“Excuse me,” came a silky-smooth voice that sent heat through her entire body. “Do you know where I can find the weapons master?”

Rose finished her scan of the active market to see if she could see Arie flying off somewhere, then took in the newcomer standing in front of her booth.

“Can I help you with something?” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. She had little tolerance for those who assumed she couldn’t be the weapons master, but it served her current purpose.

“I don’t think so.” He let his lip curve, easing over his initial harsh expression, drastically changing the man before her. He had olive skin, dark black hair, and a face that was all hard lines and sharp features. But the smile he presented was the real weapon. It was meant to disarm and entice, and she dug her nails into her palm behind her stall to stop the effect from taking over. “I need to speak with the weapons master. It’s an urgent matter.”

It was unlikely a handsome human could have this type of effect on her. She took a deep breath and tried to sort out what this meant. She couldn’t panic. She’d interacted with fae before. She’d just not encountered many in Bury, even with the draw of the mythical lake. That was part of the reason she settled here. The area had a wild magic that the fae tended to avoid.

“I am sorry,” she replied, her face lighting up as she leaned into the ruse of falling for his allure. “I’m the only one here. If it’s urgent, you should give me some details, and I can see how I can help.”

His eyes darkened, pinching in a small movement that most would have missed. He sighed as he clearly wanted something and saw no other options. “I’d like to place a custom order.”

Well, that was interesting. Rose took custom orders, but few knew it, and she didn’t take them from just anyone. This meant someone sought her for her ability to imbue weapons with magic—a weapon tailored to their fae court.

No one in Bury knew she could forge magical weapons.

Weapon makers like her were more sensitive to the magic around them. They could push and shape it into a weapon. Not only did these weapons make the wielders incredibly powerful, but understanding a magic’s source, a fae court’s element, meant a trip to Compass Lake, which she avoided like the plague of mist.  

Though this at least helped explain why a fae stood before her. More curious now, she continued to survey her customer. He was tall and lean, though he didn’t appear overly muscled. She could tell by how he held himself that his body was dangerously honed, a weapon to be used, just like his smile.

She stared hard into his eyes, such a dark brown they looked almost black, and made a gut decision. Not that it was hard; she never did custom orders for someone she didn’t know.

“We can’t take any custom orders currently,” she said as a standard reply. She didn’t know this person and had no intention of giving him the level of power that her custom weapons granted. A quick flash of red passed over his pupils in the sunlight. She would have missed it in a blink, but there was no mistaking what she’d seen.

“And why, may I ask, have I been so quickly dismissed?” he almost whispered through gritted teeth.

“I’m not sure who told you we do custom orders, but they are quite a time investment for us. We’re a small shop and have plenty of demand for our standard wares,” she replied with a courteous and logical explanation.

“I come highly recommended,” he said.

“By whom?” This should cut their conversation to the chase. She knew that she had won when she caught another flash of red in his gaze, a sure indication that his anger was rising. She should be more worried. But he only stared at her like he couldn’t figure out what to do with her, then gave a terse nod and left to continue through the market stalls.

She knew one thing for sure: This customer was earth fae. He was of the Suden fae court.