Here's part two...
Well, the first part has been up for a couple days, so I figured it'd be safe to post the second part. I made the font a bit larger, so hopefully it's easier to read. As I said before, I'd love for people to read this and give me critiques on it.
Part Two: Some Assembly Is Required
Bastian watched the scenery pass by with eyes round with a mixture of wonder and anticipation. He’d never ridden in a carriage before and he rather enjoyed it. Someday, he hoped he would get the opportunity to ride in one with his little sister.
As they pulled off the road to follow a wide path lined with trees. Bastian looked up at the imposing edifice of the mansion they had arrived at. His eyes widened even more and his heart began to race. What had he gotten himself into?
The carriage pulled to a stop in front of the steps and the driver climbed down. He opened the door and held out a hand to help Bastian down. As he stepped out into the sunshine, he turned and looked at the two who’d hired him. “Your employer… she’s got a big house,” he said, fidgeting with his skirts.
“She’s the niece of regional lord,” Ciardall said, ushering him inside the building. A servant greeted them as they stepped into the foyer. As she took their cloaks, Ciardall said, “Inform Lady Tamaria of our return.”
“Of course, Sir Ciardall,” the servant said, bowing and hurrying out of the room.
“You’re a knight?” Bastian said, looking in askance at Ciardall. When the tall man nodded, he rolled his eyes. “Well, look at that: we have a mage, a thief and a knight. All we need are a healer and a warrior woman and we’ll be all set for some serious dungeon crawling.”
Aeolos stifled a laugh and Ciardall glared and said, “This is a serious matter, you know.”
Bastian rolled his eyes again. “If you say so,” he mumbled. Obviously, as handsome as the knight was, he had no sense of humor. Bastian’s cheeks warmed as he realized that he thought of Ciardall as handsome.
Behind him, the knight sighed and shook his head. “Just be sure you give Lady Tamaria the respect due a person of her station,” he grumbled.
As Bastian nodded, the servant returned to the foyer. “Lady Tamaria will see you now,” she said. Then she turned around and conducted them through the corridors to the lady’s sitting room.
Bastian could only stare at the rich appointments of the room. A carefully woven carpet bearing an intricate design covered the floor. The upholstery of the furniture and the curtains each pulled colors out of the design, so that everything worked to craft a picture of opulence. The lady was seated in a large chair by the window.
“The channel we were sent to seek, my lady,” Aeolos said, bowing and waving a hand towards Bastian.
Bastian tensed. They’d said they wanted him to steal for them, not because he was a channel. He didn’t even know what that meant yet. “You… were sent to find me?” he said, his voice faint, looking from one to the other.
“We knew there was a channel living in the city,” Ciardall whispered in reply, “but we didn’t know it was you exactly.”
“The orb you stole was meant to draw you to us,” Aeolos added. He looked a bit sheepish as he shrugged his shoulders. “We didn’t realize just how affective it was until you stole it from Ciardall.”
“A thief as well, then?” Tamaria said, standing. She looked over Bastian for a moment and said, “That will come in handy.” To Aeolos, she said, “Have you told the girl what we need from her?”
“Yes, my lady,” the mage answered.
Tamaria nodded and looked back at Bastian. She held out a small purse and said, “An advance on your pay. You’ll get this much again this evening, once the job is complete.”
“Thank you,” Bastian said, his voice soft. He took the purse, but didn’t open it. It would be rude to count his money now and beside, he could tell how much was in the purse by weight alone. A faint smile placed at his lips as he realized he could pick up some groceries and give Coralia a real meal for a change.
“How old did she tell you she was?” Tamaria asked, startling Bastian out of his thoughts. He looked up at her and saw that her brows had drawn together in a scowl.
Bastian’s eyes narrowed. Neither of them had asked his age. Before they could say anything, he said, “I’m old enough.”
“How old is that exactly?” she said, looking into his eyes.
“Twenty-one,” Bastian lied.
Tamaria laughed and shook her head. “Try again, little one,” she said. “Unless you’re of a warlock clan or from the mountains, there’s no way you could be under five feet and be of age.”
Bastian’s cheeks burned and he glared at her, clenching his teeth. His hands fisted in frustration and he said, “My age doesn’t matter.”
Aeolos spun around to face Bastian. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and he was scowling. “I’ve told you before that you shouldn’t lie,” he said.
