Chapter 8

Adeena walked through the West Yoares Market with a bundle of bright purple flowers in her arms, a gift from a pretty male she might have to send for later that night to help warm her bed. Her gossamer skirts were tangling around her legs as she spun around and around, trying to take a peek at everything the vendors were shoving in her direction to show her. Everything from glittering baubles to wear to yards of beautiful fabrics for dresses to tasty treats that she knew she would eat a dozen of.

All right, maybe she bought something from everyone, but it was all just so pretty. This was why everyone loved it when Lady Addie Merlo came to the market. They knew they would meet their sales quota for the day.

Even Selise was with her, buying just as much as she was. The nymph had always been drawn to shiny things and she spent half of her last job's payment on a diamond necklace that now hung around her neck, complimenting her light blue skin perfectly. And lastly, they brough along Warek, playing the part of Lady Addie's guardsmen...and baggage handler since they loaded him up with their purchases.

"Come on, Warek," Adeena grinned up at him, poking a finger to his cheek. "Smile a little. Then people won't feel the need to give you such a wide berth when passing by."

His smile then sent a few females stumbling to the other side of the packed street.

"Not that smile," Selise sighed, rolling her eyes. "Use the smile you give me when you're trying to be sweet."

"You mean the one I use every time you let me in your bed?" he grinned wickedly.

Selise gave him her best flirty one in return...the one that she usually gave to males and females just before they slowly expired by her hand. "Not if you don't want to end up there."

Adeena rolled her eyes at the two of them, holding her flowers up to her nose so she could breathe in the sweet aroma. While Selise and Warek continued their flirty fighting, following closely behind her, she made her way down the tightly packed space. She had just a few more items to buy from one of her favorite vendors, items she knew someone back home would appreciate since he was almost out.

As Adeena was browsing over the glass jars of paints, new brushes, and different sized canvases, an excited whisper rushed through the crowded market. She didn't even have to look up to see who had arrived, two guardsmen closely following behind him.

"You seem to cause quite the stir whenever you're out with us common folk," she teased, leaning down to pick out the paint colors she knew her grandfather needed. "Can't you ever just be normal?"

"As Crown Prince of Krahzara, I don't have that luxury, unfortunately. And you, Lady Addie, common folk? I definitely wouldn't call you that."

She straightened up after picking seven paint jars, three new brushes, and several canvases, handing over five gold coins to the vendor. He stared at the money with wide eyes, stumbling over his thanks. It was twice as much as he was selling them for.

"No wonder the people love you here," Malik smiled, hands buried in his pockets of his loose-fitting navy pants. The white vest and its threaded embroidery complimented it perfectly, showing off his darkened skin after spending the last few days training with his guardsmen in the desert to the east.

She raised a brow, challenging. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you not only purchase their goods, therefore starting a trend for all who follow your every move, you pay them twice if not three times their asking price."

Adeena smiled at him, lifting her flowers to her face once more. "Well, it's the least I can do, especially since I have the money to spend."

Money I've made from your own mother and her associates.

Malik nodded down to the flowers. "And did one of your admirers give you those, or did you buy them for yourself?"

"These? A pretty male did. One I might...invite over for a drink later."

Finally, she got Malik to snort out a laugh since he knew she was being absolutely ridiculous. He stepped closer to her side and lean down to kiss her cheek. "Hello, Addie," he smiled at her when he leaned away.

"Hello, Malik."

They'd done this ever since Adeena had stepped out into Krahzaran society as Lady Addie Merlo a few decades ago. Before then, when she was still in training at the Guild under her old master Atrus, she wasn't allowed out of the house other than to go on jobs or to the palace when the empress summoned her. No one in Krahzara even knew her face, had even caught a glimpse of it. But when she finally had it with the assassin, the very one who tried to take her and her grandfather's lives, she was free to do anything she wanted since his death let her gain hold of the metaphorical sharp crown of the Guild of Starlight. That was still to that day her most favorite job...mostly because she did it for herself and her grandfather.

She did, however, take a few years to weave her way into Krahzaran society, first going about with the spread of rumors about a lady from Searis was going to move to Krahzara and make it her home. She'd bought the current residence where the Guild lived, transferred her own personal coinage she'd been saving up into a private bank vault, and made a show of her grand entrance. She might have been a little too ostentatious with her gilded carriage, the way she'd hung out the window to show everyone just what this lady looked like and how they would never forget her face. The ruse was so well put together Empress Sophea didn't even know it was Adeena Lucerra Brandt, not until Lady Addie Merlo strode confidently into the throne room in a jewel encrusted dress and cosmetics painted on her face. Even Malik had to do a double take.

In those following years, she made sure to keep to herself, though she couldn't deny her love of shopping in the market, of getting to know the people of Krahzara. One of the only people she attempted to stay away from was Prince Kaveh, especially since she knew he was a usual traveler to Arloerin. If he'd gotten a good look at her, would he realize she had the same face as the western kingdom's queen, though she didn't have the same external scars and tattoos?

Adeena made the most of what her life was now. Did the empress's dirty work, took on a few side jobs, and kept the rest of the Guild's members as happy as she could, though Warek and Selise were the only ones to stick around long enough for her to actually form actual friendships with.

