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How could Nava focus on the magical market around her and the pirate they needed to find when the king’s guards were lurking somewhere in the shadows?
Arkimedes had filled her in on everything that had happened while they’d been apart. Was this the reason the bees had been around her at all times, even after they’d escaped the castle?
Nava shook her head and wrapped her arms around her body. She’d been wearing Arkimedes’s coat for the entire walk here, and it almost swallowed her whole. The bottom edge fell right below her knees. Besides keeping her warm, his scent eased some of her nervousness.
“Do you think Leela sent the letter to Cameron?” she asked.
“You know what I believe.”
She did. He’d told her that he believed Leela had provided a roof over their heads while informing the guards of everything that had taken place inside the house.
“She didn’t seem to know that we are…you know.”
“If my father believes it’s a spell, then he wouldn’t use a word the entirety of Caztian reveres to describe our relationship.”
That made sense. Soulmates were rare and coveted by so many, supposedly designed by a higher power. Many had stopped believing they even existed. At one point, Nava had been like the king. She’d hated that she had no choice but to love Arkimedes.
But the reality was so different from the pictures painted by folklore and fairytales. When they met, his beauty had overwhelmed her. But love had grown gradually, born from trust and friendship. And, of course, there was the intense chemistry neither of them could deny.
Devon glanced at her with pity in his eyes. Nava expected a scathing remark about Leela to hit at any moment. “I hate to advocate for her,” he said instead, “especially if she betrayed us, but the guards would’ve killed her, had she not agreed to do their bidding. Just like they almost killed us on the night we escaped.”
“I agree.” Arkimedes nodded, and hot air billowed out of his lips with a sigh. Dark circles were smudged beneath his eyes, an exhaustion that ran deep—like hers. “If Leela has been working with my father, then she had no choice in the matter. She is a victim here. Let’s not forget that and lose focus on what’s truly important.”
Nava sucked in a breath and held her words. Of course they were right. Their words were for her, not for them. But it was hard to keep on fighting when everything good in her life kept being torn away. Her family, her home, her friends, her potion-making skills, her father. It was selfish of her to burden Cameron with the truth of it all when he couldn’t do anything to help her. But it mattered to her—that he would know she’d never meant to leave him behind.
The scent of spices and magic permeated the air, and the distant chatter of strangers distracted her from the suffocating feeling. “I’ve only been to one magical market before, on Grey Island, right before Devon attacked the village.”
“You had to bring that up, didn’t you?” Devon said, although his tone lacked his usual mockery. He dodged around a cart, which held massive gourds in rust and green colors, and adjusted the lapels of his coat so they hid his grimace.
It was far too easy to forgive him for the disaster he’d caused then, especially now that he’d stopped being nasty to her. It was a terrible disaster not to hate him. If only the remorse didn’t taste so bitter as it churned in her stomach. Nava forced her eyes away and hoped Gavin and Violet would forgive her. Hopefully, they would be understanding at the very least. She didn’t know if she could lose another person she trusted, not right now. Not when the list of foes by far exceeded their friends.
“This won’t be the same,” Arkimedes said. He kept glancing up at the metal balconies of the narrow townhouses around them with a growing frown.
Did he remember that day? He’d been regaining his memories, and it was unclear how much he’d truly lost in the spell. He felt a lot more like his old self than several weeks ago.
The market spilled onto the narrow street that had brought them here from the tavern. When they entered, it was as if they were transported into a new world entirely. Wooden carts rested under a canopy of draped silks, illuminated by the soft glow of enchanted lanterns that swayed gently in the sea’s breeze. Fae and humans wandered about, carrying their loot in carts or burlap sacks.
Nava itched her nose as the exotic spices blended with the briny tang of the ocean. “How are we supposed to find Drake in this chaos?”
Just as the words left her lips, Arkimedes’s arms wrapped around her torso, and he pulled her out of the path of a small running creature.
“Stop the thief!” a woman with strange clothing and wiry wings screamed, chasing the small shape out of the alley and into the street.
Nava’s heart hammered as Arkimedes let her go. “Was that a child? Should we help him?” she asked in a high-pitched tone as the three of them watched in horror as the two figures disappeared around the corner of the building.
The vendors, who had quieted after the commotion, continued as if nothing had happened, traveling from stall to stall, carrying baskets with trinkets, strange-looking plants, or bugs bottled in small potion jars.
“I want to help him, Nava, but we can’t do that and find the artifact. We have to keep moving,” Arkimedes said. His jaw clenched tightly, as if the words burned his tongue. “What we have to do will save them all.”
It was true, but it felt wrong all the same.
“You two go ahead. I’ll make sure she doesn’t hurt him. I’ll find you back at the pirate’s den,” Devon said in a strained tone. Darkness flashed behind his gaze as his aura deepened around him, and the air around them seemed to grow colder. Then he dashed toward the exit of the market, following the woman’s footsteps.
“I’m sorry, Ark. I’m just not cut out for this kind of job. My heart is too soft.” She’d been so ready to drop everything to help that child, and to hell with their actual task. She turned her head away, her cheeks growing warm. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to split up.”
“This is a tough job, and your soul is beautiful. It’s good to know what’s happening here, especially because of who we are.” Arkimedes reached for her hand and dragged her through the narrow path in between stalls. His grip was firm and kept her grounded. “A pirate’s den is the term we used in the Society of Crows to refer to the black market stalls the pirates set up in places like this.”
“How can we find it?” Her eyes darted around the narrow, busy space. The cries of the sellers advertising their wares made it hard to hear, their shouts echoing off the labyrinthine alleys.
