Page 81 of Morel Dilemma

“I don’t think this is the appropriate time for flirting, Captain.”

“I suppose not. But it will be acceptable during our coffee date?”

“I would think it would be expected at that point.”

“Excellent.”

“As to what we were talking about before… I can try to catch up with Sylin before the dinner and more firmly suggest she stay away. The last time I spoke to her—” Rylana didn’t admit that had been less than an hour earlier, “—she had mixed feelings about meeting the queen. Her logical side was determinedly telling her to leave town and have nothing to do with the elves and what might be, to her mind, a trap.”

“I’m certain the queen does not intend it as a trap.”

In light of what Tassani had been telling her, that wasn’t that reassuring.

“Though she would probably deny it,” Rylana said, “Sylin has an emotional side, and that might override her logic tonight.”

“If you see her, suggest she shouldn’t let it. You can tell her I have a hunch.”

“All right. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

Tassani nodded, then walked off to speak with his nosy lieutenant.

23

After speaking with Captain Tassani, Rylana circled the bakery to enter via its alley. She waved to Mya in the kitchen and started up the stairs to the attic.

“She left a while ago,” Mya called as she opened an oven door to remove currant buns. The warm scents of lemon zest, cinnamon, and allspice, as well as tart berries, wafted into the air. “To scout, she said.”

Despite the words, Rylana peeked into the attic, well aware of her comrade’s ability to come and go without being noticed. Her bedroll was laid out in a corner, but she wasn’t there.

“Thanks, Mya,” Rylana said, wishing she’d caught Sylin. Hopefully, her scouting had allowed her to see all the elves and maybe even spy on them for long enough to get the same bad feeling as Tassani. With luck, Sylin was already on her way out of the city.

“Of course.” Mya reached into a basket and grabbed two currant buns from a previous batch that had cooled and been frosted. She offered them to Rylana.

“One for me and one for Sylin, if I run into her?”

“For you and whomever you would like to share with. Did you know that orcs believe black currants have divinely appointed special properties? They think that sprinkling powdered currants around the entrances of their traditional mud-and-thatch huts cleanses the space, protects the home, and wards off negativity.”

“I may need that whole basket of them.”

“Those are already allocated for a special order, but I have some fresh currants in the icebox if you wish. Of course, you would have to dry them before you could turn them into powder.”

“If I pelt elves with them as they are, will that ward off negativity?”

“Pelting might prompt negativity. Or negative reactions at least.”

“Elves can be a little uptight,” Rylana said.

“Pelting can cause many people to grow uptight.”

“The world is a tense and humorless place of late.” Accepting the two buns but not taking Mya’s spare currants, Rylana waved and departed.

As she walked back across Acorn Street, she spotted another squad of elves striding toward the diner, all grim-faced and armed. Tranquility ribbons dangled from their weapons, but, after speaking with Tassani, Rylana didn’t feel reassured that violence wouldn’t break out tonight.

Should she invite a few peacekeepers to be present for the dinner service? They would come eventually if a fight erupted, but they had a knack for arriving late.

She glanced at the windowsill under Jildarin’s glowing Golden Whisk prize and decided she would put the morel of warning on it for Sylin. As Rylana thought of mushrooms, an idea popped into her head. Ah, yes. That might be more effective than the peacekeepers.

She hurried past the elves from the first squad, most having settled at tables in the dining room, the rest upstairs monitoring the rooftop. When she stepped into the kitchen, it was rich with scintillating aromas that announced wild turkey, quiche, soup, and numerous sumptuous sauces would accompany the mushrooms. Several frangipane tarts cooling on racks promised there would be a delicious dessert to go with the coffee.