Honey Beaumont

by Sara Bushway

  "Oh, and Torq..." Torq turned, and Honey grinned. "Be gentle with her. She's a fine lady, but she's well into her years." Torq chuckled and turned the gun over in his hands again.

  "No problem. Goodnight, Honey."

  Honey nodded and waved as Torq closed the door. Honey giggled again, still so surprised at how far he had come with Torq. He had been so ambivalent toward Honey in the beginning because of his origins, but now they joked and teased like brothers. It was fun and beautiful like family.

  Honey straightened up and settled in to attempt the casting again. He felt the marble pressed between his palms and drew magic into his hands. He concentrated hard on the words in the book and on the feeling in his hands, but he didn't feel anything different when he was done. He opened his hands just enough to look in and sighed. "It didn't work. Maybe I said the words wrong."

  He tried again and looked. It hadn't worked again. "This is going to be harder than I thought." Drawing magic into the drawing ball had become second nature to him but casting into an object was something else entirely. After another failed attempt, he reread the page in the book describing the spell, kept a finger on the page to keep his place, and flipped to the reference section of the tome.

  "Spell failure," he muttered. "A lack of concentration? No. Improper wording or gestures? No. Insufficient magic? Oh. That might be it." A pang of doubt shot through him. "I can't give up now, but...there's only one thing left to try." He flipped the tome back to the page with the ice spell, read the incantation again to be sure he would say it right, and closed his eyes to concentrate. He drew magic until he could feel it in his hands, and then he drew some more. At first, he had wondered if he had reached the limit of how much he could draw, but then he felt something, a break in the theoretical glass ceiling he thought he had no chance of breaking. His hands grew warmer and brighter with magic, and he began to cast. He finished the words and waited for a moment, so afraid that it hadn't worked. The warmth in his hands had grown cold, but that easily have been the magic simply leaving him. He opened one eye and peered down at the marble between his hands. It was a pale icy blue. He jumped up from his bed and whooped with joy, only stopping momentarily to open his hands and look at it again. He pumped his fist in the air and danced around like a champion. He plopped down onto his bed and brought the marble to his eye. "It worked! Oh, my gods! It worked! I can't believe I did it!"

  There were three loud bangs on his door. Honey turned. "Come in."

  Andy opened the door and stepped in. "Do you know what time it is?"

  "Oh." Honey looked around, realizing that he didn't have a clock in his room. "Uh. No. I'm sorry."

  "It's only an hour and a half before sunrise. What are you still doing up?"

  "Practicing," Honey said, holding the marble between his fingers so that she could see it.

  Andy walked over and leaned in. "Drawing? You’re still practicing drawing?"

  "No. Casting into ammunition."

  Andy blinked at him. "I'm happy for you, but I'll be happier after a couple more hours of sleep and some coffee. Please keep it down."

  Honey nodded. "Sorry, Andy. Goodnight."

  "Goodnight," Andy moaned and left, closing the door behind her.

  Honey looked at the marble again and smiled to himself. "I did it," he whispered to himself. "I really did it."

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  True to his word, Torq returned Cinderella the next morning, and oh did she shine like a diamond in the light. Honey was amazed.

  "Torq, she's beautiful!" He said, turning the revolver over in his hands. "You must have spent all night on this."

  Torq shook his head and sat down. "Not really. It was just a little rust and dirt. Nothing a little oil and elbow grease couldn't fix. I wiped her down again this morning to make sure she wouldn't drip in your holster.

  Honey gasped. "Oh, shoot. I don't have a holster."

  "We can go back to the leather-worker tonight if you like," Andy offered.

  "A lot of good it would do me," he replied. "I'm out of money again. I'll just have to carry it in one of the pockets of my duster until I can afford one."

  Andy scoffed. "That's nonsense. I'll loan you the money or perhaps buy it for you as a gift. When is your birthday?"

  "Ummm. About ten days ago."

  Andy and Torq both looked at Honey in surprise.

