Rahel twisted her fingers together and glanced at the entrance again. “Quickly, then. What can I help you with?”
Ari couldn’t exactly say “Good morning. I want to know how to stop a powerful fae who happens to live in Kosim Thalas. Can you help?” Not without starting rumors that she couldn’t afford Teague to hear. Not until she really did have the ability to stop him from hurting her brother.
Pasting a smile on her face, Ari said, “I’m researching Llorenyae, specifically the fae and any lore surrounding them. I have storybooks of fae myths, but I’m more interested in the actual history of the fae.”
Rahel frowned as she examined her shelves. “Thirty-nine Summer Nights?”
“I have that one.”
“Magic in the Moonlight: A Nursery Primer?”
“I have that one too. I don’t want a storybook. I want a history book. Something that will separate fact from fiction when it comes to the fae,” Ari said.
Rahel ran her hands down the spines of the books in front of her. “There is one book, Leabhar na Fae. Have you heard of it?”
Ari shook her head.
“I’m not surprised.” Rahel left the shelves and walked to her desk, casting another glance at the doorway. Ari followed her gaze but saw nothing unusual in the street beyond. “Leabhar na Fae means ‘Book of the Fae.’ There are only three copies in existence, and two of those are in Llorenyae. One in the Summer Court and one in the Winter Court. The third copy is owned by a collector of rare antiquities in Balavata. He won’t sell the original to you, but his daughter has transcribed a copy that can be borrowed for a fee. Would you like me to order it for you?”
“And it isn’t a story? It’s factual?” Ari asked.
“It’s the history of the fae since time began. Of course, the language in the first quarter or more of the book is so archaic, it’s nearly impossible to understand unless you are a scholar of all things fae, but the latter part of the book is quite informative, I’m told. It contains the usual lore—fae substituting their changeling babies for human babies, humans killing younger fae with iron, the great war between the Summer and Winter courts—”
“Anything about using bloodflower against them?” Ari asked. “Bloodflower and iron together?”
Rahel’s pleasant expression dimmed into something alert and watchful. “May I ask why you’re looking into bloodflower and iron, Your Highness?”
Ari shrugged and tried to sound casual. “Just taking precautions. I’ve heard there’s a powerful fae living in Súndraille. He makes deals with people and I thought . . . Are you all right?”
Rahel’s face had gone clammy, and she looked faintly sick.
“Rahel? Did I say something wrong?” Ari asked.
“Why are you asking these questions, Your Highness?” Rahel sounded shaken.
Ari tried to sound casual. “I’ve heard rumors, and I just wanted to see if they were true.” When Rahel didn’t look convinced, Ari rushed on. “The king needs to know if we have a fae living among us, making deals with his subjects. I’ve heard the name Teague—”
“Don’t make a wish, Your Highness. It’s not worth it. It never is.” Rahel leaned across her desk, her voice trembling. “There isn’t anything you want that could be worth the pain of dealing with the Wish Granter.”
Ari blinked. “Um . . . I’m not talking about the Wish Granter. I’m not interested in children’s stories. I was talking about a creepy little man named Teague.”
Rahel drew back, straightening parchment on her desk with fingers that shook so much she knocked the parchment to the floor. Her voice was a whisper. “All fae myths are based in fact, Your Highness. Teague is the Wish Granter, and you would do well to stay far away from him.”
Ari frowned. It was difficult to accept that the horrible stories Thad’s nanny, Babette, had told the twins about the Wish Granter were real, but it was clear Rahel believed she was telling the truth. And it was equally clear that Teague had powerful magic and had come to an agreement with Thad.
Maybe that meant Thad had made a wish, though she couldn’t imagine what he’d want badly enough to get involved with a creature like Teague.
Rahel was still waiting for Ari’s reply.
“I’ll stay away from Teague,” Ari said. At least until she was prepared to force him to release her brother from his debt. “Please do order the book for me. When will it be in?”
“Four or five weeks.” Rahel looked past them to the city street outside her door. “You should leave now. Go back to the palace. This isn’t a day for marketing.”
Ari examined the street as she and Cleo left the bookshop and turned right to walk the three blocks to the spice merchant. It was still somewhat crowded, though there were more men than women entering the shops, which was different from their usual market day. Still, Ari saw nothing to explain Rahel’s nervousness.
“She was acting strangely today,” Cleo said, shoving an errant curl out of her eyes as their guards fell in step behind them.
“She obviously knows enough about Teague to be afraid of him.” And she’d unwittingly given Ari a new piece of information—the name Wish Granter. Ari had never actually believed a powerful fae had been exiled to Súndraille and went around granting your deepest desires at a terrible price. But Rahel wasn’t a liar, and Ari had seen Teague’s magic with her own eyes, right after he discussed the bargain he’d made with her brother.
What had Thad wished for? And what was the price he’d agreed to? Dread curled in her belly, heavy and cold.
“Rahel was acting strangely even before you brought Teague up,” Cleo said, interrupting Ari’s thoughts.
Pushing her questions to the back of her mind, Ari looped her arm through Cleo’s as they turned north and picked up their pace. “Maybe because if Mama Eleni finds out Rahel helped us while we were at the market without permission, Rahel will need to go into hiding in Balavata to survive.”
“I concede the point. Now slow down. Not all of us are blessed with legs up to our chins.”
Ari shortened her stride and reviewed the assets she had in her secret battle against Teague. Iron being fashioned into weapons by the new weapons master. A book on order that contained the entire history of the fae and hopefully their weaknesses. Or at least the weaknesses of the Wish Granter. And soon, if her luck held, she’d have some ground bloodflower.
Teague had crossed the wrong family this time.
“There really are a lot of men on the street today,” Cleo said as they turned onto the road that ran by the spice shop. “And they don’t seem to be shopping.”