Page 10 of Tusks, Tails & Teacakes
Lira considered the question. "Call it a hunch," she finally replied. "You don't strike me as a career criminal. Figured you must have your reasons."
The dwarf grunted. "Aye, well, things have been rough since I left home. Not many crews are willing to take on an untested dwarf, much less a female one.”
Lira understood feeling unwanted more than she cared to admit.
“My best gig so far was tending bar near the docks of Eldu. The place wasn’t much, but I kept it looking decent.” Sass’s smile was fleeting. “But I had to move on.”
Lira didn’t ask why, but from the dwarf’s stormy expression she guessed it hadn’t been her choice. There wasn’t much between the port town of Eldu and Wayside, which meant Sass could have been traveling through dense forest or along rocky cliffs for days.
“You come from the Ice Lands?” The mountains in the territoryabove the long wall were where most of the dwarves lived, mining deep under the high peaks. It wasn’t far from Eldu.
Sass grunted a yes then turned her head, her long braid flopping across the pillow as she faced Lira. “Why did you say I didn’t strike you as a criminal?”
A wry smile tugged at Lira's lips. “You weren’t very good at it, were you? Any thief worth their salt would have just taken the box and hoofed it.”
Sass's indignant splutter dissolved into a throaty chuckle. “I didn’t need the box. If that wyvern was right, the box is filled with gold. I only needed a few bits to tide me over until I could get work.”
Lira was certain the tavern’s till wasn’t filled with gold. Not if the shabbiness of the place was any indication. No,thatwasn’t the gold the wyvern smelled, but she wasn’t about to correct Sass.
“Like I said,” Lira cut her gaze to the dwarf and grinned, “not a real thief.”
Sass opened her mouth as if to ask a question but then clamped her lips shut. Lira felt sure she was going to ask her how she knew so much about thieves, and was glad she didn’t have to offer a pretty lie.
Lira couldn’t tell the dwarf that she sensed other talents in her or that her instincts about people had rarely led her astray. That might lead to more questions about how she’d become such an astute observer of others and how she’d used that talent for questionable ends.
Before the dwarf could change her mind about pressing the matter, Lira leaned over and blew out the candle, soaking the room in inky darkness. As she settled back onto the bed that smelled of mildewed straw, a sigh escaped from Sass. Whether it was one of exhaustion or frustration, Lira couldn’t say.
She stared into the blackness, her own weariness doing battle with the thoughts tumbling through her mind. She didn’t know how she was going to break through that wall without getting caught, but one thing she’d learned during her time away from Wayside was that campaigns were not strategized in a night.
For now, no one knew where she was. No one knew her plan. Most importantly, the wyvern had no idea that the gold he sought was buried behind a wall in the tavern’s cellar. Time was on her side—for now.
Six
Lira puther hands on her hips as she stood in the doorway to the tavern’s kitchen. If neglect had a smell, it would be the blend of rancid grease and festering ale that greeted her now. Beside her, Sass wrinkled her nose, which Lira suspected might soon become a permanent tic.
"I've seen prettier sights in a troll's outhouse,” Sass muttered.
Lira snorted, but she couldn't disagree. The kitchen was a far cry from the bustling heart of the tavern she remembered from years past. Back then, The Tusk & Tail had been known for its hearty fare and warm atmosphere. Now, neglect clung to it like a shroud.
“We have to earn our keep somehow.” Lira shoved up thesleeves of her clean tunic and then gave the points of her burgundy waistcoat a firm yank.
“Aside from protecting the place from goblin burglars?”
She slid a side-eye glance at the dwarf, who wore a clean pair of brown trousers topped with a linen shirt and none of the armor she’d boasted the night before. “Aside from that.”
Lira assessed the empty hearth that slumbered on one wall, its stones blackened with soot. A rustic stove squatted nearby, the iron surface rusty and flaking. At the center of the room sat a massive wooden table, its thick legs nicked from years of use and its surface piled high with teetering stacks of pewter bowls and dishes. Tarnished copper pots dangled from hooks on the walls, their once-gleaming surfaces now dull and mottled.
The floor was sticky, the counters grimy, and she could only imagine what creatures were hiding in drawers and cabinets ready to scuttle out. Yet beneath the layers of dirt and deterioration, she could see the hint of what the place had been—and what it could be again. The place had potential, just like Sass.
The dwarf snatched a bristle broom from the corner and pivoted on one foot. “I’ll start sweeping the other room.”
“Coward,” Lira called after her.
“You’re only sore you didn’t think of it first,” came the dwarf’s muffled response along with a chuckle.
“Too right,” Lira said as pulled down a yellowed apron from a hook near the door and tied it around her waist. She moved to the wood table and ran her fingers over an exposed corner.
Unbidden, a memory surfaced. Usually, she pushed away memories of her past, but this time she closed her eyes and let it wash over her.
