Page 48 of Magick and Lead
“Ester,” Charlie finished for me. “Her name is Esther. She’s my… cousin.”
“Fiancée,” I said at the same time.
The shop girl looked amused. “Wow. Okay. Cousin fiancé. No judgement here. Where are you from, Esther?”
I hesitated.
“You have a slight accent,” the girl pressed. “You must be from up north, right?”
“Wilderton,” Charlie said.
I nodded a little too enthusiastically. “Yes. Wilderton.”
“Ooh, really? What’s it like there?” the girl asked. “Are there really bears? And wild boars? A friend of mine went up there and said she saw wisps in the night, but I didn’t believe her.”
I gave a brittle smile. “Yes, of course,” I said. “And dragons.”
The girl looked shocked. “Dragons in Wilderton?”
Charlie shot me a glare.
Othura and her friends sometimes crossed the sea to hunt in the wilds of northern Admar. There were elk up in the great forests near Wilderton that were especially delicious,apparently. But judging from the look on this poor girl’s face, people in Ironberg didn’t know about that.Oops…
“Sorry, we’re in a hurry,” Charlie said, grabbing my arm and giving it a warning squeeze. “We’re going dancing tonight, so she’ll need something appropriate for a dance hall. And another outfit that can be worn to business occasions. Conservative. Long-sleeved.”
“Of course!” the shop girl said. “I have something that will look perfect with those amazing eyes of yours. Follow me.”
In a few minutes, I’d selected three dresses, stockings, and a pair of flat-bottomed shoes that were terribly slippery to walk in and incredibly impractical—but looked just like the shoes the shop girl was wearing.
I tried on the short party dress in front of the mirror. It was pretty, with tiny metallic circles on it that sparkled like dragon scales—perfect for a Skrathan. But…
“How do you run and fight in clothes like these?” I asked, frowning.
The shop girl giggled. “My advice is, try not to get that drunk.”
I did a half-turn in the mirror, then glanced over to find Charlie watching me, his eyes brimming with some unspoken emotion. Seeing him stare at me like that made me feel suddenly self-conscious.
“Well, cousin? Do I look like a girl from Ironberg?” I asked.
“No,” he said. And the unspoken simnal between us—suddenly active for the first time since we’d parted on Dorhane—filled in the rest.There’s no girl in Ironberg who’s anything like you, Essa.
The shop girl sucked her lower lip, thinking. “Well… Your hair… Short hair is kind ofinat the moment here in the city… But your hair isbeautiful. I would never tell you to…”
One glance in the mirror and a quick look around the shop told me she was right. None of the women in Ironberg had waist-long hair like mine. I slipped the dagger out of my bag.
“Hold my braids,” I said.
The shop girl’s eyes went wide, but with a wary glance at my blade, she did as she was told.
“Ess—Ester—” Charlie stuttered. “You don’t have to?—”
But the sharp steel was already slicing through the thick plaits of hair. In half a second, it was finished.
I spun the blade with a flourish and slipped it back into the sheath in my bag.
“There,” I said, shaking out my now chin-length hair as I turned to the mirror. I did look much more like an Ironberg girl.
Charlie just stood staring at me, a stunned expression on his handsome face. I couldn’t tell whether he thought my short hair looked pretty or terrible, but I forced myself not to ask for his opinion.
