by Sever Bronny
Bridget slowly shook her head. “Sorry, Aug, last thing I remember is laughing at something funny Lord Bowlander said.” She looked to Leera. “Was that the jest about the chicken being stuffed down someone’s pants?”
Leera burst with a laugh. “Might have been, I don’t know. Or could have been the one about chasing a ‘flock’ of girls down the academy halls. Still can’t believe he called them a ‘flock’ … what a charmer.”
The girls giggled conspiratorially.
Augum glanced between the two of them, seeing their cheeks color. “You’re … you’re kidding me, right?”
Bridget’s giggling slowed. “What?”
“ ‘What’? What do you mean, ‘what’? You don’t remember, do you? Either of you.”
Bridget grew serious. “Remember what? Did I … did I make a fool of myself before him? Oh no …” She covered her face. “I … I vomited in front of him, didn’t I?”
“No—I mean, you did vomit later—but he … he tried to …” Tried to what? Why was this so hard to put into words? He looked to Leera. “Tell me you remember.”
“Remember what?”
“You … you don’t remember either.” He threw up his hands. “Great.”
“So?” Leera said. “We obviously made a mistake—we drank waaay too much, didn’t we? Come on, give us all some slack, we’ve never done it before. We don’t have ‘fun’ like normal people do. Sure, our timing was terrible, but what’s the big—”
“You don’t remember Bowlander placing his slimy hands on your backs?”
Leera tapped her lips with a finger. “Oh, I get it. You’re playing big brother. Being a touch overprotective, aren’t we? Aug, he had his hands on the back of our chairs half the night! It was totally innocent!”
Augum gaped between the two of them, disbelieving what he was hearing. “You’re not even angry at him after last night?” he asked Bridget. Was she purposefully being daft? “What about when he tried to reach you through the Exot orb just a little while ago, weren’t you angry with him then?”
“I’m certain Lord Bowlander meant no harm,” Bridget said. Then she frowned. “Oh no, I wasn’t rude, was I? I only didn’t want to disturb Mrs. Stone.” She bit her lip.
“I know that look,” Leera said. “That is a very rare look. Someone finds someone else very cute.” Leera drew her fists to her chest. “Our Bridgey has a crush! Finally!”
Bridget playfully smacked Leera’s shoulder. But then she sighed. “I just feel terrible about letting everyone down. I shouldn’t have drunk even a thimble full. How utterly irresponsible.” She leveled her gaze at Leera. “We’re going to have to apologize, you know. To all of them.”
“I know.”
“What about the potion?” Augum pressed.
“What about the potion?” Bridget asked.
“Well … aren’t you worried he messed it up?”
“No, of course not. I’m sure he takes potion craft extremely seriously. He even told me so yesterday.”
Augum slumped against the wall, arms crossed. “So … neither of you remember me telling the bastard to unhand the two of you, and if he didn’t, that I’d smash that stupid face of his into the wall?”
The girls glanced over at him with slack faces.
“You … you didn’t actually say that, did you?” Bridget said in a weak voice, hand covering her mouth.
Leera dumped her face into her hands and groaned. “Augum Stone, you selfish …” She shook her head slowly, talking through her hands. “I … I can’t believe you. I can’t believe you’d do that to Bridget.”
“And I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” he spat, feeling a searing anger surge through his veins.
The girls simultaneously adjusted to rest their chins on their fists, watching him with accusing eyes.
“You’re … you’re going to apologize to him, right?” Leera asked. “Make it right for Bridge?”
Augum splayed his hands. “You kidding me? Do you know what I want to do to that bastard right now?” He made a wringing neck gesture.
Bridget once again placed her head into her hands, whispering, “I’m so embarrassed.”
Leera narrowed her eyes at him. “I love you, but you’re being a total jerk right now. A complete, selfish, callous jerk.” She thumbed at Bridget. “She’s never had a decent boy go after her, Aug. They’ve all been flakes or immature jerks or … manipulative bastards.”
