Free All for the Heiress by Cassidy Cayman

her running to greet him, a huge smile on her face, then they’d get up to mischief for hours, making up elaborate games and annoying the shopkeepers with their nonsense. Sometimes they just sat by the river, companiably quiet and chucking rocks into the water. It didn’t matter to him, so long as they were together. But that had been a long time ago.
    He huddled with his soup bowl and shook his head at her, still shivering as she held out her hands to the weak fire.
    “Ye’re making me cold.” He chucked the remaining blanket at her and made a show of turning around. “Get the wet stuff off and hang it up so it’ll be dry in the morning.”
    She breathed out so long he thought she might float off into space. He was glad she’d come with him on this mad adventure, and he knew she would eventually remember that they’d been friends once. He’d seen glimpses of it over the last few days. At least he hoped so, because he was getting mighty sick of her acting like he was constantly doing something wrong.
    He turned around to see her wrapped in the blanket, her clothes strewn over the footboard. She wavered on her feet and he felt a rush of shame for being irritated with her. She’d said she didn’t feel right after their first try. Maybe the spell made her sick, or maybe the long walk in the rain had given her a fever.
    They sat on the floor in front of the fire and he reached over to feel her forehead. “Are ye all right?” he asked. “I thought ye might have a fever, but ye’re still cold as a popsicle.” He took her spoon and scooped up some soup, holding it out for her.
    She narrowed her eyes at him, but couldn’t hold back her smile, and she let him feed her one bite before taking her spoon back. “I’m fine,” she said. “Has this not shaken you at all?”
    “Quite a bit, aye, but I’m trying to be manly.”
    He looked down to hide his pleasure at making her smile. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d hung out together, just them. Maybe he was fourteen or so? She used to be taller than him back then and walked slightly slouched over.
    “I do appreciate it,” she said, and to his great shock, sounded like she meant it.
    Just when he felt so proud, a cockroach the size of his hand came scuttling out from under the bed, making a beeline for him. He jumped up, shouting in alarm at its speed and size, and before he could recover enough to step on it, Mellie calmly reached over and smashed it under a peat brick. He marveled at the vicious way she ground the thing into the crooked slats and sat back down, feeling a mix of embarrassment and awe.
    “Go ahead,” he said, trying to keep his face from flaming.
    She burst out laughing, and the pure joyful sound made him not care so much that it was at his expense. “I’m sorry,” she said, but he merely waved his hand for her to continue her merriment. “It’s just there’s so many nasty critters at the castle, I’m immune to them by now.”
    “My mum would set off a nuclear bomb if something like that ever showed its tentacles at the inn,” he said, rubbing his arms to get rid of the crawling feeling.
    “It doesn’t have tentacles.” She wheezed from laughing so hard. She started to lift the brick and he slapped his hand over hers.
    “All right, antennae, then. I’ll take your word for it either way.”
    She took another brick and swept it together with the first one, making a disgusting peat and roach sandwich, and tossed it in the fire.
    “Aye, burn the wee devil,” he said, smiling at her.
    Her cheeks were rosy after her murderous act and her long brown hair had gone curly from the rain and hung in loose, damp ringlets around her shoulders. Up until the moment they arrived in a different time, he hadn’t truly believed her, he’d just been happy to spend time with her again. Now they were in this crazy place together, it was like they were the only two people in the world who were real.
    “Ye’re so pretty, Mel,” he said,