Page 54

Fifty-Three

“I don’t think apple dumplings have healing properties,” Sass said as they gathered in the great room and Lira fed a revived Crumpet bits of a dumpling that hadn’t made the cut to be sold at the faire.

“That’s what you think,” Lira said without taking her eyes off the flutter-stoat. “All pastry has healing properties.”

“I agree with that.” Korl’s voice was low and even as he sat next to Lira on the long bench.

Lira looked away from Crumpet to smile at him. “Thanks.”

He nodded, knowing that the thanks was for more than just sticking up for her pastry. After all, he’d been the one to tie up Malek and drag him to the dungeon at Greyhelm Castle .

“If that’s the case, can I get an apple dumpling here?” Cali sat in one of the overstuffed chairs with a healing poultice on her head.

“Your head needs more than some apple wrapped in pastry,” Iris said, but her tone wasn’t unkind. She’d been more worried than she’d let on when she’d been trying to revive Cali, and she’d given the Tabaxi strict instructions not to confront any more dark mages on her own.

“Rude,” Cali said in a stage whisper and then winked at Lira.

The two women laughed, even as Cali complained through the giggles that laughing made her headache worse. They hadn’t talked about everything that had happened in the cellar, but Cali knew that Malek had killed Pirrin and would have been willing to kill every one of them.

At least it explained why they’d all had the feeling they were being watched. Malek had kept his eyes on all of them, waiting for his chance to pay them back for what he perceived as their abandonment. But his ultimate goal had been the same as Lira’s—the book.

“That took some effort,” Vaskel said as he emerged from the cellar covered in a fine layer of dust. “But here it is.”

He strode to them and heaved a sizable iron box onto the table with a thud that shuddered the wood. “You didn’t tell me the book was so heavy.”

Sass stood up to assess the box. “Or that it was encased in iron.”

Lira left Crumpet happily devouring the apple dumpling and walked to the box, touching a hand to the cool exterior that carried traces of the red clay it had been encased in for so long. She unhooked a small pouch on her belt and produced a key, sliding it into the lock.

Everyone held their breath as the mechanism clicked. Lira lifted the lid, reaching for the cloth-wrapped book as the gold coins slid from the top and fell back into the box. Setting it on the table, she placed a hand on the linen wrapping, feeling a pulse warming her fingers.

Lira didn’t know if she was sensing the magic within the pages of the book or if it was her newly awakened elvish powers. She slipped the book from the fabric covering, smiling at the familiar leather cover and the moonstone that still glowed milky-white, although considerably fainter than she remembered.

“So that’s a moonstone?” Sass wrinkled her nose, not impressed.

“It hasn’t been exposed to moonlight for a long time,” Lira explained. “That’s why it isn’t bright.”

Cali leaned forward from the overstuffed chair and eyed the leather-bound book from a distance. “ This is the book you thought just contained recipes?”

Lira laughed. “I was much younger then, and I only remember catching a few glimpses of the cover before my gran would tuck it away. And she told me that the stone had lost any powers long ago.”

“Your gran planned to tell you everything,” Iris said, smiling wistfully at her friend’s spell book. “When you were older.”

Lira was no longer upset about the secrets. She understood that her gran had only wanted to protect her. After seeing the lengths Malek went to in order to obtain the book, she understood why her gran had lived in such secrecy.

“At least spell books aren’t outlawed. If that book wasn’t destroyed when all the others were rounded up, it’s yours to keep.” Vaskel grinned at Lira, his grin wicked. “Imagine what a crew could do with that and your powers.”

Lira shook her head at him. “No, thank you. My adventuring days are in the past.”

“You’re sure about that?” Cali asked.

Lira looked around the great room. Almost all the people she cared about were there, and most of them belonged right there in Wayside. Then she let her gaze linger on Korl. “I’ve never been surer about anything.”

“Sometimes the bravest thing an adventurer can do is plant roots instead of pulling up stakes,” Iris said.

Sass sniffed. “That sounds like something my mum would say.”

“It’s what Lira’s gran said to convince me to come with her to a tiny village and settle down.” Iris's eyes shone. “And I’ve never regretted it for a minute. ”

Vaskel muttered something about what he could do with Lira’s powers, but Lira was too busy opening the book. She flipped through a few heavy pages until she landed on the one she wanted.

“Did you find a good spell?” Sass asked. “Maybe one that can enchant the brooms and make them sweep the floors themselves?”

Lira shook her head. “Better. I found my gran’s recipe for teacakes.”

“Cinders and dragon dung,” Sass grumbled.