Page 31 of The Knucker King

Thirteen. He looked down at tiny human cradled in his paw.

“Can your magic help him?” Trewoofe asked. “I have healed him as well as I can, but I cannot make him grow and I cannot change him.”

Olwilla pressed her furry hand to her chest, blunt claws gripping her tunic. “I believe so. Our magic is dwindling, but we may have enough for this if the pack do it together.” The Wulver reached out but stopped herself before she touched the baby. “There is another’s mark on him though.”

“Do you recognise the magic of who may have put it there?”

Olwilla squatted and sniffed at the swaddled baby. Her black wet nose twitched for several moments before she straightened. “I cannot put my paw on exactly who, but from someone far into the woods, deeper than even a Wulver would go.”

“Avice and the Piskies also mentioned a mark, but they did not know who either,” Trewoofe replied with a huff.

“Avice? The witch? Could she not make him well?” Olwilla teased. “Is that where the pup comes from? The village above?”

Ignoring the jab, Trewoofe replied, “His name is Boarden. He is from a farmer’s wife in Lamorna. My Avice’s medicines and abilities are remarkable. But she cannot make a child who is too small, doomed to die, live.”

The Wulver snorted. “Your Avice?”

Trewoofe suppressed a growl in his throat. “Will Wulver-led take him or not?”

Olwilla held up her hands in surrender. “Of course, we would be glad of a pup, more than anything.” Her tail wagged. “My mate has always longed to adopt; she will be so happy.”

13

Chapter 13

Avice

Unsure exactly how long she had been waiting in Trewoofe’s garden, Avice eventually settled down to rest amongst the blossoming moss. As she laid back, a puff of yellow pollen enveloped her, itching her nose. She groaned. Everything ached. Even her bones hurt. She pressed her head back against a quartz boulder and closed her throbbing eyes.

I cannot keep doing this all alone; I need an apprentice.

Avice knew that an extra pair of hands – after some lessons – would ease her workload exponentially. Most worries of the villagers were solved with some basic knowledge and care. She furrowed her brow and squeezed her eyes more tightly.

I need a Faerie-speaker, someone with sight so they can use bargains from the Good Neighbours. I need to ask John about taking on Nell again.

She let out another yawn and felt the gentle thud of Bramble’s head in her lap. Avice’s hand found the Grim’s head, and she gave him a swirling rub with her palm.

You are working too hard, Bramble observed.

Avice grunted and cracked an eye open to give him a reproachful glare. She bit her tongue as she saw he stared up at her with a soulful look. She closed it again and let out a huff as she settled back against the boulder.

“That is true,” she admitted begrudgingly. “I am so grateful for Trewoofe. If he had not carried me, I do not think things would have turned out so well.”

Butterflies fluttered in her belly at the thought of her thighs and centre flush against his smooth hide. Then, when he had laughed. The rumbling sensation had sent a skitter of desire up her spine and made her toes curl in her boots. It had rolled deliciously against what her mother had told her was a woman’s pearl. Avice knew that was where pleasure could be found – if the husband was willing to give it. She squeezed her thighs together at the memory. Bramble grunted with annoyance at the movement.

He fancies you. I can tell, he said.

“He does not…” Avice trailed off. Or does he?

Trewoofe had always been kind and obliging. Though, she sensed something had shifted in him since they had saved Hope together. He was there: steady, sure, offering to carry her around like he was a pet pony rather than a fearsome Knucker.

How would I feel? she mused, feeling drowsy. If he did fancy me that way?

Surprisingly, she found she did not mind.

She awoke to Trewoofe’s snout in her face. “Avice, it is time for me to take you home.”

She knew that the sight should send a quake of fear through her, that the proximity of such a large Knucker should be alarming. Warmth bloomed in her chest at his presence. She yawned, sat forward, and stretched. She rolled her neck to rid herself of the stiffness from using a stone as a pillow.