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Mair draped an arm around Elwyn. “He’ll be back,” she assured Elwyn.
“Of course he will,” the Chicken Lady said. “The village wants him here, just as it wasn’t ready to let you go.” She wandered off, surrounded by chickens.
“It’s a little alarming how comforting I found that,” Elwyn remarked. Now that everything was over, she felt shaky and weak. She wasn’t sure her legs would get her home.
“I feel like I missed something somewhere,” Mair said. “Bryn’s a wizard? I take it that means he got his memories back.”
“During the festival. And he’s an apprentice wizard, though he claims he’s not a very good one. He did manage to break the spell on the duke, so maybe he’s better than he realizes.”
“But what about the important thing: Does he have a wife?”
“No wife.”
“Well, that’s good. Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.” She guided Elwyn toward her cart.
“I’ll be by soon with some tarts,” Lucina said.
“Yes, some sweets would be good after all that excitement,” Elwyn said, treating herself like a patient. She climbed onto the back of the cart. Mair got onto the driver’s seat and clicked her tongue to get the horse going. Sitting on the back of the cart, Elwyn watched the village pass by. “This really is a pretty village, isn’t it?” she remarked.
“I suppose so,” Mair said.
“No, really, I traveled through a lot of places on the way here, and this was the most beautiful place. That’s why it’s so strange that it’s so empty. You’d think people would be flocking here.”
“I think the village can afford to be choosy. It only selects certain people to live here. You’re fortunate you made the cut.”
“I am. And I’m lucky it wanted me to stay.” She shuddered at the thought of how things could have gone if the village hadn’t been on her side.
“We wanted you to stay.” Mair pulled up in front of the cottage, got down from the cart and tied her horse to the fence while Elwyn managed to get down from the cart in spite of feeling so shaky. Mair offered her an arm to lean on as they made their way to the front door.
“Gladys, I’m back!” Elwyn called out as they entered.
“Gladys?” Mair asked.
“That’s what I call the helper. You do know about the helper, don’t you? You hinted that you did.”
“Yes, but I didn’t know she had a name.”
“That was the name of the first healer to live here. I think her influence has remained.”
By the time they made it to the kitchen, Gladys had already put on a kettle. Either she’d kept the fire going, or her magic allowed one to start instantly. “Stay for lunch,” Elwyn urged Mair. “Sara gave me a meat pie for the journey, and I might as well share it with you.” She got it out of her bag and put it on the table. It soon flew into a pot that was hung over the fire.
“Let me get my cart home and unloaded, and I’ll be back by the time it’s warm,” Mair said.
After Mair left, Elwyn gave Gladys a quick summary of everything that had happened while the helper brewed tea and added plenty of honey to it. “So, it looks like I’m here to stay,” Elwyn concluded. “I don’t know when Bryn will be back. I’m sure he will be.”
Mair returned with some cheese and cream. “It looks like one of the soldiers took Sara up on that apprenticeship offer. He’d turned back when I went out to the cart, and he asked for directions to the forge. Now, I need to know all the details about that duke,” she said as they sat down to lunch. “I’m glad you chose to stay with us, but you really chose us over a duke?”
“I wouldn’t actually have had a duke. That was the problem. It’s complicated, but I was mostly someone convenient he wouldn’t have to marry, but who he could treat as almost an equal.”
“At least he was only a rat because of magic.”
“That is nice to know.”
“I like Bryn better—or whoever he is. What do you know about him?”
Elwyn had just finished telling her the parts she thought Bryn wouldn’t mind her sharing when Lucina arrived with berry tarts, which the three of them ate with cream. “I should probably open the shop,” Elwyn said when she’d eaten the last morsel.
“You should rest,” Mair said. “They’ll all be curious, of course, but they also know you probably aren’t up to much after all the excitement.”
