Unquiet Land by Sharon Shinn

Author:Sharon Shinn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2016-10-14T16:49:24+00:00

FIFTEEN

By the time Leah made it to the shop the next morning, it was in utterly pristine condition. Every recent purchase whisked out of sight, every candle stub disposed of, every drop of blood wiped away. There were three visitors browsing the merchandise while Chandran helped a fourth one at the sales counter and Annova moved between customers.

“You really are a treasure,” Leah murmured to Annova when she had a moment. Annova only laughed.

It was another hour before Leah had a chance to talk to Chandran for a few minutes. “I understand there was some excitement here last night,” he said.

Mindful of Zoe’s instructions, Leah answered vaguely. “Yes—some poor man who looked to be both injured and in a narcotic haze,” she said. “We brought him in and patched him up and sent him on his way, but it made for quite a thrilling end to what had already been an eventful day.”

“I would be interested in hearing all the details.”

“Did you take a look through everything I bought?”

He nodded toward the door, where three new customers were just now entering. “There has been no time.”

“After we close, maybe.”

“I will look forward to it.”

As Leah had observed many times in her life, the busier she was, the faster the hours skipped by. This day was no exception. Sooner than she would have believed possible, Annova was stretching her arms over her head and releasing a satisfied sigh. “Closing time,” the older woman said. “Another good day.”

“I think we’ll have to restock half the floor!” Leah exclaimed. It was an exaggeration, but barely.

“I can’t stay,” Annova said. “Zoe has a formal dinner to attend and I promised to get back in time to help her dress.”

Leah made shooing motions toward the street. “You should have told me! You could have left hours ago!”

Annova grinned and ambled toward the door. “Don’t worry so much. Everything is fine.”

Leah laughed and locked up behind her. “I never used to think of myself as much of a worrier,” she said to Chandran. “But then I met Annova. Nothing seems to weigh on her. It makes me want to be coru.”

“I am not sure you should envy her,” he said. “I think she might have earned her light heart through heaviness and grief.”

Leah nodded. She had come to the same conclusion herself. “So, let me show you everything I picked up yesterday and we can figure out what to put on display for tomorrow.”

They passed an agreeable hour sorting through the new acquisitions. Chandran was highly complimentary about the purchases she’d made, giving her background information on some of the Malinquese and Coziquela items that she had bought just because she liked the way they looked or felt.

“Ah—that is a bride’s wedding shawl,” he said, fingering a heavily embroidered length of blue silk from the Karkades. “Very finely made. And look, a groom’s sash to match. These should fetch a handsome price.”

“Yet another prize from Captain Demeset,” Leah said, because she’d already described the man to Chandran in great detail.

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