I groaned in mock dismay. “He’s coming back? Damn!”
The little boy still creeping out from behind Rune’s legs gasped. “Ma, he said a bad word!”
Whoops. “Sorry, Rune. It slipped.”
Being an uncle had taught me many things, but one lesson stood out in particular—little ones were sponges and would repeatabsolutely everythingthey heard. Especially if you told them not to, that would just make them repeat the word more often.
Little shits.
I bent down with a stiff groan and hoisted the little boy off his feet. He hardly weighed more than a pumpkin. I wrangled his squirming body until I had him clutched by his middle, dangling upside down. He giggled wildly the entire time. “Now you listen here, Ash. Bad words are for big folk only. Understood?”
“Damn! Damn damn damn!” The small orc mix shouted amongst his frenzied laughter. His arms dangled loosely above his head as he let his weight sink into my grasp. He didn’t even bother trying to escape, instead choosing to flop around like a sack of grain.
“That’s it! You’re getting dunked!” I took two steps toward the ocean, and the boy squealed loudly.
“No!” He dragged the word out, pushing his lungs to the limit. “I already changed clothes today!”
“Fine, fine. You get off easy this time, but you better watch your back.” I chuckled as I set the small boy back on his feet. He immediately trotted over to the horse to try to pet her.
“Soak any clothes, and I’ll make you do the washing,” Rune warned, but the threat had no bite to it. She was grinning too broadly.
“Point heard,” I said. I caught a glimpse of Kizzi from the corner of my eye. She was still close to the carriage, watching us with a gentle but tight smile on her face. I beckoned her over with a wave of my hand. “Kizzi, come on over, Rune only bites sometimes!” To Rune, I said, “This is my… friend Kizzi. She’s the best apothecary witch in the entire realm.”
I hoped she didn’t realize how I stumbled over the wordfriend. I supposed that’s what Kizzi and I were now, friends. We had been neighbors before, perhaps acquaintances, but now I felt like we had forged something more. Something truer. I glanced at Kizzi’s face to see if she was going to object, to insist we weren’t really friends.
She didn’t.
Kizzi walked over and shook Rune’s outstretched hand. “It’s lovely to meet you,” she said.
Rune’s smile turned downright devilish. “I’ve never met one of Tandor’s lady friends before!”
“Don’t even start. You’ve met plenty of my friends,” I warned.
“Mmhmm. Not pretty ones.”
I rolled my eyes. “We’ll leave.”
She snorted. “Fine! I’ll behave. I am glad to meet you, Kizzi.” Her gaze flicked between the two of us. “Are you just passing through or do you plan to stay a while?”
I glanced at Kizzi for confirmation.
“A little of both, I guess?” she said. “We just need to be back in Moonvale before Hallow’s Eve, and we have at least one more town to visit. Maybe more.”
Rune nodded thoughtfully. “Well, feel free to hang around as long as you please. We don’t have any extra space in the cottage since we had the little ones, but there is an inn further down the beach. But we’d love to have you for meals, of course.”
“Thanks, Runey Juney!” I tossed my arm around her neck. “You’re the best, you know that?”
“I know I am,” she grumbled good naturedly. “Now go get yourselves settled at the inn, explore town if you wish, and come back in a few hours for dinner.”
“Yes ma’am!” I glanced at Daisy, still playfully splashing in the water. “Can I leave our horse here? Will she be safe? I’d hate to ruin her fun and make her pull the carriage again—we’ll just walk while we’re in the area.”
Rune’s gaze warmed as it zeroed in on the small brown horse. “She can stay for as long as you need her to. There are no predators here, and no folk would mess with her. Let her play.”
“Thank you. She might eat all your grass, but I swear it’ll grow back. See you later!” I waved at Rune, and then at her two littles in turn.
“Bye!” Kizzi called. I noticed that she also took the time to wave to the littles instead of ignoring them, even if they were too shy to wave back.
We grabbed our bags from the carriage and hoisted them onto our backs. I grunted with the effort, my muscles still feeling the strain from the carriage ride.
