Page 28 of Jeweler to the Blessed (Champions of Chaos #1)

I don’t want her to go, but I worry he knows she’s here.

— ALARIC SARE’S LETTERS TO ISABELLE ARKOVA

A s we entered the workshop, I ignored Hart to the best of my ability.

Coffee would help. I slipped behind the curtain to start the fire and fill a pot with water.

My awareness of him, while he paced back and forth in the front, made me uncomfortable.

He was like a caged animal deciding whether to remind his captors of what made him wild.

Whatever internal struggle Hart was fighting, he lost it.

He pushed the gold curtain back, entering the workshop space. “I gave you one instruction.”

That couldn’t have been true. He had given me plenty of instructions. I crossed my arms over my chest, then paused, remembering the stolen ring. I needed easy access to my dagger. My hand hung at my side, and I grazed where my blade rested beneath my skirt.

Hart’s gaze tracked the movement. He crossed his muscled arms over his chest as if to prove he had no interest in reaching for me. “Back to thinking I’m going to take from you, then?”

“I don’t know what to think of you.”

His brow pinched. “What does that mean?”

I pulled Alaric’s design book from my bag and opened it to the page detailing the enhancement design. “Why did you have this on your hand only days ago?”

For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t look. Our gazes locked.

He pulled his hand down his face and looked at the page I pointed to. “I can explain.”

“Can you?”

I wasn’t sure where my confidence came from. If he tried to attack me, he would most certainly win.

“I stole it for the Feared.”

My hand dropped behind me, hoping the stool was where I thought it was before I fell onto it. He’d admitted it. I should be happy. Mostly, I was scared.

“What do you want?” I said with as much strength as I could muster. I’d only get one swing with my dagger. I had to make it count if he approached.

“Fucking Chaos.” He let his hands fall to his side. “I just saved your life. Again. I’m not trying to kill you.”

I knew that was correct, but it didn’t make sense. I wouldn’t be satisfied until he answered it all. “Why? Why not let them have me? Why not kill me yourself?”

He pointed to the street, indicating my attackers. “First of all, those were no Feared I’ve ever seen.” He ran his hand through the strands that fell from the knot at the back of his head. “Second, I’m not going to kill you. I don’t know what else to do to prove that.”

“Why are you helping the Feared?”

He arched a brow. “I’m not sure it matters.”

His anger stoked my own, though I worked to keep my features even. “You’re giving me no reason to trust you!”

He threw his head back and laughed. Still staring at the ceiling, he spoke. “Maybe it’s better if you don’t.”

When his gaze finally returned to mine, his shoulders lowered, and disappointment coated his slow movements. He shook his head, breaking our standoff. “I’ll be outside.”

He exited the building and stood sentry beside the front door.

What was that?

My head spun as the water finally started to boil. I calmed my shaking hands with the familiar ritual of pouring the hot water over the grounds. Hart had told me nothing. He’d admitted my fear but had given no information to help me understand.

He had saved me again, though.

Goddess, I was so sick of him. In no world would I let him weaponize my guilt. Should I ask for another guard? A gnawing in my gut said I didn’t want to, and it stoked my anger all over again.

As soon as the coffee was ready, I took a scalding sip. I was unsurprised when it did not grant its usual calm. Discussing Hart’s motives was exactly the kind of discussion I would usually have with Alaric, but he wasn’t here.

I sighed. My original plan had been to use the time without Hart to search Alaric’s storage room.

The morning had taken a very different shape, but at least Hart stood outside.

He would alert me if anyone tried to enter.

I pulled the curtain closed and set a scene at Alaric’s worktable.

A stack of books, a coffee cup, the stones, and the tools for cutting and shaping.

All evidence I’d been hard at work should I need to let someone in quickly.

I granted myself another sip of coffee before letting myself into the storage room.

The organizational structure likely only made sense to the two of us.

It was first by genre and second by topic.

Champions of Kavios was stacked atop the pile of histories.

Alaric must have put it in his preferred location.

I picked it up and flipped through its pages as I considered what to look for first.

Alaric answered the question for me: a note fell from between the book’s pages, his familiar script evident even in the dim light of the closet-like room.

When I stooped to collect the paper from the floor, the bell rang in the front of the workshop.

Quickly, I slipped the paper back into the book. I would have to come back later. I shut the door and secured the shelf entrance. It looked like nothing was there. Parting the curtain, a group filed into the shop with another guard in the lead. Hart nodded to him as they entered.

I grabbed Alaric’s sketchbook from the workbench and readied for my first customers.

The new guard announced the group. “These are the Selected. They are here to be fitted for the rings.”

Hart slid in the door behind them. No matter how angry he was, he seemed unwilling to leave me in the shop with so many unknowns. I mumbled his favorite curse under my breath as I tried to figure out what to do with him. He stood quietly in the corner, avoiding my gaze.

“Welcome. I’ll be happy to take care of each of you.”

I was unsurprised that three of the four Selected were relatively young. It was just as the miner had guessed—the children of Blessed families would take most of the slots.

