Here's Looking For You, Grim (Tales From a Second-Hand Wand Shop Book 3)
Page 30
Chéri looked down the stairs. “You’re right. I was getting ahead of myself there. We have plenty of time to kill those two on our way out of town.” She smiled. “Let’s eat and build up our strength on someone else’s coins.” She put her hand on Liverioso’s shoulder. “That’s a sound plan.”
Effron cleared his throat. “Well...” He said as he eyed Chéri’s hand on the man’s shoulder. “Starting early, are we?”
Chéri took her hand off Liverioso and balled it into a fist. “What do you want?”
Effron feigned offence. “I was merely coming up to relay a message from the owners.” He stared at her.
After several moments of no one speaking, Effron continued. “When I mentioned to Mister Runion that you two had asked for the nearest clothier because you had... lost your luggage to ruffians, he told me to bring this up.” He held out a pouch at arm’s length. He shook it and it jingled.
Chéri looked at Liverioso. His eyebrows were raised. Chéri took the sack. For the briefest of moments, Effron didn’t release it. Chéri snatched it from him. “That was it,” he said, “you can go back to ...” His eyebrows raised again - it seemed to be their default position- “Whatever you were doing here on the landing.”
“Let’s go Liv,” Chéri turned and jogged up the stairs.
“Tell Mithter Runion we said thanks very much.” Liverioso turned and ran to catch up with his new partner.
When they reached the rooms, Lang was standing there with a key in each hand. “Uhhhh,” he said as he held them out.
“Thankth, Lang.” Liverioso quickly took a key from the Orc.
The Orc continued to stare straight ahead, even though that was over Liverioso’s head, and well over Chéri’s.
Liverioso reached for the other key. Lang looked down at them. “Uhhhh!” He said angrily.
Chéri stepped forward. “That one is mind, I think.” She reached up and took the key. “Thanks very much.”
Lang continued to look down at the pair.
Chéri exhaled. “Lord High Priest,” she cursed. She opened the pouch, fished out a copper coin and handed it to Lang. “Thanks, Lang.”
“Uhhhh!” Said Lang. As he shuffled off, he tucked the coin in his pocket.
“This town.” Chéri put her key in the door and turned it. With a squeak, it opened. She stepped in. “Meet you in a minute. I want to look around first. Old habit.”
Liverioso nodded. “OK. I’ll unlock the middle door.” He unlocked his door and entered the room. It was small but well apportioned with two beds, a small nightstand between them, a small writing desk with a chair, and a two-cushion sofa. A washbasin and a jug sat on a dresser. There seemed to be a closet tucked into a corner. After living in the desert and forest, it looked like a slice of Nirvanna- the luxurious spa city on the Great Salty Sea. He took a running start and jumped for one of the beds, twisting to land on his back as he did so. The soft bed welcomed him. “Ohhh. Nice!” He closed his eyes and was asleep within a minute.
Chapter Forty-Eight
There’s Thievery in the Air. And Baths Too
Loud knocking startled Liverioso awake. He sat up, suddenly unaware of his surroundings. He looked around, remembered where he was, and who was probably knocking -angrily- on the door adjoining his room with the one next to it.
He moved to the door and undid the hasp. As he opened the door, Chéri pushed her way in. With a running start, she leapt for the bed. Twisting in the air, she landed on her back. “This is a welcome change, I have to tell you, Liv.” She said. “Welcome indeed.”
Liverioso smiled. “Yeth, it is.” He moved to the other bed and sat on it. “How much did they give us?”
Chéri took the pouch off her belt. “Ten silver, nine copper.”
“Wow.”
“It won’t dress us in style, but we can each get a couple of simple traveling clothes to go with what we have. Once we pay the doctor bill.” She tossed the bag to Liverioso and lay back. “Welcome indeed,” she said again.
Liverioso lay back as well. “Well we’ve got nothing elth to do until tomorrow. We might as well turn in.”
Chéri sat up, “Oh there’s stuff to do. Three real important things.”
