Hello, Everyone!
Last time in Mary Windfiddle’s adventures, our friends were still in the tunnels. There’s a lot of distance to cover, and with Mary’s exhaustion and lack of sleep, they’re advancing too slowly.
They need to hurry up, though! If they don’t manage to get to Belfast in time, they might find it overrun by Agrax’ forces.
"Is there any way to send a message to Belfast?" Aurum asked, turning to Roko, but it was Bruno who suddenly jumped up.
"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Yes, there is!"
He'd just recently received a new spell from Ord that could do that. He said he'd almost forgotten about it, having so many other things on his mind. The spell was called 'Sending' and it could deliver a message to anyone in the world.
He would have to be really thoughtful about what they wanted to send, though. He had a certain limit of words and he could use the spell only twice per day.
Mary joined the dwarf, helping him compose the messages. One of them was to Meraket's captain of the guards, Reese, to warn her about where Rupert's tunnel was leading to. The other had to be to Belfast and they decided to send it to Bruno's mother. She was influential enough to be able to speak to the Council and at the same time was probably going to completely trust a message by her son.
The message had to tell her about the artefact in the ruins and the possible early attack of the duergar. And also, Mary insisted, they had to tell Konstanz that her children were alive.
"She is a mother and she's probably worried sick!" she said. "We have to reassure her that Saami and Paulina are safe!"
The final message read:
”The Drow arrived at Gracklstugh. Prepare for possible early attack. Artefact might be in ruins from ancient city above Belfast. Saami and Paulina are ok.”
Bruno sent it, and in less than a minute stood up and called out to Paulina.
"Mom says you're grounded from three days ago until the rest of your life."
"You sent the message to MOM?!" Paulina yelled.
"Well, yeah, she was the best choice. You know, she would have grounded you no matter what."
"You could have sent it to Georgo! He could have turned things around and shown me in a better light, he knows how to butter her up!"
Paulina slumped on the ground and buried her purple hair in her hands.
"I'm ruined!" she said. "She's going to keep me in that house until I'm three hundred years old!"
"Don't be too hard on her," Mary said. She thought about her… about Lilly and the way she used to ground her when she did something wrong. "I'm sure she means well. She's your mother and she loves you."
"Eh, let's not get over our heads here," Saami intervened. "Not every mother is like that."
Mary looked at him in horrified indignation.
"What are you talking about?!" she said. "Every mother loves their child!"
He shrugged. Mary turned back to Paulina, prepared to give a whole speech about motherhood and motherly love.
"She's probably just w-orried…" she began.
That last word tore out of her like a choke and made her pause. Why was there suddenly a lump in her throat?
She tried a few more words.
"... and, and scared that you could have died out there. And when…, and when parents w-orry they, they g-round you because… bec…"
Her voice betrayed her and she stopped abruptly. She closed her eyes and took a breath.
"Nevermind," she said, turned around and went a few steps away towards the wall.
At that point Bruno had started a conversation with the gnome which had attracted everyone's attention and Mary was left alone.
She felt so tired and weak. The lump in her throat was making it hard to breathe. Her eyes were burning and, finally, she released the tears she was holding. She didn't weep or shake--she didn't want the others to see her and ask what's wrong. But she just couldn't not cry.
She missed Lilly. She missed it when she was scared or worried or even when she got angry and grounded her. Because she did it to protect her.
Lily Windfiddle loved her. That much Mary knew for sure. And she suddenly missed her so much!
Have you been so tired that you found it too difficult not to cry? I have. It’s a perfectly valid response to three levels of exhaustion. Or so I’m told.
Anyway. Have you called your parents lately? Told them you loved them? Cause you should.
See you next time.
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)