Ch: 19 A Hole In The Ground
The Bathers table, now marked with a big chalk X, was guarded by a youngling. Mirabelle was only ten, but she chased a small adventuring band away from their table with admirable ferocity.
Six men and women in the colors of War backed away grinning as she brandished a wooden spoon. “Scat, this is sergeant Becky’s table. There’s plenty of room over with the OLD people!”
The whoop of agreement from the five other tables of preteens, along with a very strong chorus from the nearby older kids, pushed the point home. A few beat their toy drums or played discordant riffs on their instruments, defying the long standing ‘no toys at the table’ rule.
Otho grinned from the nearby ‘Geezer’s section’ enjoying the antics of his beloved children. Then he began to grow uneasy, his well mannered and orderly orphans were being cheerfully disrespectful to their elders… that was normal. To behave so with strangers from out of town, that was new. Perhaps it was good that the Bathers were going out for a while.
At the Bathers table things were introspective. “...A-aaand, That’s why I don’t talk about it.” Gary said, pulling out his mandolin and flicking his way into ‘The Orange Blossom Special’ as his friends sat thinking.
When the younglings started bringing platters to their moping elders’ table, Gary gave them a broad wink in thanks and turned up the volume.
He shifted into ‘A Boy Named Sue’, the older teens appreciated that one, while the little ones just liked bouncing on their butts. He wound down the music when the others started to smile at his antics and eat.
They shared another fine feast, the whole room cheered for Ivy’s second in the kitchen, she had taken over most of the day to day since Ivy began her adventuring career. Colette was a tall brunette with gray eyes and a quick smile.
She, like Dannyl, looked forward to serving War on the front lines. She used a spear, as most orphans did, when dealing with nasty things, reach was a blessing.
Colette and her crew of four older teens Gary had barely met, took well deserved accolades, the meals both days had been exceptional even without Dannyl and Ivy at the helm. They received their metaphorical laurels with much posturing and strutting. It was a huge change from the disconsolate teens dishing up food and schlepping platters just a few minutes before.
As the evening wore down Otho stood and addressed the gathered orphans. “As you all know, Liam, Ivy, Dannyl and sergeant Becky will be taking leave of us for a while. The acolytes of Joy will assist with administration and any other matters you need. Please give them the courtesy they are due my children.” He waved dismissively, shooing the younglings off to bed. “Off you go!”
The Bathers parted with exhausted hugs for friends new and old. Gary and the girls retired for what promised to be a harrowing and deeply odd night.
#
Gary took a moment to make sure his storage Pockets! were empty of weapons, random magical trinkets and oddities, stashing all his instruments and experiments throughout the house. When he climbed the stairs, Shai and Becky had all but taken over.
His comfortable, if spartan living quarters had been vastly upgraded by Shai. Her arrival brought colors, art, flowers and textiles, she gave the room the warmth and a human scale it lacked before her intervention. That was all gone…
The walls were invisible behind ferns and vines, lush moss and rounded river stones covered the floor. Insead of a ceiling, an arching mural of a springtime sky, complete with fluffy clouds was drawn in fearsome detail.
Now, his king sized bed, conjured on a whim that first night and kept ever since, was gone. In its place was a fantastic confection of gauze and lace, a vast canopy bed draped in colorful silks and filmy stuff. It almost floated, awash in ruffles and frills. They even had illusory fireflies sparkling throughout the room, it was damn magical.
So was the misty, glowing sign that read:
The Realm Of TawnyBeckShaIvy
No Boys Allowed.
“The dog bed is a nice touch… that didn’t hurt my feelings at all. The water bowl was a bit much.” He complained, settling into the surprisingly comfy pet bed.
“Out! That’s for Otho, he’s the only boy allowed!” Becky shrilled in mock distress, clutching a filmy drape to cover herself.
“You’re wearing clothes, Becky. And we bathed together three hours ago…” The combined forces of that realm repulsed the barbarian invader, banishing him down below.
Once the boy was gone, Becky went back to jumping on the ridiculous bed, while Shai and Ivy consulted with Tawny. The sorcerers were up to… whatever it was they did. She never had time or talent for ritual magic, and with no divine contract, that was that.
‘I’m… getting a Contract? Spending the night outside the orphanage, outside the world? Fifteen years old?’ Her mind was a mad swirl of emotions. Even her long practiced meditation exercises were useless under this level of nerves. Jumping on the bed was the only answer, duhh.
