Page 33 of Wizards & Weavers
“In fact,” Elyssandra said, lifting her nose proudly, “Braiden cooked me a very lovely breakfast yesterday morning, before we found you at the Noose.”
Augustin cocked his other eyebrow, this time fixing Braiden with a penetrating stare.
Braiden held his hands up, shaking them vigorously. “No, no. It wasn’t like that at all.”
“I wasn’t insinuating anything,” Augustin said, looking completely serious. “I’m just a little hurt that I wasn’t invited for breakfast.”
“We weren’t friends yet!” Braiden said.
Augustin was wearing that wounded look again. Why did he have to be so annoying, and why did he have to look so attractive when he did that pouty thing with his face?
Braiden turned away, pretending to busy himself with the rest of the cottage. It was finished in the familiar greens and golds of Elyssandra’s hairpin, with a few odd splashes of color: ruby-red and sapphire-blue accents, like the crimson ribbons keeping the curtains tied open, or the vase of azure flowers by the window.
He stepped over to the leaf-shaped glass, pressing his hands against it. He could see outside, getting a greenish view of the luminous cavern.
“All the windows work the same way,” Elyssandra explained. “We’re safe here. We can look outside, but no one can look within. If we’re lucky, we might even catch a glimpse of whoever set the trap.”
Braiden oriented himself by the window on the back wall and the two flanking the leaf-shaped front door. He counted three other doors, wooden and ornately carved in elven style.
Before he could ask, Elyssandra piped up. “Oh, that one over there is the lavatory. Feel free to freshen up.”
This woman had all the amenities she needed hidden in the guise of a hair comb. No wonder she lived so comfortably outside the adventurer encampment. This was better than Braiden’s quarters in the attic.
Augustin gestured at the two remaining doors. “And those?”
“Oh, that’s my bedroom,” Elyssandra said, pointing at one door, and then the other. “And that’s the guest room. You don’t mind sharing, do you?”
The Wizard of Weathervale rubbed the back of his neck, throwing Braiden a sheepish — and oddly hopeful — glance.
Braiden turned toward the window, his ears burning like fire.
Chapter
Thirteen
The mountainof herbs and berries and mushrooms on the dining table grew and grew as Elyssandra continued to empty her pockets.
“It’s absolutely incredible, all the things I found out there! A lot of them aren’t even indigenous to this area. Can you believe some of these plants? I only see them in the Summerlands. Many of them I haven’t seen in the wilds around Weathervale.”
Braiden nodded politely as Elyssandra described her various finds, tired from their journey, but somehow invigorated by her excitement.
“Look at this one,” she said, picking up a leaf that resembled a sprig of mint. “Excellent for treating indigestion and gas. Oh, and this mushroom is delicious if you slice it thin and fry it. And look at this,” she said, holding up a sprig of tiny purplish flowers. “Very good for treating small wounds and scrapes.”
“And for all sorts of tinctures and concoctions,” Braiden continued. “No wonder there were so many alchemist requests on the questing board. Which begs the question — Augustin, don’t you have any healing potions you could drink?”
“They’re very expensive, believe it or not,” the wizard explained. “You pay quite a premium for the convenience ofquickly healing extreme injuries. It’s why alchemists are so wealthy. The reagents are so rare. It’s the same all over Aidun.”
Braiden rubbed his chin. “I suppose there really is a fortune to be made down here, provided you go deep enough to find the right ingredients — and as long as you’re willing to risk getting your head smashed in by a giant ball of brambles.”
“Oh, it’s not all bad,” Augustin said, examining his leg. “It’s the cost of coming to these places, you see. With a little experience, you start to understand your limits. That trap, apparently, was mine.”
He’d rolled his pants up and stretched his leg out across two chairs. By now, the gauze that Braiden had conjured was close to dematerializing, no longer clinging as tightly. It was time to apply a new bandage. And luckily, because of Elyssandra’s haul, they could apply some medicinal herbs, too.
“I still can’t believe you went gallivanting around the dungeon with that hole in your leg,” Braiden said, shaking his head.
“See for yourself,” Augustin said. “It’s a clean wound, not that deep. I already told you.”
Braiden came in for a closer look, the tips of his fingers tingling as he prepared another bandaging spell. The wound was indeed shallower than he’d expected, the icicle that lodged there perhaps slowed in flight by Augustin’s defensive burst of wind.
