“Well, either way, better to know who Alfric was thinkin’ of,” said Hannah. “Isra got the bow and seems a bit skittish, not like a rabbit, all afraid of things, but like a cat ready to scratch anyone the least bit threatenin’.”
“She’s got skills,” said Mizuki. “Though I don’t know how much hunting translates into going into dungeons. She certainly seemed to handle herself well.”
“We’ll see if Alfric drives her off,” said Hannah. “And if Verity is out for the third dungeon, then better to have someone lined up anyhow.”
“I didn’t say I was out for the third dungeon,” said Verity. “Just that I wouldn’t be signing up for it right away.”
“Wasn’t that what I said?” asked Hannah. She was feeling some glee at this plan working as well as it had. Alfric probably would have been upfront about things and made a nice and logical case that wouldn’t have moved Verity at all. Hannah was touching something deeper, the fear of missing out, just not being so crude as to say it outright.
“Well, we’ll see when the time comes,” said Verity, setting her fork down. She’d eaten almost everything, even if she’d done it a tiny bit at a time. “For the second dungeon—I had said to Alfric that it was better to practice. Do you think we’ll be doing any of that? I ask because I want to be able to let Cynthia know.”
“We could do some now, if you’d like,” said Hannah. “We’re the three most important, in terms of teamwork, ay?”
“Why?” asked Verity, looking between the two of them.
“Magic,” said Mizuki. “Or, not magic, but the aether. The more I see your spells, the more I know what I can do with them, the better we’ll fare in the dungeons. Or, not spells, but… affections.”
“I don’t mind if you call the works of Garos spells,” said Hannah.
“Okay, good, thanks, because I was definitely going to keep forgetting,” said Mizuki. “To me, anything that affects the aether is a spell.”
“Songs aren’t spells,” said Verity, frowning.
“Well,” said Hannah. “True.”
“Not spells,” said Mizuki. “But they’re constructs that affect the aether, so… from my perspective, spells, yes.”
“Meaning that you can knock them down to make fireballs?” asked Verity.
“That is extraordinarily wrong,” said Mizuki, folding her arms across her chest. “A sorcerer doesn’t knock things down, she uses ambient patterns to create and fuel her own magic, and someone who goes about just willy-nilly knocking down the magic of others doesn’t deserve the name.”
“Sorry,” shrugged Verity. “In the conservatory I was mostly around other bards.”
“Sorcs are the most hated of all magic casters,” said Mizuki. “And it’s entirely because people think that we’re some kind of anti-magic gang that breaks things other people have spent time on.”
“But you can, can’t you?” asked Hannah.
“We can, sure,” said Mizuki.
“I’d have thought people hated warlocks or alienists more,” said Verity, frowning. “Or chrononauts. Maybe you see more people who don’t like sorcerers because…” She trailed off.
“You hear about it more,” said Hannah. “And it happens to you more, and you care about it more. How many times does someone talk down the alienists and it just passes you by?”
“Well,” grumbled Mizuki. “All right, fair, but I don’t want either of you to think of me as a leech or a spell-wrecker, because that’s not what it is.”
“Should we go outside and practice then?” asked Hannah. “If Verity’s not familiar, it might be a good chance for her to see and you to explain.”
“I need a change of clothes,” said Verity, looking down at her rumpled dress.
“Well, go back to the tavern, then come back here?” asked Mizuki. “I own five acres or so behind the house; it’s a good place to spread out.” It was, Hannah knew, her grandfather who owned the land, but the old man had been gone for quite some time, and Mizuki had a loose way of speaking.
“I suppose,” said Verity. She sighed. “All right, but I’m putting limits on how long I go on for. I’d still like to have the energy left to play at the tavern tonight, at least for one set.”
“Of course,” replied Hannah.
Hannah was looking forward to it. Hopefully, they were going to produce something neat. And if things went well, perhaps one or both of them would consent to symmetricalization.
Chapter 11 — Agates Among the Stones
Alfric left and went down the street, finding ‘Sharpe & Eddel’ without too much trouble, and explained the situation to the woman behind the desk. Her shop was much more clean and organized than Mergan’s, with most of the wares inside glass cases. There were three mannequins, two of them with armor and the last wearing miscellaneous items. If they were all entads, Alfric could imagine himself spending his share of whatever he got from the books there.
“‘Counteroffer’,” scoffed Eddel as they walked. She was well dressed, with all kinds of embellishments built into both her vest and dress. Her hair was dark, almost black, but with streaks of gray. “Mergan is too damned scrupulous for his own good, and I wouldn’t mind him making sure things were squared away, but this is the fifth time this month he’s brought me in.”
“And did you counteroffer?” asked Alfric.
“Not once,” Eddel replied. “But I gave my own assessment of what things were worth. Mostly Mergan does it to make himself feel better, especially with the young ones.”
“And you’re still coming with me,” said Alfric.
Eddel waved a hand. “Well, of course, he’s right, you’re juniors, and if we’re lucky, we’ll be seeing a bit of you, if you come here instead of Liberfell. Liberfell is bigger, no doubt, but we’re next to the water, with shipping across the lake and a shorter trip to a major leyline. Without dungeoneers, I’d have no stock, and nothing kills an entad shop faster. Of course, a lot of young dungeoneers flame out early on.” She gave Alfric a look as she hustled along. “You seem like the kind who will stick it out though.”
There was a tightness in Alfric’s chest as he went through into Mergan’s Emporium, worried that somehow things would have deteriorated in his absence, but when he got inside, Isra was laughing. The laughter faltered when Alfric came in, but she made no attempt to hide her smile.
“Are we interrupting something?” asked Eddel. She immediately went to the books and started flipping through them.
“Just a joke,” Mergan said with a smile. “I know a scant amount of Tarbin and three or four jokes. Jokes are the most useful thing you can learn in a language.”
Isra smiled. “It was quite rude.” When she saw Alfric looking at her, she turned away from him and toward some of the cluttered shop’s other goods.
“All the best jokes are,” Mergan replied.
“These are the worthwhile ones?” asked Eddel, pointing at the small stack of books that sat next to the much larger one.
“In my opinion, anyway,” said Mergan. He turned to Alfric. “You’ll have to understand that I don’t have the time or inclination to go through everything with a fine-toothed comb. If that’s a requirement for you, you’re best off going somewhere else. Or, you could look through the books on your own, separate them out, and I could use that to inform my price.”