“No, I can’t say I have.” Her eyes narrowed. “You go around touching orcs on a regular basis?”
“Unfortunately not,” I drawled.
The pink of her cheeks deepened. “If all this is true, shouldn’t your touch burn me like fresh water does?”
“It seems not.” I cleared my throat. “I want to take you to Lilia’s tavern tonight.”
The thought had been rattling around in my head ever since she’d told me about her captivity. She’d never been out dancing, and she’d never spent the evening surrounded by rowdy storytellers and their booming laughter. Me, I’d rather sit in the quiet of my living room with the fire blazing and a book in my hand, but there was something in the way Daella carried herself that told me she’d enjoy the magic of these midsummer nights.
Not that her happiness mattered. But I’d promised the others to make her fall in love with this place, so she’d be less likely to tell Isveig about us once she returned to Fafnir. She’d already made it clear she didn’t care for her emperor. I was starting to think it wouldn’t take much to get her on our side. Hopefully. She seemed pretty dead set on hating dragons.
She scoffed. “You want to…take me to a tavern?”
“The Traveling Tavern. Everyone loves it.”
“You are a very confusing person, Rivelin the Blacksmith.”
“You’re going to be here for weeks. Might as well settle in and enjoy it.”
“Fine, let’s go to your sister’s tavern,” she said, swiping aside the steam still fogging the air. “Mind letting go of my arm now?”
I loosened my grip, and instantly, my hand felt cold. The heat of her had been far more welcome than I wanted to think about.
“Shall we go?” she asked in that fake chirpy voice of hers.
I motioned at the door. “After you.”
* * *
Almost everyone in the village had turned out for the celebration. Paper streamers looped from one end of the square to the other, and lanterns hung from the tree limbs that snaked overhead. Several wooden tables had been crammed into the space, and there wasn’t an open spot at any of them. Dozens of attendees wandered through the crowd or broke off into small groups to gossip the night away.
A small stage had been erected just beside Lilia’s tavern, where the dwarf bard stomped his foot and sang a tune about the Old Gods. Fireflies darted about, buzzing with the same cheerful energy as everyone else.
Beside me, Daella took it all in, her cheeks flushed. I’d noticed her looking around the village with that same expression a few times now. Her eyes snagged on my sister’s tavern, and a slight smile tugged the corners of her lips. I understood why. Lilia’s Traveling Tavern was infamous.
She lugged it with her everywhere she went—alone. Her wagon was heavy, but she was strong as fate, and unlike me, she seemed incapable of staying in the same place for long. Ever since we’d found our way to the Isles fourteen years ago, she’d gone from village to village, and even from island to island, searching for something I did not think she even knew.
The wagon itself was decorated with lanterns and silver tapestries that were embroidered with a sigil of two tankards clanking together. A matching awning hung over the open door that led down a set of wooden steps. She stored the extra tankards, ales, and spirits inside, but she had a bar set up outside. Several of the younger elves and dwarves of the village perched on top of the wagon. I knew Lilia didn’t like them hanging about up there, but she never reprimanded them. All she’d ever wanted was to make people smile.
We’d turned out so different, she and I.
“Well.” Daella’s fake smile spread across her face. Even now, there was no sign of a real one. “I can see why you thought I might want to come here.”
“Beats your tower, eh?”
“Everything beats my tower, but especially this. I doubt most taverns are so…”
“Bright and cheery.”
The corners of her eyes crinkled. “The opposite of you, really.”
“Which is why I’ll be leaving you here to enjoy yourself while I return home to start work on the boat. Stay as long as you like. I’ll leave the front door unlocked.”
Her hand snaked out, quick as lightning. She grabbed my arm before I could turn away. The heat of her blazed through me, and steam filled the space between us. “Not so fast. If anyone needs a night out enjoying themselves, it’s you.”
I leveled my gaze at her. “I don’t do parties.”
“Neither do I. And yet, you brought me here.”
