Seri’s laugh cut through their bickering with a snort at the end that she quickly covered with her hand. We all turned to look at her, then followed her gaze to where Brumous was whacking a tall fern into submission with his tail as he sat staring at us with a lolling tongue.
“I think he’s winning,” I chuckled.
“Definitely,” she agreed, still giggling. “That fern doesn’t stand a chance.”
The sound of her laughter was still new enough, rare enough, that we all paused to savor it.
“We should set up here.” Casimir gestured to a relatively flat area toward the center of the meadow. “We’ll have a good view.”
The “good view” part was his tactical mind speaking; from that vantage point, we could see the entire meadow and the forest entrance we’d come through.
Seri turned to Casimir, her expression suddenly mischievous.
“Come on.” She took his hand in both of hers, and surprise flickered across his face.“Let’s go explore while they unpack.”
“I should help—”
“They’ve got it,” she insisted, trying to tug him along. “I want to show you something.”
“But—”
“Cas. That’s woman-speak for, ‘I want to be alone with you,’ ” Zane decided to help him out when I would have left him floundering. “Go. With. Her.”
The look of helpless confusion on his face as he allowed himself to be led away by our wife was priceless. Z caught my eye, and we both grinned as I unfolded the huge blanket Mrs. Wentzel had provided. It was easily the size of a queen bed, quilted and thick, and he helped me spread it out.
“A C-note says she’s got him rolling in the flowers within five minutes,” he snickered as we unpacked the picnic hamper.
“Cas?Never.” But I wasn’t entirely sure. Seri had a way of softening even his rigid edges.
We laid out the feast Mrs. Wentzel had prepared. The old girl had outdone herself. Thick sandwiches wrapped in waxed paper, containers of pasta salad and fruit, a jar of olives, another of pickles, small cakes that looked homemade, and thermoses indeed filled with mulled cider.
I glanced up to check on Seri and Cas. They were crouched near a clump of flowers, our beloved cupping her hand around his ear while he listened to her whispers with furrowed eyebrows.
“Do you want to get back at Zoodle for the Goblin Moonshine? A little bloodwort in his sandwich will send him running to the bathroom the rest of the afternoon.”
And Cas laughed, a rare, full-bodied sound that we very rarely got to hear.
“Would you look at that?” Zane murmured. “She’s got him wrapped around her little finger.”
“She’s gotallof us wrapped around her little finger,” I corrected, then checked, “Youarelistening to what she’s telling him, right?”
“I am, and if it makes her eyes dance with that much mischief, I’ll deal with a literal shitstorm.”
Chuckling at that, I turned to call them, but Brummy caught my eye first. The pup had spotted something, a butterfly or a field mouse maybe, and launched himself after it with all the grace of an enthusiastic bowling ball. He overshot and skidded face-first into a thorny bush at the meadow’s edge.
“Brummy!” Seri covered her mouth with her hands. “Are you hurt?”
The wolf sneezed, shaking his head and dislodging petals and bits of thorn that had stuck to his muzzle. He was more surprised than injured, his eyes wide with confusion.
“Drama queen,” Zane snorted, but hustled over to the pup and dropped to a knee beside the wolf, fingers dancing through thorns with battlefield efficiency. “You’d think fur this thick— Ah,shit!”
“I’ll help.” Seri reached for the worst tangle, but he blocked her wrist.
“Thorns don’t care how pure your heart is, starshine. Let the butcher work.”
I watched them, Zane with his usual swagger momentarily set aside, Seri with her eyes lit with love and joy, Brumous soaking up attention like a sponge. A few yards away, Cas was examining flowers with the same intensity he usually reserved for tactical maps before a hunt.
Something warm and unexpected filled my chest. This moment of peace and ordinary happiness felt almost foreign after years of missions and violence and royal politics. Yet somehow, it also felt right. Like we’d been moving toward this all along without realizing it.