  "Why didn't you say anything?"

  Honey shrugged. "Well, technically, it was sixteen years and ten days ago for the first one." They didn't laugh. Honey continued, "Um. Well, I've never really been one to celebrate birthdays. Where I grew up, we didn't celebrate such things. In fact, the wrong person knowing how old you were could get you put in the hall with the Discount Dames if you weren't careful."

  "Well, that's not where you are now," Torq said and patter him on the shoulder. "You gotta let me buy you a beer or something."

  And I'll get you that holster," Andy chirped. "I'll make sure it matches something in your ensemble."

  Honey blushed. "Oh, guys. I don't know what to say. This is really unnecessary, but...Thank you."

  Torq patted his shoulder again. "Let's get some missions and get you some coin to buy you some standard ammo and, uh..whatever it was that wizard gave you to help with your magic...stuff." Honey nodded in earnest.

  "He did sell me a few to get me started, but I'll need more from him when I've expended the ones I have. I wouldn’t mind sticking to some simple missions until I've mastered my new skill."

  "No problem," Torq said. "I'll grab us some escort missions or something. No bounties or neighborhood watch until you've had some time to practice with this thing." He pointed at the revolver.

  "I can't wait to see this thing in action."

  Andy reached over and plucked the gun from Honey's hands. "Are we sure this is a good idea? Have you ever fired a weapon before?"

  "Well, no," Honey said, "but there's a first time for everything. I mean, it must be pretty simple, right? You just point it at the target and fire."

  Andy smiled at him. "Honey, there's more to it than that. You're going to want to practice somewhere safe away from people. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it eventually."

  Torq scoffed. "'Eventually.' Don't listen to her. I've seen you aiming your spells and such. I think you're going to be a natural."

  Honey hoped Torq was right and got up from the table to get ready for the day. Those coins weren't going to earn themselves.

  *****

  The three all readied themselves and went to the mission board in the lobby. Torq took point, an unusual occurrence, and began searching through the leaflets on the board. Honey watched Andy's reaction, half-expecting her to smack him in the arm and push him aside, but she stood still, waiting for him to present one to the group. Though, Andy herself rarely presented them. She just picked them and told the boys about them on their way to the first one of the day.

  I wonder if this is what they were fighting about last night, Honey thought. They hadn't squabbled or anything that morning. In fact, they hadn't spoken much at all. Perhaps Torq expressed interest in learning the ins and outs of being a party leader. Good for him.

  Torq sighed and turned to the team. "Well, it looks like there's another escort mission. Some cart needs a group to accompany them through a bad area to a mansion."

  "Fine," Andy said.

  "Looks like that's all that's going on today that isn't picked over. It must be a slow day. I'll check for some other good ones coming up from where that cart is going, but chances are, we won't know till we hit their outpost."

  "Very well," Andy said and opened her map to mark the location.

  "I like escort missions," Honey said.

  Torq smirked. "I’m sure you do."

  It took Honey a moment to understand what Torq was getting at, but once he did, he chuckled and replied, "Oh! Because! Right. That's funny. Andy, isn't that funny?"

  Andy rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I still think you boys shouldn't make
light of such things. That aside, that was a bad pun at best."

  Honey giggled and shrugged. "Well, I do enjoy meeting people and keeping them company, sort of like what I used to do, but I also like getting to see the different places and learn about the different shops and carts. As someone who has been somewhat cloistered--

  "Good word," Andy chimed. She was always supportive when it came to Honey continuing his education on his own through reading. Torq rolled his eyes. To him, reading was a hobby, not a necessity.

  "Thank you," Honey beamed. "As someone who has been cloistered, it shouldn't be surprising that I like to see as much of the world as I can. After all, I missed so much living in the House. When I was bought, I got out a little more, but my excursions were still very limited."

  "I guess that makes sense," Torq sighed. "I think you just like making chit-chat with the shopkeepers. That's what growing up around a bunch of women will get ya." Torq winked at Andy and got an elbow in the ribs for it. Honey smiled at the two. It was nice to see them playing again. There was a brief, uncomfortable silence. Then Torq cleared his throat.

