I opened my eyes and groaned. Still alive at least, but I was exhausted. My left hand was heavy and hot, so I pushed myself up with my right. Love’s head lifted from the bed and I saw it was gripped tightly in both of his warm calloused hands.
“Hey, I might have bitten off more than I could chew.”
“Thank the gods above. You had me worried.” Love leapt up next to me and folded his arms around me, and the heat from my hand travelled up my whole body. The blush warmed my face easily and engulfed my ears and neck.
“I’m alright, Love. Thanks for getting me here so quickly.” I was going to push him away, but his tail was swishing and he was shuddering and crying softly. I sighed and wrapped my arms around him; reaching up, I stroked his dark red hair and hushed him gently. “It’s ok. I’m alright. Take some deep breaths.”
The trembling slowed as Love took a few deep, shaky breaths. “I had no idea those things were in there. I promise I didn’t know. There’s no way I would have allowed you in there if I knew.”
“It’s alright. It’s going to be fine now.” I continued to pat his head. For a big, muscular guy, he really let his emotions get the better of him. “How good are you with a blade?”
Love pulled back and held me by my shoulders; his orange eyes were still glossy from crying. “Why? You aren’t planning to go after those little monsters, are you?”
“We know what’s there, and we can take our time to prepare. It shouldn’t end as badly as it did today.” I yawned, and my stomach gurgled. I was hungry. My eyes widened as I remembered. “The fish! Did you take it out of the oven? It’s probably burnt to a crisp! It’ll be a wonder if the house isn’t burned to the ground!”
A woman dressed in white was passing us by and sighed. “If he can worry about what was in the oven, he should be ready to go home now, Mr. Delion.”
“Thank you healer, Nora.” Love shot the woman a smile and then turned back to me with a serious look. “We’ll talk about this at home.”
He leaned over me and scooped me from the bed. Love’s arms supported me, princess style again. “I can probably walk.”
[p
]“Nonsense. I don’t want you straining yourself. Besides, you’re the one who said you felt like my bride earlier.” His smile was playful, but his eyes looked dangerous as he held me easily.
“Some wife I’d make. Nearly dead and burning dinner the first time I’m alone in the house.” I relaxed in Love’s arms and laid my head back to stare up at the darkening sky. “You must realize I’m pathetic. I can’t farm like my father. I can’t keep house like my mother. It would be a cold day in hell when I’m able to heft a hammer like you. There’s just not much I’m good at.”
“I don’t think you’re pathetic.” Love’s grip tightened around me. “I realize you’re learning and growing. This was definitely a fluke, besides I’m the pathetic one for letting this happen, and I can’t even keep my books straight.”
I let out a deep sigh as Love pushed his way into the house and the smell of burning food assaulted my nose. Love set me down on a chair and I tried to follow him, but he stopped me in my tracks with a hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll get it.” A cloud of black smoke billowed out of the oven door as Love opened it. When the roaster was out and opened, it horrified me to see Love reaching in with a fork and putting it to his mouth. “It’s only burnt on the bottom. The rest isn’t bad.”
“Don’t eat that!” I tried to lunge forward to smack the fork from his hand, but I was tangled in the blanket and I landed with a thud on the floor. I stared up at him and pleaded. “Let’s just go to the tavern. I’ll walk this time, please.”
“I don’t understand why you’re so worked up about it.” Love sighed and picked me up off the floor, unwrapping the blanket from around my legs. I looked down and saw the edges of the tear in my shirt were blood stained. “We can go if you’d like, but there’s nothing wrong with the fish.”
“It’s embarrassing, and I can do better when I’m not distracted by nearly dying.” I stood walked to my room to change my clothes. “We really need to get rid of those things.”
“Or we could just leave them alone. Who knows how long they’ve been there not bothering anyone?” Love crossed his arms when I came out. We left the house and headed to the tavern.
“What if some kid wandered in there instead of me?” Love mumbled something about that being bad. I sighed and changed my tactics. “What if they’d killed me?”
Love stopped dead in his tracks and stared at me like I had just punched him in the gut, but he recovered quickly. “They almost did!”
“If they had, though, would you want to avenge my death?” I held a hand to my throat and reached into the air, over acting the scene.
“I would have.” Love said quietly with a sigh. “I’m mad that they hurt you, but I’m scared you’ll get hurt again.”
“Let’s be mad together and take them out.” I extended my hand to shake on the deal. “We can start planning our attack over dinner.”
I went to our table and looked behind me for Love but he was standing dazed in the entry. I smiled and waved him over.
To the next chapter!
The Mit and The Billows - Chapter 8
AHHH!!!!! It's getting so good. I actually read the last 3 chapters aloud to a friend. I am very much over here swooning, so excited for more of this story.
You read them out loud!?! That made me dance in my living room! Your excitement is contagious! Thank you for the support and for planting this seed in my brain.
I seriously can't wait to give this story to my players. It's so good!