“Archer is very handsome,” Kaya adds, wiggling her eyebrows.
We have similar coloring, Kaya and I. I like to imagine we are long-lost sisters, though I’d never tell her that. I always wished for a sister. Aila is my stepsister now, and I adore her, but she’s so much older that she feels more like an aunt. I have talked to Rychell several times now, but she’s a little hard to read. I do have Lysandra and Tully as new friends, but I’d love to add Kaya to that list. The more the merrier!
I nod at Kaya. “He tries to ruin it with his grumpy attitude, but he’s a complete failure.”
We cackle together and Cyrus shakes his head.
“The male is doomed,” he says.
My stomach swoops, I rub my hands together, and I bounce on my toes. “It’s definitely happening.”
“Howcan we help?” Kaya smiles at a pixie who has walked up to the charity table and is reading the information I inked out earlier.
Waiting until the pixie has handed over her coins for the cause and left us, I reply with as much as I’m willing to say.
“Would you be against rigging the Snowlight name draw? Halvard and Rychell told me about the tradition.”
The day before Snowlight, the old tradition calls for everyone in town to come together at the oak at Mayor Rustion’s estate. Every name is written on a large piece of parchment. Tully magicks the list into sets of partners, then the partners join hands and exchange the Snowlight spell. Rychell said the spell puts you in someone’s mind for a brief moment, helping you to understand them fully. It’s meant to encourage empathy in the townsfolk. That’s nice and all, but I plan to show that stuffy vampire every naughty idea I’ve had about him since the day we met.
Kaya clasps her hands and smiles. “Tully’s spellwork on Snowlight is amazing.”
“Does that mean yes?” I ask, hoping I’m not pushing too much.
Cyrus trades a look with Kaya and shrugs beforelooking back at me. “I think we can cook something up. Let us talk to Tully.”
“Eh, boss!” Dew waves, smiling from the front steps. A cold wind blows through the open door.
I hurry over to see her lifting a tiny maplecat who shivers and mews. The inn thrusts its doors shut.
“I found her beside the step. She’s nearly frozen!” The fairy’s yellow wings flutter anxiously.
“Here, give her to me. Go get a blanket and some warm water.”
Dew hands the kitten over. “Of course. So cute…”
I am shocked at how chilly the little thing is. I curl her into my chest, and she purrs weakly. I thread my fingers through her thick mossy green and maple syrup-hued fur as I sit by the fire. The flames dance over her shiny coat. She’s shivering and it breaks my heart.
“It’ll be all right, little one. You’re safe now.” I wonder where her mother is.
Cyrus and Kaya have followed me.
“I’ll ask Sios to share his fish catch,” Kaya says, leaving.
“Who is Sios?” I ask Cyrus.
“Her talkingmaplecat.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Yep. He’s old and from a specific ancient bloodline of powerful maplecats that can speak on occasion. Kaya will have to tell you the whole story sometime. Regardless, Sios will share because he cares for his fellow cats.”
I shake my head. We get the kitten all warmed up and fed, and soon she’s riding on my shoulder as I zip this way and that, making sure the small kitchen staff is dealing with the new supplies schedule all right and that our guests are happy in their rooms.
Later, in my innkeeper office at the back of the first floor, I finish tallying the coin we took in the past two days. The office is nice and warm thanks to a crackling fire in the little hearth beside me, and the kitten curled up on my lap. I scratch the back of the cat’s ear, and she purrs so loudly that I have to laugh.
“You’re the best Snowlight gift I’ve ever received, Mossette.”
I named her that because of the touch of green in her fur. It’s not unheard of in the breed of maplecats here in Leafshire Cove, but it’s rare. I love the color—orange going into that fresh green of soft moss.
