Edgin’s relief and good mood lasted up until they arrived back in Targos to find Miriam and her parents tearing the village apart looking for Kira.
They dismounted, and Edgin nudged Kira toward Miriam, who was running to them with tears of relief streaming down her face, her mother and father close on her heels.
“I’m leaving you to deal with that,” Edgin said when Kira started to dig in her heels. “You wanted me to trust you and treat you more like an adult. Well, being an adult means cleaning up your messes too.”
Edgin knew this was a bit hypocritical on his part, since he didn’t especially like cleaning up his own messes. In fact, he avoided his own messes wherever and whenever possible.
Kira looked up at him, wavering for a moment. Holga and Simon gave her an encouraging look, and Edgin patted her shoulder. Sighing, she nodded, put her shoulders back, and ran to meet Miriam, apologies already spilling from her lips.
Which left Grace and Del, who were emerging from the Trip and Shuffle to see what all the commotion was. Forge went to talk to them, and Edgin half hoped he could slip away and avoid having to share in breaking the bad news about Feltin and the others’ fate, but when he took a sneaking step back, he collided with the immovable wall that was Holga.
“Oof,” Edgin said, looking at her in irritation. “Do you have bricks in your clothes?”
“They’re called muscles,” Holga said. “You wouldn’t know about them.”
“You’re making jokes now, huh?”
“No.” She eyed him. “Are you trying to sneak away?”
“Absolutely not,” he said, feigning outrage. “How dare you make that suggestion.”
“Good, because part of being an adult is cleaning up your messes.”
“So many jokes now,” Edgin said, dragging his feet forward to face the music. “I liked it much better when you ate potatoes and barely said two words.”
“I bet you did.”
This time, there was an edge to Holga’s voice that Edgin hadn’t heard before. He looked at her more closely, but she was making a concerted effort to keep her face expressionless, so it was hard to tell what she was thinking.
Was this about what he’d said in the boat? He knew he’d gotten a little hot back there, and he hadn’t really stopped to think about what he was saying. But as he dredged up the memory, he realized he owed Holga an apology. A big one. His face flushed with shame. He hadn’t meant any of the things he’d said, and he’d been so focused on repairing the damage to his relationship with Kira, he hadn’t stopped to think about how the things he said might affect Holga.
Before he could say anything, raised voices drew their attention back to Grace and Del. Forge had obviously broken the news to them about Feltin and the others.
Simon ran up to Edgin and shoved something into his hand. It was the pendant of Chauntea, but before Edgin could say anything about giving it to Grace and Del, Simon had scurried off again. Edgin glanced over at Holga, but she had mysteriously vanished as well.
“Really?” Edgin said to the empty air. “Forge and I have to deal with this by ourselves?”
He walked over to the group. Grace and her husband, his cheeks stained with angry red blotches, were holding hands. Edgin didn’t bother sugarcoating it. He handed Grace the pendant. “I’m very sorry,” he said. “It was too late when we got there.”
“From what we could tell, the victims didn’t suffer,” Forge said comfortingly.
Edgin thought this was a big stretch of the truth, but he didn’t say anything. Forge was good at comforting, giving out the lies effortlessly. It made Edgin wonder how much he could ever really trust what Forge said. The man would probably smile that affable smile while stabbing you in the back with his dagger. Still, Edgin had to admit Forge had fought just as hard as the rest of them in the hag’s cave, and he hadn’t shirked danger.
“You didn’t even bring any of the bodies back as proof,” Grace said, hands on her hips. “How do we know you’re telling the truth about this hag creature?”
“Well,” Edgin said, “now that the hag is dead, your village can get a group together and go back to the island for the remains, and you’ll see that we were telling the truth.” They’d have to watch out for the roper too, but Edgin suspected it might have moved on to other lairs by then. There were caves up and down the Sword Coast that would be better for a creature like that to hide in, assuming it could make its way off the island.
“In the meantime, we’ll just collect our discussed fee and leave you and the other villagers to grieve in peace,” Forge said in the gentlest please pay me and leave voice Edgin had ever heard. The man really was a master at this.
But in this case, he’d underestimated the couple. Grace shook her head, glaring at him. “Not a chance!” she snapped. “You just offer us a trinket and some wild story and now you expect us to hand over all our hard-earned coin? You were supposed to bring our friend back. We’re not paying you anything!”
“That wasn’t quite the arrangement,” Forge started to say, but he closed his mouth when Del clenched his meaty fists and took a menacing step forward.
“My wife’s right,” he said. “You didn’t do anything, so we’re not paying.” He shook his head. “You’re no heroes.”
Well, Edgin could have told them that much. He’d tried to, actually, several times.
He glanced at Forge, who shrugged, looking distinctly unhappy. What were they going to do? Ask Holga to threaten innocent villagers? Edgin was a thief, but he had certain lines he wouldn’t cross.
They had no choice but to watch Grace and Del stomp off angrily.
The whole thing left a bad taste in Edgin’s mouth. Conveniently, Forge was right there to take it out on, and the rest of his crew—minus Kira, who was still being hugged and lectured by Miriam and her parents for running off—were skulking nearby as well.
