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“My grandmother named them,” Ora said. “I think their names tell you plenty about her spirit.”
We exchanged smiles. “She sounds like she was an incredible person.”
“And a fine musician, too.” Ora nodded, gazing up at their home. They’d painted songs around each of the boards. A whole evening’s worth of tunes etched into Galen den’ Mora’s sides.
Navin looked over his shoulderas he led Magnum down the trail. “We’ll see you in twenty.”
Ora gave him a quick wave before tucking their hands back in their shawl.
“There are some tussocks beyond the ridge to graze the oxen,” Ora said, as we watched Navin head down the switchback trail. “You can go with the twins to stretch your legs if you’d like.” They gestured to Mina and Malou, who were peering into a darkened window across the street. “But Nesra’s Pass is full of ne’er-do-wells, so stick together.”
I bobbed my chin in thanks and scuttled off to join the twins. We meandered to the end of the road, which was only a few paces, and peeked into the general store window.
Mina’s breath fogged the glass. There was something in the store she wanted, though I didn’t know quite what. I’d figured out some of her language over the past few days. She was patient with me as I practiced it with her. It didn’t help that she signed in a Valtan form of the language, and so I had to translate it twice over in my head, but I was getting there. Another language I could eventually add to my repertoire. I’d noted that Mina could hear what people were saying and preferred people to speak to her while she communicated back through sign. But whatever she was signing now was lost on me.
“Come on, then.” Malou tugged on her sister’s sleeve.
“You’ll spend all our coins on sweets,” Mina signed, even as she followed.
I huffed. That I understood.
“What’s the point of traveling the kingdoms if we can’t sample all the sweets in Aotreas?” Malou grinned as the bell above her tinkled.
We navigated down the dusty, sparse shelves. Wicker baskets lined the far wall, picked nearly clean apart from a few rotten apples. Strings of dried lemon and bundles of dried mint hung from the windows to ward off the bugs. In the corner sat a table of glass jars filled with colorful boiled candies.
“Have you ever had aniseed candies before?” Malou asked, lifting the jar and scooping out a dark round ball.
She offered it to me and I picked it up off the spoon, giving it a sniff. It smelled sweet, with an undercurrent of spice that reminded me of cloves.
“Just try it,” Malou snickered, taking a candy for herself and popping it in her cheek. “Don’t chew it though, not if you want to keep your teeth.”
Mina slipped one in her mouth and I followed. The flavor made me grimace, and the twins burst out into laughter. It was strangely smooth yet bitter, spicy yet sweet. I swallowed, the taste of it coating my mouth. I rolled the candy across my tongue, getting used to the bizarre tang that lit up my taste buds.
“Okay.” I bobbed my head, beginning to understand the appeal.
“Is there anything else you need?” Mina signed, her tongue clicking as she sucked the candy.
I surveyed the bare room.
“Save your money,” Malou said. “They’ll have better wares in the capital city of Taigoska.”
We ambled down the shelves anyway, taking our time to be out of the wagon. The syrupy flavor of the candy coated my tongue as it shrunk into the size of a pebble in my mouth. We had nearly wound our way to the back of the shop when I noticed a tipped-over sack. Grain spilled onto the hardwood floor. The hairs on my arm stood on end as I glanced over the back counter to an upturned chair. My ears strained, but I couldn’t hear a sound.
“Hello?” I called, waving the twins over.
Why hadn’t I thought to question it when no store owner appeared? We’d eaten their candy and perused their shelves for several minutes.
“Hello? Anyone here?” Malou shouted toward the cracked-open door that led to the back of the shop. “We’re from Galen den’ Mora.” The Taigosi words flowed easily off her tongue.
“Are you all right?” I called.
“Aye,” a gruff voice shouted back. A weathered-looking man with a long beard shuffled out from behind the back door and we collectively sighed. He looked unscathed, a bottle of amber liquid clutched in his hand. “Just waiting for the Rooks to pass.”
“Rooks?” I glanced between the twins.
“How long ago were they here?” Malou asked.
“Ye just missed them.” The owner pointed out the back window.