After a few minutes, the conclave of older women broke up, and they turned on her as one. Ivy spoke up, breaking the tension.
“I checked this ring over and it should not be able to harm you, it seems like it would be way more dangerous to Gary.” She shuddered softly. “I wouldn’t want a permanent doorway into my soul that just anyone could pick up and use.”
“I hae been to the place you go many times, tis odd and exciting. Dinnae think it be a safe place, tis only safe fer Gary an meself.” Shai skewered her with a piercing eye. “There be horrors just outside the wall, dinnae invite anything in, nor speak wi aught save those you seek.”
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Tawny joined the fray, hugging the smaller woman close. “Ivy and I will be observing you closely, we will wake you if need be. Shai will be with you and I suppose, Gary will be there.” That last was an afterthought, handled with an eye roll and feeble shrug that sent the women giggling.
“Really, how am I supposed to sleep? I’m wound up tighter than a harp string. Wish I still had some of that fae dust, that would put me to sleep.” She looked hopefully at Tawny.
“What know ye o fae dust girl? Who be telling ye o these things? It were nae Gary, he does know I would…” Shai was red faced and looking slightly guilty around the outrage.
“I prescribed it to her Shai, for female reasons. Not all of us are blessed with your… doughty constitution.” Tawny flinched slightly as the bigger woman reached out to hug her. It was more like being mauled by an aggressive bear to her mind. ‘How does tiny Becky survive hugging her?’ Tawny wondered, while recovering from Shai’s affections.
“You could not use it in any case, you need to dream, that is what triggers your fine new jewelry.” Gary was no silversmith, the band looked just like his stink rings. Just plain silver, etched with runes so tiny they appeared to be a matte surface of miniscule scratches.
“To think a man offered me a ring…” Becky swooned mockingly, while clearly eying Shai’s naked finger.
“Fie, ye did half convince me he had been perplexed intae marrying Sophia, ye hae no wisdom to share in this.” She scoffed, pretending fury at her sister.
Tawny sprawled onto the bedding in an uncharacteristic show of informality and whimsy. “Sometimes I wonder if I should not have tried for Gary…” She teased. “Jennah would have tied herself in knots over that.”
Ivy sat up from where she was rough housing with Otho the dog. “I can pretend to break up with Tallum and you can make like you picked him up on the rebound…” She grinned evilly. “Think of the gossip grannies knitting those strands together.”
“Ivy! That’s just evil and horrible for… Just all the reasons.” Becky scolded. “Gossip is a subtle dance, not a brawl in a burning tavern.” Only Becky noticed the surge of white hot fury boiling in Shai at the moment. She patted her sister lovingly. “We will come up with something terrible on our outing” She whispered.
“As for sleeping, I shall be attending to both of you, while Ivy and I take shifts watching over you.” Tawny’s audience were already changed and in bed, cuddling together with long familiarity.
“Attending to us?” Becky asked, while Tawny drew her long slender wand from her robes. “What does tha-…” With a quick flick of the wrist and a short liquid chant, both women were out cold.
“Ahh, a little peace and quiet.” Tawny said just a little smugly.
#
“...t mean?” Becky asked, lying on a completely different bed in an unfamiliar room. Shai appeared a breath later, looking miffed.
“That were high handed o her, aye after she did all but say she could hae taken what do clearly be mine.” Shai fumed. “Aye, mayhap she could hae tumbled him…”
At that thought her possessive rage flared dangerously. “Aye? Ye could steal mine harvest ere t’were ripe? Tawny would nae hae heard ‘When the Doves do Cry’...”
She was pacing and agitated, flushing red, then sheeting white in turns. “That were nae a thing fit tae speak wi a friend Becky, wake me that I might rattle her about a mite.”
Becky talked the larger woman down from physical battery to something more feminine.
“I’ll pretend to make a play for Dannyl, Dannyl will get upset and talk to Liam, He tells Tawny…”
Shai was already lost in this twisting plot.
“When Tawny comes to see me about Dannyl being gay, I tell her I’m secretly in love with Liam.” She gasped.
“Then she comes to talk to you, because you pretended that what she said slipped right by and did not hurt your feelings, then boom, close the trap. Total victory.”
“Too sharp by half, tis as Gary said, ye would cut that which ye do love.” She shook her head sadly.
“So I guess Gary snitched…” Becky grumbled, looking aggrieved.
