Page 5 of Barbarian's Treat

My body tenses. Oh god. The timing of this could not be worse.Morechanges. My poor Vektal. I smile back at Claire even though I want to grab her by the shoulders and escort her out and tell her to come back some other day.

To my surprise, Vektal chuckles. He pulls up one of our stools and sets it by the fire. "I think a distraction for all is a good thing. What do you have in mind?"

CHAPTER

FOUR

CLAIRE

Once Vektal's on board,I recruit Asha and Josie to go with me to each family's hut and explain what we're doing.

"It's going to be four hands of days from now, so everyone has time to get ready," Josie says. "If you can't make a costume for your children, let one of us know and we can help."

"And we will lie about tricking you," Asha adds.

"No lies," I hastily explain to the first person on our list of houses to hit. Maddie stares at me with a blank look on her face as we trip over each other trying to explain how the holiday will work. I wave the skin I've been working on in the air. "I have a list of events, though, and I'll post them in the longhouse. You can choose what you want to participate in, but of course it'd be wonderful if you wanted to be part of everything."

"I love Halloween," Josie burbles, possibly more excited about this than I am.

"I have to make Masan a costume? I can barely sew a regular tunic." Maddie makes a face. "Let me see that list." She scans it. "Oh, an ice maze? That'll be fun. I can help Hassen with that."

"Great—"

"And he's going to want to be part of the football game, too. Been talking about it since last No-Poison," she says with a smile. She reads down the list a bit further. "Bobbing for apples—please tell me we're not having the kids bob for not-potatoes."

"We haven't decided yet?—"

"Wait, what the fuck's a cake walk?"

"It's a bit like musical chairs at a carnival," Josie chimes in again. "Where someone plays music and if it stops when you're on the special space, you win a cake. I always wanted to play that."

Maddie eyes me. "Well, I can make something sweet. I don't know if it'd be a cake, but I can make something."

"It doesn't have to be a cake. Just a prize of some kind," I reassure her. "We're going loose with the interpretation."

Maddie thinks for a moment longer. "Okay, I'll do it. I'll even make a costume, though god knows what Masan's going to dress up as. Do adults get to dress up, too?"

"If you want."

A wicked smile curves her mouth. "Oh, I want."

I can only wonder what's going through her mind.

One by one, we visit each house. Strangely enough, Georgie seems more reluctant than Vektal is. Their kids are excited, though. Both Talie and Vekka love the idea of a costume festival and ask a dozen questions about “trick or treating.” Jorvek just watches his sisters and gets excited when they giggle, and sucks his thumb otherwise. But eventually Georgie gets on board, and when I leave their house, I can hear the excited chatter behind me.

Sevvah and Oshen have no clue what we're talking about, and Sessah just listens while Sam tries to fill in the blanks for him. She seems like a sweet woman, though I don't know her as well as I know the others. She came from Icehome and insisted on returning recently. She says it's so she can be with Sessah'sfamily through her pregnancy, which is sweet and admirable. They all live together in a small hut which seems crowded to me, but Sam has reassured us that she likes having so many people around. It makes her feel safe.

"We'll come up with something," she tells me. "I bet Oshen can make a wonderful drink for us."

The elderly hunter beams. "I will."

"What do you need done?" Sessah asks me. "I have a strong back."

"Maybe you can help Hassen with a maze?" I ask.

"Mayze?" He says the word strangely and looks over at Sam.

She pats his arm. "I'll explain it to you. It's like getting trapped in a series of blind canyons, but for fun."