Page 28 of Of Potions and Honey
“Mira!”
“Woof!”
At a small table near the door, shoved underneath a window and flanked by two wooden benches, Kayden sat, and opposite him, Yoni. From between the table legs poked a yellow head with two sets of ears. Man and dog were looking at her, though only Kayden spoke.
“Sorry, you just looked a little lost.” He glanced around the crowded room. “Are you meeting someone?”
“No.” Mira felt her cheeks redden. “I just got back from Willow Harbour, and my ice box looks pretty sad. I thought I could get dinner here, but…”
“Mhm. Weekends are like this.” He shared a glance with Yoni. “You can sit with us, right?”
Yoni did not look impressed, but neither did she look particularly annoyed. She simply gave a curt nod, and Kayden patted the bench beside him.
“There you go. Mind the menace.”
Said menace gave another quitewoofand shuffled a little sideways when Mira put her travel bag under the table, and then immediately rested her feet on her shoes. Tired to the bone, Mira sank back in her seat.
“Thank you. I’m absolutely starving, I might have just keeled over halfway back home and died in a ditch.”
He dramatically put his hand on his chest. “We can’t have that!”
“Don’t worry, Marigold would’ve dragged you into my kitchen,” Yoni muttered. “She likes to share.”
Her tone gave Mira pause. Unsure if it was indeed a joke, she suppressed a laugh. “I might be a little too large for her.”
“She’s ambitious.”
“Ambitious, but smarter than my creature here.” Kayden reached under the table to give Poppy a pat on the head. “As far as I know, she’s never picked a fight with something magical.”
“Might be because she can’t find any,” Yoni replied. “I wouldn’t put it past her.”
“I’m sure she’ll get her chance,” Kayden said confidently. Yoni’s reply was a narrow-eyed glare.
“Maybe she could stick to chasing off the birds,” Mira suggested lightly. “The magpies are the worst. They keep trying to eat my seeds, and the net I put up is mildly inconveniencing them at best. I can pay her in treats.”
Yoni’s eyes wandered over to Mira. “Pestsandtreats? She’ll be round and even more useless in no time.”
“Yoni!” Kayden’s eyes went wide in mock surprise. “She’d bedevastatedto hear that!”
“Good thing she doesn’t understand human, then.”
“Woof!”
All three of them glanced down. Yoni cleared her throat.
“You never did find out ifsheunderstands human, did you?”
Kayden chuckled. “If she did, I’m fairly sure I would know. She’s chatty as it is.”
Mira glanced between the two of them. “That’s not something sprite dust can do, is it?”
Yoni gave her an odd look. “It’s never been proven that it can’t,” she said ominously. Kayden rolled his eyes and patted Mira’s shoulder.
“Come on, she doesn’t know that this is how you joke.”
Was it? So far, Mira hadn’t taken her for someone who knew how to joke at all. Yoni gave a little huff.
“Well, she does now, doesn’t she.” She glanced at Mira. “You do know that I’m joking, right?”
