She Was Supposed to Stay Broken, So I Let Her Think She Had novel · Chapter 14 of 40

Chapter 14: The Name Beyond the Border

Dov presses a warm cup into my hands. 'You have been staring at that bread as if it filed a complaint. Eat before it wins.'

The old rubbing lies beneath her other hand on the apothecary table. I take a piece of bread, glad for the warmth and for the ordinary task of chewing while Kael waits beside the worktable.

'We have orders to fill,' Dov says. 'If you plan to admire the cup, tell me what to charge it.'

'I will start with the cough mixture. The man who collected it yesterday needs the lower dose. His notes say he took the old amount.'

Dov sets a bottle by my elbow. 'And you remember which one he is?'

'Yellow scarf. Coins in a tobacco tin. He says he hates honey, then buys the honey drops.'

'His marriage may be beyond my skill. The dose is not.'

I smile into the cup. The warmth settles in my hands, and for a moment the summons waiting for me beyond this room feels farther away. I let the moment stay.

Kael pulls a stool back from the table but waits for me to look at him before sitting. He has not asked whether I want him here. He is leaving the choice with me.

'You asked what I planned to do today,' I say. 'I plan to work here. Then I will decide what the summons requires of me.'

'I can stay while you work. If you would rather I leave, I will.'

His answer arrives a fraction late. I focus on him, and an amber shimmer gathers around his head.

'You are waiting for her to ask you to go,' his thought runs beneath the spoken words. 'Do not make her carry that too.'

The shelves, stove, and Dov's low song vanish from hearing. His thought holds in full color. I let the silence end without answering what he has left unsaid.

'You can stay,' I say. 'Do not turn that into permission to manage me.'

'I know. You decide what I do here.'

'Good. It saves time when people understand things the first time.'

His mouth shifts at one corner. 'I have heard that advice before.'

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