“They told me.”
Tandor exhaled heavily, the air puffing out his cheeks and whooshing out of his pursed mouth. “They told you.”
I nodded.
Long moments passed with Tandor blankly staring at Hex perched on his knee. Eventually, his tensed muscles started to soften. “Is it going to… bite me?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “They do bite sometimes. But if you don’t piss them off, you should be fine.”
He tensed again momentarily, but then seemed to convince himself that he was safe. That the handful of slime wasn’t going to cause him irreparable harm.
He glanced at me with furrowed eyebrows. I smiled reassuringly.
Tandor tentatively reached for the reins again, being careful to avoid any quick movements. Slowly, with a gentleness I didn’t expect from such a large, strong orc, he flicked the reins, urging the horse to move again. He kept his gaze on me for a few long moments and then flicked his eyes to the path in front of us.
He sat as still as possible, holding his spine ramrod straight and bracing his feet against the floor of the carriage.
It was funny how tense he was.
Sure, I had been absolutely horrified and almost dropped dead from shock when I found the living cauldron sludge in my bed, but that was different. This tiny amount of Hex wasmuchmore palatable than their full size.
Tandor was going to absolutely piss his trousers when he saw Hex in all their glory. I chuckled at the thought.
“Do I want to know why the slime, er, Hex is alive now?”
“I accidentally created a familiar,” I answered simply.
He stared at me blankly. He had no response to that.I think I finally broke his brain.
The rest of the journey passed in a tense silence with Tandor holding himself perfectly still and refusing to look down at his lap, and me morbidly enjoying every single second.
CHAPTER 22
Tandor
My muscles ached with a throbbing ferocity as I parked the carriage outside my sister’s cottage. Kizzi had eventually coaxed Hex back into their jar, but she had allowed them to sit on my knee for what felt like days.
My shoulders twinged. I had held myself painfully still, refusing to allow my twitching to provoke the (slightly terrifying) magical slime. I bent and twisted, trying to relieve the stiffness.
Kizzi examined her surroundings with a brightness in her eyes and a look of awe on her face.
She was lovelier than the tides; I didn’t want to look at anything but her.
But I forced myself to. I tore my gaze away.
Rune’s beachside cottage was charming—spacious and warm, with a welcome breeziness. There were many windows letting in as much light as possible, and they were all thrown open to allow the salty air to drift through. The exterior was painted a light blue color that was closer to white than it was to cerulean, brighter even than the midday sky.
Daisy neighed with gusto as I let her free, allowing her to graze on the soft grasses sprouting from the sand. She stomped happily through the sand where water caressed the shore. Icouldn’t help but smile as I watched her playing in the shallow waves, allowing her hooves to sink into the sand over and over again while she pranced around.
A calm voice broke me from my reverie. “Tandor, is that you, little brother?”
I whirled around and my gaze landed on Rune—she looked the same as she had the last time I saw her. She was tall, lean but strong, with a skin tone the same green as my own, albeit more toasted and freckled from the brightness of Tidegrove’s suns. She wore a sleeveless beige tunic and flowing trousers that cut off before they reached her ankles. One of her little ones was tucked on her hip, while the other clung to her knee, hiding behind her and peering out curiously. All three of them wore their smooth, shiny black hair loose and free.
A wide grin stretched across my sister’s mouth. “I thought I recognized that big head of yours. What in the realms are you doing all the way over here?” She strode over and pulled me into a sideways hug, mindful of her daughter still perched on her hip. Her head tucked under my chin for a moment while we squeezed each other, and then she stepped back.
“I thought I’d surprise you,” I said. “Where’s that annoying mate of yours?”
She elbowed me in the side. “He’s out fishing. It’s the middle of the day, you know. But he should be back in time for dinner.”
