Chapter Four Hundred and Four — Mushy
Chapter Four Hundred and Four — Mushy “Hello, Miss Cottage,” I said with a bob of my head.One of Cottage’s eyebrows rose, but she nodded back. “That’s me, yes." Her gaze sharpened. "But strangely, I don't recognize a single one of you.""Strange?" I asked.“Yes. There are two buns in this school and only one catfolk. There are a few sylph and a number of harpies, but that’s about it. The most normal one here’s the human, and even then, we don’t have many blondes,” Cottage said. “So, your entire group is sticking out.”“What if we were all new?” Caprica asked.“Then you wouldn’t be wearing those neckties. Those are for second years,” Cottage said. “Something someone unfamiliar with the school might not know.”I touched the little pink tie around my neck, then shrugged. “Oh well! I guess our costumes weren’t that great after all. Still, your uniforms are very comfy, even if the skirts are too short.” Amaryllis shot me an amazingly betrayed look as I tossed our cover story out the window. Oops.Cottage’s other eyebrow rose to meet the first. “Alright, so we’ve established that you’re not meant to be here, which leaves the question, why are you here, and why are you here looking for me? Are you assassins? Because I’m not defenceless.”Curious, I fired off an Insight on Cottage, just to see what she meant.Cottage, a mousefolk Painter of the Once Living, level seventeenOh, that was an impressive level for someone that I guessed wasn’t much older than my friends and I, and who seemed to be an artist above all else. “We’re not here for anything like that,” Amaryllis said. “We came over on the request of a mutual friend. A harpy you might know?”Cottage’s expression changed in a blink, going from somewhat guarded and very feisty, to a full-faced blush that was even starting to creep up her ears. “Valerian sent you?” she asked.“That’s the one,” Amaryllis said. She grabbed the letter, and the little package, then with nowhere else to put it, placed it on the ground next to Cottage.That was the first time I noticed that there were a few desks near the middle of the class that were sized for mousefolk like Cottage. Cute! But then again, so was Cottage. She practically leapt on the letter, pulling it close to her chest even though the letter itself was almost as big as she was.“Thank you,” she squeaked. “Wait! Are you going back to Valerian after this?”“I guess so,” I said.“Then... could you give me some time to pen a reply?” she asked.Her whole personality had shifted in just a few moments there. I glanced at my friends, and we all seemed to have the same consensus. “We don’t mind waiting for you,” I said. “Are you going to write in your room?”“Oh? No, I think the library would be best. One moment!” She picked up the little package that Valerian had sent, and raising it over her head, she scurried across the art room. “Laura!” she called out.A human girl a little ways away blinked, then squatted down, lowering her hand for Cottage to run onto it. She stood up, then took the package from Cottage while the mouse girl explained something with a lot of arm-waving.Laura walked over to us, nodding rather shyly while holding onto Cottage. She’d tucked the package-but not the letter-away in a small satchel-purse hanging by her hip. “Hi,” she said with a little wave.Cottage placed her hands on her hips, one of them still holding onto the side of the letter so that it didn’t go too far. The blush was gone, and the feistiness was back. She cleared her throat. “Sorry about that. I got a little excited. Think nothing of it.”“Which part?” I asked. “The bit where you ran across the room to get your friend, or the part where you got really excited and all red because you got a letter from a boy?”Cottage glared at me, but it was made ineffective by the way her cheeks blushed. “Neither or both, I don’t care as long as you wipe the memory away. Now, follow me. Laura, could you be so kind as to lead us to the library?”“Okay,” Laura said. “But Cottage, who are they?”Cottage paused, then turned back to us. “That’s a fantastic question. I know that Valerian sent you, so I assume you’re... mercenaries? An all-female mercenary team?”“Oi,” Calamity said. “I’m a guy.”Cottage blinked, then looked him up and down. “Huh,” she said. “You must all be quite talented then, to get past the school’s magic security. In any case, are you hired by Valerian?”