“Glad you could make it back,” Edgin said, waving his hand at Simon and Holga. “I could barely see you two through the dust trail you left behind when you took off.”
Simon had the grace to duck his head. “I’m not good with people.”
“Yeah,” Holga agreed. “You two are the talkers and the faces.”
“I’ve been called worse things,” Forge said. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Well, that could have gone better.”
“Yes, Forge, as a matter of fact, it could have gone better,” Edgin said with false sweetness. “If we’d stayed out of the hero business and just stuck to ordinary, garden-variety heists that don’t have any moral gray area, we’d probably be rolling in coin right now.”
“But the coin that Grace and Del were offering was so tempting,” Forge said, with a longing look in the direction the couple had disappeared. “You have to admit, the way everyone pulled together and did their part—it was a seamless operation, in my humble opinion.”
Had Forge been watching the same “operation” Edgin had been? “From where I was standing, it wasn’t that seamless, but thanks for the vote of confidence,” he said.
“But you’re right,” Forge went on as if Edgin hadn’t spoken. “We should stick to what we’re familiar with in the future. And now that we have a sorcerer in the crew, I think we can diversify. Branch out. Spread our wings.”
Simon spluttered. “But I’m not…I mean…I’m a sorcerer, yes, but are you…inviting me to be part of your crime club?” He looked hopeful and scared at the same time.
“That’s not what we call it, but in essence, yes,” Forge said cheerfully. “And didn’t you mention something about a hot tip on an even bigger job that we might be interested in?”
“I did, but I don’t have the coin to buy it now,” Simon said glumly. Suddenly, he perked up. “Unless we all pool our coin, then maybe—”
“Hang on,” Edgin said. This conversation was a runaway wagon, and he needed to slow everything down. “Firstly, Holga and I are—” He got tripped up on exactly what to call them. Not for the first time, the word “family” drifted in and out of his mind, but he didn’t say it. It wasn’t what they were, and even if it might, sometimes, from a certain angle, feel that way, he certainly wasn’t going to speak for Holga. “We’re partners,” he finished smoothly. “We’ve had occasion to work with Forge as well.” Forge gave a half bow of acknowledgment. “That doesn’t mean we’re forming a crew.”
Not that it hadn’t crossed his mind. Back on the island, Simon’s magic had definitely come in handy, and, despite some hiccups, the half-elf had been there for them when they needed it most—especially for Kira.
But this was all moving too fast. He needed time to think this over, and he wasn’t convinced this “tip” Simon had mentioned was actually real.
“Oh, sure,” Simon said, doing his best not to look crestfallen. “I understand. I should really be going anyway.” He gestured behind him toward the village. “I need to find a place to stay tonight and get something to eat before I figure out my next move.”
Edgin had started to give him directions to the Trip and Shuffle when Kira interrupted them, dashing up like a ball of bouncing energy. She jumped unceremoniously onto Simon’s back. He gave a startled squawk, but he kept his balance.
“Simon can stay with us!” Kira said eagerly, turning an imploring look on Edgin. “Can’t he, Dad? Please?”
Edgin opened his mouth to say that their cottage was barely big enough for three as it was, but between Simon’s hopeful smile and the imploring look in Kira’s eyes—she’d somehow learned to weaponize those eyes over the years—he was overcome.
“He can stay with us,” Edgin said with a sigh, and turned to Simon. “By the way, what you did in the cave—casting that spell so I could see Kira and the hag—that was huge. Kira needed help, and you came through.” He put his hand on Simon’s shoulder. “I won’t forget that.”
Kira slid off Simon’s back and came around to face him. “You did that?” she asked, fixing him with an adoring gaze. “Thank you.”
She threw her arms around him for a hug, and Simon absolutely melted. It was endearing to watch, actually, as he patted her back and blushed.
“It was…nothing…er, you’re welcome,” he said, and looked up at Edgin, giving him a nod as well. “I’m just glad the spell worked. They don’t always, as you saw.”
“Well, they did this time,” Edgin said, “and I’m grateful.” He took Kira’s hand and started toward their cottage. “Whoever’s coming to stay the night, you’re helping with dinner!”
“Forge is staying too, right?” Kira said, tugging on Edgin’s hand.
Edgin looked down at her in exasperation. “How many rooms do you think our cottage has?” he asked. “Also, Forge has his own home.” He gestured vaguely. “Somewhere.”
Actually, he wasn’t sure if Forge did have a house. He struck Edgin as the kind of man who just had a place to squat in every village and city the length of the coast.
“Well,” Forge said, hesitating and making a show of looking forlorn when Kira was watching. “I don’t have a place to stay here, as it happens. I was planning on traveling on to Triboar, but with night falling soon and bandits on the road…” He let the thought trail off.
Edgin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was nowhere near dusk, and Forge had probably traveled these roads his entire life.
But Kira’s eyes got as big as saucers, and she yanked on Edgin’s arm again. “He has to stay with us, Dad. He has nowhere else to go!”
And Edgin was once again taking the full brunt of her adorable, weaponized eyes.
“You really are my daughter,” he murmured, ruffling her hair. “Fine, Forge, we’ll squeeze you in somewhere. Anyone who snores is sleeping outside!”