“We wouldn’t dream of it,” Elyssandra said. She curtsied and the others followed suit.
“Her ears are sharp like mine,” Lucie said to her father, in the kind of conspiratorial child’s whisper that a roomful of people could hear.
Valefour laughed, and so did Elyssandra.
Around the encampment, the bushes rustled again. Out stepped six, seven, then over a dozen more demons of different ages and sizes.
Braiden’s heart swooped and fell like the crest and trough of ocean waves, the emotions churning in his chest. So many people for them to help — an entire community stranded on the wrong side of their home portal — and it rankled at him knowing he couldn’t help them here, now, immediately.
“We swear we’ll be back,” Braiden said, addressing the entire encampment. “We’ll find the right weight of magical thread for the Heirloom, and we’ll come back just as soon as we finish stringing it.”
An abrupt snort erupted by the campfire, the kind that followed the loud snoring of a man who was just waking up.The drone of Elder Bahul’s nap had turned into such a familiar background noise that Braiden had forgotten about him entirely.
The elder sat up on his treasure chest, rubbing his eyes blearily. “What’s this about magical thread, now?”
Braiden held still, suspecting he had an idea where this was going. “Yes, actually. We need something fine and delicate to string the Heirloom.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so?”
Elder Bahul hopped off his chest, commanded it to open with a snap of his fingers, then took a moment to rummage through, muttering to himself.
“Ah, there it is.”
He thrust his hand in the air, clutching a fistful of something fine, lustrous, and golden. Braiden nearly teetered off balance in shock.
“That’s unicorn hair,” he breathed. “It’ll be perfect for the Heirloom, better than any spider silk.”
Elder Bahul rubbed the tips of his fingers together, his teeth sparkling to match the merchandise in his hand.
“And just like the flutterbutter, this too can be yours — for the right price.”
Braiden sighed, again barely listening when Augustin asked for a number, then when Augustin himself nearly staggered to the ground in surprise.
“We’ll take it,” Braiden conceded, pinching the bridge of his nose.
He focused on the stranded demons instead. He could always earn back the money. As long lived as they might be, the demons could never earn back their time.
Elder Bahul unfurled a scroll out of nowhere, his cheeks rosy as he eagerly scrawled another entry at the bottom of their bill.
The sudden weariness in Braiden’s bones told him that night must have fallen above ground. The fact that the demons hadgathered around the campfire to prepare dinner was a giveaway, too.
He felt so undeserving, imposing himself on these people, making all these assumptions about them, and yet they had been so welcoming to his party, making space for them at the proverbial table.
There had to be something they could do for the demons, even if it was only some temporary way of bringing some sparkle to their lives. He sidled over to Elyssandra, nudging her with his elbow.
“How supplied is your cottage’s kitchen at the moment?”
Her emerald eyes lit up as she scanned the encampment. “Enough to make something worthwhile for everyone here, I would say.”
Braiden nodded. “We can always replenish when we go back to Weathervale. What are your thoughts on preparing a feast for our new friends?”
Augustin, who’d clearly been eavesdropping, cracked his knuckles. “Count me in.”
Elyssandra planted her hairpin in the ground several paces away from the campfire. It was a good thing Braiden and his friends had decided to pack tents and sleeping rolls, just in case. It didn’t seem proper to let the demons sleep in their tents while Braiden and the others slept in the comfort of the cottage’s warm bedrooms.
The demons paused in their food preparation, casting wide-eyed glances as elven magic took hold of the hairpin and quickly grew the cottage to its impossible proportions.
Elyssandra clasped her hands, turned to the demons, and cleared her throat. “If everyone is amenable, my friends and I would like to thank you for your hospitality by making you a meal.”
