Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Vaskel slumped farther down in the overstuffed armchair and dragged the pewter tankard to his lips, sipping the ale that was no longer cold. “He’ll be back soon.”
Val sank into the chair across from his, the impact making the yarn basket on the floor jump and her own ale slosh over the lip of the tankard. “You can’t stay here all night waiting for Thrain.”
“He has to come back at some point,” Vaskel mumbled, more into his drink than to Val.
Val gave him a broad grin and raised her ale in salute. “To Thrain returning.”
Vaskel didn’t bother to lift his drink before taking another swig. The tavern had emptied out long enough ago that Sass had swept the floors twice. Even the fire was a pile of murmuring embers glowing orange in the stone hearth.
Korl and Lira emerged hand-in-hand from the kitchen, both doing a double-take to see so many people left around the fire after closing.
Sass sauntered up with the bristle broom in one hand. “You truly intend to stay here until he returns?”
“Until who returns?” Lira asked.
“Thrain.” Vaskel flicked his gaze to the back staircase that led to both Sass’s bedroom and Thrain’s. “He sleeps here. That means he has to come back.”
“We can wait with you,” Lira said, although she didn’t sound excited by the prospect.
“The last thing we need is a sleep-deprived bride.” Sass propped her broom against the nearest table and perched on the arm of Val’s chair. “You should go home.”
“You’re just saying that because I’ve been in a mood the past few days,” Lira said.
“Mood?” Val attempted a look of disbelief while Vaskel shook his head with an unrealistic amount of enthusiasm.
Korl scratched the side of his head. “Have you?”
A laugh burst from Lira. “You are all horrid actors. The worst.”
“Don’t look at me.” Sass held up both palms. “I’m not pretending you haven’t been in a wedding funk.”
“I know it’s silly to let wedding planning steal my joy about actually getting married.” She tipped her face to Korl’s. “You know that my mood has nothing to do with wanting to marry you, because I really, really do.”
He cupped her face in one large, green hand. “And you know that none of the frills matter to me at all. We could get married right now in front of this fireplace, and I’d be just as happy.”
Her eyes shone with tears. “Me too.”
“Too bad we don’t have a cleric nearby or we could save ourselves a lot of headaches,” Sass mumbled, and Val gave her a gentle shove.
“I promise not to worry about the things that don’t matter anymore.” Lira popped up on her tiptoes and gave Korl a soft kiss. “If Erindil is dying to have Glen be a ring bearer, who cares?”
Sass opened her mouth, but Val yanked her into her lap on the chair to silence her.
Korl’s cheeks darkened, and he cleared his throat. “Maybe we should head home.”
Vaskel flapped a hand at them. “Go. You don’t need to wait for Thrain with me.”
“If you’re sure…” Lira said with a breathless giggle as Korl pulled her toward the door.
Val sighed as they ran into the night, and even Sass was grinning and sliding looks to her girlfriend.
“You two don’t need to stay either,” Vaskel said, his gaze falling to Val’s knitting. “I’m sure you have better things to do than help me fix a mess I made long ago.”
Val held up her knitting. “Even the most tangled skein of yarn can be fixed if you’re patient enough to work on the knots.”
Vaskel suspected the woman was talking about more than knitting scarves.
“I don’t see how Thrain has anything to do with your past.” Sass made a sound in the back of her throat. “Thrain’s his own dwarf, and he’s never been one to make the best decisions when it comes to ladies, but I doubt you could stop him.”
Vaskel glowered at Sass. “Marina is no lady.”
“I know why I don’t like her,” Sass said. “Why don’t you?”
Val squinted at Vaskel, as if trying to focus on his face. Then she curled an arm around Sass. “Good question, love.”
The dwarf smiled at Val, leaning into her and brushing a strand of blonde hair from the woman’s forehead. “Thanks, babe.”
Vaskel watched the couple gaze at each other for a moment. If he hadn’t had so much to drink, he would have looked away, but he couldn’t help grinning at the unlikely pair. If a dwarf and a woman with Goliath blood could be happy, maybe he and—
Sass’s gaze snapped back to Vaskel, interrupting his meandering thoughts. “Why don’t you like the mysterious stranger? Don’t hellkins get along with each other?”
Vaskel grunted. “Depends on the hellkins, but Marina is no stranger.”
Sass and Val exchanged a look, and Sass leaned toward Vaskel. “Who is she?”
Vaskel realized too late that he’d said too much.
He pressed his lips into a tight line as he stared into the dying embers, thinking of Thrain out there somewhere with Marina.
He stroked one hand down his short beard.
Maybe if he’d said something earlier, the dwarf would be tucked safely in his bed upstairs.
He huffed out a breath. “Long before I knew Lira or Cali or any of the crew you know, I ran with Marina.”
Sass sat back, taking Val’s ale and downing a gulp. “I take it you weren’t the kind of crew who became family.”
Vaskel shook his head, and his long hair swung around his face. “We weren’t, and it wasn’t a crew that took noble quests.”
“We all have a past, Vask,” Val said, her voice low.
He gave a gruff nod. “I thought I’d left my past far behind me. It had been so long—decades—since I’d heard from Marina. I thought, no, I hoped, that she’d forgotten me.”
“So, she’s here because of you?” Sass asked, handing Val back her ale.
Vaskel set his nearly empty tankard on the floor and held out his arm with a mournful shake of his head.
“No, she’s here because of this.” He shoved up his sleeve to reveal the black marks coiling up his arm.
“She’s here because I was young and foolish and agreed to a soul bind in exchange for powers. ”
Sass almost fell off the arm of the chair as she tipped forward, but Val caught her around the waist.
“What is that?” The dwarf’s voice held no edge.
Vaskel flopped back in the chair. “A soul bind, and Marina is here to collect.”
“Collect how?” Val asked in a hush.
“I have to leave with her, join her new crew, do her bidding. I have three days, well, now only two, to say my farewells.”
Sass snatched her gaze from the marks. “Then why is she interested in Thrain?”
“She isn’t. She’s only interested in the leverage he might have over me.”
“She knows you don’t want to leave Wayside,” Val said, her expression pained as she looked at Vaskel. “She knows you’re happy here, so she has to let you know she can get to your friends if you don’t leave.”
Vaskel’s throat was too tight for him to reply, but he managed a brusque nod.
He chanced a glance at Sass. As expected, her expression was thunderous. Not that he blamed her for being mad at him. It was his fault Thrain was out there with Marina.
Sass stood and squared her shoulders. “If that hellkin thinks she can come in here and threaten one of us, she’s sorely mistaken.”
He blinked at her. “You’re not angry at me?”
“For being young and making a dumb mistake?” Sass snorted.
“Join the club,” Val said, bobbing her head in agreement.
“You aren’t upset that I didn’t tell you sooner?”
Sass unleashed a long sigh. “I know what it’s like to have a past you want to hide, which is why I would never judge you for also having one.”
“Even if my past is darker?”
“Aye, even so.” Sass gave him a fierce grin. “You’re not your past, Vaskel. None of us are. Now tell us everything about this curse and the moldy ogre’s sack of a hellkin who gave it to you.”