  "We've got some time before we need to meet the cart," he said. "So, what do we wanna do?"

  Andy said, "Well, I promised Honey I would buy him a holster, so that's where I'm going. I wouldn't want him to be stuck with putting that revolver in his pocket while we're on a mission."

  Torq chuckled, most likely having thought of another joke without sharing it with the group. Honey guessed it had something to do with someone noticing something in his pocket, a common phrase and joke among adventurers. Andy rolled her eyes again.

  "I'm going to go before you make me roll my eyes so much they cramp. Honey, are you coming along?"

  Honey shrugged. "Sure. I'm all ready to go otherwise, so what else would I do?"

  "I'm going to stay here," Torq said. "You two have fun, but not too much fun."

  Andy stared at him for a moment. "I'm not going to do it. Not for you but for the sake of my eyes. We'll be back soon."

  They left and went to the leather shop in the artisan alcove.

  "Well, hello again," the leatherworker announced from his workbench behind the counter. "I wondered when I would see you again."

  "Yes, it's been longer than we had hoped," Andy said. She turned to Honey and gestured to the tables of wares. "Take a good look and make sure you pick out the one you really want. Also, don't forget to try it on. You're a little svelte compared to most cowboy-types. We may have to ask for a belt hole to be added or something. Also, make sure the gun--"

  "Cinderella."

  Andy paused, obviously stifling herself from laughing at the name. "Make sure it fits in the holster. We wouldn't want her to fall out or something."

  Honey nodded and began to look around. He spotted the red leather one he had seen the first time he had entered the shop. The belt portion was more than adequate, but upon putting Cinderella in the holster, he found it to be too small. "Oh darn," he muttered to himself.

  The shopkeeper, who was watching from his stool, called out, "Keep in mind it should be a little tight, and the leather will stretch a little to accommodate."

  Honey held up the holster and gun, demonstrating how Cinderella's barrel was about ten centimeters too long and several millimeters too broad to fit. The leatherworker was stunned. "Oh. She's a big girl, huh?"

  Honey nodded. "She is. She takes magically imbued ammunition."

  The shopkeeper frowned. "Oh. You're not going to find anything on the shelves like that." He rose and began rifling through boxes behind the counter. Honey approached and joined Andy in watching the man scramble to find something.

  "I only have a couple made," the man said, placing a crate overflowing with packing straw on the counter. He dug through the mess and took out three holsters that lacked belts of their own. One was made of warm brown leather, very plain with large stitching. The next was made of red leather like the one Honey had liked, but this one had been imprinted with demons and devils all over. The last one, the one that caught Honey's eye, was made of shiny black leather. It was imprinted with the outline of a curvy woman walking out of a fire on the side.

  "Oh, wow," Honey whispered as she stroked the shiny, black holster. "It's beautiful." Andy beamed at the shopkeeper and opened her coin pouch.

  "How much?"

  "Ten coins," the man said. "And it's designed for a wider belt, so you might want to consider adding one of those to your bill for a total of nineteen coins." Honey looked over at Andy, who was burning holes through the shopkeeper with her seething stare.

  "Nineteen coins for a holster and belt? Sure, it has a wide loop, but it will hang fine from his belt."

  "No, ma'am. It surely will not."

  Honey shrugged. "Andy, if it's a big deal, we'll pass and look at another shop."

  "The price is not a big deal, but I will not allow any of us to be swindled. Undo your pants."

  Honey gawked, unsure of what to do. On the one hand, he had been asked to do that before in front of company, but to hear it from Andy was awkward.

  "I beg pardon?"

