Page 24 of Sorcery, Swords & Scones
"Early day?" Vorto looked confused for a moment, then caught sight of his husband's pointed expression. "Oh! Yes, very early day. Extremely early. Should probably go to bed right now, in fact."
He was still chewing his cake as Klaff practically hauled him toward the stairs, the larger orc calling out goodnights over his shoulder while his husband chewed and waved.
And then they were gone, leaving Sass and Val alone at the table with the remains of the cake and the weight of unspoken words.
Sass took a breath and launched into the apology she'd been rehearsing. "Val, I owe you an explanation. About what you heard this morning, about?—"
"You don't owe me anything," Val interrupted, her voice quiet but firm. “Your past isn’t my business.”
Sass leaned forward. “But it is because I like to think we're friends, and friends should be honest with each other."
Val's expression softened, and she let her enormous fork clatter to the empty plate. "All right. I'm listening."
Sass gathered her courage, her fingers nervously working the edge of her napkin. "I had a fiancée. Florin Trollbane. But it was an arranged marriage, negotiated by our families when I was barely old enough to hold an axe without tipping over. I never loved her, Val. I barely even knew her."
She tracked Val's expressions, searching for any sign of judgment or disappointment. Instead, she saw understanding and then the briefest glimmer of relief.
"That's why you ran away?" Val asked.
"That's why I ran away," Sass said, all the old reasons making her spine straighten. "I couldn't marry someone I didn't love, couldn't spend my life living someone else's idea of what I should be. So I took back my life, even if it meant leaving everything I'd ever known."
Val was quiet for a long moment, her blue eyes holding Sass’s with an intensity that made the dwarf want to squirm. Finally, she spoke. "I'm glad you ran away."
Breath hitched in Sass’s chest. "You are?"
"If you hadn't, you never would have come to Wayside. And Wayside is better with you in it." Val's cheeks flushed slightly, but she held Sass's gaze. "I'm better with you in it."
The words hung between them, and Sass was afraid to speak, afraid to breathe, in case she broke the fragile feeling of hope that fluttered in her chest.
“There's something else you should know," Sass finally said, forcing herself to continue despite the way Val's admission had scrambled her thoughts. "Thrain—the dwarf who came to the tavern—he warned me that Florin and her search party are looking for me. They could arrive in Wayside any day now. Florin has threatened retribution against my clan unless I return and marry her.”
Val straightened immediately, her gaze sharpening in the space of a heartbeat. "Then we'll be ready for them."
"We?"
"Did you think I'd let them take you without a fight?" Val's voice was as sharp and hard as a sword’s blade. "This is your home now, Sass. No one will take you from it.”
Even though they were talking about battle, Sass’s mouth curved into a smile. Before she’d ended up in Wayside, she'd spent so long alone that having someone stand beside her was still an odd sensation.
“Thanks, Val.”
Val reached across the table and hacked off twomore slices of cake. "Now, let's eat more of this excellent cake before Vorto and Klaff sneak back down and finish it. I’ve never known a cake to last a full day in this house.”
Sass accepted the slice with a smile. “Even though Korl doesn’t live here anymore?”
Val snorted a laugh. “He’s not the one who claims to sleepwalk and devours anything sweet that’s left in the kitchen.”
Sass tipped her head as if to look through the ceiling to the second floor. “Klaff?”
Val shook her head and whispered, “Vorto, but don’t tell him I told you.”
Sass mimed buttoning her mouth and pretended to mumble promises through sealed lips. A bark of laughter burst from Val, and she slapped a hand over her mouth as she rocked back in her chair.
Sitting across from Val and attempting to laugh quietly as they ate cake, Sass let her fears drift away into the night, replaced by the tender glow of possibility.
Seventeen
The morning sununfurled ribbons of golden light across the village of Wayside as Sass made her way down the dirt road from The Tusk & Tail. Her steps felt lighter than they had in days, buoyed by the memory of last night's conversation with Val. She wasn’t sure if it was the delicious cake or the company that had chased away her fears, but she suspected it was a bit of both.
