Page 37 of Sorcery, Swords & Scones
Lira clinked her cup back onto its saucer. "Why have you never told me about this before? How did I not know you had a magic ring all this time?”
Iris's cheeks flushed pink, and she kept her eyes on her tea. "It's not exactly magic, love. It can't ward away danger or help you eliminate it. It's more like enhanced intuition. And it will only warn you if the threat is yours. So if someone else is threatened, the ring won’t prickle even if you’re standing next to them.” She released a sigh. "And to be completely honest, I thought I'd lost it years ago."
Lira's eyes widened even further. "You misplaced an enchanted ring?"
"It's tiny.” Iris’s voice took on a defensive tone. "I'd put it away for safekeeping when magic items became unfashionable anddangerous to own. The problem was that I outsmarted myself and hid it so well that I couldn't remember where I'd put it."
Sass and Lira both glanced around the back room, which was in a constant state of what could charitably be called a delightful muddle.
"I turned this place upside down searching for it when you first arrived and were worried about Rygor,” Iris continued. "Spent weeks going through every shelf and every hiding place imaginable. Finally found it a few days ago tucked inside a book that I hadn’t opened in ages, which was why it was such a good hiding spot, of course.”
Sass honestly couldn't see how anyone could tell if the place had been searched or not. It looked like a whirlwind had blown through it on the best of days.
"The point is that I found it, and now Sass can be alerted to danger before it arrives," Iris said firmly and drained the last of her tea.
Lira examined the ring on Sass's finger. "I have to admit, that makes me feel considerably better about everything. I was worried that the merriment of the Harvest Festival would provide perfect cover for a dwarf search party."
Cali crossed her arms over her chest with satisfaction. "Well, now we're ready to defend Sass, plus we have a magical early warning system. I'd say we're as prepared as we can be."
Sass looked down at the ring, which felt comfortable on her finger but showed no signs of the prickling sensation Iris had described. Maybe she’d been wrong about the figure she'd thought she'd seen earlier. Maybe her nerves were just getting the better of her, and that hadn’t been a dwarf at all. If Florin really was nearby, surely the ring would have reacted by now.
For the first time in days, Sass released an easy breath. Her finger wasn’t pricking, but a spark of hope fluttered to life in her chest.
Twenty-Seven
Sass stoodbefore the small mirror that hung on the wall of her room above The Tusk & Tail, tugging nervously at the neckline of her new dress. The burgundy velvet felt impossibly luxurious against her skin, so different from the practical wool and linen garments she'd worn her entire life. In the Ice Lands, fashion was linked closely to survival. Dwarf garments were layers upon layers of heavy wool, leather, and fur designed to keep the bitter mountain cold from seeping into your bones.
This dress was the opposite of all that. Where her dwarf clothing had covered every inch of skin, this gown featured a low neckline and a skirt gathered high on one side, revealing far more leg than she’d ever shown.
"Sweet simmering cauldrons," she muttered to her reflection.
When Tinpin had insisted on designing the dress for her, she'd trusted his expertise. The gnome haberdasher had an eye for fashion, but seeing herself in the finished product, she wondered if Tin had gotten a bit carried away.
"The burgundy will complement your brown hair and skin beautifully, absolutely beautifully,” Tin had said during the fitting, his nimble fingers adjusting the drape of the skirt. "And this cutwill make your legs look longer. Much longer. We vertically challenged folk need to use all the tricks of the trade, don't we?" He'd winked at her conspiratorially, his pointed ears twitching as he’d tucked and pinned.
At the time, his enthusiasm had been infectious. Now, staring at herself in the mirror, Sass felt like a child playing dress-up. She’d spent most of her life trying to blend into the background and not look like a princess.
She ran her hands over the fabric. “So much for that plan.”
Her gaze snagged on the silver ring circling her pinky finger, and she spun it with the pad of her thumb, grateful that it remained warm but showed no signs of the prickling sensation Iris had described. The lack of warning gave her hope that perhaps Florin really was still far away, that maybe she'd have this one perfect evening before her past came crashing back into her carefully constructed new life.
Her plan for her one perfect evening was simple. She was going to find Val and finally tell her how she really felt. No more hiding behind knitting lessons.
The problem was that despite Lira's confidence, Sass still wasn't entirely convinced that Val saw her as anything more than a good friend. The guard was kind to everyone, charming and amiable with all the tavern's regulars. What if the smiles and winks that made Sass's knees weak were just Val's way?
She shook her head and scowled at herself in the mirror. Life was too short and too uncertain to waste time being afraid. If finding her heart’s home in Wayside had taught her anything, it was that happiness was something you had to work for, something you had to be brave enough to reach for even when you weren't sure you deserved it.
A soft knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and she expected to see Thrain's bearded face appear. Her dwarf friend had been strangely absent all day, although he had never been one for rousing early.
Instead, Lira peeked around the door, her eyes immediately widening as she took in Sass's appearance. She stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind her. "Sass, you look absolutely stunning."
“Go on with you. You don't think it's too much?" Sass asked, smoothing her hands over the rich fabric and trying to ignore her hot cheeks.
"Are you kidding?" Lira moved to sit on what had once been her own bed, the floral coverlet making it look like she was cocooned inside a giant yellow rose. "You look like a queen. A very sexy, very confident queen who's about to sweep a certain guard off her feet."
If it were possible for Sass’s cheeks to flame hotter, they did. She sat down beside her friend, the skirt pooling around her.
"I sometimes miss sharing a room with you," Lira said softly, reaching over to take Sass's hand. "Even though I absolutely adore Korl and love having our own space, there was something special about those early days when we were just two lost souls trying to figure it all out together."
