Unicorns Don't Cry: A Dark & Humorous Urban Fantasy (Valkyrie Bestiary Book 8) by Kim McDougall

Author:Kim McDougall [McDougall, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: WrongTree Press
Published: 2023-10-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter

22

My first thought was, how did I miss this? Even behind a ward, my keening should have picked up the energy from so many people gathered in one place. Winaskwi was a thriving town. The road we came in on led to a square with several buildings clustered around it. I counted at least a dozen homes and as many sheds and shops for woodworking, blacksmithing and other essentials. A second road branched off the square with more homes. Some had two stories.

On one side of the square, a long warehouse-like structure stood beside a stable and paddock where at least a dozen horses grazed from a giant bale of hay. A large pavilion flanked the other side of the square. This was open to the elements on four sides and had many long tables and benches under its awning. A few people sat at the tables, drinking or eating. They all turned to watch us come through the gate.

Soolea pointed to a clear space next to the warehouse. “Park there. No one will disturb the wagon.”

We hopped down. I stretched my legs and spine after the long ride. Raven, Princess and Jacoby huddled together looking wary.

Several people stopped their chores or came out of cottages to see the newcomers. A few had the dusky complexion and black hair of the indigenous clans, but I also spotted a pale, pointy-eared fae, a goblin woman, a couple of wood trolls, and a gang of dwarves who reminded me of the blue caps from Grandill Prison. Winaskwi, it seemed, was as cosmopolitan as Montreal.

A pack of dogs ran toward us, barking and exuberant, until they met Princess’s snarl and raised hackles, then they turned tail and ran off.

Soolea stood in the road, clutching her baby as if unsure of our welcome. A voice rang out, “Sooooooleawa!”

An older woman ran toward the square. She hiked up her skirt with one hand and clutched her chest with the other. Except for the gray streaking her braids, she was the spitting image of Soolea. They met in the square and hugged. Soolea had been holding it together for weeks, but now that she had her mother’s arms around her, she let all the pent up emotions go and crumpled. Her sobs were unashamed, and her mother cried along with her.

I felt a small, sharp twinge of jealousy that I immediately squashed. I wished I had my mother to prop me up too, but that was no reason to be jealous of Soolea. She’d been through enough.

Soolea’s father followed his wife, walking with a faint limp. He’d been tall once, but time had made him stoop. His gray hair was held back with a leather tie. He wore a flannel shirt and those same soft leather pants that the Winaskwi people seemed to favor. He smiled and hugged his daughter.

Once the first greetings were over, Soolea turned to us with tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

“These are my friends, Kyra, Raven and Jacoby. And that’s Princess.” She smiled at the hound who’d found a patch of mud to roll in.

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