Page 73 of Crownless King

That wasn’t very reassuring. But what choice did I have?

It was almost noon by the time our wagon rolled into the packed dirt yard of Bavius’s farmhouse. The place looked simple but neat. The front porch was swept clean of fallen leaves and pine needles, with a woven grass rug laid by the front door.

“This is about the time when he comes home for lunch.” Sauria climbed down from the wagon’s seat. “Keep your hood on. Let me talk to him first.”

Noon would be the time when most courtiers took their breakfast back in Elaros. Bavius must be an early riser, which probably should be expected from a farmer.

Sauria knocked on the door, then shoved it open.

“Hey, Bavius!” she called inside. “Can we come in? I’d like to talk.”

She barged right in, gesturing for me to follow.

After a small front room that had no windows and held various crates and barrels lined up along the walls, we entered a much larger one. A rock fireplace stood in the middle. It was wide but not very tall. There appeared to be a sleeping space on top of the fireplace behind the chimney, with a fluffy comforter draped over it and a curtain hanging from the ceiling.

A massivetaureanman stood in a fighting position by a large wooden table in front of a window to the left. Dressed in a linen tunic and a pair of dark pants, he held a huge club in his hands. Long metal spikes studded the wide end of the club. His horns tilting our way menacingly, he presented a rather terrifying picture.

I stepped back tentatively, getting ready to bolt.

“Sauria. It’s you.” The man’s bovine mouth curved in displeasure, but he set his weapon down behind the bench.

By the look of the clay bowl steaming with something very appetizing and a thick slab of bread next to it on the table, it could be assumed we’d interrupted his meal. And for that, we almost got our heads smashed in by his giant mace.

Sauria either didn’t realize the danger we’d barely escaped or just didn’t care about it, as she casually sauntered toward the man.

“Hey, neighbor. It’s been a while.”

“Has it?” Bavius grunted, taking his place on the bench at the table and turning his back to her. He hadn’t even spared a glance in my direction.

Sauria was absolutely right when she said he didn’t speak much.

He picked up a carved wooden spoon that could easily work as a ladle anywhere else and dipped it into his bowl. Another whiff of mouth-watering aroma wafted to me from his dish. I folded both arms across my belly, afraid my stomach would make a needy, hungry noise. I hadn’t eaten for so long, I could eat a bucketful of whatever he was having.

Uninvited, Sauria slid onto the bench across from Bavius. “I have a proposition for you.”

“Not interested.” He kept eating, without looking at her or me.

She remained undeterred. “I’d love you to house a friend of mine for a little while.”

He put his spoon down, clearly stunned by her audacity.

“Why the fuck would I do that?”

She leaned back against the wall and folded her arms across her chest. “Out of the goodness of your heart?” He scoffed, and she continued, “And also because she would help you around here, like cleaning the house and stuff—”

“She?”Finally, he turned my way, only to glare at me with scorn. “I don’t need a female in here.”

“I’d say you most definitely do.” Sauria wrinkled her nose, darting a glance around.

Just like the rest of Bavius’s property, the house was fairly clean, but that was mostly because it hardly had anything to get dirty. There were no rugs on the floors, no furniture other than the table and the two benches. Nothing to dust. Not even a tablecloth to wash.

“No.” He picked up his spoon again.

“She’s pregnant,” Sauria added casually.

“What?” He turned to look at me again. “Not a hag, then?” His stare traveled down to my feet, which weren’t a pair of hooves or asnakanatail. “A highborn! What the fuck, Sauria? Why would I want a pregnant highborn in my house? She’s not my problem. Where is the lord who knocked her up?”

I shifted from foot to foot, growing increasingly uncomfortable. It had been a bad idea to come here and ask this complete stranger to interrupt his peaceful existence for my sake.

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