Brightly Woven

your injuries.”
    “Yes, but how else was I going to keep up with my beautiful, beautiful darling? A wizard can only twist so far.”
    I rolled my eyes.
    “How did you get away from Pascal?” I asked. “He seemed intent on keeping you in Arcadia until you were completely healed.”
    “He’ll be staying with Aphra for a while,” North said.“He’s angry about the entire situation, and I’m sure we’ll both be receiving a few scathing letters from him. But for now, he recognizes that Arcadia needs protection, at least until Dorwan’s been dealt with.”
    “There you two are!” The table shook as Owain’s massive form sat down across from us. I wasn’t sure who was more surprised—North or me. He reached over and took one of the rolls off North’s plate and tore it apart with his teeth.
    “What are you doing here?” North said.
    “I’ve been skulking around here the past three or four days, waiting for the two of you to show up,” Owain said.
    “You couldn’t wait until we were in the city?”
    “That was a rash promise I made,” Owain sighed. “They threw me out of the Wizard Command before I had a second to catch my breath. Not interested in the word of mere humans, I suppose. Figured I would wait until you got here to try again.”
    I cast a sidelong look at North, but he didn’t seem surprised.
    “We’d better head into the city,” he said. “They close the gates at nightfall.”
    “I’ve got Vesta and a wagon ready, though I feel bad about making her haul the three of us,” Owain said.
    “Not to worry,” North said. “I’ve got a horse we can hitch up. It’s tacked up around the corner, brown with white spots. Go ahead. We’ll catch up in a moment.” North nodded in the direction, and the larger man set off.
    I had just enough time to change my clothing before Owain came to find us again. North took my bag as we walked out into the daylight. The wagon that Owain had scrounged up was covered with a patched sheet of linen, but the wood of the bed looked distorted and cracked.
    North set our bags inside the wagon and turned back toward me expectantly.
    “Your book is in my bag,” I said. “I didn’t lose anything, I swear.”
    “No…I know you wouldn’t,” he began. “But where’s your loom?”
    “I had to use the wood for something else,” I said, forcing a smile. “It’s…all right. I don’t think I’ll have much time to weave in Provincia anyway.”
    North held my arm; the expression on his face perfectly mirrored the pain in my heart.
    I hauled myself up into the back of the wagon. North climbed in stiffly, dropping onto the floor next to me. He took the book from my bag and placed it in his own. But when his hand emerged, there was a small velvet bag resting in it. He extended it toward me, unable to mask the slight flush of color high on his cheeks.
    “Open it,” he said.
    “What is this?” I asked warily. The wagon lurched forward.
    “You aren’t one for surprises, are you?” asked North, exasperated. “Just open it!”
    I gave him one more suspicious look before I untied the drawstring.
    The three blue crystals slipped easily from the bag, attached to a small silver chain that coiled in my palm. A bracelet , I thought. The round crystals glowed like tiny stars.
    “When did you…?” I mumbled. My mind had turned to sap. “I don’t…Why…?”
    North scratched the back of his head, looking away from me.
    “Do you like it?” he asked hesitantly. “I’ve had it for a while, but I was waiting for the right time to give it to you. This isn’t the right time, but I’m not sure what’s going to happen over the next few days.”
    “Why are you giving this to me?” I brushed my fingers along the silver chain.
    “Partially as an apology,” North admitted. He smoothed the hair away from my face. “I know it won’t replace your loom, but I swear I’ll build you a new one even better than your last.”
    “This is too nice for me,” I protested. “It must have cost you so much….”
    “May I?” he asked, opening the clasp. When he fastened it around my wrist, an overwhelming feeling of warmth raced through me.
    “Thank you,” North said. “You are the only reason I’ve made it this far.”
    “That’s not true at all,” I admonished him. “You probably would have run into much less trouble without me.”
    “See, that’s the funny thing about trouble,” he said, grinning. “It tends to find you when you go looking for it,