It was Augum’s turn to rub his face with his hands. Manipulative … oh, the irony.
“Why can’t you support her?” Leera pressed. “And to think you wanted to solve a problem with … with violence? What, are you an immature brute or something?”
“You were about to say gutterborn, weren’t you?”
“What? No, I wasn’t!” Leera shared an exasperated look with Bridget. “Now you’re putting words into my mouth—”
Augum threw up his hands in resignation. “You know what, fine. FINE! I’m wrong and you two are right. Apparently I should have let him slobber all over you both before he saw me out, leaving him alone with you two so you could guffaw at his stupid jokes without me getting in the way. Fine. So let’s just forget it, okay? Just forget it.”
Bridget looked away, a melancholy expression on her face. Leera pursed her lips and shook her head in a disappointed fashion, before also looking away. Seeing them do that sent a spear through Augum’s gut. How could they not believe him? After everything they had been through!
The girls worked together to clean up the remains of lunch, their silence and sudden ability to totally ignore him driving that spear in further. It made him feel … lonely, and made him question if he had done the right thing the night before. Had he taken things too far? Been overprotective, like Leera said? He winced trying to piece it all together, but the picture was muddier than ever.
After packing everything away, the girls stood and took their time dusting off their robes, still ignoring him while he sat there stupidly.
“You should reach out to him,” Leera said.
Bridget shook her head. “Not yet. I’ll seem too eager.”
“Want to check in with Haylee then?”
Bridget withdrew the Exot orb, bringing it to her lips. “Contact Haylee Tennyson.”
Augum finally dragged himself to his feet, wincing from his bad elbow, a constant annoyance. The necklace they made him for his birthday sprang free as he stood, mockingly almost smacking his teeth. He tucked it away, spirits dim.
“Uh huh,” Bridget was saying, nodding. “All right, good luck.” She put the orb away. “They’re still defending, but the attacks have lessened. Seems to be mostly walkers this time, with only some reavers. Can’t say for sure though.”
“That’s good, so Mrs. Stone will be back soon then.”
“Hope so.”
Gods, they were talking in front of him as if he didn’t exist. It made him simultaneously want to pull his hair out and curl up in a dark corner. But they needed to continue with the task Mrs. Stone had assigned, which required working together.
“Guess we should continue to look for those traps,” Augum said, trying to keep his tone flat.
The girls avoided looking at him as they surrendered lame nods.
“So … upstairs, or the rest of the grounds?”
They both shrugged.
“Oh, come on, who’s being immature now?”
Leera began ballooning with a sharp retort, but before she could blast him, Bridget opened her palms. “Look, we’re sleep-deprived, under a lot of stress, and short-tempered. We made a huge blunder last night and embarrassed ourselves before the entire town. That’s on us. We messed up. We can talk about it all again later once we’ve calmed down. Right now, we need to focus. Let’s just … work together, all right?”
But Augum noticed neither of them would look him in the eye. “Fine,” he spat bitterly.
“Fine,” Leera echoed with equal bitterness.
Bridget sighed. “All right, most of the ench
antments would probably have been cast on the first floor and on the castle grounds. I suggest we concentrate our efforts there. And as much as I’d like to look for Fentwick, we have to make the grounds safe first.”
Augum gestured for them to lead. He didn’t want to be the one in front, feeling their judgmental eyes boring into his back.
And so Bridget led, followed quickly by Leera and then Augum, who dragged a little behind. Bridget took them through the west doors to the pantry and then servants’ quarters, finding the door to the latter closed. After taking a series of calming deep breaths, she splayed a hand before the door.
“Un vun asperio aurum enchantus,” but soon dropped her hand, shaking her head. “I can’t. Too tired.”
“Let me try.” Leera repeated the Reveal spell, but soon she too was shaking her head.
The girls silently stepped away, leaving Augum to give it a shot. “Un vun asperio aurum enchantus,” he said after the necessary mental preparation, but it was completely useless. He was too angry, too frustrated, and far too sleep deprived to accomplish such a complex casting. He’d have more luck trying to walk through a stone wall.
