Page 114 of How to Entice a Fiend

Tomás’s smile flickers. “You have a home with us. You know that, right? You need to quit if you’re not happy.”

“I will… they keep telling me just a little longer and they’ll let me go. I’m just… wondering when that ‘little longer’ will end,” I say. “Trust me, it’s not you. I’m just frustrated with them. But hopefully soon.”

“I apologize if I said something wrong. I only meant that in your uniform atop a warhorse… you look quite formidable.”

“The horse might look formidable, but he left his smarts at home,” I say. “On the way here, he spooked over a rabbit and nearly tripped over his own legs to get away.”

“It was a terrifying rabbit,” Tomás jokes.

“Quite terrifying indeed,” I agree as I hear a squeal a moment before my niece rushes out. I drop down and hold my arms out just in time for her to slam her little body into me as she lets out a gleeful noise. “Hello, my dear Edith,” I say. After my brother and I had moved from Spain to find a home here, he’d fallen in love with a local farmer’s daughter who had Edith not long after they’d gotten married. Questionably not long if one were to count the months.

She is now four, and even if I’m away for months, she still acts like I’m the best thing around every time I get back. I scoop her up and sit her on the back of the warhorse.

“You just told me it fled at the sight of a rabbit! Get her down,” Tomás says in alarm, but Edith is giggling as the horse bends his neck around to play with her shoe.

“I’m holding her. Stop fussing so much. I’m not going to let her fall.”

“Are you two already bickering?” Eleanor teases as she comes out.

“Ma, look.”

“I’m looking. Darling, I know you’re excited to see your brother, but don’t forget you were supposed to get the jewels delivered to Herefort… and it’s already starting to turn dark.”

“Right.” Tomás walks over and gives me a hug. “It’s delightful to see you and I really hope you’re staying a while this time. I’ve missed you. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

I look at him in surprise. “Tomorrow? How lame is that horse you’re riding?”

Tomás laughs. “He’s not lame at all. He’s a fantastic carriage horse, but the moment I put him under saddle, his top speed is slow.”

“I’ll take it. I’ll be back before you put the little one to bed,” I say.

“Can I go?” Edith asks, sounding quite thrilled by the idea.

“Not if I’m going to get back any faster than that lazy horse of yours would.” I pull her off my horse’s back and pass her to her mother.

“Are you sure?” Tomás asks.

“Yes. We’ve barely traveled today. We had a break yesterday and he’s used to going all day every day when we train. We’re good. Let me change out of this stuffy uniform they make me wear when traveling and I’ll be ready.”

With the box tucked away in a saddlebag and clothes changed, I slip my foot into the stirrup and swing on. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Hopefully for good one of these days.”

“Soon,” I promise. “By the end of the year, they’ve assured me.”

“Good.”

I turn the stallion, and with a squeeze of my legs he moves away from the town and toward the village not horribly far from here. I arrive in plenty of time and head over to the jeweler who’d purchased the jewelry my brother made. There’s a hitching post that I tie my horse to before walking inside.

The man looks up and smiles. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m dropping some stuff off for my brother Tomás.”

He looks surprised. “Tomás didn’t come with you?”

“No, did you need to speak with him? I can take a letter back.”

He opens the box and checks the items. “Hold for a moment,” he says before slipping out the door. While he does, I wanderas I look at the jewelry he has on display. None of it is near the craftmanship my brother is capable of.

---