at all times, for the queen craves your death, child.”
I almost groaned and stomped my foot, but it wasn’t befitting of a future queen. Lips pursed in a pout, I kept quiet.
“About that herb you seek,” Wilbur went on. “My records tell me that I have a single vial in stock. Are you prepared to pay the price?”
If I said yes, it would lock me into anything he asked for. So, I lifted my chin and said, “What are you asking?”
Hilda snorted into her drink. “Only your firstborn and all names associated with them.”
Wilbur shot Hilda a dirty look before regaining control of his face and meeting my gaze. He smoothed the front of his vest down over his shirt. “The price would have been a fraction of your love…”
I inhaled sharply.
He lowered his head, as if to tell me to wait for him to finish. “However, seeing as you stand against that reviled woman, I only ask that you get revenge on behalf of my brother.”
