Page 38 of Badmouths & Bards

“She has freckles—across her nose. She’s…buxom with the personality of a bunny.”

“Not a word, Amer,” Casimine warned as he held the stone in his outstretched hand above the bowl.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Amer grinned.

“Catch me if I pass out.”

“Always.”

Casimine closed his eyes.

“Wait, what?” Tala glanced between the pair.

The air had grown heavy with moisture as tiny beads of water began to form in the air. As if attached to some invisible spider web, the droplets slid across the air, all gathering toward Casimine’s hand. Ameriden had only seen him do this a handful of times before. While a useful tool, Casimine didn’t like scrying. Said it felt invasive when it wasn’t being used for it’s true purpose.

‘It was always meant to help us find our lost ones, not for spying. Not for control.’

“What’s going on?”

“Patience, sunshine.”

When the water nearly reached Casimine’s skin, it suddenly veered around it. As if some invisible force was redirecting it into the bowl. Once all the water had gathered in the bowl, the room went silent. Tala’s anxiety—because that’s what it was, whether she admitted it or not—was palpable. If Ameriden wasn’t so focused on Casimine’s face, he would have offered her his hand to ground her.

This part always sucks.

Connecting your mind to a space occupied by another wasn’t easy. It required a good portion of Casimine’s arcane abilities to even make the connection, and there was always a chance that the spell would fail.

Or worse.

Backfiring wasn’t just something that happened with crossbows and canons. Magic had a funny way of coming back to bite arcane users in the ass. It was why Ameriden’s parents had forbade him from practicing the arcane through scrolls. Water hanfen already had natural talent for water based magic, but there was always a chance that it could bounce back. A risk his rigid parents had refused to take.

The arcane is to be studied by those who have no inherent talents, Nav—

Casimine’s eyes slowly opened, the beautiful gray fading to a brilliant white. It startled Tala, but for Ameriden it was a good sign. It meant he had made the connection and his vision was where ever Tala’s possible lover was. While his vision was no longer connected to his body, his other senses were still there.

“Good job, Casi,” Amer said.

“What is happening right now?” Tala asked, though her eyes were locked on Casimine.

“He’s reached his destination. He’s seeing your Avie.”

Her head whipped toward him so fast, he was surprised she hadn’t broken her neck.

“She’s not my Avie.”

But you want her to be.

The intrusive thought invaded before Ameriden could stop it. He could admit he didn’t know how far Tala’s connection with this woman went, but having easily fallen in love with someone dear to him, it wasn’t off the table either.

“She’s… someone’s Avie, that’s for sure,” Casimine murmured under his breath.

“Do you see her? Is she okay? Is she safe?”

Tala pushed the breakfast basket aside, shifting to her knees. She looked desperately at Casimine, her hands restless at her sides. Almost as if she wanted to grab Casimine by the shoulders and shake him until she got her answers. So desperate in fact that she didn’t catch onto what his partner had said, but Ameriden had.

Wait—

“She doesn’t look injured,” Casimine said after a moment. “She appears to be in a room, but there are no windows—I can only see where she is, not beyond that.”