Page 47 of Sorcery, Swords & Scones (Tales from the Tavern #2)
Forty-Seven
As honored as Sass was to have so many of her friends and villagers joining her, she hadn’t fully appreciated the sound of so many people walking through the forest. Even with Vaskel and Cali moving in front of the group with considerable stealth, Klaff and Vorto couldn’t help crushing the dry leaves beneath their massive orc feet.
Surprisingly, Erindil’s battle ostrich made almost no sound as he walked alongside the elf, delicately placing each two-toed foot on the ground.
Not to mention, Tinpin was seemingly powerless to suppress his nervous muttering.
“It’s quite shady in here, isn’t it?” he said in a stage whisper to Pip. “Quite shady indeed.”
“We aren’t supposed to talk,” Fenni hissed, putting one of his cheese knives to his lips and nearly slicing into himself.
Even though Val was clearly on high alert, Sass caught the twitch of a smile at the corner of her mouth. “Not you too.”
Val flattened her lips and regained her solemn expression. “Say what you will about our group, we have the element of surprise.”
Sass stole a look at Glen, who boasted a harness that looked more like a jeweled headdress. “If you mean the dwarves will be stunned by the makeup of our armed party, then I agree.”
Vaskel held up a clenched fist, and Cali whispered, “Almost to the camp.”
This only made Pip bounce more and Tin drop his scissors. Sass touched her thumb to the ring, which was prickling just like it had the first time she’d come searching for Florin. The dwarves were there, she was sure of it, but maybe their group had the element of surprise.
The trees thinned as they approached the outskirts of the clearing, but it was instantly apparent that they hadn’t snuck up on the search party. A full complement of armed guards waited with battle axes at the ready, and Florin stood in front of all of them.
“I didn’t expect you to bring company, my love."
Her gaze sought Sass, who stepped forward with Val close at her heels. “You never said to come alone.”
Florin’s jaw ticked, but she mustered a smile. “But I asked you to wear the amulet I gave you.”
“About that?—“
“The deal,” Florin interrupted with a swish of her hand, “was that you would wear the jewel I gifted you one final time in exchange for me leaving in peace and not demanding retribution from your clan.”
“That deal was based on the lie that you wanted everyone to believe.”
The redheaded dwarf flinched, and her guards shifted angrily. “What lie?”
“That you gave me a beautiful amulet crafted by your clan as a token of our bond, and that I broke that bond by running off with the amulet.”
Florin crossed her arms over her chain mail. “I hear no lie.”
Sass reached into her pocket and produced the velvet pouch. “You forgot to mention that you had a powerful mage or dark wizard cast a spell on the amulet. You never wanted me to wear it because it symbolized our bond. You needed me to wear it so you could control me.”
Florin’s left eye twitched, and her lips became a tight, white line. “Ridiculous.”
Sass let the pouch swing from one finger. “What’s ridiculous is my ever thinking that you cared about anything other than power. What was your plan, Florin? What were you going to make me do once I wore the amulet and you could control me?”
Florin’s jaw clenched, but she forced a smile. “You can’t prove anything.”
“Actually, I can. My elf friend used a revealing spell on the amulet to determine the magic in it.”
Florin’s hands twitched, but she curled them into fists, as if she was keeping herself from lunging for the pouch. “It doesn’t matter what you know or think you know. I’m still going to return to the Ice Lands and tell everyone that you broke the arrangement. Then the Thornshield clan will pay.”
Thrain pushed through the crowd to stand next to Sass. “Not if I tell everyone at home what really happened.”
Relief coursed through Sass at her friend’s courage, and she scolded herself for ever thinking he could be anything but loyal.
Florin’s eyes flashed malice but then she laughed. “One dwarf?” She narrowed her eyes at Thrain. “You’ll never make it back alive.”
As if moving as one, the villagers and friends closed in on Thrain and Sass.
“You’ll have to go through all of us,” Val growled.
Florin bared her teeth in a menacing grin. “With pleasure.” She flicked a finger at her guards, who assumed battle stances.
Cali's arm was a blur as she whipped out an arrow and notched it, and Vaskel suddenly held a throwing dagger in each hand. Even Erindil swung himself onto Glen’s back with the grace of a seasoned warrior, and the ostrich narrowed his eyes, emitted a terrifying scream, and extended his neck as if ready to charge.
“You take the dwarves on the left, and I’ll take the ones on the right,” Vorto said to Klaff, his burr of a voice loud enough for the dwarves in question to exchange wary glances as the orcs shifted their grips on they smithing irons.
The ring on Sass’s pinky finger burned, but instead of spurring her to violence, it reminded her that Iris had given it to her to keep her safe. Iris, who’d become like family to her, just as so many of the villagers had.
