Forging Day (Crucible of Change Book 1) (6 page)

Maybe I’d been too stupid to save myself, but I was determined to save her. “
No
. If you want away, you’re not going to act like his slave while we all pretend we don’t know he’s a walking piece of shit. You can stay with us at our camp. There’s plenty of room. But if you think he’s not going to take ‘fuck off and die’ for an answer, we can always pack up and go home early.”

She flew at me, pulling me into a desperate hug. “I promise you won’t regret this! I knew you were the one. When you faced him down at court—I saw it. I knew.”

I was uncomfortable with how she was looking at me, like I was her knight in shining armor, but I wasn’t going to push her away, either.

I hugged her back. “Why don’t you let someone go with you to get your stuff? Like I said, we have room at our camp. We’re not going to let Derek bother you again.”

Kat whispered in my ear, “I’ll update the boys,” and headed off with Tessa toward the Beast Lords encampment.

I had an uneasy feeling about this. For some reason, Derek didn’t strike me as someone that easily let go of his toys, especially toys as pretty as Tessa, with her rich mahogany hair and dark brown eyes.

Interoffice Memo

To: Dr. Wxxxxx

From:Dr. Hxxxxx

Dr. Fxxxxx is getting even more erratic. He says he’s on the verge of something big, but he’s kicked his assistants out of the lab. I know he’s done it before, but it feels different this time. I strongly suggest you report this up the chain, or at least increase monitoring.

Gaming at 8, you in?

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I wasn’t very productive at that point, but I stayed at the kitchen. All I could think about was Tessa, and the strong urge to denounce Derek as a child molester and use him for target practice. Berto showed up, delivered a scroll to the head cook, and dropped into a seat next to me at the table.

He leaned close and spoke to me quietly, probably much to the frustration of the other helpers. “Our new
guest
is settled in. We put her in your tent. Hope you don’t mind. So far no one from Derek’s group has noticed. They’re too busy fighting with the Trolls over the steel drum and cowbell concert.” He looked a bit concerned. “Derek is not going to take this well, once he figures things out. Don’t go anywhere alone tonight. I don’t think he’s stupid enough to try something in front of the group, but with some people you never know. I certainly wouldn’t put some kind of ‘accident’ past him if no one was there to witness.”

“Thanks, Berto, but that’s not exactly reassuring.” I leaned against him, closing my eyes for a minute and just drew on his quiet strength.

“It wasn’t meant to be. It’s meant to be a warning. Don’t be too cocky this time.”

“Her story is so awful. Am I being gullible? Colby was a bastard, and I’m the only one that didn’t see it. What if she’s just playing me for a free ride to Denver?”

“Yeah, you can be too trusting, but in this case I’d go with your gut. Her eyes don’t lie, and I was watching while she was getting settled. Whatever else she is or isn’t saying, no one fakes those kinds of scars, and they certainly don’t put cigarette burns on their own backs.” He gave me a pat on the shoulder. “Just be careful. I think she’s had a tough life, and she does need our help, but girls that survive like she has tend to be tougher than they look. She may be the damsel in distress now, but there might just be a bit of dragon lurking in the shadows. You never know.”

After one more quick hug, he stood up and made sure his lute was at just the right jaunty angle. “Alas, Archer Olivia. A herald’s work is never done. I serve at the pleasure of Her Majesty.” He stopped then, and tossed me a small insulated bag. “Ah, yes. I nearly forgot. The Lady Kat sends you lunch, and sweet kisses.” He wickedly blew me a kiss over his shoulder as he strolled away.

I took my lunch break while the queen had her more official opening court. Apparently, because the turnout had been so much higher on Fridays the last two years, they’d actually planned a few events for today. Berto, still serving as herald, made the announcements.

“Queen Gwendolin welcomes you to the Sylvan Faire, where Humans, Fairies and people of like mind gather in a spirit of companionship and celebration. The archery tournament begins today. Those interested should gather at the appointed place upon conclusion of court. At the request of our kin from up north, this year shall also include what is loosely called a sheep-stealing contest. Your ‘sheep’ may be any creature of your devising that will fit into a cube of one foot to a side. Larger or smaller creatures are not permitted. All beings will post a
sheep keeper
sign at the entry to their camp to indicate participation in the festivities. For those that wish, Korembi and Razaini will be running a creature workshop at their encampment, site seventeen, after lunch. All are welcome.”

