Page 37

Thirty-Six

When Lira joined Sass in the great room, Korl was wrestling a massive, black iron beast through the door.

“Can you believe it?” Sass asked, rubbing her hands together.

Lira wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to believe. “What is it?”

Another orc appeared in the doorway, hefting the backend of the contraption. Unlike Korl, this orc wasn’t young, but Lira recognized him. His hair boasted more silver than when she’d last seen him, and his jowls were fuller, but she would have recognized the village blacksmith anywhere. But what was one of Korl’s dads doing here ?

“Vorto?”

A grin split the older orc’s face as he set down his end of the object. “Heard you were back in town.” He glanced at his son. “Been hearing little else.”

Korl grunted and put down his end, straightening and pressing his fists into the small of his back. “You needed a new oven.”

Lira blinked at him, as Sass danced around the hulking stove. “But you fixed our oven.”

Korl gave a rough shake of his head. “It won’t hold for long. It’s too old.”

“I would take offense at that, since I built that old oven,” his father said, “but the boy’s right. If you’re doing the kind of baking he says you are, you need something newer and bigger.”

Lira opened and closed her mouth a few times. It was bigger, that was for sure.

“Don’t worry about how big it looks,” Korl said, as if he had a window into her mind, “I measured the space the last time I was here. We might have shave down the side of a cabinet, but it’ll fit.”

Lira finally found her voice. “You made us a new oven?”

Vorto cleared his throat. “It was a family effort.”

Val strode in behind the orcs, giving them both a fond look. “I consider myself a part of the family, but I did not help with this.” She held up a handful of what looked like orange knit squares. “I did make some things for you to use when you pull trays from the oven, and I made them doubly thick, so the heat doesn’t seep through the yarn.”

“They’re perfect.” Sass took them from the burly blonde as if she’d offered them bars of gold and as if Sass would be the one using them. “Thank you.”

Val waved off the thanks. “It was nice to make something other than a scarf for a change.” She put a hand to the side of her mouth. “But to be honest, they’re really just short scarfs.”

Korl picked up his side of the oven again, grunting at his father to do the same, and they started walking the heavy load toward the kitchen, the thing swaying from side-to-side like a ship being tossed by waves .

“I don’t know what to say,” Lira said as Korl passed her. “You didn’t have to do this, but I’m grateful you did. Thank you.”

His gaze met hers and one side of his mouth twitched. “You are welcome.”

Then he looked down, grunted, and backed toward the swinging doors.

Heat bloomed in Lira’s chest as she watched the two orcs maneuver the oven and lumber into the kitchen.

Val winked as she sauntered by. “I’ll see if they need more muscle in there.”

Before Lira could follow them, Sass appeared at her side.

“I guess we know why he wasn’t coming around the tavern.”

“I guess we do.” Lira glanced at her. “Should I expect an apology now, or do you want to spend some time getting the wording right?”

Sass pressed a hand to her chest. “An apology? For what?”

“For saying I was the reason Korl wasn’t coming around the tavern as much.”

Sass flailed a hand at the doors the orcs had disappeared through. “But you were the reason.”

Lira spluttered as she shook her head.

“Korl didn’t have his dad help him make an oven for me. ” Sass gave a firm shake of her head. “That was all for you.”

“The oven is for the tavern.”

Sass barked out a laugh. “If the oven was for the tavern, why didn’t they bring it when it was just Durn here? Or when his wife was cooking, and Durn said it gave her no end of trouble?”

Lira had no answer for that.

“You use the oven.” Sass held up her fingers and counted her points. “You had problems with the oven. Your life would be made easier with a new oven.”

This was all true, but Lira still had a hard time believing that Korl had done it for her alone. “Maybe he likes having a place to come for supper again, and he does like my scones.”

“Pip likes your scones and you don’t see him wheeling in kitchen supplies.” The dwarf patted her arm. “Some suitors bring flowers. Yours brought you a stove.”

Lira swung her head to Sass then tugged her to one side and dropped her voice. “I think you’ve forgotten about Val.”

Sass let out a wistful sigh. “I most certainly have not forgotten her.”

Lira gave the dwarf a curious look, but before she could press the matter, Sass put her hands on her hips and huffed out a breath. “I don’t know what to tell you, except that I think he’s got it bad for you. Two-ton stove bad.”

Lira groaned. As much as the orc made her pulse flutter, she didn’t have time to figure out a guy who was too shy to talk to her and spent all his time with another woman. A striking, intimidating woman.

This was why she’d avoided men when she’d been part of a crew. This was why she’d spurned Malek’s advances and even handsome Vaskel’s attempts to become more than friends. They’d been complications she didn’t need.

Just like this one.

Lira smoothed her hands down the front of her pants. “Well, we have enough to worry about with reviving the tavern without worrying about something as hypothetical as this.”

Sass mumbled something about fancy words not making the big orc go away, but Lira decided there was no point in thinking about any of it.

Not with her gran’s spell book still trapped behind a wall along with enough gold to make a wyvern giddy.