AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He stole a bruised apple and a couple of carrots from the larder before heading down to the workroom. When he arrived, most of the workstations were empty, but one light glowed at the far side of the room.
His young assistant, Math, hunched over his table, a book spread open before him. Rather thin for the goblin kind with unruly brown hair and eyes so dark they almost seemed black, Math could usually be found with his nose in a book when he wasn’t attending to his duties. He glanced up as Jael approached.
“You’re up early,” he remarked as he bookmarked his volume and shuffled it off to the side.
Jael sank onto the bench across from him. “We have a busy day ahead.” He ran a hand over his face as he collected his thoughts. “Brace yourself, lad.”
The young runekeeper smirked at him. “I heard about our guests. Not exactly a good time to entertain younglings, is it? The quake yesterday was a beast.” He raised his eyebrows as he studied Jael and waited for his response.
“You have no idea. The Bifrost is acting up. The runestones aren’t holding, and we need to figure out why.”
And then there was the matter of the magic touching the human girl. He wasn’t sure what to do about that. “I need you to go through those books of yours and find me something about humans and the Bifrost.”
Math’s brow wrinkled. “Not sure we have much on that subject, but I’ll go to the library and see what I can find. Does this have something to do with the girl you found?”
Apparently, the gossip had already swept through Imenborg. “Yes.” He clipped the word and didn’t offer more information. There wasn’t much else to offer.
They were in strange, new territory here.
Besides, if he was honest, he was much more concerned about the Bifrost than the human girl. He felt bad for her, yes, but his priority was keeping Agmon safe.
“If we have time today, you and I need to go back to the hub and reevaluate. We’ll want to bring extra stones, just in case.” He rose from the table, bracing his palms against the cool surface to push his tired body upright. “Oh, and if you see Trap before I do, tell her we need to replenish our supplies. Cook’s larder won’t survive the extra mouths for long.”
“Yes, sir.” The lad stood as well, tucking his book under his arm and reaching for his slate. He jotted himself a couple of notes with chalk and then pocketed the white stick. “Anything else?”
Jael rolled his eyes. “I’m sure there will be, but let’s start there.”
Math nodded and circled the table. But instead of setting off for the library, he hesitated, one hand cupping the back of his neck.
“Well?” Jael prompted.
Math’s cheeks darkened a bit. “Erm, sorry, it’s just that your brother was down here last night asking a lot of questions.”
Jael sighed. Of course he was. “Was he asking about anything in particular?”
“Nothing he shouldn’t be asking, I’m sure,” Math hurried to reassure him. “I mean, he wanted to know what you’re doing about the quakes and such, but I wondered how much you wanted me to tell him if he comes around again. I don’t want to invade your privacy.”
Too late for that. He felt as if his privacy had been shredded to pieces over the course of one day. First Kora, then a girl and her pack of starving orphans…what else could go wrong?
“Oh, just answer his questions.” He decided at last, pulling the corners of his mouth down into a deeper frown. “If he wants to know something, he’s going to wheedle it out one way or another. But if he starts poking his nose into anything too odd, let me know.”
He wouldn’t put anything past Kora.
Math grinned at him and seemed relieved. “Excellent. Of course I will. I’ll be in the library so just tell me when you’re ready to do the rounds, sir.” He set off for the library with quick steps. He was a good lad, eager and quick to accomplish his tasks when he wasn’t distracted by whatever book he was currently reading. Jael supposed there were worse flaws and didn’t mind allowing Math his books as long as he got his work done.
After the lad had gone, Jael made his way to the storeroom and refilled his pack with stones. Time to prepare for the day ahead.
He would deal with Kora later.
Math spent the first half of their rounds with his nose in a book. Somehow, he managed to read and walk at the same time with only an occasional stumble. Jael would never have managed that feat without walking into walls.
He liked to handle one task at a time. Life was less complicated that way. Everything went into its box and only came out when it was time to deal with it.
The runestones along the main path were holding well. They only had to replace two, but as they drew closer to the primary hub where yesterday’s fiasco had occurred, practically every other runestone had failed.
“I see what you mean,” Math mumbled around the iron pick clenched between his teeth. His graceful fingers worked the clasp around the new runestone he had just finished installing. He completed the task and moved a few yards down to the next dark stone. “These were working yesterday?”
“Almost all of them. I missed a few in the main chamber, but these were all fine.”