“Yes,” Bastian said, taking an involuntary step back. He shook his head and added, “That was different though. I was trying to protect myself then. This time I was…” he faltered. He really wasn’t sure why he’d lied about his age, except perhaps that he was afraid they’d bring him back to the wardery.
“Hiding things from us,” Ciardall said, sounding perturbed. “How are we supposed to trust you, if you don’t trust us?”
“I do,” Bastian protested. He shook his head and added, “I do trust you, but that doesn’t mean I want you to know everything about me!”
“Because,” Aeolos said, his voice soft, “you don’t truly trust us.” He made a sign in the air and said, “Until you die to live again, you are bound to speak only the truth.”
There was a bright flash of light and Bastian flinched. Whatever the mage had done, it hadn’t hurt. He rubbed at his eyes and looked at Aeolos. The mage was grinning. “What… what did you do?” he asked, his voice squeaking.
“Don’t be afraid,” Aeolos said, grinning. “It’s just a little curse to keep you from lying to us again.”
“A curse!” Bastian repeated. He’d heard of curses before. There were always difficulties associated with even the most harmless seeming curse. “Why did you curse me? I said I trusted you. What do you want from me?”
Ciardall was watching the exchange, his eyes wide. “You… actually cursed her,” he breathed. He looked at Aeolos and said, “Isn’t that dark magic? I mean, aren’t curses forbidden?”
“Magic is matter of intent,” Aeolos said, raising a hand. “My only intent in casting this spell is to teach our young friend a lesson in trust and lies.” He looked at Bastian and said, “You really can trust us, Bastian. You haven’t got cause to fear us.”
“I am afraid of you,” Bastian protested, “and I don’t trust you.” Then he blinked as what he’d said sunk in. He’d just admitted both that he was frightened and mistrustful of them. “That’s… not what I meant!” he said, beginning to tremble.
“That’s the curse, Bastian,” Aeolos said. “You were lying to us - possibly even to yourself. We aren’t going to hurt you.”
“This isn’t funny, Aeolos,” Bastian said, tears welling in his eyes. “Lift this curse right now! Make it go away!”
“It’ll go away on its own when you’ve met the condition,” Aeolos said. “You have to die to live again. Only then, will the curse be lifted.”
Ciardall had sidestepped away from them, to stand protectively in front of the lady. Tamaria, for her part, was watching the exchange with a look of mild amusement. Bastian didn’t care about them, however. Only the mage mattered at the moment.
“What does that mean?” Bastian said, grabbing Aeolos by the front of his robes. “Tell what I have to do!”
“You need to figure it out for yourself,” Aeolos said, prying Bastian’s hands loose from his robe. “Calm down, Bastian.”
He was barely aware of Tamaria’s eyebrow twitching when the mage spoke his name. That wasn’t important now, either. “You… you hate me, don’t you,” Bastian said, stepping back. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he was trembling. Ciardall reached out towards him and he stumbled back. He hit the floor and drew his knees up to his chest, sobbing into his arms.
Ciardall stepped away from Tamaria now and knelt down beside him. He wrapped his arms around Bastian’s small form and the thief squirmed. “Don’t let me go,” he protested. “I don’t want to be alone.” He hiccupped as the words changed again. Then he crumpled against the knight. “I hate this,” he cried.
“I know,” Ciardall whispered. “We don’t hate you,” he said, beginning to rock gently. “You know that, right?”
Bastian nodded without lifting his head. He knew they didn’t hate him. After all, they barely knew him. However, that didn’t mean Aeolos truly understood the consequences of what he’d done. What kind of thief was incapable of telling a simple lie?
His sobs eased and he relaxed against the knight’s chest. He liked being cradled by Ciardall, but wondered if the knight would still hug him if he realized that he was male. Shoving the thought aside, Bastian sighed. “I don’t like being frightened,” he breathed.
Choking back a laugh, Ciardall said, “That’s true of everyone. What can we do to help you be less frightened of us?”
“I don’t know,” Bastian said, pushing back. He shook his head and sighed. “I’ve been through… too many things to trust people easily. Maybe… maybe I’ll become less afraid when we get to know each other better.”
“I’ll do everything I can to find a way to meet the curse’s condition,” Aeolos said. He smiled and added, “There’s always a way, even if it seems impossible. It’s usually something very simple.”
“You mean,” Bastian said, blinking at the mage. “You mean, you don’t even know how to lift the curse you laid on me?”
“The curse would have failed if there wasn’t a way to lift it,” Aeolos said, straightening. He brushed himself off and added, “A simple way - that doesn’t require anything to drastic.”
