Hello, Everyone!
How are you? I got a burst of artistic creativity these days and made illustrations for the next few episodes. You won't have to see my placeholder picture for at least a couple of episodes.
Soo, last time, Mary had a good talk with her Patron Gillean. He told her that he couldn’t find Dorina Dwendel with his own magic, that they couldn’t use his magical tree to save them from her attacks, and that Mary was his only Warlock. In different circumstances that last thing was going to be all Mary would be able to think about that evening, but just a bit earlier she’d learned some Very Important Information About Her Mysterious Past.
So, she decided to act on it.
Sneaking out of Tesaya’s bedroom wasn’t as hard as Mary thought it was going to be. Their hostess was not much of a talker and fell asleep almost instantly. Mary waited for about a quarter an hour and then headed towards the door.
A floorboard creaked just before she reached for the knob and she froze in place. A few seconds passed without anything happening, so she sighed in relief and went into the corridor.
She Messaged Aurum, hoping that he wasn’t asleep. Less than a minute later he came out of his room and casually leaned on the door.
“Wanna come in?” he grinned. “You can see Bruno naked.”
Mary, who just now realized she didn't know what attire her friends slept in when she wasn't around, shuddered.
“Absolutely not,” she said.
“Suit yourself,” the bard shrugged. “Sooo?”
“So, make me invisible?”
“Are you sure you want to do this now? We could finish this case and receive honours, and then they'd have to let us into their Archive.”
“But I need to know now!”
“What’s so important?”
Mary hesitated. She'd been keeping that part of her story close to her chest. But this was Aurum. She could tell him anything and he'd keep it a secret.
Right?
“Why do I have a Key?” she mumbled.
He cocked his head.
“I was able to get through the Mythalar,” Mary continued, “and you heard them, they said I already had a Key. And if it’s not the sapphire, then…”
“Well, maybe it's because of Gillean's protection,” Aurus suggested. “Remember how you’re able to enter his world? Perhaps his blessing applies to other places as well.”
Mary thought about it before slowly shaking her head.
“I don't think this is it. His way of getting me to himself is just a summoning of some kind. He even said that he needed magical components to do that. I think…” She took a deep breath. “I think that I have already been in the city. And I don’t think that’s happened while I was with Lilly and Bramble. So it must have been before that.” She clenched her hands in front of her belly. “I think it was back when I was with my birth parents.”
Aurum didn’t say anything and Mary continued.
“You heard Tesaya. They have a list of Key holders in the Archive, along with dates and everything. What if I’m able to find my name there? What if I find my father's name next to mine? And my mother's, too! What if I get to learn when was the last time they were with me?”
Her eyes were starting to fill up with tears. She wiped them off with her sleeve.
“Up until recently, I didn't care about my birth parents,” she said. “I thought they’d left me in a basket in the the carnival because they didn't want me. I was ready to never think about them, ever. But now I know the truth. I know that my father cared about me, enough to protect me when we were both in mortal danger. I know that he's dead and that I’ll never get to meet him. But I know that I must have a mother somewhere out there. I need to find out who she was!”
Mary stared at Aurum’s eyes, searching for recognition and sympathy. They were there, but there was also hesitation.
“I know this isn’t the most important or pressing issue we're faced with,” she mumbled and hung her head. “But it’s really important for me.”
“Tell you what,” Aurum said. “If you're really sure about this, I’ll help you get to the Archives. But remember that there's other ways and other times. We’re your friends, we can help you! You don’t have to do that on your own.”
Mary fell deep in thought. Did she want to risk their mission by doing the selfish thing? If she was caught in the Archives, the elves would have been right not to trust them, and the whole group’s credibility would be ruined. She was sure her friends were going to get upset at her if that happened.
She sighed.
“All right. I won’t go tonight,” she said. "But I need you to promise me – if we don’t receive honours, or they don’t let us browse the Archives… I want you to promise you'd help me sneak in there.”
“Deal,” Aurum grinned.
“Thank you,” she said and hugged him.
“Last chance to see Bruno naked,” Aurum said as she turned towards her room.
She shook her head and walked through the door.
Oooh! Aurum is such a spoil-sport! I thought he enjoyed doing brash things, why would he stop Mary from doing the same?
Oh, well! We won’t see her get caught by the elven guards. At least this time. But we will find out more. Aurum promised!
See you in the next episode.
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.