Elf Defence (Adventures in Aguillon #2) - Lisa Henry Page 0,70
I assume you’ve come to check on these two miscreants?”
“I’m Loth, and you’re magnificent,” Loth breathed out, his face taking on the glazed expression that Calarian had come to associate with meeting Gretchen for the first time. Even Quinn looked awestruck.
“We were just about to bring their Majesties to the forge to meet you, and then I thought we might take the rest of the afternoon off so we can all have lunch together,” Calarian said hopefully.
Gretchen arched an eyebrow at them. “Don’t you have work to do? A fountain to repair? Rocks to break in the hot sun?” And then she stroked the cheek of Quinn’s horse, clicked her tongue, and led the kings out of the square, leaving Calarian and Benji behind, wet and bereft.
“Well that’s just bullshit,” Benji grumbled. “I can't even have lunch with two of my very best friends. That’s oppression.”
“Best friends? I thought you even didn’t like Loth and Quinn?” Calarian said. “You distinctly said you only like four humans. Five, now that you love Lars.”
“Well I can decide to extend that to seven, if it means I don’t have to paddle in water and do hard work!” Benji argued.
“That makes sense, I guess,” Calarian agreed.
“Anyway, I'm just saying, we should be invited to lunch in our capacity as royal envoys,” Benji continued. “Surely we’ve been seen to make amends, and justice has been served?”
“Not until we at least clear the debris,” Calarian said glumly. “Gretchen was clear on that. So we'd better get back to it.” He gestured to a giant bit of stone. “You grab the pointy bit and I’ll hold the knob on top.”
Benji snickered. “That’s what you said last night.”
Calarian giggled. Benji really was much nicer to be around after his brush with death. Maybe this was an example of that personal growth people always talked about? Or maybe it was a result of spending so much time with a truly decent person like Lars? Calarian wasn’t sure. All he knew was, he liked it.
They were attempting to lift the longish rock and cursing at the way it kept slipping out of their grasp when a familiar pair of arms wrapped around Calarian from behind and he brightened immediately. “Lars! Help us with this? It’s all slippery and wet and huge.”
“That’s what you said last night,” Lars said, eyebrows raised. If Lars’s good nature was rubbing off on them both, Benji’s penchant for dick jokes was rubbing right back. Benji snickered and gave Lars a thumbs up for his effort.
Lars beamed proudly at Benji, and then lifted the rock single-handedly like the specimen of magnificence he was. “Where did you want it?”
Calarian pretended to think about it, but really, it was just an excuse to stare at Lars’s muscles as he held the stone column aloft. Eventually though, he waved his hand to indicate where the rest of the smashed fountain was lying in a heap. “Over there somewhere.”
Lars threw the column through the air like it weighed nothing, and Calarian’s cheeks flushed as he imagined what it would be like for Lars to toss him around like that. They’d have to try it later. For now though, he said, “Did you know the kings are in town?”
“I know,” Lars said. “Gretchen sent me. She said to tell you to stop moping like idiots and that of course you’re invited to lunch, she was only teasing. She also said to be sure and wash the fountain slime and residual mountain troll gunk off first.”
Calarian’s nose wrinkled when he sniffed at himself. He smelt like a damp dishrag that had been left on the side of the sink for too long.
The scrambled out of the remains of the fountain and scurried across the square, making a beeline for the castle.
And they only had to backtrack once to avoid the rampaging goose and the puffing guards chasing it.
Freshly washed and well fed, Calarian felt great. The evening was just beginning to draw in, and Gretchen had made sure there was room at the table for Calarian and Benji for late lunch with the kings. Late lunch looked like it was also turning into early dinner, actually, because the cook had just bought out a fresh dish of potato pancakes instead of clearing the table, so it was possibly everyone was just going to keep eating. After a hard day lugging stones around, Calarian had no objections.
Beside him, Benji surreptitiously adjusted his pants,