July 2023 ver.
She swore she could hear her eyes creak as they opened. Her vision was blurry and she was painfully aware of how she was sprawled on her back over the full space allotted to her. She’d never slept on a bed with a pillow mattress before. It was like her body had become one with it.
Why was she awake already in this lavish bed of the gods? Her view went toward the door that led onto the balcony. The incessant chirping strained her nerves. The brawler groggily sat up. They didn’t notice her approaching the door.
“Get out of here you fat asses!” The birds hopping around on the railing launched into the sky, crying alarms. “Surprised you can fly with how fucking fat you are! You think your songs are pretty? They’re stupid! They alert your predators, you stupid, dumb-shit birds!” She spat the last word like it was the real insult among everything she said. “I should eat you! In fact, I will eat you if you come back here!”
“So…” Her face went red, she looked beyond the balcony railing to the sight of Eryth, Kyne, and Avery all at the pond below. They seemed to be feeding the fish. Also some of the birds she had so viciously verbally assaulted. Kyne went on, “I take it you don’t like birds?”
She felt even more hot with embarrassment. The feline simply shrunk behind the doors, closing them as she went, without answering in the slightest. Devin crawled back into the bed, face down, and pulled a pillow over her head.
x x x
Her dress had been waiting for her, folded and clean, so she’d already changed. Avery hadn’t bothered. Devin pushed herself up by one arm then dropped to the floor again. Another with a grunt. Avery had swooped everyone to the library the second she was up. She was scrounging for space to work through her routine.
Meanwhile, the fledgling scholar already had his nose in a book like a true professional, “The slim version you gave us is actually surprisingly accurate. So, aside from some embellishment on finer details. There’s some guesses as to where the gryphon came from and why. Not too many on why it decided to attack the enemy soldiers. Probably why it was labeled a divine protector so fast.” He puffed a cheek, “Hmm, there’s nothing in here about the ceremony at all. It only loosely explains the time frames. The ritual is to be performed on the Autumn Equinox and it’s to follow a two week festival to reflect the two week siege of Arechus. Huh, that seems like a long time for a small town.”
Kyne interjected, “Guess we’re all too bull-headed.” He shared a moment of pride with his twin.
Avery regained focus from the tangent quickly, “The thirty-three year aspect, it’s actually kind of funny. At the time, it was believed that thirty-three years is how long a gryphon lives.”
Eryth was slightly stunned, “Do they not then?”
“Most estimates these days are just shy of twenty-five years.” The half-emeran boy shut the pages. “Guess no one told the authorities here.”
Kyne commented, “To think we were under the same roof as the answer.”
“You know,” of course the rabid knowledge seeker would make the offer, “I could try to teach you how to read if you wanted?” Two sets of brown eyes locked onto him then they went to each other.
Eventually it was declined, first by Kyne, “A few years ago I think we would have been chomping at the bit for an offer like that.”
Then by his sister, “Afraid it doesn’t feel worth the time now. I mean, look at us! We’re living like nobles!”
Avery’s wind left his sails so fast, “I guess, but… reading can be really fun.” The teen got up, scanning the shelves. The library wasn’t huge. Actually their shop probably had more back in Terring. Still, he gave an, “Ah-ha!” He returned so excited that he jumped into his chair feet first. “Grandpa has this one.” They all tilted their heads at him. The boy cracked the book and cleared his throat,
“A wagon bounced. The road was rough. It was unforgiving…”
Oh, right. She remembered this one. ‘The Promise of Anya’. The genre was historical fiction. It was based on the myths, legends, and memoirs of the elves living in oppression and their mass exodus, full-blooded or not, to the outskirts of the continent. It followed a group of half-human, half-elf youths attempting the journey to the isles of Anya based on the rumors of promised freedom. Spoilers: they don’t all make it, but the promise was true. One isle was still seen as a safe haven for mixed species to this day.
Avery read through approximately the first quarter or so of the story. Eryth and Kyne were on the edge of their seats as he even did voices.
Eryth prompted him to continue, “What happens next?”
The white cat flicked his tail and raised his chin, “Afraid you’ll have to wait to find out.” With that the story was stopped short.
The twins groaned. Ever the dramatics.
