by Paul Kater
something?"
Davdruw looked at her. "I said I could."
"If you ever have such a stupid thought again, let us know before you say it. We'll ask Babs to come and cure you. And you are not going to like that."
Davdruw chose not to follow the witch's train of thought. Asking her about this Babs would probably throw him off his resolve. "Honoured witch, you must understand that we depend on you. You are here for a reason."
"Yes, we all heard that before," Hilda said, clearly irritable. "And how am I supposed to do that if I don't know what's going on?"
"Oh, but you have access to everything here, in all the pyramids," Davdruw said, with a generous wide movement of one of his long arms.
William put down mugs of coffee and tea.
"Everything here is only half the thing, Davdruw," said Hilda. "There is a lot going on out there. We were outside before, just so you know it. We went to visit the old deserted village. And indeed, we did not wait for you to say we could. And we are going out again. We have no problem with you, and I suggest that you keep things that way."
Davdruw reached for his sleeve. William was faster. The entire silver garment the spiritual leader was wearing was replaced by something cotton. And orange.
"Now, William, come on," said Hilda. "That's not fair."
"It is not!" Davdruw agreed, "I want my clothes back!"
"I mean, orange..." Hilda continued as if Davdruw had not spoken.
William, who sat on a big chair next to Obsi, shrugged. "They already have enough purple here."
"You can't have enough purple, William," the witch reprimanded her wizard.
The magical man did not agree with her and left Davdruw's shirt orange. The worst she could do was nagging him about it. For now, anyway. He took the risk.
"So what were you going to do with that magical sleeve of yours?" Hilda asked Davdruw.
"It is not magical," Davdruw complained. He touched the cotton shirt and made a face. "This does not feel nice. Give me my clothes back!"
"Or else?" the witch challenged him. She felt she had a winning hand at that moment.
"There could be repercussions," Davdruw counter-challenged. He should not have done that.
"Oh. I see," Hilda said, looking at her wizard and then at Kerna. "You really scared me now." Davdruw could impossibly see the wink she gave Kerna. William, she knew, did not need one.
Davdruw was silent for just too long. It betrayed his surprise. "Good. So that is settled." He looked at the three people. "Just to be certain, I will have guards outside your door."
"Looks like you are in charge," the witch said, looking up at the man.
"Yes," Davdruw agreed. He wished them a nice day and left.
"Of course, it just looks like it," Hilda clarified for Kerna, after the man had left. "We're not going hmmhmmm."
"Calm down, Hilda," said William as he took his hand from her mouth and cast a bubble around them so they could speak freely. "Remember that Davdruw talked about listening devices. Just keep things quiet until we're out of here."
"Of course," said Hilda, "I was not going to say too much." She scowled at William in a very meaningful way, grateful that he had prevented her from saying too much. She knew he'd know. "So how about Rebel and Maurizio?"
"I think they would be offended if we leave them here," William shared. "They've followed us so far, they should come along."
"Followed? They dragged us away from our world! I think they deserve to stay here for that, and suffer these Lycadean nincompoops!" Hilda was promptly on fire.
Kerna stared at Hilda. She had not often seen the honoured witch in such a mood.
"They have done good things too, witch. Consider that too."
"Stinky dragon's eggs," she muttered, knowing that he was right. "I'm not giving in that easily."
"If we leave them here and something bad happens to them, we may have problems returning to the Mimosa and back home," William tried.
"Hah, I am not sure if they know how to get us home," Hilda countered, "even if we manage to get them back to that black ship of theirs. Wherever that is."
"Rebel knows where it is," William said. "She followed me here, with Maurizio in tow."
"She followed you? You did not bring them here?" Hilda tried to recall the happenings that had gone on after her abduction in the flying pyramid, and during the flight in the see-through pyramid, from where she had seen William. "Oh..."
William let her sit and mutter for a while. That was the way to deal with her. "So, Kerna, do you have some things you would need to pack together before we leave?"
Kerna stared at the wizard. "But Davdruw won't let us-"
"Don't worry, we're leaving anyway," the wizard assured her. "We have long sleeves that hold a lot of tricks."