“Not quite,” I said. “We’re doing this as a favour... and for fun. Mostly for fun, actually. I think we were won over by the cute outfits.” I tugged the hem of the skirts up a bit, then let it drop and shifted my hips around, sending the skirt twirling a bit.Cottage blinked a few times, her whiskers twitching. “Well, whatever. I suppose Valerian was right to hire you if you made it this far.”“Again, he didn’t hire us,” Amaryllis said. “He asked for a favour, and we agreed to help. It’s entirely different. We’re hardly mercenaries.”“Um, Cottage, are they... supposed to be here?” Laura asked.“I’m pretty much sure we’re not allowed to be here,” I said.Cottage waved her friend’s concern off. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure they’ll be respectful and leave before curfew even begins. Now, come on, I want to read what Vava sent me.”“Vava,” Amaryllis mouthed in horror.We left the art room, and Laura led our little ragtag group downstairs, and out of the building. Since it was between classes, the halls and outdoors of the school were much busier than they were when we came in. That meant a lot more strange looks, but since we were being led by someone more familiar, it looked as if we weren’t quite so suspicious.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.Laura brought us to a large building at the far end of the campus, it looked like both the administration building, and the library, all stuck together in one large edifice with big windows looking into a room filled with floor-to-ceiling shelves.We stepped in, and I paused for just a moment to take in a big lungful of old books. There was something about the smell of a library that was both familiar and just... nice. The gentle scent of aged paper, with whispers of ink and leather and dust.The library was split into a few sections, and I noticed a small gathering of girls talking in very low tones in one corner where there were a few sofas. Across from that was a section with a number of writing desks, split apart by half-wall dividers. That’s where we headed to.“Laura, can you put me down there? Yes, thanks. Give me a moment, I need to read Vava-Valerian’s letter.”Cottage hopped onto the desktop (there was a teensy ladder built into the side of it leading to the ground) and opened up a small cupboard built into the desk which had sheafs of paper and quills as well as a few small bottles of ink.Then she drew out a paintbrush taller than she was and smote the seal in two with a single blow. Another flick and the letter was laid out before her. She stood on the letter as she read it, and I imagined she liked what she read because her tail was twitching from left to right.I sneaked a little peek.My Dearest CottageOh, my sweet morning cheese, how you have captivated this noble’s heart. Your stubborn determination has proven to be a siren’s call, drawing me ever closer to your enchanting aroma. The brush strokes of your artistic endeavours, like the vibrant hues of a fantastical sunset, have painted my life in colours I knew not!I yoinked my attention away, feeling a bit of a blush clinging to my cheeks to go with the sudden flush of guilt I felt for reading.“You can’t read it,” Laura said. “They write to each other in code.” She shook her head, then gestured into the stacks and we followed, leaving Cottage alone to her reading.“That’s, ah, clever,” I said as I pretended not to notice Awen and Amaryllis’ knowing looks. “So, how did you become friends with Cottage, Laura?”Laura shrugged, looking down while her hands twiddled with each other. “It’s more that we started as roommates, and then Cottage didn’t really give me a choice.”I nodded. “That makes sense.”“No, Broccoli, that’s not how it’s supposed to work,” Amaryllis said. I stared at her, not quite understanding, but she ignored my curious look to ask Laura some more questions. “Are you a second year, then? You have a pink tie too.”“Yes,” Laura said, clearly more comfortable with this subject. “Red ties are first years, then the third years have smaller, white ties.”“That’s an interesting way of telling students apart,” Carpica said. “Kind of like military rank insignia.”“Ah, well, the joke is that the red ties are the only new ones. As they get washed and the colour bleaches out, they’re given to later years,” Laura said. “I don’t think that’s actually true, but... yeah, that’s the joke.” She coughed to clear her throat, and I couldn’t help but feel the awkwardness radiating off of her.I would have given her a hug, but I was pretty sure that would just make things worse for the poor girl.