I stare down at the cast-iron pot in my hand and sigh.
It feels silly, thinking that if I could make art again, it would somehow be of assistance against the oncoming war that simmers. But in the art district, even the smallest pieces of beauty can bring joy to the downtrodden. Besides, don’t they send minstrels out to war to lift the spirits of the soldiers?
I pile my finished pot atop the heap and start on the next.
Thankfully, Asha arrives around lunchtime to save me from completing the rest of my cast-iron pots.
She pokes her head into the workshop, crinkling her nose in displeasure at the scent of soot and enamel.
“Is it that time already?” my father asks, jumping up in delight to greet the Queen of Naenden. “Time just flies when you’re lost in a train of thought.”
Queen Asha curtsies to my father, and a bashful look overtakes his face. He and my mother took to Asha immediately, which I find hilarious, since my father initially pitied the girl who had ended up the sacrificial bride to the Naenden king. I’m not sure how Asha was before, but she certainly doesn’t give off the aura of someone to be pitied. Even with the missing eye and the scars, there’s a self-deprecation about her that’s charming. One I somehow missed upon our first meeting.
She seemed so much older than me then, regal of sorts, but I’ve come to realize it was just part of the role of queen she plays.
In the end, Queen Asha isn’t above jokes that most would consider below her station, and my parents love her for it.
“For Jethro,” Asha says, pulling a parcel that smells of freshly baked bread from her pocket and handing it to my father.
Okay, so perhaps the baked goods that Asha never fails to pick up from Forcier’s on the way are what endear her to my parents. But who can blame them?
My father opens the parcel, revealing marbled sweet bread, his favorite. You have to stand outside of Forcier’s for an hour before he opens if you want a chance of getting any before the crowd devours it.
“You’re my favorite queen; did you know that?” my father asks, his brown eyes lit with joy at the scent of the loaf.
A bemused smile touches Asha’s lip. “I’ll happily assume that position while we’re waiting for Ellie to become a queen herself.”
“Yeah, well, we both know that’s never going to happen,” I say, happily taking the parcel Asha hands me. “My father-in-law is immortal, remember?”
Asha shrugs. “You never know. Being a heartless boor might wear him out one of these days.”
“Asha,” I say, though in truth it would be nice to speak as freely as she does. There are only so many disparaging comments I can make about my own father-in-law and remain on his good side.
“What?” Asha says, pulling out her favorite order, a sticky flaxseed cake, and munching on it. “A girl can hope, can’t she? Mind if I borrow Ellie for a little while?” Asha asks my father, as she always does, even though the answer is always the same—a bit of effortless grumbling about how perhaps he could spare his daughter if the queen truly needed me.
She grins and nods her head before ambling out into the yard.
I can’t help but laugh at Asha’s attire. It’s burgeoning upon summer in Dwellen, though you can’t tell based on Asha’s clothing choices. She’s taken to sweaters, having amassed a collection of them during her stay in Othian.
I’m not sure how she isn’t sweating, though I suppose Naenden is so torrid in comparison that she truly can’t stand to be out in normal clothes, even on the warmest of days.
“They’re like wearing a hug.” Asha gestures down to her knit sweater, as if reading my thoughts.
“You don’t strike me as someone who likes hugs,” I say, walking alongside her down the cobbled streets of Othian.
There’s a glint of mischief in her eyes when she says, “I’m not. That’s why I said they’re like wearing one.”
I’m not exactly sure why Asha makes the journey out of town to interrupt my sessions with my father every day, except that we’re both missing our husbands terribly and need a distraction from their absence.
We haven’t received word from them in over two months, and though that’s easily explained by the late-season snowstorm that has blocked the roads out of Mystral, it’s still unnerving not to have any contact with them.
I suppose we both needed a distraction.
Especially Asha, who has been screaming out in the middle of the night, awakened by cruel nightmares.
I unwrap the scone Asha got for me, but as soon as I bring it to my nose, another wave of nausea rolls over me. I wince, which Asha catches immediately with her discerning eye.
“Is it moldy?” she asks, peering over my shoulder to look at the pastry.
“No, I just…” I trail off. “I think it’s making me sick, not hearing from Evander.”
Asha nods. “I get pretty vomitty when I’m anxious.”
So I’ve heard. The Queen of Naenden is rather known for her tumultuous stomach, though I think it improper to mention as much.
I change the subject. “Your nightmares seem to be getting worse,” I say, which comes out not at all as the prying, gentle question that I intended. Fin is officially assigned to check on Asha during the night, but I try to relieve him when I can. The need for my presence is becoming more frequent.
If Asha is disturbed by my bluntness, she doesn’t show it. “My magic is having a hard time right now. Hearing that his sister is wreaking havoc has sent him on a bit of a frenzy.”
She doesn’t seem all that upset about it, and if she did, it’s more like she feels pity for the parasite inside her, rather than resentment.
“You don’t get tired of it?” I ask. “Him projecting his fears onto you?”
She shrugs. “I figure he’s gotten the nasty end of plenty of my less than pleasant emotions. Besides, I don’t know how much better the nightmares would be, even if he wasn’t affecting them. They aren’t all about his sister.”
She trails off and bites her lip. I wait for her to finish, to explain what exactly torments her in the middle of the night, but if she was going to tell me, she doesn’t get the chance.
We pass Forcier’s, the scent of lemon scones wafting from one of my favorite establishments in the city. Nausea churns through me, and I hardly make it to the adjacent alleyway before I vomit all over the street.