“Aeolos,” Tamaria said, her tone somewhat scolding. She crossed her arms over he chest and added, “That was rather irresponsible of you.”
Ciardall rolled his eyes and stood, pulling Bastian up with him. Giving the mage a cross look, he said, “No more curses unless you already know how to lift them.”
“What’s the fun in that?” Aeolos said, grinning. He cried out in alarm as Bastian launched himself onto him suddenly.
“You think that it’s fun being cursed!” Bastian yelled. He grabbed Aeolos’s collar and said, “I’ll throttle you and you can tell me how much fun that is!”
Aeolos flailed, trying to push the small thief off his body. “She means it, Ciardall,” he said, trying to pull Bastian’s hands away. “Help me!”
“Oh, no,” Ciardall said, shaking his head. “You got yourself into the mess, you can get yourself out. I don’t want her angry at me too.”
“What’s wrong, Aeolos?” Bastian said, quirking an eyebrow. “Are you afraid I might kill you? I won’t, of course. I just want to wring your neck a little.” He leaned down so that they were nose to nose. “You need to learn what’s funny and what’s not,” he growled. Then he stood and stalked away.
Aeolos sat up, rubbing his neck and blinking rapidly. He looked over at Ciardall and said, “Right. No more curses unless I already know how to lift them.” He stood and added, “I’ll start researching how to lift this one.”
“Do that,” Bastian snapped from the doorway. He wanted as much distance between himself and the mage as possible. How was he supposed to trust someone who laid a curse over him without knowing how to lift it?
Tamaria chuckled softly and shook her head. Looking at the mage and the knight, she said, “Make sure everything is in preparation for tonight.” Then she turned to Bastian. “See that you return by midnight,” she said.
“Why?” Bastian grumbled. “Am I gonna turn into a pumpkin if I don’t?” He knew he shouldn’t be flip with her, she was a lady after all, but he was still hurt by what Aeolos had done.
“Just be here,” Tamaria said, laughing.
Bastian curtseyed and said, “Of course, m’lady.” Then he spun on his heel and stomped out of the mansion. The air outside was heavy and he paused to look up at the sky. “Terrific,” he grumbled. “Now it’s going to rain.” Heaving a deep sigh, he hurried in the direction of the market. With a little luck, he could buy the groceries and still beat the storm.
Part Two: Some Assembly Is Required
Bastian watched the scenery pass by with eyes round with a mixture of wonder and anticipation. He’d never ridden in a carriage before and he rather enjoyed it. Someday, he hoped he would get the opportunity to ride in one with his little sister.
As they pulled off the road to follow a wide path lined with trees. Bastian looked up at the imposing edifice of the mansion they had arrived at. His eyes widened even more and his heart began to race. What had he gotten himself into?
The carriage pulled to a stop in front of the steps and the driver climbed down. He opened the door and held out a hand to help Bastian down. As he stepped out into the sunshine, he turned and looked at the two who’d hired him. “Your employer… she’s got a big house,” he said, fidgeting with his skirts.
“She’s the niece of regional lord,” Ciardall said, ushering him inside the building. A servant greeted them as they stepped into the foyer. As she took their cloaks, Ciardall said, “Inform Lady Tamaria of our return.”
“Of course, Sir Ciardall,” the servant said, bowing and hurrying out of the room.
“You’re a knight?” Bastian said, looking in askance at Ciardall. When the tall man nodded, he rolled his eyes. “Well, look at that: we have a mage, a thief and a knight. All we need are a healer and a warrior woman and we’ll be all set for some serious dungeon crawling.”
Aeolos stifled a laugh and Ciardall glared and said, “This is a serious matter, you know.”
Bastian rolled his eyes again. “If you say so,” he mumbled. Obviously, as handsome as the knight was, he had no sense of humor. Bastian’s cheeks warmed as he realized that he thought of Ciardall as handsome.
Behind him, the knight sighed and shook his head. “Just be sure you give Lady Tamaria the respect due a person of her station,” he grumbled.
As Bastian nodded, the servant returned to the foyer. “Lady Tamaria will see you now,” she said. Then she turned around and conducted them through the corridors to the lady’s sitting room.
Bastian could only stare at the rich appointments of the room. A carefully woven carpet bearing an intricate design covered the floor. The upholstery of the furniture and the curtains each pulled colors out of the design, so that everything worked to craft a picture of opulence. The lady was seated in a large chair by the window.
