Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six — Relationship of Fools
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six — Relationship of Fools Rosaline put a stop to our practice after an hour or so. She said that it wouldn’t do for us to be all sweaty and tired and mana-drained on the same night that we arrived, and that we had the rest of our lives to practice with magic.It sounded like a fair point to me. And we still had a bunch of the estates to explore.“This way!” Rosaline said as she pointed to a gathering of buildings off near the far end of the estate. She slipped a wing under my arm, then did the same to Awen and dragged us both towards the buildings.Unlike all the others in the estate, these had steel walls and tin roofs. The few windows they had were long and narrow and too high to see into from the ground floor.“These are the workshops,” Rosaline said. “They don’t get as much use as they once did, but they’re kept clean and ready, just in case.”She moved us over to the front of one of the workshops where a pair of heavy doors on rails waited. Rosaline finally let go of us to tug the door open.“Oh, wow,” Awen said as she took in the interior of the first workshop.Racks of tools and machinery lined the walls of the cavernous building. Chains dangled from mounts on the ceiling and, with a touch to a rune from Rosaline, a row of glowing stones lit up to reveal even more machines lurking in the dark. “This is workshop one,” Rosaline said. “This is the one for smaller things. The other two are a bit less generalized. One is entirely dedicated to working on gravitic engines for airships.”Awen stepped up behind Rosaline and carefully laid a hand against the side of what I suspected was a drill-press. “Wow,” she said again.Rosaline laughed. “I’m glad you like it! Amaryllis said that you were a Wyrmgineer in her letters, so I was looking forward to showing you all of this.”“Awa, are you a mechanic too?” Awen asked.Rosaline shook her head. “Nope. But I dabble. Most of the hoity-toity types think that it’s too crass for a lady to play with big machines, but I think that they’re all quite silly. Plus I run the biggest airshipyard in the kingdom. If I couldn’t tell a spanner apart from a wrench I’d be in a heap of trouble.”Awen laughed, but I think I missed the joke. “You’re that important?” Awen asked. She slapped her hands over her mouth with a gasp. “And we’re taking so much of your time. I’m sorry!”Rosaline snorted and waved the comment off. “Nah. It’s fine. You’re my sister’s friends, aren’t you? That makes you my friends too! Plus some of my work is really boring, and if I put it off long enough, someone else usually gets it done for me! Making new friends is much more fun.”I nodded sagely.“I guess that someone as pretty and talented as Miss Rose must have a lot of friends already,” Awen said.I held back a giggle as a scarlet blush raced across Rosaline’s face. Awen could be so earnest sometimes. It was cute!Awen rushed ahead and over to another rack of tools. She ran her fingers over all of them, then turned towards Rosaline and I with an ear-splitting grin on. "Can I really use all of these?" she asked.Rosaline nodded. "Sure thing! I'd ask that you try to keep things clean, but otherwise have fun. There are some bins with stuff in the back if you need materials. Or you can ask Gen-Gen. He can scrounge up stuff in no time."I think that if I were Awen at the moment, I'd be dancing a happy little jig. But Awen was a lot more reserved. She only clasped her hands together and smiled even harder. "Thank you. I've always dreamed of working in a place like this. There are so many things that I’ve wanted to try making. I... I’ll have to work as hard as I can while I can. Is... is there anything you need?""Well," Rosaline said, her voice turning a little strange. "I could use a bedwarmer.""Okay!"Rosaline's face flushed again. "I was joking!"Awen blinked. "Oh. I thought you wanted me to build you something to sleep with? I could make something with a warming rune and some water maybe?" She turned to eye all the tools, almost as if she was planning to start already.Rosaline wiggled her wings in denial. “No, no it’s... urgh, how are you this innocent?”It was Awen’s turn to flush. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t let out much until Broccoli saved me. If I didn’t understand something, it’s entirely my fault. I’d appreciate it if you could teach me. Awa, but you’re so busy. I’m sorry again!”Rosaline sighed. “I’m going to hug you now, okay?”“Awa?” Awen said a moment before Rosaline pulled her into a big feathery hug. “Miss Rose?” Awen asked. She didn’t seem averse to the hug though.“You’re just too much. Both of you.” She shook her head as she pulled back out of the embrace. “But you most of all. You remind me way too much of myself. For a long time the family didn’t approve of me doing things the way I wanted to. It got better though. And I’m sure it’ll get better for you too.”