Now, as Lady Addie walked through the market with Crown Prince Malik on her arm, heads turned just as they always did. For as long as she could remember, rumors had been going around about the two of them, how Empress Sophea wouldn't approve the match, which was why they had yet to marry. Or how it was the crown prince who refused, even with Lady Addie's obvious advances, her beauty, and her wealth.

None of it was true, obviously, but that didn't mean she didn't like playing with the hearts of everyone watching, waiting for something to happen between them.

"How's your morning been?" Malik asked her then as he carried the canvas satchel laden with new painting supplies for her grandfather.

"After spending quite a bit of money on things I probably don't need? Splendid," Adeena grinned. "Even more so now that you're here."

"Don't listen to her sweetness," Warek warned with a grin just before Selise yanked him forward. "She wants something."

"You do?" Malik questioned, raising one brow as the nymph and orc disappeared in the crowd.

"No," she said, rolling her eyes as she stepped closer to his side as they squeezed through the crowd. "Not really. I'm happy you're here, though. Even with those two, it's been a little boring over the last few days."

"And I can help that...how?"

"Conversation, Mal. Talk to me. Tell me what's going on. Anything new? Anything exciting?"

Malik stared at her, almost as if he were trying to find her ulterior motives. But she was telling the truth. She just wanted normal conversation, not about the other assassins of the Guild or which jobs she herself would take next. And maybe something had happened since the day before when she saw him last. Things were always changing, right?

"I mean it, Malik," Adeena sighed. "Normal conversation."

He decided to humor her. "It's been surprisingly quiet at home," he shrugged. "I guess it helps that Kav's away, though he should be back within a week or so."

"Oh? You didn't say anything about him being gone when I saw you before."

Malik snorted, but she could still see the love in his expression as he thought about Kav. "My brother does what he wants. And what he wants is to annoy a certain queen in the west."

A certain queen Adeena was trying hard not to ask about.

"I'm sure that doesn't go over well, especially when almost everyone in both Krahzara and Arloerin knows what your mother wants for the two of them."

"That's been talked about for almost twenty years now ever since Kav came with me for the first time. I hardly think they're closer to that than they were then."

"Kav still trying to get her to agreeing into a marriage pact between them to strengthen ties between the two kingdoms? Everyone knows how he's completely in love with her and has been since he was a child."

"Of course. Why do you think he goes all the time? I have my own ways of knowing what he does in Arloerin...and what he does is annoy her to no end with his flirting. Who knows? Maybe he's starting to wear her down. Other than that, he goes to Arloerin because he actually enjoys it. I think even more so than here at home."

Adeena let out a soft laugh. "I think he likes the wine better there, but that's it. I doubt he'll ever wear her down, though. The day she says yes to marrying your brother will be the day when I see her for the first time after all these years and congratulate her in person."

Malik frown caught her by surprise, even as he looked down at his boots as they walked.

"What?" she asked, tugging on his arm. "You obviously want to say something."

Yet the crown prince didn't.

Adeena turned him toward her. "Malik, what is it?"

Dark eyes lifting to hers, he cocked one brow. "I will never stop telling you that you need to see her, need to tell her you're still...still alive after what happened almost a hundred years ago."

Her stomach twisted into a knot. "I know."

Looking around at the nosy people around them, he stepped closer to her, so close his breath brushed across her face. "And yet you still don't do as I ask. You still don't reveal yourself to Cleo."

Didn't she tell him not to say her name? It only made that dagger in her heart twist more.

"She seems perfectly fine without me. She's got Grandmother, her commander Urell, her second and best friend Janan...and we can't forget an infuriating Krahzaran prince who annoys her just as his brother annoys me."

"You've always been stubborn."

"Runs in the family, apparently."

"That's for damn sure."

At least she got him smiling again.

"Do you want to meet up for dinner somewhere?" Adeena asked him then. "You could bring me pretty flowers and we could eat and drink and cause such a stir throughout the city since everyone still thinks Crown Prince Malik is courting Lady Addie Merlo."

Malik met the eyes of everyone watching them again, all of whom quickly busied themselves and trying not to look so suspicious as they tried to listen in. "I could use some time with my best friend before my annoying brother come back in a week's time."

Her smile was bright as she stretched up on her toes and kissed his cheek, taking the canvas bag of painting supplies from his grasp. "Sounds like a plan then. Pick me up at sundown. But for right now...I have another male I need to go see."

***

Adeena leaned against the doorframe, watching as the healer mage worked her magic over the male who sat in wing-backed chair. Over the years, his dark hair had been threaded through with silvery gray, which had started at his temples and spread from there. His golden-brown eyes were on the fire before him, even though Adeena knew he was listening intently to what the healer was telling him, how he needed to continue to use his voice, to form small sentences when he could manage them.

Her grandfather Evander only ever spoke a little there in the physical world, having not been able to find his voice even after all those years. The jagged white scar that ran across his neck was almost identical to the one Adeena had, which she then reached up to touch then. It was the only outward identifying element of the trauma both of them shared.

