Page 74 of A Tale of Mirth & Magic

“We’ll be off, then. I want to make good time back to town before we camp,” the lord said with a sniff. “This matter is settled. My brother will be punished, that I promise. He won’t be bothering you again. Between you and me, it’s high time he was also placed into mandatory therapy and anger management, which I will also arrange.”

Privately, I didn’t think it would do much good for that rotting slimeball. But I suppose you never know. Elikki said, “Um, good luck with that. And what about us?”

“You are both free to go, of course. Legally, as the lord of my township, I cannot give you financial recompenses for your, um, troubles. But I can say that if you were ever to visit my fair town again in the future, I will welcome you into my home and treat you as my family’s most honored guest. Any of you.” He bowed at the waist to our ragtag group.

Like any of us would be caught dead spending a second more with that disaster of a family. El exchanged a look with me that said she was thinking the same, but she told the lord, “Thanks, I guess. Good luck rehabilitating that one.”

“Thank you, Mistress Elikki.” A final long-suffering sigh, and he turned his horse around and trotted away, guards and carriage following.

We watched them disappear quickly down the road and around the bend. A last spark of fury burned inside me as that odious man was carried away, along with any hope of getting revenge for the way he’d treated Elikki. I tried to let it fizzle out. She was safe. That’s what mattered.

“Wish I could have gotten one good slap on that toad’s face, don’t you?” I asked. Her gaze was still trained on the now-empty road.

“Yeah. Something like that,” she said, smiling wickedly.

“You’re imagining slicing him up with sharp metal pointy things again, aren’t you?”

“Maybe…” she sighed, sounding eerily like Lord Renalo. “I can’t believe he did all this bullshit, and he just gets carted back home by his fancy-pants big brother. Fuck, I wish I knew how to cast curses on people.”

Maerryl pulled something from her boot with a flourish. “Does it help that I stole his coin purse?”

“HA! A bit, yes,” El said. The other woman handed the heavy pouch over, and she rifled through it.

“And the ‘teensy’ drugging I gave him… maybe wasn’t so teensy after all,” Maerryl added.

“Oooh, what did you do?”

“Let’s just say old Felly won’t exactly be himself for a few days… or weeks,” she said, looking extremely pleased with herself.

“You sly dog!” Elikki grinned.

Face sobering, Maerryl continued, “I’m glad you’re all right. I didn’t mean for everything to… to escalate like that. Met him at the Painted Dragon the other night, and when I told him about our encounter, he offered me a lot of coin to be his muscle on this, um, mission.”

Maerryl shifted from foot to foot, quickly looking around at all of us before dropping her gaze. She almost looked as if she thought we’d take our revenge on her now that Felsith had been snatched away. Despite myself, despite everything she’d done, I found that was the last thing I wanted. A glance at El and my sister told me they felt the same.

Shoulders tight, Maerryl mumbled, “I didn’t know what he was planning. I swear.”

“I know,” El said. She dropped Felsith’s coin purse into Maerryl’s hands. “Keep this. And don’t argue. I know exactly how much coin you have on you, and it’s certainly not enough to keep you out of mischief for long. Besides, you did kind of save me. Even if you took your sweet time about it.”

Maerryl scowled but seemed relieved, gripping the purse tightly before tucking it back into her worn boot. Then El moved in, trapping the other woman in a tight, quick hug before releasing her with an affectionate pinch on the arm. Taken aback, Maerryl let it happen. A small smile fought its way out of her typical stormy expression.

I watched this whole exchange, baffled. I really had to get the full story of what happened from El at some point.

25

ELIKKI

So… what now?” I said, looking around at Barra, Telen, and Maerryl.

Barra came to stand by me as if he was drawn in, metal to a magnet. “Now I suppose you and I go wherever we feel like. I’m not quite sure—I’ve never had an open-ended adventure before.”

I smiled up at him, finally feeling the last ember of my rage fade away. “I’ll show you. As long as you’re sure about this,” I said.

He kissed me in answer, dipping me back so that my world went sideways and he was nearly bent in half at the waist, keeping me steadier than I’ve ever been held. I blazed at his touch, loving the gentleness of his arms and the heat in his eyes.

“Oh yes. I’m sure,” he whispered.

Telen’s quiet cough broke the spell, and Barra pulled me up with an easy spin that left me laughing. “Excellent. And you’ll take my horse, Elikki.” Holding up a firm finger when I opened my mouth to argue, Telen said, “No, don’t bother. You are taking him. His name is Dewdrop, and he positively craves adventure. Feisty, excitable. Good luck to you.”