He cast those thoughts aside, snapping back into the present. Alvea was looking at him as though he were a questionable ingredient, not quite belonging to whatever dish she had in mind. But finally, her face lightened. “Well, thank you for that, I suppose. And I must admit, I don’t understand why you’re chasing the tale of this sorry mountain so bullishly, but we don’t have to understand each other fully to be friends, do we?”
“No!” he said quickly, and together they raised their glasses—Alvea having already helped herself to the final trickle of wine—to meet with a gentleclink.“I can pursue the plan without advertising your whereabouts, Alvea.I—”
“No, how about this,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “I have been hiding for years, and I suppose if anyone from my past came knocking…” She shook her head. “Well, then I wouldn’t mind the opportunity to tell them exactly what I think, and to offer an explanation. I worry that I let my apprentices down when I left them like that. I suppose I should answer to any who decide to call. And…while I do enjoy the slow, sleepy pace of things here, I suppose it is a bittoosleepy.”
She suddenly slammed her hands on the table, making him flinch. “All right, I’ve decided. I will happily let you advertise where I am, on these posters or leaflets or whatever it is you want to circulate.If,and only if, you can cook a meal that makes me smile.”
“Ah!” Ainsworth’s heart beat faster. He was not as delicate, as intricate, a cook as Enach, but he could certainly throw a good enough meal together. “I think that could be arranged.”
“Great.” Alvea smiled. “Now call for Quiddle. I’m in the mood to beat someone at dice, and I don’t care which one of you it is.”
Chapter 13
Before he could starton his challenge from Alvea, Ainsworth knew he first had to get what he needed from Ashe—a harder task by far.
But if he wanted his application for a Transportation Circle to be received by the Skarrow Library as quickly as possible, then he had to get it to the Post Server’s office in Wenslykirk first. Walking up and down those hills himself to reach the town would take about a week, which was not an ideal plan. But perhaps if someone would be willing to wildeshift for him and swiftly take his application to its destination…
The weather was foul that morning. He had initially woken from his night with Alvea and Quiddle in high spirits, despite the pounding headache from the extra bottles of wine they opened (Honey had later scolded them for letting Quiddle partake in both gamblingandwine consumption), but the rain and wind lashing against the window made his heart sink. As if he didn’t have enough to ask of the wildeshifter!
Even with the awful weather, Ashe stood as rigid as ever just beyond the door. When Ainsworth opened it to step out, he noticed the lack of rain just to his left. The wildeshifter was generating, as she had the first day they met weeks ago, a small shield against the elements.
“Going somewhere in this?” she asked, still looking straightahead. Ainsworth walked in front of her. He was immediately chilled, his hair plastered against his skull as the rain battered down. “You aren’t very prepared. Not even a cloak?” Ashe remarked coolly.
“Well, I was hoping not to be out here very long,” he shouted over the wind. “Just wanted to ask you something. Can you hear me all right?”
She rolled her eyes and with a flick of the wrist extended her shield around him. Within it, the air was almost still. It seemed like only a light breeze and the merest hint of drizzle broke through. A high-level, completely impervious shield would take much more effort than something like this.
“Ah. Thank you,” he said with as much dignity as he could muster, wiping hair and rain from his eyes. She had, he noticed, extended the shield to include his antlers, too. Most thoughtful.
“Out with it, then.”
He was not off to a great start. “I have a favor to ask. I would like to apply for a Transportation Circle between Wenslykirk and the inn. I’ve marked coordinates for the small hill just over there, next to the large boulder and under the tree.”
Her face remained unchanged. He continued on, interpreting her silence as an invitation. “It would take such a long time on foot traversing the hills and valley to get to Wenslykirk, and the application itself will take a few weeks to be processed, so I was wondering: Could you fly with my application to the Post Server’s office along with a small pouch containing the relevant coin for the, er,officialwildeshifter postal service to take onward to Hinslyth?”
Ashe idly passed her tall wooden staff between her hands. “Ah, Ainsworth, you must be mistaken. We are not all the kingdom’s errand folk. I am not part of the wildeshifter community that uses our gifts to render such services, although I forgive you for your mistake.” She spoke in a haughty, clipped tone—perhaps mocking his own.
Very well, then. “I did not mistake that, Ashe. I was merely asking a favor. For the Misnich Inn, you see? I seek to increase foot traffic, get more guests. Don’t you— Don’t you wish to see Honey’sbusiness thriving?” He added that last part somewhat cheekily. It was a bold move, but he saw her expression briefly soften. “And…Honey said you ran this type of errand from time to time.”
“Of course I’d do anything to help Honey. But that is why I cannot leave.” She gripped her staff tighter. “What if terrors come down from Mount Vengeance? Or if thieves, desperate, roam these hills? Or what if you get guests that turn unruly?”
“It’s just, well, you would not be gone for long. Quiddle seemed to think you could do it in a couple of days or so, and then with a day to rest before coming back…” He squeezed some water from the bottom of his shirt. “I can help keep an eye on things here. I do know some enchantments. I can…levitate things, as you’ve seen, and I have enough binneach blood that I can do a little nature craft.”
“Really?” She gave a slight jerk of her chin. “Like what?”
He sighed. “Well, I can…manipulate the ground, somewhat. Make it soft, make some patches of earth tear from the ground as though it is sand to be scooped.” It had come in handy once, when he had almost been robbed in the forest near his village while still very young. He took the footing out from under the horse one bandit rode, and rather by accident, it went flying into the rogue with the blade who had been approaching Ainsworth from the thickets. It was all rather a lot of fuss for a boy who had little in his pockets anyway.
“I’m sure that’ll come in handy when a snarling madadh-dubh strides past looking for food.”
“Yes, well,” he said, wincing. “I suppose I’m not much of a…combatant.”
“No, really?” said Ashe in a tone that suggested otherwise.
“But I am another set of eyes around the inn, Ashe. And I am not useless. I made it here, didn’t I? I promise to spend the time you’re gone being extra vigilant—especially if there are guests. In fact, if you see guests, then you’ll know there’ll be some adventurers at hand to keep us safe. And I’m sure you’d spot any signs of bandits on your way—”
“Enough. You talk and talk and talk. I will think on it. It is not like I would set off in this weather anyway.”
He nodded. Not a yes, but not a no! “Thank you. Sincerely.”
