Page 13

Twelve

Lira tried not to let Rygor’s appearance in the tavern rattle her, but it was a stark reminder that she needed to be careful. Like he’d told her, he was watching.

She and Sass decamped to their respective domains again, but she could hear her through the swinging half doors that had wide openings above and below. She was used to Sass humming and was glad that at least the dwarf wasn’t letting the wyvern bother her. Then she realized Sass was doing more than humming. That wasn’t a surprise. Dwarves were known for mining ballads and rowdy drinking songs. But the next time Lira got close enough to the doors to catch a few notes, she jerked up. Was Sass singing sea shanties?

There once was a ship went out to sea,

The name of the ship was the Fiddle Fi Fee,

The storms came up, the ship went down,

Lo, the Fiddle Fi Fee was gone.

Sass’s voice dropped to a throaty baritone on the last note, and Lira had to slap a hand across her mouth to keep a laugh from bursting forth. Why would a dwarf from The Ice Lands who hadn’t grown up near the sea know sea shanties? Then she remembered that Sass had passed through Eldu on her way here and worked at a seaside bar. Apparently she’d encountered enough sailors to leave sounding like an old salt.

Soon enough, the sound of Sass’s shanties became a comforting background to the scrape of the broom across wood planks, the clang of pots bobbing in soapy water, and the rattle of the open shutters in the breeze. So, when they stopped, Lira noticed their absence.

She stepped from the kitchen, expecting to see Sass taking a break. But instead of having her feet up and her broom quiet, Sass was using the bristly end to direct a pair of ogres who were hauling something heavy and unwieldy between them.

“Don’t drop it,” Sass called over their grunts and shuffling feet. “These may be castoffs, but I don’t want them damaged.”

“What in the hells is this?”

Sass spared Lira a brief glance as she continued to direct the ogres across the great room where the tables and chairs had been shoved aside. “Don’t worry. I didn’t spend any coin.”

“Good, because we don’t have any.”

After more lumbering from the ogres and a final lurch, the sizable object draped in a tattered drop cloth thudded next to the hearth. A cloud of dust puffed up, and Lira wasn’t sure if it was from the dingy cloth or what was beneath. When Sass snatched off the fabric to reveal a hulking chair upholstered in a faded brocade, she still wasn’t sure.

“Ta da!” Sass waved a hand as if she’d just revealed something spectacular. Her arm holding the drop cloth fell as she caught Lira’s expression. “What do you think? ”

“It’s a…chair.”

“Nothing gets by you,” Sass muttered before jutting out one hip. “Of course, it’s a chair. I got it from the haberdasher. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“The haberdasher sells chairs?”

Sass huffed out a breath. “No, he was getting rid of them.” She fluttered a hand toward the tavern door where the ogres had reappeared with what Lira assumed was a second chair, the massive piece of furniture swaying between them. “The previous owner was a more sizable woman.” She held up a hand to her mouth and dropped her voice as if the ogres might be offended. “Part Goliath, according to Tinpin.” She lowered her hand and raised her voice. “I thought we could use something to make the hearth a bit cozier. Someplace someone would want to settle in and stay for a while.”

Lira eyed the second mammoth chair as it was dropped with a floor-shaking boom on the other side of the fireplace. “Someone big.”

“Lots of big folks around here. Didn’t you say the blacksmiths are orcs?”

Lira had to admit that the chairs didn’t look too worse for wear, and she could imagine curling up on them with a good book and a cup of chai. “They don’t look half bad in here.”

Sass beamed, as if Lira had told her they were the most breathtaking chairs in the Known Lands. “I knew you’d like them.”

“You’re sure they didn’t cost anything?”

Sass’s brows knit together for a beat. “Nothing we’ll miss.” She swung her head to Lira, her braid flying behind her. “I might have told the haberdasher that he’d be welcome for supper once you get up and running.” She jerked a thumb at the ogres. “Them too.”

This startled Lira. “You’re bribing folks with my food? Food you’ve never tasted?”

“You’ve got to have faith in something, right?” Sass shrugged. “I thought I’d start with you.”

Lira didn’t know what to say to that, but her throat was tight as she walked back to the kitchen.