And if he was disappointed or wanted to question her further, he kept that to himself. Instead, he said something that made Brunhilda’s spell constrict around her chest.
“I’m glad to have the company all the same.”
Blue sky greeted them when the cart rolled to a stop. The verdant green fields and meadows around Cairn had been replaced by a barren wasteland of parched earth where tumbleweeds rolled past.
Heavy footsteps clambered from the driver’s perch and around the cart. Risa and Javi scrambled to get off before they were caught, but a halo of frizzy burnished-copper hair appeared over the ledge, followed by thick, coarse eyebrows and a pair of brown eyes.
“You’re in my cart,” said the redheaded dwarf, glaring daggers at them. The dwarf had a long, matted red beard and dark freckles sprinkled across his toasted brown nose and sunburned cheeks. He was bedecked in an abundance of glittering jewels at his ears, around his neck, and even on the cuffs of his shirt.
Dwarves weren’t common visitors to Barrow; usually, they rode through as uneager merchants who wanted to desert Barrow and its gloomy weather as soon as their wares were gone. Risa didn’t recognize this one as a former visitor, but he seemed as rough-and-tumble as the other dwarves she’d met, who all preferred gems and rocks to people.
“I’ve commandeered this vehicle in service to the Crown,” Javi declared, towering over the dwarf from his makeshift stage atop the cart.
“What he means to say,” Risa interjected, jumping off the cartand landing next to the dwarf, “isthank youfor allowing us to hitch a ride as we escaped certain doom.”
The dwarf considered this for a moment. “Then this is where I leave you,” he decided.
“Thank you,” she repeated. When another voice didn’t immediately chime in, she smacked Javi’s foot. “This is where you say ‘Thank you.’”
Javi scowled down at her. “Heshould be thankful for the honor of transporting a member of the royal family—”
She knocked his foot with a little more force.
“Thank you,” he muttered.
The dwarf nodded. “Follow this road and you’ll come to a town.”
Javi jumped down and landed next to Risa. She moved aside, giving him ample space and ignoring the way the heat of him sank into her skin.
“Is there a reason you’re not going that way?” he asked, sounding very put out by the suggestion of walking.
“Yeah.”
“And what is that reason?”
“Don’t want to.”
Risa looked over the dwarf’s head at the desolate fields beyond him. A range of faded mountain peaks drawn in muted blues and browns emerged on the horizon. Stretched across that skyline was a town that jutted out like a row of teeth.
“Is there another reason?” Risa questioned.
The dwarf—who, she decided, must be Bo, of rocks and minerals fame—furrowed his bushy brows, though the rest of his expression remained unreadable.
“The town is a haven for outlaws,” he said. “If you’re in a hurry, passing through is the fastest way to cross the Grunion Mountains. But I’m not in a hurry.” He shrugged. “My husband decided to rearrange the house again, and I don’t want to deal with the mess.”
Risa worried her bottom lip between her teeth, eyes fixed on the mountains.
“I understand,” she said.
Bo tipped his head in acknowledgment, and without another word, Risa took Brunie in her arms and forced Javi to start walking.
Sooner than she expected, a rusted iron archway carved with the wordSPEARBELLYsprang from the dusty ground in greeting. Strange undulations ran through the air, making her skin itch. Tacked onto one of the rusted posts was a board where it looked like a child had scribbled a list of rules, which read:
1. No Stealing
2. No Hitting
3. No Killing
