Page 2 of Must Love Moss and Moonshine
“I said you weren’t.Then he asked if you were my girl.Since he looked your type?—”
“You are supposed to say yes.Always.You arealwayssupposed to say yes.”
“Not when they look likethat,” Bromir said with a loud laugh.“And you need to…relax,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at me.“All this talk about getting to Moonshine Hollow early, making extra wares, earning more coin, and all the rest is giving me a headache.Drink.”
“I do not need torelax, I just…” I began then paused.“You know I’m just looking to make some extra money.”
“Aye.To stay off the road for the winter,” he said in a low voice so the others wouldn’t hear.
Stepping away from the caravan was a big deal, and Bromir and I both knew it.I had been with the troupe for five years, loving every minute of my vagabond life.But lately...Something felt heavy in my chest, something that had never been there before.I didn’t feel lonely for my home in the Sylvan forest city of Greenspire.I felt lonely for a home I’d never seen before.I yearned for a place I didn’t even know.I needed to go home—wherever that was.How was such a thing even possible?The feeling was so strong that I knew with certainty that I needed a break from the wanderer’s life, even just for a season.I needed to get to Moonshine Hollow, make as much money as I could, and spend the winter in the warm and friendly town just trying to figure out what to do next.
“Yes,” I replied.
“I’d be worried, but you’ll change your mind.You always change your mind.You’ve never been one to miss an adventure, and you love the dwarven halls in Ironmist Mountain at Yule.”
“I do, but maybe not this year.This year, I want quiet, which your brethren are decidedly not.”
Bromir laughed.“True,” he said then tipped the heavy tankard back, drinking heartily.
I sighed and drank as well.A winter of warmth and quiet sounded perfect.I wanted a winternotsleeping wherever I found a place to rest my head, which was often beside Bromir in the back of his wagon under a heap of furs and blankets, listening to the dulcet tone of my bestie’s snores.I wanted to sit beside a fire and take my time making my enchanted jewelry.Of late, I’d had new ideas about how to weave some of my silver strands, and I had been dreaming of a new spell to work into the silver.I almost had it, I just needed a little longer to practice the spellwork and to listen, letting the magic come to me.I wanted to try new things, things that weren’t all that suited to a traveler’s life.
I just wanted…something more.
Sipping the massive tankard, I eyed the barkeep.
He was handsome in every way possible.Strong, square jaw, blue eyes, a hulking frame, his tunic and trousers hugging him in all the right places.For just a moment, I imagined curling up beside him for the night instead of sleeping in the wagon by the dwarf.He probably had a warm room upstairs, clean blankets, a crackling fire.A perfect place to get...friendly.
When he turned toward me, I looked away.
Getting friendly wasn’t going to get me what I wanted.I was yearning forsomething, and it wasn’t going to be found in the arms of that morsel of a man.
“His eye is on you,” Bromir whispered to me.
“Forget him… Just like you forgot my handpie.”
“Did not,” Bromir replied, pulling the wrapped pie from the pouch on his waist.He handed it to me.
“It’s squished,” I complained.It wasn’t, but I loved the look of indignation on Bromir’s face.
“Is not!I was careful.”
“Pfft,” I blew at him then unwrapped my food.“As for tonight, the only love affair I’m having will be with this dessert.Come to me, darling,” I said then took a bite, shimmying a little happy dance, enjoying the taste.
“Poor barkeep.You’re no fun.”
“You go flirt with him, then.”
At that, the dwarf drank again then sighed.“You’ve got the nixies.We all get them from time to time.It will pass.”
The nixies.That was what we called it whenever anyone wanted to leave the vagabond lifestyle.“It’s not the nixies,” I told him between chews.
“Whatever you say, Tansy.”Bromir tapped my mug then turned and called to Jonsie and the other musicians.“Hey, you lot.PlayMiranda Goes a Washin’for my Sylvan friend.”
Jonsie inclined his head to the dwarf then turned to the others, the trio launching into the comical song about a washer woman, her goblin lover, and her cuckolded orc husband.
“Bromir,” I said, jabbing him once more.
“I’m sick of seeing you frowning.This one always makes you laugh.”
