Page 12 of Trapped By Claws
It wasn't so bad.
But the way that Corvin had teased and flirted with me…my cheeks heated now as much as they had when I was facing him.
It had been ages since someone said I was pretty.
Honestly, it'd probably be ages more before anyone would again. If they ever did.
Why was I wasting time on this?
I checked the lentils to make sure they were ready and then dumped them into the large iron stew pot. Then I checked on the other ingredients to search for anything that was on its last legs. Some of the ears of corn needed to be used, so I shucked and cut them. Turmeric and leeks were a good fit for this as well. Plus a little ginger.
It was cozy and calm within the galley. I chopped with precision, though my thoughts kept drifting back to Corvin. Mik didn't try to engage me in conversation. He didn't speak often, even outside the galley. Unless it was to tell me about a chore that needed tending.
I always handled it, no matter what it was. And at least he was polite about it. Especially considering he didn't have to be. Really, most of the dwarves on theSeaforger's Pridewere nice enough, provided you didn't mind bluntness and lots of huffing. Their hunting otters—easily as big as they were—were much more fun. Larger than hunting dogs but just as friendly, some as big as lions and even smarter. When the running wheels weren't going, the dwarves had to barricade the galley if the hunting otters weren't down in their berths. The massive brown-furred creatures loved stew as much as their own meals, and they would happily lick any pot clean.
Tagger would probably do the same. And he was so much smaller and faster, so he'd probably be harder to stop.
Wait—why was I thinking about Tagger?
I shook my head.
Just because I didn't belong here didn't mean I should be thinking about a shifter fae and his troublesome otter.
I had work to do. That's where my attention needed to be.
The afternoon passed relatively quickly, even though I couldn't put Corvin out of my mind. I kept wondering what would have happened if I had agreed to go with him.
A shudder passed through me.
Nothing good.
Of course not.
What good ever came of a human running off with a fae?
None.
Nothing but heartbreak.
A fae was the reason my sister had vanished. At least if the rumors were true.
Emotion knotted in my throat, tears stinging my eyes.
It felt like we'd been looking for Erryn for forever, and yet I could remember the first day she'd gone missing with painful clarity. The panic in Mama's dark-grey eyes. The cold, greasy ball of fear that formed in my stomach. The creak of the floor as we paced and talked. The rumors that swirled about the village—that Erryn had taken a cursed fae bargain and been whisked away.
Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks.
After all this time, it was hard for me to believe that Erryn was still alive. Despite being selfish, Erryn was smart. She'd have found a way to get in touch with us. And there hadn't been a word out of her or about her beyond vague rumors of others who had gone missing thanks to roving glamouring fae.
That hadn't kept Mama from devoting her life to finding Erryn and researching every bit of arcane magic and lore that she thought might help her bring Erryn home.
Except none of this would help Erryn.
If I was honest with myself, the only reason I was still doing this was because I didn't want to abandon Mama. If I didn't take care of her, who would?
I ladled some of the steaming stew into a wooden bowl and picked up a couple slices of bread warm from the oven. Mik's salt and honey rye bread was good plain or with butter. Dinner in hand, out the door I went.
The first few weeks on the ship, I'd struggled to keep my footing. But now I could have walked across the deck with a full bowl of steaming tomato soup in a white dress and been mostly all right.
