Page 5 of A Tale of Mirth & Magic

B ARRA

I was sweating. A disgusting amount, actually.

Now that the adrenaline of the chase had faded, I realized how close Elikki was to me and how drenched I was from the run and the stress.

She could probably smell me. Could she feel it on my chest, my arms, where they wrapped around her to steer? This was a nightmare.

I pulled back a bit on the reins, gently slowing Pebble down to a walk. With the sun nearly set, we couldn’t keep up our pace on the forest road any longer. Anyway, we’d been cantering for at least fifteen minutes, with no sign of anyone following us. We were safe.

“Take the reins, please.” I passed them to her and leaned back. She took them, surprisingly, letting go of her hold on Pebble’s mane.

As far from her as I could get, I unlatched the thick cloak from my neck and tucked it behind me on the saddle.

I surreptitiously pulled the damp linen of my shirt away from my chest. A cool breeze drifted across my skin.

Its touch was blissful. Watching the back of Elikki’s head with a wary eye, I slowly waved my arms around a bit, trying to get some air circulating through my sweaty shirt.

“What are you doing back there?” she asked, twisting on the horse.

I dropped my arms, lunging for my waterskin tucked into a saddlebag.

“Water,” I said, thrusting it forward.

“… Thanks.” She took a glug. “So. I guess I’ll be going now.” Judging by the way her fingers strayed to absently check a sheathed dagger at her waistbelt, she may have been second-guessing this mad dash with a large stranger into the forest.

“Going… where?”

“You know”—she gestured vaguely toward the dirt road in front of us—“off. On my way.”

“It’s nighttime.”

“Ehh, not quite yet.” She tugged the reins back, slowing Pebble to a stop. “Horse, can you kneel down or something? I’m a mile away from the ground here.”

“Wait, you can’t be serious.”

Muttering to herself, Elikki started to inch to the side, foot searching around for the stirrup to dismount. When she started to slide off, I leaped down. With a shrieked curse, she half fell off the horse into my arms, hands hanging on to a saddlebag for dear life.

“You can let go. I’ve got you,” I said, not quite able to keep the amusement out of my voice.

“No, you don’t!”

Shifting for a better grip, I swung her legs up and then placed her carefully on her feet.

She leaned a palm against Pebble’s flank, blinking.

“Right. Um. Well, thanks for nothing. I’ll just be on my way.” She snatched her pack, hefted it over her shoulders, and stomped off.

“Nothing? I got us out of there!”

“I never asked you to!” Elikki paused, swirling around with flushed cheeks. “Who even are you? Why did you come after me?”

“I didn’t. They were chasing me too.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I may have… fanned the flames a bit with my diversion.”

“Ahh, so you are to blame for me getting driven out of town.”

What? She was truly blaming me for our predicament?

“You did that all by yourself!” I said, crossing my arms as I stared at her. “I was just giving you time to get away! I told you to run.”

“I was already running, numbskull!” She fumed, pacing closer to me.

I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this infuriated.

And enthralled. She was beautiful and exasperating.

Her eyes flashing at me like I’d kidnapped and dragged her to the woods, not helped her escape from an angry mob.

And now she wanted to go off on her own in the dark.

She might be fine—probably would be, judging from how she’d handled herself with Felsith at the market—but I’d worry myself sick.

I turned abruptly, leading Pebble off the road and into a small clearing on the edge of the forest.

“Where are you going now?” she yelled.

E LIKKI

He strode away. I could still see his outline near the trees, hear the horse’s gentle snorts.

Despite everything I’d just shouted, I felt a strange sense of disappointment as he got farther and farther away.

And it was, frankly, rude that he didn’t have the decency to let me walk away in a huff first.

“Is this fight over…? I’m leaving!”

No reply.

I turned, facing the dark path that led deeper into the woods. It was admittedly creepier now in the last thin light of sunset. I hugged myself. The early spring air was getting chillier by the minute.

You can do this, Elikki. You’ve been through worse than a little night walk in the forest. There probably aren’t too many bears. And snakes. And wild boars…

Behind me, light flared up. I peeked back. The half-giant was starting a fire. He carefully fed it twigs and sticks, and it burned with tantalizing warmth. I let out a tiny groan.

Would it be so horrible to swallow my pride and stay? Just for the night. Now that the cider and the adrenaline had faded, I realized I was quite sleepy. How far would I get walking tonight anyway?

Yes, he’d rejected my sex invitation at the tavern.

