Page 6

Chapter Six

“I can’t believe we are going to go looking for fairies. Do you have a death wish?” Acorn sits on his counter cushion, half-rolled up, arms resting on his pudgy belly. He tracks my movements with his eyes.

“You don’t have to come,” I reply and crouch to get whatever food is stored in the lower cupboards. “You can keep an eye on the place.”

He licks his lips and wipes his eyes. “And who will keep you safe? The frog?”

I laugh and set the preserved fruit and jam on the counter with everything else. “Acorn, darling, you’ve never had to protect me from anything.”

“I might now that two strange men are joining us!”

“Technically only one is actually a man.” I glance at Kai.

He sits on the window ledge, just...staring at me.

I clear my throat. “Because the other is a frog.”

He must be lost in thought because he still doesn’t respond.

I shake my head and grab my storage of nuts I collected last fall and the dried meat I keep as backup for Acorn in emergencies. It’s not the season yet for any tree nuts, so I only have what is left from my winter storage. I also only have half a loaf of sourdough. That’s enough for me for a couple of days, but now that I have to feed Captain Bath. I am not about to call him by his title for the length of our journey. But what is his real name? Something with a G? I’ll just call him Whiskers. Now that he’s tagging along, I have to double the amount of food to take, unless he has packed his own. And in all honesty, I have no idea how long it might actually take us to find a fairy ring in the first place. If luck finally decides to join me, perhaps we can find one tomorrow.

I’ve never traveled beyond the city. My heart is racing, unsure if what I’m planning on packing is too little or too much of what we need. What if there is rain or snow? Of course, it is the beginning of summer, not quite the solstice, so the only way I would encounter a snowstorm is if we somehow end up in the mountains, and I have no desire to visit with giants or trolls.

I stop with a bundle of dried apples in one hand, a jar of peaches under my arm, and the half loaf of bread in my hand. “Kai? How much food does a man even eat?”

At me saying his name, he turns his head, finally acknowledging my presence.

“How much food do I need to bring for the captain?” I restate.

Kai makes a movement I could almost consider a shrug. “Soldiers eat a lot of things like meat and cheese when we’re traveling and fighting. We need a lot of energy. I don’t know. Healthy portion sizes?”

I don’t understand what that means, but at least he’s talking now. “I’ll get Pancho and the wagon so we can unpack the things to sell and replace them with what we’ll need.” I place everything back down into the growing mess. “I don’t know if the canopy is designed for travel. I wish you had hands to help.”

“If I did have hands, you wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with,” Kai grumbles.

Acorn gasps and unrolls. “You feel bad?”

“Of course I do. I’ve been thinking, Elowyn, that you should just take me and the ball to the university and let them deal with it.”

I smile at him. “It’s a bit too late for that now. I made a promise that I would help you, so you’re stuck with me. Why don’t you tell me what you know of that soldier who reluctantly volunteered to join us?” I cross the room and get on my knees to look under my mother’s bed for any bags.

“He’s one of my father’s most trusted men. He was stationed with me last month at the battle of The Wall. He’s a skilled swordsman and horseback rider.”

None of that is actually helpful information.

“You said you trust him?” I specify.

“As a soldier, absolutely.”

I wrap my fingers around something and drag it out from under the bed. It’s a bundled-up bag, which will be perfect for my clothes.

Kai’s words dawn on me and I turn to him. “As a soldier? But not as a man?”

He sighs. “I don’t know anything about him as a man. We have different social circles.”

A loud knock on my door jars me from my thoughts and I realize I’ve successfully pulled almost everything out and set them on the counter, but not actually packed a single thing.

“It’s the knight,” Acorn announces. He’s leaning his tiny hands against a window pane.

I survey my home in its state of organized chaos and have half a mind to pretend I’m not home. However, ignoring the man won’t help, so I reluctantly open the door. “You’ve arrived just in time to help.”

I watch Whiskers as his gaze drifts past my face and one of his eyebrows rises slowly. Judgement oozes off of him. “I see that.”

“Ha ha,” I answer sarcastically. I cross the room to my wardrobe and remove the only clothing I have—two shirts, one skirt as I’m wearing the other, and a single pair of boots. Everything else is Mother’s.

Whiskers steps inside. “I always wondered what it would look like in here.”

I glance over my shoulder to find him studying my wall of ingredients. “Is it as evil as you imagined?” I shove everything in the pack I dragged out from under the bed. I’m pretty sure it used to be my father’s.

Whiskers taps a jar of squirrel bones. “I expected more bones, to be honest.”

I roll my eyes and drop the bag beside the door. “I don’t have enough food to last more than a couple of days. If we leave tomorrow, that will give me time to bake some more bread and trade for cheese with the neighbors.”

