Page 227 of A Taste of Vanilla

“The party gathers at the Gilded Stag Tavern?—”

Oliver groans.

“—where the tavern keeper, a deeply unpleasant man named Olin, refuses to admit he cares about the town.”

Marley cackles.

Oliver glares. “I see what you’re doing.”

“Olin,” I continue, “has information about a missing caravan and a mysterious flour shortage.”

Warren’s head lifts.

I bite my lip.

I added a flour shortage just for him.

Dev raises his hand. “I would like to seduce the tavern keeper for information.”

“Absolutely not.” Oliver shakes his head.

“I’d like to intimidate the tavern keeper instead,” Lisa says.

Oliver gestures to her. “Accepted.”

Lisa rolls a die.

A natural twenty.

The table erupts.

I narrate with great joy. “Sister Mara leans across the bar, places one gauntleted hand on the counter, and says?—”

Lisa lowers her voice. “Tell us what happened to the flour, or I won’t ask twice.”

Marley gasps. “That’s terrifying.”

Oliver rolls his eyes. “Fine. Olin tells you the flour shipment never arrived from the northern mill.”

Warren frowns. “Why would flour come from the north?”

Everyone turns to him.

He points to the map. “The northern terrain is mountainous. The farmland is here.” He taps the central valley. “Unless the mill is north because the river powers it, but then grain would still need to be transported north before milling, then back south to market. Inefficient unless the river current supports transport both ways or the mill has political significance.”

Silence.

But I smile.

He’s paying attention.

He’s not criticizing me or making fun of me like I thought he would.

He isn’t paying attention to humor me or tolerate me. Not to smile and say, “That’s cute, babe.”

He’s looking at the logic of the world I created and trying to understand it.

“You’re right,” I say quietly. Thinking on my feet, I add, “The mill is north because it belongs to the old monastery. They control river rights. It’s inefficient on purpose so the royal charter can use the bottleneck to influence bread prices.”