“Stories are better if you space them out! You get to enjoy it longer and absorb it better.” He nodded with absolute certainty. More grumbles. Avery continued, “I’ll read more of it for you tomorrow, promise. Or maybe you’d like to learn how to read it yourselves?” He grinned, but it didn’t last. Eryth and Kyne averted from him, neither answering.
Instead they wrung the scars of their arms before Kyne departed with a half-baked sounding, “We’ll think about it.”
Eryth lingered longer to supply an excuse to exit, “We’re… going to go get dressed in better clothes. I just realized that the festival is in full swing tonight and you both probably didn’t get to see much of it. We’ll meet you in the front room in fifteen. We’re taking you out on the town!”
Avery scratched his ear at the abruptness in which they found themselves alone, “…I didn’t think I was pushing that hard. I didn’t mean to offend them.”
x x x
It took perhaps all of one hour for Devin to decide something important: she didn’t like festivals. The wonder from first arriving had worn thin long ago. It was so much worse than weddings in Terring. Her ears were cramping from keeping them flat the entire time they walked the streets. She had also hoped they’d run into Rowan out here, but it was too overwhelming for even a cursory search.
She didn’t want to be mean, but she wouldn’t describe Eryth and Kyne’s change of attire to be ‘better clothes’ either. It must have been what they wore before the manor. Patchwork pants and ill-fitting shirts. The young lady forced herself not to linger on this having endured such excessive judgment from their guards herself. It was the fault of all this noise. The brawler massaged her ears.
“You alright?” Kyne dipped closer to check on her.
“Yeah, it’s just loud out here.” On top of that, the games were only mildly entertaining at best. Half of them were proving to be feats of strength.
“Horseradish.” Eryth said it like a swear. “Show us how it’s done, Devin.” She waltzed to the front of the group, taking one of the heavy balls from the other female. Distance was needed, but also the fewer throws to knock everything down the better. Devin rolled the sphere in her hand. If she threw it hard enough to bounce…
Most usually did underhand for this game; Devin proceeded to spike the object overhand. It landed center front then bounced just enough to devastate the back as well. The vibration from the initial impact had tipped over figures that hadn’t even been touched.
“You have quite an arm, miss.” The operator complimented her. “I’ve not seen many people manage to knock them all down in one go and none like that.”
She kept eyes down, “…thanks, but could I just get my tokens?” Feats of strength weren’t particularly a challenge. Most were easy to the point of boredom. She wanted this little excursion to be done already.
The tokens were added to their collection. They had to pick up a bag to carry all her winnings. Eryth was quite excited, “I know it’s not actual money, but this is a big sack of coins. We could actually buy stuff for once.” The statement sounded odd. Why was she putting so much inflection on the word ‘buy’? What did they usually do?
“What can you get with them?” asked Avery.
“There’s lots of options.” She expanded, “When we were running around by ourselves we noticed a few real vendors will take them so we can get more than trinkets.”
The younger feline lit up, “Really? Even though it's basically fake money?”
She nodded, “Some things you can only get with tokens as ‘specials’. There’s also only so many to go around so they have real value to some of the vendors. Especially the ones who don’t have time to get ‘em themselves.” An idea struck the woman, “They’ll be worthless eventually. We should each pick a stall to spend them on.” Eryth looked to Devin, “You earned most of them, so what’s first?”
The half-emeran let her eyes wander. Her tail curled at the sight of something, “How about food?” They went to investigate the suggested stand. She glanced at the person closest, Kyne, “Are these… sweets?” They smelled sweet.
“You could ask the vendor?” Kyne ventured. He must have noticed her clamming up at the idea so he asked for her.
The reply was, “Bet your bottom they are, sonny!”
“Four please!” Eryth followed her brother’s lead, placing an amount of their funds on the makeshift counter. A couple were left as she overpaid. The service woman skewered the balls of dough on toothpicks for them.
She ate it eagerly. It’d been awhile since they even had the option to indulge in sugary goodness. This was by far the best part of the evening.
Then it was over with Eryth asking, “Who next?
Avery lifted a hand to fling around, “Oh! Can I go next?” There were no objections since his enthusiasm was so high. “I vote… another round of these!” That hand swapped to four fingers, “Four more please, ma’am!” Her brother really could come through for her sometimes! The second was savored.
“My pleasure!” The vendor practically sang.
