“Ah.” He set his instrument aside then came to help her. Before she could protest, he swept her up in his arms and carried her over to the small fire pit, where he set her down on the air cushion he’d been using. The ease with which he could do that given her height was extremely disconcerting. Standing just over six feet in shoes, she was used to being taller than the average man by quite a few inches. By the time she’d turned five, her own father had refused to pick her up at all, claiming she was too big for him to manage.

Yet Hauk carried her about as if she weighed no more than his boots.

It was very unsettling.

Without a word, he went to return his violin to its case.

“You don’t have to stop.”

He closed the case and set it aside. “I don’t like to play in front of others. It’s something I do alone.”

She could understand that if he played badly. But his skill level said that he’d been playing for a very long time. It also seemed like an odd hobby for an Andarion warrior. Far too peaceful.

And speaking of peace… she suddenly realized it was eerily quiet.

Concerned, she glanced around the darkening camp and saw no trace of Thia or Darice. Only the remnants of Hauk’s dinner. “Did you get so irritated at them that you finally ate the kids?”

At first, he scoffed at the question, then he appeared to seriously consider it. He gestured at the vibrant pink tent that was to the left of his. “Thia’s off, drawing.” He pointed to the black one on the right. “Darice is tied up in his.”

“Tied up with what?”

“Rope,” he said simply. “I considered using the violin strings, but didn’t want to get blood on them. Given the amount of venom flowing in his veins, it might damage the wood.”

Aghast, she stared at him. “You’re serious?”

The innocent, almost childlike expression on his face was comical. “It was that, or kill him. It seemed the lesser evil, if not the better good.”

She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. “How long has he been tied up?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “How long has it been quiet?”

Eyes wide, she covered her mouth with her hand. She was appalled at what he’d done, and by the fact that she actually found it charming. And probably warranted. “You’re so bad… Aren’t you worried about him?”

“I’d be more worried about his continued well-being if he were untied and still running his mouth around me.”

Lowering her hand, she shook her head at him and his cavalier demeanor. “I wish I could be more on Darice’s side, but given his attitude…”