Bittersweet

There was a slight tug on Gawain's shirt.

"Here."

Chris opened his fist.

"I could only save one."

A heart-shaped red candy. Gawain picked it up and ruffled his hair.

"Thanks."

He placed the candy into his mouth. It was coated in small bits of sugar.

"Sweet."

'Crunch!'

He crushed it with his teeth. Looking back at the boy, he asked,

"How many did you have?"

"Three."

"Only three?"

Chris nodded.

"Mother used to say that eating too many sweets at once is bad for our teeth."

Gawain looked up at the sky. The clouds had cleared up, and there

"My mother would have loved to meet your mother."

They had left the mansion a few minutes back.

"You aren't going to ask?"

Joan glanced back in his direction.

"I don't need to. If the council already knew that the cult was using the mines, there was no way that it didn't know that the Mayor of Stone Meadow was helping them out. And you got your information from the council, so I guess you knew too."

'Sigh.'

Joan was exhausted.