Chapter 25: Dysentery, Ramblin’, and Sweet Tea

“Thirty-seven silvers apiece!” I fairly shouted the number, ecstatic with the price. “That is…oof,” Tak’s elbow to my gut let the air out of me. I tried to keep my balance, walk, and glare at her all the while I was bent nearly in double.

“Quiet,” she hissed at me. “Not until they can’t hear us anymore.”

“OK, OK,” I wheezed at her. Then at a much lower volume, “That’s six gold and twenty-nine silver, sweet!”

“Half up front, too,” Magali chimed up, giving the cloth pouch he carried a little jingle. Three gold rubbing against another fifteen silvers made the most wondrous sound. He’d been the one to insist on a down payment, thinking of the supplies we’d need to procure.

I knew that combat scrolls jumped up another level in comparison to utility ones, so I’d figured a bump from ten coppers for [heat] to ten silvers for [heat-blast]. It was only logical, after all. When Rolf had initiated at twenty-five, I had wanted to dance a little jig. The only thing that had stopped me was Tess taking hold of me. I still felt a shiver, just a different one. I hadn’t counted on the nature of a unique never-been-done-before magic scroll. Turned out, I was a pioneer! (Don’t die of dysentery)

“Don’t forget my cut,” Tak cut in.

“Yeah, about that…” I started.

“Not here.”

“Why? They can’t hear us, now. We’re too far away,” I protested, a little annoyed. That was twice that she’d interrupted me.

“Are you only planning to sell to one team?” Her tone said we’d a fool to think that. Or to question her.

“No,” I was not sullen. Magali had the sense to keep quiet.

“Take a look around, boys…”

Say what?! I kept my mouth shut, this time. I can learn, you know. (But, can you?) Eventually.

“…all of these are your potential customers.” She made an expansive gesture, encompassing the rows of Guild Houses we walked past. “If you’re not idiots.”

“Right,” said Magali, nodding sagely. “We need to look like professionals.”

I shot him a look, ‘Really, dude?’ He grinned back in return, spoiling his serious demeanor.

“Right.” Her eyes started their roll at me and finished it at Magali. “Just follow my example.” Tak walked at a measured pace, neither hurrying nor dragging her feet, and stared straight ahead with a half-smile on her face. When did she get a pace ahead?

So we followed her, Magali matched her smile and I tried to. The furrow between my eyes contradicted the curve of my lips and pain flared along my clenched jaw. ‘Think of the money’, I told myself. Silvers and gold, baby!

The distance was the same, but it sure felt to take much longer than before. We reached the end of Guilded Row where it met the now-familiar courtyard. Once the three of us crossed the boundary, Tak suddenly increased her pace, putting even more distance between us. Magali and I still followed her and did our best to catch up. It seemed we were on the same page when it came to recruiting her. Besides, we owed her something for the help with negotiations--hopefully, a stake in our game.

I wanted to question the girl, but Magali motioned to stop me whenever I started. I guess he did know her better, but it still galled me. I’ve never been more than casually acquainted with patience, not when my mouth wanted to run off with itself. Diarrhea of the mouth, my Dad called it. Hey, I felt more fondness than sadness this time! Progress.

Tak led us through the courtyard and down a few more streets. According to my [min-map], we were headed to the vicinity of her father’s tailoring shop. I was surprised, thinking she hadn’t wanted her father to infer anything. Then, without slowing much, she took an abrupt turn midway down a street and headed into a cafe. Painted on the front window in golden letters was the name “Karlinne’s Tea Emporium”. Once inside, she led us to a small, square table in the corner between the window and a wall. She slid one of the two seats on the far side slightly away from the table, and took the other for herself. Magali and I took the point and sat side-by-side across from her.

Again, I opened my trap to say something only for her to interrupt me.

“You’re paying,” she said, then waved down a server before either of us could say anything. “Black tea, milk and sugar,” she told the teenage girl who had approached with a pad and pencil at the ready. “And a gooseberry scone, clotted cream on the side.”

Alrighty, then. She was one of those.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

“Same,” Magali ordered. “Only no milk and no cream.” He patted his stomach apologetically. “Doesn’t sit right with me.”

So, lactose intolerance was a thing with some elves. ‘Good to know’, I thought and made a note to sit downwind of him if I ever invented pizza. Cheese-less pies were never going to be allowed in my new world.

“Do you have any large glasses?” I asked the server.

“So you want ice water, then?” she asked me in turn.

“No, but if you can fill the glass with ice and bring me some lukewarm black tea, the cooler the better, that’d be great. Also, some sugar on the side, and a wedge of lemon if you have it. Thanks. Nothing to eat.” I guess I was one of those, too. I had heard of gooseberries, mostly from reading, but had never tasted one, and there were no blueberry scones listed on the chalkboard behind the counter. The waitress raised an eyebrow—her, too!—then scribbled down my order, before leaving and heading to a service window behind the counter.

“Karlinne! I have an odd one for you,” rang out, loud and clear. Eh, whatever.

Tak cleared her throat, “Ahem”, then stared at us. Magali and I exchanged a look, and I nodded for him to take the lead since he knew her.