Devin blinked at a third one in view with Kyne smiling behind it, “Would you like mine too? I’m more of a one and done kinda guy on this stuff.”
The vendor commented on the lady’s pleased sigh as she ate yet another, “And here I thought emerans didn’t have a sweet tooth.”
Of course the know-it-all had to inform her, “We’re actually half human, ma’am. So we can appreciate sweets as much as any human can.”
‘Don’tcha mean the ‘sweet things in life’?’ Devin frowned as the sentence popped into her head uninvited. They had been spending way too much time with Rowan. Maybe this break actually was a blessing.
The sibling pairs eyed each other as Avery passed the reins, “It’s your turn to pick something.”
Kyne ended up speaking first, “There really isn’t anything I want.” He smiled, “We’re already living the high life.”
His sister squinted at him, “So you’re fine with letting ‘em go to waste?”
He countered, with sass, “I take it there’s some big desire you’re plannin’ to spend ‘em on lying in wait then?”
Her mouth opened, but her tone changed before she even started, “That’s a good point. But don’t worry! I will find something to spend them!” She was quite self-assured in this.
They wandered. Eryth’s gaze scanned the festival grounds until, “Oh! Look there!” She pointed to what was a rather unassuming display of merchandise to Devin. “I used to want to be a potter when we were kids. Could we take a look at what they have?” What else were they going to do? They migrated as a pack and were soon weaving through a wide array of clay based items. Rather plain ones.
The selector of this stand soon bee-lined to one pot in particular despite this, “It’s so small and cute.” Devin was done looking before they even actually arrived. Eryth asked for her opinion, “What do you think? I don’t know what I’d do with it, but… I’ve never had something just because I like it.” It was an average, wide-base pot, but it was in fact the smallest of its brethren. Maybe it could hold one swallow of water or two to three flower stems.
“Then you…” The brawler didn’t mean to trail, intending to tell her that was reason enough, but a thought occurred. The wares here were a little too simplistic, “Hm.”
Eryth blinked at the sudden change in her junior, “Is something wrong?” The seller drifted near, with an intimidatingly large smile. No doubt smelling an easy sale in the twin.
Devin cupped her chin, tipping her head side to side to examine the object. She couldn’t tell. It took training to really know the difference. She’d have to read the saleswoman. There was only one problem with this plan. ‘Just spit it out.’
“Uh, ma’am?” The brawler cleared her throat, partially hiding her face behind a clenched hand, “Is this a magic pot?” The vendor’s confusion seemed a feint compared to Eryth’s. The boys rejoined them. Devin forced herself to repeat, firmly, no hiding, “Is. This. A magic pot?” She doubled down with facts she was suspecting the lady already knew, “It’s a con? Someone hones their clay magic skills to drum up product from thin air and sell it. The unwitting buyer takes it home and then a few days later it poofs.”
Avery’s memory was sparked. He dropped a loose fist into a palm, “Oh yeah! It’s a combination of earth and water magic. It’s infamous for being tricky to balance right. Harder than lightning even. The products usually turn out simple. Similar to these, actually”
“So,” Devin brought her scowl back to the saleswoman, “Yes or no, is this a magic pot?”
She denied, “Of course not!”
The brawler bit the inside of her cheek, “Mhmm.” Convenient that their magically inclined member had come over. She picked up the item, to the seller’s protest, to hand to her brother, “Avery, is this a magic pot?”
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A study of two angles had him nodding, “Mm, yup, this is a magic pot.”
Devin shoved it into the vendor’s hands, “We’re not buying magic pots. Nice try.”
“Actually…” Eryth spoke up again, “I kind of still want it.” Needless to say, they didn’t know how to respond to the her declaration. The woman jangled their bag in defense, “They’ll be worthless later anyway. So, how much?”
x x x
Their second day ended. Devin stared at the ceiling. She somehow forgot sleeping so late made it harder to keep a schedule in line with the rest of the world. The young lady rolled over. Even with a bed as comfy as this one. She could go through her routine again, but then what if she needed a bath?
Her gut made the decision for her as it growled loudly. She’d been ignoring the growing hunger, but it had officially been too long since dinner. The brawler sat up. Kyne had said something about that one room being a kitchen, hadn’t he? This also had her wondering if the staff had quarters here or if they went home at night. If any of them would be up this late.