Sass held up her hands. “This isn’t the only way, Florin. You’re the future ruler under the mountains. You have the power to choose another way, just like I have.”
“You ran.” Florin spat out the words.
“I did, and I should have chosen a better way.” A breath hissed from Sass’s chest. “I should have told you that my destiny wasn’t to rule. Maybe that would have saved us both a lot of trouble.”
Florin choked back a bitter laugh, but some of the rage drained from her eyes. “It would have saved me a trek through these hot, godsforsaken lands.”
Sass took a tentative step forward, even as Val and Vaskel tensed beside her.
“I don’t know why you gave me a cursed amulet, but you don’t need to control me to be a powerful leader.
You don’t need to start a war to have your name recited into dwarf lore.
You don’t need to be brutal to be a legend. ”
Florin swept her gaze across the motley villagers. “As if you know anything about making a mark.”
Sass shrugged. “I’ve chosen to make my mark here. I’ve discovered that I don’t need to fight epic battles or sit on a throne to matter. What matters to me is forging friendships and being loved. That’s my legacy.”
Florin’s expression flickered, and something like regret flashed in her eyes before they hardened. “And you never intend to return home?”
Sass twisted to smile at her friends. “This is my home.”
Erindil nudged Glen forward, the ostrich’s ornate harness jingling. He leveled a severe gaze at Florin. “And I suggest you return to yours. Unless you think the Trollbanes would welcome a delegation from Lananore.”
It clearly wasn’t lost on Florin that the warning came from an elf or his steely implication that the delegation from the elf kingdom would not be a friendly one.
Doubt wavered her haughty gaze, as she cut her eyes across the orcs brandishing irons and the Tiefling’s fiery glare and slashing tail.
She clocked the Tabaxi archer pointing an arrow at her head and Val with her broadsword ready to strike.
Finally, the dwarf princess lifted her chin.
“It would be a waste to battle an unworthy opponent. If this is what you choose, Sass, so be it.”
Sass sensed bristling outrage from her battle-trained friends, but they quelled whatever urges they had to protest Florin’s insults. Relief, instead of outrage, coursed through her, but she didn’t dare show it.
Instead, she touched a finger to the now-still ring and gave a curt nod. “This is what I choose. I wish you luck in ruling under the mountains.” She pulled the amulet’s pouch from her pocket. “As promised, here is your amulet.”
Florin stomped closer, snatched the velvet pouch from Sass, and turned on her heel. She motioned to her crew. “Let’s go. There’s no need to stay in the Ageless Lands a moment longer than we must.”
Sass didn’t wait to watch the dwarves pack up their campsite or tromp off through the forest. She didn’t want to linger around Florin or give the dwarf a chance to change her mind.
Pivoting toward the village, Sass waved for her friends to follow, still in a state of shock that her plan of reasoning with Florin had worked—with the added assistance of Erindil’s threat and several fierce fighters at her back.
As Sass and the villagers walked back through the forest, she thought that maybe Florin had truly decided her ragtag bunch of friends wasn’t worth the effort to fight and Erindil wasn’t an elf worth crossing, but she hoped the dwarf had rethought what mattered in life.
Knowing Florin, it was probably the former, but Sass could always hope.
When they cleared the forest, Sass stopped and turned to the group who continued to look shell-shocked by the encounter. Pip’s knuckles were white where he clenched the rolling pin, and TinPin’s blinking was such a blur she feared he might lift off the ground.
“We did it,” she told them with a tentative grin. “We scared off the hunting party.”
Then the group erupted in cheers as weapons were dropped to the ground and everyone danced and hugged. Vorto and Klaff trembled the ground with their exuberant jumping, and Pip and Fenni broke into the halfing two-step.
Val swept Sass into a tight embrace, whispering in her ear, “ You did it.”
Sass’s feet dangled in the air, and she shook her head even as it nuzzled in the guard’s neck. “I couldn’t have done it without having my friends behind me—literally.”
Val laughed and lowered Sass so that her feet touched the grass. “We will always be here for you. I hope you know that.”
Sass bobbed her head as tears clouded her vision. “I do now.”
A screech pulled her attention from Val, and she blinked rapidly as she searched for the source. For a beat, she thought it might be Glen, but no ostrich was that loud. Besides, the sound that shook the trees came from overhead.
“Is that a…?” Pip tipped his head as he walked backward and straight into Fenni.
“Impossible.” Vaskel shook his head, as if to dislodge the image of the enormous wingspan blocking the sun.
“Please tell me that’s not a dragon,” Lira said .
“Oh, it most certainly is.” Her uncle's voice was almost cheery. “I haven’t seen one in centuries, and never in the Known Lands. This is unprecedented, my dears.”
Sass’s stomach dropped as the beast circled lower, letting out another terrifying screech. “Lucky us.”