Liverioso kept looking at the ceiling. “Whath?”
“Well, first we need to go to Secondhand Sorcery here in town and see what’s going on there. A lot of our troubles are taken care of if those two have set up shop here.”
“I don’t see why they would. We should wait for Themfeld to do that. It’s only proper.”
“Fine. That’s first on the list, we’ll just skip it until Semfeld is well.”
Liverioso didn’t answer.
“Then we need to scope out the town, find a place where we can steal some clothes...”
“Theal clothes? I thought we were going to buy thome.”
“We will. But not until we know what the doctor is charging us. I could use a change of clothes tonight. And a bath. Oh, and we definitely need to get a line on a third Shambler...”
“A third?”
“If this isn’t the right shop, I’m not riding all the way to Aution without my own beast.”
Liverioso shrugged. He was still looking at the ceiling. Now his eyes were closed. “Thaths it?”
“No, that’s only part of number two. We need to figure out the fastest, most direct way out of town so when we steal that Shambler, we get away instead of ending up being hung.”
“Thath’s important,” agreed Liverioso.
“Right. Real important.” She waited to hear from Liverioso. He didn’t respond. She continued: “And you’re not getting out of telling me about that lost love of yours.”
Liverioso snored.
“Hey!” Chéri kicked his leg. “Wake up!”
“Fine, fine. Make thure we’re not hung!” He said as he startled awake.
“No, you. I said the last one was that you were going to tell me about that lost love of yours.”
Liverioso sat up. “Wath? Who said I’d do that?”
“You did.” She hopped off the bed. “Over dinner, if I remember correctly. Now let’s go see just how much of this town we can steal without getting caught.”
With a sigh, Liverioso stood as well. “All right then.” He looked at the bed. “We turn in early, though, right?”
Chéri nodded “That we do. I’ve got a nice bed waiting for me as well.” She moved to the adjoining door. Lock your door and I’ll meet you in the hall. She moved to her room without closing the door.
Liverioso looked longingly at his bed. “Thoon you will be mine.” He moved to the door to the room and exited it.
Chéri was waiting for him there. “Lock it up and let’s go. We’re burning daylight.”
The pair went down the two flights of stairs to the lobby. Effron was still sitting at the front desk. He leered at the pair. “Done already?”
Chéri tossed her key at him. Hard. “Hold onto that. That’s my room key.”
Effron didn’t manage to catch the key and it hit him in the chest. It clattered onto the front desk.
Liverioso walked over and placed his key beside hers. “Thath one is mine.”
“Right, right,” said Effron with a wink. “Whatever you say, Sir.”
The pair left the hotel, with thievery on their minds.
Soon after leaving, the duo had found where several families- one a Gnomish one- hung their clothes out to dry and that the Livery Yard was actually a Grass Livery with several varieties of Shambler, Horses, and even two Mules to choose from. All with no visible security. “What’s with this town?” Chéri had asked when she saw that it was situated conveniently at the edge of town- within seconds of starting a gallop, the soon-to-be-stolen mount would be outside town limits.
Again without a deposit, they left their two Shamblers to graze in the fenced-off area. A copper a day for the pair was what they were planning on cheating the livery owner out of. And an additional Shambler. And a wagon if possible.
Content with their found-loot, and information, the pair returned to the hotel.
“Evening folks,” said a Dwarf at the front desk as he looked up from the parchment he was reading. It was obvious that he was standing on a large box because the desk came up to his waist. “Checking in, or returning?”
“Returning,” said Liverioso, relieved the annoying Effron was no longer on duty. “We’re in rooms three ten and three eleven,” he said, also relieved they weren’t in any room with a ‘six’ or a ‘seven’ in it.
“Fine, fine.” He turned and moved to the rack that held all the hotel’s keys. Liverioso, expecting him to step off a box to do it, was surprised he merely walked to the rack. He gave Chéri a glance. She only shrugged in return. The Dwarf turned and put both keys on the counter and slid them towards the Magician. “Ten n’ eleven, up on three.”
