Warden's Daughter Pt.13

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-yeah, I didn't know what to title it . . . any ideas?

Um, anyone got a title idea?

We walk over to Nia and she wraps her arms around us, turning to Igiby Lane.

“I don’t know what I would have done without you,” She breathes.

Nugget runs and knocks Leeli down, but licks all of us where he can.

“Where were you boy?”She laughs, “Why did you leave us like that?”

Nia reaches down to pet him, “We looked for you at the cliffs. Your grandfather and I were worried,” she glances at me, and I can tell the blame he tried to put on me, “We waited until after the dragon song and the crowd had mostly gone, but we still couldn’t find you. We rushed back home, thinking we’d just missed you . . . Nugget here found us. He led me to the jail. I made your grandfather stay home. He would have torn the jail to pieces and fought an army of Fangs to bring you home, but it would have just gotten us killed. So I came alone.”

“Where did those jewels come from?” Janner asks, “The ones on Gnorm’s hand?”

Nla glances at him, “They were stored away in case of an emergency. This was an emergency.”

“But where did you get them? That was a lot of gold,” Tink adds.

“From Papa,” I tell them.

Nia reaches over to Kal’s head, apparently they hit him anyway, “Your head. Did they hit you?”

Tink nods and squirms when she kisses the bump.

“And you, sweetie?” She turns to Leeli.

“I’m okay, Mama.”

“Did you see the dragons?” Janner asks, “Did you see how they stopped and listened when Leeli started singing?”

“That was you dear?”

“Yes ma’am”

“It was beautiful,” she smiles.

“But why would the dragons do that? And why wouldn’t Gnorm have just taken the jewels and taken us anyway? And-”

Nia grabs Janner’s shoulders, “Because I told him I could make the finest maggotloaf in the four seas and that if he let you go, I’d cook it for him every third day of the week, once the meat had plenty of time to fester. I told him I had a secret recipe that involved hogpig sweat. The gold was just to get his attention, you see, Fangs have a weakness for jewelry.”

“You know how to cook maggotloaf?” Ting asks her.

“I have no idea,” she smiles, “I suppose I’d better learn. Now enough questions from you three. Maddie, what happened to your neck?”

She holds her lantern to see where I’d guess the mark is still visible.

“Venom. From the one that attacked Leeli, Slarb.”

I touch the spot and pull my hand back, the venom warm to the touch.

“So that’s what happened. Why did he attack you?”

Nia puts her arm around Leeli and we continue towards the cottage until Janner and Tink get to the part with the stones.

“And you saw no one?” she checks, “No sign of who might have thrown the rocks?”

“No one,” I don’t mention getting a glance at the figure, but I know it wasn’t Papa.

We start walking als hear Armulyn singing on the front lawn of Charney Baimington. 

“Why are you crying?” Janner asks when the song ends.

I turn and see Nia squeeze his hand, “It’s nothing. And why are you crying?”

“There’s just something about the way he sings. It makes me think of when it snows outside, and the fire is warm, and Grandpa is telling us a story while you’re cooking. And there’s no place I’d rather be-but for some reason I still feel . . . homesick.”

All of us were quiet. I was sure he’d said Leeli and Tink’s exact thoughts, but I had a known reason for feeling lost.