“Bryl!” Her mother snapped, then added, “Watch your tongue.”
“What? The potionmaster says it all the time!”
“You’re not the potionmaster, are you?” R’mahr raised an eyebrow, and her daughter made a face before dropping her gaze to the table again.
“I’ll show you when we go,” Bryl muttered, shooting Cheyenne a sideways glance.
“Can’t wait.” The halfling’s smile was tight as she tried not to alarm her odd magical hosts. Potions and kids haven’t been a good mix lately.
“Yes, yes.” R’mahr just kept nodding, oblivious to his daughter’s precocious cursing. “We’ll show you everything. You’ll be cooking O’gúleesh meals in no time.”
His wife snorted. “That’s not a promise, Cheyenne. He’s been going with me every week and still can’t figure out how to cook a damahs-dur.”
“Well, that’s because I have you,” R’mahr said, grinning at his wife. He leaned toward her again. “And you do it so very well.”
She brushed him off and rolled her eyes, although her small smile broke through with the playful banter.
Cheyenne glanced over her shoulder into the kitchen at the clock above the stove. After nine already? I guess I did enjoy myself.
“Well, thanks for dinner.” She grabbed the table to push herself up, but thought better of it when it wobbled. She scooted her chair back instead. “It was filling.”
“Yes, it sticks with you, eh?” Chuckling, R’mahr rose from the table and nodded. “Let me walk you to the door.”
The halfling raised her hand toward Bryl for a high-five, and the girl didn’t hesitate to smack her palm with a loud slap.
Yadje gasped. “Bryl!”
“Oh, no. It’s okay.” Cheyenne mimed another high-five with herself this time. “It’s just a high-five. A good thing here.”
The troll woman pressed her lips together and hummed in response, then she forced a smile aimed at their guest. “Thank you for coming tonight, Cheyenne. Our door is always open to you.”
“Thanks. You guys already figured out you can knock on mine any time.”
“Yes, yes.” R’mahr rounded the table and gestured across the living room. “I’ll walk you back to the door right now.”
“Uh, you don’t have to. I’m just down the hall.”
“I didn’t leave all my manners on the other side of the Border, Cheyenne. Even though my wife thinks otherwise.” He shot Yadje another wink and laughed when she tossed the last piece of bread at him. Then he opened the door and gestured for the halfling to step out into the hall.
“Don’t forget about Wednesday,” Bryl called after them.
“Not a chance.”
R’mahr walked beside her past the two apartments between them, patting his belly beneath another of his oversized t-shirts. “We are very glad you came to share a meal with us, Cheyenne. It means more than you can imagine, having a phér móre in our home. A friend.”
“Yeah, I enjoyed it.” She stopped beside her door and paused when she grabbed the handle. Then she turned back toward R’mahr and took a deep breath. “So, I wouldn’t feel right about it if I didn’t say something.”
The troll’s eyes widened in concern. “What happened? You really didn’t like the borsni, did you?”
“No, no. The borsni was good. It’s about the Peridosh market.”
“Oh. Yes?”
Cheyenne dropped her hand from the doorknob. Was there a way to say this without freaking him out?
“Bryl mentioned a potions tent.”
“She does love potions. Takes after my father, ancestors watch over him.”
“Right.” She licked her lips. “You guys should be careful in that place. There’s been a lot of nasty stuff floating around Richmond. All of Virginia, really, and some other states.”
R’mahr’s scarlet eyebrows drew together. “Nasty?”
“Potions. Charms. Black magic.” When she swallowed, it stuck in her throat for a second, and she pushed it down with the image of the dead kid in the damn ritual robes. “The guy who was making it got taken care of, but a lot of what he made is still out there. Most of it is targeted at kids.”
The troll’s mouth popped open. “To…”
“Yeah. I don’t think you guys have anything to worry about. Your kid’s a lot younger than the ones who got caught up in that stuff. Just keep an eye on her. Make sure she’s not picking anything up you wouldn’t touch yourself, okay?”
“Oh. Yes, of course.” Blinking furiously and blushing deep purple just like his daughter, R’mahr brought a fist up to his chest and held Cheyenne’s gaze with a surprising intensity. “Thank you, phér móre. You still do so much for us.”
She ignored his refusal to just use her name. “I’d do this for everybody, but I’ve actually met your daughter, and I like you guys. She’s a good kid. I don’t want to see her get hurt. Or you and Yadje.”
The troll thumped his chest again, closed his eyes, and nodded. Cheyenne stood there waiting for him to move again so she wouldn’t feel like an ass just leaving him there like that in the hallway. When he finally opened his eyes, they held a determination she hadn’t seen there before. “Forever grateful, Cheyenne.”
“You’re welcome.”
Then he broke out into a grin and pointed at her. “I look forward to Wednesday. You’ll see how impressive it is, what Yadje can do with the leftovers those vendors call fresh O’gúl crops.”
With a chuckle, Cheyenne opened the door to her apartment and gave him a little wave. “Can’t wait. Have a good night.”
“And you.” R’mahr bowed and fortunately turned away to hurry down the hall again before Cheyenne proved once again that she didn’t really know how to respond.
She slipped inside her apartment and closed the door behind her before kicking off her Vans again. Then she leaned against the door and closed her eyes with a sigh. That was harder than I thought, but worth it if it keeps one more kid from dying.
After she pulled herself back together, she headed for her desk and the slip of scrap paper on which she’d
