That evening, the living denizens of Castle Kastorus gathered in the kitchen for dinner.
It had taken a couple of hours to find every bone strewn across the courtyard and a couple more to fit Grimsby back together. After that, Gideon had spent some time meditating, followed by an hour reading the [Appraise] skill book, by which time the sun was starting to set.
Thankfully, Grimsby had prepared dinner that morning and placed it in the kitchen’s timebox, so no one needed to cook that night. This was fortunate because Grimsby was not in a great mood, and Gideon did not want to offend the first paying customers of the Not-Rattlebandit Inn with his own cooking.
Gideon offered to serve dinner in the skeleton’s stead, went to the kitchen, pulled out the prepared dishes—roast beef with gravy, potatoes, and a chopped salad—and portioned them onto plates for himself and their two elven visitors.
Berenyn was starting to feel better, and when Ondine went to ask the elves if they were ready to eat, Berenyn insisted on walking down from his room. He took a seat at the kitchen table along with Shylvena. Though she still seemed nervous, observing her brother as if he might fall over at any moment, some color had returned to Berenyn’s face, and he already seemed much improved compared to yesterday.
While wandering the castle earlier, Gideon had found what appeared to be a dining hall down the corridor from the kitchen, just a short distance from the great hall in the center of the keep. Unfortunately, the dining hall was filled with spiderwebs as big as his head and mountains of dust, so it was not an inviting place to have a meal. Not yet, at least.
He added it to his mental list of everything that needed to be cleaned before the castle’s grand re-opening. Though he hadn’t received an official green light from Uncle Kelvan, he felt it was only a matter of time before the Archmage approved. But Gideon knew it would be up to him to make it happen.
Though Gideon had initially been confused by the castle's layout, he was starting to get the hang of it. A large central keep contained the great hall, the kitchen and dining hall, Kelvan’s lab in the basement, and the library on the second floor. There was likely more to discover in the keep, as Gideon had only explored a few of the many rooms, and there were floors higher than the library where he hadn’t even ventured.
There was the castle's East Wing, where Gideon had been sleeping, which consisted of bedrooms, bathrooms, study rooms, and a laundry room. When the castle was an inn, Gideon thought this must have been where most of the guests lodged. Cleaning the rooms, and improving the bed and bathing facilities, were high on his list of necessary improvements before they reopened.
Then there was the West Wing, which Gideon had explored the least out of any part of the castle. According to Kelvan, it was currently infested with rats.
After serving Berenyn and Shylvena and taking his seat, Gideon picked up his fork. However, he hesitated when he saw Shylvena clasp her hands together and begin to speak in Elvish, presumably saying a prayer. He paused, staring at his food longingly as he listened to the stream of Elvish words. After she was done, Shylvena looked at him expectantly, and Berenyn said, “Gideon, my sister wishes for you to add your own words of gratitude for this meal.” He smiled awkwardly. “If you don’t mind.”
“Oh,” Gideon said, bowing his head forward nervously. His family had never eaten together, and he’d never been one for prayer. Mostly, he thought of the gods as beings who had no real impact on his day-to-day life. Indeed, none of them had seemed to care about him before, so why would they now?
But the sight of Shylvena’s emerald eyes looking at him expectantly did wear him down, and with a sigh, Gideon clasped his hands together and bowed his head. “Thank you to Elysion for his sunlight which gave us this food, and Celestra for her spark of life that animates all living beings.” He paused momentarily, finding himself at a loss for words before he decided on his gratitude's final, most essential targets. “Gratitude to the farmers who sold us these provisions for cheap, and big thanks to Grimsby for cooking such a fine meal. Sorry once again that I put his femur on backward the first time. It really was an accident.”
Shylvena looked at Gideon quizzically, but Berenyn, eager to get started, clapped his hands together and dug in.
The roast was mouthwatering, consisting of soft, tender meat in a rich, delicious gravy. The potatoes were flavored with a spice blend that Gideon had never tasted before, which perfectly balanced saltiness and heat. “Mmm,” Gideon said, and as he looked at the elves, he saw that they seemed to be enjoying themselves too.
At least the inn, once it opened, would have great food. For a time, the only sounds in the kitchen were cutlery and chewing. Partway through the meal, Ondine floated in and began to speak to Shylvena in Elvish, checking in on her. Grimsby sauntered in soon afterward. He claimed he’d come to see how the food tasted, but Gideon guessed he had just followed Ondine.
Gideon wasn’t about to say that, however.
Rather than sitting at the table with the rest of them, Grimsby hopped up on the kitchen counter, his legs dangling over the edge.
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Shylvena was the first to finish eating, and once she was done, she held out her now empty plate towards Gideon. “More, please,” she said.
Gideon’s mouth opened in surprise. Shylvena spoke some Gleurican after all, or she’d started to learn.
“Of course,” Gideon said and took her plate, noticing Grimsby’s satisfied look. No doubt he loved this. Gideon filled the plate with a second helping and returned it to her.
“My thanks,” Shylvena said, bowing her head to both Gideon and then to Grimsby before she resumed eating.
