Love Crafted, page 17
“Is it anything like taking care of a normal young man?” Charlotte asks.
You shake your head. “Nope. Not at all. He’s going to need a lot of pats, and cuddles, and you need to hug him really close when you’re sleeping.”
Pou-tine looks up from his soup, then stares at Charlotte for a moment before he starts reddening like when Abigail says something silly. “That isn’t true,” he says. “I don’t need hugs.”
Obviously he never got hugs before. It’s kind of sad. Equally sad is how he’ll never get Abigail hugs because those are all for you and sometimes Daphne.
Edmund arrives with the main meal, some roasted bird and potatoes and other vegetables and lots of sauce. Abigail hands you her half finished bowl of soup and warns you not to eat the bowl, only the juices, then you’re served your portion of dinner and it’s eating time, not talking time.
“Abigail,” you say between crunches of bird bones. “Are we sleeping with Daphne again?”
Abigail and Daphne stare at each other, both pausing mid-eating and going strange colours.
“Goodness you two,” Charlotte says. “I’m certain Miss Daphne has more than one room in her home. There’s no need to push your little… relationship too far too quickly.”
“So we’re sleeping at Daphne’s but not with Daphne?” you ask. Strange, but it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t miss out on naptime. “Oh, Charlotte, you need to remember that naptime is very important for Pou-tine.”
“I’ll keep it in mind,” she says.
You nod. You’re truly lucky to have so many good friends and also Pou-tine.
Chapter Fifteen
Daphne is looking around at all the other students, a frown making her brow scrunch up. “People are nervous,” she says.
You look around too. The people moving around the corridors are mostly in tightly knit groups, with their Familiars close to their sides. Most of them are either looking around as if they expect something to jump at them or are moving a whole lot faster than usual.
You guess they are nervous, like Daphne said. Maybe it’s because of all the Inquisitor people running around the city and asking weird questions or the guys in big armour patrolling around the school that Abigail called soldiers.
Something’s up, and it’s making all the human’s be all scared. “Why are they all acting like that?” you ask Abigail. It would be good to be sure that you’re right, after all mortals are both unpredictable and silly.
Both she and Charlotte stare at you for a moment, then Abigail pats your head. “People are just afraid. Someone—” She gives you a pointed look before continuing. “Broke into the Inquisition’s Conclave and stole something. Of course they would react to that. And because they’re reacting poorly to it, everyone else is also becoming nervous.”
“A few of the second years mentioned house-to-house searches, or perhaps a closing of the city gates to prevent anyone from exiting the city,” Daphne says. “It won’t come to that, of course. The nobles and merchants need cargo to keep moving and they’ll fight against anyone searching their homes lest they learn of their dirty secrets.”
Abigail nods along. “M-maybe, ah, we can find something to do outside of the city. For a little while.”
“The weekend is coming up, and I don’t think we have anything too important in our Firstday classes,” Charlotte says. “We could leave as a group, visit one of the little towns nearby.”
“Or you could visit my estates,” Daphne says. “I would love to show you around, Charlotte and Dreamer. Abigail already knows everything there is to know about my lands, of course.”
The girls start talking about boring things and you tune them out as you walk next to Abigail. Leaving the city might be fun, though you’ve hardly been in it for very long and there’s still plenty to explore. But if Abigail wants to go then you’ll go with her. As long as you’re all together it’ll be fun.
You arrive before a huge set of double doors made of thick wood with super detailed carvings etched into them of people and trees and animals and books. It’s a sort of landscape with a tree in the middle broken up only by the crack between the doors. ‘Librarium’ reads a plaque above.
“Oh, you’re going to love this, Abi,” Daphne says as she pushes the doors open.
The room smells like books. Musty paper and old leather and secrets inked into parchment. You close your eyes to sniff it all, then open them to take in the library.
It’s a huge place. The entire room is built like a cross with a large circle in its middle. The circular shaft rises two floors above, with balconies all around, and also descends five more floors below the one you’re on. Each level has four big rooms sticking out of it like the spokes of a wheel, and the very bottom has a lot of seating room and desks arranged so that taking one means that others can’t see you except from above.
“Ohh,” you say as you take it all in.
Abigail claps, then stops as the sound echoes across the library.
“I’ll have to ask that you restrain your enthusiasm a little, though it is nice to see people enjoy the mere sight of our library so much.” A boy steps up to your group. He’s short, barely half a head taller than Pou-tine and all skinny. He’s practically swimming in his school robes, but his hat has the wide brim of a third year student. “Welcome to the Librarium,” he says in a voice that’s just above a whisper.
“I’m so sorry,” Abigail says as she bows a little.
The boy waves it off. “Most book lovers have a similar reaction,” he says before grinning. “It’s usually a good sign.”
“This is very impressive,” Charlotte says as she takes in the entire room. “Some of the people here aren’t students.”
You look around and notice that she’s right. Some of the people aren’t wearing student robes. Others look way older than the average student too. Most of these are nose-deep in a tome or another or are following someone who is wearing the school robes.
