Chapter 5
5
FRIDA
“ S o tell me how you came to live on the Floating Forest,” I said, after polishing off the rest of the food. My stomach was full now, and the warmth of the cottage had soothed some of my nerves. At the end of the day, I had to embrace my new plan, whether or not Rune suspected me. I’d already fucked up my mission—at least in the way the guild liked to do things.
That didn’t mean I’d failed yet. All I had to do was convince Rune I wasn’t here for the reasons he thought. He had no evidence against me, nothing but a hunch. I’d just have to prove that hunch wrong.
Rune leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“Me? But I don’t live here.”
“You do now, don’t you? Most people who come to the Floating Forest are looking for a new life, a new home, and a fresh beginning. I figured you were the same. Otherwise, why’d you end up on this island?”
He was testing me. Rune clearly thought nothing of the sort.
“I only got here last night. I haven’t seen enough to know if I want to live here permanently.”
He nodded. “But you’re considering it?”
“I…well, I suppose so.” It seemed like the best excuse.
“Then you’re running away from something,” he said, his brown eyes sharpening on my face.
I frowned. “That’s a leap.”
“Is it? Why would a beautiful elf like yourself come here alone if she wasn’t running from something in her past? You would have had to leave everything behind. Your home, your friends. Your family.”
His words were hitting far too close to home. Years ago, I had run from my life and left everything behind. Everything I’d always known. Everyone I’d loved. At the time, I’d been desperate to put as much space between me and my past—my family’s past—as possible, hoping that I could leave it in the dust. But it had caught up with me in the end.
“You sound like you’re speaking from experience,” I countered. “Does that mean you were running from something?”
His face clouded over, and the scowl returned. Interesting. I’d been trying to take the attention off me, but I’d landed on a truth he didn’t want me to know. Rune had fled from something. He was hiding on this island, hoping he’d never get caught. Despite these cozy lodgings, his past held as much darkness as mine did. I was right to suspect there was more to him than met the eye.
Rune heaved a sigh. “I suppose you’re right. I did run, same as anyone else who ends up here. I made a mistake once and angered the wrong person. It’s haunted me all my life.”
I sat back in my chair, my heart pounding. I hadn’t expected him to actually answer. “What happened?”
“I’ve said enough already. It’s not something I like to talk about,” he said gruffly. “Least of all with a stranger.”
I pressed my lips together, deciding not to push. At least not yet. If I moved too quickly, those walls of his would raise right back up again.
I cleared my throat. “I get it. I’ve never talked to anyone about my own…issues.”
That, at least, was the truth. No one but my family and the other guild members knew about my desertion and subsequent return. A few of my forest neighbors had asked me about my childhood, my family, and my past, but I’d conjured up lies as explanations. I didn’t know how to tell people I’d been born into a family of killers—which meant I was a killer, too. Death swirled in my blood.
Everyone back home—sweet Maella with the flowers in her hair and old Aster who liked to sit on his porch, rocking back and forth and watching the day drift by—weren’t like me. If I’d told them the truth, they never would have seen me as anything but an assassin. Someone to avoid at all costs. As it was, they’d been my only friends for so long I hadn’t wanted to scare them away. Because of the miles between us, we already went weeks between visits. If the years passed without contact, my unending loneliness would become unbearable.
Of course, that was no longer the case. I had the guild now.
Rune nodded slowly. “I’ve never told anyone the details about my past, either. Most people here know I’ve got something that haunts me, but they don’t know what it is. I intend to keep it that way.”
I cocked my head. “You’re being awfully candid now, for someone who claims he doesn’t like to talk.”
He waved my words away. “I’d hardly call this candid. All I’ve told you is that I’ve got something, but that’s hardly surprising. Like I said before, everyone here’s running.”
I nodded.
“And,” he continued, “we’re all lucky to have found this place. It’s safe from the outside world, or as safe as any place can be. The good folk here don’t need to worry about their pasts. They’re happy in their bubble, and I intend to make sure it stays that way for a long time to come.”
I searched his hawkish gaze. It was easy to understand what he was trying to tell me. Rune wanted me to leave these people alone. And if I didn’t, he’d do whatever it took to protect them.
Fine with me. I would never aim my bow at someone who didn’t deserve it.
“I’ve heard that,” I said. “About the Isles, I mean. It’s one of the safest places in the known world.”
“You heard right. Some of the islands don’t even allow weapons. We don’t have that rule on the Floating Forest, but…” He eyed my bow and quiver of arrows, where I’d stashed them against the wall just beside the door. “I can see the merit in it.”
“Don’t you have an axe?”
“My axe is for woodworking. If I used it to kill someone, the villagers of Oakwater would banish me from the island. As they should. I don’t take lives.”
More hidden meanings. More carefully worded threats. I didn’t quite understand what I’d done to raise his hackles, but they were as raised as they possibly could be. He was so convinced I’d come here for nefarious reasons that I wouldn’t be shocked if he escalated the conversation to outright accusations. Maybe I ought to excuse myself before things went that far. This had been a decent start, as long as we parted on good terms.
“Well, this has been a lovely start to my day.” I pushed back my chair and stood. “Thanks again for the breakfast. Would you mind pointing me in the direction of Oakwater? I’m assuming they have a few inns.”
