Oz yawned, stretching wide. Sunlight beamed in, warming his bed. Sid sat up, stretching twice as luxuriantly as Oz, and crawled into his lap, settling in to purr and be pet. Absentminded, Oz stroked her, yawning occasionally in his daze. Nice cat, nice sunlight, nice cozy bed. Maybe I’ll just stay here all day.

The walls shook. Dust rained down on him. A thunderous rattle rang out, blue-white light flashing as the sunlight fled.

With a mrow, Sid fled, tail high.

Oz sighed. That’s right. I’m under bombardment. Month or so left before the big baddies crack open my barrier like a raw egg and let all the eggy book goo fall out.

He paused. I probably shouldn’t try metaphors before breakfast. The breakfast spills into them.

Swinging his legs out of bed, Oz stood. He swallowed an antidote and followed it down with a swig of water from a cup he’d left beside the bed. A quick stop in the pill room later, he carried two plates of fresh, steaming scrambled eggs through the library, occasionally picking from one of the two plates. Blue light flashed through the windows, storm clouds thick overhead. Occasionally, the library trembled, the sky rumbling with thunder.

At the door to the grassy realm, he slid both plates into one hand and swung the door open. Fflyn lunged for the door.

Gold light glimmered. Fflyn bounced off, falling onto his back in the grass. Stunned, he stared up at the sky for a moment.

“Really ought to expect that, at this point.” Oz slid the untouched plate of eggs through the barrier.

Fflyn shook his head and climbed to his feet. He stole the plate, instantly shoveling them into his mouth with his hand.

Oz froze, halfway to handing Fflyn a fork of his own. He put it back into his pocket with a shrug. “Guess you don’t need that, then.”

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Fflyn looked up at Oz. He sat down, crossing his legs, and pointedly crossed his arms. “What do you want?”

“What do you mean?”

“You want something. You said so last night. Everyone who treats me nice wants something.”

Oh. Right. Innocently, Oz spread his hands. “I’ve already told you. I’m going to keep you fed one way or another. There’s no need to suspect everything I do, even if I do want something. I’m feeding you out of the kindness of my heart.”

Fflyn nodded at the eggs. “You bring me sandwiches once a day or so. This is fresh eggs, hot off the skillet. You’re still eating yours, they’re so fresh. That’s special. That means you seriously want something.” He looked up at Oz, his eyes flashing. “So. What do you want?”

“I brought you fresh grilled cheese just the other day,” Oz argued, then sighed. He sat down on his side of the door. “Yeah, you’re right. I do want something.”

In the distance, Linnea flipped around. A pair of chains flew out from her sleeves and dug deep into a tree trunk. She yanked and flew toward the tree, red hair flying. Landing on it, she flicked her wrists, and the blades flew out of the tree and whipped back into her sleeves.

Damn, Oz thought, raising his brows. Even if I trained for a thousand years, I don’t think I could do that.

Fflyn sighed. He looked up at Oz. “Go on, then.”

Startled out of his reverie, Oz shook his head. “Er, right. Yes. I was…” He looked at his eggs and took another bite. “That’s right. Fflyn, I need to head out into the world.”

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

“You’ve got two feet,” Fflyn pointed out.

“And every expert in the world after my ass. I can’t step outside. You know that as well as—well. Probably better than I do.”

Fflyn inclined his head.

Oz set down his plate and took a deep breath. “I’m currently working on a possession spell. Something that will allow me to borrow someone’s body in order to walk the world.”

“And you want mine,” Fflyn guessed.

“In so many words… yes.” Oz rubbed the back of his neck. “I know it’s a lot to ask. If you don’t want to, I can use the cat. She isn’t as useful, unfortunately, since she can’t talk, but—”

Fflyn interrupted him. “One thousand gold.”

Oz froze. “Huh?”

“One thousand gold. You can pay in installments, if you like.”

“That easily?” Oz muttered.

