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He took a stub of bread and smeared four times the amount of cheese on top before offering it to her. She devoured the morsel. Cora and Theo didn’t need further invitation. They gathered their own portions and just as quickly made them disappear. Ren realized their challenge might be avoiding eating too much and making themselves sick. She was eating her third slice of bread when a herd of shoulders came shoving through the front entryway.

There was chaos and jostling, and Ren imagined every night was like this. The previously mentioned Mackie brothers were an easy spot. Broad-shouldered boys, faces like flattened stone, their eyes little chips of brown. They plunked into the seats closest to Holt and barely seemed to register that there were guests. A knife of a man sat down on Ren’s right. He was at least five or six years older than her, with a burn scar running down his neck.

“Lev,” he said, offering his hand. “I’m the crafty one.”

She frowned at that. “I’m Ren. Crafty?”

He knocked two scabbed knuckles on the table. “Made this, the chairs, all the rest.”

She smiled politely. “It’s lovely work.”

There were three others who piled into the room. One was an old man with silver-shot hair and a smashed nose. The other two were a young couple. Ren spied a marriage bracelet on the girl’s wrist—an old practice that had gone out of style in Kathor. She had the same eyes and nose as the little girl outside, though her husband had gifted their daughter with his dark, tightly curled hair. Both nodded politely when introductions were made.

Della served mountain rice with bright runny eggs on top. There were slabs of a meat that Ren couldn’t identify, but watching the Mackie brothers load up their plates with them was convincing enough. Cora’s cooking in the mountains had tasted delicious, but Ren realized now it had been a product of their hunger. Here the meats were spiced and the eggs salted. Some kind of butter was melted at the bottom of each bowl, and Ren barely resisted licking her plate.

“Who hikes the northern pass?”

Other conversations were swirling, but Ren heard Della’s question to Theo come knifing through the rest. She was sipping mulled wine. Theo shrugged.

“Fools,” he answered. “Like I said, we got lost. Lucky to be alive, honestly.”

Della raised a curious eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Walked straight through a wyvern’s nest. Thankfully, it was out hunting.”

“Dangerous creatures,” Della confirmed. “Every few years they’ll snatch a cow from us. Not their favorite, though. They prefer hunting prey that can actually escape. We learned a while ago not to bother venturing into the pass. Everything on that side of the mountain is a little wilder. It’s not the sort of place people are meant to go.…”

Ren realized she was eavesdropping, and worse, she’d abandoned the conversation on her side of the table. Lev was spooning his rice without a thought, but the couple across from her were waiting expectantly. She offered a polite smile. “Was that your daughter out there?”

The man nodded. “Talia.”

“That’s a lovely name. Will she be joining us?”

The couple exchanged a glance. The woman set her fork aside with a grin.

“That girl’s like a chicken. Comes when she’s hungry, but if she’s not, all you’ll get for your trouble is a few pecks. She’s stubborn like that. All mountain girls are, though.”

She elbowed her partner. He spoke up through a mouthful of rice.

“We marry them because everything else up here bites.”

Ren laughed. The two of them smiled at what was clearly a well-worn joke. She glanced down the table and caught Della watching her again. She wasn’t sure why, but their hostess seemed different from the others gathered around the table. Everyone else fit an expected mold. Della was double edged, though. A coin with two sides. Ren couldn’t imagine growing up in Kathor and transitioning permanently to a place like this. There was something in the depths of who she was that made Ren uncomfortable, maybe in part because the woman reminded her a little bit of herself.

Ren took another serving of food before tugging at the discomfort of her collar.

Damn, it’s hot in here, she thought.

“What about you?” the woman was asking. “That one is easy on the eyes.”

She threw a subtle nod in Theo’s direction. Ren supposed she agreed with the assessment. His golden hair was arranged neatly. His lips moved easily as he kept up conversation with Della. Every now and again that effortless smile would appear. Next to him, Cora was giggling as she told a story about pigs from her time growing up. Ren felt beads of sweat running down her forehead.

“Easy on the eyes,” Ren agreed. “Sorry, is there a bathroom?”

The couple looked her question toward Della. Their host gestured.

“Right outside, honey.”

Ren smiled and offered a polite bow of the head. She wiped sweat away with the back of her hand, a little embarrassed as she stepped out into the lantern light of the porch. The last gasp of sunlight was streaking the mountaintops scarlet. The breeze felt like a fine thing on her skin, cool and refreshing. Ren headed straight for the outhouse. It was a tight fit, and she wondered how the Mackie brothers ever managed. Not that she minded having a proper toilet to use for the first time since the portal incident.