Chapter Nine The Impatient Made Small under Moonlight #2
“Nature’s wonderful. But we both agreed on pooling our gold for this,” Kell said.
He presented a round, polished crystal on his palm, disappeared it with a flourish—Saeldian and Jubilee both knew how to palm an object, but his flair was exquisite—and made it reappear before he tossed it into the air.
He exclaimed a phrase in Sylvan. But before Saeldian could feel jealous of him knowing the language they didn’t, the crystal landed in his hand, and the air around them changed.
“Shelter,” Kell said. “Cool in summer, warm in winter, rainproof—I can dim the dome to full darkness, shade it just a little, whatever you please.”
“Wizard!” Jubilee said. “This spell’s expensive.”
Lorzok shrugged. “It was worth it.”
“Thank—”
“Shh!” Kell said.
Saeldian huffed. “Are you really going to pick a fight with me over being polite?”
“No thanks in the Feywild,” Kell said. “Thanking someone puts you in their debt.”
He could have just let them owe him one, which was another reason to thank him, and that was annoying. “This is most convenient,” Saeldian said. “I am pleased.”
“Good kid,” Kell praised.
Ass.
“Time to sleep,” Jubilee said. “I wonder what dreams in the Feywild are like?”
“More fantastical,” Kell said, “and more vivid. Remember—if you don’t like it, it’s a dream. It’s only a dream.”
“Only a dream,” Jubilee said. “Well, let’s get out of this fancy garb and then see how it works.”
Finally, Kell wakes up in the Feywild, and it feels like morning is a friend inviting him to the day.
The birds sing up a riot, the leaves whisper against one another in the breeze, a river or a brook or even a waterfall dashes over smooth stones near the camp but not in sight, and all of it sings Home, home, you are home.
Is it like he remembered? This is not Essanderon’s Rest, but it is the changing land of the truewild. Changeable, but supple as clay in the will of someone unafraid to shape it.
Home, the robins sing. Even the air feels right.
He can stretch his limbs out from under his blanket and watch the glimpse of sky between the spread arms of tree branches.
There’s nothing to do just yet. There’s no one who needs him just yet.
And if he stays still and listens, he can stay in the peace of finally waking up where he belongs.
His family is out there. His father, Terandis Redsong, and his brother, Verandil Sureshot—it doesn’t matter that Terandis is a dragonfly-winged fairy and Verandil a satyr. They are his family. Hadthar, Shuahn, Yllvriel, and Quickwit, the Amberstars and the Teabellies are out there—
But where?
And with that thought, he was now completely awake.
Kell sat up and rolled up his sleeping pad and blankets.
They needed breakfast. Maybe something more than dry-smoked silver mackerel and boiled porridge.
He hadn’t started a dough—he’d had no idea he was going to be back in the wild today, so it wasn’t his fault.
Porridge, then, no matter what Saeldian thought.
Lorzok’s bedroll was already tucked away atop his pack. Jubilee slept on her back with one leg out of her blankets. Timtim was a fluffy little ball with his small bunny snores, but Saeldian was really exhausted enough to sleep.
Saeldian didn’t usually need to sleep for long, unless they had pushed past their limits.
They lay prone with one knee raised, the opposite hand stretched above their head and resting on the hilt of a sheathed dagger.
He glanced at Jubilee again. The hilt of another dagger lay tucked under the bedroll, just where her hand would instinctually reach for it.
Did they think they were in danger? Nothing could get in the dome. Maybe they didn’t know that. He needed to get up, though, and as soon as he left the dome, it would vanish.
It didn’t smell like rain. It wouldn’t rain. And there was nothing dangerous here. They would be fine. Kell stepped velvet-soft over the border of the dome.
But the moment the spell vanished, Saeldian threw off their covers and had the dagger in their hand. They moved to nudge Jubilee, who rolled into a crouch, putting herself on Saeldian’s guard side.
Only thing to do: talk. Kell held up his hands and backed away slowly. “It’s Kell. You’re in the Feywild. It’s safe; I just took the dome down. I think that woke you.”
Saeldian sighed and relaxed. The knife went up their sleeve. “Why did you take it down?”
“It’s only active when I’m inside it,” Kell said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
“You could have woken us up.”
“I did,” Kell called over his shoulder. “Well out of stabbing range.”
Lorzok was back by the time Kell returned, sitting cross-legged with Timtim settled on his lap. He had his flask out, sharing it around with Saeldian and Jubilee while they packed their kits. Saeldian eyed Kell over the rim of the flask as they sipped from it, then their eyes went wide.
“It’s coffee.” They looked at the flask in wonder. “It’s perfect coffee—is this what I think it is?”
“A bottle of boundless coffee?” Lorzok smiled so warmly, little flowers bloomed all around him.