Bridget rubbed her temples, eyes closed. “Great, so we have no idea if anything is alarmed or booby-trapped.”
“And it’s obvious we won’t be able to disarm them,” Leera added. She forced a chortle. “Probably bring the whole army down on us if we tried.”
But neither Bridget nor Augum joined in the jest. They had failed, it was as simple as that. It was far too dangerous to attempt Disenchant in the state they were in. The spell took massive concentration and required all their mental faculties, which just weren’t there. They might have had a chance if they hadn’t argued, but he refrained from saying that aloud. Now they were stuck like fools, unable to complete the task set out for them by Mrs. Stone.
They schlepped back to the foyer where Bridget slumped against a wall, sliding down to a sitting position, drawing her knees in. “The way I see it, there’s only one thing we can do … rest up until we can cast the spells again.”
Leera sat down beside her. “Agreed. I could use a nap.”
Augum sat down on the opposite side of the foyer, feeling the crushing weight of disappointment mixed with a simmering anger. How could they not believe him? Could he have explained himself better?
As the girls leaned against each other, eyes drooping, Augum kept thinking about it, going round and round in circles … until he had tired himself out. Sometime in the early afternoon, he rested his eyes and fell asleep.
Disappointments
The trio jerked awake to a THWOMP. Augum glanced up to see Mrs. Stone glaring at them. He and the girls quickly scampered to their feet and lined up before her, smoothing their robes. It did not escape Augum’s notice that the sunbeam that filtered in through the open main doors had disappeared, replaced by a late afternoon dimness. Gods, they must have been out for hours.
“I see you have done such an excellent job of the assigned task that you rewarded yourselves with a nap.”
The trio stood stiff, hands behind their backs.
“I gather that it is safe to begin teleporting the villagers to the castle grounds then, hmm?”
“N-not quite, Mrs. Stone,” Bridget said. Augum couldn’t recall ever hearing her stutter before.
“I beg your pardon, young lady?”
“We … we were unable to, uh …”
“We got nothing done,” Augum said. “We fell asleep.”
“Well that is plain as the dimming sun. And why, pray tell, did you fall asleep for half the day?”
“Because we … we hadn’t slept well,” Leera quietly replied.
“Oh, is that the cause now?”
“No, I guess not …”
“Indeed.” Mrs. Stone took a long moment to glare at each of them. “I need not express how disappointed I am in the three of you, nor how deserving you are of being excoriated. But we are simply out of time. The villagers must be brought to the castle grounds.”
Bridget glanced up. “But … but the grounds haven’t been cleared—”
“—a fact I am most assuredly quite aware of, young lady. It appears I shall have to finish the task myself,” and to accent her annoyance, Mrs. Stone smacked the floor with the butt of her staff before turning to shuffle out of the foyer. To Augum, the echoed noise sounded like a tomb shutting. He hadn’t felt this demoralized since … since the cave under Bahbell.
The trio stood there in awkward silence. No one seemed to know if they should follow. At last, Bridget shook her head. “Might as well own it,” and led the way, Leera and Augum following.
Outside, they watched in red-faced embarrassment as Mrs. Stone began sweeping the grounds with an open palm. Sure enough, she soon found an enchantment, which she promptly dispelled, and then another.
“Can we help, Mrs. Stone?” Leera called, wincing.
Mrs. Stone did not even glance up. “No, but consider taking a nap.”
“Ouch,” Leera muttered.
“It’s like when we failed repairing the castle doors that first time,” Augum added.
“Turning into tradition.”
They watched as Mrs. Stone shuffled about while leaning on her staff, back terribly hunched. She had to perform detailed inspections, including the surrounding terrain, the perimeter wall, all the stairs and rooms. Then new protective enchantments had to be cast.
Meanwhile, the trio stood lamely outside. Eventually, Bridget had to explain what was going on to Haylee and why it was taking so long.