“So, Cottage and Valerian... he didn’t exactly give many details about it,” Amaryllis said. “Are they... steady?”“I think so,” Laura said. “She goes on and on about how he’s not very smart, and how he dresses poorly, and how he... uh, anyway, but at the same time she gets all blushy and distraught whenever she brings him up. I think they’re serious? He did travel all the way here. It’s the worst-kept secret in the school that they’re basically dating.”“Strange that she doesn’t just visit him then,” Amaryllis said.“Her parents don’t like him,” Laura explained. “And you’re not allowed to date people while attending the academy.”“H-how would that work?” Awen asked.Laura shrugged. “It really doesn’t. I think half the girls here have dated someone from one of the other academies in the area. Or if not, they’re dating each other. I mean, you’re not allowed but holding hands isn’t against the rules, so....”“So it’s not very effective,” Caprica said. “I’m a little conflicted. On the one hand, the rule ostensibly makes sense, but it’s stifling people’s love lives, and if you can't enforce it, then... what’s the point of it?”“I think it’s mostly to give the staff a reason to punish students that leak information out of the academy even more. You have no idea how much trouble Cottage would get into if you were discovered.”I wanted to ask more about that, but then Cottage was waving towards us. Or more accurately, she was waving a folded piece of paper over her head. “I’m done,” she said.We moved over, and she placed the letter down on the table, picked up a quill with her entire body, then signed her name at the bottom.I couldn’t help it, and I read the first couple of lines.My Dearest Vava,Oh, my valiant harpy, how your presence uplifts me, as if your wings have granted me the gift of flight! Your noble spirit and boundless love have cast away the shadows that once lingered in my world, illuminating my life with the brilliance of a thousand stars-And that was enough of that. I cleared my throat. “So, you want us to deliver this to Vava— I mean, uh, Valerian?” I asked. “Easy peasy!”
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Chapter Four Hundred and Five — Social Networking
Chapter Four Hundred and Five — Social Networking Cottage folded her letter up, then took a gob of wax the size of her fist and pressed it onto the seam of the letter. She focused, and with a bit of magic, melted the wax down.Then she removed her belt, the buckle of which had a pattern on it, and she stepped onto the buckle while holding onto the belt’s strap, imprinting the symbol on it onto the wax. “There,” Cottage said as she tugged the loop free.I was impressed by how casually Cottage was able to overcome the little inconveniences posed by her small stature. It must have been tricky living in a world mostly designed for people a dozen times taller than she was, and yet she managed it.“Here you go,” Cottage said as she lifted up the letter and handed it to Amaryllis. “Make sure this makes it to Valerian in one piece, please.”“We’ll deliver it, no worries,” Amaryllis said as she took the letter. The only thing written on the outside was ‘to Valerian’ where the dot on the I was replaced by a little heart. “If that’s all, then... well, I suppose we should go.”“You know, this is very strange. Usually when we do something like this we get into a bunch of trouble, but this time nothing bad happened,” I said.“Don’t jinx us, Broccoli,” Amaryllis said. “We haven’t even left the school yet.”“I’ll escort you out,” Cottage said. Then she turned towards Laura, raised her arms, and made little ‘pick me up’ gestures with her hands. Laura placed her hand flat on the table and Cottage scurried on. “In the meantime, could you tell me more about how you know Valerian?”“Is she jealous?” Awen muttered next to me.“I’m not jealous,” Cottage said, and Awen flushed red. “Just because my ears are small doesn’t mean they don’t work.”“S-sorry,” Awen said.I patted Awen on the back. I could kinda see where she was coming from. Cottage had just learned that the boy she liked a lot knew... well, discounting Calamity, at least four other girls, and my friends were quite pretty on average. Mostly as a side-benefit of being young and having work that kept us all fit. I could kinda see where she was coming from, but still, it was a bit silly.