Hello, Everyone!
Please read this post to the end, there's a Q&A I'd love you to give us questions about!
Last chapter was all about Revelations. We found out some things about Mary’s Patron, the tasks he gives her, and the fact that he knew her father who died to protect her and with his last breath gave her to Gillean to take care of! Whaaaat?!
That last bit was HUGE! We continue right after the news was delivered.
Stillness fell on the cottage. Quiet tears were running down Mary’s cheeks. Her lips formed the name of her father--Halas--but no sound came out. In an outburst of affection she rushed to Gillean and wrapped her hands around his neck.
“Thank you!” she whispered. “Thank you for being there for him.”
Gillean responded to the hug, albeit a little awkwardly. When Mary let go and went back to her seat, he spoke again.
“I’ve cared about you for longer than you’ve ever thought, Mary Windfiddle.” he said. "I'm sorry about any harm that I’ve caused you. I’m sorry about Nurvureem. I didn't expect her to be such a monster."
When she heard the dragon’s name, Mary shivered, but then shook her head vigorously.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she insisted. “You couldn’t have known! I’m sorry I didn’t trust you!”
“No,” he said, “You had every right not to trust me. As you told your friend Aurum, it’s not like I’d shown you that I cared.”
“But you…” Mary paused. “Wait, are you always watching us?”
Gillean looked flustered.
“Um, no?” he said and kicked a small crystal ball under his chair. “Oh, take a look! It’s already spring outside!”
The sun was shining even brighter through the windows. The grass was lush and green, with small flowers blooming among it. The trees were covered with open flowerbuds, filling the air with the aroma of life and renewal. Mary breathed in and smiled.
“I was thinking about your nightmares,” Gillean said. “If you want, I can make it so that you never have them anymore.”
“Really?” Mary gasped. “That… that would be really nice!”
“But that will mean that you won’t need to sleep either,” he continued. “Ever.”
Mary thought for a moment.
“How will I receive your missions if I don’t sleep?” she asked.
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Gillean smiled. “You’ll get invitations for special naps.”
“Then ’ll take it. Thank you!”
He leaned towards her and pressed his lips on her forehead, the same way he’d done when she’d first summoned him.
“There’s something else I want to give you,” he said when he pulled back.
He grabbed a hold of the tree bark that was growing on his chest and pulled. It swirled and twisted and a part of it came off with a crack. Mary winced, thinking it was causing him pain.
But Gillean looked fine. He held out the thing he’d made. It was a magical wand.
“This is my final gift to you,” he said. “Inside of it is my wish to keep you safe, make you stronger and give you a smile.”
He handed her the wand and Mary felt it warm in her grasp.
“Now, it’s time to bring you back,” Gillean said. “Your friends must be freaking out.”
“Why? Isn’t my body in the tunnel with them?”
“Oh, nooo” Gillean laughed. “You’re here, all of you.”
“Oh!”
“Do you have anything that belonged to your friends?” he asked. “Or anything that they’d touched?”
Mary opened her pouch. The only thing that she had with her that met the requirement was the pack of dry mushrooms Paulina had given her, way back in her mother’s kitchen. She took it out and held it to her Patron.
“Before I go,” Mary said suddenly, “can I ask for one more thing?”
“Yes?”
“Can I… can I have some more tea?” She blushed but this was too important to her to be shy about. “Not the brew but just the leaves. They were so lovely and there’s no tea where I usually travel…”
“I must warn you,” Gillean said, “Once the tea is out of this realm it’ll lose its healing and restorative properties.”
“Will it still be tea?” Mary asked.
“Of course!”
“Then I’ll take it!”
Gillean smiled. He went around the herbs in the room again and made several packs of different scented tea which he handed to Mary. She carefully put it in her pockets. She felt that this was going to be one of her most prized possessions in the coming months.
Then, it was time to go. Mary hugged Gillean for the second time and whispered a “Thank you!” in his ear before pulling back.
“I’ll be seeing you again, Mary Windfiddle,” he said and smiled.
He took out a silver tuning fork and rubbed it between his palms. He spoke an incantation, then stroke the instrument. The air filled with the beautiful ringing sound.
Darkness surrounded Mary. She spread her arms and felt like flying through space. It wasn’t scary. It was like a warm embrace.
A few seconds later, she was in the underground camp.
Soo, how do we feel about Gillean? Do we trust him now that we’ve seen him? Mary’s blindsided by all his gifts (and especially the tea!) but I’m not so trusting. I’ll keep an eye on him :)
Also, I think there’s something I must make clear. Mary knows that she’s a found child. She’s always known. The thing she didn’t, was the circumstances surrounding the event of her parents giving her away.
Next time, Mary's going back to the camp. How would her friends react to her disappearance and would they believe h when she tells them about Gillean?
Also, don't forget about the Q&A our DM and I are going to do very soon. It's going to be all about Gillean, his creation and his relationship with Mary. This is your second-to-last chance to leave a question in the comments if you want us to answer it!
Hope you like the story so far!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)