Once they were over the bridge, they took the path leading to the castle, with Val and Korl dropping farther and farther behind.
“We’ll wait here,” Korl said when they were within sight of the castle entrance.
“You need anything,” Val added, straightening her quilted chest armor. “You call out.”
Vaskel hesitated before continuing, locking eyes with Korl for a moment. “If I don’t?—”
“You will,” the orc interrupted before he could finish. “You have to stand up with me at my wedding.”
Vaskel’s throat tightened, and he pressed his lips together, unable to speak.
Korl gave a sharp nod, as if it had been decided. “We’ll see you when it’s done.”
Thrain rocked back on his heels, glancing between Korl and Vaskel and clearing his throat. Even Crumpet cooed softly on Vaskel’s shoulder.
Only Erindil seemed unaffected, rubbing his hands when they continued on their journey and left Korl and Val behind. “I suppose we shouldn’t all go inside the castle either, although I don’t know how much help I can be if I don’t know what’s happening.”
“I’ll go inside alone,” Thrain announced as the stone walls of the castle loomed larger. “That makes the most sense. If Marina is in her room, that’s one floor up on the west wing.”
Three doors down, if Vaskel remembered correctly from when he’d seen Sass emerge from it.
“Try to talk loud or give me some kind of sign,” he told the dwarf. “Then Crumpet can fly up and find you easier.”
Thrain grunted. “I can do that.” A grin split his whiskers. “I might even manage a bit of wailing.”
“Don’t overdo it,” Vaskel warned, even though his lips twitched. “Marina might see through fake heartbreak.”
“Who’s faking? That woman broke my heart clean in two.”
Vaskel rested a hand on the dwarf’s shoulders. “I want you to know how much I appreciate you doing this for me. I know it isn’t easy, and I’m sorry you got sucked into it.”
“You’re not to blame for my foolishness, and you don’t need to thank me. You’d do the same for me.”
Vaskel squeezed Thrain’s shoulder. He was right. He would risk himself for the dwarf or any of his friends in Wayside. He’d come to the village knowing only Lira and Cali, but since then he’d added so many to his chosen family. Some days it was hard to think back to times when he’d been alone and believed there was no place in the Known Lands he would ever think of as a true home.
“Very good,” Erindil said, “but that leaves me without a way to lend aid if needed.”
Thrain readjusted his grip on the paper bakery bag. “I didn’t say you couldn’t come in. I just said I should go in alone.”
The elf’s eyes widened. “I see. I can enter the castle grounds after you and for an entirely different purpose.” He rapped a finger on his chin. “What that is, I’m not entirely sure, but I’ll come up with something.” His pensive expression dissolved into a smile. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve stormed a castle, but this should be good fun.”
Thrain’s brows climbed higher. “Not sure if I’d call this storming the castle, but I’m glad to know you’ll be near.”
“Good luck all,” Vaskel said with a last look and nod.
“Aye.” Thrain wagged a stubby finger at the hellkin. “Save your kiss for Iris, though.”
Vaskel shot him another look before backing away and peeling off before the guards at the castle gate spotted him. Crumpet shifted his stance on his shoulder, chittering gently as they left the path.
The brush was thick around the castle walls, more evidence that the place was slipping. He lifted his knees high, stepping through the tangle of frozen vines and trying to avoid the icy puddles of sludge pooling around the stone walls.
Tipping back his head, he peered up the towering stone bathed in moonlight. Sharp icicles hung from the top of the castle like bared teeth, and he muttered a prayer to the infernal gods to not be gored by a falling one.
When Vaskel had walked along the western wall to the window he estimated to be Marina’s, he stopped. “That should be it. It’s one of the few with a lantern lit inside. That’s a good sign, right?”
Crumpet chattered an answer that he hoped was agreement.
“It shouldn’t be long now,” he said in a voice loud enough for the flutterstoat on his shoulder. “Then we can go back to the tavern and life can go back to normal.”