Liverioso nodded. “Thankth.”
Chéri looked at Lang. He was standing where he had been earlier in the day. “How’re you doing, Lang?”
Lang looked down at Chéri. “Uhhhh.” He groaned.
“Same as before, then. Great.”
“Don’t pester the help, if you please, Miss Gnome,” warned the Dwarf.
“Why’s that?”
“They’re oftentimes temperamental when they haven’t been changed for very long.”
“I have to ask, why is the doctor so intent on making Zombies?”
The Dwarf shrugged. “They’re in vogue. People like seeing them around. Doing things.”
“Yours don’t seem to do very much of anything.”
“Hey, you get what you pay for. You want Zombies? Go to Zombievillage.” He looked back down at his parchment.
“Zombievillage?”
“Big abandoned town crawling with Zombies. Over on the way to EternCity.”
“We’ll skip it, I think.”[25]
The Dwarf returned to reading the parchment. He was in the middle of a rousing article about the recent burning of Aution ‘cause unknown’ it reported. “Uh huh.” he said to the pair without looking up.
“Where’s your bathhouse?” Chéri asked.
The Dwarf looked up. He was at the point where the band had started to play and an impromptu dance floor had opened up in front of them. “Down the hall,” he pointed. “At the end. To the right.” He returned to the parchment.
Chéri nodded at the Dwarf. “Can you have a bath drawn?”
“Uh huh.”
“Thanks very much.”
The Dwarf kept reading. It was a gripping tale!
“Let’s go upstairs so I can drop off some of my new clothes, then I’m taking a bath. You?”
Liverioso desperately wanted to just take a nap but was well aware that he too could use a hearty bath. Especially if he were going to eat dinner with a female. “Thame here.”
“Two baths please, Mister Dwarf.”
“Uh huh.”
Hoping the baths would be ready, and with their clothes tucked under their arms, the two moved up their stairs to their respective room. “Meet you down-thtairs.”
Chéri nodded as she ducked into her room. Along with the tunics and breeches, she had managed to steal several pair of underwear. She had quickly stuffed them down the front of her top when she grabbed them- Grand Master Assassin notwithstanding, a female just didn’t go waving her undergarments around a male they weren’t intimate with!
Unbeknownst to her, Liverioso had done the very same thing. He rolled a clean pair in the middle of a leather jerkin, loose fitting shirt, and knickers. He wasn’t happy with his choice of pants, but as Chéri had told him ‘thievery and choosy don’t always go together’. She even managed to keep a straight face as he held them up to test their fit.
Liverioso left his room - the hallway was empty so either Chéri was ahead of him, or still in her room. Hoping for the latter, he quickly went downstairs to make sure he was in a tub before she arrived.
When he got there, he was disheartened to see she was already lounging in a steaming bath, head tilted back, eyes closed.
Quickly, he disrobed and jumped into his own tub.
“Ohhh!” Said Liverioso, glad he had chosen to not take a nap. “Nice.”
“Uh huh.”
Taking the cue, he didn’t say another word. Finishing before her, he quickly exited the tub, dressed and moved upstairs. Chéri didn’t follow for another hour, twice having more hot water added.
Later over dinner, Liverioso recounted his tale of love found, and love lost.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Love Found - Love Lost
Later...
The two sat in the Eating House attached to the R&E or E&R Inn. “Howths an eating house different than a restaurant?” He looked around the establishment. It looked like a restaurant.
Chéri thought for a moment, “If I remember correctly, a restaurant can serve alcohol but mainly serves food. An eating house usually doesn’t serve alcohol. A tavern serves mainly alcohol but some food.”
Liverioso smiled at her.
“I worked as a serving wench in a tavern.”
“Really?”
Chéri shrugged, “It was cover for a job I was going to do. It let me get the lay of the town and even chat up the guy a couple of times to get his routine.”
Liverioso’s smile faded away. “Oh.”
