Page 49 of Ties of Shadow

Trials

He did not, in fact, kiss me after lunch. Nor that evening. Nor the following day.

My lips shriveled.

Or they would have if I’d even thought about kissing him, which of course I didn’t. Instead, I threw myself into making new potions for Uncle Koll to test.

The Shade, meanwhile, threw himself into helping me practice saying no.

“The only way to develop a full, heartfelt, powerful yes, is to say no.” He said one morning over a breakfast of tiny quail eggs, lemon greens, and potato pancakes.

I sliced through the smallest fried egg I’d ever seen and pierced a matching-sized half of a sliced and salted cherry tomato. “That doesn’t make sense. They are different words.”

“How can you know where you end and someone else begins? You’re a mushy, muddled mess.”Jamison, ever helpful, was draped over a teacup on the table, lapping up black tea with a bit of honey. The thumb on his wings clutched the top, while the rest of the wings hung over the plate.

The Shade lifted his cup to toast the bat in agreement. “You do seem to shape yourself into whatever would please your audience.”

Ouch. “First of all, Jamison, I’m a well-trained, cultured mess, thank you.”

“Humph.”The bat took a deep sip.

“Second of all, okay. Fine. Let’s practice.”

The Shade finished his tall glass and set it on the table. “Aelia, would you pass me the water, please?”

I immediately reached for the pitcher to refill his glass, thinking about boundaries and— “Sure.”

“No.”

I froze and frowned at him. “What? We already started?”

“The water is in the center of the table, halfway between you and me. There is no reason why I couldn’t reach it. Try again.” He clasped his hands beneath his chin, his elbow resting on either side of the table. “Aelia, would you pass me the water, please?”

My brows darkened my frown. “N…no?”

“A bit of conviction please.”

“No.”

“A little louder, more like Jamison, please.”

That, I could mimic. “No, sir, you have arms and hands. Use them.”

The Shade clapped once and reached for the pitcher himself. “Marvelous.”

Ha. I rolled my eyes. “Oh, yes. I’m the epitome of inner strength.”

He chuckled—a dark promise that, at every opportunity, he would ask more questions.

Sometime later, I was walking down the hall and Uncle Koll stopped me, asking me to come bake bread with him. But the first floor of the Solarium was looking very dry that morning and needed my attention. I almost said yes until Uncle Koll’s wry eyebrow gave awaythat it was a test. When I passed, with a resounding no, he patted my shoulder and went on his way.

That evening, the badger asked me to open a hallway door. Only after I said no did I realize that the Shade had stored some dried meats in there, and the badger was just trying to steal more snacks. Maybe there was something to thisnothing after all.

The rest of our hours were spent pouring over the tables in the solarium. Ingredients were mixed, leaves dried, herbs pulverized. My hands were constantly cramping and needed frequent stretching from the effort. The Shade now worked beside me every hour I worked, moment for moment. But he seemed more and more tired, while I felt enlivened and brimming with excitement. I cast him worried glances when I thought he wasn’t looking.

Something about being surrounded by his shadows made my necklace shimmer brighter too. When I worked here in the manor, it didn’t matter that I didn’t have magic. No one cared if I was a noble or a servant, powerless or the most magical person in the land. The Shade and the animals never looked down on me for what I couldn’t do. And, to my confusion and discomfort, they never treated me better if I did, served, or produced more. They just…accepted me.

To better utilize the nocturnal animals’ help, we switched to working at night. Jamison would wake me in the evening, the Shade and I would finish breakfast quickly with Uncle Koll, and then we’d spend the rest of the night working on new potions. While I focused on new racerbristle potions, the Shade often worked on his healing potions and the sleeping potions as well as the toxic potions to replenish what had been used on the spyrings.

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