“Oh, it has!” Awen said. “Ever since I joined Broccoli and Amaryllis, I’ve had adventures, and I’ve flown with dragons, I went in dungeons and I went up a few levels too. I couldn’t be happier unless...” She glanced my way, blushed up a bit, then turned her attention back to Rosaline. “Awa. I just c-couldn’t be happier.”This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.I grinned back at her. I was about to hug her too, and then maybe I’d hug Rosaline for good measure, when something scuffed the ground behind me.I turned to find Amaryllis standing by the entrance. She looked around the workshop curiously before focusing on Rosaline. “I do hope you’re doing more than flirting with my friends.”“Flirting?” Awen asked.Amaryllis raised a brow. “Courting, wooing, teasing?” she said.Awen shook her head. “N-no, she wasn’t doing anything like that. We’re all girls. Girls can’t.” she paused to take a breath. “Girls can’t do that with girls.”Amaryllis let out an amused huff. “Tell that to my degenerate sister.”“Hey! It’s perfectly okay,” Rosaline said. She turned towards Awen with a reassuring smile. “It’s uncommon, but not unheard of here for two women to marry. After all, the only thing you need to fertilize an egg is some random man off the street.”“Humans are a bit more uptight, Rose,” Amaryllis said.Rosaline shrugged. “I know. I have to deal with them all the time. Did you come here to show these two to their rooms?”Amaryllis nodded. “Something like that. You can keep flirting with Awen if you want, it’s mostly Broccoli that I need.”“Don’t mind if I do!” Rosaline said as she pulled Awen closer. “So, tell me about all these great ideas you have. You must have picked up all sorts while out adventuring.”I hesitated for a bit. But Rosaline didn’t strike me as the sort that would do anything to hurt someone, and if she was, Amaryllis wouldn’t leave her alone with Awen. I followed Amaryllis out of the workshop while waving Awen goodbye.“So, what’s up?” I asked.She looked at me strangely, then looked to the sky. “I presume you’re not talking about the sky.”I shook my head. “Nope. I mean, what’s going on?”“Ah. I had a... discussion with Clementine and... it was productive. We’re still going to be here for a week or more before things are ready. I heard you were training with Rosaline?”“We did! Your sister seems nice.”Amaryllis nodded. “She is. Rosaline has a lot of, as crass as it may sound, love to give. She’s always been the sort to chafe at the way we’re supposed to act. Somehow, she won out. No one bats an eye anymore when she disregards propriety. I suspect that you’d be the same.”“I like her,” I said. “If we do more practice stuff, will you be there? It wouldn’t be fun with just one of my best friends.”Amaryllis huffed. “Moron. Of course I’ll be there. My own skills are growing dull with disuse. And besides, Rosaline has work. She should be there now, but as usual she ran away from her responsibilities.”“Didn’t someone say that your family’s airship company is doing really well?” I asked.She nodded. “It is. My sister can convince the stingiest man to empty his coffers with little more than a smile and a pat on the cheek. She’s sold entire air fleets at a mark-up and the clients left in a good mood.”We reached the main building in the middle of the estate and were greeted by a harpy in a maid’s outfit. She bowed to us and led us through the building. “Did you grow up with staff like this?” I asked.“Of course,” Amaryllis said.“It must have been hard to remember all of those names and such. I couldn’t imagine it.”She rolled her eyes, then gestured down a corridor. “That’s the guest wing. Pick one of the rooms. I think they’re all ready.”I nodded, then pulled Amaryllis after me. The maid ahead of us didn’t seem to know what to do, so I smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up. “We just need to talk,” I said.When we were in the privacy of one of the rooms, a very pretty room, with a big four-poster bed, lots of wooden furniture, and a nice view of the city to one side, I pushed the door closed and then sigh.“I’m sorry? I want to talk.”“That’s... fine?” Amaryllis said.I asked the question that was on the tip of my tongue. “Will your sister be nice to Awen?”Amaryllis huffed. “Of course she will. If anything it might help Awen a little. The girl’s been getting better, but it’s slow-going.”I nodded. “It would be nice if it works out. I... haven’t known what to do.”“What to do about what?” Amaryllis asked. She looked like someone walking on the other side of the fence from a rabid dog, not sure if she should keep moving forwards.I shrugged and crossed my arms against the cold. “About Awen.”“You noticed?” she asked.“I’m an idiot about some things, Amaryllis, but I’m pretty good with social stuff. It’s just that... I couldn’t think of a way to make everyone happy, so I kept putting it off. Was that wrong?”Amaryllis worked her jaw. “Probably not. You let her stew though.”“If I’d pressed the issue, she might have wanted to run away or something. I don’t want to lose a friend, and I don’t know how well she would do all on her own.” I shivered. “It was making me feel like a bit of a bad person.”Amaryllis eyed me for a moment, then, carefully, pulled me under one of her wings. “You’re an idiot, Broccoli Bunch.”I snorted. “Thanks Amaryllis. You’re the best.”“I am,” she said. “Don’t worry about Awen. We’ll figure it out, all three of us. That’s how you like things done, isn’t it?”I grinned. I had the best best friends.
