Page 11 of Sorcery, Swords & Scones
Lira bobbed her head cautiously.
“Well, all that was true.” The words spilled from Sass as if saying them faster might lessen their impact. “What I didn’t tell you was why I left or what it might mean if the wrong dwarf found me. I lied when I said there was no one looking for me.”
Lira stiffened as her brow bunched with wrinkles. Crumpet unfurled his wings and flew back toward the kitchen, as if uninterested in all the talking and perhaps sensing the conflict brewing. Part of Sass wished she could follow him. Instead, she drained the last of her chai and set the mug on the table with a thunk.
“I didn’t tell you that my family rules one mountain in the Ice Lands or that I left because I didn’t want to go through with an arranged marriage. I didn’t tell you there might be search parties looking for me or that I ran off with an engagement present that my former fiancée apparently wants back.”
Lira’s mouth fell open. “Why…why didn’t you tell me? I told you about my past and my secrets,” she bobbled her head from side to side, “eventually.”
“And I was planning on telling you—eventually.” Sass wrung her plump hands. “But with every day that passed, it got harder. Then things were so good here that I feared ruining it, and I convinced myself that I was safe and that my past wouldn't catch up to me.”
“But it did,” Lira said quietly with a furtive look to Thrain.
Sass’s heart twisted when she heard the hurt in her friend’s voice. Why hadn’t she trusted Lira with the truth when she had the chance?
“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you. I should have. Every day I thought about it, and every day I made up an excuse not to do it.” Sass waved a hand at the great room. “I’ve never had something like this — some place where I truly belong. I was afraid to do anything to break the spell, because to me The Tusk & Tail is magical.”
Lira stared hard at Sass before quickly closing the distance between them and grabbing both of the dwarf’s hands. “Why didyou think I would care about your past? We all have secrets. Orc's blood, you know the secrets I kept from everyone when I first came back to Wayside. I’d be a pretty big hypocrite if I got mad at you for not spilling all of yours to me.”
Sass’s throat thickened. “You’re not mad I didn’t tell you?”
Lira hitched one shoulder. “I’m shocked, but I understand not wanting to spoil a good thing. I know the feeling of wanting to protect a happiness that feels so fragile it might shatter in your hands.” She threaded her fingers through Sass’s. “As long as you don’t expect me to call you Princess Sass.”
Sass laughed. “Please don’t.”
Lira released her hands and curled an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “We’ve dealt with unpleasant blasts from the past before. We can handle this one.” She glanced at Thrain, who was eyeing the pair over the top of his mug. “No offense intended.”
“None taken,” Thrain grumbled. “By the way, what do you call this funny tea?”
“Chai,” Sass said quickly, “and it’s one of our best sellers.”
Thrain took another tentative sip and tipped his head back and forth as Sass twisted to face Lira. “The unpleasant blast from the past won’t be Thrain. It will be Florin Trollbane.”
Lira repeated the name with raised brows. “Your former fiancée?”
“Along with what will most certainly be an armed search party,” Thrain added after swallowing a gulp of chai.
“This fiancée sounds like a peach,” Lira said under her breath.
“A peach who blinded her own sister in one eye because she thought the dwarf was prettier than her.” Thrain pointed to his left eye. “She’s not one to be crossed lightly.”
Lira’s face paled. “And this is all about an engagement present you ran off with? Can’t you just return it?”
Thrain sighed. “Like I told Sass, it's not that simple. Florin wants the amulet Sass took and is insisting she come home and go through with the wedding.”
Lira held Sass at arm’s length. “You aren’t going to do it, are you? If you ran away to escape the wedding, why would you go back?”
Sass blinked rapidly at the thought of leaving everything she’d built with Lira. “I don’t want to go, but Florin is threatening retribution on my family if I don’t.”
Lira looked at Thrain, as if for confirmation.
He nodded grimly. “That’s why I tracked down Sass on my own. I had to tell her that Florin’s search party is closing in on her.”
Both Lira and Sass cut their eyes to the door, as if a horde of angry dwarves would burst through at any moment, boots stomping and axes swinging.
“This is ridiculous. No one can force you to marry them.” Lira then dropped her voice and gave Sass a questioning look. “Can they? Is this a dwarf thing I’ve never heard about?”
“There was a marriage pact, which would create an alliance between the clans,” Thrain said, “but the Thornshields wouldn’t force the issue if Florin wasn’t threatening retribution.”