He leans his backside against the workbench, crosses his ankles and his arms. “We can just purchase our meals or supplies along the way.”

I look him up and down. “Do you see how I live? I don’t have any way to afford that and will not be able to earn money while we travel.”

His expression remains perfectly stoic. “I think you are overestimating how much time this will take. I do not plan on being gone with you for three months, so you need to admit to what you’ve done with him and resolve the problem.”

My chest tightens and I quickly scan the countertop for Kai, but he is nowhere to be seen. I’m still conflicted about whether or not to tell Whiskers that I actually found Kai last night, and if Kai wanted to be seen, he wouldn’t have hidden.

I suck in a deep breath and face the king’s guard. “I had nothing to do with Kai’s curse. I don’t have to prove anything to you.”

“It’s Prince Kaison to you.” His mustache twitches as his lips pull into a sneer. “But if it makes you feel better, King Willard gave me some money.” He pats a pouch tied to his belt, which jingles with the sound of coins clashing together.

As much as I hate to admit that I’m relieved, I am. Who knows how long we’ll be gone?

“Good.” I gesture both hands toward the door. “Make yourself useful. I have a donkey we can take with us, and a wagon. Why don’t you go hook him up? That is, if you know how.” I intend every ounce of dripping attitude I throw at him. And it gives me a way to kick him out of my home for a little while.

Whiskers’ eyes narrow. “I brought my horse. We can take him.”

I raise my brow. “I need more supplies than what a horse can carry.”

“He has saddlebags.” As if that’s supposed to explain how it can carry pots, dishes, poultices and potions, and everything else I’m going to take. Not to mention, the idea of sharing a saddle with a complete stranger sounds like absolute torture. Whiskers sighs. “You really want to take the wagon, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

He shakes his head before stalking from the kitchen and outside.

I rest both hands on the counter as I lean to peer through the window overlooking the small donkey pen. “These are going to be the longest days of my life.” I put one hand on my hip. “You know, at some point he’s going to figure out you’re here.” I look down at where Kai is hiding, behind my pot of dill weed.

He croaks. “I’m not ready for that yet.”

“Don’t you think it will be better for us both if you tell him now than if we wait? Won’t he be more convinced I did this to you?”

“I don’t care.” Kai hops out from where he had hidden himself.

I shake my head. “I find him terribly annoying.”

I turn and collect my smaller pot. It should hold enough food for two people and will take up less space in the wagon. I add the lone sweet potato I have inside of the pot and set it on the edge of the counter.

“Do you think he’ll hurt us?” Acorn asks timidly.

I shake my head. “I don’t think he’s going to cause any harm. He can’t, based on our deal with the king. He’s just...serious.”

“Seriously annoying,” Acorn chimes in.

That makes me laugh.

Acorn folds his hands. “I don’t trust him.”

“Is it the mustache?” I grin.

Acorn tilts his head. “Likely,” he concludes. “Very caterpillar.”

I see Whiskers through the window approaching the front door. “You know, I can’t remember his first name, so I’ve just nicknamed him Whiskers.” I have deliberately waited until he has pushed door open, allowing him to hear.

He frowns and points to his chest. “Who is Whiskers? Me?”

I barely try to hide my smile. “I couldn’t remember your name.”

His blue eyes darken. “Whiskers is a name you give a cat. I’m not a cat.” His frown deepens—which looks anything but intimidating.

“It’s the mustache.” I stick my finger under my nose.

He heaves a sigh and shakes his head. “My name is Garrett.”

“That’s...a name.” Resisting the urge to smile, as he is clearly already perturbed, I cross to the sink and fill a cup with water, then take a big drink and wipe the back of my hand across my mouth. “We can start loading the wagon. I need to pack some blankets and the food.” I set my cup on the table, then turn and find a long container with a wooden lid. “In the meantime, I need you to go to the apple tree and get as many caterpillars as possible. Get some leaves too. Please? Whiskers?” I show every tooth I can in my biggest smile.

He doesn’t immediately move to take the container.

“The caterpillars are for Acorn. My hedgehog.” I gesture to where he is watching from the counter. “He’ll need to eat as we travel and he loves caterpillars.”

Whiskers snatches the container from me and I turn my back to organize what is coming and what can stay behind.

I hear a crash and whip around to see Garrett still standing in place, but my glass—and water—are now on the floor.

“Meow,” he says, then turns and leaves the house.

I blink after him. “Did he just knock my cup off of the counter?”

“You did call him a cat,” Kai states.

I roll my eyes and crouch to pick up and examine the glass to ensure it didn’t break.

Acorn is in a fit of giggles. “I think I might like him after all!”