“Mood?” Val attempted a look of disbelief while Vaskel shook his head with an unrealistic amount of enthusiasm.
Korl scratched the side of his head. “Have you?”
A laugh burst from Lira. “You are all horrid actors. The worst.”
“Don’t look at me.” Sass held up both palms. “I’m not pretending you haven’t been in a wedding funk.”
“I know it’s silly to let wedding planning steal my joy about actually getting married.” She tipped her face to Korl’s. “You know that my mood has nothing to do with wanting to marry you, because I really, really do.”
He cupped her face in one large, green hand. “And you know that none of the frills matter to me at all. We could get married right now in front of this fireplace, and I’d be just as happy.”
Her eyes shone with tears. “Me too.”
“Too bad we don’t have a cleric nearby or we could save ourselves a lot of headaches,” Sass mumbled, and Val gave her a gentle shove.
“I promise not to worry about the things that don’t matter anymore.” Lira popped up on her tiptoes and gave Korl a soft kiss. “If Erindil is dying to have Glen be a ring bearer, who cares?”
Sass opened her mouth, but Val yanked her into her lap on the chair to silence her.
Korl’s cheeks darkened, and he cleared his throat. “Maybe we should head home.”
Vaskel flapped a hand at them. “Go. You don’t need to wait for Thrain with me.”
“If you’re sure…” Lira said with a breathless giggle as Korl pulled her toward the door.
Val sighed as they ran into the night, and even Sass was grinning and sliding looks to her girlfriend.
“You two don’t need to stay either,” Vaskel said, his gaze falling to Val’s knitting. “I’m sure you have better things to do than help me fix a mess I made long ago.”
Val held up her knitting. “Even the most tangled skein of yarn can be fixed if you’re patient enough to work on the knots.”
Vaskel suspected the woman was talking about more than knitting scarves.
“I don’t see how Thrain has anything to do with your past.” Sass made a sound in the back of her throat. “Thrain’s his own dwarf,and he’s never been one to make the best decisions when it comes to ladies, but I doubt you could stop him.”
Vaskel glowered at Sass. “Marina is no lady.”
“I know why I don’t like her,” Sass said. “Why don’t you?”
Val squinted at Vaskel, as if trying to focus on his face. Then she curled an arm around Sass. “Good question, love.”
The dwarf smiled at Val, leaning into her and brushing a strand of blonde hair from the woman’s forehead. “Thanks, babe.”
Vaskel watched the couple gaze at each other for a moment. If he hadn’t had so much to drink, he would have looked away, but he couldn’t help grinning at the unlikely pair. If a dwarf and a woman with Goliath blood could be happy, maybe he and?—
Sass’s gaze snapped back to Vaskel, interrupting his meandering thoughts. “Why don’t you like the mysterious stranger? Don’t hellkins get along with each other?”
Vaskel grunted. “Depends on the hellkins, but Marina is no stranger.”
Sass and Val exchanged a look, and Sass leaned toward Vaskel. “Who is she?”
Vaskel realized too late that he’d said too much. He pressed his lips into a tight line as he stared into the dying embers, thinking of Thrain out there somewhere with Marina. He stroked one hand down his short beard. Maybe if he’d said something earlier, the dwarf would be tucked safely in his bed upstairs.
He huffed out a breath. “Long before I knew Lira or Cali or any of the crew you know, I ran with Marina.”
Sass sat back, taking Val’s ale and downing a gulp. “I take it you weren’t the kind of crew who became family.”
Vaskel shook his head, and his long hair swung around his face. “We weren’t, and it wasn’t a crew that took noble quests.”