“First, thank you, Tak, for helping us out. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know.” The smiling, flirty sales guru had well and truly been switched off.

“Yes, ahem. We would not have done as well without you.”

“Twenty percent, and I’ll take it now from the deposit.” She didn’t try to play humble off of Magali’s statement, and dove into the heart of the matter. “A hundred and twenty-six silver.” She rounded it up in her favor.

Magali smiled and nodded—un-ironically—and set the coin purse on the table, then began counting with no argument.

“Here you go, Tak,” he said handing over one gold coin, accompanied not by twenty-six silvers, but thirty of them. When Tak reached for them, Magali laid his hand flat over the precious pieces of metal. “Or…”

“Magali,” Tak filled the word with malice.

“Or, Tak,” he emphasized her name with a smile. “Hear me out on this. Join us, and we will pool the coin and put it towards the materials to make many more scrolls. After a fair tithe to each of us, of course.” That smoothed her features some, but only a tad. Her frown was firmly in place. “See, Book has this idea. He wants to get together a few apprentices and join forces in making some side profit outside of our Masters. And before you say anythin’, we know tha Master’s break u’ any ‘prentices who grou’up and make a nuisance. Bu’ not us, see, Book’s a plan…”

Before the scribe could keep rambling, or ramblin’, the server was back with our order. Good timing, since Magali had started clipping his words as his excitement grew. I loved the guy, Bless her Roots.

“Black tea, milk and sugar, gooseberry scone with clotted cream,” each item placed before Tak as the serving girl parroted it. She moved to Magali, repeating the process. “Tea, sugar, scone.”

Then it was my turn.

“One glass of ice water, no water.” Clink. “Pot of tea, lukewarm.” The small ceramic pot landed with a bit of a thud. “Sugar.” Clunk. “Lemon,” she finished, and gently sat a whole fruit down in front of me with exaggerated care, her eyes wide with feigned reverence. “Can I get you anything else?”

“We’re good,” Magali said, the consummate peacemaker.

Everybody took a moment to fuss with their order, clinking spoons against ceramic and, in Tak’s case, pouring thickened cream on her scone. Me, I poured tea over my glass of ice, then added a generous amount of sugar and stirred it all together in a swirl, cubes and spoon rattling against the glass. I picked up the whole lemon, trying to figure out how to get my wedge.

“Do either of you have a knife,” I asked looking up from my mixology. I was met with wide-eyed stares. “What? I need to wedge it.”

Sometimes, I really enjoyed the looks I got for my otherworld behavior, he-he.

Tak narrowed her eyes and Magali grinned wide, both reaching for pockets. They each pulled out a small knife and went to hand it over, his hilt first and hers pointy ended. I should have gone for Magali’s, but instead, I grinned and went for the one in Tak’s hand. I reached past the blade, my fingers brushing hers as I gently took it out of her hand. From her look, I was lucky to still have all my digits. With a steady hand, I cut a single wedge out of the lemon. I took my time and rubbed the rim of my glass with it, then gave a gentle squeegee and dropped it in my iced sweet tea. I wiped the blade of the knife off on my napkin, then gave it a flip in the air and handed it handle first back to the redhead.

“Thanks.” I raised my glass and took a sip. Pretty good, but not quite right. That was par for the course, however, a different world with most everything just left of center (can’t you say ‘different’, English Major?)(and that saying is for politics, dumb-ass). OK, that one had a much ‘different’ flare than usual.

“What is this plan of yours?” Leave it to Tak to get us back on track.

“Simple,” I said. “We stay under the rad…stay low-key. Small sells to a few select Guild Teams. Just enough to make a modest profit, you know. I want to be a [Scrivener], not a business mogul. But nothing says I can’t be comfortable in the meantime.” I gave a wink and a click of the tongue (nice nod).

“And you think that is different?” Tak was incredulous.

“Yeah, Book, that’s kinda how it always starts. Then people get greedy and the Masters have to step in. If they didn’t, then every apprentice would veer off their studies to pursue gold.”

“It would be chaos,” Tak inputted.

“Dogs and cats living together…MASS HYSTERIA!”

“Be serious, Book,” Magali admonished me. “Think, what would happen if apprentices stopped learning? Or learned incompletely, only enough to make their product? It could taint their craft, depreciate it. Or worse, make mistakes, and people get hurt?”

Wow, they were intense. But, “You mean things could stagnate? With no new advances in, say, magic?”

Tak snapped her mouth closed on a retort, and Magali looked shocked. My idea of a simple plan may have been debunked, but they saw a new light on the rarity of new inspirations.

“You all were impressed with my [heat-blast], but it was only a variation (abomination) of the time-honored [heat] scroll. I applied new thinking to an old concept. We can do the same here, go in with a new set of rules and stick to them. We will hold each other accountable, slapping down anyone who gets too greedy.” I sat back in my chair and took a long gulp of iced tea. “Simple.”

“Not really, but…”

“But.” Tak agreed with Magali.

Magali was already on my side, business-wise, so I didn’t need to convince him. Still, my take on ‘new’ had impressed him. But was it enough to sway Tak in our favor?

Yes. It was.