Soul Watchers

“I wasn’t talking about that!” She gestured at him impatiently. “Where did you learn how to speak like that?”

He blinked. “Like what?”

“In that language!”

Damien frowned. “That’s my native tongue, of course.”

Adelphina grew angrier. “You’re a foreigner? And you never thought to tell me?”

Damien bit his lip. “I thought you knew?” When Adelphina glared at him, he shrugged. “I’ve always had an accent. Most people always wondered where I came from. When I first met Nancy, she knew my homeland immediately.”

Adelphina grew red. “I thought you just sounded lower class!”

Damien suddenly scowled. “Well, you were wrong!” When Adelphina glared at him, he crossed his arms. “It’s not like I’ve ever hidden my country. Everyone else knows I’m a foreigner! When I first met Nancy, she knew my homeland immediately. Why, she even connected me with a bunch of ex-pat soul watchers for their club. It was one of my first contracts!”

Adelphina’s eyes widened. “You’re connected to a bunch of ex-pat soul watchers, and you didn’t tell me?” When Damien hesitated, she swore. “I told you when we first met that I thought enemy soul watchers had come and tried to kill my family with poisoned punch. And you didn’t think I’d be interested in knowing about these people?”

When she said nothing, Damien sighed and rubbed his forehead again. “Well, if we’re married, I suppose I should introduce you to my home before I go for the day.”

Adelphina suddenly frowned. “You’re going somewhere?”

Damien nodded. “To work,” he added when she stared at him, confused. “Otherwise, we won’t have any money.”

“Oh,” Adelphina said, blushing. Then, when he frowned, she said, “Money is nice.”

Damien nodded, adding, “I’m a cooper. I’ll be at the shop in town today, in case you need me. Though I’ll probably be busy, since I’m scheduled to work with the new apprentices.” He made a face. “Usually, I can get some of the older apprentices to supervise, but since we’re firing barrels today, the master asked me to watch them directly since he doesn’t want them to burn down the shop.”

Adelphina blinked. “Would they burn down the shop?”

Damien snorted. “Would you trust two fourteen-year-old boys to throw a barrel over a cresset without burning something down?”

Adelphina winced. “I wouldn’t trust a fourteen-year-old boy with anything.”

“Exactly.”

He pulled out a comb from his pocket and swiped it through his hair. Then he glanced at Adelphina sympathetically and put it on the table. “I’ll leave it so you can use it for your hair,” he said, glancing at Adelphina. “I suppose you’ll clean up while I’m gone?”

“Of course,” Adelphina said, shrinking under the blanket and suddenly feeling even more self-conscious.

Damien smiled, looking relieved. “The soap is over here,” he said, grabbing a bar and dropping it on the table. “Just fill the pot and use that to bathe. I have a towel over here you can use to wipe yourself clean.”

She stared at him. “Don’t you have a bathtub?”

“Yes, of course,” he said, then pulled out a small wooden tub that she recognized as a laundry tub. It even had a washboard in it.

Adelphina stared at it, frowning. “Wouldn’t you get splinters trying to bathe in that?”

Damien suddenly looked annoyed. “You’re joking, right?” When Adelphina hesitated, he gritted his teeth. “It’s not my best work, but it does its job fine and I made sure it’s smooth inside. You won’t get splinters.”

He frowned. “Do you want me to fill up the tub and the kettle from the barrel outside, or are you comfortable doing that yourself?”

Adelphina blinked. “Why do we need the kettle?”

“So you can have hot water. Otherwise, the water will feel very cold.”

Adelphina stared at him, feeling stupid, and knew from the look on his face that she was failing every competence test for a simple peasant. “Listen, I had a really bad day yesterday—“

“It’s fine,” he said, waving his hand. “I understand. Here, I’ll get it started for you.” He grabbed some matches next to the fireplace and knelt down, piling up kindling and breathing on the flames until they came to life.

Feeling stupid, Adelphina glanced at the wood lined along the walls. Then she grabbed one piece and handed it to him, smiling. “Here, some firewood.”

Damien glanced at the wood and yelped so loudly she thought he might be in pain. Then he snatched the piece of wood from her hands and glanced at the other wood lined along the wall, swearing. “Did you think this was firewood?” Then he groaned. “Don’t tell me you burnt any of it! I’ll kill myself if you did.”

His response alarmed her. “No, I didn’t start any fire.”

Damien bit his lip and counted the pieces on the wall with a trembling hand. Then, nodding again, he turned to Adelphina. “The firewood is outside. The wood along the walls is not firewood. Do you understand?” He held out the wood. “These are solid oak staves that I collected from a 300-year-old tree that fell on the road during a major storm two years ago. They are worth more than me, at this point. I collected them for my eventual masterwork. So not firewood! Do you understand?”

Adelphina nodded, somehow feeling even more stupid, and squinted at the pieces of wood, which looked completely unremarkable. “Understood. Not firewood.”

“Well, we could have taken a nicer carriage,” Adelphina snapped. “Harriet offered one that looked charming. Besides, this is her mule. You didn’t have to pick the cooper’s cart.”

“You’re the one who wanted to not draw attention,” Damien said. “Besides, I have a delivery to make Monty’s place.”

Adelphina glared at the stack of empty barrels, which were assembled on their sides into a pyramid and strapped onto the flatbed cart, then shifted on her seat. “What did you say this seat was? A treasure chest?”

Damien suddenly laughed. “You can call it that, if you want! It’s my master’s travel toolkit that he lets us borrow on official tasks. If we lose it, he says he owns us until we pay back every cent.”

Adelphina glanced down at it dubiously. “How much are the tools worth?”

Damien made a face. “About five years of savings.”

Adelphina stared at him. “Five years?”

“Well, maybe only two years at my current rates,” Damien said, glancing at the toolbox. “Being a journeyman is nice. Still. It’s basically treasure.”

Adelphina scowled. “Well, it makes a terrible seat.”

She glanced at the muddy road, surrounded by farms, and gestured around her. “Sometimes, I wonder what it might be living like a peasant. It seems a simpler life.”

Damien snorted. “It isn’t.”

“Still, being a cooper is an honest living,” Adelphina said, glancing at his broad shoulders wistfully. “And you don’t have to worry about poisoned punch.”

Damien stopped in his tracks and stared at her. “Do you think I’m a peasant?” When Adelphina hesitated, he groaned. “I’m a tradesman! It’s completely different!”

Adelphina winced. “I’m sorry?”

He tugged Cordelia forward roughly, scowling. “Mind you, as a farmhand, I suppose I was a peasant. But a cooper is a very dignified trade! Why, I bet your palace has a small army of master coopers running about, looking after your wines and ales and making sure your barrels aren’t cracked and leaking all over your cellars.”

“I suppose,” Adelphina said. “Though, that’s not a thing princesses worry about, usually. We generally stay out of cellars.” Then, when he scowled more, she grinned. “Probably a good thing too, if the master coopers are as nice-looking as you.”

Damien suddenly snorted. “Now you’re just teasing me. Master cooper indeed!” He shook his head and laughed. “Maybe one day! That would be nice, wouldn’t it? Though I’m only a journeyman now.”

“What’s the difference?”

Damien rolled his eyes. “It means I can make a barrel, but I’m still poor.”