Chapter Four

It was back. The book was back. Right there in front of me when I quite clearly remembered burying it last night in the dead middle of the woods.

My hands shook as I tromped across the yard and to the cursed book, then I screeched in frustration and threw it into my knapsack. I would take it to town and "accidentally" lose it somewhere on my way looking for jobs. I never found the things I lost, so it seemed like an excellent idea.

That's right. Just because it didn't work yesterday didn't mean it wouldn't work today. With anything less than this mindset, I would never get rid of the book.

The town had already woken by the time I'd come far enough down the path to see it. The early cold had fled from the air, replaced by a cloudless sky and a bustling urgency as the townspeople began their work for the week. It was the perfect peaceful day.

If only I could say the same about my circumstances. No job, no friends, and a cursed book trying to kill me. A perfect day, clearly.

"Veia!" A high-pitched voice called from a nearby shop. My brows scrunched and I walked faster. "Miss Veia Phelde! Hello? Veia!"

Before I had a chance to cross the square from her shop, Tremie Tervor grabbed onto my wrist and swept me inside. "It's just wonderful to see you again, darling! How are you doing? Have you talked to Deivan yet?"

Allow me to explain. Tremie Aluisse Tervor was the owner of the first shop that hired me when I came of working age at the orphanage. At the time, I only worked a few hours each week hemming old dresses, but Tremie treated each of her employees like adorable little children—like tiny elves that helped her with her work, basically. She had a very strong first impression, to say the least, and it explained why she had one of the busiest dress shops in town. Everyone came to hear the talk of the town from Tremie, but that was just the problem I was faced with. Talk.

I didn't want anyone talking about the book in my knapsack.

"Tell me how it went!" Tremie continued, singing in my ear while she danced around the glamorous storefront holding me by the shoulders. "You and him would just be dreamy, don't you think? Oh, just imagining it is exciting! I wonder what your children will look like..."

That was the other problem I had with Tremie Tervor. She was a born love nut. I swore she knew the names, faces, and birthdays of every male in town—especially the ones around my age. Half of me thought she enjoyed tormenting me with my awkwardness around boys, but every time I saw her, I had to remind myself that that was just Tremie. It was just who she was.

Precisely the more reason to avoid her.

"Veia!" She peered at me suggestively as she released my shoulders, drawing my name out with a dramatic lilt. "Did you finally find the man you've been waiting for? Is that the silence? You simply must tell."

"Miss Tervor—"

"Just Tremie, dear, I don't know how many times we've gone over this."

"—I'm just not looking for love."

She blinked, caught off guard for a split second, then her smiled played again as she wiggled her eyebrows and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "Why, that's just the thing, isn't it? Love always finds the ones who aren't looking."

I resisted a grimace. "Miss Tervor, that's mawkish."

She laughed heartily and gave me another glance, then walked behind the counter and gestured to the elaborate dresses filling the store on racks and laying over mahogany chests and on shelves. Her shop was extravagant, as it always had been. "Why don't I help you find a new dress, dear? The one you're wearing is sure to impress the grandparents, if they're your crowd."

My mouth fell open and I looked at the buttons of my vest down to the lace lining my skirt. This was my finest outfit...

"But..." I trailed off as I looked around the shop. The dresses were all so beautiful, with their vibrant colors and designs down to the corsets and lacy petticoats, but they all looked so... expensive...

I frowned as I looked back at Tremie and her eyes suddenly went wide, her glossy pink lips forming a big O. She jetted out from behind the counter and looked at me up and down, her hands tugging desperately for a hold on her skirt until finally, she stopped and gave me a despairing gaze. "Veia, you didn't tell me you lost your job..."

I back-stepped. "What? How could you tell?"

"I know when a customer looks at something they can't afford, and you, my dear, are as good at budgeting as any. The only reason you wouldn't have enough money for one of my dresses is from a cut in income. I should have noticed Mr. Hebel's strained looks earlier."

My mouth pressed into a tight line and my toes twitched. Would it be right for me to comfort her? No, that would be backward... But she looked so conflicted... I shifted my weight and folded my hands to keep from fidgeting.

Tremie let out a loud gasp and her eyes went from troubled to beaming as another smile broke across her face. "I have it! You can work here! I'll set you up with Lefeli and it'll be just like when you were young!"

I gaped at her, my brows raised, but I found my usual refusal stuck in my throat. She had always wanted me back from the day I'd accepted Mr. Hebel's job offer, but I couldn't refuse her now like I had then. This job was exactly what I'd wanted, and yet I couldn't find the words to accept it.

Something in Tremie's face fell and I knew she'd seen my hesitation.

"Will..." I bit my lip. "Will you really let me work here?"

She jumped on the opportunity and pressed a hand to her ample chest as if my question was hardly a question at all. "Of course I will, darling! Come, it's still early, let's get you set up!"

With that, she hurried through the purple curtains leading to the back of the shop and returned a minute later with a set of papers in her arms. "We can have this official before noon!" She whooped, then slammed the papers down and closed the doors to the shop. "Today's an important day, darling!"

True to her word, Tremie had gotten me through all the paperwork before the sun hit midday, and even after working the cramps out of my writing hand, it felt too good to be true. As soon as I'd lost my job, I was hit instantaneously with the next and bam, it's official. I didn't want to be rude to Tremie, but everything was going way too fast for me to process and some part of me wished for something different.

I pushed through the front door of the dress shop and into the street, which was even more crowded than it had been in the morning. Most people wore coats or capes over their normal work clothes to combat the lingering nip from the winter air. I couldn't help but think the extra layers made them look like twirlers bustling through the streets past each other in a festival dance—a dance that was all too fast for me to fall into, so I edged along the side of the storefronts until I met the town square.

There were still many people in the street, so I took the opportunity to rummage through my knapsack, making it obvious that I was searching for something at the bottom, and discreetly pushed the book out of my bag. By the time it had dropped to the cobblestone street, I was already half way through the square. I slung the bag back over my shoulder and let out a breath. After I passed the shops, pushing past various groups of people, I followed the quickest route to the edge of town until I could finally breathe again.

I knew the fields outside the town like the back of my hand. Past seemingly endless patches of budding flowers and fable-like perfectness, the forest stretched as a dark green line on the horizon. Though many townspeople lived in their shops, there were also homesteads near the woods and every now and then on a sunny day, some families would picnic out in the flower fields. I hoped they wouldn't mind me stealing their idea.

Shivers enveloped my arms as the breeze worked its way in from the east. I brushed away the melting snow and sat under one of the lone trees just off the main road. It was quiet out here and I could find nothing nicer than the pleasant simplicity of the budding flowers.

I sighed, relaxing onto the tree trunk and fumbling lazily to open my bag for my lunch. My arm became tired and I gave up opening the latch, instead resting my hands on my vest. The weather was so nice today... such a shame to spend the whole morning inside.

A distant snapping sound woke me. Wait, had I fallen asleep? I couldn't remember. My brows knit together and I rubbed the weariness from my eyes when the snap sounded again, followed shortly by a growing sense of foreboding. Crashes and shouts came past the hill soon after, and before I could register what exactly was happening, a barrage of carts and wagons and horses burst out on the road from the forest. Not a second after, another group followed, this one all riders. They looked like villagers. They rode as if they were furious. It finally clicked.

My eyes snapped open and I shoved myself to my feet and sprinted toward the road the carts raced down. The road that led directly into the crowded streets of the town. We weren't prepared for speeding wagons bounding through the streets. We weren't prepared for horses driven mad with whips and reins. We weren't prepared for a chase.

The people weren't prepared for a chase.

But I just might be.