“I don’t think any of us want to steal your boyfriend away from you,” I said.“We could do better,” Amaryllis added, and I gave her a small kick.Cottage gave us both very flat looks. “And here I was thankful for your assistance thus far.”Caprica, fortunately, came in with a bit of diplomacy to save the day. “So, you wanted to know how we met Valerian?” That caught Cottage’s attention neatly. “It was all rather coincidental, really. We only stopped in Inkwren to refuel our ship and maybe pick up some supplies. Broccoli decided to come to town to look for a gift as well. One of her friends is getting wed and she's quite fond of books.”“Her name’s Booksie,” I said.“Is that her actual name?” Cottage asked as an aside as we started a slow walk out of the library.“I think it actually is, yeah,” I said. “She’s a bun... actually, I’m not sure how buns are named, usually. I’ve met a few and they all had cute names, like Buster or Carrot.”Cottage glanced up at me. “Why wouldn’t you know how buns are named, aren’t you...” She gestured vaguely above her head in a bunny-ear-ish way.“Oh, no, I was born a human,” I said. “I got the ears and the tail from a class change.”“Hm, impressive,” she said with a nod. “In any case, do go on?” The last was aimed at Caprica who nodded regally.“Of course. So, we decided to explore the city a little, and since we wished to stay the night, we went to a hotel to book some accommodations to reside in. Valerian was there, and he recognized Amaryllis here.”Cottage looked over to Amaryllis with judging eyes. “Are you a relation of his?”“Almost, but fortunately not,” Amaryllis said. “I was briefly and involuntarily engaged to his brother. If you ever do marry Valerian then... beware your new siblings. Francisco is a piece of work.”“Vava-Valerian has mentioned as much, yes. He did say that he hoped that his brother would calm down somewhat as he grew older and more mature,” Cottage said.Amaryllis shrugged. “I doubt it. Some people are hopeless.”“Don’t be like that, Amaryllis,” I said. “There’s always hope... even if it’s not a very big hope, there’s still a little bit.”“Anyway,” Caprica said with a shake of her head that dismissed our banter. “We met Valerian there. He and Amaryllis recognized each other, of course. He was quite courteous and polite, though he did seem somewhat desperate to have that message sent to you.” That last bit wasn’t a question. It didn’t have the inflection of a question. But still, somehow Caprica left the end dangling as if it could maybe be a question.Cottage frowned, then crossed her arms. “Don’t go repeating this to just anyone. But Inkwren has been in a great deal of trouble recently. Valerian wants me to move out with him, leaving the city and returning to where he thinks we’ll be safe. I, of course, refuse to go.”“Wait, why would Inkwren be in trouble?” I asked.“There’s been talk of some big conflict between Sylphfree, the Harpy Mountains, and the Republic in the Trenten Flats for some time,” Cottage said, and I nodded along. We’d been through a whole adventure to try and stop that. “So the Trenten Flats have been preparing for that conflict for some time. But it suddenly seems as if it won’t materialise after all.”“We definitely need to catch up with international news,” Caprica said. “But that seems like a good thing overall, no?”This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.“Maybe for most of the world,” Cottage said with a nod. “But if the Trenten Flats won’t be fighting against the Harpy Mountains or Sylphfree, a conflict that they’d be hard pressed to win, then they will likely feel compelled to turn their attention elsewhere. They’ve been expanding outwards for decades. The expansion hit a hard wall with the Snowlands to the north-there’s no way they’d get past the dwarves or the elves there, but it’s been quite successful down here.”“You think the cervid will be pushing into Inkwren soon?” Amaryllis asked.“It’s possible. And don’t call the Trenten Flats the cervid. While there’s plenty of cervid that make up their population, they’re not a monospecies government,” Cottage said.That was right, Calamity was from there, and he wasn’t a half-deer-half-human. I imagined that there were other species in the flats as well. I hadn’t spent too much time looking at it on a map, but they were, essentially, the largest nation on Dirt. Or at least in the corner of Dirt we were on.