“Tae offer murder o a member o preisthood at a feast table… tis dark doings my love.” She pulled the small girl off her feet into a bone crushing hug. “Fury and violence do draw the gaze of the unseelie fae, I would not see ye bound in darkness.”
“I don’t believe in fairy tales Shai, or in happy endings without the need to wash the blood off my hands.”
“Settle yer mind girl, we go to see odd entities, tae bargain fer power. That do take clear thinking.” Shai cautioned, mastering her own emotions with a struggle and a little breathing exercise.
Down in the garden, the women emerged looking fresh and calm. In truth Becky looked excited, terrified and thrilled all at once. Her first glimpse of Thirp and his kin sent her scampering up in obvious fascination.
“Hi! I’m Becky. Sergeant Becky, Orphan and Adventurer! Shai says you can talk… is that a harp?” The furry spider trotted in place for a moment and began bobbing up and down on his knees in arachnid mirth.
“Oh yes! Marvelous! I am Thirp, priest of Aclintherios, spinner of fates. You are charming, sergeant Becky! Are you the candidate Gary promised?”
“She do be that, and more. We do suspect she be from the same world as Gary, though transported as a babe, all unknowing. Kin ye confirm this wi yer arts?” Shai said, approaching closer than she had ever been able to before.
“I sense that this is the case, though a few simple tests…” Thirp spun a few objects in his silk and began.
He examined her aura through a circular weave of threads finer than hair.
He had her step through a thin membrane of silk spun between two trees.
Finally it was a thick rope of silk twisted into a plait and worn on top of her head while she responded to rapid fire questions about her day.
“Indeed you are from the same place, the resonance is uncanny. Worlds as starved of magic as Gary’s are odd places. They operate on rules that make no sense in the rest of the universe. They are the places where gods cannot peer, and even outsiders of tremendous power have almost no influence.”
“Your current world by contrast is an oddity in its own right.” Thirp sang. “My investigations have revealed some surprising details. Shall we amuse ourselves while we await the others? I found something that might interest you both as much as it fascinates me…”
#
The ruling class overruled his objections and relegated him to a room downstairs. Tallum and Liam were waiting there, in a barracks that was very utilitarian.
It was a low, long room with a line of low, narrow cots. They looked aggressively spartan, the mattresses were little more than straw ticks and the blankets would serve for mopping up small spills or light dusting. Rather they would, were they not made of the scratchiest and least absorbent wool he had ever touched.
“The accommodations have become less… well, less, since last time. Is everything Ok, Gary?” Liam asked.
“Yeah, go look upstairs where the girls are hanging out and you’ll get it. They have the door open to show it off, I’ll fix this up.”
When they came back down, grumbling about the unfairness of it all, Gary had put things to rights. Four futons filled the room. A low table in the middle surrounded by cushions and paper lanterns giving off a warm glow provided the only other furniture. All his personal instruments hung on the walls.
Gary was standing in the middle near the table, looking inordinately proud of himself. The boys were not overly impressed, until they tried his futons. “Oh my, that’s comfy!” Tallum exclaimed.
Once everyone was settled he asked; “Did Shai tell you guys to stay over in case things get weird?”
“Yup.” Tallum answered.
“I was wondering what she meant by, ‘things get weird’ what should we expect?” Dannyl asked.
“Last time, Gary ran off naked into the wilds chanting some hideous nonsense. It took half the night to track him down, hiding in a cave drooling like an animal.” Liam replied.
“I was tripping on poison monster mushrooms, you can’t judge me for that! Shai ran off into the woods too, you said she was naked too! She’s normal!”
“She was chasing you dummy, we were all naked, it was the middle of the night.” Liam sighed.
“Exactly, we were all naked running through the wilds, someone may or may not have been chanting something. All perfectly normal.” He nodded and settled in. “Thank you for clearing that up Liam.”
“What we are up to tonight, is experimental magic. If it works we can really start to make changes.” Gary said. “If I try and get up, ask me to sing and play something. Don’t let me out until I prove I’m me, or the girls come to get us.”
He looked to Tallum and Liam directly. “Don’t be afraid to get rough or hurt my feelings, we are playing for high stakes.” He turned to Dannyl. “You too, if you think you might need to kick my ass, do it.”
He settled in for the night, all his friends, family and his lover in his home. It was a messy, crowded, chaotic ball of nervous energy with four walls and a roof. It was perfect.
He drifted away, careless of the future, as long as these souls were attached to his.
#