Chapter Twenty-One
Sibling Rivalry
Paloda’s needle flickered in the lamplight as she worked. Her blue eyes barely paid any attention to the embroidery in her hands, her fingers moving of their own accord through the familiar patterns in the smooth fabric. The windowless series of chambers deep below the Jagged Mountains had always been home to her, ever since she had moved away from her parents to wed Hilgur. The scent of her own cooking lingered in the air—mushroom soup. She could still taste the earthy remnants of the dinner she had consumed without notice hours before. Hilgur’s rumbling snores from the bedroom were the only sound.
She sat beside the empty fireplace on her worn, cushioned chair. Her gaze darted every few stitches toward the stone door that led to the streets of Dwarve