“Brilliant. Literally wizard. Hats off.” Saeldian handed it back to Lorzok. “This is the best magic item ever created. I’m not sure I should actually have one of my own. What’s yours, Jubilee?”
Jubilee gave a theatrical sigh as she handed the flask back to Lorzok. “Ajmeri Red Honey, pressure-brewed, topped with double-layer sugar-dusted milk foam.”
Saeldian shook their head. “You and your candied coffee drinks. Mine was a hand-poured Mezrothan. Perfect temperature, black as Timtim’s eyes. As it should be drunk,” Saeldian said, nodding to Lorzok as they accepted the flask again.
Jubilee wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and leaned into Saeldian’s shoulder. “You like coffee desserts, Sheld, what’s it matter if the drink is sweet?”
Saeldian just shrugged. “I like potatoes. But if they’re mashed, they need gravy to be good.”
“Fair,” Jubilee declared.
“You don’t have to drink coffee like you’ve got something to prove,” Kell said. “Nothing wrong with a little cream and sugar, you know.”
Saeldian made a face as they passed the flask back to Lorzok. “Spend some time actually tasting it. You’re covering up the depth and complexity when you could get to know it. The truth of it is beautiful.”
“Huh!” Kell said. “Never thought truth would be on your list of things to appreciate.”
Saeldian’s shoulders twitched upward, but they slouched them back down and rolled their eyes. Jubilee stared at him so fiercely, Kell put his hands up. Lorzok met his eyes, disappointed, and then looked away.
Kell hunched his shoulders. “I apologize. That was rude.”
“Save it,” Saeldian said. “You’re only sorry because Lorzok doesn’t like it.”
He was sorry he’d ruined the peace. He wasn’t sorry that he didn’t get taken in by Saeldian’s relentless pull. Argue with them about coffee, and they’d talk about beauty. That was how they got you, and Kell was almost about to go along with it.
“It would be better if you would stop insulting Saeldian like you were trying to win a contest,” Lorzok said. “They explained that their exit from Baldur’s Gate wasn’t because they were trying to betray you.”
“And you believe them.”
Lorzok took another sip of coffee. “Don’t you?”
He wasn’t getting into it. “Fine. We don’t have a lot of time to find a domain of the Feywild and then figure out how to swap the real Kiss of Enduring Love with the fake. We need a guide, and the best way to find one is to look for my family. Once we find them, they can help us.”
Saeldian shook their head. “I already know where we need to go. I talked to Osalor about it yesterday. We need to go to Eightbridge and find a guide. They’re anywhere that has the sign of a traveler with a lantern staff.”
Kell counted to three in his head so he could have room for a reasonable objection. “Essanderon’s Rest had loads of travelers, and they’ll help me freely. A stranger would want a bargain.”
“Osalor didn’t think the cost would be too onerous. We need to do this quickly. Do you think your family would be happy to see you leave the moment you arrived?”
“They’d be happy to help me.”
Lorzok glanced at Saeldian before asking, “Are they closer than Eightbridge, then? Do you know where they are from here?”
Jubilee nodded. “Lorzok has a point, Sheld. We should go with the choice that’s closer.”
Lorzok gave the flask to Saeldian while Kell was sitting right there. “I agree. Which is closer?”
Still in the disappointed books, then? Fine. Kell could be reasonable. “To answer your question, I don’t know. But I can find out.”
Jubilee looked at him sideways. “How?”
“It’s like I said before. Kell can find anyone he wants, as long as he wants to find them,” Saeldian said. “But I disagree.”
Kell sighed. “What do you mean, you disagree?”
“I have to stop drinking that marvelous coffee before I overindulge,” Saeldian said, giving the flask back to Lorzok and holding up their hand. “I appreciate the invitation to share. Anyway, we need to go to Eightbridge. That’s what Osalor said yesterday.”
Who put them in charge? “And whatever Osalor says is right?”
“Well, he’s lived here all his life,” Saeldian said. “His advice is up-to-date. And you just said you don’t know where your family is.”
“Because I haven’t looked,” Kell said, dismissive and bored. “But I can’t find a place. It doesn’t work that way. If it did, then we could just head straight to Hearthaven’s Repose and do the job so I could get rid of you.”
Saeldian’s hand drifted closer to their dagger. “Try it.”
“Whoa. I didn’t mean it like that,” Kell said. “Don’t be ridiculous. I just never want to see you again.”
“Honestly? Same here.”
There was no way Kell could stand Saeldian’s company for another day. “Fine. In fact, why don’t you just go back to the gate and go home? I’ll take it from here.”
“I wish I could,” Saeldian said, and the most peculiar expression crossed their face. Their illusory disguise wavered as they looked at…nothing.
Jubilee leaned in. “Are you all right? Sheld?”