Lira swept the back of her hand across her forehead. “I honestly don’t know. I do think we’re assuming a lot. All we saw was Marina asking Cali to teach her to shoot a bow.”
“Which she knows how to do,” Vaskel added. “Quite well, I should say.”
“So we know Marina was lying, and it’s probably safe to say that her intentions aren’t on the up and up, but we can’t be sure Cali will fall for it like Thrain did.”
“It’s hard to imagine Cali being as lovesick as the dwarf.”
Lira tapped her wooden spoon on the side of the pan, and melted chocolate oozed down it. “Have we ever seen Cali lovesick?”
Vaskel ran a hand down his short beard, thinking back to their crewing days. “There was that pretty librarian in Frostmoor. I always had a feeling they bonded over more than romance novels.”
Lira smiled at the memory. “I forget her name, but she was nice. It was a shame we had to move on.”
“We were always moving on back then.”
Lira nodded. “None of us put down roots or made deep connections since we were always going from one bounty or quest to the next.”
“Except for Rog. He always went home to Rosie.”
Lira chuckled. “We just didn’t know that that home was a brandy wagon.”
Vaskel warmed at the thought of his gnome friend and his wife, happy that they’d ended up in Wayside with the rest of their crew. All except two, he reminded himself as the warm feeling faded.
“Speaking of…” Lira reached for a small jar of Rosie’s apple brandy and removed the cork with a pop before glugging some into the melted chocolate.
Vaskel eyed the pan. “Are you making…? Is that…?”
“The recipe I want to add the potion to?” Lira met his gaze. “It is. I want to do a test run before we add the potion.”
Vaskel nodded, his chest suddenly tight. Did his future really hinge on chocolate brandy cookies?
“This might be my fault,” Lira said as she whisked the brandy into the chocolate.
Vaskel stared at her. “The soul bind? Marina?”
“No.” She whisked faster. “Cali. I’ve been so distracted by the ridiculous wedding plans that I haven’t been spending as much time with her.”
He reached for her hand and stopped her whisking. “It’s understandable. You also moved in with Korl and have been working at the tavern every day on top of having a wedding to plan.”
Lira frowned. “Being a bride is no excuse for ignoring your friends.”
“You’ve hardly been ignoring anyone.” He squeezed her hand. “I promise.”
She gave him a grateful smile. “Is to too late to elope?”
He laughed at this. “Don’t ask me. Hellkins don’t even bother with weddings.”
Lira’s grin faded. “Even if I haven’t been the most attentive friend, I like to think that Cali is too clever to fall under Marina’s spell. For all we know, she was merely being helpful.”
Vaskel wanted to believe that, but he also knew just how cunning Marina could be, especially if she knew Cali was important to Vaskel and that she could be a valuable member of a crew. “There’s one person who has been spending more time with Cali than any of us.”
Lira leveled her dripping spoon at him. “Iris!”
“Cali is always in her back room borrowing books. Almost every time I pop in, she’s there to talk about pirate romance or kraken romance or whatever it is she likes to read.”
“Pirates,” Lira said as Crumpet dumped a cup full of flour into the chocolate and brandy mixture. She cocked her head at the hellkin. “How often are you popping in to Iris’s, Vask?”
Although his red skin couldn’t flush, his face warmed. “No more than is normal.”
