Dace glanced up from where she was working on a spot of mud on her jacket. “God made dirt and dirt don’t hurt,” she recited in a sing-song.
A small grin pulled at my face. “If you say so.”
Then she added with an impish smirk, “It sure is a pain to try and get out of my favorite coat when it’s that clay-mud getting flung about all willy nilly, though.”
That made me laugh, then she joined in, breaking this odd impasse I felt like we were at.
The market place was pretty impressive. So many baubles, sharp pointy things, shiny things, sharp, pointy, and shiny things combined.
Groups of beasts gathered at certain stalls, haggling over prices, who was willing to offer the best trade for what. It was fascinating.
Which one was Kehl’s?
“Uh oh.”
My gaze followed Dace’s at her emphatic remark to a larger than average looking group of beasts gathered around in a loose circle.
“Looks like a fight’s about to break out,” she muttered. Tugging on my hoodie sleeve, she mumbled, “Maybe we should leave and come back later, after the fight’s over.”
“What would they be fighting over?” I made no move to leave, standing on tiptoe to see if I could get a peek.
I heard it before I saw anything.
“That sounds like one of Daisy’s males, doesn’t it?” Scanning the crowd, I couldn’t be one hundred percent certain but it had sounded like it to me.
The chirping squawks joining in at points furthered my suspicion. Was this her thing? Get her males into fights for her?
“Whuh-oh.” Dace glanced from me to the crowd worriedly.
“What?”
Dace lifted a finger and pointed.
Kehl was tall even for Lo denaii standards. I hadn’t been looking for him in the crowd. I’d been staring right past his fuzzy head, in fact.
I was moving through the crowd, ignoring whatever it was Dace was trying to tell me, pushing past beasts with a snarl on my lips until I spilled out in the open middle of this madness.
“What the hell is going on?!” I bellowed as I was spewed out of the gathered crowd and stumbled into a muddied makeshift arena.
Kehl’s lip was busted and one of his eyes appeared to be swollen shut, but it was Daisy’s troublesome twosome who appeared to be the worse for wear.
Something just completely snapped inside of me then and I roared at the group as a whole.
“My Purr-roo?” Kehl popped up from his crouch as they started to circle one another. He looked so happy to see me I could kiss him once I was done slapping some sense into him.
“What the hell is going on here?!” My gaze darted to Daisy’s mates, their personal instigator wringing her hands not far off behind them.
“Say I ‘sult their Daidzee,” Kehl growled out at them. “Kehl say not. Daidzee ‘sult my Purr-roo. ‘Til she ‘pologize my Purr-roo front of Kehl, Kehl no sell her.” Baring his teeth at them, he then snapped them at them. “Kehl means Kehl say.”
Gaze zeroing in on Daisy, I motioned her forward. Daisy’s eyes widened and she pointed to herself, shock clear across her face. Her gaze darted around for help but none was forthcoming.
“Yes, you. Come here.” I motioned her closer. “This is between me and you. You want to start shit with my mate? You’re that petty you want to have your mates beat him up over what?”
“Fabric,” she blurted, then blushed beet red.
Over fabric. “Me and you, this is our fight, you can fight your own battles. Let’s go!”
Handing over the little one in her arms to one of her mates, Red stepped out of the crowd and right next to Daisy.
