always at your dumbest when you’re left to yourself.”
Will pointed his finger at the giant warrior. “You’re assigned to Barrentine’s company. You’re his damned squire! You can’t go traipsing off to follow me around.”
Tiny folded his arms stoically across his chest. “He ordered it, and I obey. In fact, he told me in no uncertain terms that if I didn’t stay with you, he’d see me drummed out of the army entirely.”
Janice looked at the big man then clucked at him. “Don’t lie. He said he knew he’d have to have you whipped for being a deserter if he didn’t send you.” The corner of her mouth quirked into a smile as she turned her face back to Will. “Then I told him he’d better order me along too, otherwise we’d both be getting lashes. To be honest, though. I think he was considering it even before we rebelled.”
He knew he’d lost, so Will changed the subject. Staring at the big horse, he asked, “How is it that you’re riding that monster? I thought knights’ horses were trained not to accept another rider.”
Tiny laughed. “Who do you think takes care of Thunderturnip when Sir Kyle is too busy? To be honest, I think he might even like me better.”
Thunderturnip snorted, then gave his rider a long look with one eye. Tiny responded by reaching back and pulling a white tuber from his saddleback before leaning forward to pass it to the horse, who caught it in his teeth and crunched it up quickly.
Will pointed. “Is that?”
Tiny nodded. “That’s why I call him ‘Thunderturnip.’ He loves the things, though I’ll never understand why.”
For some reason Will started laughing and despite everything, could not stop. He laughed for several minutes non-stop, until tears ran from his eyes and he began to have difficulty getting enough air into his lungs. It felt good. He’d been so tense for so long—he almost couldn’t remember the feeling of being able to relax with friends. When the laughter finally began to fade, he had to control himself to keep from crying. “Thank you,” was all he said.
They understood.
After riding for more than an hour, Tiny said, “I’m really glad you’re actually riding there. I was worried you might be planning to travel through the fae realm.”
“If we ride and walk through the night, we can be at the crossroad by morning. One way or another, we should be close to them by then,” said Will.
“It’s still a relief,” said his friend.
“I don’t know a path through there to get us there any faster. I’d have to call my aunt and—well, it’s not worth the risk.”
Janice looked over, touching her face unconsciously as she asked, “Your aunt? The same one we tried to rescue?”
Will nodded. “She’s a little different now. I guess you might say she came away with her own scars.”
“I didn’t think they could change,” said Janice.
“She did.”
Hesitant for just a moment, Janice asked, “Is it a good change?”
“I’m not sure,” Will answered, trying to be honest. “But if you run into her and I’m not with you, I’d recommend you run the other way.” He went on to give them a brief description of his most recent interaction with Tailtiu.
“That was her mist this morning, wasn’t it?” asked Janice.
“Yeah.”
Tiny grunted. “It was so thick I could barely see my hand at arm’s length.”
“So, she isn’t bad,” said Janice. “She helped us, after all.”
“She helped me,” corrected Will. “That doesn’t necessarily make her your friend. I’m not even sure if she’s safe for me to be around anymore.”
Janice pointed to the white portion of her hair. “I got this because I care about you. We’re friends and it changed me, permanently. You went after her that night because you care. She’s your family and it changed her. Probably changed you too, but she’s still your family.”
Will had never disavowed his aunt or grandmother before, but he felt it needed saying just then. “You realize she’s not human, right? Even if her ancestor a dozen generations ago was related, she’s not really my family.”
She didn’t back down. “Idiot. You went into a vampire-infested warehouse and almost got eaten alive, quite literally. She’s family. In fact, for that matter, I did the same for you. We’re family too. Get that into your head.”
Tiny chuckled. “I went too. I guess that makes us brothers.”
Will grinned. “Of course, but it started before that. Probably the first time we stood in a shield wall together.”
Tiny turned to wink at Janice.