Page 11 of A Tale of Mirth & Magic

E LIKKI

W ell, this was an interesting turn of events.

I hadn’t wanted to leave Barra just yet, and now I didn’t have to.

This was working out splendidly, all things considered!

I’d have someone to keep me company—traveling could be awfully dull sometimes, all alone with no one to talk to—and we had a firm end in sight.

Plus, I’d have some extra muscle around in case any of Felsith’s bounty hunters managed to track me down.

Once we got to Old Orchard, Barra would take care of his business there for a bit, then leave for home.

I wouldn’t have to wear a disguise or pretend I’d had an evil curse cast upon me or slip away in the dead of night and head to a different town to get away.

No need for shenanigans to cut him loose, like previous times with other bed partners.

But unlike those other times, I didn’t think I’d be able to brush off the sight of Barra’s upset face when he discovered me missing. I doubted he’d get angry like some. He’d probably be worried and sad. Downtrodden. Miserable. Dejected. Concerned for me…

Oh dear.

Maybe he was too sweet for me to get involved with. Definitely had those partner-material vibes written all over him. I didn’t feel amazing about leading him on if he was getting the wrong idea.

But no one could think a one-night-stand proposition or a little—albeit incredible—forest sex meant I had any kind of serious intentions. We were just two consenting adults who liked each other’s company and who happened to be traveling in the same direction. Cut and dry. Simple and fun.

I watched Barra out of the corner of my eye as we walked along the dirt road.

He seemed lost in thought. Loosely holding Pebble’s reins in one hand, he gazed into the trees and silently strode along.

In his fully brown outfit, he looked like a tree trunk.

If it wasn’t for his vivid lavender skin and golden hair, he’d blend right into the background.

Thank the goddesses for his natural beauty because his dressing skills were seriously subpar.

“Sooo where’d you learn to give head like that? Former partner?”

Barra tripped on his own feet, catching himself on Pebble’s saddle. When he finally righted himself, I saw a light rosy flush on his cheeks. Okay, that was adorable.

“Or current lover?” I waggled my eyebrows.

“No!” He coughed. “I mean, no, I wouldn’t have done that… with you… if I was with someone. Obviously.”

I shrugged. “If you say so.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“Everybody cheats, Barra. At least a little bit.”

He looked at me strangely. “Do you really believe that?”

“Yeah,” I said lightly, pulling an apple from my skirt pocket. “In my experience, it’s kind of inevitable.”

“So, you have then? Cheated?” he asked, sounding flummoxed.

“Well, no. But I’ve never been involved with anyone seriously enough for it to even be an issue.

It’s not really my thing.” I took a bite of the apple, munching contemplatively.

“People have cheated with me though. I found out later. And it’s happened to most folks I know.

Just the way of the world.” I shrugged again.

“I don’t believe that.” He frowned. “Sure, it happens sometimes, depending on the health of a couple’s relationship. But it doesn’t have to be inevitable. That’s… that’s kind of a depressing way to view things, Elikki.”

I felt a flash of irritation toward him. “And I bet you’ve never been cheated on, huh?”

“Yes, I have. A couple times.”

“That you know of,” I muttered.

“That I know of,” he acknowledged. “But we had other issues. I was hurt, of course, but over time it was clear that the cheating was a symptom of problems we hadn’t dealt with. And couldn’t deal with properly. Not the cause of the breakup.” He peered at me. “Has that happened to you too?”

“Wow, I think that’s the most I’ve heard you talk all at once!

” I laughed and bopped ahead of him to feed my apple core to Pebble.

I’d already said enough to this man. He didn’t need to know about my abysmal relationship history.

How the first person I’d trusted after I left home for good had serenaded me, spent weeks traveling with me, told me they loved me…

and then cheated with a tavern piper one night and robbed me blind.

I’d never seen them again. That definitely wasn’t the last mistake I’d made in the romance department—far from it—but it was the last time I let myself trust anyone else too much.

“Elikki…”

I hadn’t even liked them all that much. Certainly didn’t love them.

But it had felt so nice to be wanted, adored, after so many years of being ignored.

