“What?” She hadn’t heard the answer he gave her.
“Girl.” The man she’d come to know as Xander over the last few weeks leaned the broom against the stone wall and rounded the small wooden tables separating them. He folded himself into a chair that was entirely too small for him. “I wouldn’t begin to guess what a girl like you was doing spending every day out here in the city without an escort.”
“A girl like me?” She grimaced. “What does that mean?”
“A richie.” Adamina singsonged as she bounced from the kitchen at the back of the small tavern. At this early hour, Brea was their only patron.
“Hey, Mina.” Brea gave her a little wave.
Mina set a bowl of sugared oats in front of Brea and another before her father.
Brea took a bite, savoring the simple fare that was a world away from the more robust foods of the palace. “How do you know I’m a…”
“Richie?” Mina crossed her arms over her petite frame. She looked nothing like her larger father. Brea had learned weeks ago that it was just the two of them. Mina’s mother died in childbirth. “It’s the clothes. You won’t find cloth as fine as yours here in the city except on the backs of nobles. Tell us, Brea, which family do you belong to? Is it the Wilsons? They’ve always been so secretive, though Viscount Wilson gets pretty chatty in here over his cups.”
Brea shook her head.
Mina’s eyes lit up, and she flicked them to the cup in front of Brea. “Oh, it’s the Robinsons, isn’t it?”
Brea almost spat oats across the table. How did they know?
Mina kept talking. “The Robinson clan is the wealthiest in the city.”
Oh. Brea released a breath. There was a clan of that name in the fae world.
“That’s why you enjoy Eldur beans so much. They control the Eldur bean trade.”
“Eldur beans?” Brea stared down into the dark molten heaven in her cup. The lie she’d forgotten everyone seemed to be in on. “I was told there wasn’t such a thing as coffee.”
“I don’t know what coffee is, but even as a Robinson clan member, you wouldn’t drink Eldur bean brew.” She leaned in, dropping her voice. “It’s a commoner’s drink.” Her nose wrinkled. “But if you ask me, it’s much better than the tea all you richies drink.”
“Adamina,” Xander chastised. “That is enough. I don’t smell the day’s bread baking in the kitchen yet.”
She held her hands in front of her chest. “I know. I know.” She shot Brea a wink. “We won’t tell your brothers of your taste for Eldur brew when they come in seeking ale this evening.” She bounced away, her bright red hair flowing out behind her.
Xander scrubbed a hand across his face and leaned back in his chair. Now that Mina pointed it out, Brea could see the differences in how these people dressed. Instead of the colorful silks and soft linens used for clothing at the palace, they adorned themselves in worn woolen tunics with no hint of color.
“Please forgive Mina for her intrusiveness.”
Brea shrugged. “I’d be curious about me too.” She drained the rest of her Eldur brew. “Am I really not supposed to be drinking this stuff?”
Xander eyed her, his gaze shrewd. “If you were really of the Robinson clan, you’d know the expectations of society. Brea, you are not much older than my own daughter, and I like you.”
“Um… thanks?”
“But you are here every morning by yourself. Women of an obvious higher station are targets in this part of the city and must be careful.”
Brea tried to see the city as he did. In truth, she loved traversing the streets and wandering through markets full of life. It took her mind from the fact that Lochlan and Finn had been gone for three weeks without so much as a word.
Xander sighed. “Do you not have people worried about you?”
She thought of the woman she’d recently learned was her mother, but Queen Faolan had no time for her when the real people she cared about were gone.
Queen Tierney tried, but there was only so much kindness a person could take before they broke. Well, if that person was her.
“Do you want the truth, Xander?”
He nodded.
“Okay.” She sucked in a breath, preparing herself. “I was a prisoner in Fargelsi for weeks. The queen wouldn’t let me leave, forcing me to escape through the swampy Vatlands where I came face to face with creatures I couldn’t even begin to describe. Finally, I reached Captain O’Shea’s camp and saved them all from a terrible fate.” A little fib never hurt anyone. “I had to fend off enemies from Iskalt and protect the soldiers, eventually taking a sword to the shoulder. It hurt, but not as much as letting the Captain suffer.” She released a fake sob.
Xander stared at her, his mouth dropping open as she continued to sniffle.
“I knew it!” Mina’s squeal came from the kitchen doorway. “We all heard about the girl who escaped Fargelsi, and then you turn up, a stranger in our city.”
“But you thought I was a Robinson.”
She laughed, the sound holding a musical quality. “I’ve known the Robinsons since I was a child. They are frequent visitors to the tavern. You don’t carry their ghastly looks.” She giggled behind her hand. “I just wanted to pull the truth out of you.”
Xander looked from Brea to Mina. “I didn’t hear of an escaped prisoner.”
“That’s because you never leave this box of a tavern, papa.” She plunked herself down across from Brea. “Did you really save Lochlan?” She sighed. “Have you seen his eyes when his magic rises? They’re like an icy spear straight to my heart.”
Xander scowled. “Mina, that is the queen’s man.”
Ignoring Xander, Brea leaned across the table toward Mina. “Did you know he reads?”
Mina fanned her face. “Oh my.”
Brea laughed at the younger girl, enjoying the lightness of the moment. Usually when she thought of Lochlan, it was with a mixture of annoyance and worry. It felt good to chat with Mina as if she were just a friend. Maybe she could be.
Xander pushed his chair back and stood. “Guess I’m making the bread,” he grumbled.
Mina ignored him. “So, you live at the palace?”
“Only because they don’t know what to do with me.” Half-truths. That wasn’t the reason she was there, but it didn’t change how little she fit in those gilded halls with people who rarely smiled.
At least when Griff was lying to her, he made her feel like she belonged.
After telling Mina all about what the palace was truly like, Brea looked up to find patrons walking through the front door looking for their lunch.
“Crap, I’ve been here all morning.” She jumped to her feet.
Mina stood. “Papa is going to be angry with me, but I do hope we see you tomorrow, Brea.”
Brea nodded. In truth, she couldn’t wait. The city and this tavern kept her heart beating when it wanted to freeze in her chest. With a wave goodbye, Brea stepped out onto the busy street. Sandstone buildings rose up before her, each more boring than the next. It wasn’t the mundane architecture of the lower city that breathed life into everything around her, it was the people.