Cauldrons and Cat Tails (Moonvale Matches #2)

21. Kizzi

CHAPTER 21

Kizzi

M y shoulder bumped constantly against Tandor’s side as the carriage rolled along the rough stone paths leading out of Sunhaven.

The carriage felt even more crowded than before, though the only change was the addition of a few parcels.

My skin hummed with awareness where it touched his tunic. I was achingly aware of how close he was. It took a valiant effort to keep my body still. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to lean into the contact or escape from it.

The carriage continued to roll.

“Where to?” Tandor asked when we came to an intersection in the path. We hadn’t discussed our next destination, simply continuing in the direction further away from Moonvale. “Left will take us toward the coast, and right will take us toward the grasslands, and eventually the mountains.”

I hummed in contemplation. The shopkeepers at Sunhaven spoke of whispered rumors of a dragon egg being seen in Tidegrove many years ago, but I had heard of them historically originating from deep within the mountains of Rockward.

I made a leap.

“Let’s go left.”

Tandor glanced at me over his shoulder but tugged gently on the reins, guiding the horse toward the beach. “That’s not the answer I expected,” he said. “Are there a lot of smiths that way? I thought the largest cauldrons came from further inland.”

I shrugged. “It’s just a hunch.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Are you going to tell me what mysterious ingredient you’re searching for?”

“Nope.”

“Not even so I can help?” he pried.

I shook my head. “I can’t. It’s highly confidential.”

If I told him I was searching for the mythical dragon eggs, he would think I was insane and abandon me, surely. And if I told him what I needed the dragon eggshells for… That I had drugged him and the entire town with a love potion and this was my only hope for a cure…

He would never forgive me.

Tandor sighed in exasperation. “Fair enough. Keep your secrets, I like unraveling them.”

Daisy’s hooves clopped against the stone in a steady rhythm, joining with the grinding whir of the carriage’s wheels.

“Let’s go to Tidegrove—you can visit your sister while we’re there.”

Tandor smiled at that, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “I like that idea.”

T he air thickened and warmed as our carriage neared the coast. The scent of brine and salt was heavy on the wind drifting past my face.

I was miserably hot under the weight of my clothes. Crammed in the small carriage next to Tandor, it was almost sweltering. Sweat beaded on my skin and dripped in tiny rivulets.

I had long since removed my cloak and corset to don my lightest tunic and skirt, but I was still uncomfortably warm, even with my hair pulled off my neck and fastened into a knot on top of my head. I scrunched my sleeves up as high as they would go and tied a knot in the length of my skirt, baring my shins to the flowing air. It helped, but only slightly.

Tandor was handling the heat much better than I was. He hardly broke a sweat—his forehead glistened with just a kiss of moisture. He made me look like a hot mess in comparison.

His short-sleeved tunic kept his muscled arms exposed. His forearm muscles flexed and bunched as he guided the horse by the reins. I resisted the urge to stare, to trace my finger down the veins I could see hidden below his skin.

The heat was clearly making me delusional.

Tandor flinched violently, rocking the carriage. “Woah!”

I grasped the wall with one hand, my other gripping onto his bicep for support. “What! Gods!”

“What is that ?!” he asked, horrified. He was staring down at his feet, and his face blanched to a sickly pale color.

“What are you talking about? Fucking fates, is there something in the carriage? Is it a spider?!” I leaned over, bracing myself, to catch a glimpse of the monstrosity that had made Tandor react with such horror. My heart thundered in my chest.

A startled chuckle burst out of me, which quickly turned into a full-blown belly laugh. I cackled wildly, the mixture of relief and adrenaline flooding my system and making me feel vaguely delirious.

Thank the Old Gods it wasn’t a spider—I would’ve had to jump out of the moving carriage, damn the consequences.

“Kizzi!” he shouted. “Stop laughing and do something!”

Tears of mirth sprouted from the corners of my eyes and trickled down my cheeks. My stomach ached from the power of my laughter.

“This isn’t funny!” the terrified orc shouted.

I tried to smother my laughter, but it persisted.

Tandor sat frozen, every muscle solidified to stone, with my cauldron sludge familiar slithering up the toe of his boot.

I bent to scoop them up with my hand, retrieving the jar from my bag. I kept the lid loose at their insistence, so they could come and go as they pleased. They resisted, clinging to my hand instead of sliding easily into the jar. I sighed. Giving up, I let my familiar curl up on my lap instead.

“It’s just Hex!”

Tandor watched me with his jaw hanging open, the expression on his face somewhere between shock and horror. “Hex… is that what I think it is? Has that been in your bag this whole time?”

I nodded. “Of course. In my bag, in my pocket for a while, sometimes they leave their jar. I don’t make a habit of telling them what to do—they don’t appreciate it.”

“Um… Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why is it here ?”

“Oh, right. They insisted.”

“Okay… the slime insisted on coming with you. And now it’s… alive.”

I nodded, glad he was understanding so easily. “Exactly.”

“Okay…” He pulled the reins, bringing the horse and carriage to a slow stop on the side of the path. He let the reins fall slack and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay. This is completely normal.”

I smiled in agreement. “It is! It’s better if you don’t question it. Thanks for understanding.”

He peeked at me between his fingers. “I don’t understand at all, if I’m being honest with you.”

The smile dropped from my cheeks. “Oh.”

“I just need a moment to process.”

“Sure.”

Hex gurgled gently, tiny bubbles rising to their surface and popping. I bent down to whisper to them, “it’s okay. We can trust him.”

Hex slumped, becoming more viscous. Slowly, tentatively, they slipped from my lap and crawled onto Tandor’s knee. He watched, frozen in fear.

“Kizzi,” he whispered urgently.

“Yeah?”

“It’s on my leg.”

“It is, yes.”

“Can you tell it to get off?”

“They just want to be your friend,” I insisted.

“Friend. Friend… this magical, moving slime wants to be my friend.”

“They do, yes.”

“And how do you know that?”

“They told me.”

Tandor exhaled heavily, the air puffing out his cheeks and whooshing out of his pursed mouth. “They told you.”

I nodded.

Long moments passed with Tandor blankly staring at Hex perched on his knee. Eventually, his tensed muscles started to soften. “Is it going to… bite me?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “They do bite sometimes. But if you don’t piss them off, you should be fine.”

He tensed again momentarily, but then seemed to convince himself that he was safe. That the handful of slime wasn’t going to cause him irreparable harm.

He glanced at me with furrowed eyebrows. I smiled reassuringly.

Tandor tentatively reached for the reins again, being careful to avoid any quick movements. Slowly, with a gentleness I didn’t expect from such a large, strong orc, he flicked the reins, urging the horse to move again. He kept his gaze on me for a few long moments and then flicked his eyes to the path in front of us.

He sat as still as possible, holding his spine ramrod straight and bracing his feet against the floor of the carriage.

It was funny how tense he was.

Sure, I had been absolutely horrified and almost dropped dead from shock when I found the living cauldron sludge in my bed, but that was different. This tiny amount of Hex was much more palatable than their full size.

Tandor was going to absolutely piss his trousers when he saw Hex in all their glory. I chuckled at the thought.

“Do I want to know why the slime, er, Hex is alive now?”

“I accidentally created a familiar,” I answered simply.

He stared at me blankly. He had no response to that. I think I finally broke his brain .

The rest of the journey passed in a tense silence with Tandor holding himself perfectly still and refusing to look down at his lap, and me morbidly enjoying every single second.