Marie

Month 12, Day 17, 11:30 AM

“Marie! and guests. As soon as I got the all clear, I decided to return here.” Poe’s expression seemed worried. “Nothing has gone … wrong, while I was out? You sheltered well?”

“Yes, Master Poe.”

“Are these clients?” Poe asked. Marie smiled at his optimism. But, she suspected he knew they were not.

“No. Sadly. You recall Jemnie, and this is Cory.” Marie gestured.

“Ah, of course, our spies from the Morrows and the Stags. Better get back out there Cory, your partner followed me all the way back from the walls.” Poe grinned. “I don’t think you have a buddy following me today, do you Jemnie? Still, you wouldn’t want to miss us, would you? If you wait at the corner, I’ll be sure to wave as Marie and I walk past.”

The two spies looked awkwardly at Poe. ‘Embarrassed,’ Marie thought.

“But, you should also know Marie and I are headed out, immediately. Business, you understand. No point in watching an empty office!”

Poe waved them out of the office, although Marie noticed that Cory did seem to have drunk the entire cup of tea.

“Now. Get your warm things on, we’re walking to Waterside Market to pick up your boots!”

“The Boots?!” Marie hopped up. They were ready? “When did you find out they were ready?”

“I met the messenger at the door.”

Marie grinned. She’d finally have The Boots. She’d been looking forward to it for forever.

Less than an hour later she was lacing up The Boots in front of an attentive assistant at the cordwainer’s shop. The lady assistant helped adjust the fit so that The Boots fit just as perfectly as Marie imagined. When she stood in them, it felt like her feet were on a cushion of air. She took a few steps.

“Oh! They are so quiet!”

“Yes. These soles are quieter than hobnailed leather or wood. But, not only are they quiet, these will outlast anything you might find form other shops. Take some time to get used to them.” The attendant explained.

Marie walked around a bit in the shop, while the attendant and Poe looked on.

“Poe!” Marie whirled toward him. “Thank you so much! These are amazing.”

Poe smiled, almost like he was genuinely happy.

After the shop supplied Marie with a tin of alchemical waterproofing, and provided an approved list of cobblers to service The Boots on a printed card, Poe and Marie left the shop and head toward a place for lunch. Marie had to skip, just a little. The Boots bounced slightly, making her feet feel cushioned by air.

‘The Boots are Bouncy.’ Marie thought.

The spies picked them up from down the block. Cory, Jemnie, and another boy. Poe pulled out his pipe and lit the bowl. Marie thought the smoke smelled a little of flowers.

“Take my hand a moment.” Poe offered as they walked.

Marie looked at his hand skeptically. She suspected Poe planned some magic. She noticed he had a conduit tucked into the hand the held the pipe.

“Don’t worry.” He said.

Marie took his hand.

As they walked past an alley between two buildings, smoke billowed from the pipe making a cloud of whiteness. Poe used the smoke as cover to bring them into the alley unobserved. But, as they went, Marie noticed that two figures, which looked very much like her and Poe kept moving down the street and out of the smoke. Poe motioned for Marie to press herself against the alley wall.

As they watched from the alley, the trailing spies hurried past chasing the phantoms. As soon as all three had moved up the street, Poe pulled them from the alley and waved down a cab. Marie giggled to herself. She would have loved to see the expression on Cory’s face.

Once settled in the cab, Poe relaxed and put the pipe away.

“Won’t they notice?”

“That we’ve disappeared in a puff of smoke? Of course. But, I doubt they’ll figure out where they even lost us.” Poe laughed. “I love a bit of illusion magic. I’ll never regret working so hard to make this pipe. About now, my curse probably even confusing them even more.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t be teasing them so much. Jemnie is following us because Kett wants to find someone called the Mariner?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Does he?” Poe smirked. “He’ll be disappointed.”

Marie wondered who the Mariner was, but she was certain he wasn’t a client, otherwise she would have been involved … unless it was something to do with the black market sorcerers.

“So,” Poe said as they travelled toward what Marie hoped would be lunch, “How did you cope with the alarms?”

“Fine.” Marie said.

“Really?” Frank replied. “For my part, I had a few minutes of dizziness and anxiety, and it took some time to get control over myself. ”

“Oh.” Marie thought for a few moments. How did she feel about it? Despite the bright day, she felt the dark basement right there with her again. The helplessness. Her fear.

“Marie. You’re crying. Take this handkerchief.”

“Sorry.” She said. She slowly got control over her emotions. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

“Even though getting the boots seemed to cheer you up, you have been feeling erratic; you might not realize this, but you are expressing your will outside the boundaries of your body. You need to pull it in. I tend to be sensitive to this sort of disturbance. We’ll eat, and I’ll teach you some exercises to help you calm yourself. Also, a little anxiety potion, perhaps. I know a good apothecary we can visit.”

