Barry
Xenos didn’t bring up his dream again, but it clung to the back of my mind. Not so much the library or the voice but his question. I’d been around long enough to know that everything did in fact happen for a reason and that most things came full circle eventually – with or without the help of meddling seers and magic users.
It was nearly sunset by the time we walked hand-in-hand down the tiny, cozy streets of VILLAGE to BAKE. The bakery was bigger than I expected from the cozy hand drawn logo on the front of the protein bars that most Nightshade Bears enjoyed at least every now and then.
Inside were little tables scattered around the dining area. The tables looked to be made of the same crushed shell that room service cart had been made of. The floor was hard wood and sprigs of grass, flowers, and other plants grew up through them here and there. It was truly elven.
A tall blonde elf greeted us from the other side of the counter. She had big blue eyes and her hair tucked up in an elaborate braided bun. I should’ve remembered what it was called because some of our daughters fussed for weeks at a time with their hair learning to perfect the style. Still, it slipped my mind as Xenos’s stomach growled at the sight of all the baked goods behind the glass.
“He’s carrying,” I informed the bakery worker.
“Many of our customers return often during those times,” she nodded. “Congratulations to both of you. Is it your first?”
“First?” Xenos laughed, squatting down to be eye to frosting with the snacks inside the case.
“No, certainly not,” I chuckled, “but thanks for believing we’re that young.”
“It’s hard to tell with us, isn’t it?” she asked. “Elves I mean. I wouldn’t put you beyond your thirties. Tall, muscular, and you smell great.”
Xenos’s reflection in the glass display case glanced at me. Yep. I wasn’t imagining it. Maybe she was flirting with me.
“He smells like a mated man,” Xenos said, amusement lacing his words. “And you’re younger than our oldest children. Nineteen? I believe.”
She blinked.
“How did you know that?” she asked a second later.
“There’s a dark headed elven woman tut-tutting you right now. Your grandmother perhaps?” Xenos asked, rising up to stand erect.
“Martha, stop,” an older man came out from a door behind the counter. “She thinks if she flirts she’ll get better tips. I’m surprised she doesn’t recognize your voice from the phone. Always placing a damn order! Trying to feed a city of bears with my little bakery!”
“Saun!” I grinned as he rounded the counter to shake my hand. “Nice to finally put a face to a voice!”
“Whatever he wants,” he turned to Martha. “On the house.”
“Thanks, but you don’t have to do that,” I smiled and shook my head.
“Nonsense! You’ve kept us in business! Let us feed your pregnant mate and supply ourselves with yet another generation of customers. Is your mate’s appetite as big as yours?” Saun asked.
“Bigger,” Xenos said. “And your lucky pen is in the cinnamon again.”
“My mother is here, huh?” Saun stood akimbo and glanced around the room. “Hello, ma-ma. It is time for you to go and rest. I’ve told you again and again! Go find them! Go find your mate and your sons who are not here! If you are waiting for that overgrown lizard to come back he shall not!” he turned and spoke to a different spot of the room.
Xenos took my hand so I could see Saun’s mother too. She was about three foot to the left and back of him.
“I have told him! I have told him if he comes back here, I shall melt down his blubber and use it in our cakes instead of butter! Elves from every inch of the universe will come for one bite of him!”
“And I thought you were bad,” Xenos sighed.
“Don’t take it too personally. I know you and Medwin are friends. I can deal with Clarence now too, but he did what he did and doing good things now doesn’t mean these people have to forgive him,” I reminded him and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
“What was her name?” Xenos asked Saun.
Martha pouted behind the counter from being ignored. Being that young was hard when you knew everyone in your village and none of them were the person, you’d spend the rest of your life with. In her spot, I might flirt with the tourists too. Maybe it was for better tips. Maybe it was for a chance to live a little, either way I couldn’t blame her and Xenos hadn’t tried to eat her face. So, she was probably harmless.
“Martha,” Saun said. “My daughter is named after her.”
“Was Martha’s true-mate called Ewalin?” Xenos asked Saun.
“No. My grandfather was Saun as I am Saun,” Saun explained.
“Then she may know the name of your daughter’s true-mate,” Xenos explained. “That might be one reason for her sticking around. Ewalin. Do you need me to spell that?”
Turns out that they did and he spelled it out for him before we placed our order. I made a mental note to tip Martha extra big if Saun really didn’t serve us with a bill.