Page 98 of Shadows of Winter

“It is.”

“Thank you for your help.” Though it was difficult, she made herself add, “My lord.”

His eyebrow twitched, and she knew it had sounded like a cat had dragged that honorific out of her throat with its hind claws.

“Frayvar likes you now,” she added. Maybe that would mollify Vlerion.

“Only Frayvar?”

While she groped for a witty response, a firefighter walked out.

“Flames are all out, my lord. We found this in the pantry.” The man lifted the remains of a broken bottle. “It smells of kerosene. Looks like someone started this intentionally.”

Vlerion took the bottle, sniffed the interior, and nodded. “The Virts have been down in the catacombs, making trouble lately. I’ll send men to do another flush.”

The firefighter’s sooty face blanched, making Kaylina wonder if he was associated with the group. All he said was, “Yes, my lord. If there’s nothing else?”

“No. It’s Sergeant Tannerhook, right?”

The man blinked. “Yes, my lord. I didn’t realize…”

“I’ll tell your superior that you did good work today.”

“Thank you.” The firefighter bowed before rounding up his men and equipment.

“There was an explosion too,” Frayvar said. “That’s how it started and when the rack fell.”

“The Virts are good at explosions.” Vlerion gathered Frayvar in his arms again and hoisted him to Crenoch’s back. “Can you roll over and hang on?”

Frayvar hissed in pain at the jostling to his ribs but nodded. “Yes, my lord.”

His my lord was a lot more sincere than Kaylina’s. Maybe if Vlerion had pulled her out of danger, she would have an easier time with the words. Or… maybe not. For some reason, his insistence that she use them rankled. She did appreciate that he’d saved her life in the catacombs, and she would keep his secret for him.

“Do you need a hand up?” Vlerion turned toward Kaylina after he’d settled Frayvar astride.

“I’ll stay here. Someone should let the people who show up for dinner know there’s been a slight delay with our opening.”

“You don’t think the charred wood, sooty walls, and smoke hanging in the air will tell them that?”

“I prefer the personal touch.”

“She wants to check on her books, my lord,” Frayvar said.

“That’s not it.” But his words sent a surge of alarm through Kaylina. “Why, what happened to my books? They’re upstairs, not in the kitchen. The fire didn’t go up there, did it?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Good. It’s the mead I was planning to check on.”

Vlerion pressed his lips together. “The arsonist may still be around. You shouldn’t stay here alone.”

He lifted a hand, as if he would grab her and hoist her up behind her brother, whether she wanted it or not.

Kaylina skittered back, and Crenoch stepped between them before Vlerion could decide if he seriously wanted to go after her. The furry blue snout turned left and right as Crenoch considered them both. His eyes seemed to say, Be good.

Vlerion speared his mount with a dark glare. At least he didn’t give Kaylina an irritated one. His admission that it bothered him that the taybarri was more into her than him floated through her mind, and sympathy welled up in her. He hadn’t asked for that curse. With that beast always lurking within, threatening to come out, he was forced to be a different man than he should have been, all because of a choice a long-dead ancestor had made.

Kaylina stepped around Crenoch and clasped Vlerion’s hands. “I want to look around. I’ll be okay. I’ll crack any arsonists I see in the head with a lead round. And,” she added, thinking it might please him, “I’ll come for training in the morning.” On impulse, she rose on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

---