"Eh?" Kerna clearly did not catch what he meant. She shook her head. "I would need clean clothes. And better shoes."
William looked at the young woman and nodded. "Indeed. I think I can fix something for you. It might cost a few chairs, but that's okay I guess."
As Kerna, Obsi and Grim watched, he got up and used his magic to change a chair into a black robe, remarkably similar to the one Hilda wore. Another chair was sacrificed to become a pair of good shoes and a decent cloak. "Care to give that a try?" he then invited her.
"But... that is all black!" Kerna said as she picked up the clothes. "We always have silver clothes."
"You're going to travel with us, so you will travel in style," Hilda said. "Looks a lot better than all that silver stuff too, if you ask me. Well, also if you don't ask me."
Kerna touched the soft fabric of the robe. "It feels nice," she admitted. She popped into the bathroom with her new clothes and reappeared all in black. Her purple hair looked a bit off, but Hilda approved of the new look for Kerna.
"Okay, I think we should take Rebel and Maurizio with us," the witch then declared. "They might come in handy."
William grinned and walked to the door. Davdruw had not taken half measures, he noticed: there were five guards waiting.
"We have orders not to let you out," one of them said.
"That's fine, boys. Can one of you run off to the Palliza and tell Rebel and Maurizio we have to see them?"
The five conferred for a while. Then the spokes guard said: "We will let someone bring them here. You are not allowed to leave."
"Sure, just make that someone go. Getting someone else to bring some decent wine is probably too much to ask?" the wizard asked.
"We will find someone to bring you wine."
"Good boys." William closed the door. "They're being called for. And I asked for wine."
"Good thinking. Did you also ask for water to make mine less strong?" Hilda asked.
Less than a minute later the water was also ordered.
"These guards don't look too happy having to guard us dangerous people," the wizard grinned as he sat down on the couch. Obsidian jumped in his lap and allowed himself to be petted.
It did not take very long until Rebel and Maurizio knocked on the door. They arrived almost at the same time as the wine did.
"Hi Kerna, you look good in black!" Maurizio commented on the young woman's new attire. She grinned, slightly shy and slightly proud.
"Come in, sit down, have a glass of wine," said William. "I'll make some proper cheese from the oatmeal machine, while the guards guard us."
Then they explained their plan to the two from the Mimosa, with a protective bubble around them. Rebel supplied the bubble this time.
"Wow, that is quite impressive," Maurizio said after hearing what had been in the book. "So when are we going?"
"After the wine," William replied promptly. "I did not order that to let it go to waste. Pretty good wine, I am impressed."
"And how are we going?" Rebel asked.
"Through that wall, I suggest," said William, pointing. "From what I think, that is closest to the outside world."
Kerna nibbled on some cheese in silence. She did not question anythin
g these strange people discussed. The things she had seen and experienced with them up to now had turned her whole world upside down, and someday they would complete the rotation and all would be well again. Until then she would just hang on.
Rebel agreed with the wizard. "Looks like a good way to walk out. Good thing we have our flying thing outside, so we have a quick way to get out of here."
"That would be necessary," Kerna added as Obsi invaded her lap. "The place the old ones mentioned is very far away. It would take very long to get there if we have to walk."
"Good thing you mention that," said Hilda. "William, dear, could you ask the oatmeal machine to supply us with water and food that we can take along while we are under way? You know the shrinking trick, your pockets are wide and deep..."
"Try batting your eyes at him," Rebel suggested.
"Oh no, no eye batting!" William quickly said.
"Why not?"
"That is so not Hilda. If she does that, there's something in her eyes. She does not bat them to get something done. She tells you or slaps you until you do it."
Hilda laughed, scaring Maurizio and Rebel. And Kerna. "He knows me so well, and he says the sweetest things, doesn't he?"
William tipped over the last sip of wine into himself and then got to work on the food fabrication, while Rebel came to see what he was doing. She was amazed by the amount of food he produced, and how small he made the packages so they could be transported easily.
"I wonder if they get some kind of alarm that this thing is spitting out oatmeal by the gallon," she whispered to the wizard, well aware that there were listening devices everywhere.
"By the time they notice, we'll be far away," William said.
On the couch, Hilda and Kerna talked