The final Selected was a woman in her mid- forties. She looked vaguely familiar, but I didn’t know her name. She had medium brown skin and black hair tied back at her nape. Even through her apparent nerves, her smile lit up the room.

She appeared more than happy to be the king’s rags to riches story, giving the rest of us hope that someday we could be Blessed too.

Nausea roiled in my stomach. How complacent were the citizens in Woodside because of this one opportunity?

I pulled the tray of sizing rings from beneath the counter. “We’ll test these on each of you to see what fits best.”

Alaric’s sketchbook lay open to the pages of the new designs, and I called the first Selected. “Caitlyn.”

The younger woman stepped forward. Her shiny, long blond hair and aquiline nose gave an appearance of wealth. She held her hand over the counter as I slid various-sized rings on to find a fit.

We found one that slid comfortably down her finger. “How does that feel?”

“It doesn’t have a gem.”

I swear I heard Hart’s eye roll from the corner. I wanted to hold his gaze and laugh silently together. Then I remembered his unsatisfactory answers earlier. I wouldn’t let the tension between us break so easily.

I responded to Caitlyn. “This isn’t the final piece. It’s just to get your ring size. You’ll see the final pieces at the Presentation and get to keep them after the King’s Blessing.”

She glared at me as if it were my fault she didn’t know this.

“So, does this feel alright? Is it too tight? Too loose?”

“It’s fine.” She slid the ring off and stepped back into line with the others.

I jotted down her measurements and flipped the page to the next commission. “Deidre. ”

The woman from Woodside stepped forward. “I still can’t believe it was me.”

I slid a ring on her finger, testing the fit.

Deidre glanced around the shop. “Although, you must feel the same, taking over this position.”

My smile was polite. I never wanted it to be me, but she couldn’t know that.

She leaned forward as I tried another size. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. I’m still in shock.”

I tried for a warmer smile. It wasn’t my goal to ruin what little joy this woman had. Even if her choices meant she would be stealing emotions soon enough.

“When did you find out?” I asked, trying to sound interested. “With everything …”

I hadn’t meant to bring up the mass explosion of nightmares either. My small talk could use some work.

She smiled in a way that said she knew I was trying, while I slid another ring on her finger.

“The king’s advisor came to my apartment the following morning. I almost passed out from excitement. I had to go tell the neighbors—tell the whole building!”

The words were out of my mouth before I thought better of it. “What about your family?”

Her smile thinned as she responded to the ring I slid on her finger. “This one fits.”

I noted the size in Alaric’s book.

“My partner died in the mines a few days ago,” she said.

I dipped my chin and remembered the morning earthshake. “I’m so sorry.”

“It makes this even more of a dream come true. I would never have left my Linette. But now that she’s gone?” Deidre shrugged. “What do I have to lose?”

I couldn’t be the only one to realize that the king seemed to pick those most likely to give thanks for the Blessing. More likely, no one cared enough to notice. It was the dream we were sold—the dream that would keep us complacent.

Deidre returned to the others as I called the next name. “Wil.”

The final two sizings were quick. “All set.” I wrote Arthur’s size. “I have everything I need. You all enjoy the Cornucopia tonight, and I’ll get to work.”

The group filed out the same way they’d entered. The bell chimed again as the door closed behind them.

Hart stepped forward. I folded my arms over my chest at his approach. His smile was maybe the first genuine one I’d seen as he took another step toward the counter.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

My mouth hung open. His apology made even less sense than his actions.

“You’ve been through a lot the last few days, and I’m not making it any easier. I’ve helped the Feared before, but as you saw, not all of them are who I thought they were.”

I gave him an assessing stare. “That doesn’t explain why you helped them.”

“And Alaric never explained why he worshiped Eris. We don’t always get to know why. I need it to be enough for now that I’m more interested in your safety than I am in their goals.”

If I wasn’t willing to go to the prince about switching guards, I gave myself no choice but to accept his apology. “Fine.”

He didn’t wear the stolen ring anymore. He must have given it to the Feared. It still bothered me that I didn’t know where his adamas was. It was unusual not to show it. “Where is your adamas?”

He laughed. “I’d rather leave it to your imagination. ”

I hated myself as my gaze roamed his uniform. Even beneath the tight fit, I didn’t see the outline of a stone against his chest.

“See something you like, Chaos?”

My gaze snapped to his face. A smirk curved his lip, and his brow was raised in challenge.

“You shouldn’t call me that.”

He canted his head. Slow steps brought him across the storefront to the counter. He pressed his palms to it and leaned across, his eyebrow still raised. “I find the more I’m around you, the more you inspire it. It suits you.”

I raised both arms and gestured around the room. “It’s still not wise to grant me the credit of a goddess. Better not to tempt fate.”

He laughed again. This one richer and smokier than the hollow ring from our earlier argument. The low rumble did something to me that I was unwilling to examine. “I don’t think she’d mind.”

His words were confident. A truth cementing in place between us that I didn’t understand.