CHAPTER 84 How They’d Met

CHAPTER 84

How They’d Met

Brownie

“Mother!”

Brownie was a grown woman, but even that was going a bit far. She stood up and pulled Rufus to his feet with barely enough time for him to put down his cup safely.

“We’re going to head out now. See you next time I’m in town!” The half giantess all but dragged Rufus from the room while her parents shared a knowing look and bid their quick goodbyes. There was usually a round of hugs, but not this time. This time, she was making a well-considered, hasty retreat.

Rufus let her pull him along, which gave her courage. It wasn’t far to their rooms, and she stopped outside his door.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked, an amused smile on his face. She nodded, thrusting a thumb over her shoulder at her own room a few doors down. “I just left my instrument on my bed. Everything else is packed … As long as you’re sure you’re finished with my uncle?”

“Unless Slake wants to come back tomorrow. But the guild master was more … transparent than I thought. Are you sure you don’t want to spend tonight with the family?”

“Absolutely.” Brownie squeezed his hand. “I thought we could … you know. Stay at an inn tonight? Closer to the palace. Together?”

Rufus dropped her hand, and it crushed her confidence. She fumbled to save her request by adding, “You know, since the palace is on the other side of the river…”

She realized then that Rufus had taken his hand and covered his mouth. His eyes were closed.

His tail gave it away before his reply .

“Do you want to … pet me?” His breathing was ragged, and when his golden eyes found hers, she was lost for a second. They were usually bright and smiling when he looked at her, but as his eyebrows lowered and his eyes narrowed, his gaze turned dark and passionate.

She felt it all the way to her toes.

Instead of answering aloud, she nodded, strangely too embarrassed to speak.

He reached out and gripped her hand again, and for a second time, he lifted it to his lips. He smiled as he kissed her hand, and it brought back a bit of his natural playfulness. “Then you’ll be happy to know I’m already ready to go now.”

Brownie nodded, again, and wondered if she was going to be able to resist herself when petting Rufus that evening. Then again, he was a higher level and could probably fend her off with a stick when she crossed the line.

If! If she crossed the line. And being outright rejected like that wasn’t a good thought.

Maybe they should have a safeword? “Look out!” or “No, thank you” or just “Safeword.” It was hard to forget the safeword when the safeword was “safeword.”

“Then we can grab Danielle, go pick up Donna, and be on our way,” Brownie found her voice.

“Alright.”

She collected her instrument, and they went to the stables. They’d no need for a wagon in the city, so Bronwynn stored it in her storage ring. It took up the entire space, so it wasn’t ideal, but she wanted the freedom to head out whenever.

A normal horse might have preferred the grassy paddock to a city inn stable, but Donna was no normal horse. She was a social butterfly who enjoyed gossiping with her stable neighbors. The mare would take a walk if she was getting stuffy, and do her own thing.

Donna was always one to get into trouble. That was how they’d met.

One autumn four years ago, she’d met the mare while en route to visit Peldeep for her Uncle Faren and her Aunt Larraina’s wedding. Brownie didn’t have a wagon back then, and would either walk or hitch a ride or rent a horse, depending. She’d caught a lift, and they were making good time. On the second day in the Dark Enchanted Forest, while they were passing Lake Loria, Brownie’s ride was beset by griffins.

The monsters were drawn to the fish that the lizardkin merchant had picked up back at the lake. He was headed to the Dark Lord’s castle first, and then Gren’s Keep second, at which point Brownie would go on alone.

The griffins swooped down and plucked at a guard’s spear.

Brownie, never one to miss an opportunity, ran away.

As much as her family had trained her well, Brownie was not and never would be a combat class. She could assist with her bardic skills and perks to buff the party, but the entire group was in utter disarray, and when the attack started, the merchant tried to hide behind Brownie. Which was fine in and of itself, but then he’d tried to push her out of the wagon. One of the griffins had landed beside them, and she’d only survived by the skin of her [Sturdy] skill.

No sense defending someone like that. She was only a few hours down the road when she heard another battle.

Off the road a bit, there was a white unicorn attacking a dappled roan mare.

Donna held a stone in her teeth, and every time the unicorn tried to stab her, she would hit away the deadly horn with the rock. Donna had been the only one injured as far as Brownie could see, and she was barely standing her ground.

As she drew closer, she discovered it was a young stallion who was pacing around Donna and stamping the earth in frustration. He lashed out, but this time when Donna’s rock parried his horn, the stallion slipped and fell hard. When he got to his feet, Brownie could see his pride was hurt, as well as his leg. As with most creatures of intelligence, their body language was pretty recognizable. To Brownie, at least. Donna flicked her mane in a show of defiance and snorted at the unicorn. She was refusing to yield.

A dark expression crossed over the stallion’s face; one full of rage. He reared, letting out a bloodthirsty neigh that rent the field.

When he landed, he charged.

It was obvious he had gone from playing with her to trying to hurt the mare. And Donna was not going to survive the encounter …

Brownie couldn’t bear it, so she made a very foolish choice.

She struck a chord on Suzette.

[You have activated the Perk: Strength of Sound . You may target listeners up to or equal to your level: 26. Target(s) gain +2 Strength for 10 minutes.]

[You have activated the Perk: Inspire . You may target listeners up to or equal to your Charisma 17. Target(s) abilities cost 10% less for 10 minutes.]

It was a small boost, but it was enough. Donna managed to face off against the unicorn in a horn-to-rock collision that only ended when the stallion’s injured knee gave out. With a violent whip of her head, Donna hit the side of the unicorn’s head with her rock, rendering him unconscious. But alive.

Donna came over to nod a curt thanks to Brownie for her assistance … and the rest was history.

Not to say Donna had trusted Brownie right away. They’d traveled for a few hours in silence before Donna had let Brownie patch her up.

It took a long time to figure things out between them, and Donna rejected the bond a few times .

Whether it was by fate or her own bloodline, the Dark Enchanted Forest kept pushing them together … and eventually, they formed a bonded companion pact.

They had been together ever since.

Brownie had never asked Donna about her past in the Dark Enchanted Forest because the mention of it obviously upset her friend.

Similar to the way Donna was upset now.