The girl poked her head from her room to examine the hall. A guard was patrolling.
The other female noticed her charge’s door open, “Is something the matter, Lady Devin?”
She hadn’t taken to being referred to as ‘lady’, or being addressed as such by strangers, “…no.” Devin slunk back, closing the door. Then there she stood with face against the slab of wood for a full minute. The girl was trapped between not wanting to go to bed hungry and not wanting to converse with any of the sentries. The door was flung open again, this time the brawler exited with purpose, cutting a straight path toward the stairs. The guard merely watched her go.
Outside their protectors, the manor was dead quiet. She found so long as she acted like she knew what she was doing then they didn’t ask questions either. It made it a very concise and silent walk to the forbidden kitchen.
She entered. Well, she was here, but now how was she supposed to find anything? Devin set herself on the task of opening random cupboards. What did she even want to eat? Sweet? Or had she had her fill earlier? Maybe salty? The girl slumped where she stood, practically sticking her head in the pantry as she did. She had no idea what the hell she wanted.
The door creaked and she jumped just enough to slam her head on a shelf, “Ow.”
“Is someone in here?” A frightened feminine call. Some of the dark lifted as a candle dish drifted into the room. A quiet, questioning, “Devin?” followed.
Green irises locked on brown ones as she peeked over-top the counter in the center, “Eryth?”
“Wh-What’re you doing here so late?” Devin pressed her lips flat at the sound of her own guts, throwing a riot in their hunger, and answering before she could. Eryth suppressed a snicker, “Alright then. Seems like we had the same idea. I’ll help you look.” They convened where Devin had been searching.
Eryth informed her, attempting to tempt the younger woman as they searched “You know, I’m pretty sure they have chocolate in here.”
Devin tossed her a shocked face, but then she let her gaze drift, “That would be good if we find it, but I’m actually kind of feeling…” She noticed Eryth’s attention had fixated on her once more.
The answer clicked in unison, “Meat.”
“A good chunk is exactly what I need right now.” Eryth stressed.
Devin placed a hand to a cupboard, a plan quickly developing, “Check the temperature, they’d want to store it in one under an ice spell so it doesn’t spoil.” Some more, much quicker searching.
“This one feels cold!”
Devin joined her to view the contents. She definitely wanted something red. In the meantime she suggested, “See if you can get the stove going?” Her acquaintance nodded. The cupboard full of cooking utensils had already been stumbled into earlier as well.
The brawler threw a few of the pre-cut slices of ham directly into the pan as the stove top warmed. They were probably wrecking the preliminary efforts of the staff for a meal that was already planned. Too bad. They were hungry now.
Eryth observed, “Aren’t you supposed to thaw it?”
“They’re thin enough, it’ll be fine.” A couple regular flips and test stabs. The room was filled with sizzling and her mouth watered at the tantalizing scent. “I actually like mine a little burnt on the edges. You?”
“I’ll pass on that, thanks.” The human gave the smallest of hops to slide her rear on a counter not far from where the half-emeran was. She seemed pretty interested in watching her cook. It was making Devin feel on the antsy side. Until Eryth supplied the information, “Sorry, I’m just amazed. I know it’s dumb, but I don’t even know the basics of using a stove.”
Devin risked a glance at her, “Really?” The other confirmed. “It’s not too difficult. Obviously you figured out you put wood in the stove and light it. You should really check the air vents before or right after that, I will say. Ideally the last person to use it will remember to reopen them before they leave the area, but you never know. I’ve even forgotten to do it.” She’d blamed Rowan at the time too. Quite the case of egg on her face.
“Then, also obviously, you need something to cook on and something to poke at the food with to keep the top clean and your fingers unharmed. This is actually a pretty fancy one. I’m not really using it to its full potential.”
Eryth picked for more, “What do you mean?”
“Well, you see how big the thing is but how the fire chamber is contained to one side? It’s so different parts of the top will hold different temperatures, but I don’t really know anything about what temperatures or how to utilize it. So,” she shrugged, “here I stand with the pan where it’s hottest. It’s kind of just a game of moving it around to cook evenly.” Devin moved on without waiting for additional interrogation, “You also need…” A clean plate was slid closer, “Somewhere to go with it when you’re done.” She flipped the meat directly out of the pan. Her own piece stayed a little longer.
