Page 51 of Wicked Thieves
The rest of the night was pleasant. Full of laughter and food, and song. For once, an air of joy filled the tavern in a way that Anelize had never seen before. It provided her an ounce of solace she hadn’t known she’d needed. The children were ushered upstairs to bed by Castian and Zara once they began to fall asleep at the table, their eyes drooping with exhaustion.
Wanting to make herself useful, Anelize had started to clear the empty plates off the table, taking them into the kitchen to wash. It was mindless work that she took pleasure in doing as she began to grow tired, beginning to unwind for the night. She started to wonder if she’d be able to have a good night’s sleep for once without nightmares when she heard terse voices arguing.
Curious, they urged her to hurry out of the kitchen wherethe others were gathered around, all standing. The voices ranging from curt to angry. When they heard her approaching, everyone turned. Their faces grim as they looked at her, and only her.
Uneasiness swam in the pit of her stomach. “What’s happened?”
Henry and Zara kept their eyes on her as she spotted Gabriel standing among them. His head low. He must have only just arrived.
“Anelize, something’s happened,” Henry said.
Panic made her step forward. “Enid? Is she?—”
“It’s not Enid. It’s about the shop,” Zara said.
“What of it?”
Adan huffed impatiently, though not at her for once. “Saint’s sake, stop prolonging it and just tell her.”
It was Gabriel who said, “There was an angry mob who came searching for the Vedran who escaped the Watchmen. They ransacked the shop and…they destroyed it in the process.”
“Destroyed it?” Anelize murmured, not fully comprehending what he meant, perhaps refusing to do so. Beside her, she noticed Aeric had shifted closer. “All right, I’m sure Magda will find a way to get the shop back and running, however it is that she’s doing it.”
“My love.” Zara stepped forward but stopped, as if she knew she needed to give her words the space to reach her. “There is no shop anymore. It’s gone.”
18
Night fell, and crackling embers continued consuming the charred wood where the cold wind brushed over them.
Wrapped in a thick wool cloak and a hood pulled over her head, Anelize stood in the alley across the street, staring at Yarrow’s Apothecary & Remedies, or what little was left of it. She’d thought—when she insisted to see it for herself—that, at the very least, she would have found something of the place she’d once grown-up in. She’d been wrong.
The scent of smoke filled the air, clouds wafting up to the starless sky.
“Why would they do this? I don’t understand,” she heard Idris murmur from behind her, where she knew Aeric and Adan were lingering, along with Henry. It hadn’t come as a surprise that they’d insisted upon coming along once they realized she would go one way or another, regardless if they agreed or not.
Henry said, his voice low and disapproving, “Fear is an unpredictable foe. Those who fear what they do not understand resort to doing anything they can to preserve their lives as they once had.”
“This isn’t fear. This is pure hatred,” Adan rasped.
“Do you think they even know the difference, son? They are merely doing as they’ve been encouraged by the king. Do notforget who the true enemy is here, why we are all divided in the first place.”
“They know. Unless they’re all just fools.” Adan said in answer.
She could feel their attentive eyes boring into her. Try as she might, she couldn’t bring herself to look away from the remains of her father’s shop. His most prized possession. A place once filled with memories. All of his journals that she’d kept in her room. Enid’s belongings she’d loved dearly. All of it was gone. Only a black stain left behind in its wake.
Footsteps approached as they stepped over the snow.
“Anya.” When Aeric spoke her name with such care, she closed her eyes, warding off the sting from the smoke in the air.
“And Magda? What of her?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder. They were the first words she’d brought herself to utter since leaving the tavern.
“Gabriel didn’t make any mention of seeing her leave the shop,” Adan replied, his dark eyes nearly black as he watched her where he stood leaning against the wall.
“I’m sorry, we don’t know if she survived. It would seem…” Henry said, hesitating.
“I see,” she murmured, her voice sounding too far even to her own ears.
She could feel Aeric’s weighty attention on her as she turned away from the shop. She did not look any of them in the eye, not wanting to see the pity or even their anger. There was no need for either. It wouldn’t change what happened here.
