“Wait, where are the other two?” I ask, directing my focus to the stage in front of us.
Lark points. “Aili is about to have her grand entrance. Eevi’s in the pram with her.”
I find the little girl off to the far side in the shadow of a tall elm.
“Don't worry,” Lark adds. “There's a warming charm on it.”
“Oh,” I say dumbly. It honestly hadn't occurred to me, though, of course, children need to be warm, especially the tiny ones. Normal people with normal lives would worry about that.
“They're lucky to have you,” I tell him.
He casts me a quizzical look, but before I can ramble out another bunch of words, he nods his head forward. “Look. Aili is up.”
Standing as tall as her teeny figure allows, she pushes Eevi ahead of her like a mother on a stroll. She acts surprised to stumble onto the scene, which has only grown more chaotic while I was watching Lark.
“Not my baby, you beast!” the little girl shouts so forcefully I startle. She turns the pram away from where I assume the invisible wyvern is supposed to be. Then she thrusts her hands high in the air. Her face is glowing…wait, actually glowing. “Uh. Is she—”
A fireball poofs out of Aili’s tiny hands, rushing into the sky where it burns out. Then another, and another.
My heart skips, my mind flashing back to the enormous druid with the bandits and the huge explosive fireballs he threw at us. Helkki steps up to join her.
“Right, I was about to do that.” She delivers the line so perfectly I can imagine the audience rolling with laughter at the so-called Slayer's incompetence, being upstaged by some tiny mother with a pram.
“Take that!” Helkki’s fireball goes wide, shooting over my head.
My scream is stifled by Lark's firm chest as I hide my face. The danger, the heat…
Too close.
“Hellion!” Lark’s hand closes protectively over my head. In a more soothing tone, he tells me, “Shh. You're okay.”
No, I overreacted. I’m ridiculous.
Lark’s arm around me soothes my tight lungs. He smells vaguely spicy, like cardamom, and I breathe deep to calm my racing pulse.
This is pathetic.Needy. Weak, Taynia’s voice says.
Straightening, I apologize. “I had a bad experience with fire recently,” I explain.
A shadow crosses his face, almost like regret or chagrin, but I'm the one being annoyingly silly.
“I’m sorry.” He holds me close as my breathing steadies. “Helkki usually has better control,” he says, louder.
“Sorry!” comes a too-gleeful shout.
“We don't singe our audience, do we?”
“Isaidsorry!”
“Val, you don’t have to come to the performance. The girls only cast small fireballs, but I use them to anchor the illusion of much larger flames. There's a bit of heat and wind added, too. I don't want to scare you.”
Hugo gives a soft grunt as if encouraging one or both of us.
“No, I’m being stupid.”
“Hey, no one thinks that.” He moves his hand to my thigh, warm and reassuring. “I’m sorry you had a frightening experience.” There's that look again, even though it's not remotely his fault I got chucked from my royal comforts into a fiery fight for my life.
I place my hand over his before he can take it away. With a smile, he laces our fingers together and helps me up, grabbing the blanket with his free hand. With a sharp whistle, he gets everyone’s attention.