“The channel we were sent to seek, my lady,” Aeolos said, bowing and waving a hand towards Bastian.
Bastian tensed. They’d said they wanted him to steal for them, not because he was a channel. He didn’t even know what that meant yet. “You… were sent to find me?” he said, his voice faint, looking from one to the other.
“We knew there was a channel living in the city,” Ciardall whispered in reply, “but we didn’t know it was you exactly.”
“The orb you stole was meant to draw you to us,” Aeolos added. He looked a bit sheepish as he shrugged his shoulders. “We didn’t realize just how affective it was until you stole it from Ciardall.”
“A thief as well, then?” Tamaria said, standing. She looked over Bastian for a moment and said, “That will come in handy.” To Aeolos, she said, “Have you told the girl what we need from her?”
“Yes, my lady,” the mage answered.
Tamaria nodded and looked back at Bastian. She held out a small purse and said, “An advance on your pay. You’ll get this much again this evening, once the job is complete.”
“Thank you,” Bastian said, his voice soft. He took the purse, but didn’t open it. It would be rude to count his money now and beside, he could tell how much was in the purse by weight alone. A faint smile placed at his lips as he realized he could pick up some groceries and give Coralia a real meal for a change.
“How old did she tell you she was?” Tamaria asked, startling Bastian out of his thoughts. He looked up at her and saw that her brows had drawn together in a scowl.
Bastian’s eyes narrowed. Neither of them had asked his age. Before they could say anything, he said, “I’m old enough.”
“How old is that exactly?” she said, looking into his eyes.
“Twenty-one,” Bastian lied.
Tamaria laughed and shook her head. “Try again, little one,” she said. “Unless you’re of a warlock clan or from the mountains, there’s no way you could be under five feet and be of age.”
Bastian’s cheeks burned and he glared at her, clenching his teeth. His hands fisted in frustration and he said, “My age doesn’t matter.”
Aeolos spun around to face Bastian. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and he was scowling. “I’ve told you before that you shouldn’t lie,” he said.
“Yes,” Bastian said, taking an involuntary step back. He shook his head and added, “That was different though. I was trying to protect myself then. This time I was…” he faltered. He really wasn’t sure why he’d lied about his age, except perhaps that he was afraid they’d bring him back to the wardery.
“Hiding things from us,” Ciardall said, sounding perturbed. “How are we supposed to trust you, if you don’t trust us?”
“I do,” Bastian protested. He shook his head and added, “I do trust you, but that doesn’t mean I want you to know everything about me!”
“Because,” Aeolos said, his voice soft, “you don’t truly trust us.” He made a sign in the air and said, “Until you die to live again, you are bound to speak only the truth.”
There was a bright flash of light and Bastian flinched. Whatever the mage had done, it hadn’t hurt. He rubbed at his eyes and looked at Aeolos. The mage was grinning. “What… what did you do?” he asked, his voice squeaking.
“Don’t be afraid,” Aeolos said, grinning. “It’s just a little curse to keep you from lying to us again.”
“A curse!” Bastian repeated. He’d heard of curses before. There were always difficulties associated with even the most harmless seeming curse. “Why did you curse me? I said I trusted you. What do you want from me?”
Ciardall was watching the exchange, his eyes wide. “You… actually cursed her,” he breathed. He looked at Aeolos and said, “Isn’t that dark magic? I mean, aren’t curses forbidden?”
“Magic is matter of intent,” Aeolos said, raising a hand. “My only intent in casting this spell is to teach our young friend a lesson in trust and lies.” He looked at Bastian and said, “You really can trust us, Bastian. You haven’t got cause to fear us.”
“I am afraid of you,” Bastian protested, “and I don’t trust you.” Then he blinked as what he’d said sunk in. He’d just admitted both that he was frightened and mistrustful of them. “That’s… not what I meant!” he said, beginning to tremble.
“That’s the curse, Bastian,” Aeolos said. “You were lying to us - possibly even to yourself. We aren’t going to hurt you.”
“This isn’t funny, Aeolos,” Bastian said, tears welling in his eyes. “Lift this curse right now! Make it go away!”
“It’ll go away on its own when you’ve met the condition,” Aeolos said. “You have to die to live again. Only then, will the curse be lifted.”
Ciardall had sidestepped away from them, to stand protectively in front of the lady. Tamaria, for her part, was watching the exchange with a look of mild amusement. Bastian didn’t care about them, however. Only the mage mattered at the moment.
