Page 27 of A Fable of Riddles and Redemption

Herrick stepped inside, noting the flawlessly clean floor and lack of broken pottery.

“How can I help—oh, it’s you.” Zorina’s words had started out friendly, then flattened at the sight of him.

“Thanks,” he returned in an equally flat tone.

Her brows knit together, confusion evident in her expression. “Why are you here? Anala can’t return to smash Jurian’s pots—much to his glee—so you have no need to investigate the shop anymore.”

Herrick frowned. “That’s not why I came.”

Zorina pursed her lips as she assessed him. “Why, then?”

His stomach churned at the question. He had so many inquiries to make himself that it seemed hypocritical of him to dread hers in return.

Swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, Herrick asked, “What do you know of Caliban?”

She tilted her head. “Caliban? That masked piper who sent the red pandas away?”

No more words were forthcoming, so he nodded, not knowing how else to respond.

Zorina shrugged. “Nothing, really. I only know what I saw—what everyone else in Adael apparently saw. This strange mage in a mask popped up out of nowhere, played his flute, cast some magic, and now the red pandas stay outside of the city.”

Herrick wasn’t fully convinced that that was all she knew. “Have you ever seen him before?”

With a shake of her head, she answered, “No. Why?”

It took him a minute to decide how exactly to express his concern. “He seemed inordinately interested in you. Caliban noticed you when he first arrived in town, and don’t think I didn’t see how he stared at you after performing his spells.”

Zorina gave another shrug at his words. For the most part, she seemed to not care—and it was likely her intent to come off as unbothered—but he could see the tension in her posture all the same. “So he stared at me a couple of times. What, are you jealous?”

“N-no! Of course not!” The heat in his cheeks and the sudden pounding of his heart said otherwise, but he refused to admit it.

She smirked, clearly not believing him, before her expression shifted to a mix of confusion and curiosity. “Then why does it matter?”

Herrick frowned again. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t think much of it—” He paused at the outright lie before continuing, “—if he hadn’t directly asked about you as well.”

Zorina stared at him with wide eyes as she paled. “Wha—why?”

It was Herrick’s turn to shrug. “I don’t know. You tell me.”

Part of him felt an immense satisfaction at possibly catching her in a lie. But the prevailing emotion that washed over him was anxiety for her safety. Undoubtedly, something worried her about this Caliban as well.

Was it because she knew him?

Or because she seemed to fear attention from almost everyone?

She stared at him in silence for so long, he wasn’t sure if she would answer. But at last, she opened her mouth and spoke. “I’ve never met the man. Why in the Realms would I know why he was staring at me? Or asking about me? What did he ask, anyway?”

Herrick lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “Merely the identity of the woman with me.”

Zorina folded her arms across her chest. “Sounds like he was simply making small talk.”

“I’d agree with you if not for the way he stared at you both times.”

“Maybe I reminded him of someone he once knew, then.” She appeared uneasy at her own suggestion. Perhaps she had an idea of who it could be—maybe someone from her past, despite her claim that she didn’t know the man.

“Are you certain you don’t know him?” he asked again, just to be sure—and to give her a chance to come clean if she had, indeed, lied about it.

Zorina shot him a recalcitrant look. “I already told you I don’t. Everything I know about him is what everyone in Adael witnessed. Until yesterday, I had never seen him before in my life. Nor had I heard of him prior to his arrival. If you don’t believe me, that’s your problem—and it’s a waste of time to ‘investigate’ me about this further. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a shop to close up for the day.”