His laugh grows stronger.
“Anyway, I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt. If you rob me instead of leading me to the rabble beast pen, you will ruin my perception of all Rivertoads going forward indefinitely. Please don’t. I’d really like a place to sleep tonight.”
His laughter finally simmers down, and he points at a gap between two wagons that I wouldn’t have seen without him there. I don’t know how they’ve managed it, but the angle of the wagons makes my eye go right over the gap. Though, once I know it’s there, I can’t unsee it. I lead the rabble beasts, single file, through the opening and see the pen straightaway. Borus and Romulus practically dance once I remove their tack and the saddlebags.
I turn to the man, who still waits by the gate, as I hang the tack on the posts provided and move to hoist the heavy saddlebags onto my shoulders. “Well, you haven’t tried to deprive me of my things after all, so I’d say your bloom is adequate to meet the bar of friendship.”
“The night is young. I could be a danger to you yet.” He opens the gate and grabs one of the bags, hoisting it onto his shoulder. Although I could use magic, to lighten the load and carry them both, I don’t risk it and allow him to assist me. I’m supposed to be a common farmer after all.
“Thank you for your help.”
He glances at me. “Oh, I’m stealing this. I just happen to be heading in the same direction as you.”
I snort. “What do you want with my brother’s dirty underwear?”
He laughs again. “What is your name, friend?”
“Velis.”
“Velis? That hardly suits you.”
I scoff. “Who are you to say a name suits or doesn’t suit me? We’ve never met. I think my parents understood what would suit me far better than you could.”
“Fair.” He winks. “But you have too much fire now for such a common, airy name.”
“What’s your name?”
He studies me for a second, as if wondering if he should tell me, then says, “Jaqual.”
I try the syllables of the unusual name out on my tongue. “Zha-qu-ahl.”
He nods that I’ve got it right. “Would you say it suits me?” He grins devilishly.
I instantly think of the Earth animal jackal and the similarities to his toothy smile and doglike presence at my side. “I don’t see how I could possibly judge, but off the cuff, I’d say the name is perfect for you. You can tell your parents they did a very fine job indeed.”
His smile falters. “That I can’t do. My parents are dead.”
Great. Nice work, Eloise. Way to ingratiate yourself to the Rivertoads by bringing up this man’s dead parents. “I’m sorry?—”
“Never mind it. I was left with the community as a baby. They named me.”
“But if you were abandoned as a baby, don’t you have—I only mean, were you raised by the entire community?”
He smiles a little wider. “I have a few families that I think of as mine, but yes, I am a child of all. And thank the goddess. There’s no better life, especially now.”
My thoughts wander to what it would be like to be raised by multiple families. I lost my parents as a teen, but at least I had Grams.
“What doyouthink of our caravan?” he asks me, shooting me a crooked smile.
I shrug. “I haven’t tried the food yet, of course, but it smells edible. Plus, you’re not starving, which is a major plus.”
His smile falters, and he sighs at my reference to my village. “And the rest of it?”
“You mean the traveling and the wagons?”
He nods.
“I think when I was a young girl, I would have balked at calling a wagonhome, but only a few days ago, I stood by helplessly as everythingIcalled home went up in flames. Now, I wonder if there is wisdom in traveling light, in making roots in the wind and the dust of the road, in staying true only to each other and not to a single place.”