The healer mage sighed when Evander didn't even acknowledge his recommendations, patted her hand on his knee, and stood to grab her satchel. She caught sight of Adeena in the doorway, curtsying once after she stopped in front of her.

"How was he today?" Adeena asked softly, both of them looking back at Evander, who slowly pushed himself from his chair by the fire and walked toward where he had all of his painting supplies.

"The same as always after all these years," the healer sighed. "You know I will continue working with him because of both yours and the empress's orders...but I fear nothing much more will change. He says a few words with me, just simple sentences, but I can't assess how extensive his physical injuries go or..."

She raised a brow, cutting in. "I thought everything was healed?"

"It is," she said. "That's why I believe it's a mental injury as well. And not just because of his memory problems that are still slow to resolve. I've noticed some improvement, but then he comes and goes like he's always done."

Of course, Adeena already knew that. Not just because she'd been told the same thing before, but because she herself had to overcome those internal injuries. Her grandfather's though, were a little different in that he'd lost almost all of his memory, lost the faces and names of their family all except for Adeena's. But that was because she was the one to lead him back from in between their world and the land of light and shadows. He remembered her from there, remembered the little four-year-old girl, scared and clutching his hand, screaming for him to take them home.

She was the one to do just that, though.

"Do you have any more suggestions as to what could possibly help?" Adeena asked then, looking back at her grandfather as he slowly stood.

He had sat himself on the stool in front of a canvas by the open window. A cool breeze blew in, strange for the arid climate of Krahzara. Reaching for a paintbrush on a small table beside him, he dipped it in paint, then put it to canvas. Another, shorter stool was just in front of him, one Adeena sat on when she was so much smaller, watching his brush strokes against the canvas. She'd lost count of how many paintings they had, everything from landscapes to abstracts to portraits he'd done over the years, but they filled almost every wall of the Guild's home and even made their way into the Krahzaran palace thanks to Malik. He'd been working on his current portrait for a week now but had yet to allow her to look at it.

"It's been long enough," the healer began, following Adeena's gaze. "Take him out, walk him around the city and the market, have him engage with others rather than just those who live in this house. He needs stimulation, then maybe he'll find himself wanting to speak more. But what would be best for him is to..."

She let out a low snarl, knowing immediately what the healer was going to suggest. It seemed everyone was suggesting it to her these days. Just let him be happy. Let him fade into the land of light and shadows where he can be at peace. No, he was staying there with her. He was the only physical link to her past. She was not going to let him go.

"That won't happen."

The healer, wide-eyed, bowed her head. "I understand. Then in this case, keep him happy, keep him painting. That seems to be doing some good, putting him at ease."

So, she would.

After the healer left, Adeena rung the handles of the canvas bag in her hands, walking slowly over to where her grandfather sat. Placing the bag beside her own shorter stool, she put a hand on his arm, leaning forward to kiss the side of his head. "How have you been today, Grandfather?"

Evander paused his painting, looking up at her with clear eyes. "I'm well," he said quietly, voice low.

She smiled at him as she sat on the foot stool, plopping the bag in her lap. "I brought you some presents," she told him as she started pulling out the small jars of paints, the new brushes, and different sized canvases. "I knew you needed more and the vendor I usually buy from gave them all to me for a special price."

Having his attention brought to what she held out to him, Evander smiled, holding up the colorful jars, brushing the pad of his thumb over the brush bristles. "It's wonderful, my darling. Thank you."

"You're very welcome," Adeena whispered to him, blinking back her tears that threatened to fall. "I'll bring you more next week. I know how much you go through. But continue painting until the walls of every home in Krahzara are filled with them."

Her grandfather chuckled, placing the paints and supplies on the table, then shifted to start painting again.

This time, he didn't hide his work from her, though he himself looked at it as if he were trying to jump into it to be with the female who'd come to life on the canvas.

But Adeena knew that face, had seen it so many times in her dreams...and apparently he had, too. The face of her grandmother Renna.

"She's always been beautiful," her grandfather whispered then. "I wonder if these last one hundred years have changed her much, especially after believing she lost us. Her hair...it was a beautiful blonde, just like yours. But is it now threaded with gray just as mine is? Does she have more wrinkles that line her skin? I know she's just as beautiful now as she was in our younger years. Without a doubt."

She stared at him, wide-eyed. It was the most he'd said in a very, very long time. "She definitely is," Adeena agreed.

A slight smile appeared on his lips as he looked over his work. "Do you think I should put Cleo there with her? I miss seeing that little face, too."

Bottom lip trembling, she nodded. "I think it would be lovely."

Her grandfather nodded once more but put his paintbrush down. "Later, though. I think...I need some time. Do you mind helping me just as you always do?"

Why did he think he had to ask? Of course, she would.

Because Adeena wasn't the only one who had to go to the space between the physical world and the land of light and shadows. Her grandfather did, too.

In going, though, he always came back more of himself, with more smiles and quiet laughs and sparkles in his eyes as he looked at her. Luckily, for him, those trips seemed to be needed further and further apart. The same couldn't be said for her, though. She had to go every few weeks, sometimes days when her anxiety got to her or she used too much of her dark magic. It helped level her, bring her back into the light.