Lance grimaced and shook his head. “Not mine.”
“Could be if you learned how to talk to women.”
He started to say something but closed his mouth when the kids squeezed between him and Hakym. Miya sat on the far side of them.
The group quieted. Hakym took a loaf of bread from a basket on the blanket and snapped it in half with a crack, holding the halves out to the children.
“Smells good.” Charlotte breathed in the aroma as she broke off some for her mom. Gabe passed a chunk to Lance and then to Miya, watching her after she took it from him.
“Do you like it?” Gabe asked. “We help make it every day.”
It did smell incredible. Miya bit through the crispy outside to the sweet, doughy center. Still warm. She nodded, not needing to fake her reaction.
Lance filled bowls of soup for everyone and brought one to Miya. Voice low, he said, “I’m not with Amelia.”
“I don’t care.”
“She’s my best friend. I’m not inter—”
Pushing him away with her elbow, she spoke with a mouthful of bread. “Whatever.”
Shoulders slumped, Lance sat down. Miya felt a little bad, but she didn't want to encourage him to stick around her.
Gabe leaned his elbow against Lance’s leg, licking his fingers. Knees brushing, the children wiggling and knocking into each other, the group didn’t seem to notice where one person ended and the other began.
Did they eat like this every night? Lance's place wouldn't look right empty.
“Everyone was excited to see a friend with Lance,” Amelia said. “After dinner, we'll have music and dancing.”
Miya studied her, searching for resentment beneath her kind smile, but she appeared sincere. “Thanks.”
Most mothers didn't want their children around marked women. Her look shifted to Amelia’s stomach, and she remembered Lance's accusing tone when he said Bale should be the one worried about Charlotte and Gabe.
Light emanated from his window in the cathedral. Miya wasn’t the best at guessing ages, but Amelia looked young for the two she had.
She put her food on the ground, feeling queasy. Why didn't she consider it before with a pig like that ruling over these villages? How many children did Bale father and abandon? She scanned the little ones eating with their families.
A bell rang from the cathedral, and people began to pass baskets from one fire pit to the next.
Charlotte hopped up with a yelp. “It’s coming!”
“Mind your manners,” Amelia said to Charlotte. “This is a serious time.”
“What is it?” Miya asked Lance.
“Just a sacred, very serious ritual.”
“Lance,” Amelia said. “I told the kids—”
“All right. I heard. I’m sorry.” He looked at Charlotte, his smile disappearing. “This is very, very serious, Charlotte. Don’t you dare smile.”
A grin split her expression. She was all giggles and squealing laughter.
“Thanks a lot,” Amelia chided. Lance bit down an ornery smirk.
They seemed like siblings. Lance's family owed money when they moved here from Antor, and it sounded like they'd been separated. He pieced together his own people here, didn't he? There was so much to protect in this village.
After everyone had their own basket, the bell rang again, and stillness fell over the group.