He frowned up at me, his lips curling around his tusks. “You’re leaving?”
“Yes, I’d like to get settled in somewhere.” I kneaded my shoulders with my knuckles, rolling my neck. “I didn’t get much sleep last night, camping inside a tree and all. A nap sounds amazing right about now.”
A nap did not sound at all amazing. I was far too on edge to fall asleep, nor did I plan to find an inn. I’d camp out in the woods until I’d completed my assignment, making sure none of the other villagers caught sight of my face. But I couldn’t tell him that, now could I?
“You should stay,” he said quietly.
“I’m sorry?”
“You should stay,” he repeated, his voice a little louder this time. “I have a spare room. In exchange, all I ask is for some help with my woodworking. I could really use another pair of hands on some of my builds.”
“You want me to stay here. And be your assistant? ”
He shrugged. “I figure you’re new in town, which means you’ll need a roof over your head and a job to make some coin. Not sure what better offer you’d get, let alone if you’d get one at all. Oakwater’s a small village. And the one inn is routinely full.”
I squinted at him. “How’s the inn full? I thought you said you didn’t get many visitors.”
“We don’t. People show up, move into the inn, and stay there until they get their homes built, which can take months.”
“I see. And you’re the one who builds the homes, I’m guessing,” I said. “All by yourself?”
“That’s why I need another pair of hands.”
“I…appreciate the offer.”
I didn’t know the first thing about woodworking. Sure, I did a bit of carpentry on my cottage when things broke. Once, I’d pulled up a rotting floorboard and replaced it with a new one. I’d sanded the front porch steps after I’d wandered down them barefooted and got a splinter stuck in my toe for days. I’d even built a very small set of shelves, which turned out lopsided and creaky. But that was about the extent of it.
The thing was, this opportunity was perfect . Working side by side with him, day after day…living in his house and sharing meals with him. It was the ideal way to convince him I was a lovely, trustworthy elf who he could share his secrets with. And if not, maybe he had some clues hidden around his house, ones that would lead me straight to his dragon.
He’d handed me exactly what I needed to get close to him, plopped on a silver platter. All I had to do was take it.
Which was, incidentally, exactly why I hesitated. With all the suspicions he clearly had about me, he wouldn’t make this offer unless he hoped to gain something in return—likely the confirmation he needed to…what, exactly? If he discovered I was part of the guild, what would he do? He said he wasn’t a killer, but that was exactly the kind of thing a killer would say when they wanted you to trust them.
I’d just have to be careful, that was all. And find what I needed before he did.
“So…” The chair creaked as he shifted his weight on it. “What do you say?”
“All right. I’ll take the job.” Fate, what was I doing?
Rune’s lips quirked. It wasn’t quite a smile, but it was better than the furrowed look from a moment before. He held a large, calloused hand across the table. Swallowing, I took it and shook. His skin was shockingly warm, and while his grip was firm, his touch was somehow gentle, too. Heat pooled in my belly.
When he released my hand, I didn’t quite know where to look. So I did what any other woman would do when trapped in an awkward situation. I grabbed the cheese and stuffed it into my mouth. As soon as the rich cheddar hit my tongue, all thoughts of Rune’s suspicions fled my mind. I nearly moaned from how delicious it was.
Rune watched me silently as I chewed. When I was finished, he cut off another chunk of cheese and dropped it onto my plate.
“Good, eh? It’s local,” he said.
“Don’t tell me you have cows, too? And you make cheese? What, exactly, can’t you do?”
“Oh, I can do a great many things. Cheesemaking isn’t one of them, though. That cheddar is from one of the farmers down the road. A family of dwarves. Good folk.”
“Ah.” I nodded. That must be the family whose house I’d stumbled upon when I’d first arrived. “Well, next time you see them, be sure to tell them their cheese is to die for.”
“You can tell them yourself, once you’re done eating. I need to pay them a visit about a job, and as my new assistant, I need you to come along.”
I slid my eyes down to my plate, then poked at the cheese with my fork. Suddenly, I no longer had much of an appetite, even for the cheese. When I’d agreed to take the assistant position, I’d imagined I could keep myself well hidden from the townspeople. I could hole up, building whatever needed building. Rune didn’t strike me as the sociable type, either, so I didn’t expect he got many visitors or dinner guests.
I didn’t want to make much of a mark here. If anyone figured out who and what I was, it would put them in danger. The guild didn’t much like witnesses. Their names tended to end up on the list, even if they were innocents. I’d asked my father about it a few times. Surely, if we only took out those with darkness in their hearts, we should give witnesses a little grace.
But he’d told me we must do whatever it took to protect the guild. If a witness reported us to the authorities, the guild could crumble. We could be taken captive, executed. And then who would be left to remove evil from the world?
It was a solid argument. One I didn’t agree with, but that hardly mattered in the end. I wasn’t the one in charge. And if someone here—or a lot of someones—ended up on the wrong side of the guild, they’d also end up without a head.
I blew out a breath. “Do you need me to go with you? I’m awfully tired, like I said before.”
“Consider it your induction.” He stood from the table and grabbed some parchment and a quill from the woodworking corner of his house. “You can take notes.”
Without further ado, he walked to the door, yanked it open, and motioned me outside. Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I grabbed the chunk of cheese—for emotional support—and followed him to the home of the dwarves.