Page 4 of The Gargoyle's Grace
“How many is that now?” I filled my own plate, and we took them to their small dining table.
“Six.” He grimaced as though the word tasted bad. I knew he felt terrible that she was having to do such things.
I put my hand over his gnarled one as he tried to pick up his fork and failed… several times. “It’ll work out,” I promised.
He blinked at me as though working out what he wanted to say, but finally just nodded while transferring his fork to his other hand. We ate in silence for a few minutes, the shouting of children from the yard outside and of neighbors calling one another for their own evening meals filtered through the open door.
“So, how are your girls shaping up?” he asked, knowing it would cheer me to talk about the new additions at the collegium.
Well, somewhat new. They’d been brought on several months ago now, but they’d been one of the best things to happen to d’Arcan as far as I was concerned.
“Wonderful. Little Sara is proving to be quite the baker. In fact, she’s the one who made your dessert. And Bridget loves to wash clothes, so you can only imagine how thrilled we all are to let her scrub and rinse to her heart’s content.”
He frowned between bites. I was glad to see him eating enthusiastically. He’d lost several pounds recently, which was one of the reasons I’d begun bringing dinner with me during my weekly visit. Mama being out at odd jobs until unpredictable times certainly was another decent excuse. But I truly did show my love through food, and this was one of the ways I could give them a bit of the best of me.
“An odd passion, that,” he said, eyebrows up. “Doing the washing. Who would have thought?”
I laughed. I suspected it had something to do with the fact that they’d never had more to their names than a single dress at a time, but that was just a guess.
“To be sure, it’s strange, but certainly nobody’s going to argue with her. They’re such good kids.”
“Most of them are,” he said with a wink. “Even the ones with a bit of vinegar in their veins.” I batted my eyelashes innocently, making him laugh at my denial of having been such a child.
We got all the way through our slices of the lemon custard pie Sara had baked before Mama finally came through the door.
“Oh, my girl!” she gushed, holding my face in her palms as she dipped down to kiss my forehead. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”
“I’ll make you a plate,” I offered as she sank gratefully into my vacated chair.
“Thank you, my darling. What a day.” She smoothed back several wild hairs that had escaped her gray-and-white braid. “Those younglings gave me a run for my money. I’m not as agile as I used to be, and I’m certain the ones I was sent to look after are mostly feral. This looks delicious!”
I squeezed into the third chair, the one wedged next to the wall with a crooked leg. As Mama enjoyed her food, I allowed myself to sink into the spirited after-work discussion with my parents. We had very few moments like that between us anymore, and I didn’t want to ruin it by mentioning the elephant in the corner of the room that wouldn’t go away.
“The flowers are lovely today. How is Maurice?”
“He seemed well.” I picked up the empty plates before either of them could move to and got them washed just as quickly. My innate sense about when people were ready for food or for dishes to be retrieved was one of my points of pride.
I tucked the leftovers into their small ice box and allowed my mother to slip a coin pouch into my pocket when my father wasn’t looking. We settled into the living room, talking about how their week had been, how the girls at the collegium were coming along, anything to keep us all distracted.
Too soon, the sun was fully down, and the chill of the evening floated through the open front door. It was time for me to leave. With lingering hugs and plenty of worry to go around, I put on a brave smile and braced myself for what came next.
Chapter2
Magnus
If anyone ever wanted to torture me, all they’d have to do is leave me tied to a chair in the mystical council’s chambers for a week. I’d find a way to meet my own demise one way or another if forced to endure the insufferable meetings any longer than I already did.
My position as liaison was useful in many ways, but the endless discussions between men who never went out in the field to see or do the things they were making decisions about drove me to madness. Each and every one of them loved to hear themselves speak and took every opportunity to do so. It was especially bad during these mixed council meetings where multiple factions of creatures were represented. It was bad enough when it was just the stone kin, but adding in the mages made everything move slower because everyone wanted to be in charge.
“Have you anything to report, General Aurichal?”
I straightened, shaking off the doze I had fallen into at the sound of my name. I stood and approached the long bench of officials, an assortment of men and women representing each group, seven for each.
“General Magnus Aurichal, reporting for the gargoyle contingent,” the scribe said, stepping forward to announce me to the room. The formality was always strangely embarrassing.
“Nothing new in regards to the missing, unfortunately, though I continue to follow any lead that is presented.”
“Noted. Next—”
