The Dark Days

Chapter Nineteen

 "This isn't the bracelet you said you'd collect from the back," I said to the store owner. She'd already provided me with the thick tunics and pants, the thick dresses, and three new cloaks. I'd asked her about a silver or bronze bracelet and she'd said she could procure one for me. I'd thought my gold piece was too small for all this but after a look from Druig, apparently, this was enough.

"No, but I found the ladies who make the jewelry and they were able to make this one for you." She said, handing me a velvet pouch. Within it lay a braided black leather bracelet with a plain straight leather band on either side. "This material is durable in this braided form, it will not rust or break. And it will match whatever you wear with it." I intended to give it as a gift to Druig, for everything he'd done for me so far and everything he was yet to do for me.

"Thank you for the effort, truly." I smiled, putting the pouch in my pocket. The shop owner waved me off but I could see the pride on her face, I was another satisfied patron. I left the store and went back to Hank's Lodging. Druig was off on his own again, which was fine by me. It gave me time to pack up our things and wonder how I would present the bracelet to him. I bounced around ideas to myself: should I give it to him over lunch, over dinner, over breakfast, on the road, or back home, or should I give it to him when he walks through the door? In the end, I decided I wasn't brave enough to admit I'd bought him a gift with the money I was meant to spend on my family, I wasn't brave to say aloud that I'd bought him a gift at all. It was extremely unusual for an unwed female to give a gift to a suitor. But he did gift me a dagger, one that was holstered to my thigh, and that was reason enough for me to believe it was okay.

The dagger had been secured to my thigh at Druig's request. No one would see it, so it would always give me the element of surprise if I ever needed it.

The element of surprise, I thought to myself and gingerly placed the velvet pouch inside Druig's bags, beneath his clothes. He'd see the surprise when he got home. And to make sure he knew it was from me, I pulled it out again and out a sprig of lavender in the pouch then planted it back beneath his clothes.

By the time early afternoon rolled around and Druig still wasn't back, I grew worried. I'd been standing on the balcony for hours. The view was amazing, sure, and seeing the beach in the distance brought back fond memories, but I couldn't help the worry that filled me when Druig was still nowhere in sight.

Maybe he'd slipped in while I was distracted by the scads of people below, the blue ocean ahead, or even when I was gazing at the streaking clouds. On that basis, I decided to go downstairs and see if he was perhaps already here, asking Hank about the possibility of late lunch or early dinner. If not, I could do so and then wait in the sitting area for him.

Down the first set of stairs, I went, and then down the second set, I was about to walk into the sitting area, where Hank said he'd spend the day reading when I heard Druig in the dining area. I was right, he'd slipped in while I was distracted.

Excited, I practically skipped into the dining area and stopped abruptly. Druig's back was to me, he was speaking in a hushed tone and Hank's eyes were gold. I very specific shade of gold that his blues eye should not have been. There were no reflective surfaces or gold lanterns lit anywhere near them. Hank's eyes were as gold as Henry's had flashed, as gold as Lord Barrow's had flashed.

Druig handed him three gold pieces that were the same exact shape and size as the pieces I'd found in my fish cage. That I'd found after Druig had pulled it from the river and then refused to take half the gold. As if it were his gold, that he'd placed there for me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, the question coming out in a whisper. Druig flipped around, faster than should be possible, and the moment he saw me the same gold that was in his eyes faded, it faded from Hank's too, and the brilliant blue of Druig's eyes took its place again. Whatever that gold was, he was doing it. I staggered a step back, "What. Are. You. Doing?"