Page 34 of Fae Reckoning

She pulled her mouth closed and scowled. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, it’s something.”

“Exactly,” I confirmed, triumphant. “So what’s going on with you?”

When she hesitated, I gave her anI will wait you outlook, kissed the top of Saffron’s head, and cocked a hip.

“Fine,” she relented with a frown. “It’s just that…” She looked away, pretended to be fascinated by a tree that was much like all the others, and spoke in that direction. “It’s just that no one’s said anything nice to me, or about me, in a very long time.”

My impatience evaporated. Roan and the others had the cabin handled. I certainly couldn’t shift a tree. And Rush and Xeno were more than capable of overpowering Ivar—I hoped.

And Einar could wait.

he said, and had I been able to make out his face above the tree canopies, I guessed he would be scowling at me.

One problem at a time… I sidled closer to Zafi. Saffron roused and snapped his teeth at her. She shrieked and zoomed away, stopping to hover out of reach and glare at the dragonling. Itskedat Saffron and shifted him to the opposite hip, away from her.

“Don’t mind him,” I told a now startled Zafi. “He just wants to play.” Maybe. He was adragonafter all, just a very small and docile one. I could only hope his sense of mischief was returning.

Zafi narrowed her eyes at him. “Those teeth don’t look like he just wants to play.”

Saffron’s teeth were spindly and sharp enough to slice through raw meat like it was butter.

I shrugged and began as gently as I could: “Back to you … you’ve mentioned a mother who passed. Surely she said nice things about you.”

She hiccupped. “She did.”

I smiled. “See? And I just said you’re brave.”

She sniffed. “Yeah, but…”

“But?”

“But the parvnits kicked me out of the Nerotti Forest ‘cause I wasn’t special enough.”

My spine stiffened. “What?”

She was nodding fervently, the tears brimming again. “Yeah. See, parvnits are blessed by the Ethers with color. We’re supposed to come in all colors of the rainbow, like gemstones. Our color’s part of what makes us who we are. And look at me.”

I did as she asked, studying her intently as she tipped her chin up and waited, a mixture of defeat and defiance clear across her features.

“Yeah, so?” I asked.

She flapped her arms. “I’mplain. That’s, like, a mortal sin for parvnits!” After more of that defiance, she added, “MISOs.”

“You don’t look plain to me.”

She whipped her acorn hat off and pointed at her head.

I arched my brows at her.So what?they asked.

She pointed more fervently before tucking her hair under the acorn and pulling it snugly back in place. “My hair’s brown. My eyes are brown. My eyelashes are brown. Brown, brown, brown. No color. None. No color anywhere. It’s allbrown, even my skin.”

“Um, brown’s a color, last I checked.”

“Not a gemstone color. Not a rainbow color. Not a flower color.”

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