Page 56 of Wickedly Ever After
Tinbit put it to his lips. Paused. “Hector, if I ever fall in love again, just let me die. I can’t stand this anymore. For Hari.” He drained the flask. Grimaced. “Gods, Hector, is there demon piss in there or something?”
“It’s a bit bitter,” Hector said. “My apologies. They didn’t have any honey in the kitchen.”
“Not half as bitter as I feel,” he said. “Go back and take care of Hari for me. I want to stay out here with the horses for a while, at least until I don’t feel like such a horse’s rear end.”
Hector obeyed. He felt a lot like a horse’s rear end himself.
***
He met Ida in the empty main room of the inn. Belinda was in the kitchen, talking in low tones with her son. He sounded disappointed. Probably they’d not given him a proper share of the loot.
Ida sat by the fire in a low armchair, a cup of strong tea at her elbow. She held Hari’s dirty smock in her lap. “I thought Belinda might have a washtub. But she said she’d wash it. Wouldn’t hear of me lifting a finger.”
“I hope you didn’t argue with her,” he said, taking the other armchair. “Hotel laundry is a lucrative side business.”
“I didn’t argue.”
“Hari is resting?”
“He took his potion and went to sleep,” Ida said. “He…he cried a little.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Yes.” She twisted the smock into a knot. “He didn’t want to believe me.”
“Tinbit didn’t either.” He leaned back, staring up at the smoke-tinged ceiling.
“I feel like shit, Hector. He was so sure it was real, and he almost got me believing he might be right. If I didn’t know better—”
“That makes two of us. If you asked me two days ago about what I believed was better—falling in love or a scarless heart—I wouldn’t have hesitated. A heart, well-protected, safe, happy in its own way, contented, is always preferable, but…”
“It’s a good thing we don’t have them anymore.” She laughed, but it sounded harsh and sad.
“Good thing.”
Ida reached for his hand. He twined his fingers through hers, and together, they watched the fire crackle in silence.
26
Ida
There’s Only One Bed Charm—used in the latter half of the Happily-Ever-After spell to instigate emotional and physical bonding. Use when the bonding at the Rescue is weaker than anticipated.
Magic and Mischief—A Thousand Years of Happily-Ever-After: A Memoir
Ida North
Hari drank the potion in good faith, trusting her to cure him. Then he’d heaved, and grabbing his chest, he began to sob, a dreadful brokenhearted sound, and the tears—so many tears. She’d rocked him like she used to do when he was a tiny gnomelet, sweet and furry as a kitten in her lap.
He didn’t know why he wept. She did. His love for Tinbit was strong, even if it wasn’t real. But some things weren’t meant to be. Hari didn’t want to leave her. Tinbit certainly wouldn’t leave Hector, even if Hari had asked him to. At least this way, they’d never have to endure that heartache.
A pine log snapped in the fireplace, shedding bark. She stirred and picked up her tea cup. Grit polluted the bottom nowthat the tea leaves had settled, and it tasted dirty, but at least it was hot. Belinda offered it as Hector’s favorite.
“Well, it’s over now,” Hector said. “We can concentrate on what we’re going to do once we find Alistair and the princess. To be frank, I’m disturbed by how upset Tinbit was about taking the potion. The dragon and the princess may have also been affected in the same way. And if they’re anything like Hari and Tinbit, we may have difficulty in getting them to understand.”
“This potion, could we use it to—”
“No.” Hector shook his head. “It might work on the princess, but not on Alistair. Dragons are largely resistant to potions. The fire in their bellies deactivates everything.”
