Page 28 of Unraveling Fate

Tuning forks were made of steel, what would someone tune with iron? And with that size? She ran her fingers over it; hum fuzzed over her skin, like a field of static electricity, but no music.

Weird.Cadenza checked over her shoulder, but the family still held Reyna’s attention. She touched the tuning fork again. A thrum danced up her arm, buzzing like some kind of potential energy.

Potential energy, she thought, rubbing the electric feeling off her fingers.Or…potential music?

Had Reyna made this?

Cadenza turned back to face the room. A blonde girl, maybe seven years old, stared at the smith with awe.

“Sure, it’s hard,” Reyna said. “But it feels good too. If I’m frustrated about something I can come into work and pound it out.” She smashed the hammer against the anvil. “But, you gotta have control too.” She made a quieting gesture. “Or you’ll wreck the shape of what you’re making.”

The girl’s parents thanked the blacksmith and ushered their kids to the next attraction. The little girl walked backwards, watching Reyna all the way out the door.

“I think she knows what she wants to be when she grows up,” Cadenza said, approaching the counter.

“Good.” Reyna doused her project in a tub of water. “We need more female smiths. This place”—she nodded around the smithy—“was all men until I bought it out.” She wiped her hands with a rag and pointed to the wares. “Anything in particular you’re looking for today?”

“You, actually,” Cadenza said. “Thomas Learmonth sent me. I’m Cadenza Cavalieri, the other half of your Flower Duet.”

Reyna’s face brightened. “Thomas said you’d be coming by. Reyna Weyland. Just a sec.” She hung up her apron and called to the back of the smithy. “Liesel, you’ve got the front! Be back in a bit.”

She hopped the counter and motioned for Cadenza to follow her out of the barn. “Come on. It’s dinner time and I still haven’t eaten lunch yet. There’s a really cool little tea house up the street. We can grab a bite and talk about rehearsing?”

“Great.” Cadenza jogged a few steps to catch up.

Reyna led them through the park proper and into a neighborhood of historic homes. The tea house sat on a corner, surrounded by flower bushes.

“Garden seating ok?” Reyna asked.

“Sounds lovely.” Cadenza inspected the shop on the way through to the garden. Antique, mismatched tea sets waited on round tables, glass containers of loose-leaf tea sparkled under the lamps, and framed newspaper articles of local ghost stories created instant atmosphere.

“This place is amazing,” she said.

“Right?” Reyna chose a table on the patio and handed Cadenza a menu. “I love it. And, I mean, I love working the forge, but after breathing the fumes all day, coming here is like, ahhhh.” She heaved an exaggerated sigh.

“It smells gorgeous,” Cadenza agreed. The flowers around the patio grew as mismatched as the teacups, rose bushes tangling with masses of hydrangeas.

A server jotted down their order, a hummus and sprouts sandwich with raspberry tea for Cadenza and pot pie with Earl Grey, extra lemon for Reyna.

“So, how did you decide on being a blacksmith?” Cadenza asked. “Is that something you go to school for? Or apprentice to? How does that work?”

“Yeah, they don’t exactly hang posters about it in the school counseling center, do they?” Reyna laughed. “In eighth grade, I signed up for a shop class. First day, I get there, and the rest of the kids are all boys—including the boys who’d been harassing me the whole school year before that. I thought about switching to a different class.” She paused, spinning her water glass on the table. “But then I thought, ‘Maybe I’m tired of running from these brats.’ So I stayed. And besides, my grandpa really wanted a pencil holder for his birthday, so I couldn’t very well disappoint him.” She grinned.

Cadenza laughed and tipped her glass like a toast. “Nice. What happened with the boys?”

Reyna shrugged. “I ended up getting into it with one of them. After the others saw his black eye, they decided I wasn’t worththe trouble anymore. Later on, my history class did a field trip here. I saw the fire, smelled the iron. The way the heat created something new out of raw materials really spoke to me. I talked to the owner about an apprenticeship and worked through that while getting my music degree at Sac State. I bought the owner out a few years ago when he retired.”

The server returned with dinner. “Hummus and sprouts with raspberry.” She set a plate in front of Reyna. “And pot pie and Earl Grey. Enjoy.” She hurried off to another table.

“Close,” Reyna said. “Right food, wrong people.”

“Yeah, dinner rush, I guess. Here, swap me.” Cadenza slid her plate across the table. Reyna reached for her order, and Cadenza’s fingers brushed the back of her hand.

Music shimmered from Reyna’s skin.

The notes jumped, light and plucked, like a mandolin. She moved her hand away to pick up her tea and the music vanished. Cadenza gaped at her, mouth open.

“You alright?” Reyna raised an eyebrow.