Chapter 36
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Hands guided Percival to a chair.
“I think it worked!” a female voice said.
“We have to question him before we can be certain,” a male voice said.
He looked between the individuals hovering over him.
“Who are you?” Percival asked.
They shared a glance. Then they smiled at him.
“I am Sorcerer Astor, and this is Sorceress Sable. We have been hired to investigate what happened to you in the alley when you were attacked and killed by an ice sorcerer.”
Percival blinked. “Yes. I was attacked.”
They nodded.
“Tell us exactly what happened,” Sorcerer Astor said.
Percival did. He recounted the ice sorceress’s attack, being stuck in the sigil, unable to shift or shoot flames. Then a raven had attacked her. It had allowed him to shift and fight back.
“I blasted her with all the fire I could. And at the same time, she shot frost and ice at me. Then…then nothingness.”
“I see.” Sorceress Sable nodded.
“How interesting.” Sorcerer Astor also nodded.
The sorcerers once again looked at each other. They stared, as if communicating silently.
“So the spell was disrupted and weakened, giving him time to attack.” Sorceress Sable now seemed to be talking about him rather than to him. “She managed to kill him but wasn’t able to permanently kill him because of his attack.”
“Yes! Yes!” Sorcerer Astor stroked his beard. “And with his flames, he must have killed the ice sorceress. If she had survived, she would have finished the job and killed him and frozen his ashes. A phoenix chick would be so easy to kill. His existence proves she must have perished.”
“Yes.” The sorceress clapped her hands. “We solved it. Both died, but he was reborn.”
Once again, they both turned to Percival.
“Well, we have solved your case,” she said.
Percival frowned. His thoughts moved sluggishly. “But… What…” He trailed off, not sure what to say. Not sure what he wanted to know.
“You are very welcome.” Sorceress Sable smiled.
“Yes. You are very welcome indeed. We are glad we could provide you with this service.” Sorcerer Astor inclined his head. “Now we must return to Master Blaize and inform him of our success.”
They rose as one. Then, with a swish of their robes, they walked towards the door. A bell above the door tinkled as they exited.
Percival watched them walk down the street. He looked around the room he sat in. Empty tables and chairs surrounded him. There was a Christmas tree, garlands, and baubles. He stared at a pretty golden bauble.
Where am I?
The bell above the door rang. A succubus and a goblin entered.
They walked to the counter and perused the display. A man came out from the back area. He looked at Percival for a second.
“Did it go well?” the stranger called out.
Percival opened his mouth. But he wasn’t sure what to say to this man. Had what gone well?
The man frowned. “I’ll serve, and then we’ll speak,” he said to Percival. Then he turned to the succubus and goblin. “What can I get you?”
Percival looked around the room.
What is this place? What am I doing here?
Sudden pain pierced through the middle of his head.
He screamed, his voice ringing in his ears.
Hunching forward, he gripped his skull. Suddenly flames licked along his hands and up his arms before spreading over his whole body.
Golden light burst before his eyes, interspersed with flashes of images.
He saw his uncle yelling.
His cousin sneering.
The factory.
“Percy!” He heard a yell.
But Percival kept screaming. Smoke choked him. His clothes burned as he fell to the floor in a swirl of fire. But the flames consuming him didn’t hurt. What was hurting him was the stabbing pain, like needles sliding into his skull.
Then abruptly the pain receded.
He lay on the floor. Flames burned his clothes. Fire also burned the floor, a table, and a chair.
I should stop that. Before it gets out of control.
He lifted his hands, closed his eyes, and focused. The fire died away. His hand fell heavily to the floor.
“Percy!”
He opened his eyes. Three people stood over him. They looked vaguely familiar.
“Percy, are you all right?”
Percy? No one calls me Percy.
Percival bolted upright. He looked around the room. He frowned.
This was the bakery. The bakery where he bought his pies from that rude server.
What the fuck am I doing on the floor of this bakery? And why was I on fire?
He glanced at the three people. His eyes narrowed. Now he knew why they looked vaguely familiar. He’d seen them in the back area of the bakery before.
One of them knelt beside him, touching his arm. “Percy, what happened? Are you all right?”
Percival tugged his arm away from the man with a scowl. How dare this stranger touch him! “My name is Lord Percival Everflame. I don’t know why you think it is appropriate for you to touch me or call me Percy!”
The man blinked at him. One of the others gasped.
Percival got to his feet. “What the fuck are you gawping at?” He stared down at his burned clothes. “And what happened here?”
The three stared at him.
“Well! Speak!” he demanded.
The one who’d had the gall to touch him spoke, “You died and were reborn. You’ve been working here in the bakery with us and—”
“What nonsense! Me, working here?” Percival pulled himself to his full height. That was preposterous. Lord Percival Everflame didn’t work in a dingy bakery like some common baker!
A tall man with shaggy dark hair nodded. “It’s true. You’ve been baking and cleaning and—”
“No!” Percival shook his head. He worked at Everflame Glass Factory. His uncle was about to put him in charge of the factory.
“It’s true,” the smaller man with glasses said. “We took you in because you lost your memories and had nowhere to go.” The man took a step towards him. He smiled. “Percy, you’ve even been living upstairs with—”
“My name is Lord Percival Everflame!” he shouted.
The small man jumped back. The tall man with shaggy hair wrapped an arm around him. They all took another step back.
Good. They were being far too familiar!
“Are you telling me you took advantage of me being reborn and losing my memories? Are you telling me you put me to work in your bakery?”
No one answered him.
“Percy!” a man shouted and ran towards him from the back area of the bakery.
Percival rounded on him.
Why does everyone keep calling me Percy?
But Percival immediately recognised the man who’d shouted at him. Yes. He clearly remembered this insolent little prick.
What is his name? Leopold. That’s right!
Percival sneered. “You! Were you behind this?”