Archmagical duties kept Era and Dashito quite busy; their quiet moments were few and far between, but they appreciated them immensely. “There’s much more bookkeeping than you’d imagine,” Era explained to him. “Keeping logs of what supplies you’re using, ordering more of what the entire castle needs, bills of action for our independent mages to carry out… It can get quite overwhelming.”
“I’m sure,” Dashito said, a stack of papers in his arms. “And, of course, it all needs to be filed just right.”
“Right.”
They worked late into the night many times a week, sometimes passing out at their respective desks. Very little actual magic was done, to the disappointment of them both; Dashito wanted to learn more, and Era wanted to teach him.
“It would help if we had more than just us working on all this paperwork,” Dashito suggested.
“Very true,” Era replied. “I’ll ask the King if we could get a bit of help, at least with the filing part.”
“Yeah,” he joked, “and while you’re at it, tell him we’re sick of organizing ingredients until our hands stink of herbs.”
Era chuckled at that, but suddenly froze mid-laugh.
“What’s wrong, Lucien?” Dashito asked, afraid of what he might hear. I hate it when people freeze like that, he thought. Reminds me way too much of Caine.
“You just gave me a brilliant idea,” Era said excitedly. “Wait right there, I’ll be back up in… uh… soon!!” He then dashed out the door, floating quickly down to the bottom of the stairs.
Stunned, Dashito, peered out the door in time to catch Era running out the bottom door. “What was that about?”
The potion cart clacked with the sound of glass hitting glass.
The worst part’s always getting it to town, he thought. It’s fucking heavy, and I always lose a bottle or two. He was just about to set off when a vial bounced off, hitting the dirt beside his foot; he bent down to pick it up.
That’s when he heard the clopping of a carriage horse’s hooves.
At first he thought nothing of it; carriages came down that road all the time. It was only when he looked up and saw that it bore the colors of Elsequaire that he grew suspicious. What’s an Elsequaire coach doing all the way out here?
Of course, his suspicion only grew when it stopped right before him.
A royal messenger stepped out of the carriage, looking down his nose at Gabriel. “Gabriel Dalgard?”
“Uh, yeah. That’s me.” He put down the vial he held and turned his attention to the wiry man in the bright clothing.
“You are hereby summoned to Castle Elthren post-haste,” he said, “by order of His Majesty King Arcturus IV and Archmage Baines. You are also to bring what belongings you can, as it most likely going to be an extended stay.”
He blinked in confusion, giving the man an odd look. “Say what?”
“I said,” the man repeated in his nasally voice, “that you are to pack your bags and move to the castle. Is that such a hard concept to understand?”
Gabriel was stunned at first, standing frozen in place as the messenger waited impatiently for him to respond. Then, slowly and quietly at first but growing louder and more powerful as he continued, Gabriel began to laugh, happily and heartily as he could.
“Does this mean you’ll be going?” the man asked with a roll of his eyes.
“Fuck yes,” he said, the man cringing at Gabriel’s curse. “Don’t move an inch, I’ll be out in ten minutes!”
“But,” he protested, “we were going to send another carriage… one we wouldn’t have to share…”
“Get over yourself,” he shouted happily as he ran into the house, “I’m leaving now!!”
The man sighed resignedly. “Very well,” he muttered, “but if you’re not out here in exactly ten minutes, we’re leaving without you.”
Era was jumpy for three days after he had rushed out of the room on Dashito. I guess he just has more energy now that we actually have some secretaries to help us file all this, he rationalized, not entirely convincing himself. Either way, we’re practicing magic more, so I guess I can’t complain.
“Dashito,” Era asked, “how about we take a walk to the castle lobby?”
“We don’t usually have a destination,” he said with a smile. “Any particular reason you have one this time?”
“Maybe,” Era said, grinning.
“Alright then,” he said with a grin, throwing an arm around him. “Let’s go.”
Dashito actually had to fight to keep up with Era’s long strides; he was obviously in a hurry. What’s got him all wound up? he thought, burning with curiosity. They then waited in the lobby, Era nervously picking at his fingernails and tapping his foot.
Finally, the gates opened, and Era’s face lit up. As Dashito finally saw the reason for Era’s anxiousness, he burst into a grin. And suddenly, everything makes sense, he thought with satisfaction, watching the second most powerful man in that half of the world gleefully hug-tackle a bear-like man in an orange robe.
That evening, the three of them were sitting in a freshly-cleaned and bare room – Gabriel’s new quarters.
“Potions master, eh?” Gabriel asked with a chuckle. “You’re alright, kid, you know that?”
“I certainly try,” Era said with a huge grin on his face. “I’m just glad you decided to accept.”
“Why wouldn’t I? It’s certainly a more lucrative job than my last one.”
“And you won’t have to farm your field anymore,” Era added.
“What!? Hell no, I’m still farming my own damn field!! I wouldn’t trust anyone else with it!!” he shouted playfully.
“Alright then, have it your way,” Era laughed.
“But yeah,” he said, relaxing. “I appreciate it, kid. You went out of your way for me.”
“Not at all,” he said. “In fact, the King loved the idea.”
“Well, so do I.” Suddenly his expression soured slightly. “Wait, do I have to wear those hard-to-put-on robes every day?”
“Most likely.”
“Damn it. Maybe this isn’t as great as I thought.”
Era and Dashito exchanged a look and laugh. “I’m sure you’ll get used to it,” Era told his second father. “Besides, I’ll bet you this will be worth putting on a slightly uncomfortable robe or two.”
“Yeah,” he said with a smirk, “so do I.”
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