“This is my new assistant,” Rune said gruffly. “Her name is…”
“Frida,” I supplied.
“Well, it’s about damn time,” Arvid said with an approving nod. He relinquished his tight hold on the shovel and padded around Rune’s side to peer at me. “Well, don’t be shy. Come closer. Let’s have a look at ya.”
I stepped out of Rune’s shadow and into the sun. Arvid beamed up at me. “Well, aren’t you a pretty elven lass? I was going to ask how you convinced old grump here to give you a job, but now I see.”
My cheeks heated. “No, it’s not like that. He’s just…being kind, that’s all.”
That or he was trying to trick me into revealing who I was. Most likely, it was the latter. He suspected me, that much was clear.
“Hmm,” Arvid said with a little laugh, then turned his attention back to Rune. “We can manage for two weeks. What’ll it cost us?”
“Frida?” Rune asked, looking expectantly at me.
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, thinking I’d missed a sentence or two.
“Arvid asked the price of the fence.”
“Right…” I lifted the parchment he’d handed me, but there was nothing written on it. He’d only given it to me for taking notes, he’d said. So why was he asking me a question? “I’m sorry, did you mention pricing before we came here?”
“I’m letting you take the reins on the fence, so you get to decide the pricing,” he said.
I understood what he was doing. Did he think I’d been born yesterday? Never in a million years would he have handed an entire build over to a new apprentice on her first day. Not unless he had ulterior motives.
Rune wanted to keep me distracted. If I was swamped with work, building this fence, I wouldn’t have time to hunt down his dragon.
He was clever, I’d give him that. Just not clever enough to trick me.
“I couldn’t possibly,” I said, casting my eyes to the ground as if in supplication. “Not on my first day. I’m nowhere near ready.”
“Oh, don’t sell yourself short. I know how eager you must be to really dig into something,” Rune said. “Consider it your ‘induction' task.”
I tensed, my eyes flying up to his face. His expression betrayed nothing, but there’d been a bite to his words—aknowing. It was almost like he wanted me to know that he knew, or at least make me worry that he knew. And if I insisted on turning down this offer, it would be like admitting my guilt.
With a tight smile, I said, “How could I say no to that?”
“Good. So the price?” Rune prodded.
My gaze was once again drawn to Arvid, and there was hope gleaming in his eyes.
“Five wheels of your best cheese,” I said.
His eyes brightened, and a full smile spread across his face. Something akin to fondness stirred in my chest, even though I’djust met the man. “You’d build an entire fence around my farm for five wheels of cheese?”
“For your cheese, I’d do nearly anything,” I said with a smile. “It’s probably the best I’ve ever tried.”
“Ha!” He stuck out a calloused hand. “It’s a deal, then.”
We shook on the offer, then he showed me around his farm so I could get a better sense of how much material we needed. I made some notes and asked how tall he wanted it. All the while, Rune trailed behind us, listening to our conversation like the mentor he was pretending to be.
When I’d gotten what I felt like was enough information, Rune and I said our goodbyes and returned to his cottage with three wheels of cheese as a down-payment tucked into my cloak, which I’d turned into a makeshift sack that I’d tossed over my shoulder.
I had so many questions I wanted to ask Rune, but not a single one of them felt safe. But I refused to spend the return walk in utter silence again, so I settled on the only question I could think of that didn’t feel like an invitation for accusations.
“He mentioned a couple of other cows. What happened to them?” I asked.
Rune frowned. “We’re not quite sure. I helped Arvid search the woods after they went missing, but we never saw hide nor hair of them.”
