Page 5 of Heir of the Autumn Queen

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Ten minutes later, I’m standing outside Briar’s quaint cottage. The wildflowers are threatening to overtake the yard, but I’m sure she prefers it that way. A wild soul through and through, I can’t imagine her ever stopping anything from growing wherever it wants. Before I can knock on the door, it swings open of its own accord, no doubt from one of the countless enchantments she has surrounding her house.

Briar comes into view from around the corner and her mouth instantly drops open at the sight of me in a dress.“And here I thought I’d have to convince you to borrow one of my dresses for tonight.” She winks approvingly.

“You only turn twenty once, right?” I smile as I step into the house and take in her appearance. Her midnight hair is so dark it’s almost blue, the short curls resting just above her shoulders. She’s wearing a dress that can only be described as scandalous, the black tulle fabric so sheer that it leaves very little to the imagination, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from my loud and proud best friend. She floats gracefully over to me and gives me a hug, her familiar sweet but peppery smell enveloping me.

“I’ll drink to that.” She grabs two clay mugs from the kitchen, already full of some kind of alcoholic concoction. I sniff the drink tentatively and grimace, knowing it’ll probably burn like hell going down.“Cheers, queen.” We clink our cups together and toss back the brew, both shuddering at the overpowering flavor.

“So”— I eye her curiously—“what exactly are we doing tonight?”

“Who knows?” She laughs, refilling our cups from the pitcher she must have made earlier. I give her a knowing look, calling her out on the innocent act.“Really! We’ll just play it by ear.”

“Veda help me.” I look to the sky, asking the goddess of wisdom to be with me tonight and take a deep swig of my drink, pleasantly surprised that it’s going down easier the second time around. Briar tosses back the rest of her drink and slams her cup down on the table, her eyes alight with Kozbi’s fire. The god of mischief and chaos himself would be put to shame if he met Briar and saw all the crazy nonsense she gets into, and miraculously, out of.

“Let’s give these sleepy townsfolk something to talk about, shall we?” She smiles playfully and extends her hand, her lilac eyes sparkling. I take her hand in mine, buzzing with excitement for the night ahead.

Chapter Three

Before we head to the tavern, Briar and I walk down the road to her aunt Lucinda’s house. I’ve been here several times over the years, but I have no idea what we’re doing here now. I raise my eyebrows at my friend in question, and a more reserved smile pulls at her lips.

“I thought Aunt Lucy could give us matching tattoos.Beforewe get too drunk to regret it.” Briar has several tattoos occupying random spaces on her arms, and a large shoulder piece of a bouquet of wildflowers, but I don’t have any.

“Really?” My stomach flutters with nervous excitement.

“Only if you want to.” Briar shrugs, searching my eyes.

“Of course I want to!” A huge smile spreads over my face, and her eyes sparkle in response.

“Hell yes!” Briar grins and knocks on her aunt’s door.

Lucinda welcomes us in with gentle hugs and shows us a book of some of the work she’s done in the past, mostly for their coven. We decide on the design of an olive branch to represent our friendship, and Briar goes first to show me that it doesn’t hurt that bad. Within minutes, Lucinda’s magic has inked a dainty olive branch with leaves and two olives on her niece's bicep.

I decide that I want mine to wrap around my left wrist from midway on my forearm, down to just below my wrist. It’s the same design, just in a different spot. I hold Briar’s hand and brace myself for the pain as Lucinda hovers her hand over my arm, but as her magic starts to etch its way onto my skin, it’s really just a dull, stinging sensation. Once she’s done, I rotate my arm back and forth, checking out the art that’s now permanently inked into my skin.

“I love it,” I tell them both.“Thank you.” I hug Lucinda and then Briar, happy that I have a physical representation of the bond that Briar and I share. We leave Lucinda’s house arm and arm, heading to the tavern.

∞∞∞

The Whimsical Pig is busier than usual, but I don’t mind. It’s nice to see some familiar faces, and the free drinks that acquaintances are sending my way don’t hurt either. With the drinks we had at Briar’s cottage, I was already feeling tipsy, but after several pints of ale, I can confidently say that I am properly smashed.

Briar, Cedric, and I, plus a few other friends have been playing countless drinking games, which I am royally sucking at, but I’m too drunk to care. This has already been the best birthday of my measly existence, and the night is still young.

My team of all girls loses as the boys on the other side of the table celebrate their fourth victory of the night. I sigh and finish off my drink, too inebriated to care that we lost.

Again.

Cedric comes around to my side of the table and leans down to whisper in my ear.“Wanna get some fresh air?” he asks, his warm breath tickling my neck.

I look up at him fondly.“Sure.” He helps me to my feet and I hold his hand as we walk out the back of the tavern to the courtyard. Once outside, the cool night breeze wakes me up a bit, but I still feel dizzy. I lean my back against the bricks of the tavern wall and rest my head, closing my eyes and inhaling deeply.“I think I’m way drunker than you,” I tell Cedric, not even bothering to open my eyes.

“Oh, I know you’re way drunker than me.” He laughs, and I slit one of my eyes to glare at him. He holds his hands up.“I can’t help that I haven’t been losing at every drinking game in existence.”

I laugh then, knowing he’s right. He walks over to the well that’s in the center of the square and hauls up the bucket, bringing me the ladle.

“Drink,” he says, and I don’t object, knowing my alcohol-to-water ratio is way off at the moment.

“Thank you.” I sigh and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, looking up at him in the dark. The moon and stars are bright enough that I can just make out the details of his handsome features. His strong jaw and straight nose outline his face sharply, and he’s taller than me by a few inches. He reaches out and wipes a stray drop of water from my chin, his thumb lingering on my skin. We stare at each other for what seems like an eternity, unspoken words hanging between us before Cedric lowers his hand and takes a step back. I don’t know if I wanted him to kiss me, but for some reason, I feel slightly disappointed that he didn’t even try. He retrieves another ladleful of water for me and I drink greedily, if only to fill the now-awkward silence.

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