“The Five Peak’s Academy Librarium is the finest around,” the boy says. “Quite a few mages, and some non-mage scholars, come here to satisfy their curiosities. Others to purchase copies of manuscripts or to sell us rare tomes.”
“Wow,” Abigail says. “Is access free?”
The boy shakes his head. “One fiat an hour. Unless you’re a member of the Exploration Club, in which case the fee is waived in exchange for some work every week or month, depending on which part of the group you’re in.”
“I’ve heard of that,” Daphne says before turning towards Abigail. “The Library Exploration Club has a second club called the Library Expedition Club tied to it.”
“That isn’t quite accurate, but I suspect it’s close enough,” the boy says with a grin. “So, were you here for some knowledge in particular, or were you interested in the Club? If it’s knowledge you seek, Sandra at the front desk can help. A guide costs extra but it’s better than losing time searching, unless the search is what you’re here for. You never know what you’ll learn.”
Abigail shakes her head. “We were looking at various clubs and thinking of maybe joining. If you would have us, and if you could show us to someone that can, ah, show us around.”
The boy grinned. “I’d love to. I’m Skinner—or that’s what my friends call me—leader of the expedition group of the Exploration Club.”
“Ah, so what does that mean?” Abigail asks.
“Come along, and I’ll show you,” Skinner says as he begins moving off to the side.
Skinner leads you and your friends to a small room off to one side. There are maps on the wall and lots of chairs around a big table and of course plenty of books. A floofy cushion off to one side holds an equally floofy and familiar squirrel.
“Hello, Sigmund,” you say.
The squirrel rises his head from where it rested on his tail. “Ah, hello Dreamer,” he says before resting his head back down. His belly is nice and plump and you suspect it hides a food baby, which means he’s having a post-snack nap, which is one of the greatest sorts of naps.
“So,” Skinner says. “I suppose I should sell you on the idea of the main club, which is what most members of the Library Exploration Club join. But I’m the leader of the subgroup called the Library Expedition Club, and I would be a poor leader if I didn’t try to at least sell you guys on the idea of joining an expedition.”
“What’s an expedition?” Abigail asks. “I mean, what’s a Library Club Expedition?”
Skinner grins and gestures to the map on the nearest wall. He points to a golden pin right in the middle. “Five Peaks is well situated as a central hub on the peninsula. Lots of traffic coming through, plenty of mages and scholars passing by. The political climate here is also favourable to groups of researchers and the like,” Skinner says. “Which means that there’s a great need for books and we can purchase them to our heart’s content. But books don’t always come to us.”
Skinner pointed to a bunch of pins across the map, these in bronze or silver.
“We have the locations of abandoned laboratories and research centres where documentation was left behind, the location of towns where some mages and scholars are working on their own manuscripts and the location of books buyers across the region. Most of our work is nice and safe. Leave Five Peaks, find the book or books you’re looking for, return. Some of it isn’t. That’s why we work closely with the Adventure Club and occasionally some mercenary guilds outside of the school.”
“It sounds dangerous,” Abigail said.
“It sounds fun,” Charlotte said right after.
Daphne hummed. “It sounds like it might be an opportunity to leave the city.”
You blink. It’s your turn to say something, isn’t it? “It sounds like supper time. Hey, Mister Skinner, how many of the books can we eat?”
Skinner’s smile freezes for a moment. “I’m sorry, what?”
“How many books.” You point to a book in case he forgot what those were. “Can we eat?” You point to your mouth.
“None. You can eat none of the books,” he says. “Our entire goal is to procure and protect knowledge, not… eat it.”
You decide that Skinner is no fun.
Abigail pats you on the head. “It’s okay. I’m sure we can find something for you to eat if we do ever go on an expedition. Speaking of which, Mister Skinner. How often do you do these, and are they dangerous?”
“We’re leaving for the next one tomorrow. The level of danger we expect is graded before an expedition leaves, though even the lowest tier leaves with an escort. There are bandits and the like out there, though they have rarely been an issue. They want gold, not books, and facing off against three or four mages is usually a bit much for them.”
You let the girls talk to Mister Skinner while you look around the room. Then, when you’re bored of that, you have tentacles look beyond the room and to the huge library. There are thousands of books, maybe millions of them. Some, very few of them, but some, call out from darkened, unvisited corners with the promise of lore that is ancient and forgotten.
Silly books, being all mysterious and edgy.
One of your tentacles opens one of Abigail’s empty notebooks that was placed on your big body and another finds a pen. You begin scritching and scratching some words in a True Tongue into the notebook. Just instructions on how to call you and what sort of food you like best and how to reverse summon the food straight to your belly. You even promise great rewards, which you hope the mortals reading understand means you’ll cuddle and hug them for the food. Then you slip the notebook in one of the more commonly used shelves.
There. Now a mortal, no matter what language they speak or read, will be able to contact you to bring you food.
This is an excellent idea. You should do it more often. Maybe start a club that’s all about feeding you. A club for everyone in the city. With Abigail as the leader, of course. And statues. Statues of tentacles that make people feel happy when they look at them.
You’re brought out of your tentacle-based scheming when Abigail stops patting your head. “We’ll need to think about it,” she says to Skinner. “But one expedition to try wouldn’t hurt, I don’t think.”
