Hello, Everyone!
Last time, our heroes had a very fruitful visit to the elven Archives. Mary found out who her birth family was, and the group made some progress on their investigation, revealing the possible identity of the ‘Olivia’ Maquiel Prouvier mentioned in his anxiety-filled ramblings.
It’s the next day now, and Mary had a good night’s sleep for the first time in three months. The fact that she didn’t need to sleep, didn’t mean that she shouldn’t. That’s what her Patron, Gillean, had recently told her.
It was another morning in Myth Adofhaer. Mary woke up in the room she shared with Tesaya, and found that she was alone. Considering how early their hostess had gotten up the previous day, Mary assumed that this was the case now as well. The smell of Elven toast coming through the closed door confirmed her suspicions. She stretched, got out of bed and started preparing for the day.
The door opened and Aurum barged in. Mary froze, mid-changing out of her nightgown, and felt all the blood rush to her head. She snatched the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around herself.
"Oh, good, you're up," Aurum said with one hand casually covering his eyes, more out of politeness than anything else. "I need you to read something."
He closed the door and unceremoniously flopped on the bed. Mary followed his movement without saying a word. She was still startled by his presence.
"I stole this from Tesaya," the bard said, holding out a piece of parchment. "She received it yesterday from a guard, but didn't say anything about it. I'm not sure I trust her enough to…
"You... You're talking to me!"
In a burst of emotion, Mary rushed in and hugged Aurum with her free hand, still holding on to the blanket with the other. The bard stopped and blinked a few times.
"I was so worried that you were angry!" Mary blurted out, backing away awkwardly. "But now you're talking to me!"
"Yeah, so, anyway," Aurum said. "This is the scroll. And I'm really suspicious that Tesaya might betray us at some point, so I need you to read it."
“I… I have my reservations about Tesaya as well," Mary said. "Gillean told me to be careful around her."
She took the parchment and studied it. It had an official look – an address, a main part, and a signature with a stamp in the bottom. All of it – in Elvish.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I don’t know Elvish and no longer have access to the spell that’d allow me to read it." She saw Aurum frown and was quick to continue, wanting to be at least somehow useful. "Although, we can try having someone we trust read it. Lord Dwendel should be able to read Elvish…"
"Yeah, all right," Aurum said. "Can you hold on to it for now?"
Mary nodded, took the document and buried it inside the folds of her blanket.
"Mary, breakfast is…" came from the other side of the door.
It opened and revealed Tesaya. The elven woman froze in the doorframe, her eyes alternating from Mary, wrapped up in what looked like nothing but a blanket, and Aurum who was sitting, comfortably spread on the bed next to her.
"...ready," Tesaya finished, her face turning scarlet. "I– I'm sorry to interrupt!" she blurted and slammed the door back.
"Nothing happened!!!" Mary screamed after her, her face just as red as their hostess'.
Aurum burst into laughter.
"Go and tell them that nothing happened!!!" Mary yelled, and pushed him towards the kitchen.
He went out, still snickering, and through the closing door, Mary could hear Bruno say "So? How was it?" and him answering “Ooh, it was great!.
She wished she could hide her face in shame forever.
When she finally took the courage to get out of the bedroom, dressed up and ready for the day, Mary caught Tesaya staring at her wide-eyed, but Bruno just shook his head. He wasn't buying into Aurum's bulshit.
They sat around the small kitchen table and started eating silently. After what seemed like an eternity, Tesaya gave Mary a whole different kind of look.
“Have you seen a parchment of mine?” she asked. “I had it last night but I seem to have misplaced it.”
“A p-parchment?” Mary said, struggling to sound casual and not-at-all-guilty.
She swallowed audibly and tried really hard not to look at Aurum or her coat, where the scroll was currently residing. She failed with both. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
“I see,” Tesaya said. “Can I have it back?”
“Oooh!” Bruno chuckled, mid-bite into an apple. “More secrets?”
Hearing that, Mary hung her head and shook it.
“No. No more of those,” she said. She took the parchment out and handed it to Tesaya. “I’m sorry.”
“Did Aurum put you up to it?” Tesaya asked.
Mary gave the bard a guilty look and nodded.
“All right,” Tesaya said. “Well, I can read it aloud if it’s that important to you.”
She sighed and opened the scroll. It turned out to be an official reprimand for all the ruckus Mary and Aurum had made with their little chase yesterday. The officials had given Tesaya two days of community service and a 100 gold pieces fine.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Mary said.
"I didn't want to bother you," Tesaya shrugged.
Mary was bothered. Mainly with a newly found piece of guilt bearing on her mind.
"Why would they punish you for something we did?!" she protested.
"Because you were put in my care," the elven woman said. "I'm responsible for you while you're here."
"I'm sorry! We'll…" Mary looked to her friends. "We’’ll gather the money among us!"
"Duh! Of course we will!" Bruno scoffed.
"Don't worry about it," Tesaya said.
Such a nice, casual morning :) I’m really happy when the characters have those. They manage to make me feel warm and cosy, and most of the time they turn out to be pretty funny.
“Nothing happened!!!”
XD
See you next time, when we’ll finish breakfast, learn some things about Tesaya’s faith and find out if there are any dwarves living in Myth Adofhaer.
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum and Bruno) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.