I carefully sat the goblets down on the table, mindful to keep every drop of precious liquid from spilling. Fiella snatched one with supernatural speed. I would never get used to her quick vampire reflexes, no matter how many years I spent by her side. She had taken a deep drink, set the goblet down, and leaned her head back with a contented sigh before I even got myself situated on my barstool.
“It’s no lavender blueberry cider… but it will certainly do.” Fiella mused, running her tongue over the edge of her goblet to catch an errant drop.
I hummed in agreement, taking a sip of my own. The crisp, icy cold liquid slid down my throat with a slight fizz—the fruity, herbal flavor dancing over my tongue sent a shiver of delight down my spine. Delicious.
If I had a knack for brewing beverages, I would beg Ginger and Tandor for the cider recipe, but as it stood, nothing I brewed ever tasted even remotely pleasant. My tonics and potions were choked down, not savored.
“So, have you given any more thought to what you might bring to the potluck?” Fiella asked.
I sighed. “Sort of. I wish they would let me help with setup or something, I feel bad that anyone in Moonvale will have to try my cooking.”
“Oh, come on. It’s notthatbad,” Fiella chided. “Remember that one time you made toasted-cheese sandwiches? Those were edible.”
“I convinced Mitz to help me with those.”
“Oh… right. Never mind on that then. What about that one time you made a mirthroot-spiked punch? It tasted fucking nasty but it sure was fun.”
“Fiella, I can’t drug the entire town.”
“Well, youcould—”I kicked her under the table before she could finish that sentence.
“I’m not drugging anyone.”
Fiella laughed under her breath as she took another swig. “Fine, fine. Be boring. How about,” she stared off into the distance as she thought, “fried tomatoes?”
“That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen,” I grumbled.
“Well, figure something else out then. There’s got to besomethingyou can make that won’t induce vomiting.”
I caught sight of Ginger out of the corner of my eye—she was making her way toward our table with two bowls in hand. My spirit brightened immediately. “Oh, you’re a goddess, thank you, Ginger!” I shouted to the faun woman when she stepped within earshot. Her auburn hair was tied up into a tidy bun that made her antlers stand out, and her brown freckled skin was flushed and glowing. Her long, lean frame was draped in an apron with a few mysterious stains on it. Her hoofed feet were bare, as usual. A bright smile pulled at her cheeks, lighting up her face in a way that was infectious.
“I thought I saw my two favorite cider drinkers. Hello, ladies!” She carefully placed the bowls in front of us, and though the place was packed, and she was clearly busy, she lingered for a few extra moments. “The place is packed, right? Isn’t it wonderful?”
“Right… wonderful. That is exactly the word I would use,” Fiella said, not very convincingly, as she glared at a shifter that brushed past her.
“Good business, that’s for sure,” I said.
“Oh, business has been excellent! Things usually begin to slow down as the mild season comes to an end, but if anything, there have been more customers than ever,” Ginger said wistfully. “I wish it was always like this.”
“You’re nuts. I would simply drop dead if I had to handle this many customers every single day,” Fiella said.
Ginger snorted. “You’re just saying that. It’s pretty fun, tending to so many customers. I make a game out of it. Like right now, I can feel twenty sets of eyes burning a hole into my back, but I bet I can help every single one of them in ten minutes flat. Time me.”
She flitted away from the table without another word, bee-lining toward a large table full of folk.
“Absolutely crazy,” I murmured.
After Fiella and I finished our ciders and our bowls of chicken and veggie stew, I glanced up at the bar to gauge the line. The pub was settling down as the minutes passed by, and the crowd wasn’t quite as dense as it had been when we arrived.
My eyes locked with a dark, almost black gaze, so swiftly it was as though he had been looking at me first. Tandor lifted his hand with a slight wave. My eyes drifted to his forearm, huge and tightly muscled and exposed beneath scrunched up sleeves. I waved back, then held up two fingers, tilting my head in question. Tandor smiled, rolled his eyes, and pulled out two goblets.
I had expected the orc to ignore me, but surprisingly, he stepped out from behind the bar and brought the ciders over to the table.
“Wow, I didn’t think that would work,” I laughed as Tandor made his way over to the table, bumping into more than one customer in his path. The large orc wasn’t very agile.
“Princesses don’t retrieve their own drinks,” he joked with a mocking smile.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Come on, not the princess thing again. You didn’thaveto bring them over here; I would have gotten up eventually.”