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Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven — Sugar and Spice
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven — Sugar and Spice Breakfast the next morning was a little tense. We had little scones with butter and some beans, a few bowls of some sort of grain that was cooked in a light oil and some hardy greens to go with it all.I sat next to Amaryllis, Clementine took the head of the table and across from us, and Rosaline perched on the edge of a chair next to Awen. Clementine was eating as if she was a machine, her eyes scanning over some pages stacked next to her meal while her younger sister, Rosaline, had big bags under her eyes and seemed to miss her mouth with every-other spoonful.Awen seemed a bit distracted too. She was looking to me, then to Rosaline with an expression that I couldn’t pin.It made for a very quiet breakfast, which was just unacceptable.“So! What’re we doing today?”That jolted Rosaline awake. Her head was halfway to her plate already. “Work!” She said.I couldn’t snort because I had a mouthful of grains and that would have made a mess, but I did chuckle a bit.Amaryllis, on the other hand, just huffed fondly. “Finish your breakfast, you moron,” she said. “Did you plan on sleeping the day away at work?”“She’d better not,” Clementine grumbled without looking away from her papers.Rosaline yawned huge. “Yup. Got a sofa in my office and everything. Oh! Didn’t you girls need to come to the docks at some point? Clem-Clem mentioned something about that.”Clementine nodded. “They do. Their mission requires a subtle, unobtrusive way to enter Sylph skies. We can’t let them just ride along with some merchants. Too much of a risk there.”“Are we getting our own airship?” I asked.“No,” Amaryllis shot down my dream. “We’re getting a ship to bring us to Sylphfree and back. It’ll probably be one of the family’s ships.”“So we don’t get to keep it?” I asked.Rosaline giggled. “Maybe! Who knows? We have a few old sloops and skiffs.’“We are not sailing all the way over the Trenten Flats in a skiff,” Amaryllis said. “Neither of these two know anything about sailing, and while I don’t doubt that Awen would pick it up, Broccoli is likely to dash us into a mountain or capsize us in something as light as a skiff.” She huffed again, but this time it was an irritated huff. “Isn’t there a yacht free?”“You’re not taking a yacht,” Clementine said. “You’re meant to be subtle, and that would be the opposite.”Rosaline waved her wing in the air. “We’ll see what’s free. We got a few ships that came into the breakers.”“What are those?” I asked.Amaryllis was the one to answer. “It’s where old, dilapidated, broken down ships are sent to be scrapped.”“That would be perfect,” Clementine said. “Some old rust bucket that no one would look at twice.”“Are you trying to get us killed?” Amaryllis asked.“You haven’t seen the ship yet. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Clementine looked up from her paper and grinned. “Don’t be an idiot.”The two sisters started a nice friendly round of morning bickering while the maids and butlers, all looking very fresh and snazzy in their uniforms, came around to bring us some tea and such. I thanked the maid placing things next to my plate, then turned to Rosaline who seemed a bit more awake.“I really like those maid dresses. Do you think I could get one of those little hats fitted for my ears?”“Awa,” Awen whispered.“Oh, I’m sure you could,” Rosaline said. “But before that, you’ll need some proper clothes.”“I guess?” I said.She shook her head. “No no, proper-proper. Clem-Clem said that we’re going to a big to-do with all the important birds that are heading to the diplomatic meeting. You’ll need to dress all presentable-like to go.” Rosaline grinned the smug self-satisfied grin of someone that was about to play a trump card. “I can wear whatever because my reputation is so terrible. Maybe one of those maid dresses. They certainly get a reaction out of Awen here.”I smiled right back. “Maybe we can dress her up like that?”“N-no, that would be, it would be inappropriate,” Awen said with much arm flailing.Rosaline and I giggled over the sounds of Amaryllis and Clementine’s escalating argument.I looked over and made sure that Amaryllis was still taking some time to eat and noted that they had a sort of system where one of them would take a few nibbles while the other called them dumb, then they would finish eating and switch.Sisterly love was so beautiful!Rosaline smacked the table twice, then bounced to her feet. “Right, I’m done with breakfast. Come along my little chicks, it’s time to show you the world of airshipping.”I pushed my empty plate aside and jumped to my feet too. “Alright! I’m ready. By this time tomorrow, I’ll be Sky Captain Bunch.”Amaryllis squawked mid-argument and turned to me. “If you think for a moment that I’d let you be the captain, you’re pulling at the wrong tail feathers.”