I wasted no time and took a bite, sinking my teeth into the crispy golden edge, then savoring the syrupy honey as it melted on my tongue. After days of salted meats and leftover banquet food, how wonderful it felt to eat something hot, fresh, and simple.
I licked my fingers clean and let out a contented sigh.
“My cookies are better, to be honest,” Ammi said slyly. “I’ll make you some one day.”
“I didn’t know you baked.”
“The emperor’s bakers get overworked sometimes. I’d help when I had a spare moment. You don’t get such prosperous cheeks by serving tea all day.” She patted her face. “Used to dream I’d open my own shop, if I ever got out of being a maid. Maybe it would become so famous my family would hear about it.”
She pursed her lips.
“Is that why you wanted to win the ten thousand jens?” I asked her gently.
Ammi shrugged, not wanting to talk about her home anymore. “Baking makes me happy.” She picked up one of the handkerchiefs I’d made. I hoped she wouldn’t notice the dropped stitches on the earlier ones, how some of the petals were uneven. “I’ve noticed two things make you happy. Sweets and sewing.”
I laughed. “Very observant.”
“You ought to sew more,” Ammi continued. “You look happier than I’ve seen you in weeks. The Lord Enchanter will be glad to see it.”
At the mention of Edan, my shoulders sagged. “He won’t. I should tell you, Ammi, I’ve made up my mind not to see—”
Ammi raised her finger to her lips and darted to the side of the window, closing the curtains with a jerk.
I heard shouting outside, and horses neighing. Nothing out of the ordinary, given that the inn was on the village’s main street.
“What’s the matter?” I whispered.
“Soldiers.”
The muscles in my jaw stiffened. “Here?”
She nodded grimly. “That’s not all. The peddler mentioned that mercenaries had been spotted in the next province.”
The shansen’s men.
She looked at me, her expression beseeching me for answers. “The emperor’s men are looking for a woman with red eyes. An enchantress. But people are saying she’s a demon.”
What could I say? She’d seen my red eyes before. I couldn’t deny I was who they were looking for.
“I’m not a demon, Ammi.” I swallowed, about to add “Not yet,” but she looked so relieved I couldn’t bring myself to undo the lie.
“The shansen’s demon must have cursed you somehow. You seek the Lord Enchanter to help you.”
My mouth went dry, the sweet aftertaste of the honeycomb cookie turning sour.
I didn’t reply. She wasn’t that far from the truth. Maybe it was better that she believed the shansen’s demon had cursed me.
Ammi flinched as we heard men shouting downstairs. “What should we do?”
“We stay tonight, leave first thing in the morning. People think we’re brothers, and His Majesty’s men couldn’t possibly know our true identities.”
Besides, I thought, I’d much rather face Khanujin’s soldiers than the shansen’s mercenaries.
Ammi took the handkerchiefs I’d embroidered. “I’ll see if I can learn more.”
“You’re a true friend, Ammi” was all I could manage. I pray you won’t regret it.
* * *
• • •
While Ammi was gone, I lit a candle to ward off the coming dusk, but the shadows that danced along the dented walls stirred my nightmares. Wolves with sharp teeth. Tigers with crooked claws. Birds with broken wings.
Under the waning flame, I studied my old drawings of Edan, memorizing the sharp angles of his face, the tiny crook of his nose, and wishing I’d taken the time to paint the black of his hair, the blue of his eyes.
I should try to summon him again, I thought as I flipped the pages of my sketchbook. But after passing my portraits of Baba and Keton, I stopped at a blank page.
Edan could wait. I needed to draw Ammi first, before I forgot her too.
I got as far as outlining the contours of her face, when the door rattled open.
“Look, fifty jens,” Ammi said proudly, showing me the coins in her hand. “It’s not much, but it’ll pay for another night here, and tomorrow I can buy more food.” She noted my sketchbook and hovered over it. “Is that me? I want to see.”
“It’s not finished,” I said, hastily shutting it, but Ammi put her hand over mine, her nails digging into my flesh.
I jerked away from her. “Ammi?”
A sneer formed on her lips, twisting her kind face into one I hardly recognized.
“What? You don’t like me this way?” Bandur spoke through Ammi’s lips.
“Get out of her,” I said, grabbing my friend by the neck. I didn’t realize the power of my strength until I was holding her up high, her boots kicking above the ground.
Bandur laughed, a giggly sound that sliced through me like a knife.
I set Ammi down, and she slumped into the chair.
“Enough, Bandur,” I said icily. “Let her go.”
Ammi looked up, the whites of her eyes bleeding a red so bright I flinched. The color washed out of her face, her skin becoming so pale it matched the alabaster walls behind her.
“You are the danger to her, not I,” said Bandur. He tilted Ammi’s head so I could see the bruises my fingers had made on her neck. “Look—see what you’ve done.”
Shame rippled inside me. “No,” I whispered. “That was you….”
“The longer you stay among these mortals, the greater the harm you will bring to them. You would do well to tell your enchanter that.” The demon forced Ammi’s mouth into a coy smile. “He searches for you day after day.”
My breath caught in my throat. Edan was looking for me?
“But even he knows he cannot save you, Sentur’na,” Bandur continued. “You will kill him before he can even try.” The demon paused, reveling in my pained expression. “Return now to Lapzur.”
“I will return.” My hands flew up to the walnut pendant hidden beneath my tunic. “But when I do, I will fight you.”
Bandur snorted. “You will lose. Your pledge is unbreakable, and not even your precious dresses can save you. Accept your fate, Maia Tamarin. There is nothing you can do to change it.”