There was much excitement at this announcement, though some of the old timers looked decidedly unhappy. “No good comes of such things,” said Oaken, one of the druids that regularly attended. “It starts in good fun, but hard feelings soon follow.” He shook his head, but didn’t add anything else. Aspen, the youngest of the druids, had been starting to look excited before Oaken spoke up. Now she looked a little downcast. I guessed she wouldn’t be joining the sheep-stealing festivities.

Berto, meanwhile, continued with his announcements. “If you attended morning court, you are aware that there is a stone soup tonight at the pavilion. Bring your own dining gear and beverage of choice, and something to share in the spirit of community. You should plan to assemble at the hour of five.”

“Which means we’ll be lucky to eat by six,” grumbled a young man in leather armor and carrying an impressive-looking axe.

Ignoring the interruption, Berto added, “There will be a bardic tonight. We will begin to assemble at the hour of seven, or at the conclusion of the stone soup, whichever should come first. Bring your talent to share freely with friends.”

It may have been nerves or a lingering hangover, but the longer Berto spoke, the twitchier I got. My ears felt itchy and I swore the sun was scorching my eyeballs, even under the pavilion roof. Hangovers were supposed to get better over time, not worse. I gave Berto a little wave to get his attention before he headed off on another errand.

There were a few other miscellaneous announcements by the cook and the nice lady trying to organize children’s activities, and then court was dismissed.

Thankfully, Berto saw my wave and came back over to me. “Hey Olivia, what’s up?”

“Could you please do me a huge favor? I’m still doing penance, but could you bring me some allergy meds and my sunglasses? The sun is killing my eyes today. Yes, I know, I drank too much and this is my just punishment for overindulgence, but I’m dying here.”

At this point his nursing training took over and he got all serious on me. “How much water have you had to drink today? Not enough, I’m sure.” He opened his flask and handed it to me. “Start on this and I’ll get more water at camp. Your eyes do look a little red. I’ll be right back.”

The flask was empty and I was ready for more water by the time he got back. My eyes were closed, but I could hear him walking up. I could just tell it was him.

“Here you go.” My glasses were pressed into my hands.

I didn’t even open my eyes until they were in place. “Ah, that’s better.” Sunglasses didn’t go with the look, but the dark lenses were a blessed relief today. I downed my allergy pill with most of a chilled bottle of water. Hopefully that would help with whatever else was going on. “Thanks, Berto. You’re the best.”

“You know I am, sweet thing.” He gave me a wicked smile. “But alas for you, I am taken. I’m off duty now. Do you need anything else before I go watch my husband be oh-so-manly at the archery range?”

“Nah, I’m good. Thanks.”

“I brought our feast gear. Since you’re going to already be here, I thought you could claim us a good spot when it’s time to set up for the feast.” With that, he handed over a mid-sized wicker basket. “Drink plenty of water and stay out of the sun for now. Later, my lovely.”

* * * *

The sun was still too bright, even with my dark glasses on. The day felt off. The air almost had a faint metallic tang that jangled the fillings in my teeth. The sky was filled with huge, low hanging clouds. They kind of reminded me of the clouds in one of those alien invasion movies, right before you saw the alien ships for the first time.

Good thing doing my part of the dinner prep was fairly brainless, because the last few days had really thrown me off my game. Colby, Kat, and now a stray teenager. My father would be spinning in his grave, if he knew. Of course, he’d have planted Colby in a grave of his own. That thought made me smile. Cordelia, though, was very much alive, and she was going to freak out all over me. I could feel it. According to her, I’m supposed to stop playing dress-up, get a real job, find a nice young man, and settle down—preferably in that order. Sometimes she forgets she’s my big sister and not my mother. And what was with my damn ears already? The itching was making me nuts. The allergy pill obviously wasn’t helping, so I peeled off the ear tips and tucked them into my belt pouch. Maybe it was the adhesive.

The aromas from the soup pot were delectable, and I was starting to get hungry. Sir Tarly was heading toward the cooking area and came directly over to me. “Her Majesty is pleased with how you carried out your tasks with good grace. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.”