“After that…” she tested the temperature of some handles then promptly gripped them tight and dragged them closed with a metallic grind. “When you’re done with the flame, you close the vents to smother it out. Which, don’t forget to double check the chamber door before that or you’re going to get a heap of smoke in your face.”
Devin navigated around her and also climbed onto the counter to sit with the plate between them. “That’ll take a minute.” They weren’t playing polite or shy tonight, the brawler took up her portion with her fingers to tear a bite off. She mumbled around it, “I’ll cover the rest after we eat.”
Eryth didn’t pick it up as her counterpart had. She tore it on the plate before eating any. The woman seemed to be thinking deeply as she did so, “Did your mom teach you all of that? About the different types of stoves too?” Her volume was considerably lower.
The younger paused her chewing and swallowed a little harder than intended to reply, “No, my cousin taught me the basics. My grandfather gave the more elaborate details later.”
The other didn’t raise her chin, “I see. Did something happen to her? Ours-.” Her lips sealed on the rest. Eryth finally ate a piece, but more as if to occupy herself. The brawler had boat loads of evidence piled up to have an inkling that Eryth and Kyne had lacked a traditional upbringing like her own ilk. Still, the picture became a little clearer.
She didn’t see any harm in sharing, “Our mother and father passed when we were young. I was only six, almost seven. Avery was five. Our cousin lost his as well.” It was simpler to explain it that way, “He’s a little older than us so he was twelve.” Actually, for some reason, it felt good to share. Devin sighed, “From then on it was me with my brother, my cousin, and our grandfather.” Her voice grew increasingly strained as she listed off one male family member after another. “I really miss her. She’s been gone longer than I had her in my life at this point, but I still feel like I need her as much as I did then. Not that I don’t miss my dad too. There’s just so much I want to ask her every day. About… life. The kinds of things you really only want to talk with your mom about.”
The other woman livened, smiling at their evenly shouldered sorrow, “Yeah. I know what you mean. It’s been only me and Kyne for a long time too. There’s a lot that he… can’t get.”
She slouched, “Nothing but boys to choose from. I probably had it a little better than you, but… do you have any idea how awkward it is to have your grandfather give you the ‘you and your changing body’ speech? He had to read directly off of something he wrote beforehand to have the nerve to do it. Which, no eye contact was had, he hid behind that paper. I had questions too, but he struggled through.”
Eryth winced, “I can definitely imagine. I had a few people at least take enough pity on me to explain some things.”
The only sound in the room was their eating until they’d run out of their midnight snack.
Devin twiddled her thumbs, “Sorry. I guess, I don’t really know how to talk to other women.”
“Heh.” Eryth was quick to comfort, “Apparently neither do I.” Another happy smile was displayed, “But we can start practicing from here on out.”
Devin mirrored her, “Yeah.”
x x x
Her door was assaulted open to announce the new day, “Devin!” Avery’s call yanked her from sleep. She grunted in reply, determined to keep her eyes closed. It was way too morning time for this. “Devin, Devin, Devin, Devin, Devin!” Her name was riddled off so fast it ran together. Another weight dropped onto her bed. Her brother also started shaking her shoulder so she begrudgingly pried up her eyelids. First it was the birds… Why did he have to be such an early riser?
“What is so important?” Her tone teetered dangerously close to angry, but she’d let him explain.
He was grinning wide as can be at her, “Look!” The boy pointed to his chin.
She squinted, “Look at what?” Avery replied with pointing even harder. The girl propped herself on elbows to peer even closer at his face. “What am I looking for?” Then it dawned on her. There was a little hair poking off his chin. A white one. A champion among the common peach fuzz. “…did you seriously come crashing in here to show me a hair? It’s not even your first facial hair!”
“But it’s my first chin hair!” That deep guttural sounding of irritation fell out of the brawler again. Meanwhile, he prattled on, “Dad had a beard in most of grandpa’s sketches. Do you think I’ll be able to grow a full one when I’m older like him?” She dropped flat to the mattress. “Or… that I’ll get stuck with it being all patchy like grandpa? Wonder if I’d even look good with one.” Thankfully he was quiet a moment. Only one more question came, “Do you think… it’d make me look like dad?”
Her head lifted at that, it took a second to muster an answer, “Yeah.” She sat up and did her best to show some warmth, “I think you’d look exactly like him.” His heart swelled. She could see it in his face.
