Page 32

Thirty-One

It wasn’t until after the afternoon scone rush, as Sass insisted on calling it, that Iris appeared at the tavern. Lira heard her throaty laugh from the kitchen and emerged, wiping her hands on her apron.

“There you are, love.” Iris sat at the bar facing Cali and sipping on a mug of chai, one finger absently twirling a curl of hair.

Lira clocked the half-eaten scone on her plate. “When did you get here?”

“I haven’t been here long.” The apothecary slid her spectacles from the top of her head where they were holding back her raucous curls and peered at Lira through them. “I’ve been chatting with your charming friend.”

Cali smiled, raising her own mug at Lira.

She and her former colleague had never discussed how much they would share with those outside their crew, but Lira hoped Cali hadn’t been telling tales about her, especially not ones about how green a rogue she’d once been.

“Have you?” Lira folded her arms across her chest.

Iris swiveled fully to face her, holding up the half of her scone that remained. “These are quite delicious. I think the addition of the spice might make them better than your gran’s.”

The compliment dissolved Lira’s concern. “I don’t know about that. I’m glad I remembered as much as I did.”

“Take the compliment,” Cali said.

Iris closed the distance between them and took her hand. “You haven’t by chance recalled your gran’s recipe for teacakes, have you?”

Lira lowered her voice and bowed her head, so it was close to the woman’s. “No, but maybe if I had her book of—”

“Yes, love,” Iris interrupted, tugging her hand toward the kitchen. “Of course, I’ll help you. All you had to do was ask.”

But Lira hadn’t asked, and before she could, the woman was hurrying her from the great room. Instead of slipping into the kitchen, Iris feinted and ducked through the cellar door.

“What are you—?” Lira asked as she was being pulled down the stairs in the dark.

“What do you think, love? I’m here to inspect the wall that’s keeping you from your gran’s book.”

At the bottom of the stairs, Iris paused. The two women breathed together, no sounds of footsteps overhead following them.

“I hate to be a spoilsport,” Lira whispered, even though it was only the two of them in the dank underground space, “but there’s no light down here and my illumination stone is in my bedroom.”

Iris uttered a familiar elvish word and the necklace she’d worn since Lira had known her, the one with a single stone held in place within the pointed pendant, started to glow .

Lira opened and closed her mouth before finally speaking. “You wear an illumination stone around your neck?”

Iris shrugged. “You never know when you’ll need light.”

Lira shook her head as she pointed across the cellar. It was hard to be angry at Iris for keeping secrets when the secrets were so obvious. “It’s all the way over there and around the corner.”

Iris led the way, her necklace casting enough light for them to see the barren shelves and the splintered baskets. She made disapproving sounds in the back of her throat as the aroma of decay reached them.

Lira put a hand over her nose. “We haven’t cleaned the cellar yet.”

“Nor should you. This isn’t your neglect, it’s Durn’s. And I hate to say that it isn’t only grief that’s brought this on. His wife indulged him and did too much. That man weaponized his failings until they became too much of a truth for him to undo.” Something scuttled away from them, and Iris sighed. “Yet another reason I’m happier on my own.”

When they rounded the corner, the woman stopped and braced her hands on her hips. “That’s some wall.”

Lira passed her, slapping a palm onto the smooth stone. “It’s solid, too. I’d guess it was made using river rocks.”

Iris joined her and also placed her hands on the wall. “Might be that Durn had to reinforce the cellar. The Tusk & Tail hasn’t had much in the way of repair since he built it.”

“I know. Sass almost fell through the roof.”

Iris glanced at her, but she didn’t ask why the dwarf had been on the roof. “I heard Korl and his friend were fixing it this morning.”

“Val,” Lira said, hating that her face warmed when she thought of the orc.

“Mmm. Attractive girl. Tall. But I suppose you would have to be sizable to serve as a guard.”

Lira inclined her head to the wall. “What do you think?”

Iris returned her attention to the stones. “Where exactly did you bury your gran’s book?”

Lira walked to the corner and squatted. “Right here. That way it would be easy to find.” She produced a dagger that was tucked inside her waistband and scraped at the mortar around the stone. Only the barest amount sifted to the dirt floor. “But it won’t be easy to retrieve. Not without attracting attention.”

Iris knelt beside her, the light oscillating along with the pendant. She squinted at the hefty gray stone that took up a considerable share of the wall’s edge. “You’re sure it’s back there?”

“No,” Lira admitted. “I’m sure I left it there, but I have no way of knowing if it’s still there.” She didn’t mention that she was fairly confident it was there because the box that held the book also held gold coins. Gold that Rygor smelled.

“If Durn found it when he built the wall, I have a feeling I would have heard about it.”

“You think he would have told you he’d found a recipe book buried in his cellar?” If he’d found it, he would have most likely kept the gold and kept his mouth shut.

Iris made another sound in the back of her throat. “Mmm. It’s a small village. Word would have gotten out.”

If he hadn’t seen the book as worthless and tossed it out after keeping the gold , Lira thought. But that brought her back to why the tavern was in such a state if Durn had gold.

Iris ran her fingers along the rough mortar, tapping her fingernails on it. “I might have something that could dissolve this enough to loosen the stone.”

“A potion?”

Iris chuckled. “No, love. A solvent that removes paint.”

A paint solvent? Why hadn’t Lira thought of that?

The light glowing from Iris's necklace dimmed as she backed from the wall. “Even if we loosen the stone, it won’t be a quiet job.”

“Not even with two rogues.”

Iris shot her a look, but it was laced with amusement. “Not even then. But let me think on it.” Her eyes flashed. “It’s been a while since I planned a heist, but retrieving items from unworthy owners used to be my specialty. ”

Lira trailed the woman to the base of the stairs. “Do I even want to ask?”

Iris grinned at her in the fading blue light. “Do you want to hear about your gran casting a spell to immobilize a troll, making it collapse in front of our only escape route?”

It was strange to think about her gran being young and living a life full of adventure and magic, but it gave them one more thing in common. “She didn’t.”

Iris took her hand as the light in her illumination stone spluttered out, leading her up the stairs to the cellar door. “Oh, she did, love.”