Fire Study (Poison Study 3)

Leif licked his lips. “I don’t know. I don’t want to miss dinner. That vegetable stew’ll be smelling good.”

“Do not worry. We will hear the bell. The entire city knows when the Three Ghosts Inn is having dinner.”

We left the inn and wandered through the streets. I used my magic at different locations to find a sign of the Vermin, but there were just too many people around. Their thoughts and emotions crashed against me, and I blocked them out to avoid being overwhelmed. Leif, too, was inundated with smells. We searched the city and listened for any snippets of information.

A sparkle drew my gaze. Rows and rows of glass animals were displayed inside a store window. The beautiful jewel colors of the statues radiated as if a fire had been captured within their cores. They reminded me of Tula. She had sculpted animals with glass from her family’s factory. Had she created these animals? Was this her family’s store?

I peered through the window but couldn’t see past the display. Should I go in and ask? Perhaps her family wouldn’t want to see me again. Considering what had happened to Tula and her sister, Opal, I wouldn’t blame them for hating me. After all, the only reason Opal had been kidnapped after Tula had died had been to exchange her life for mine. At the time, I had thought Ferde held Opal, but it had been Alea Daviian, seeking revenge for the death of her brother, Mogkan. Another man whose death I had been part of.

In Ixia, Mogkan had been power-hungry. He had taken control of not only Commander Ambrose’s mind, but the minds of thirty innocent people. He deserved to die, but Alea had failed to see it my way, and now she was also dead. I sighed. I should stay far away from Opal and her family.

Death followed me. And perhaps ghosts as well? Was Alea or Mogkan’s ghost haunting me? I held my hands out and turned in a circle, spinning my arms. Nothing.

Leif and Moon Man were engaged in a debate half a block away. I stepped toward them.

“Yelena!” a voice called from behind.

A woman carrying a small crate hustled along the sidewalk. A white kerchief covered her hair, and, even though soot smudged her face and hands, I recognized Opal’s bright smile and I couldn’t resist giving her a quick hug.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I have some business.” Before she could ask what kind, I hurried on. “Is this your family’s store?” I pointed to the glass shop.

“Oh no. Our factory is on the east side of town, practically in the plains. We sell our glassware through a bunch of stores in Booruby. You have to come visit us!” She twisted her hands together. “That is, if you want to.” She averted her face. “I mean after what I did…”

Opal yanked her focus from the ground and met mine with a sudden intensity. The shy, uncertain girl who had come to the Keep transformed in front of my eyes. “Let me make it up to you. You will come visit.”

“You did nothing wrong,” I said with conviction. “You have nothing to make up for.”

“But I pricked you with Curare!”

“Alea forced you. And I must admit, that was a pretty good trick.” I had thought once Opal was freed, the danger was gone. A near fatal mistake.

“But—”

“You can’t let the past ruin your future. Let’s call it even and start anew.”

“Agreed. Can you come to dinner this evening?” she asked. Then her mouth dropped in shock and she stepped back.

Moon Man loomed behind me, blocking the sunlight.

“You’ll not be missing dinner,” Leif said, copying Mrs. Floranne’s lilt.

Opal relaxed a bit when she saw Leif. “You can come too. And…your friend?”

I understood Opal’s fear. At first glance, Moon Man resembled Ferde. But Opal had only gotten a brief glimpse of Ferde through her sister’s memories so she could not really compare the two. I introduced her to the Story Weaver.

“I think I should wait for Tauno and Marrok to return,” Moon Man said. “You and Leif go. I will see you later tonight.”

Moon Man raised his eyebrows, giving me a signal. I opened my mind to him.

Perhaps her family will have some information about the Vermin. Ask them.

Yes, sir, I replied.

He flashed me a smile before he left. Opal hurried into the store to finish her deliveries. While Leif and I waited for her, I returned to examining the glass animal statues in the window. Leif joined me.

“Look at how they glow!” he said. “Which one would you pick? The snake?”

“No. I’ve had my fill of snakes. I like the horse, but the eyes are the wrong color. They should be blue.”

Leif laughed. “You’re biased. I’d buy the tree leopard. The detail is amazing. I wonder how the artist is able to get the leopard’s green and yellow pattern just right.”

