Still the beginning of a longer story, Master of the Dungeon.
This is Chapter 2, preceded by The One Best Ignored (1), followed by The Ranger (2)
Walda combed her hair, though she had reemerged well rested, and dry. As always, healthier. Feeling the same, Gris admired his beard in the mirror. “How did you sleep last night?” he asked. Both wore their half of the amulet again.
“We slept very well last night. You know that,” said Walda, putting her comb down too quickly. “It has been weeks since we were last … together.” She had already dressed.
“Sorcha calls this small talk. I was practicing.” Gris wriggled into his shirt.
“Keep trying, then.”
“Are you going to be like this all day? What is wrong?”
Walda sighed. “You gambled again, in South Hill. Alone. And, you didn’t share that with me before last night.”
“Oh, that card game,” said Gris. “Well, doesn’t it help that I won?”
“We have to both trust each other and tell each other everything, the good and the bad.”
“I know, ” said Gris. “Without that, Griswald has lost everything,”
“Just try to remember this time.”
“I will. I’ll bring the kid along as a witness,” said Gris, trying to maintain a smile that Walda did not share. “Okay, sorry. But, speaking about Aeron, do we tell him, then?”
“He is not a complicated man, and he will accept us,” said Walda.
Gris smiled. “He is impulsive, but I know we both find that charming.”
“You are thinking impossible thoughts.”
“Maybe.”
Walda picked up her comb and moved to the doorway. She said, “Now, as for your concern about Sorcha’s friend from across the ocean, you know as well as I do where his loyalties may lie, but she clearly trusts him.”
“At some point, we have to acknowledge that she is just like us. Sorcha and Griswald both have no idea what they are doing.”
Walda returned to Gris and they hugged for a long time. She left him to finish dressing, and packed first her bag and then his. As paying room guests, they were permitted to have their weapons, though her bow was unstrung, and his ax was wrapped in its leathers. Gris emerged from the bathing room and thanked her for the work. Together, they headed down for breakfast.
Still the beginning of a longer story, Master of the Dungeon.
This is Chapter 2, preceded by The One Best Ignored (1), followed by The Ranger (2)