Since it was getting close to dinner, there was no point in going back to camp to change, and while Berto was probably overreacting about Derek, I decided to take his advice for once and not go off alone. I took our feast kit and picked out a table with a decent amount of shade. Bless him, Berto even came back to help me with our set-up. “Mikah is taking a quick sponge bath before dinner and he said I was too distracting. Here I am, to help you instead.”

We were putting the finishing touches on our feasting spot when Berto whistled under his breath. I gave him a sideways look. “I’m gay and married, not dead.”

I looked up and saw Kat and Mikah, and almost didn’t recognize the young woman walking with them, holding hands with Kat. Tessa was stunning. She was wearing one of Kat’s forest green bodices, laces pulled tight to give her some truly amazing cleavage, with a matching skirt that really set off her caramel skin. Her hair was sprinkled with gold dust and styled back to show off perky little cat ears. Whatever magic she did with her eye makeup made her eyes smolder.

Berto nudged me and murmured, “Close your mouth Olivia. You’re starting to drool.”

Hastily, I looked over at Kat, who winked at me and smiled—if anything, she looked pleased at my ogling. There was a fresh love bite on her neck.

With only a minor amount of shuffling around, we all took our seats—Kat, Tessa, me, and Mikah, with Berto on the end.

I leaned over and whispered to Tessa, “Wow, you look great. I’m glad Kat always brings more garb than any one person could wear.”

The smile she gave me in return made me warm all over. “Kat helped me with the bodice. I couldn’t have done it without her,” she said.

My mind was telling me that she was a teenager and a damsel in distress—
and what about Kat?
—while my body was saying,
Shut up, she’s hot!
Given Kat’s fresh love bite, I was pretty sure Kat had more than just helped Tessa with the bodice, too.

As folks were settling into their places, I glanced around to see if I could spot Derek’s group. I was glad to see that he and his crew were on the far side of the feasting area. It took me that long to notice all of the fanciful creatures adorning the tables. The Trolls had a cluster of what looked like plush baby dinosaurs with brightly colored feather mohawks. A few of the Elven types had little dragons perched on their shoulders. I couldn’t quite see how they were fastened on, but they looked amazing. Even Derek’s crew had an assortment of colorful small wolves and sheep.

Kat told me, “They’re for the sheep-stealing competition. No one trusted leaving their sheep at camp over dinner, so everyone brought them along. Korembi and Razaini did an amazing job at their sheep-building workshop. They even gave out all of the materials for people to use. Of course, they brought the compys with them, already made.”

“The what?”

“Compys—you know, the little tiny dinosaurs? Proper name Compsognathus.”

I stared at her like she’d grown an extra head. “How on earth do you know what they are and what their proper name is?”

“Oh, I didn’t. Korembi and Razaini told me. They’re paleontology professors at the university in Wyoming. The rest of their group is all grad students. This is their fun event to start the summer, and then they’re all off to their next dig. You should see the mascot they have in their camp. It’s a giant raptor skeleton.”

“Velociraptor? Like in those old dinosaur movies?” I asked.

“No. Velociraptors are actually the size of a dog, according to Korembi.” Kat held up a hand just over knee height to illustrate. “The ones in the movie are the size of Utahraptor—around seven feet tall. That’s the skeleton Korembi has.”

“Cool. I wonder how they get it in their car?”

Unfortunately, our little conversation was interrupted by the not-dulcet tones of Sir Mehmet. He apparently hadn’t recognized Tessa earlier with actual clothes on, but now he was staring right at us. “Hey! What are you doing over there?”

Well, that certainly got everyone’s attention. The assemblage was staring at him like a bull in a china shop—sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Tessa’s shoulders drooped a bit, and then she glanced at me. She lifted her chin and glared back at him. “I’m sitting where I choose. And you know what, Derek? I don’t choose you. You could say I’m
mooooving
on.”

“You ungrateful little bitch! I brought you here, and I’ll tell you where to sit!” He actually took a few steps toward us, and people were moving to intervene when Wendy used her mom voice, which was way more serious than the queen voice. “That’s enough! Sir Mehmet, I have indulged you enough today. We all play the roles we choose, but you don’t own anyone, costumes to the contrary. Take one more step in that direction, and I will radio the rangers to escort you out. Am. I. Clear?”