Pansy’s eyes widened as Ren reached down and grabbed a fistful of dirt. Slowly, they extended their hand, fingers still closed tightly around their devastating payload, until it hovered just over the bed.
“No,” Pansy breathed, horror narrowing her throat. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Wouldn’t I?” Ren asked, the angle of their jaw brimming with triumph. “A little bit of dirt never bothered a goblin. But a halfling? Oh, I think that would bother them very,verymuch.”
“But the floor…” Pansy protested.
“Is the floor,” Ren explained slowly, as if speaking to an especially dim-witted child. “Wouldyoulike sleeping on the floor if there was a bed available? No? That’s what I thought.”
“Fine,” Pansy said after a beat, masking her bruised ego witha dismissive huff. “But you need to stay onyourhalf of the bed. And to make sure that happens…” She seized an armful of blankets and pillows, now jumbled in a haphazard mess, and dumped them into the middle of the bed. A bit of maneuvering later, and she’d fashioned them into a makeshift wall.
Ren spared it half a glance before letting out a derisive snort. “You really are careless in everything you do. That mess would fall over if you looked at it wrong.”
“Then don’t look at it,” Pansy snapped, earning more mockery from Ren; this time in the form of an exaggerated roll of their eyes.
“Whatever makes you feel more secure,” they said, finally returning the handful of dirt to the floor – something Pansy had never thought would fill her with any measure of relief. Dirt belonged outside; a fact she’d defend till her last breath. But with the sanctity of her bed hanging in the balance, what else could she choose?
“I’m just trying to ensure a certain degree of fairness,” she insisted, hurriedly burrowing into the fluffy nest of bedding that comprised her side of the divide.
At least the bed’s big, she thought, pulling the covers up to her chin.Blanket wall or no. We probably won’t even come near each other.
And yet, something about the situation continued to speed her pulse, sending a strange flutter rooting deeper into her belly. For as much as this was nothing more than yet another installment in an ongoing string of unfortunate circumstances, there remained an undeniable sort of intimacy in the act of sharing a bed with someone. Sure, that someone was very much unwanted, but, given the state of Pansy’s heart, that apparently didn’t matter.
Each frenzied beat fed into the next, echoing so loudly in herown ears that it was a wonder Ren didn’t hear it too. Sadly, no amount of deep breathing or calming mantras could assuage the static-like prickle that whispered across her skin. Every inch of her was alive,buzzing, suffused with an inescapable awareness of her surroundings – right down to the way the mattress dipped slightly beneath Ren’s weight.
“Your sleeping arrangements are excessive,” they grumbled, shifting beside her, each movement another jolt. If Pansy hadn’t known better, she would have thought their behavior purposeful. A way to aggravate her further.
“Well, excuse me for preferring to stay warm,” Pansy sneered over the tremor that ping-ponged through her chest, jittery and electric. “Now,goodnight.”
And with that, she rolled onto her side, as if turning her back on Ren might put them out of her mind just as swiftly. Their sharing a bed was out of necessity. Nothing more. And Pansy would remind herself of this fact as many times as it took; until the words became as second nature as the apathy that should have accompanied them.
4
Ren
I understand the Board’s concern regarding my decision to interview the Fargrove Clan as part of my ongoing research into the cultivation and application of various mosses. However, given that the goblins possess unparalleled knowledge in this area, I must insist that my research be allowed to continue unimpeded. After nearly twenty-five years of tenure, I hope that my judgment can be trusted in these matters, especially when it comes to the safety of my own person.
LETTER FROM ELWAN FATLEAF, RENOWNED HALFLING BOTANIST, TO THE ALL-ELF BOARD OF THE NELONORA SCHOOL OF THE BOTANICAL ARTS
Ren awoke with a start just in time to greet the floor face first. They landed without a scrap of grace, limbs flailing amid a tangle of unfamiliar bedding: not the moss blanket they remembered falling asleep under (as they did every night), buta loosely woven net of chunky, woolen fibers. Soft, warm, and undeniablyhalfling.
Ren forced themself upright, the motion as sudden as the snap of a well-oiled bear trap – and equally painful, it turned out. Their hip throbbed with the beginnings of a nasty bruise; soon to be mottled with sickly shades of chartreuse and aubergine. They half considered laying back down, let the dirt-dusted floorboards, still cool with the chill of night, soothe the hot swell of tender flesh, but the wool blanket knotted around their legs was too important for that. It could not –would not– be ignored.
“I told you to stay on your side of the bed!” said a familiar, high-pitched voice, rough with the barbs of broken sleep.
Oh, right. The halfling, Ren thought, recognition threading, at last, into understanding.Pansy.
While they’d been relegated to the floor, Pansy remained perched atop the bed, her quilt wrapped around her shoulders like a queen’s mantle. She stared down at them, a halo of silver moonlight at her back. Beautiful, even with her sleep-mussed curls, spun into gleaming filaments, now more argent than copper.
How easy it would’ve been to lose themself in such a vision, but annoyance flared just as bright, and itburned.
Like a hot poker jabbed directly into Ren’s sternum, reality reasserted itself. “Did you just shove me off the bed?” they asked, spitting the words with acid-laced heat, as much an outlet as a reminder.Remember who this is: a halfling who would take this cottage from your clan for the sake of her own petty wants.
“I didn’t shove you,” Pansy protested, with the sort of haughty vehemence that made it clear thatyes, she had, in fact, done just that. “I simply… Inudgedyou. With my foot.”
“So, you kicked me,” Ren said flatly.
“Well, I wouldn’t have had to if you’d just stayed to your side as agreed!”
