Chapter 216 — You Can Come for Me
The bracelet survived flour.
Nia discovered that the next morning when she looked down and found a pale streak across the blue-green shell. She rubbed it away with her thumb before reaching back into the bowl.
Across the kitchen, Shen glanced at her wrist. “You nearly put the bracelet into the dough.”
Nia denied coming anywhere close while wiping another trace of flour from the shell.
Shen smiled and returned to the bundle of dried leaves he was sorting near the end of the worktable. His white hair had been tied away from his face, though one loose section had escaped near his temple. He pushed it back with the side of his wrist rather than touch it with fingers carrying leaf dust.
Nia finished working water into the flour mixture. The bracelet shifted against her skin when she turned the dough. She had considered taking it off before starting breakfast, but flour washed away easily enough.
Shen divided the last of the leaves between two piles.
Nia scraped dough from her fingers and rinsed her hands. “Do you know where Kael is?”
“Western rise. Selvan wanted him to look at the lower brace before they moved another load over it. He should be back before midday.”
Nia dried her hands and reached for the knife.
“You're thinking about Ren.”
She stopped cutting long enough to look at him. “You could have let me get there myself.”
Shen smiled.
Nia covered the dough with cloth and moved to the small pot warming near the side of the fire. The smell of chopped herbs and yesterday's broth rose with the steam while Shen carried the sorted leaves to their storage jars.
“Do you think Ren always needs a reason to come here?”
Shen fitted the first lid into place. “He usually has one.”
Nia waited rather than accepting the answer.
He pressed the lid firmly into the jar before reaching for the second. “A reason gives him something to stand behind until he decides whether he wants to step out from behind it.”
That sounded enough like Ren that Nia could picture his smirk.
“He wasn't hiding much yesterday. He brought me a bracelet and told me he thought of me when he saw it.”
Shen's brows lifted slightly. “That is unusually efficient for him.”
Nia laughed.
Shen sealed the second jar. “What are you trying to decide?”
Nia traced the edge of the shell bead with her thumb. “I think I've been letting him come closer without actually telling him he can.”
“He has been careful.” Shen folded the empty leaf cloth along its old creases. “More careful than I expected. I thought he would talk himself into trouble before now.”
Nia smiled because she could still imagine Ren managing exactly that.
Shen set the folded cloth aside. “You don't owe him an answer because he gave you something, and you don't owe Kael or me the answer we might prefer.”
Nia crossed the kitchen and kissed his cheek.
Shen turned his head before she could move away and caught the corner of her mouth instead.
She laughed against him. “Cheater.”
His hand rested briefly at her waist before he released her and returned to the jars.
Nia went back to the dough.
By late afternoon, word reached Hearthfang that Ren had caught the bark seller at the next eastern meeting point. The seller had mixed stock from two legitimate drying houses after one failed to fill the promised quantity. Ren kept the seven packets that matched the original agreement and refused the other five.
Tovin complained about the delay while checking a stack of incoming storage trays.
Nia lifted another tray. “Would you have accepted the other five?”
“No.”
“Then Ren made the right choice.”
Tovin muttered something about efficiency as he took the tray from her.
“You just wanted it settled faster.”
“Obviously.”
The bracelet tapped against the tray's edge. Tovin glanced at it before inspecting the underside.
“Good binding.”
Nia narrowed her eyes at him and went for the next one.
Ren returned the following afternoon.
Nia was farther uphill with Mari, helping sort storage covers after one household found a sour smell in a newly stacked bundle. Damp cord packed against the folded material had caused the problem, and Mari was separating the affected lengths when a young household male came up the path.
“Nia, Ren is below. Tovin said he has the bark answer.”
“Thank you.”
The boy ran back down the path.
Mari pulled another damp cord free. “Go. I can finish these.”
Nia looked at the small pile between them.
Mari was already reaching for another length. “I'll be done before you walk back up here.”
Nia tossed the dry cord in her hand onto the finished pile and headed downhill.
The lower shelter was busy when Nia reached it. Two households were dividing a delivery of woven mats near the entrance, and Tovin had claimed the middle of the long table for the accepted bark packets.
Ren stood across from him.