Marie nodded. The tears eventually stopped, and they rode for a few more minutes until thr cab stopped at a restaurant close to the wall.

“Went I was a student, we used to sneak out to this place when we could. You are supposed to eat all your meals on campus. But, sometimes when the bad food gets to be too much, wealthier kids will come here for ‘books’.”

Marie didn't quite get it until she saw the combined cafe and book store built from the white stone cliffs with decorative columns and large shop windows, called “Roget’s University Bookshop”. Aside from being two full stories of books shelved from floor to ceiling, the attached cafe had a dozen white stone tables inside with chairs that seemed more decorative than comfortable.

Poe suggested some food and and drink, and they sat at a table and watch students arrive and purchase food, and even the occasional book.

“Books are, despite recent innovations, still expensive. The students rarely need to buy them, because they have access to the University, but there are plenty of fictional novels and the like.”

“Like, just a book with made-up stories?”

“Of course.”

“Why would you buy that?”

Poe seemed taken aback by this question. “No, I don’t suppose someone like you would. Let’s just say some people enjoy it.”

They ate in silence while Marie contemplated the idea that people would write down made up stories and then sell them in books. ‘Telling an entertaining story now and again made some sense, but why go to all the effort to print it?’ Marie thought. ‘Maybe people didn’t know any good story tellers?’ She looked around the book filled shop. ‘Must money in it.’

After, although it was past noon, they hung around park near the lifts watching for Silverling.

“What if he passed by when we were eating?” Marie wondered.

“There’s no hurry.” Poe replied. “Silverling isn’t trying to escape our notice. He”s probably not looking in shop windows, doubling back on his path, and what not to try to find a tail. Besides, I don’t need to tail him. I just need to see him.” Poe tapped his glasses. “The spell array I installed here will let me know the code on his token. With the token code, I can’t exactly watch him move about the city, but I can put up sensors that will let me know roughly where he is. Triangulation will do the rest. We can see who he visits. It should be very helpful to put together the connections. This will be good experience for you, I’ll show you how enchanting works!”

“What do you mean triangulation?”

“Oh, you’ll like this. Do you have paper?”

Poe borrowed Marie’s grimoire/notebook, and drew a coarse map of the city, then a series of dots over the page. The he explained to her how someone moving among the dots would ping these artifacts. Knowing which ones received the signal, and a minimum of three, Poe would be able to find Sebastien wherever he might go.

“There’s lots of ways this could be interfered with, of course. The simplest would be if Sebastian hides his token, misplaces it, or if he gives it to someone else. BUT, even if he does give it to someone else, that will give us a connection to examine.” Poe explained.

Poe also showed Marie some of the tiny spell arrays in his pipe and how he would draw upon them.

“Could you make other artifacts with portable spell arrays?”

“I suppose. But, without many years and a large amount of will, spell arrays require more precise instructions for most sorcerers. You, for instance, are many years from casting the illusion spell I did with the smoke.”

Marie wondered what she’d be like when she was that sort of sorcerer. They kept chatting and waiting for Silvering to appear. He did not.

Finally, after the sun set, they hurried to the apothecary to get the potions that Poe mentioned. He had in mind a mild anti-anxiety potion that should help them both; relieving the stress and tension without being addictive. And, he was low on healing potion. He explained he could make his own, but he preferred a professionally made potion instead.

Marie found the almost scentless potion shop an extremely different sort of place than the Verdant Stag’s little room of potions and salves. The bottles had elegant printed labels, and the shelves made of close grained light wood. The staff wore clean white clothes, with white aprons that did not show a speck of dust or dirt. The floor shone that Marie almost didn’t want to tread on it. Even in her nicest dress, and The Boots, she felt a little shabby.

Poe, of course, took no special notice of these things. He simply walked to the counter and ordered several potions by name. As the attendant was wrapping his purchases, another customer entered the shop.

Marie turned and gasped. She grabbed Poe’s sleeve and tugged at it. Poe looked down at her, and then to where her eyes had settled on the young blond man who entered.

Sebastien Silverling.

If Silverling’s coincidental arrival surprised him, Poe did not show it in the slightest.

“One more moment my dear, and then we’ll go.” Poe murmured. He finished paying and took a wrapped parcel away from the counter.

Poe picked up the package and put it in Maries arms. If Silverling noticed her, or Poe, he showed no sign. In fact he seemed like he was on a mission for something specific. Marie didn’t know what strange potion he asked for, but Marie saw a glitter in Poe’s hand and he briefly touched his hand to the circular lenses of his glasses. There was a brief glow.

Poe guided Marie from the store, although she wanted to observe the boy more. There was something attractive about him. Striking. She wasn’t sure what it was.

As the walked away, Poe dropped his conduit back into a pocket.

“Got it!” He whispered.