“The pattern is inside.” Opal exited the store. “There’s a thin layer of clear glass on the outside.”

“Did Tula make these?” I asked.

Sadness welled in her eyes. She blinked back tears. “No. Tula’s are too precious to sell.”

“Opal, I’m—”

“Don’t say it,” she said. “Starting anew, remember?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Let’s go.” Opal led the way.

I worried the girl’s parents wouldn’t be so forgiving, but they greeted us warmly. Their house and glass factory had been built on the edge of the city, surrounded on three sides by the Avibian Plains. The location explained why Ferde had chosen Tula. Keeping the kilns hot, Tula had been in the factory all night alone where no one could witness her abduction.

Opal guided us on a tour of her family’s business and we met her remaining sister, Mara, and her younger brother, Ahir. The promised meal consisted of beef stew served in a bowl made of bread.

“Less to wash,” Opal’s mother, Vyncenza, said with a grin.

Leif sat next to Mara and flirted with her. He even joined her in the kitchen to help clean up. I couldn’t blame him, the beautiful loose curls of her golden-brown hair hung past her shoulders. Kindness radiated from big tawny eyes, and she listened to Leif’s tales with rapt attention.

While the others cleared the table, Opal’s father, Jaymes, regaled me with stories about his business and his family.

“…she wasn’t paying attention and set fire to her mother’s apron! It was another four seasons before we would let Tula handle a punty iron again.” He laughed and launched into another one.

When he had run out of anecdotes, I asked him about news from Booruby.

“The Cowan elders are always arguing about how many trees to cut down, and now they want to start taxing the sand I import for my glassware.” He tsked over the prospect. “Rumors about the other clans have always been good fodder for the gossips. This year’s is about those Daviians. Everyone’s worried about them, but the magicians have Tula’s killer in jail and I’m sure the Sandseeds will take care of the rest. They always do.”

I agreed, but my mind snagged on the fact that he still believed that Ferde was locked away. Not good. Why hadn’t the Council informed the populace? Probably to avoid frightening them. Ferde was still weak, and they had hoped to recapture him by now. Should I tell Jaymes? He had two other daughters. The people should also be told about the Vermin’s Kirakawa ritual. They could help find the Vermin and keep their families protected. But would they panic and hinder our efforts instead?

It was a difficult choice to make on my own and the benefits of having a Council to vote on important issues became clearer to me. No one member could be held responsible for a bad judgment.

Delaying a decision, I asked him if his children still worked alone at night.

“No. No. I work the entire night shift. We’ve learned our lesson and won’t be caught unaware again.”

“Good. Keep vigilant. The Cowan Clan leaders are right to be worried about the Daviians.”

Opal returned, giggling. Water splotched her long skirt and she tucked a few stray strands of damp hair back under her kerchief.

“Water fight,” she said. And before her father could scold, she added, “Mama started it!”

He sighed but didn’t appear to be too upset. Opal grabbed my hand, wanting to give me a tour of the house. The room she shared with her sister resided on the second floor of the stone house. The air smelled of honeysuckles. Hanging over the one empty bed was Tula’s grief flag. The white silk banner had been part of her funeral ceremony. The Sitians believed that once raised, the flag released Tula’s soul into the sky. Having freed Tula’s soul from Ferde, I knew the Sitian custom just helped comfort the families.

“Why is the flag hung over her bed?” I asked.

“It’s to keep her spirit from returning to earth,” Opal answered. “All the things that she might want to come back for are under the flag. She can’t see them there.”

I looked under the banner and spotted a small shelf filled with glass animals. The figurines were lifelike and well-made but had not captured the inner fire like the ones I had seen earlier.

“Tula gifted a couple statues and sold many others, but those she kept for herself. I tried to copy her, but mine come out differently. I have only sold a few.” She shrugged.

“You made the ones in the store window. Didn’t you?”

“Yes.” Again she made a dismissive shrug. “The store owner is a kind woman. She knew I was coming today and put them in the window. My animals are dull in comparison to Tula’s.”

“Opal, they’re stunning. How did you get them to glow?”

She pressed her hands over her heart as if she couldn’t believe what she heard. “You see the light?”