Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Before whatever was going to happen next could, Edgar said, “He’s going to need a nickname for public places. We can’t reveal his name to non-family. I wonder if he wants to be Mrs. Smith, maybe. Or Lieutenant Dan.”
I was pretty sure Edgar didn’t realize he was using a name from Forrest Gump, and that fact made it even funnier.
Struggling not to laugh, I bowed for no real reason and then followed the basajaun’s—Buln’dan’s—lead around the fire to stand in front of it.
“I thank you for accepting me,” Buln’dan said. “And I will accept the nickname Missus Smith.”
“Oh, no, you don’t need to go by that,” I rushed to say. “No, we can call you—”
“I have always wanted a nickname,” he went on. “Ever since I was a kid, I have wanted my friends to come up with one. A name built on friendship and joy and humor. Even the shifter has a nickname.”
“Well, Broken Sue came from—”
“Edgar has dubbed me Missus Smith,” he said. “It is a good name. A generic stick-builder name, is it not?”
“I think Dan is probably a better stick-builder name, actually,” I said, not to be deterred this time. “Mrs. Smith will probably make us seem even odder—”
“It’s perfect,” Sebastian said from beside his tree. “Calling him Mrs. Smith when mages are present is perfect.”
“And at home,” Nessa said, bouncing a few steps away from Sebastian now, “we can use the very familiar and a lot more fitting nickname Dave. How’s that? Two nicknames. One for family, and one for…non-family.”
“Dave?” I said in bewilderment. “That’s not even part of his real name. Lieutenant Dan would be more fitting than randomly calling him Dave.”
Buln’dan’s smile made his beard move and shift. “Yes. Two nicknames. It is done.”
“No, but…” I let out a sigh. What was the point in steering this ship toward logical waters? I’d always lose that battle. “Right, fine, okay. Fantastic,” I said as the fire surged behind us. “Great names.”
“Now go. Enjoy the festivities,” the basandere said.
Everyone cheered, raising their wooden cups. The musicians started playing a faster song, and Buln’dan—Dave, I guessed—grabbed my hand and lifted it into the air. The cheer went up again as Dave laughed.
“It was a long time coming, wasn’t it, Jessie Ironheart?” he said as we continued to face the crowd. “The stars are shining brightly on us. Our paths were meant to cross. Teaming up with Ivy House is a great honor. I am sure of it. My family will realize it soon.”
“About that.” I chewed my lip for a moment. “We need to talk.”
I finally gathered our crew closer together, knowing time had run out, and wrapped us all in a privacy bubble. There I laid out what Austin and I had discussed. I explained my concerns and made it abundantly clear that I would not be talked out of my decision.
When I was finished, everyone stood in quiet contemplation. I didn’t peek at their feelings through the bond, worried it might shake my resolve.
It was Niamh who spoke first—not to me, though. “Sebastian, based on your best guess, can we handle what comes without the basajaunak?”
He stood at the edge of our circle, picking at his nail, thinking. Then he confirmed what I’d feared. “They’ll almost certainly outnumber us,” he said. “They were never going to show up to an undisclosed location, to meet a mage who could do strong and surprising spells—a mage who’d rattled their guy so much—with conservative numbers.”
“Okay, so. Let’s dissect this.” Niamh got a little more comfortable. “Let’s start with the mages,” she said with a somewhat stronger brogue. Her fingers wrapped around one of the wooden cups, and I assumed it wasn’t water inside. Clearly, she’d found a drink that could give her a run for her money. “The mages. What are we lookin’ at?”
“I’m guessing they’ll bring a team,” Sebastian replied. “Nessa?”
Nessa stepped closer and tucked a flyaway hair behind her ear. “I’m thinking four or five adequate mages. They’ll have a thorough knowledge of spells, but they won’t have the power to do half of them. They will have potions and other aids to help them bridge the gap against a more powerful mage.”
“Jessie and I can render them mostly ineffective with defensive spells,” Sebastian said. “I create a larger gap than most, and Jessie widens it beyond what they could be prepared for. She’s not very experienced, though. She’ll really only have brute strength to work with. Anything else will take her too long to complete within the enemy’s onslaught.”
“Get her on defense,” she told him. “She was damn good at defense in the gladiator-type battle at your meetup.”
He nodded slowly. “True. Yeah. If she can run a very strong defense, I can fortify it. That’ll lock up our efforts, though. We won’t be able to help with any offensive magic against their ground crew.”