And all it got me was an empty coin purse, an empty stomach, and many horrible days before I could steal and scrape together enough money to get on the road again. Trust was overrated.

Damn, my family messed me up good, I thought, not for the first time, before shoving that back down with a sigh.

“Why are we even talking about this?” I said, flipping my long hair in Barra’s direction.

“You brought it up!”

“Right, right. Why don’t we discuss your abysmal fashion sense instead.”

“Brown is the new brown.”

I chuckled, shoving his arm playfully. My hand met solid muscle under his shirt, and he didn’t budge an inch. Whoa.

Barra rubbed the back of his hair. “I like brown.”

“I get that. But, I mean, you could pull your hood up and camouflage right into those trees.”

“Kind of the point,” he said under his breath.

“I’m just saying. You’d look amazing in some color. Or ohh—even black! Show off that hot body,” I teased. “You’re really denying the public a treat. That’s just unfair.”

He stayed silent. Crap, had I taken the teasing too far? I wanted to open him up a bit, not make him self-conscious.

I untied the ribbon that was pulling my hair back and held it up to his eye level. “Here,” I offered, a touch too enthusiastically. “Start small. You can try this. If you want.”

He stopped walking and lifted a hand to the ribbon. I let it fall into his palm. It was fairly thin, silky, and dark red.

“It matches the corset you were wearing yesterday,” he said.

“That’s… that’s right. And it’s basically the same as brown anyway. If you think about it. Just a bit more… reddish. It’s red, but it could be brown if you squint at it.” I was rambling again. Shut up, shut UP!

“Reddish brown,” he said quietly, his gaze moving to my hair.

“Right…” I repeated, transfixed on his face.

He knelt slowly on one knee in the dirt in front of me, his face at my chest level. My eyes widened in surprise. What was he doing? Were we going to do something here , in the road? Even for me, that was a bit much.

I look in front and behind us. But I guess no one was around…

Barra held the ribbon out to me and bent his head forward. “Can you tie it in?”

I flushed, glad he couldn’t see my face. “Oh—of course!”

Holding the ribbon in my teeth, I gathered his locks together with both hands.

His hair was thicker than I expected, and very soft.

I combed the golden-brown strands through my fingers.

They caught the sun, bringing out a burnished glimmer that brought polished bronze to my mind.

There was a slight curl to his hair, and it definitely could use a good brushing, but it was lovely. I could play with it for hours.

I scratched my nails experimentally along his scalp, moving my way toward the base of his neck. Barra had been holding perfectly still through my initial combing, but at this he shivered. Reaching one hand back, he lightly grasped my wrist.

“Elikki.”

His tone told me it was too much. I smiled evilly to myself and resumed pulling his hair into a low, simple ponytail. Tying it into a long, secure bow with a flourish, I announced, “There! Perfect.”

“How does it look?” he asked, getting to his feet.

“Striking but understated. It works,” I assured him.

“Thank you.”

We resumed walking. Barra reached back to feel the ribbon, running it through his large fingers. I wound my locks up with a silver hairstick to keep it out of my face.

“My sisters are always telling me the same thing,” he said.

“What?”

“To… try something new. Mix it up.” He chuckled. “Once they even stole all of my shirts and replaced them with different styles they’d each picked out for me. Wouldn’t give my own clothes back until I threatened to go to the market shirtless in protest. Our mas stepped in then.”

“I don’t think anyone at the market would have complained.”

He gave me a sidelong look. “In any case… I was bluffing, of course. But it worked. Our compromise was that I’d keep their shirts in my closet ‘for a special occasion.’” He rolled his eyes. “They’ve never seen the light of day.”

“Wait, hold up. Are you telling me all of your clothes are brown? As in, all of them?! ”

Barra said, “No, not all, exactly. Some are tan, some are a dark beige. I have a gray pair of breeches somewhere.”

“Oh. My. Goddess.” I stared. “No wonder your sisters took drastic measures! They should have burned them!”

“That would not have been funny. Besides, I would have just gotten more.” He shrugged.

“Well, they clearly care about you a lot, even if you don’t like their meddling. Tell me about them.”