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“Oh,” I said, eyes widening and stopped at the front door of the house. “Does that mean you’re leaving to head into the city soon?”
He frowned and said, “I was actually hoping to continue staying here. If that’s alright with you? If not, I can find a hotel in town or?—”
“No!” I shouted a little too loudly. “No, that’s okay. You can stay here.” My heart thumped happily, excited to have him staying longer.
“I can pay for room and board or?—”
I waved his comment away and opened the door with a wide smile. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like, Riddick. No compensation necessary.”
“Dinner is ready,” Percival announced with a smile.
On the island were four plates filled with mouthwatering chicken parmigiana and pasta with red sauce.
“That looks and smells amazing,” I praised. “Thank you for cooking.”
Triston dipped his head and Percival smiled warmly.
I sat on one of the stools, Percival took the one beside me, and Riddick and Triston stayed standing in the kitchen while we all ate.
“I wish I had more room, so I could have a dining room,” I said with a frown. Tapping my lips, I debated the best way to addone on. “I could make a stone one, but that would drain a lot of my energy, even if I only did one wall a day.”
“We could help you,” Triston offered. “I know a bit of carpentry and you have a lot of trees nearby that would be perfect for adding on to this cabin.”
“Oh, I couldn’t ask that of you!” I said quickly. “Besides, we need to focus on the mystery first.”
“What mystery?” Riddick asked, taking my empty plate and rinsing it in the sink.
“The stones.” Going to my room, I grabbed my bag and brought it back out. Opening it carefully, I tilted it upside down and dumped the bag of magical stones out.
They gleamed brightly, making me squint a moment.
“They are very peculiar,” Percival said, standing behind me. “They don’t feel right.”
“Where did you find these?” Riddick asked and squatted down to look at them closer.
“Along the riverbank. That’s why we were there when the creature, I mean, Beatrice attacked.” I flinched, feeling bad for referring to her in that way. The poor thing had been cursed after all, so it wasn’t her fault.
“Don’t touch them,” Percival snapped.
“They contain a magic I’ve not encountered before,” Triston told Riddick. “It’s like a combination of magics, but I can’t decipher which scents it is.”
“You can smell magic?” Riddick asked him.
Triston nodded, his sandy hair bobbing about.
“When did these start appearing?” Riddick asked me.
“I’m really not sure,” I admitted. “Natalia, the raven, brought me one about a week ago. When we went to the river, we found an increasing number the farther upstream we went. Our investigation was interrupted by Beatrice, though, so I wasn’table to continue farther to see if I could find the source. I was planning to do that tomorrow, actually.”
“I’d like to join you,” Riddick said and poked at the bag. There was an audible snap and he jerked his finger back, shaking it. “Ouch. Okay, definitely don’t touch.”
Percival chuckled. “I warned you.”
“Do you think these and Beatrice’s curse are connected?” Triston asked, looking down at all of us.
I shrugged. “I’m leaving my mind open to any possibilities at this point.”
“Well, since that’s a tomorrow problem, would you like to play a card game tonight?” Triston suggested.
