Page 15 of The Wand of Lore

“Thank you again for saving my family. I suppose I should get the babe back to her mother. Good night to the lot of you.” He nodded, then disappeared inside and closed the door.

Chapter Eleven: Gwenneth

The delivery had taken everything out of Gwenneth. She had spent the day casting and summoning, and she was positively drained from the exertion, not to mention the sleep deprivation. For some reason she couldn’t explain, Marvin also appeared to need extra rest. Why he hadn’t bothered to check into the inn and get some sleep was beyond her. She didn’t push it; she was just happy he didn’t object to an extra day of rest. Overall, she was less cross with him, a fact she attributed solely to the image she would forever harbor of him cradling the newborn in his big arms and positively beaming at the baby. He was full of surprises.

Marvin carried her pack to her room and put it on her bed. “Rest. You did . . . good today.”

Gwenneth laughed. At least he had a sense of humor! His pale, tired face turned red, and Gwenneth stopped laughing. Is it possible that he was embarrassed?

“Thanks. I’m glad you approve. If I had known you were so invested in childbirth, I’d have brought you along as an assistant.”

He scowled. “Don’t be absurd. I just didn’t want to see the woman die.”

“I know it can be intense, especially if you’ve never seen it before. It’s a powerful thing helping someone transition into or out of existence. We were all born once, and we’ll all die at the end of it.”

“Sleep now, we’ll talk later.”

She nodded, already falling into the bed, smiling up at him sleepily before drifting off to sleep.

***

She slept for the full day, and the following night just for good measure. Gwenneth finally awoke to the smell of eggs and fresh bread wafting from downstairs. She lay in bed dreamily, until the unmistakable scent of coffee tickled her nostrils and she bounded up. For coffee, it was worth greeting the day, and anyway, she felt refreshed and eager. They still had a long way to go, and they had to get there before Nayla was lost to the Devil’s Plague.

Marvin was waiting for her downstairs at a small table in the back corner. “Saved you a seat,” he said when he saw her. “I was hoping you’d be awake by now. We ought to go before someone else needs your services.”

He looked as refreshed as she felt. Gone were the bags under his dark eyes, and his clothes were smoother and less rumpled. Where stubble had been growing on his chin, he was now clean-shaven again, and his black hair was slightly less disheveled. It made him look younger. Nicer even. He handed her a hot mug of coffee as she sat down.

“Wow, this is a surprise. How did you know I was on my way down?”

“I didn’t. I only just came down myself, and frankly, if you hadn’t awakened, I was fully prepared to go upstairs and drag you out by your feet! For your own good, of course.”

For a second, Gwenneth imagined awakening to see him at the foot of her bed, hand on her legs. She shivered, then brushed it off with a laugh.

“Of course. Well, thanks for letting me sleep. I suppose I needed it. Now, when do you plan to tell me why you were up for the baby’s birth? I have a suspicion that you waited outside the entire night for the baby! What happened to you? I thought you were supposed to be the rough and mean one!”

“Who’s calling me mean?” he growled.

“There it is; there’s the Marvin I know.” She had spent too much time with him now to be bothered by a little growl. “Anyways, I was surprised you waited out there. The father even told me you were getting emotional over there under your tree. I had no idea you were a baby person. I think it’s kind of cute.”

“I amnota baby person. And I’m certainly not cute.”

Gwenneth shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

“It was just that it was a lot of blood, that’s all.”

“Yeah, I know it can be hard to see that if you’re not used to it. She would have been in real trouble if I hadn’t shown up. She almost didn’t make it anyways.”

“Well, thank goodness for her.”

“Nobody likes sarcasm.”

He laughed right out loud at that, a belly laugh that made his eyes glimmer. The glimmer was just a flash, and it passed quickly, but Gwenneth was happily surprised. He looked good when he relaxed just a bit. She was growing accustomed to his scowling, but his laugh was actually nice.

“Sit, drink your coffee.” He gestured to the opposite chair.

She realized, as she sat across from Marvin, that she had never spent any time eye to eye with him. His brown eyes looked huge up close. Almost beautiful. Not that she would ever tell him that.

“It’s an apology of sorts,” he muttered.

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