Yes, I’d made a fool of myself in front of him a couple of times.

But he seemed… sweet. A sweet lavender tree of a man who had a fire and a sword.

Very tempting. And if we did encounter a bear, at least he could be a useful distraction again while I ran off.

He appeared to be a bit of a sucker for chivalry.

I looked back at the dark forest path. And then again at the fire. He had gotten something out of a pack now and was kneeling, toasting food on a skewer. A rich, comforting scent reached my nose. Was that… chocolate? And bread?

The bastard was making a chocolate toastie for himself. My stomach rumbled. I stepped closer to the fire.

He glanced up at me, expressionless. I glared back. He’d removed his cloak at some point, and his hair looked soft and slightly rumpled. It was lighter than I’d expected—a golden honey brown.

Holding the gooey bread out, he said, “This one’s for you.”

I eyed it, and him. “What’s your name?”

“Barra.”

“Elikki.”

We watched each other for a moment. Then he began to bring the bread to his mouth—I lunged forward and snatched it back. I ate it in three quick bites, licked my lips, and grinned.

B ARRA

Thank the goddess that worked. When Elikki didn’t return after I started the fire, I began to panic a bit.

I thought I still saw her pale face in the distance but couldn’t risk peering after her outright.

Pulling out the chocolate that I’d been saving for my trip home had been a last-ditch attempt to draw her back.

Now we sat together by the crackling fire, toasting some of her cheese with my bread and chocolate. I listened to the sounds of the forest. Crickets chirped, birds rustled in the leaves overhead, and Pebble munched on grass nearby.

I didn’t know what to say to her. My tongue felt thick in my mouth.

Tracing the past hours back in my mind, I wondered how I’d even gotten into this mess.

I was just supposed to be doing a quick trip to Povon.

Deliver a few custom-ordered swords, purchase some tools and bronze bars, and meet with a couple potential customers. Three days, tops—there and back home.

Now I’m heading in the completely wrong direction, about to sleep outside next to a total stranger.

And I may have inadvertently gotten myself banned from one of the main towns my family does business with.

Not good. All because I let myself be drawn over to Elikki in the market when I should have been focused on hunting down the replacement tongs we need.

On the other hand, I was watching a gorgeous woman lick melted chocolate off her fingertips with utter abandon.

I tried to look away. Impossible. Elikki seemed absorbed by the food, unaware I was even sitting there.

She had made a mess of the chocolate. It was all over her left hand, and she was cleaning herself like a cat.

She licked the side of her palm up to the top of the littlest finger, sucking the last speck off with a little pop!

My breeches tightened. I was so hard for her, so fast, that I felt dazed. I pulled my large brown cloak around my body and forced myself to look into the fire instead.

But—she had little breadcrumbs stuck on one corner of her rosebud mouth. I squeezed my hands around my toasting skewer to stop me from reaching out to brush them away.

Her pink tongue flicked up, catching the crumbs in a quick wet swipe.

Crack .

Elikki looked over, surprised. The wooden skewer was in bits in my hands.

“Old one,” I grumbled, tossing it into the fire. “Broke.”

She stood gracefully. “Oh, I should grab more firewood for us. Be right back.” Without a backward glance, she sauntered away to the edge of the campfire’s glow.

I stared after her, then hurried to get my bedroll laid out before she returned.

After a moment’s hesitation, I put my wool blanket on top of her pack.

I rarely got cold, unlike other folk. Ma Reese said it was my giant blood that kept me warm in the frigid cold and cool in the hot summers.

But Elikki was an elf, and she didn’t have my thick skin. She needed the blanket more than I did.

I lay down on my bedroll, facing the fire and wrapped in my large cloak. “Good night, Pebble,” I murmured.

A mischievous voice replied, “Night, boulder.”

My face flushed. I propped myself up on an elbow and said, “No, I was saying good night to my horse. Pebble.” I nodded in her direction. She whinnied back at us.

Elikki set down the branches she’d gathered and said in a faux serious voice, “And do you chat with your horse often, Barra?”

My pulse jumped the moment she spoke my name. “Sometimes,” I said gruffly. “She’s an excellent conversationalist.”

“Ah! The mysterious monosyllabic man has jokes!” Elikki’s eyes danced with laughter. “I think you need better banter than you can get from a horse. You have friends, a partner? Where do you live?”

I raised one eyebrow at her. She threw some wood on the fire, shrugging.