“What does that mean?” Bastian said, grabbing Aeolos by the front of his robes. “Tell what I have to do!”
“You need to figure it out for yourself,” Aeolos said, prying Bastian’s hands loose from his robe. “Calm down, Bastian.”
He was barely aware of Tamaria’s eyebrow twitching when the mage spoke his name. That wasn’t important now, either. “You… you hate me, don’t you,” Bastian said, stepping back. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and he was trembling. Ciardall reached out towards him and he stumbled back. He hit the floor and drew his knees up to his chest, sobbing into his arms.
Ciardall stepped away from Tamaria now and knelt down beside him. He wrapped his arms around Bastian’s small form and the thief squirmed. “Don’t let me go,” he protested. “I don’t want to be alone.” He hiccupped as the words changed again. Then he crumpled against the knight. “I hate this,” he cried.
“I know,” Ciardall whispered. “We don’t hate you,” he said, beginning to rock gently. “You know that, right?”
Bastian nodded without lifting his head. He knew they didn’t hate him. After all, they barely knew him. However, that didn’t mean Aeolos truly understood the consequences of what he’d done. What kind of thief was incapable of telling a simple lie?
His sobs eased and he relaxed against the knight’s chest. He liked being cradled by Ciardall, but wondered if the knight would still hug him if he realized that he was male. Shoving the thought aside, Bastian sighed. “I don’t like being frightened,” he breathed.
Choking back a laugh, Ciardall said, “That’s true of everyone. What can we do to help you be less frightened of us?”
“I don’t know,” Bastian said, pushing back. He shook his head and sighed. “I’ve been through… too many things to trust people easily. Maybe… maybe I’ll become less afraid when we get to know each other better.”
“I’ll do everything I can to find a way to meet the curse’s condition,” Aeolos said. He smiled and added, “There’s always a way, even if it seems impossible. It’s usually something very simple.”
“You mean,” Bastian said, blinking at the mage. “You mean, you don’t even know how to lift the curse you laid on me?”
“The curse would have failed if there wasn’t a way to lift it,” Aeolos said, straightening. He brushed himself off and added, “A simple way - that doesn’t require anything to drastic.”
“Aeolos,” Tamaria said, her tone somewhat scolding. She crossed her arms over he chest and added, “That was rather irresponsible of you.”
Ciardall rolled his eyes and stood, pulling Bastian up with him. Giving the mage a cross look, he said, “No more curses unless you already know how to lift them.”
“What’s the fun in that?” Aeolos said, grinning. He cried out in alarm as Bastian launched himself onto him suddenly.
“You think that it’s fun being cursed!” Bastian yelled. He grabbed Aeolos’s collar and said, “I’ll throttle you and you can tell me how much fun that is!”
Aeolos flailed, trying to push the small thief off his body. “She means it, Ciardall,” he said, trying to pull Bastian’s hands away. “Help me!”
“Oh, no,” Ciardall said, shaking his head. “You got yourself into the mess, you can get yourself out. I don’t want her angry at me too.”
“What’s wrong, Aeolos?” Bastian said, quirking an eyebrow. “Are you afraid I might kill you? I won’t, of course. I just want to wring your neck a little.” He leaned down so that they were nose to nose. “You need to learn what’s funny and what’s not,” he growled. Then he stood and stalked away.
Aeolos sat up, rubbing his neck and blinking rapidly. He looked over at Ciardall and said, “Right. No more curses unless I already know how to lift them.” He stood and added, “I’ll start researching how to lift this one.”
“Do that,” Bastian snapped from the doorway. He wanted as much distance between himself and the mage as possible. How was he supposed to trust someone who laid a curse over him without knowing how to lift it?
Tamaria chuckled softly and shook her head. Looking at the mage and the knight, she said, “Make sure everything is in preparation for tonight.” Then she turned to Bastian. “See that you return by midnight,” she said.
“Why?” Bastian grumbled. “Am I gonna turn into a pumpkin if I don’t?” He knew he shouldn’t be flip with her, she was a lady after all, but he was still hurt by what Aeolos had done.
“Just be here,” Tamaria said, laughing.
Bastian curtseyed and said, “Of course, m’lady.” Then he spun on his heel and stomped out of the mansion. The air outside was heavy and he paused to look up at the sky. “Terrific,” he grumbled. “Now it’s going to rain.” Heaving a deep sigh, he hurried in the direction of the market. With a little luck, he could buy the groceries and still beat the storm.