Yep, jumping straight in with another Lemma story!
“Well, shit,” I said,
looking down from the edge of the cliff.
“You’re sure?” asked
Iason.
“Pretty damn sure,”
I replied. Below us, the white cliff dropped sharply down to the gray
sea. There wasn’t so much as a grain of sand between them. "The
closest book is somewhere that way. Far enough that we’ve gone the length
of the Tin Islands and it hasn’t felt any closer.“
"Well, fuck,” said Iason.
“What do we do now?”
I considered my options.
Scream and stamp my foot? Throw myself on the ground and start whining?
Find someone I could justify blowing up, like a bandit or a missionary?
Hmm, that last one sounded pretty good…
“Why don’t we visit Iola and
Brea?” asked Iason.
“What.”
“Well, if we’re headed to the
mainland, that means getting a ship in Kyrno, right? Castle Brinksmoor’s on the
way.”
“I… Guess so…” I
admitted.
“They have tubs,” Iason
reminded me in a sing-songy voice.
I sighed and shook my head.
“Fine. Let’s go see how they’re doing.”
A couple days later, we walked
through the gates. Brea practically threw herself on me when we entered,
giving me a huge hug while she squealed at pitches I had previously
believed only bats could make or hear. "LEMMA!“
"Uh, hi.” I patted her
awkwardly on the crown of her head. “How’re you?”
“We’re doing great!” she
said, squishy-cute and enthusiastic as ever. “How’re you?”
“In need of air,” I replied,
trying to wriggle out of her grip. I’d forgotten how strong she
was–getting her to stop hugging me was like bending iron bars.
“Huh? Oh!” She let go of
me and started leading us into the castle. “What brings you back here? Did
you find all the books?”
I scowled and explained what was
going on. “So we figured we’d stop here and visit you and Iola and all
along the way.”
“Oh,” she replied.
“Sorry, Iola’s not here. She’s on a trade mission to the next village
over.”
Iason made a disappointed noise.
“How long is she gonna be gone?”
“You just missed
her,” answered Brea. “It’s only a day’s travel or so, but she’s
going to be spending at least a week at their market.” Brea
explained that the neighboring nobles had finally agreed to allow the women
of Brinksmoor to start trading with them, and recognize their ownership
of the surrounding land. That meant they could safely start farming
without worrying about military raids–just the usual bandits, bears,
fae, and monsters that made life in the Tin Islands so fun–but they
needed seed and livestock to start farming. So, Iola had set out with a
few of the other girls to visit the nearest market town, sell off some of
Brinksmoor’s tackier ornaments and decorations, and use the money to buy the
farm supplies they needed.
We talked it over, and decided we’d
stay the night, and then set out in the morning for the market town. It’d give
Iason a chance to visit with his sister, who I wouldn’t mind seeing either, and
anyway, like the castle, it was more or less on the way. But it was just too
far to go today, and we both wanted to visit with Brea a bit first.
Plus, spending the night meant, for
the first time in mooooooonths, I got to take a baaaaa-aaaaath! I was
practically singing, and some amount of skipping was definitely involved, as I
headed down the hallway to the room with the tub. The big, steaming tub of hot
water, and the white fluffy towels, and the change of clothes Brea laid out for
me, and yes, of course I checked every bit of it for glamours, potions,
and malicious magic of every kind. I’m not stupid, I won’t fall for the
same trick twice. Well… no more than three times, tops.
To be continued…
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