Page 19 of Must Love Moss and Moonshine
He called once more.
“Everyone has tasks for me.Acorns for the squirrel and a chestnut ale for the Sylvan.At your service, my friends,” I said, giving Sylvie a light smile.
She returned the look, her gaze lingering on me as her features softened, the expression in her eyes warming, her lips quivering lightly.She seemed to force herself to look away.
Swallowing hard, I turned and headed inside.
Great Gaia, please let her heart be free so I can make her mine.
CHAPTER11
TANSY
We sat beside the fire, drinking and laughing late into the night.While Kellen’s life was solitary, he was not without woodland miscreants who kept him busy.The brownies, who’d had a hand in my accident, were the most common ne’er-do-wells.
“They have no discernment in who they bother,” Kellen told me with a laugh.“But common sense should have warned them not to mess with trolls.”
“So they wheeled it out?The whole cheese?”
“And a hefty one too.Down the mountain, over to the stream where they’d built a raft.”
“Did they not know it was your Yule gift to the trolls?”
Kellen laughed.“Perhaps they did but they didn’t know how much the trolls coveted it… Or perhaps they did not care.”
“So, what happened when they discovered?”
“The troll cave is two leagues from here, but even I heard them howl with rage.The entire forest went quiet.”
I paused a moment, then laughed.
“It took all my eyes to discover what they had done and where they had gone.The little thieves had already eaten a wedge when they found them.Very unluckily for them, the trolls found them before I did.It was a mere chance that I arrived when I did.If I hadn’t?—”
“The trolls would not kill them, would they?”I asked, pausing mid-sip as I studied Kellen’s face.The dryad, who had been matching me in pace on the chestnut ale all night, had a soft expression.Joy was coming easier to him now.I was delighted to discover that his cheeks dimpled when he smiled widely and laughed loudly.
“Kill them?Well, the logic they shared with me after they had stuffed the little clan in a sack and recollected the cheese was that they were planning to eat them.After all, the brownies had eaten the cheese, so it made logical sense to them.”
I laughed.“No!”
“Yes.From inside the sack, they screamed for my help and pleaded with the trolls for mercy.They should be very thankful that I had come prepared.”
“What did you do?”
“I traded the trolls three flagons of Moonshine in exchange for the brownies.”
I laughed out loud.“That is a fortune wasted.”
“You’re right,” Kellen said with a laugh.“And so I told the brownies later, but it was a deal I knew the trolls would accept without hesitation.”
“So what did you do?”
“Made the exchange.I wished the trolls well, then took the satchel of brownies.I let them hang on that hook,” he said, pointing to a hook by his front door, “for the night to rethink their life choices.”
Chuckling, I slugged back the last of the chestnut ale.“And did the brownies reform their ways?”
“Against the trolls?Yes.They will never risk that again.But against harmless Sylvan women?Not so much.”
“You think me harmless, dryad?”I asked.