“You’re welcome,” Gideon said, surprised to be speaking with her at all. An idea occurred to him, which he filed away for later once he had time to search the library. Gideon turned to Grimsby. “It’s delicious. Thanks, Grimsby.”
“You flatter me, bub,” Grimsby said.
“You should have heard his prayer earlier,” Berenyn said, laughing, and Gideon felt his face turn red.
Grimsby’s jaw rattled in amusement. “I didn’t realize you were the religious type.”
“I’m not,” Gideon said.
“Shylvena is rather devout compared to me, as well,” Berenyn said, then turned to Gideon. “Thank you for indulging her.”
“Oh, of course,” Gideon said. “I must confess it had been quite some time for me.”
Berenyn nodded. “If it were not for her, I never would.” His expression turned grim. “She has a gentler soul than I do.”
Shylvena had watched this exchange with a confused look in her eye. Whatever words she had managed to pick up, she didn’t look like she was following their current topic of conversation.
Gideon had been wondering what had brought them so far from their home to the treacherous mountain pass by the castle. But he hadn’t found the right time to bring it up. “Something happened, didn’t it? To make you flee Lorindel?”
Ondine shot him a wary look, urging him not to probe further.
Berenyn nodded, then shrugged. “It is a long story. Perhaps I’ll tell you on this train ride you spoke of. Speaking of which, do you know when the next one will depart?” He looked at Shylvena and smiled. “We mean no offense to this fine castle…” His voice trailed off, and Gideon tried not to smirk at the elf’s blatant white lie. “But we are eager to reach our destination.”
“Ah yes, a fine castle indeed,” Grimsby said with a cackle.
“It is,” Ondine replied, sounding a little defensive. “It has treated us well, at least, over the years.”
In Gideon’s head, he tried to think of how much time had passed since he’d first arrived. Out here in the mountains, so far from civilization, it felt like the days bled together.
He could see why the tourism guide had considered this place such a retreat. Even in its dilapidated state, the castle was peaceful. He understood Ondine’s protectiveness of her haunting grounds.
“I think there should be a train in three days,” he said after counting. “But we need to go down to Emberly to pick up an order from the glassworks. We can double-check the schedule then.”
“That would be most excellent,” Berenyn said, then smiled. “You have our gratitude.”
“Not at all. It’s probably better for me to sort things out in Prospera sooner rather than later. I suppose I’ve been trying not to think about it. Putting off the difficult parts for as long as I can.”
He still dreaded returning to his old apartment, making his loan payment, and registering his change of address with the Acretan authorities. He also needed to say goodbye to a few people in the city. Some of them more important than others.
If he were honest, he would have preferred to go back into the mirror and duel his reflection a dozen more times rather than do what he needed to do in Prospera.
“Trying not to think about it?” Berenyn echoed, as if the words puzzled him. “Does this technique work for you?”
“No,” Gideon said, and they both laughed. “Not in the slightest.”
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Though the library was disorganized, it was much easier for him to find books in Elvish, as their different lettering was distinguishable at a glance. Of course, he had no idea what they said, but he figured that Berenyn and Shylvena wouldn’t complain about some free reading material. And once he organized the library, he would eventually want to file the Elvish books separately anyway, so he told himself this was also useful for his long-term goals.
He lucked out—after sorting through stacks of books for a while, he stumbled upon an Elvish-Gleurican dictionary. He also found two instances where the library contained editions of the same book in both Gleurican and Elvish, identifiable by their similar cover designs. One was a gardening manual, while the other was a book on Vitamancy.
Gideon wondered if Kelvan would want him to start learning a second school of magic soon or if he thought it would be better to have him wait until his geomancy ranked up again. As far as Gideon knew, there was no common wisdom regarding whether to specialize or generalize. It depended on the individual wizarding student and their goals.
Soon, Gideon returned to Berenyn and Shylvena’s room with a small stack of books, which they gratefully accepted. Apparently, one of the books was a work of Elvish fiction about an Elvish princess who ran away from home, which was one of Shylvena’s favorites.
They both thanked him, and as he returned to his room, Gideon felt good about what he’d accomplished that day. Technically, Berenyn and Shylvena were their first paying customers, and he wanted them to have as good of a time here as they could, considering the circumstances. He would count it as a success if he’d made their day a little better than it otherwise would have been.
He’d been busy practically from the moment he’d woken up to the moment he was going to bed, but it had been on his own terms. Even now, he felt full of boundless energy for what was to come.
He went to the bathroom down the hall and filled the tub with a pipe connected to a water rune, like the one for the kitchen sink. Thankfully, this pipe wasn’t filled with a Viscous Amorph, and the water flowed clear and pure, even if it was cold. Though there was another rune for hot water, it sputtered when he activated it, and nothing came out. Another thing to add to his list of repairs.
Once Gideon was clean, he returned to his room and read more of Beyond the Veiled Horizon while lying in bed. That night he dreamed of status screens and character sheets, of counting the infinite digits of Sir Clonk’s Might score.
At least they weren't nightmares, this time.
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