Fflyn gave him a look. “I’m an assassin. A hired blade. Life and death, it’s all a matter of how much you pay. For enough gold, I’ll even hand you my life. Compared to that, what’s a short-term possession?”

“Oh. I, er. Expected more resistance.”

“Well, afterward I’ll have concrete proof that you used dark magic, plus it gives me the chance to contact my clan if you make a mistake in the possession spell.” He paused, chewing his lip. “I’m probably charging you too much. But given that you’ll try to keep me trapped here in the library anyways, I might as well set myself up to live as a rich man for the rest of my life, if I ever escape.”

Oz squinted at him. “Is it okay to tell me this?”

Fflyn shrugged. “What’s the difference? It’s all a dream, as long as I’m locked in here.”

Oz paused for a moment. He looked at Fflyn. “How much to hire you? Long term. Forever, actually.”

Fflyn blinked. “Depends on the job. What do you want me to do?”

“No, I mean… buy you out from the Black Blades. Recruit you permanently. Hire you as my personal retainer,” Oz explained.

Fflyn frowned. “Why would you want that?”

Oz shrugged. “There’s lots of reasons. For one, I could use someone to help me around town, who has no motives but the best for the library at heart. Secondly, if the possession works well, I could use an auxiliary body. Thirdly, I’m a little light on hands. It’s me and Linnea. And sure, she has eight of them, but you know. Still only two of us, and an enormous library to handle.” After all, I can’t trust Roan in the least, Aisling is Sachairi’s disciple, and everyone else wants my books. Of all the people I’ve let into the library, somehow, the assassin who tried to kill me is one of the most reliable.

Fflyn started to shake his head, then slowly stopped. “I… I was sold to the Black Blades. You can buy out my contract. But it isn’t cheap. Even a thousand gold won’t come close.”

“Then why don’t we work on it? Consider that first thousand gold a down payment against your contract. As we continue to cooperate, I’ll put gold aside to pay off your contract. When we have enough, we’ll go to the Black Blades and make it official.”

Plus, this means I don’t have to pay him a thousand gold—or any gold, for that matter—right now. I’m penniless!

I need to figure out a way to make gold reliably. Ugh. Maybe once I rank up, I can invite more people into the library and charge admission? It’s not true to the free sharing of information that’s the essence of a library, but hell, I need gold, and it’s a start, at least. Once I’m not so poor, we can talk about free information.

Fflyn scratched the back of his head. He scowled. “Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” Oz asked.

“Why would you do this for me? I attacked you. I poisoned you!”

Oz sighed. He shook his head at Fflyn. “Look. I’m a little short on friends at the moment. It’s your good fortune that I’m this desperate. Let’s leave it at that.”

Staring at his hands, Fflyn nodded. Abruptly, he looked up. “It still costs a thousand gold.”

“To possess you? Got it.” Oz stood, dusting off his robe and picking up his plate. He held his hand out to Fflyn. “Pass the plate here. Or rather… now that we’re cooperating, could you stop attacking me every time I open the door?”

Fflyn hesitated. After a second, he nodded.

Watching Fflyn, Oz reached through the barrier.

Fflyn twitched, hand flickering. Oz flinched back through the barrier.

Snorting, Fflyn showed Oz an empty hand. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You already stabbed me once. Shoot me for being a little skittish,” Oz muttered. Reaching through the barrier, he grabbed Fflyn’s plate.

Glancing over his shoulder, Fflyn looked at Linnea. She leaped into the air again, chains swirling around her. “Can I study under her?”

“Huh? Uh, sure. I mean, you don’t need my permission. Go ask her yourself,” Oz said. Stacking the plates, he walked away.

Fflyn glanced at Linnea, then nodded. He ran off across the field toward her.

Oz kicked the shabby wooden door shut, the bloodstained sheet waving against the back of the door. Hurrying back to the pill room, he set the plates down, then jogged back for the grassy realm.

I’ve practiced enchantments. I’ve practiced fey magic. Fflyn agreed to be possessed. All I need now, is to cast the actual enchantment!