Siena (Forestfolk, Book 1)

Bonus Chapter

In celebration of Siena reaching one million reads (ONE MILLION! Can you believe it?? *squeals like a happy pig*) I've written up a little bonus chapter for all of you, because it's thanks to all of you that this milestone was even possible!

Since Davin and Nirrin seem to be perennial favorites, I've created a scene just for them. Thank you, EturnalDawn, for the idea.

Nirrin looked gravely at each of her friends. "I went to see Davin."

Their collective intake of breath assured her they were properly in awe. "By yourself?" someone asked.

"I'm not stupid," Nirrin replied with a toss of her hair. "Siena came with me."

Relieved that Nirrin was indeed not stupid, one of the friends asked, "And what happened?"

Nirrin pointed at her feet. "He made me new shoes!"

Mouths dropped open. "And he didn't try to bite you?" someone else asked.

"He asked me if I wanted to see his fangs."

Their eyes widened. "Did you see them?" They were obviously unsurprised that the ornery old man would have fangs.

Pleased that her friends were enthralled by her story, Nirrin decided not to mention how Siena had assured her that Davin had only been teasing.

But that didn't mean he was fangless, though, did it?

"We should all go see him!" Nirrin announced, eager to show them how bold she was. "See his fangs together."

"Yeah!" someone cheered.

"No!" someone else howled.

In the end, Nirrin convinced them that visiting a man-eating bear was perfectly safe if they went in sufficient numbers.

* * *

Davin heard the clamor of the little barbarians before he saw a single hair of them. What was that noisy lot up to now? Was a single day of peace too much to ask?

Just ignore them, he reminded himself. Kids will be kids.

Even if they did grow up to be annoying adults sometimes.

He shifted on his seat and picked up a knife to slice off a length of leather.

"He's got a knife!" a small voice hissed not far away.

"Don't be a scared little bush piglet," a girl replied. "He doesn't stab people. He's got fangs."

The voice was so matter-of-fact that an unwanted smile escaped onto Davin's face. It had to be that little rascal, Nirrin.

When his favorite nine-year-old appeared out of the woods, Davin consciously wiped off the smile. It wouldn't do to let the runt know such a thing, or she'd be parading about like some kind of cocky bluejay.

It wasn't hard to keep the smile off, however, when five other runts appeared behind her.

"What is this, some kind of ambush?" Davin remained seated, but pointed the knife at them menacingly.

They all stared at it with wide eyes.

Nirrin gulped, seemed to decide something, and took a brave step forward.

He had to admire the girl's spunk.

"We want to see your fangs," she proclaimed.

Davin lowered the knife. "My fangs."

"Yes." Nirrin nodded with certainty. "You asked me if I wanted to see them before."

"I see." Davin jabbed the knife into the tree stump with a vicious thrust, causing all the children to jump. Satisfied with the effect, he leaned over the knife. "Why now?"

Nirrin raised her eyebrows, obviously unprepared for the question. "Well... b-because..." She glanced quickly at the friends behind her. Thought for a moment. Her brow eased back down with some kind of resolution. "Because you owe us."

Davin scowled at the unexpected response. "I owe you?"

Nirrin stood her ground. "Yes. People think you're this scary old man, but... but I think you're not so bad."

Davin's heart smiled at this, though he kept a stern face.

"I think," Nirrin continued, "that you shouldn't let your fangs define you."

The girl's ability to convey grownup thoughts never ceased to amaze him.

Receiving no reply, Nirrin went on. "I think you should show us your fangs and then give us honey to prove you're a nice guy."

Davin resisted the urge to burst out laughing at the girl's audacity. He couldn't blame her for trying to weasel sweets into the deal.

"Is that so?" He rubbed his gray-whiskered jaw, pretending to give it serious thought. "You're saying I need to buy your approval, then."

The corners of Nirrin's mouth turned down as she thought about this. The idea seemed to bother her.

A boy behind her spoke up hopefully. "Um, yes? I like honey. That would prove you're good."

Nirrin's eyes darted to the boy, then dropped back to the new shoes Davin had made her just days before. "No," she said after a moment.

The boy rubbed the back of his head. "No?"

"No." Nirrin turned to face her friends. "Fake people can buy approval. We're too smart to fall for that."

A pause while her friends digested this.

"Yeah!" a girl agreed. "We're too smart."

"He'll give us honey when he's ready to show who he is," Nirrin said with authority. "Or maybe bite us. We should leave him alone just in case."

The screams that followed as they ran away almost split Davin's ears.

Nirrin stopped a moment to look back at him. The intelligent grin that lit her face was all the thank you he needed.

I recently reread this chapter and it made me smile a lot. I hope it did the same for you! Thank you, my wonderful fans!