“Everyone’s ready and waiting in the center of town over there,” Bridget said, pocketing the Exot orb. “Ugh, how embarrassing.” She rubbed her forehead. “They gave Milham up. The farms have all been burnt, and there’re more undead loitering outside of the protective enchantments. No one knows why there are so many. They’re all afraid the Legion is going to get through. Despite that, a few crazy villagers still don’t want to leave their homes.”
“Let me guess, Mrs. Haroun is one of them,” Leera said.
“And Ms. Singh, who suddenly seems to be feeling better.”
“Love making a scene, those two.”
Augum couldn’t wait around any longer. He had to do something. While Mrs. Stone was inside the castle, he set off.
“Where you going?” Leera asked.
“To make myself useful.”
“Well … wait up!”
Leera and Bridget joined him. The girls had loosened up since the nap, and were once again talking to him and making eye contact. Yet some tension remained, it was evident in how they all tiptoed around what had happened.
Using the Exot orb, Bridget notified Mrs. Stone they would be out back, but received no reply.
They fiddled about the grounds, doing what they could, mostly arcanely repairing old ruined buildings that could be used as homes or shops. They also repaired what they could of a small ancient mill and a granary. They even continued on repairing the perimeter wall, something they started last year. Still, most buildings remained in ruin. Yet it was good practice and would certainly make a difference should any of the villagers settle out there. And they were far better at the Repair spell now than they had been the last time they walked the castle grounds.
Luckily, they only found a small handful of traps and alarms. It appeared the Legion had not bothered setting many in the back of the castle, probably figuring it would never be visited.
Leera leaned against a cobbled stone house they had finished repairing, wiping sweat from her brow with her sleeve. “Just realized there’s that healing fountain in the forest room. We could heal injuries with the sacred water.”
“No we can’t,” Augum said, trying to smack the dust from his robe.
“What? Why in Sithesia not?”
“Because Mrs. Stone destroyed it, remember?” Bridget chimed in. She was massaging her forehead, something they were all inclined to do when suffering from the side effects of intense casting. Repairing all the
se buildings was a difficult task, and they had been pushing themselves, mostly because they had a lot to atone for.
“Oh. Right.”
The fountain had been the last known portal to Ley and had to be destroyed to prevent the Lord of the Legion from using it. Since the portal recipe from Bahbell had also been destroyed, that left no way for him to enter Ley.
“Should we wait for Mrs. Stone out front?” Augum asked. The repair effort had tired them out, and he thought it might be a good idea to save any last vestiges of arcane stamina just in case something went wrong. As he glanced over to hear their response, he caught Leera looking at him. She promptly turned away, pretending to pick at her robe.
“Miss you too,” he said with a smile.
Her head snapped his way as she gaped at him in surprise. She was so pretty in the fading sun with that smattering of freckles, dirty face that he wanted to wipe clean, and eternally mischievous look.
“You’re a troublemaker, Augum Stone.”
“And you’ve got to stop calling me by my full name. Only Bridget gets to do that.”
“Which she does often, as you deserve constant reprimands.”
It gladdened his heart immensely that she was smiling at him once again. A nap always did wonders … how he missed napping.
“I want to feel what you two have,” Bridget whispered. “That’s why I want you to give Lord Bowlander a chance, Aug.”
He nodded. “I understand. And … I’ll give him a second chance because that’s your wish. But if he steps a single toe out of line, even a hairsbreadth …” He made a strangling gesture and they all laughed.
“All right, if he steps out of line, then you can tell me ‘I told you so’,” Bridget said cheerfully. “You can even point that dirty finger in my face when you do. Maybe make some incriminating stabbing motions.”
“And wring his neck,” Augum added, laughing. It was refreshing to hear Bridget say something funny.
Bridget pressed her lips together, but a corner of her mouth curved up in a small smile.
“He’s like your protective big brother, Bridge. That’s probably never going to change, so might as well get used to it.”
