“Shut that hole in your face before I shove my fist inside it,” Duke said before spotting me. “Our Thorn Prince made muffins and sweet rice. You should eat something.”
Baden grinned. “It’s amusing how you threaten me and show concern for me in the same breath.”
After I warmed the rice back up and added fruit and three muffins on top, I offered him the bowl. “Order up.”
“Three muffins?” Quincy asked from his cot. “Why does he get three?”
“Because I took an arrow to the chest,” Baden said. “You just fell off your horse.”
“Hey, I tackled a bandit and captured him,” Quincy responded, turning his nose up. “That bandit is now being questioned. I’m a goddamn hero.”
“A hero who fell on his ass.” Baden smirked. “It’s the same ass that was hit by an arrow in the past, if memory serves me well. You had to sit on a little cushion for a week.”
Hudson nearly spewed his drink of water.
More knights, after eating and regaining some of their strength, joined in on the discussion. Soon, their boisterous voices filled the ward. I helped Briar pass out a round of tonics—best taken on a full stomach—before walking with him from the medical ward.
Thane was at his work station grinding herbs and tossed me a smile. “Hope you don’t mind, but I ate one of your muffins.”
“Eat as much as you like. I brought them for everyone.”
“I fed a crumb to Herbert.”
“Um.” I blinked in confusion. “Who?”
“Herbert.” Thane grabbed a glass jar off his station and padded over to me, his shaggy blond hair holding more of a curl that day. He held out the jar to me. “I caught him two days ago. Isn’t he pretty?”
Herbert was a giant beetle-looking thing with a midnight blue body covered in red and yellow specks. When he skittered from the far edge of the jar toward me, I barely repressed a shudder. “Yeah. He’s, uh, a handsome little guy. Not creepy at all.”
“He excretes a toxin that can be used in many medicines,” Thane said, reminding me of how excited Briar got when discussing plants. “Collecting the toxin doesn’t hurt him though. I wouldn’t do it if it did. I just have to be careful.”
“Did he, uh, like the muffin?” I asked, staring at the toxic little horrifying delight as he crawled around.
“Yep!” Thane brought the jar closer to his face and beamed at the beetle like a proud father. “He eagerly gobbled it up.”
“I didn’t know bugs could eat people food.”
“Herbert eats anything. Even flesh. If he’s hungry enough.”
“Oh god.”
I’d have nightmares about Herbert.
“All right, back to work,” Briar told him.
“Yes, sir.” Thane snatched the last muffin from the basket and rushed back over to his station, luckily with Herbert the Terror in tow.
“Thanks for letting me tag along today,” I said, keeping close to Briar’s side as he neared his desk. “Seeing the knights made me feel better.”
“You made them feel better too.” Briar faced me and slowly ran his hands down my upper arms. He still looked so tired. “Are you about to leave for the café?”
“Yep.” I zeroed in on the dark circles beneath his eyes. “Come with me. You can take a long nap upstairs and come down for tea and something sweet when you wake up. Then, you can curl up somewhere and read. Just take the day to catch up on sleep and relax.”
“As tempting as that sounds, I need to stay here.” Briar blew out a breath. “I have more work that needs to be done. Not to mention, the ward full of wounded knights. However, I’d love a cup of tea when I come home.”
“Home,” I said, heart swelling. “I love when you say that.”
“It’s exactly what the cottage has become to me. To us.” Briar’s fingertips skated across my jaw. “Before you leave, I have something for you.”