Road dust covered his boots. His dark-red hair had been retied after travel, but the knot sat lower and looser than usual. A narrow crease marked one side of his coat where a carrying strap had pressed into it, and his tail hung behind him without its usual lazy movement while Tovin checked the final count.
Ren looked tired, though his expression changed when he saw her approaching.
Nia joined them and looked over the seven packets on the table. “So you found him.”
“I did. He was less dishonest than careless about what he thought he could change without telling me.”
Tovin's snort suggested a less charitable description.
Nia touched one of the packet ties. “And the money for the other five?”
“Back where it belongs.”
“Good.”
Ren looked mildly offended that she had checked.
Tovin gathered the accepted packets. “Shen needs to inspect these before anyone uses them.”
“I'll tell him.”
Ren's gaze dropped briefly to the bracelet before returning to her face. Tovin carried the packets toward the storage side of the shelter.
Nia stayed beside Ren. “Are you leaving again?”
“Eventually. I have a worker meeting me at the lower road before evening.”
Another legitimate piece of business had brought him to Hearthfang.
“Come with me.”
Ren's brows rose, but he followed when she turned toward the upper path.
She led him only as far as the wider ledge above the lower market row. The trade shelter remained visible between the stone rises, though its noise softened at that distance.
Ren had stood there with her before. This time he stopped beside her without waiting for directions.
Nia rested her hands against the low stone edge. Below them, a worker carried folded mats away from the shelter while two women claimed the space Tovin had cleared. Someone farther down argued about the number of storage jars delivered that morning.
Ren waited beside her without filling the silence.
Nia looked at him. Fatigue still showed around his amber-brown eyes, but his attention remained fixed on her.
“How long before you have to meet your worker?”
“A little over an hour.”
That gave her more than enough time.
Ren's ears angled toward her when she turned to face him fully.
“I've been thinking about yesterday.”
“That sounds dangerous for me.”
“Probably, but I mean it.”
The teasing eased from his face.
Nia took a moment before speaking again. “You don't need to find business here every time you want to come.”
Ren stilled.
Someone called for Tovin below them, but neither turned toward the voice.
“If you have business, do your business,” Nia continued. “I'm not asking you to stop working or start making pointless trips. But if you want to see me, you can come to see me.”
His smirk disappeared.
Ren searched her face. “Be careful. I might believe you.”
“You're supposed to.”
His expression shifted, but Nia kept going before he could hide behind another answer.
“I'm saying you can court me.”
Ren stared at her.
“I don't know where it's going yet. I'm not promising you a bond or a place in my household. But I like you, and I want to find out where this goes.”
His tail moved slowly behind him.
“You're certain?”
“Yes.”
Ren studied her for another moment before a quieter version of his usual smile appeared.
“I am a merchant, so part of me wants to make this sound like a formal agreement.”
Nia laughed. “There is no contract.”
“I know.” His smile softened. “I also know what you're offering.”
Ren glanced toward the lower shelter before looking at her again. “So I can come because I want to see you.”
“Yes.”
His ears tipped forward.
Nia smiled. “You look surprised.”
“I thought you might eventually say yes.”
“You brought me a bracelet. You weren't that patient.”
“The bracelet did not demand an answer.”
Nia looked at him for a moment, then stepped nearer and reached for his hand.
His gaze dropped as their fingers met, and his hand closed around hers.
They stood that way while the ordinary sounds of Hearthfang carried up from below. Someone dragged a basket across stone. A woman called for another length of cord. Tovin's voice rose above someone else's before disappearing into the rest of the market noise.
Ren's thumb moved once across the side of her hand.
After a while, Nia looked toward the descending path. “Your worker is waiting.”
“I know. I was enjoying the part before I had to leave.”
“Enjoy it while walking.”
His laugh was quiet.
Nia squeezed his hand once before letting go.
Ren drew a slow breath and adjusted the strap across his chest. “I'll see you again soon.”
“You'd better. Now go meet your worker.”
His smirk returned before he headed down the path.
He had barely reached the lower shelter when Tovin stepped into his path and held up one of the bark packets.
Nia laughed from the ledge as Ren stopped and took it from him.
Ren https://imgur.com/a/xW7PL2K