Powerful (The Powerless Trilogy, #1.5)

by Lauren Roberts

I’m watching her climb into the coach when a hopping figure captures my attention. Dark curls bounce with each attempt to see over the crowd. Her hands are raised, waving haphazardly at the Silver Savior. She’s shouting something that looks quite heartfelt, likely a wasted goodbye that will never be heard. I lean over a pair of young women who are chanting terribly off-key to the rest of the street. Her features grow more blurry with each hop off the ground, making it difficult to focus on them. But something about her seems faintly familiar, as though this isn’t the first time I’ve been graced by the presence of her perpetual perkiness. I roll my eyes when recognition rams into me. Oh, I know exactly who this is. In fact, I believe she even made it onto my ever-growing list of reasons to never leave my shop. I was buying supplies from a merchant who was just as eager to take my money as I was to retreat back into my glorified shed. It was with a bundle of leather tucked beneath my arm and a severe lack of pep in my step that I heard the most absurdly bubbly sales pitch. And that’s when I saw her, curly hair bouncing with each energetic bob of her head. A plethora of clothing piled around her while she described what is commonly known as a blue shirt with about a dozen more words than necessary. I may have said a thing or two, though the details of our conversation were hardly interesting enough for me to waste time recalling now. That was several weeks ago now, but there ...