26. Fiella
After Redd had fled the shop this morning, I’d penned my letter to my mysterious penpal and dropped it in the mailbox closest to my shop. The thing had been so piled with snow that I had to grab one of my stone bowls to scoop it free, but it was worth it.
My penpal brought some hope and much-needed happiness to my life, and I wouldn’t let a little snow deprive me of that.
Kizzi, still working on clearing paths to the rest of the businesses in the area, looked at me like I was ridiculous, but surprisingly, she said nothing about my bizarre actions. I was sure I would be hearing about this later.
“To the moons, Kiz!” I called out to Kizzi, planning to make my escape back to my cottage so I could curl up on my couch and read romance novels for the rest of the evening. Gods knew I needed it.
“Woah, woah, woah, not so fast, bitch! Come help us! We could use some more hands!” Kizzi shouted after me.
“I don’t have any magic, and you guys look like you’ve got it handled! You’re doing such a great job! I’m so proud of you!” I called back desperately, hoping a little flattery would work in my favor.
It did not. Kizzi just rolled her eyes at me and told me to pick up my damn stone bowl and start scooping paths the way I’d scooped out the mailbox. She also told me to quit being a lazy sack of shit.
She had a point.
Damn it. I should’ve just snuck out without saying anything. Now I was stuck. Again.
Against my will, I stayed to help.
By the time the dual suns had sunk past the horizon, my shoulders were on fire, my arms felt like liquid sacks, and I was starving.
The townsfolk had rallied to the occasion, and as we all worked together, we got the most destructive of the snow out of the way. We had managed to clear a path to every business surrounding the town square.
I demanded that Kizzi come with me to the diner so we could debrief. We had a lot to catch up on.
“You’ve got to be fucking shitting me!” Kizzi gasped, a few ciders deep and laughing ridiculously.
“I’m not shitting anyone! He bit me! Right here, look!” I showed her the wounds on my throat for proof. They would be gone by tomorrow, but for now, the flesh on my neck was scabbed and mottled with bruising.
“Lemme see!” Kizzi grabbed my head and wrenched it to the side, almost snapping my neck in the process. The diner was crowded but we ignored any rude looks that other folk cast our way. They were just jealous that they weren’t as cool and sexy and gorgeous as we were. And that they couldn’t drink as many ciders as we could.
“See I told you! Sunk those fangs right in me! You should’ve seen him; he was all feral and wild and sexy. It was awesome,” I babbled drunkenly.
“Sexy huh!” She winked at me, but it looked more like she was having an eyelid spasm. “So, was he good in bed?” She tried and failed to stifle giggles.
“Kiz! No!” I exclaimed, aghast. “I didn’t mean to say sexy. I told you he’s an asshole, he’s just also pretty!” And strong. And helpful. And sometimes charming… But mostly an asshole. If only he was like my penpal, my penpal was so gods damned nice.
“You can sleep with him if he’s an asshole, who cares!” She clutched my arm. “Just for funsies! It’s been, what, a year since you stopped seeing that annoying wolf guy?”
I shook her grip off.
“Noooooooo I can’t sleep with this one! He’s leaving soon, and that is just a mess waiting to happen. I hate messes.” I took another swig of cider. But he was pretty though. I bet he would be a good kisser. He was an excellent biter. Did that correlate? Probably.
I wish they had the lavender blueberry ciders today.This rosemary plum cider was great too, but nothing topped the lavender. I sipped the liquid again. Maybe rosemary was becoming my new favorite. It was growing on me.
We needed to order more fried potatoes. We were a little too tipsy. I couldn’t seem to think in a straight line, and my word filter had long since loosened.
“So what if he leaves! That resolves the entire mess in one swoop. Like I said, just for funsiessssss. He’s hot, and you’re hot, who cares!” Kizzi fell off her stool and had to scramble back up, giggling the entire time.
A human man at the next table cleared his throat, glancing pointedly at us. Hater. He wished he was having as much fun as we were. I snarled at him, baring my fangs before turning back to Kizzi.
“What if I get attached? That would suck. Maybe I am already attached. I didn’t mean that.” I was speaking madness. I wasn’t an attachment sort of person.
“Mind over matter, bestie!” Kizzi held her goblet out unsteadily.
Mind over matter. Mind over matter! “Cheers to that!” I cried.
We clanked our goblets, only spilling a little bit onto the table.
“How has your sorcery sleuthing been going! Catch any bad guys? Did you figure out who’s out to get me? It might be Redd’s fault…” My thoughts were jumbled all over the place.
“Woah. Lots of thoughts all at once. Okay.” She placed her green hands on the table and looked me deep in the eyes. I recognized that face, that was her I’m focusing face.
“First of all, I’m way too drunk for so many details so I’ll give you the gist now and the full story tomorrow.”
“That’s good enough for me. Continue.” I assumed the same focused position.
“If you want to talk about messes, the sorcerers are the biggest mess of all!” She was practically shouting now. “They’re just fucking things up all over the place!”
I slapped the table. “I know right! They’re fucking up everything! How are they fucking up everything?”
“They’ve got to be behind it all! Everything. My sprites, your shop, the sicknesses, the mishaps, even the snow!” she explained.
I let that sink into my brain. “Woah…. Now that you mention it, that makes total sense. Do you think it’s all tied together? Is all of it Redd’s fault?”
Kizzi quirked her head. “I have no idea what that means but yes, we’re prettyyyyy sure it’s all linked somehow. Not sure how, but somehow!”
I slapped the table again. “Redd confessed last night that it was all him. That he got wrapped in some bad luck somehow, back at home I mean, his home, and he brought it with him. It followed him here like a puppy!”
Kizzi sighed, slumping in her stool. “Well, fuck. Maybe it is his fault. But that doesn’t really make sense!” She rubbed her temples. “My brain is too slow right now; I can’t think this through. Less thinking, more drinking.”
“I can get behind that!”