Skinner smiles. “I would be escorting you myself, and the only expedition we have lined up for now is low risk. Just a quick jaunt to a nearby town, then back. It’s a day’s walk on foot, half that by carriage. And the club would cover the cost of the Inn and transportation as long as you document the voyage properly.”
Daphne nods. “I might be interested. I ended up using the club’s services quite a bit last year and I find myself with some free time. That and it would be good to explore outside of the city a little.”
“I’m just in it for the exercise and the fun,” Charlotte says. “But I’ll stay back if you guys want.”
“We’ll think on it,” Abigail says.
Skinner grins. “Our next expedition leaves from the front gates of the school an hour past sun-up. Show up dressed for an excursion and you’d be more than welcome to join.”
Chapter Sixteen
You’re almost bouncing off the walls of the houses around you, your excitement too big to fit into your teeny tiny body, so the excess energy is making you all spasm-y and wild. You want to run, and hug Abigail, and skip, and maybe sit down and take a nap, all at the same time.
“Calm down, Dreamer,” Abigail says with a laugh.
She’s a few steps behind you, wearing a ‘sturdy’ skirt made of some thick cloth and a blouse under a heavy woolen jacket. A big backpack, mostly filled with light things, is riding on her back and her hair is tied back in a pony-tail to keep it out of her face. She looks ready for adventure.
Unfortunately you don’t have any adventuring clothes, just your pretty dress, but you suppose that it’s okay for now. You can always just explore new places and eat them while looking pretty.
“I wanna go,” you tell Abigail as you spin to face her. Then you spin a few more times because you can. “We’re going to go see places and things and it’s going to be fun. And you said we might have to sleep in a tent!”
Tents, you discover, are an ingenious mortal device that allows them to sleep wherever and whenever they want. All they need to do is set up the tent and then they can go take a nap. You will acquire one of these tents very soon, and you will use it. Always. In fact, you might make a second body and leave it inside the tent so that you’re always napping.
You tent-based daydreams are interrupted when Abigail starts waving ahead of you. “Charlotte!” she called out.
Charlotte is waiting a little ways down the street, standing tall and proud and ignoring all the people looking at her. She’s wearing brown shorts and a loose shirt under a leather jacket that has furry ruffles around the cuffs and neck. There’s a thick belt around her waist with a short sword hanging from it and she’s wearing big, heavy looking boots.
“Hey Charlotte,” Abigail says. “Wow, you look.” She stares at Charlotte for a while, mouth opening and closing a little. You notice that she’s staring a lot at Charlotte’s legs, which are very long, and at the spot mid-thigh where her shorts are digging into her muscles. “Ah, I, uh.”
“Like it?” Charlotte asks. “It’s some old gear, but it might come in handy. You never know when you might need to run when you’re out of the city, or if you might need to fight.”
“Yes,” Abigail says.
“Do we have to run?” you ask. You’d much rather not. Skipping is better.
Charlotte laughs and pats your head, as is only appropriate. “Not if we can stand our ground. So, big pack, and I’m sure Dreamer’s carrying some things. Are you both equipped for a two day trek?”
“We are,” Abigail confirms.
You don’t think you brought enough food, but that’s okay, you can find more outside the city where there are apparently entire fields of food.
“Brilliant!” Charlotte says. “I left little Pou with some of the girls. He should be fine. They really took a shine to him, especially Arabel and Arana, the girls with the rooms next to mine.” She bends over double to pick up a big canvas bag that was just laying there and then swings it over her back. “Coming?” she asks.
“Yes!” Abigail says
Charlotte makes an agreeable humming noise as she starts walking. “Dreamer, do you want to carry Web?” she asks as she gestures to the spider crawling out of her bag.
“Yes,” you say before using a tentacle to carefully place the spider on your head. Its feet are very small, so the headpats it gives you are also small, but Web has eight feet, so it makes up for it.
The four of you climb up the hilly roads until you reach the main gates of the Academy. There, waiting under the huge stone arch, is Daphne and Archibald and Sigmund Squirrel, the three of them having a deep conversation until Archie spots your group and lets out a loud ‘Who?’
“Hello Daphne,” Abigail says. She moves towards her friend, hesitates, then wraps her in a hug.
You note that Daphne is wearing a split skirt and a thicker coat than usual, but it’s all covered in embroidery and lace. Maybe you can get pretty adventuring clothes somewhere. That would be the best of both worlds.
“It’s good to see you,” Daphne says. “I was starting to worry.” She turns to Charlotte and smiles, then looks her up and down too. “And it’s a pleasure to see you as well, Charlotte.”
Charlotte snorts. “I’m sure it is, Baroness,” she says, her voice flat. “Is the expedition ready?”
“Nearly.” Daphne leads everyone into the big courtyard in front of the school. There are three wagons with strange machines hitched before them and six other mortals standing around. Four of them look like normal people from off the streets, dressed in plain clothes and focused more on the wagons, but the other two are people you recognize.
Skinner turns away from the wagons and grins at your friends. “We’re leaving in ten!” he calls before returning to a checklist.