She picked up her glass of mead. “A quick little job.” She took a drink. “So, while we’re waiting on the food. Tell me the tale.”
Liverioso exhaled. He had been dreading retelling his painful tale and had hoped it had slipped the Assassin’s mind. “All right.” He picked up his drink as well to stall for time.
Chéri’s raised eyebrows indicated that would only work for a moment.
“We were young. I was about seventeen going on eighteen and she was almost too.”
“Young love. Wait, what?”
“She was sixteen going on seventeen.”
“Oh good. For a second, I thought she was a Pixie or a Brownie.”
“She was a human,” Liverioso assured her.
“And her name?” Coaxed Chéri.
“Sage,” Liverioso said breathlessly. “Her name was Sage. We were in town at the same time because of a wedding. My family knew the groom, a fellow named Spits Finnish. He was the town butcher. Sage was the bride’s sister. She was Majory Belladonna, the town’s Mistress of Herbs” He realized what he just said. “Any relation?”
Chéri shook her head, “It’s a common family name among Herbologists and Assassins.”
He nodded. “So Sage was the bride’s sister. That’s why she was at the wedding.”
Chéri realized that he had stopped lisping as soon as he started his story about the girl. Maybe the condition is related to this? She thought. Then her thoughts wandered to her beloved Colossus. Unsure of his fate, she felt in her heart that he was still alive. Their bond, she felt, was stronger than any bond she had ever had with anyone. Even though they had only known each other for a year, they had immediately realized there was a connection between them. Somewhere he was alive- she was sure of it. Somewhere. She realized that Liverioso was speaking.
“... and we didn’t need to be at the rehearsal so we kind of wandered off together because the adults were all doing things and we were just in the way....”
The waiter brought their food, sliding a plate of steak and vegetables in front of each of them. In the crook of one arm, he held two bowls that were overflowing with a garden salad. “Rolls?” He suggested.
“Yes, please,” said Liverioso. “That would be great.”
Chéri smiled at the Human. Haughtiness aside, he seemed to genuinely be a good person. It was strange to think that the man sitting in front of her who was polite with serving staff was also someone who could blackma
il or shakedown a hapless stranger.[26] Business and personal, she thought. Again, she realized he was back to telling his tale.
“... and I said we should see if the top of the water tower was open to the sky, or closed off, to be sure.”
Chéri mentally kicked herself for missing an important detail. “I’ve never seen the top of a water tower,” she lied, hoping it would get Liverioso to retell the reason why a water tower was now in the story.
“That’s what she said!” Liverioso picked up a forkful of vegetables. “So I said we should go up and check to see.” He put the vegetables in his mouth and after only half-chewing them, moved them to one side, “But I’d already been up there on a dare so I knew the top was open. I don’t know why the Magician’s Guild keeps it open, but they do.”
“So you were luring that young girl to the top of the Magician’s Guild water tower with ulterior motives in the back of your dirty adolescent mind.” She cut a piece of steak and skewered it with her fork. She pointed it at him. “You males are all the same.” She popped it into her mouth.
Liverioso smiled. “I was just hoping to get a kiss from her. She was so pretty, I didn’t think Sage would do even that.”
The server unobtrusively slid a plate of steaming wheat rolls onto the table as he walked past.
Liverioso picked up a roll and got a far off look in his eye.
“So we got to the top of the tower and we’re standing on this little ledge that’s barely wide enough for one of us, and she’s holding tight to the metal ring, up against me. We can’t see into the cistern because its walls are higher than we are tall. I tell her there’s another ladder around the back that leads to the top. Then all of a sudden, she kisses me, and it was like fireballs went off in my belly.” He smiled as he thought back to that fateful day. “So then, without saying anything else, Sage scoots around to the back of water tower and the next thing I hear is a splash. So I get worried and I go back to the ladder and climb up it.”
“To save the drowning maiden, of course.”
Liverioso nodded. “Sure! So I climb up the ladder and she’s in the water. I ask her if she’s okay and she says she is, so I’m really relieved. Then a thought come to me!”