Page 28 of Ties of Legacy

“Maybe every roving merchant child,” Elliot said defensively. “But I had a perfectly adequate amount of hair in childhood, so I hadn’t come across Halburan hair tonics before the unfortunate incident.”

Avery nodded comfortingly. “It’s a perfect lovely head of hair. Or at least…” She suppressed another laugh. “It is now. But maybe that’s the lingering effects of the tonic?”

Elliot put a hand to his wavy brown hair. “This is my natural hair, thank you very much! The tonic’s effects did eventually wear off.”

“My mistake.” Avery sounded like she was still trying to stifle laughter. “So does that mean I should ask you to braid my hair if it starts getting in my way? You must be an expert.”

Elliot grinned back at her. “I am rather talented, now you mention it. I’m happy to be of service anytime.”

She stared at him for a moment, her laughter fading. An emotion less easy to name than amusement started to grow between them until she abruptly turned forward and cleared her throat.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

His lips twitched, and he watched her surreptitiously out of the side of his eyes. She might have had a lifetime of travel stories, but he had plenty of years of them himself. She would find he could match her tale for tale.

They talked on and off for the rest of the day, often riding in silence for long stretches. Elliot worried it would be awkward, but the quiet between them was surprisingly comfortable. When he thought about it, it made sense. Two people used to traveling alone had to be comfortable with silence.

Avery continued to insist that he sit and rest his feet while she set up camp each afternoon and packed it away the following morning. After the first occasion, he didn’t argue, using the time to watch her closely.

By the time his feet had healed enough that he insisted on joining her, he had learned every detail of her routine. She seemed impatient with his desire to help, but by the time the camp was set up, she no longer looked disgruntled. He grinned, silently congratulating himself for fitting seamlessly into her efforts.

The feeling of working as a team—so different from traveling alone—still had him elated when he woke the next morning. The feeling was exactly why he was sick and tired of the traveling life. He wasn’t interested in being a ship in the night anymore. He wanted to be known by those around him and to know them in return.

With his assistance, they filled the waterskins, prepared breakfast, and were on the road quickly. But since the road took a gentle but extended uphill path, Avery decreed they needed to walk beside the cart to lighten Nutmeg’s load.

Elliot had been working on the mare, but she still treated him with suspicion, only letting Avery care for her. He’d never seen such a loyal horse, so he could understand why Avery took such good care of her.

Avery also seemed to be in a good mood—perhaps his previous unhelpful presence had been weighing on her more than she’d let on.

“We’ll be in Marleston tomorrow,” she crowed when they stopped to eat their midday meal. “Hot baths and proper beds!”

Elliot laughed silently at himself. Of course her mood didn’t have anything to do with him. How arrogant to assume it did.

His false assumption didn’t dent his good mood, however. He was as pleased as Avery at the prospect of staying in an inn. Before his candelabra had been stolen, he had been counting down the days until he finished sleeping on the side of the road forever. Every extra night heading in the opposite direction hadbeen adding insult to injury, so he rejoiced at the prospect of a proper mattress.

He unwrapped the bread and cheese they had prepared that morning before breaking camp. It should have looked unappealing with the idea of a proper hot meal at the front of his mind, but even the two-day-old bread was given a pleasant glow from his good mood.

“Do you haf a favrut inn a’ Marleston?” he asked with his mouth full.

Avery gave him a disapproving look.

“What?” he asked with a grin, extending both arms sideways in an exaggerated expression of confusion. “I’m just excited.”

A sudden tug pulled the hunk of bread out of his extended hand, the cheese falling to the ground.

He twisted to see the culprit and toppled backward with an embarrassingly high-pitched screech. Avery burst into laughter as he scrambled inelegantly to his feet, growling. He would never get used to those blasted Sovaran mice! No mouse had the right to be that large.

A second cat-sized mouse darted forward to snatch up the abandoned cheese and both took off between the row of trees that lined the road. Incensed, Elliot sprinted after them.

“Leave them be!” Avery called from behind him. “It’s not like you’re going to want to eat it now.” She sounded like she was trailing him, her speed hampered by laughter.

He ran faster. His lunch might have been useless now, but he didn’t mean to let those brazen thieves have it!

On the other side of the trees, the mice ran through a large paddock, the grass short from the efforts of whichever flock or herd made use of the pastureland. Elliot dashed after them as they rounded a clump of rocks on one side of the paddock.

Circling the rocks, he caught the flicker of tails disappearing into cracks two small for him to follow. He slid to a stop and considered sticking his arm in after them.

But as he stepped closer, something slithered out of the rocks. Something that wasn’t a mouse. Something with scales, four legs, and large reptilian eyes.

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