The Chocolatier's Wife (23 page)

He
reached
through
the
bars and
grabbed
her
arm, stopping
her.
He tugged her closer.

“Tasmin.
No.
I
appreciate
the
thought,
but
consider.
You’ll
be
cheating yourself.
Cheating
yourself
out
of
your
wedding
day,
cheating
yourself
out
of
being
able
to
run.
If
you
wed
me,
and
I
am
executed,
what
will
that
do
to you?”

“It
will
hardly
do
anything
to
me.” She
shrugged
slightly.
“I
shall
just continue
with
the
shop,
as
a
constant
reminder
to
them
of
how
they
wronged us.
Or
I
shall go home.”

“Your
... what
is
it
called,
Council
of
the
Sphere?
Is
that
what
they
call the
leaders
of
your
mages?
That avenue
will
be
closed
to
you. All
you
will be
is
a
professor
teac
h
ing
people
who
don’t
really
want
to
know
how
to
use herbs,
and
I
know
from
your le
t
ters you do not care much for
that life.”

“I
will
find something
else.”
The
truth
was,
the
wife
of
an
executed murderer
wouldn’t
be
allowed
to
teach.
“I
don’t
want
to
miss
my
wedding, either, but we must think
of the practical issues, here.”

He
stepped
back.
“I
will
not
trap
you.”
End
of
the
matter, his
stance said.
But to Tasmin,
it was a
challenge.

“I
am only
an
effective
tool
if
you
allow
me
to
be. I’ve
spoken
to
people all morning.
They won’t
let me do this or
that because I
am
not your wife.”

“Most of those very
things can
be done by my brother.”

“Ah.”

“And what does that mean?”

“It
means
I
understand
and
am
letting
the
subject
drop,” she
said,
a little sharper than
she intended to.

“I
see.”

“It’s
not
like
I
was
trying
to
push
you
into
matrimony.
I
do
not
wish
to force
you
into
something
you
obviously
find utterly
repugnant,”
she
said, feeling a
little peevish.

“Of
course
not,”
he
said,
looking
annoyed. Not
overly,
but
in
his
eyes she could see something.

“It’s
not
like
I’m
dying
with
love
for
you,”
she
said, unable
to
shut
up, pride-stung.

“Of
course
not,
how
could
you?”
It
was
a
simple
statement,
but
something of it smacked of sarcasm.

“As
you
so
keenly
pointed
out,
I
had
my
own
life
that
I
was
living;
I
certainly was not waiting on
you.”

“And
you
certainly
do
not
need
my
troubles,”
he
snapped
back,
sounding a
little
strained.
Another
second,
she
realized,
and
they’d
be
yelling
at
each other like fools.

“Well.”
She
shook her
skirts again. “If
you
determine
a
way
I
can
be
of service,
please feel free to call upon me.”

“Oh,
Tasmin.” He
sighed
and
leaned
his
head
against
the
bars.
“I
just wish to be out.”

She
looked
away,
clearing
her
throat,
trying
to
calm
herself.
She
didn’t understand
any
of
her
thoughts
at
the
moment.
It
all
seemed
so
stupid
and pointless. There was a
tug at her hair,
and
she jumped.

He
was
twining
a
bit
of
her
hair
around
his
fingers. “The
second
I’m free,
truly
free—of
this
place,
of
suspicion—I
am
going
to
marry you.
I’m useless
at
cake-baking, but
I
know
an
icing
recipe
that
I’ve
saved
for
the occasion.”

She
started
to
smile,
but
instead
she
snorted
softly.
“You
don’t see
me holding my breath.
I’m
in
no
hurry
for
that day to come.”

“Perhaps not, but I am. I am ready for it; I’ve been ready to be your husband
for
a
very
long
time.
I
just
wanted
to
be
set
up;
I
wanted
to
know I
could
give
you
a
good
life.
As
far
as
I’ve ever
been
concerned,
the
spell picked exactly the right woman
for
me.
I
never
want you to doubt that.”

She
looked
at
him
again,
her
lips
parting.
“You
are
not
a
man
of
spoken sentiment,
I
know
that
well.
William,
what
do
you
know?
Did
they
tell
you something terrible?”

He
shook
his
head
slightly.
“Listen.”
The
bells
were
ringing,
hard.
They were
being
rung
out
of
time,
and
sounded
garish.
The
prison
guards
opened the door and
came down the corridor.

“No,”
she said.

“Hush.”
William went
over
to
the
other
cell
wall.
“Goodbye,
old
man.” The
lead
guard
stopped
at
the
neighboring
door
and
eased
the
mad man out,
into
the
corridor,
and
away.
“At
least
he
won’t
know
what
hit
him,
not really.
Maybe his family will be waiting.”

She
reached
through
the
cell
bars
and
took
his
hands. The
bells continued to clang.

“They’ve set
the
date
for
your
trial,
haven’t
they?”
She
felt
terribly under-prepared.

“My
trial
starts
soon. My
father
read
the
investigation
report
this morning.” The
bells
stopped
abruptly.
“They
have
no
other
suspects.
The report says it is very
likely that the bells will toll for
me in
two days time.”

Chapter
10

Ferou tenth, Sapphire Moon Quarter 1788

Dear
William,

Here,
at
last,
is the
amulet I
promised you.
I
beg
you
to wear it well.
A
thing
you
should know about
amulets is that
iron can harm them.
Try
not to leave
it in direct co
n
tact
with such
metal. Copper, brass, gold and silver seem all to be fine.