“New Horizon was a small city to the north of here, settled by mousefolk like myself,” Cottage said. “As well as a number of humans. Not long ago the Trentan Flats pushed their way in, and now the city is theirs. They didn’t exactly prevent anyone from leaving, but... well, you hear stories. And now New Horizon is much larger, and the republic has been building up their army for a war that won’t happen.” She shook her head again. “It’s why so many in Inkwren are nervous about a possible war. Not that it would really be a war.”“Inkwren has the academies,” Laura said.“Which are well and good, but they’re not standing armies,” Caprica said. “Yes, I could see why there would be a lot of worry.”Cottage sighed, then she turned and just sat down right there on Laura’s hand. “Well, I’m not going to go down without a fight. Valerian ought to know that much about me by now. And... I’m sorry for burdening you with my troubles. It’s been on my mind for some time now. All of my friends know, of course, and the news is slowly starting to circulate, but I want it to stay as a rumour before we cause any sort of panic to spread.”“That’s fair,” I said. “We’ll keep it to ourselves for now, unless we think there’s something we can do to help.”Cottage frowned. “This might affect you too. If you’re travelling by air, be careful of pirates. There’s been a sharp rise in those, and we suspect that it’s not just coincidence. Inkwren relies on air travel to ship our inks and papers across the world. Not to mention carrying students to and from the academies. So the skies being unsafe harms the city in a big way.”I glanced at my friends. “We’ve dealt with pirates before, but I don’t know what I can do about all of this.”“It’s fine,” Cottage said. “I appreciate you delivering Valerian's letter in any case. Is there... something I could do in exchange?”I considered it for a moment, then grinned. “Do you know of a good bookstore in the city? We want to get Booksie something special as a wedding gift!”Cottage paused for a moment, then laughed. “Yes, I can think of one or two decent shops. But the best is Pecorina’s place.”“We’ve heard of her!” I said, remembering that mousefolk guy who’d poked around the Beaver. He’d mentioned the same name.“She’s a distant relation, and something of a friend,” Cottage said. “Tell her you come with my recommendation. It might be worth a little discount if she’s feeling charitable.”We crossed the school green without incident, only coming to a stop once we were by the gates. Cottage gave us some rather detailed directions, with Laura pitching in every so often.I still had to ask for her to clarify, because a lot of her directions had things like ‘take a right at the street where the Westerson Academy boy passed out while drunk last semester’ and ‘walk on the side of the street opposite Old Miss Nomve’s, especially around sunset because she still empties her chamberpot on the road even if she gets fined for it all the time and has working plumbing.’We thanked her, then I gave Laura a hug for being a good friend, and Cottage got a good luck hug, even if it was a little strange to hug someone so small (it was like hugging a plushie, really).The guard looked a bit confused as we left. He reminded us that curfew started in about an hour, so we thanked him, then headed out deeper into the city, following the directions for Pecorina’s bookstore.“That was fun,” I said as I skipped ahead. I had a lot I could say about the Mitytea Academy uniform, but one thing was certain, the skirt was fabulously bouncy.“It was something,” Calamity said. “Think we can stop somewhere and buy pants?”“They’d have to be white to match the top,” Caprica said teasingly.“Ah, aren’t we more concerned about the, um, maybe war thing. And the pirates?” Awen asked.“I don’t think we, personally, have to worry about war,” Amaryllis said. “Though we might be able to do something about it. We should be getting close enough to the Harpy Mountains that I’ll be able to send letters there and back without issue. I can inform my family, who can, in turn, spread the news around.”I nodded. That felt like a good first step. I wanted to do more, of course, but part of me was also a little bit tired of trying to save the world all the time.Maybe... maybe that was a bit wrong of me too, but sometimes a simple, fun day out with my friends was what I wanted more than anything else.
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