Page 12 of The Wand of Lore

“Marvin, you didn’t tell me you have a soft spot for orphans. That was very kind of you.”

“Oh, come off it,” he growled, angry that Gwenneth had seen him helping the child. “It’s just not right for children to go hungry before they’ve had a chance to become horrible, foul adults. Anyway, it was foolish, and we better get out of plain sight before the rest of the riff-raff around here slits our throats for our money.”

“They won’t. People actually like nice people.”

“If that were true, why are you so scared of your fellow villagers? Why not turn to them for help with your sister? Why hide from them in your cottage?

Gwenneth looked away and didn’t answer. They walked in silence through the village until she gave an audible gasp. “Is that a school building?” she asked as they passed a small brick building so labeled.

“I’d say so. You can’t convince me that you’ve never seen a school building before.”

“Not so large! Here they have a house for poor children and a house for the rest of them. Our village has neither. The children of Loews Hollow attend school in the headmaster’s yard when the weather is fair. When we were young, the children always prayed for a chill so that we could get out of school!”

Vaylor laughed. “I just hid from my tutor until he eventually gave up and left me alone. Didn’t always work, but the freedom was glorious when it did!”

Gwenneth tore her eyes from the tall buildings lining the street to meet his. “You had your own tutor? I would have loved that!”

“Loved it? It was torture! Literally! I’d get beat if I didn’t know my lessons, beat if I asked too many questions, beat if I mouthed off, and beat if I stayed too quiet. School was prime beating time in my youth.” Vaylor laughed but trailed off when he caught Gwenneth staring at him, looking horrified.

“You got beat just for asking questions?” she asked quietly.

Vaylor abruptly dropped his smile. “Never mind,” he growled.

Gwenneth didn’t stop staring at him until they reached the inn, a charming, small, wooden building surrounded by its stone neighbors. The inn was set back from the main path just a bit, and the yard in front teemed with flowers of all sizes and colors. It smelled just a bittoofloral for Vaylor, who thought he might suffocate from the stench. Thankfully, Gwenneth was too distracted by the delightful building to pay any more attention to his unique upbringing.

“Oh look, Marvin!” She smiled so the corners of her mouth were pulled almost to her ears, her dimple prominent, but before the two could enter, she pointed to a clump of flowers growing near the corner of the inn and squealed.

“Look! It’s foxglove!” She ran to her pack atop Sir Henry and rifled through it, clanging jars around until she emerged triumphantly with an empty one.

“Gwenneth, let’s check in first. We can get to our rooms, relax a bit, and then you can chase whatever foxglove or squirrel stocking or whatever the devil else you want to find.”

She frowned. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“What?” he said, crossing his arms and raising his brows defiantly at her.

“Use the Devil’s name like that. You want to summon him? You want him in your business more than he already is?”

“Nonsense.” But Vaylor shifted a bit on his feet.

“Suit yourself. You’re the one cursed, not me.” She shrugged, then walked over to the flowers, plucked a handful, and emerged waving the jar full of colorful flowers toward him. She beamed as she replaced the jar in her pack, and they walked inside the quaint brick building.

“Do you intend to do that the entire way?”

“Do what? Pick flowers and such?” Gwenneth nodded. “Very likely, yes.” She scooted past him and went to the innkeeper. “What a beautiful inn you have here. We are looking for a room for two. Or should I say two rooms for two.” Gwenneth blushed, but the innkeeper shrugged.

She was a plump woman with fat, dappled cheeks and gray hair atop her head in a neat bun. She wore a long, plain, brown dress that swept the floor, and her face contorted into a scowl at Gwenneth’s words. “I thank you, but it is not as beautiful as it used to be. This whole town used to be something special, but we’ve all been stretched a bit thin of late.”

“Oh,” said Gwenneth. “I’m sorry to hear that. I am from Loews Hollow, just a day’s ride north. Our village has seen better days too. What happened here?”

The innkeeper pursed her lips and looked up for a moment, thinking. “Things haven’t been the same here since the goblins came and emptied our coffers nearly five years ago. They’ve always come, of course, but they’ve never stolen everything we have like they did then. That year, there was a young mom named Bethany who wasn’t able to make enough milk for her babe, and the infant didn’t survive the winter. Therehave always been bad years, but we’ve never before had to pay the tax collectors more than we have to live off ourselves.”

Vaylor bit his lower lip and looked away.

Gwenneth nodded and dropped her eyes. “I’m sorry for your loss. My village, too, has fallen on hard times. We have struggled to maintain our homes and our crops, and every time we start to feel okay, the king sends his men and his beasts to take everything we have, and we go back to the beginning, start all over again. He takes so much from us, and for what?”

“Aye, but I’ll have no talk of treason here at my inn. We are loyal to King Egar and grateful for his protection.”

“We wouldn’t mind a spot of bread, though,” grumbled a man who was sitting at a table nearby, staring at them with furrowed brows.

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