  Andy snatched the holster from the counter. "Undo your belt. I'm going to prove this fits." The shopkeeper began to protest, but Honey knew where his allegiances lay and did as he was told, making sure to pull his pants up a little to prevent any unwanted viewings. He slid the belt out of one of the loops of his chaps, and Andy took over from there, sliding the holster loop on the belt and putting it back through the loop, pointing for him to fasten the belt. Apparently, there was a limit to how close Andy would get to a man's fly. Honey quickly fastened the belt and retrieved the revolver from his pocket. It slid into the holster. It settled nicely, the black leather showing off the polished steel of the gun.

  Honey beamed. "It's perfect."

  Andy grabbed the gun and wiggled it about in the holster. Then she lifted Cinderella and dropped her back into the holster a few times, watching the behavior of the gun as it settled. She nodded, satisfied with the results of her tests.

  "We'll take it."

  The shopkeeper blinked at her for a moment then began to write up the bill of sale while she counted out the coins in her hand. Honey could feel his face getting warm and his muscles tense. He couldn't stop smiling. He loved the way Cinderella's heft pressed against his hip and the feel of the smooth metal tucked inside the leather sheath. It was invigorating.

  Now I just have to figure out how to use this thing, Honey thought. He knew the basic concepts behind firing a gun, but Andy was right to caution him about it at breakfast. Every weapon deserved a certain amount of caution and care. Not to mention a lot of practice to perfect the skills associated with it.

  Honey, Andy, and Torq met up and immediately set out to meet their next client, explaining the happenings at the shop along the way.

  "That jerk," Torq exclaimed. "I mean, I know a man's gotta make money, but trying to get you to buy a special belt? What does he take you for? An idiot?"

  Honey sighed, "Uh, well--"

  "He knew Honey was new to adventuring," Andy explained, "and definitely would have tried to take advantage of him if I hadn't been there. I'm not saying he would have succeeded because Honey has great intuition about people, but the fact he tried at all was simply insulting. That holster hangs fine from your belt. Besides, now you ought to be saving up your money. Weapon upkeep isn't as bad as that of autos, but it is still an expense, an obligation. A misfire could cost you dearly in a fight. I've heard tales of people who use firearms having their hands blown off because they did not clean the barrel thoroughly enough, and there was enough build-up to make the bullet fire backward."

  Honey was stunned. "Uh, Torq, you cleaned the barrel, right?"

  Torq laughed. "Of course, I did! She's spic and span. Ain't no misfiring happening here."

  Honey sighed in relief. "Oh good. I like having both of my hands. Someday I might even consider getting a second revolver. You know, dual-wielding."

  "That woul
d be quite a feat," Andy said through stifled giggles. "Let's just get you some practice on this one first. We should be able to go by a shop and buy you some standard ammunition after we get paid from this next mission."

  Honey looked around as they neared their destination. The road was so dusty he couldn't tell if it had ever been paved. There were no autos, only pull-carts and mustangs lined the edges of the street with people loading and unloading goods, some selling their good directly from the back and others carrying crates into shops that looked like they had been around since before the war and kept up as well as could be in a run-down town without the resources to rebuild. One building up the way looked quite nice, which shocked Honey until he realized it was a bank.

  Of course, it looks nice, he thought. Anything bought and paid for by the government looks nice and new. That was one of the major things he had noticed in the different towns he had been in. While it wasn't so obvious in the nicer towns, older towns with less money had government buildings like banks and post offices that stuck out like a dandelion in the roses because they made sure to keep their properties as nice as possible. Some were shiny and new because the bank needed more room to store coins and more counters for tellers to help customers. Others were newer because, according to the papers, Kage had seen fit to target them with explosive charges, as if freeing the money inside would somehow free his people. It didn't make sense to Honey that someone who wanted the government to agree with them on something would destroy their property, but most criminals didn't make much sense anyway. Honey suspected that was why they were criminals; they weren't quite right in the mind and couldn't make sense of the world around them. Kage was no exception. Acting the way, he didn't seem to be making him any friends, so Honey often found himself wondering why he did those things and why anyone else would ever follow him after seeing all of the trouble he had caused, seemingly without results to show for it.