Page 58 of The Iron Hex

Maeve smirked, her eyes boring into Rhona’s. “I also think you’re beautiful,” Maeve said. “In case you were wondering.”

Rhona blinked, unsure of what she was hearing. No one had ever called Rhona Mayhew beautiful before, and while Rhona didn’t want to believe Maeve, with her shapely curves and glowing skin, Rhona heard a ring of truth in what the lady was saying to her.

Her father’s voice rang through her head unbidden.No one will ever love you for your beauty, but you’re big and you can make big babies. Big babies make strong farmers, and someone will want that.

But Maeve thought she was... beautiful?

“Oh,” Rhona said, stuttering nervously. “Th-thank you. Good night.”

Rhona ran before she could do anything stupid like kiss the lady, and when she went to bed that night, she dreamed of the moment Maeve had tucked her hair behind her ear.

29

Eira

The three sat at a table in the remarkably busy travelers’ tavern, pints of mead in front of them as they waited for their food to arrive at their table. Eira’s stomach grumbled quietly as she smelled the meals being served around them.

Her eyes were drawn to the table next to them where a group of boisterous traveling salesmen kept yelling instead of speaking at a normal level. Their volume left the three members of Eira’s group at a loss as to how to even have a conversation over the din... not that they could have a civil conversation anyway. The air was so thick with tension that Eira could cut it with the knife that sat on the napkin beside her.

“I was down in Archport a few weeks ago... Did you hear about their crop this year?” one of the men said. “Rotten, all of it.”

Evangeline’s head turned slightly at that, and Eira watched her mouth the word “strange” to herself.

“That’s funny,” another said. “I was at the capital a few days ago and heard that Corisia was literally burning down noble houses... maybe they’re sabotaging our crops too?”

“You know what that means? War. And you know what waris good for? Our coin purses,” the other crowed, raising his glass as the three men cheered to the profits of war.

Eira watched as Hugo and Evangeline scowled in unison, disgust clear on their faces. If they weren’t careful, one or both of them was going to say something—or worse, do something.

Eira stood and quickly walked over to the bar, straight to the elderly tavern owner, who was pulling a pint. “I would love it if you could somehow get those men over to this bar so my friends and I could have a moment to chat,” Eira said as she handed over two silver pieces from the stash she’d found in her home in Cilirien. It was overkill, but someone mightbekilled if Eira didn’t do something.

“You’ve got it, honey.” The woman winked, pocketing the silver and starting to pour a few small glasses.

“Hey, you three!” she called over to the men, breaking their conversation up as she motioned them to the bar. They stood, walking past Eira as she headed back to her now-quiet table. A moment later the boisterous merchants stood at the bar drinking from the small glasses, leaving Eira, Evangeline, and Hugo to... sit in awkward silence.

“Nice weather out there lately, huh,” Hugo finally said, scoffing.

“Shut up,” Evangeline grunted, putting her drink down and rolling her eyes.

“You’ve always been such a wonderful conversationalist, Evangeline.” Hugo smiled at her, sarcastic and pained.

“It’s difficult to have conversation with someone who has less intelligence than the average rat,” Evangeline sniped back.

“At least I didn’t sit by while my best friend erased her memory permanently,” Hugo said, lifting his drink in Evangeline’s direction.

“At least I didn’t join an evil regime that is hell-bent on killing the woman I—” Evangeline started, leaning over the table, fingers twitching as if she longed to wring Hugo’s neck.

The woman he... what?Eira thought, her interest piqued even as her annoyance grew.

“Don’t you dare,” Hugo interrupted her.

This was exhausting.

“Argh! Both of you need to get off of each other’s throats,” Eira shouted, slamming her mead onto the table and capturing the attention of the whole tavern. She wilted under the glares from other tables.

“Sorry, everyone!” she called out and the other patrons turned back to their respective activities, leaving them to their own business once again.

“I mean it,” Eira continued, quieter now. “If we’re going to be traveling together, we need to at least be cordial, if not friendly.”