Realms of Shadow - Lizz Baldwin [46]
Instead of answering, Bodvar glanced around the cluttered work area and shook his head. "Only a devil could live out here alone. It is exposed to every wind that blows."
"It's a safe place to work."
Melegaunt glanced at Bodvar's young wife and smiled. Idona smiled back but said nothing. Though Vaasan women were hardly shy, he had noticed that most of them preferred to keep their silence around him. He looked back to Bodvar.
"The bog people protect every ground approach but one, and the dragonmen are easy to spot from here."
"The dragonmen can watch you," Bodvar countered, "and the bog people have you surrounded."
"Vaasans may see it that way." Melegaunt knelt and began to feed his furnace from the charcoal pile beside it. "The way to destroy an enemy is to make him fight in his home instead of yours."
Melegaunt raised his mitted hand toward a white-hot poker, and Bodvar, not thinking, reached for it-then shrieked in surprise as Melegaunt used a cantrip to summon the utensil and spare him a burned palm.
Idona giggled, drawing an embarrassed, though tender, frown from her husband. Melegaunt shook his head in mock exasperation at Bodvar's clumsiness, and she broke into full laughter.
"You see?" Bodvar complained lightly. "This is what comes of treating with devils."
"Of course, my husband," Idona said. "This bearded one is always saving you from something, the mudbreathing knave."
"That is what worries me," Bodvar said, his tone more serious.
Desperate not to let Bodvar's suspicious nature undermine the unexpected openness his humor had won from Idona, Melegaunt poked at the coals, then changed the subject. "Speaking of mudbreathers and saving you, Bodvar, you never did tell me why the bog people and dragonmen were trying so hard to wipe out your tribe."
"Were?" Idona echoed. "They still are. Why do you think we stay camped at the other end of your walkway? If it wasn't for you-"
"Idona!" Bodvar snapped.
Hiding his delight behind a tolerant smile, Melegaunt tossed the poker aside-it remained hovering in the air- and began to feed more charcoal into the fire.
"I'm only happy to be of use." Melegaunt fixed his gaze on Bodvar. "But that still doesn't answer my question."
Bodvar flushed and said nothing.
Idona smirked. "Are you going to answer him, Husband, or am I?"
The more Idona spoke, the more Melegaunt liked her.
"By all means, Idona," Melegaunt said, "I would rather hear it from your-"
"I had this idea," Bodvar began. "I wanted to build a fort."
"Fort?" Melegaunt stopped feeding the flames and stood.
"For the treasure caravans," Idona said, rolling her eyes. "He actually thought outlanders would give us good coin just to sleep with a roof over their heads."
"And to have us stand guard," Bodvar added defensively. "When we're out hunting, they're always asking to share our camps and fires."
"Do they pay then?" Idona demanded.
Bodvar frowned. "Of course not. Who'd pay to pitch his own tent?"
"I see." Melegaunt found it difficult to keep the delight out of his voice. At last, he had discovered something that might move Bodvar to take help from a "shadow devil." "But the bog people and dragonmen prey on the caravans, and they have other ideas?"
Bodvar nodded. "The dragonmen sacked our first fort before it was half completed, and when we tried to move south to a more defensible site… well, you saw what happened."
Idona took his hand. "We're better off anyway," she said. "Who wants to live one place the whole year? What happens when the herds move?"
"What indeed?" Melegaunt asked absently.
He was looking over his shoulder toward the granite summit of his little island. On a clear day, it was possible to look across the bog clear to where the log road ended- or began, if the caravan was coming from the mountains with its load of treasure. If he could see the road, then anyone on the road would be able to see the top of the island.
"Melegaunt?" Bodvar asked.
Realizing he had not been paying attention, Melegaunt tore his gaze from the summit and turned back to