The Reluctant Queen (The Queens of Renthia #2)(26)

As she continued on, she began to relax. It was nice to be out of the house and away from Renet's accusations. By the end of the night, "coward" was the kindest thing he'd called her, as he ranted on and on about how she'd ruined her family's one chance at future happiness.

She wasn't a coward; she was practical. Any overlap between the two was coincidental. Renet was delusional if he thought people like the champion and the guard, whose lives were intertwined with royalty, offered safety and security. In fact, the opposite was true. Look at how many had died during the last trials and during the coronation. All but one.

You could sing all the songs and tell all the stories you wanted about it, but it didn't change the fact that most people who used their power didn't become queens. Most died.

He'd accused her of having no ambition and she wanted to shout right back, You're right! She was a woodswoman, and she liked being one. She didn't want to be anything else. She liked her life, except when Renet decided it would be fun to turn it upside down. She liked her home and her family and her neighbors and the forest and everything exactly as it was, thank you very much. She did not need champions and royal guards squeezing into her warm, snug home, making her children starry-eyed, and encouraging her husband's ridiculous notions.

Yes, she had power. But she didn't have enough power. She wouldn't be one of the few who survived; she'd be one of the many who fell, and what did that gain anyone? Was it worth her death for Renet and the children to live in a bigger house, wear nicer clothes, eat fancier spices, and collect shinier knickknacks? They had everything they needed-a roof over their heads, clothes on their bodies, and food on their table. Why can't he be content with that? I am!

Inhaling the fresh forest air, Naelin steadied herself. She was supposed to be calming down, not riling herself back up. The champion and his companion were gone. Renet would reconcile himself to that, eventually, and life would return to normal. She simply had to be diligent with their protections, and everything would be fine.

Up ahead, she saw the center of Everdale. Colorful tents had been pitched on the platform, and from the sound of it, the spaces between them were already packed with people. She heard voices and laughter overlapping, and she felt safer already. Spirits wouldn't dare attack a crowded marketplace. Joining the flow of shoppers, Naelin stepped onto the platform.

Men and women fell silent as she passed. Heads turned, and eyes tracked her. She heard whispers start up in her wake, and she told herself it was her imagination-they weren't talking about her. She greeted a few neighbors she knew by name as she hurried by, and they warily waved back.

Trying to ignore the stares and whispers, she chose her supplies, haggling only when the miller tried to inflate his price beyond what was reasonable. She handed him a small pile of coins, the bulk of what she'd earned selling her last batch of charms, and he accepted them with a loud moan that she was bankrupting him. She thanked him as if he weren't being ridiculous, and she tucked the sack of flour into her larger pack.



       
         
       
        

Across the market, the town hedgewitch, Corinda, waved to her. "Naelin!" Corinda hurried through the crowd, jostling people out of the way with her plump elbows. "Oh, Naelin!"

"Corinda, I'd been thinking that I should bring you more charms to sell-"

The woman embraced her. "I've been so worried for you!"

Naelin patted Corinda's back awkwardly. All right, that's . . . nice? She wasn't outwardly affectionate with people who weren't her children very often, and Corinda had never greeted her with a hug before. "You have? That's . . ." She searched for the right word. Sweet? Odd? Alarming? "I'm fine. We're all fine. Why would you be worried?"

Corinda leaned close enough for Naelin to smell the honey-bread on her breath and faintly sour sweat on her skin. "Because of them. You know. I was there when Renet told them about you. I tried to shush him, but you know how he is." She hugged Naelin again. "Oh, I thought they'd take you for sure!"

Naelin wished that Corinda wouldn't talk so loud. She glanced right and left-the other shoppers were listening in, and a few didn't bother to hide it. "There's no reason for them to take me," Naelin said in a loud, steady voice. "I have no powers."

"But they think you do," Corinda said. "They've been in town, asking about you."

Naelin felt herself grow cold. I didn't fool them, she thought. I should have known. "I thought they'd left." She pulled away from her friend and glanced through the crowd, half expecting to see the champion and guard watching her. Her skin prickled with goose bumps. "I have to get home."