“The material plane is hardly the entire world,”Nashalasaid, snide with superiority.Whichmade sense, given that she was literally on a higher horse thanCalamity. “ThosewhomTrulnurothdeems worthy will have a place in the new order.”
Calamity barked out a laugh. “Thenew order?Doyou fucking hear yourself?Wespend all our time trying to stop any kind of ‘new order’ from being established.”
“And how did you end up on such a path?”Nashalaasked. “How– and why– did you remove yourself fromTrulnuroth’sservice?”
Calamity tried not to reel in astonishment that she’d been asked an actual question, instead focusing on the tiny waver in loyalty said question contained.
“I was never in his service to begin with,” she answered. “Mymother was just another soul wanderingPandemoniumwhen she metTrulnuroth.WhenIwas born, he bartered for us to return to the material plane, as long as she brought me back to see him once a year.OnceIcame of age,Ididn’t see him at all until this last time.”
She had never told anyone that story.Whywas she tellingNashalanow?
“And how did you come to be trapped in a totem?” she asked, figuring a question for a question was fair.
“The moment you stepped into theAstralPlane,Ibrought word of your imminent arrival toTrulnuroth.”
Calamity frowned. “Youknew whenIentered theAstralPlane?”
Nashala nodded. “Hehas eyes everywhere, your father.Heknew why you were coming, and that you would need support.Sohe bound me then and there.I…”Nashala’sbravado wavered for a moment. “Ididn’t expect to be in there for quite so long.”
Calamity blinked hard. “Youfelt the time pass?” she asked, incredulous.
Nashala didn’t offer an answer, butCalamitycould see from the set of her face that she had, in fact, felt every second.Shecouldn’t imagine what that must feel like– to be in stasis for months, just waiting to fulfil your purpose, powerless to do anything in the meantime.Itwas her personal nightmare.Sheneeded movement; freedom.
“I’m at home in my own mind,”Nashalasaid eventually. “Itwas no hardship, the stillness.Isimply found my centre and maintained it.Though,Isuppose someone as frenzied as you wouldn’t understand.”
Calamity rolled her eyes.She’dbeen called worse, but nothing quite so often as that.Frenzied, out of control,chaotic… calamitous, even.
“You’ll find,”Nashalasaid, “that a lack of self-control will make you all the more likely to fall into plots and onto paths you never intended to pursue.”
Calamity wondered if she was talking aboutTheTwelve, this fetch quest, or even the prophecy.Butshe didn’t get a chance to clarify, because, like the enigma she was,Nashalatrotted ahead to join the others beforeCalamitycould ask any follow-up questions, leaving her in the dust.
Chapter14
Teddy
The morning of the cheese festival arrived, muggy andbright.Theevent poster had said “rain or shine,” and right now, the weather was “sweaty upper lip, and enough humidity to forget about the risk of sunburn until it’s too late.”I’dloaded the van with mead, honey,Chloe’sevent flyers, and the same canvas tablecloth we’d used for every market and festival since we’d started trading fourteen years ago.Itwould see more action this summer than it had in the past, and even more next year ifIhad anything to say about it.I’dalready started lining up slots for more than a year out, combatting my unease about the summer ending by planning for my return.Itwas exhausting, juggling all those timelines, but it would be worth it.
Chloe andIhad two different bickering matches by the time we finished setting up.Onewas about how to arrange the mead–Ihad a tried-and-true layout, but she thought it “lacked dimension”– and the other was whether the buntingJenhad sent with us was cute and photogenic–Chloe’sopinion– or a violation of basic taste, asIthought.Wesplit the difference and left the decorations in the van, then started arranging the mead on upturned wooden crates likeChloewanted.Shelooked pleased enough with the setup, snapping picture after picture asIturned each bottle of mead so the label faced the right way.
But by half past ten, though the marquee was packed non-existent-wall-to-non-existent-wall with people, none of them were stopping at our table.They’dsweep past, eyes scanning the offerings, maybe sparing a passing smile for us as we waited expectantly, but then they’d get distracted by the cheese samples at the next stall down or the cider in the next row over.Ourmistake?Wehadn’t brought anything to let them try.Wehad bottles and jars, and that was it.
Chloe was trying her best, butIcould tell she was getting antsy.Sheperched on the cooler where our lunch was stashed, foot bouncing, tapping on her phone between attempted eye contact with passers-by, muttering about how all this would make for a “hideously uneventful” time lapse.Everyso often, she’d look at me like she wanted to offer an idea but had rememberedI’drejected her last five and didn’t want to risk the next one.Ihated the tension, butIdidn’t know how to relieve it, soIjust started polishing our stock, one jar or bottle at a time, until the labels practically glowed.
At quarter past eleven,Chloefinally broke the standoff. “Shouldwe think about starting to discount?”
I bristled. “Ifwe start slashing prices now, it just looks desperate.Nobodybuys early in the day, anyway, or they have to carry it around.And, plus, nobody wants eight per cent alcohol at noon.Theywant cheese.”
She nodded, lips pressed together. “Right, but what if nobody buys at all?BecauseIsee a lot of bags in hands.”
I scanned the crowd, noting the long queue in front of the bakery stand and the guy with the giant wheel of “cheese fudge”.
“People are buying,”Iagreed, admitting defeat. “Justnot from us.”
“Maybe if we—”Chloefinally started, but she stopped herself.Ididn’t want her to– she was right that we needed to do something.Iwanted her to fight me so we could find some sort of solution.ButevenIknew thatI’dshut her down too many times to expect her to do that without giving her any indication thatIwas willing to play ball.
“What are your other ideas?”Iasked, glancing at her phone. “I’veseen you on that thing all morning.Don’tpretend like you haven’t been strategising.”
Chloe eyed me for a moment, sussing out whetherImeant it, then must have decidedIdid, because she smiled and rummaged through her bag, pulling out a small pouch of something that clattered when she shook it.
