The Baroness took one step in, inhaled, and gagged.
“Oh heavens,” she croaked. “It smells like someone cooked misery.”
Lucy clapped her hands before wiggling her fingers dramatically like a magician. “Welcome to travel!”
Basil rubbed his eyes hard enough to erase his vision. “I’ll be in the tavern. Listening for rumors. Avoid trouble.”
He looked directly at Lucy when he said it.
Lucy saluted. “Trouble? I’ve never even met her.”
“You are trouble,” Basil muttered, walking away.
As soon as he disappeared, the Baroness whispered, “Is it truly safe? Will he be all right?”
Lucy shrugged. “He’s fine.” Then, because the universe rewarded chaos, she added, “He does look good from behind.”
The Baroness turned pink and stared very hard at the wall.
Later, Basil returned smelling like a tavern and poor decisions. Every time the Baroness looked at him, she made a small, distressedoh!sound and pretended to cough.
Then Basil dropped a spoon.
Both dove for it at the same time, smacked foreheads, and nearly fell over.
Lucy gagged loudly.
“Can you two not flirt in my line of sight? I’m eating.”
“We are not—” the Baroness sputtered.
“I am extremely uninterested in—” Basil began.
“Lie,” Sylva interjected helpfully, without looking up from sharpening his dagger.
They both froze.
Lucy nearly died of secondhand embarrassment.
Lucy escaped outside the inn for fresh air. The night was cool, the moon bright and round, and for a fleeting moment, everything felt quiet.
Which is precisely why the universe ruined it.
Two men stumbled from the shadows, ale on their breath. “Hey, sweetheart,” one slurred. “Pretty girl like you shouldn’t be alone.”
Lucy sighed. “Listen. I’ve had a long day. I really don’t—”
The second man grabbed her wrist. For half a heartbeat, Lucy went still—not weak, just calculating. That pause terrified her more than the grip.
“Oh,” Lucy said flatly. “Absolutely not.”
Before she could decide whether to kick, stab, or scream, a shriek pierced the night.
“Unhand her, you barbaric vermin!”
The Baroness descended like divine judgment, handbag raised above her head.
The first man blinked. “What—”