The teen then apologized, “Sorry for waking you. Thanks for not hurting me over it.”
Her smile grew, “Oh, I’m going to hurt you later.” The girl’s voice twisted to a sinister kind of sweet, “I suggest you run before I change my mind to now.”
x x x
“Since we picked, Avery and I get one point.” Devin updated their score cards.
They were on the floor to play at the very short table in a parlor room. Eryth watched intently while Kyne was propped against a chair. Devin and Avery were marching under the banner of teaching them card games.
“I think I get it,” Eryth’s nod was determined, “Is it Kyne’s deal now?”
“Mhmm!” Avery encouraged them with a hum. The young man dealt in the uneven manner he’d been shown.
He flipped a card from the remaining stack, “Like that?” They confirmed it was correct.
Avery wobbled where he sat, “Pass.”
Then Eryth stared, “Pick it up? And, if I understand this right, I’d like to go alone?”
The felines’ heads snapped to her, Avery stammering, “W-What?”
“Uh, Eryth, are you sure about that?” Devin attempted to talk her down from such a bold move.
She was confident, “I believe so.”
“Okay. Kyne, put down your cards.” He did so and sprawled out even more.
“So,” Eryth was looking at Devin again, “This one is the highest card in the deck now, right?” The brawler flinched. Avery had already played his best.
“It is, b-but you have to follow suit if you can, remember.” She was more hoping that she forgot than actually believing she did.
She held no mercy, literally, “I only have trump cards.”
“O-oh.” That revelation explained why she had none in her own hand.
“If I have the next two highest, do I have to wait for us to go around each time?”
Devin squirmed, “N-no… we’ll just… throw you some cards.” She proceeded to win the next two tricks with low trumps, having cleaned out Avery’s with the earlier ones. “Eryth, your beginner’s luck is devastating.” Now she wished Rowan was here. Maybe his ridiculous luck would put a dent in hers. Then again, was it worth his gloating at the end?
Avery dealt as the young woman declared quite happily, “This game is pretty fun!”
They were too busy playing to pay much mind to a guard checking on them as she had learned they did occasionally. Devin slid fingers between two of her cards, unable to make a choice.
“I wouldn’t pick that one.” A male voice spoke so close to her ear she instinctively jerked away. She figured it out a heartbeat before turning to the supposed guard stooped at her side. He had one hand at a knee, the other on his chin, thoroughly examining Devin’s cards. A bow was slung on his arm. Could he even dock an arrow!?
She was ready to take his head off, “What are you-?”
He complained over her question, “You guys seem like you’re having a blast…” Her gaze drifted along his figure. Where did he even get a guard’s uniform from? Especially one that fit? Their cousin sat at the table, nudging her, “Hey, re-deal so I can play.” The demand brought her around to the present happenings.
She shoved him strongly enough to topple him from her space, “It’s a four player game!”
“Um?” The twins didn’t know what to think. Eryth’s face in particular was fraught with worry.
Rowan was too preoccupied with attempts to insert himself into the game, leaning fully onto Devin, and reaching for her cards being held as far away as physically possible, “Then give me yours! Please, please, please? Super pretty please? Have I mentioned how silky your hair looks today?” The girl rolled her eyes and thrust the things at him. “Yessss!” Most of his glee was still evident enough under his presumably ‘borrowed’ helmet.
Avery filled the twins in, “S-Sorry, it’s our cousin again. He just wants to check up on us. Right?”
“Uh,” His hand twitched as it went to lay a card, “Yeah. That’s right!”
“Which, we learned a little more about the town’s history,” the youngest eagerly passed on what they had gleaned from the texts.
The mage remarked on it with, “But there’s nothing about the actual ceremony in the books?” Avery shook his head. “Hm. I can’t get anything out of the regular townsfolk either. Why is it so hard to dig up the dirt on this? Although, now that I think about it, anyone under, we’ll say an even thirty-eight, would have been too young to remember the last one. That might explain it. Maybe some elders would spill. Or, I know, a master of ceremonies. There will be one of those, right?”
Eryth and Kyne still didn’t know how to handle his self-insertion, Kyne gave a timid, “A powerful sorcerer type to handle all the important magical bits.”
“Then I’ll narrow my search to-.”
