Page 30 of Sorcery, Swords & Scones (Tales from the Tavern #2)

Thirty

Sass's feet throbbed something fierce, and she shifted her weight from foot to foot as the Harvest Festival wound down. She and Lira had sold every apple crumble bar from their table, and they'd regretfully consumed all of Pip's magnificent brown butter pumpkin cookies.

The festival atmosphere had mellowed, and the music had shifted from lively dance tunes to slower melodies that seemed to encourage quiet conversations and fond farewells.

Rog and Rosie had repositioned their painted wagon outside The Tusk & Tail earlier, setting up their apple brandy display alongside Sass and Lira's table.

The arrangement had been a stroke of genius because the apple brandy paired perfectly with the apple crumble bars, and the constant stream of customers had kept everyone busy.

For the past hour, Vaskel, Thrain, and Rog had been passing a bottle of Rosie's finest apple brandy between the three of them, their voices growing increasingly animated as they exchanged stories. After winning one of Vorto and Klaff’s iron whistles at the horseshoe toss, Thrain had regaled everyone with tales of life beneath the mountains in the Ice Lands while Vaskel and Rog countered with increasingly embellished accounts of their adventuring days, each tale growing more outrageous with every swig of brandy.

"And then the forest troll—easily the size of a small tree—charged just as Lira was trying to pick the lock on the treasure chest and Pirrin was defending her back,” Rog stroked his blue beard as he leaned forward.

"But did our ranger panic? Not a bit! He fought off the troll, and Lira got us the treasure.”

Lira rolled her eyes and leaned closer to Sass. "They're exaggerating. The troll was barely bigger than a sapling, and the treasure was pixie gold, which meant it was worthless.”

Rosie caught the comment and winked at them both. "Rog never met a tall tale he couldn't make taller. By the time he's done telling it, that troll will be big enough to level kingdoms."

Cali had returned to her archery demonstration after the reunion, but she'd promised to help Iris pack up her table of healing remedies once the festival was over. True to her suspicions, the apothecary had done a brisk business peddling tonics and draughts for the coming darker months.

Despite staying busy and meeting the last member of Lira’s crew, Sass was very aware that she hadn’t laid eyes on Val the entire night.

She’d been trying not to feel disappointed, but the absence was weighing on her like pockets filled with rune stones.

All her careful planning, the beautiful dress, and the courage she'd mustered felt wasted.

It was Lira who finally voiced what Sass had been thinking.

"I'm starting to worry about Korl. He wasn't planning to have a table set up for his tinker work, but I'd hoped he would come help me with ours. He said that he and Val had something to do before I left for the tavern earlier, but I didn’t expect him to miss the entire festival. "

Sass sighed. "Once a guardsman, always a guardsman, I suppose. Duty before festivals. "

Rosie, who’d been listening while she counted the evening's coins, cocked her head. "Maybe it has something to do with the dwarves we passed on our way to Wayside. The ones that were staying well off the main road and trying very hard not to attract attention."

Rog nodded vigorously, his cap bobbing. "I'm used to spotting folks who are trying to hide, and these dwarves were trying their best not to be noticed. As much as any dwarf can be subtle.” He cut an apologetic look at Thrain. “No offense intended.”

Their small group swiveled their gazes to the gnome couple at the casual way they'd mentioned dwarves lurking near Wayside.

"Dwarves?" Sass asked, her voice coming out as more of a squeak than she'd intended. "You're absolutely sure it was dwarves?"

Rog chuckled and tipped his head toward Thrain with obvious amusement. "As sure as I know he's a dwarf. Beards like that don't grow on halflings, after all."

Lira shot Sass a concerned look, and as if summoned by their growing alarm, Sass's ring prickled ever so faintly against her finger. The sensation was barely more than a whisper of warning, but it was there. She pressed her thumb against the silver band as her heart seized.

Before Sass could tell Lira or Vaskel, Korl and Val strode up to them. They were fully decked out in their guard armor, and nothing about their demeanor matched the lighthearted atmosphere of the rest of the village.

“Where have you been?" Lira asked Korl, an edge creeping into her voice that Sass rarely heard. "I thought something had happened to you."

Korl cleared his throat, but it was Val who stepped forward to answer. Even though Korl had come out of his shell a bit since finding Lira, speaking for the both of them was a habit Val hadn’t completely broken .

"We wanted to go see Erindil again. Korl thought it would be better to arrange a proper time for him to meet you rather than leaving it to chance."

Korl nodded earnestly. "I didn't think you'd want to be surprised by a relative you’ve never met appearing in the middle of the festival."

Lira’s pinched expression softened. "That was very thoughtful of you. I was worried about exactly that scenario." She glanced around at the last villagers meandering along the road. "Since I haven't seen any mysterious elves wandering around tonight, I assume he agreed to wait to meet me properly?"

Korl and Val exchanged one of those loaded looks that made Sass's stomach drop. The ring on her finger prickled more intensely, as if responding to the look itself.

Korl frowned as he spoke. "He wasn't there.”

“The entire campsite was empty, and it looked like they'd left in a hurry,” Val added.

Lira's face fell. "He left without meeting me? But why would he go to all the trouble of buying me a tavern, returning to talk to me, and then leaving before we could even meet?”

Korl stepped forward and took her hand in his massive ones, his voice gentle but firm. "Val and I did a thorough search of the area. We don't think Erindil packed up and left voluntarily."

Val shook her head grimly. "The way they left the campsite, I'd say they were chased off. Hastily abandoned meals, scattered belongings, lavender feathers floating in the air. Ernidil was way too priss…I mean proper, to leave like that.”

Korl glanced furtively at Sass. “And based on the tracks we found, there's strong evidence that dwarves are the reason they left.”

Thrain jumped to his feet with such haste that he nearly knocked over the bottle of apple brandy, while Vaskel's entire body went rigid.

Fear made Sass go cold all over, and she had to lean heavily on the table to keep from falling as her knees threatened to give out.

The ring was prickling insistently now, and she wanted to rip the hot metal off her finger.

Rog produced a wicked-looking dagger from seemingly nowhere and let out a gravelly chuckle. “I don't know what this is all about, but it sounds like I got here just in time for our crew to take care of business again."