Chapter 14 - Baked Chicken

Lilly thought the sun looked brighter than usual today, shining with newfound resolve. But she quickly realized that it was her spirit that had brightened after a night of closure and relief.

“Morning, sleepyhead. You rarely sleep for this long,” Mia commented, staring at Lilly’s face from her side of the bed.

Lilly looked back at her with a wide and heartfelt smile, which caused Mia to raise her eyebrows. “Did you have another dream?” she asked, clearly reading a lot from a simple smile.

Lilly nodded. “I did. My Mom told me Gramps was doing fine, other than worrying about me. It was a great dream.”

Mia was ecstatic, nearly jumping from her side of the bed to hug Lilly tightly. “That’s amazing, Lilly! I’m so glad you got to hear from him!”

Lilly groaned lightly from the sudden weight on her chest, but still hugged her back. “Yeah, it’s a big load off my mind. He had some lovely messages for me as well. And Mom helped me realize a bunch of things.”

Mia leaned back to look at Lilly directly again. “What were the messages?”

“I’ll tell you later. I’d like to check in on Beak first, to see if he’s still fine.”

“Oh, sure!” Mia replied, rolling back to her side of the bed. “I’m pretty sure Elly would have told us if anything had happened, though; she’s been up for a little while.”

Lilly got up from the bed and started putting on some simple and comfy clothes. She would have to dress properly for the meeting later, so she could put on whatever now. “I’d still like to check on him. I’m worried he might have gone a bit crazy in that small space.”

Mia nodded. “That’s a possibility, but I think it’s fine.” She got up as well and started dressing, picking slightly finer clothes than Lilly. “Will you be wearing the uniform later today? or something a bit less extravagant?”

“I think wearing it might help my image a bit, so I think it would be for the best. Unless you’re busy, of course,” Lilly added, recalling how much time it had taken to put on last time, even with Mia’s help.

“No no, I’m free! I’ve honestly been looking forward to seeing you in it again. I was really glad it survived the fire.”

“Oh, you like girls in uniforms, do you?”

“I like you in uniforms,” Mia replied firmly. “You haven’t imagined me in one before?”

Lilly noted the distinction that was made, but she wasn’t quite sure who the distinction was for. “Mia, I’ve been inside your heart. I know the walls are plastered with images of me. You can say you like girls.”

Mia seemed a bit red as she looked back at Lilly. “I don’t think it’s perfectly accurate, though. If I see some girl wearing something cute, I’m thinking of what you would look like in it. And how it would be to remove it.”

“Ah, like that! Yeah, then it makes sense, I guess,” Lilly conceded, feeling weirdly happy to hear it. “Yeah, I’ve imagined you in a guard uniform before... especially having you follow my… orders.”

“Man, these walls sure are thin, huh Beak? I really wish I had installed some formations so we wouldn’t wake people with our noise!”

Both girls froze, looking towards the door of the room. Eolande had made it clear that their conversation could be heard, talking loudly from the kitchen.

Lilly looked at Mia, seeing her now even redder cheeks. But she couldn’t say much since her own felt just as warm. She quietly walked to the door and went to the kitchen, letting Mia collect herself in peace before coming after.

Eolande was sitting by the kitchen table with crossed arms, smiling at Lilly as she entered.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

“You’re in luck, Elly. We were both awake.”

Eolande nodded slowly, still smiling. “I’m gonna miss having you around when the house is finished. Did you forget about my hearing?”

Lilly scratched her hair slightly, feeling ill at ease. “I guess we kind of… did?”

“You could speak at a normal level in the neighboring house, and I would hear you. I thought you might have been fine with letting me listen, but something told me that wasn’t the case.”

“We’ll be careful in the future, promise.”

“Hey, I don’t mind. You can tell me anything you’d like, but I want it shared willingly.”

“I know, Elly. Thanks for letting us know… Has Beak been fine?” Lilly asked, ready to change the subject.