Rowan dropped the first card of the next round at the bang of a door against the wall, “There he is! That’s the guy!” He froze like a rabbit cornered by a pack of dogs. “Give me back my clothes you jackass!”
Their cousin shot off again, leaving behind the bow, quiver, and the rest of Devin’s new cards scattered face up.
She groaned, arms aloft at her misfortunes, “More like pain in my ass!”
x x x
Kyne was apprehensively watching Eryth etch a circle into the dirt, “Are you sure you want to play this of all things? It’s so violent and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but,” his hand swept in gesture over his form, “I’m a full grown man now? And you’re…” his fingers drifted her direction, “not?”
“Please,” she scoffed, “you’re as half-starved as I am.”
Avery cut in, “Um, exactly, h-how violent is it?”
Kyne sighed, “I broke my hand last time. It’s why we haven’t played it since we were little.”
The boy kept yammering, already feeling flighty, “I-I’m not so sure I want to play a game like that!”
His protests were a little late given Eryth was already explaining the game, “The only goal of ‘King of the Ring’ is to be king of the ring! Throw your opponents out, keep them out, and the last one standing in the ring is the winner.”
The youngest spouted more worries, “Throw? Like literally throw?”
“Nothing is off-limits! Victory through any means necessary.” That was actually a terrifying notion if given the briefest of thought. No wonder Kyne had chosen the word ‘violent’. “We should do teams too! Devin-.”
“W-wait!” Kyne tried to stop her.
Eryth finished, “You’ll be on my team!” The brawler had no quarrel and thus joined Eryth in the ring. The boys didn’t budge.
Avery was quickly flustered, “That’s not fair!”
Eryth gave no leniency, “Boys against girls is a perfectly natural way to split the group.”
Kyne whined, “Eryth, please. I’d be more comfortable paired with Devin so her and I aren’t-.” He was too unsettled to finish.
“S-seconded!” Avery squeaked as well, “Can’t we do this by siblings?” Apparently she was a hot commodity.
“I called her so I get her! Now let’s play!”
x x x
Devin waved goodnight then opened both of the double doors to her guest room. She closed them with a yawn. They’d really worn themselves out with that ridiculous game. Especially since Avery brought magic into the mix since ‘nothing is off-limits’. No breakages to report, however. She scratched some spots as she peeled the sheets.
“Wait.” A hand clutched her ankle from the darkness beneath the bed. Her foot shot underneath and connected with something in the same instant her heart jumped to her throat. “OW!” The intruder yelped. “Devin! It’s me!” She had leaped back a yard, ready to scream for the guards, to slam a fist into some faces, but stopped to stare. Rowan’s head popped into view, holding fingers to his split lip. “I think you cracked my tooth.”
Rage boiled over, “What the fuck are you doing under there!?” Was he trying to frighten the soul out of her!?
“Shhh!” He waved to lower the volume, “I had to hide from the guards!”
“What exactly was your plan here?” Devin took to quietly screaming at him. “That you’d just live under there for a week and change? Not much a plan, Rowan!”
He paused his crawling to give her shock, “What? No. This isn’t a full-scale infiltration plan. I needed to talk to you.” Her? “I scrounged up some info on the ceremony and it’s-.” Rowan cut off, sitting at her bedside, unable to support himself and say it at the same time. “It’s bad. There’s no easy way to say it. So.” Clouded blue eyes lifted. “The ceremony… It’s a ritual sacrifice.”
“Lady Devin!?” Frenzied knocking followed. A guard must have heard their scuffle.
She wanted to dispute it, but her instincts knew it was the truth. It had been staring her in the face all this time: declining Avery’s offer; the magic pot; and that old game. Their actions were a testament to what Rowan was telling her.
Her cousin pulled himself up, “I don’t mean to dump that on you and run, but unfortunately…” He went to the door leading to the balcony. “I’m working on a plan, okay? But I’m not sure when I’ll be able to get in here again.” The mage sat on the ledge, “Don’t sweat the details yet, but you need to tell those two what’s going to happen. It’s important.” His legs swung over to the other side, but he was still looking directly at her. “Because by the end of the ceremony, the Sacred Vessels will be dead.” Her cousin slipped from the balcony and out of sight, leaving her alone to grasp at reality.
How was she so damn stupid?