Hello, Everyone!
I hope you’re doing great! I know I am. Mary's story is going great! Her family is well and good, her friends are there, supporting her, she’s happy and content. In the last part she even started coming out of her shell a little bit!
What could possibly go wrong?
Grandma Mona’s house was bigger than the others in the neighbourhood. She was working at Frinkeltong’s branch of ‘Bank Ferenc’ and was kinda well-to-do in the community. She had two other houses which she rented out, and supported Bramble and Lilly when their performing jobs didn’t pay well enough.
When Mary came to her doorstep, Grandma greeted her warmly, but with much less hugging and kissing than the other Frinkeltongians so far. She knew about Mary’s uneasiness with touch and made sure not to make her feel uncomfortable.
Leefie wasn’t so considerate. He jumped out and wrapped his tiny hands around his sister, squeezing her with all his strength.
“You’re going to crush me to death!” Mary laughed but she squished him, too.
He had grown up so much! Lilly had said that he’d started school and--lo and behold--his notebooks filled with lop-sided letters were lying on the table. Grandma Mona was teaching him how to write while the festivity was raging outside.
“Can’t you tell her to let us go to the party?” he pouted when Mary put him down. “I don’t want to write anymore!”
“But writing is good!” Mary tried to persuade him. “If you learn it you’ll be able to send me letters when I’m away!”
Leefie made a face. Mary decided to try another strategy.
“Look, the party is boring, you don’t want to go there. If we stay, I’ll tell you a story from my adventures.”
Her brother’s eyes lit up.
“Grandmaaaa?” he said. “Mary saaaid that mom and dad saaaid that I can stop writing now and listen to her stooories.”
Grandma Mona sighed and waved them off. They ran upstairs.
“So, once upon a time,” Mary began,” there was a mighty hero named Imre Stormbringer…”
“Why isn’t she called Mary Windfiddle?” Leefie asked.
“Because Imre is way cooler than me,” Mary said. “Now hush up and listen. Imre had just made camp in the outskirts of a trading town when she heard yelling: ‘Fire! Fire! Please help!’ She rushed out towards the screams…”
Mary kept on telling her brother the stories from her--or Imre’s--journeys. She made them sound funnier and less scary than they really were, and she skipped Nurvureem’s chapter entirely. Leefie didn’t need to know that part.
After a while, the front door opened and Lilly and Bramble led Bruno in. There were rooms prepared for the trio on Grandma Mona’s second floor and they left their belongings there. Aurum hadn’t come yet but Mary was sure they were going to meet him in the morning and hear all about his new conquests.
But when morning came, they found a note slipped under the front door.
I'm going on a secret mission.
See you in 3 months."
Aurum had vanished into thin air. None of the neighbours had seen him come or go and none of the gnomes he’d been partying with the previous night knew where he went. Mary asked Bruno to message him via his Sending spell, but there was no answer. Was he really ok? Could he be dead or injured to the point of not being able to reply?
Or did he just leave them because he didn’t need them anymore?
Mary felt like the ground under her feet was disappearing. After Belfast she thought that she and her friends were always going to be together, but things were not as she’d hoped. First, Paulina hadn’t come with them. Then, Aurum’d left. And a few days after that, Bruno found an apprenticeship at a toy maker’s shop and was now working there from dawn 'till the fiesta hours.
Mary tried spending more time with her family but felt like she couldn’t really talk to them. There were so many things she couldn’t tell them out of fear that they were going to worry or judge her! She skipped the more dangerous details of her adventures, made up simpler and funnier stories, and didn’t even mention being Fatebound to a strange Archfey who’d been giving her powers in exchange for 'favours'.
At the same time, she felt like her family was better off with her simply not… being there. Lilly had her dance school and it was like she was finally in her element. Bramble had a job in the city and, for the first time since Mary could remember, he was able to fully devote time to his family. Both of her parents couldn’t afford this when they were taking care of her.
And Leefie… ever since Mary came back home, he was having troubles with the other kids. They were making fun of him for having a tall person as a sister. He told her that he even fought another boy because he said that she was a freak.
Mary felt abandoned and alone. And just like she did when she felt abandoned and alone in her childhood, she hid in her books.
Oh, no! Mary! Poor baby! What is going on?! Where did Aurum GO?! Is he all right?
Next time – what Mary’s life looks like after his letter. What she occupies her days with and what she accomplishes. In D&D terms – some 'down time'.
See you then!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)