By Fire

Ciaran nodded and started back toward the shed where he and his father stored their cut peat, but something in the woman’s eyes made him falter, pause. She’d come buying peat the day before - that was what she wanted, right? But then he listened to her words in his mind once more, and a bright blush stole over his features.

“Er...how much peat do you want?”

The woman held out a hand; again with the mass of gold coins.

“It is peat you want, isn’t it?”

The woman laughed softly. “Yes. Warmth by fire is preferable for my kind.”