Eolande nodded as she sipped her tea. “He’s still sleeping, actually. But… you might want to check for yourself.”

While sending Eolande a questioning look, Lilly walked over to look at the oven. Beak was still sleeping, but he was no longer as cute as before.

“Oh, wow! I didn’t think he’d grow that fast,” Lilly exclaimed. She looked at Beak, who was now the size of a seagull, several times what he had been yesterday. He was still covered mostly in down, but now a few normal feathers were visible as well.

‘Was it the heat during his sleep that did it? Does heat make phoenixes grow faster?’ Lilly wondered to herself, trying to find an explanation.

“Phoenixes might be sort of like us elves. We grow to adulthood very quickly compared to how long our total lifespans are,” Eolande suggested from the kitchen table, looking at Lilly’s confusion with a smile.

“Yeah, that’s a possibility. But still… You don’t think my flame from yesterday had anything to do with it, do you?”

“The flames given by the divine phoenix, father of all phoenixes? Nah, why would that have any effect,” Eolande uttered sarcastically, still smiling.

Lilly felt annoyed by Eolande’s response and stared back at her. “Thanks for your valuable input, Elly. I’ll certainly take it under consideration.” She looked back at Beak, wondering how she would bring him with her now.

He hardly fit in her top anymore, but he wasn’t quite big enough to stay on her shoulder either. “Do you have a cage or something I could bring him around in? I doubt Mia will want to take care of him, especially now that he’s so much bigger.”

Eolande looked at her with confusion before pointing at herself. “I’ll be here all day, and I’m more than capable of keeping him from burning the house down. You can’t bring him along to the meeting, can you?”

Lilly felt her shoulders lighten a bit as Eolande proved her reliability once again. “That would be great, Elly! Thank you!”

Eolande waved it off. “No worries. We’re a team, you know.”

“The best team! What are we talking about?” Mia chimed in as she came down the hallway, still with a slight blush. Once inside the kitchen, she looked around with confusion, seeing Lilly just pointing into the oven.

“What the hell? How did he grow so much?” Mia exclaimed, seeing Beak’s new form.

“No idea. But Elly will take care of him today while I’m at the meeting, which was the team thing we were talking about,” Lilly explained, prompting Eolande to put both her thumbs up with a smile.

“Ah, okay. Teamwork is king, after all… What’s for breakfast?” Mia asked, looking around for anything to eat. “I want to hear more about your dream, Lilly.”

“Right, let’s grab some grub, then I’ll tell you all about it.”

Lilly told them both about her dream, first about her teeny tiny outburst at the start, then about how her mother had talked her down, and lastly about Gramps’ messages.

“... and then the last one: Don’t try to be perfect. Flaws make you who you are, and you are perfect.”

Mia had teared up a while ago, but now she was on the verge of crying. “Damn right you are! No need to please everyone all the time! Ahh, I miss him…”

Eolande also had tears in her eyes, but she seemed more composed. “I’m really glad you got his messages, Lilly. He still knows you better than we do.” She wiped a tear with her hand, taking a moment to compose herself. “And I’m glad to hear you’re willing to let Myndia apologize. Do you want me to get the amulet?”

Lilly nodded, also needing some time to get composed. “That would be great, Elly. Thanks.”

“No worries, I’ve got it right downstairs. Give me a moment.” She got up from the table and started heading down the stairs to the shop, leaving Lilly and Mia in the kitchen.

Mia looked at Lilly with some hesitation, but she seemed to get over it quickly. “Is it bad that I’m kind of surprised you’re willing to forgive her?”

“Nah, I’m surprised as well. But when I consider how I stopped caring about her emotions as I told Eolanathel to leave… I kind of understand how she would be overcome with anger. I doubt I would do any better in her place. I still think it was a selfish and stupid decision, but I understand it.”

“... I think you just grew wings again. Only, they’re white this time,” Mia said dreamily, smiling like a girl in love.