“You don’t have tail feathers,” I said. “But I do have a tail.” I wiggled my floof as proof. “Which means that I get to be the captain.”“That wasn’t even an argument!”Soon, a few more of the nice staff people came and took our plates away, and then we all shuffled off to finish getting ready for the morning. Now that Rosaline was awake, she was making quite a bit of noise, like a small feathery tornado set in the middle of the room. No one seemed to mind though, and the staff were all smiles as she hugged some of them and begged others for stuff with big eyes.Clementine just walked off to somewhere else in the house, which kind of left me and Awen and Amaryllis just standing there.“Do you want to show us your room?” I asked Amaryllis.Stolen story; please report.“You make it sound so juvenile,” she complained.I nodded. “That’s what makes it fun! Come on, I bet we’ll learn all sorts of things about you!”“You hardly need to see my room. What do you expect to find there?I tapped my chin. “People’s rooms can be very important. They’re that person’s most private place, so they’re very special. I wish I could show you mine. I had a lot of cool posters and a huge bookcase and even a little desk with a broken laptop. Oh, and some paintings!”“Ah, you paint?” Awen asked.I nodded. “I do. I watched all of Bob Ross.”“Um?”Amaryllis huffed, rolled her eyes, and folded like a piece of soggy paper. “Fine. I suppose I ought to show you myself before Rosaline or Clementine think to use it as blackmail. But if I hear one snicker from either of you, I’m practicing my puppetry with your bodies.” She led us both through the house. We had to climb up one of the sweeping circular staircases to the second floor and march down a corridor before we reached her room.She paused before her door, a talon over the curved handle.“You won’t mock me, right?” she asked.I couldn’t help but smile. She sounded a bit different, a bit more vulnerable. And yet she was willing to show us.I wrapped my hands around her waist from behind and tucked my face in the crook of her neck. Even my ears joined in the hug, wrapping around the top of Amaryllis’ head like a furry crown.“Get off me, you moron,” Amaryllis grumbled weakly.Once hugging time was temporarily set aside, Amaryllis spun the door handle and pushed into her room.Awen and I followed only to pause a step in.“Whoa,” I said.The room was bright. The walls were pink. Not the neon pink I was used to, but a soft pink with beige and cream highlights, with the occasional touch of soft pastel blues. The paintings on every wall were of flowery fields and open skies, while the curtains and drapes and even the bedding were all covered in little flowers.Amaryllis stood to one side, arms crossed and face burning as we took in her room.Half of her bed was covered in a sea of dolls and plushies of animals and fantastic creatures. One-a plushie of one of those flying whales-was as big around as I was.“Wow,” I said. It was the girliest place I’d ever seen.I stared at Amaryllis who was wearing brown pants and a black shirt under her familiar leather jacket, her goggles dangling over her neck. She looked for all the world like a punk ready to chew someone out.“Wow,” I heard Awen repeat.“It was a phase, that’s all,” Amaryllis said.“You liked cute things,” I said. “That’s... okay. It’s okay to like cute things. Right Awen?”“Awa, yes? I, ah, I like cute things.”“Shut up, both of you,” Amaryllis said. “I’m over it now. I just didn’t have time to change my room up and the servants kept it this way.”“She’s lying!” Rosaline sing-songed from the door. “She had plenty of time!”“Rose!” Amaryllis snapped.The older harpy slid into the room and pulled Amaryllis into a big birdy hug. “Don’t worry. Your friends won’t think you’re any less cool just because you’re the girliest girl who's ever girled. Some of them even like girls a lot.”“Are we going to the airshipyard now?” I asked. I couldn’t stop myself from rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet.Rosaline let go of Amaryllis to glomp onto me. “We are!” she cheered a moment before grabbing my hand. “C’mon, let’s go! The coach is waiting for us! You can mock Amaryllis while we go.”I shook my head. “I’d never mock Amaryllis, even if she had a side of herself she wasn’t ready to show us until now. It’d be awful to betray a friend’s trust like that.”“Idiot,” Amaryllis grumbled.I reached back and pulled her talon, and she, with a roll of her eyes, caught on to what I wanted and grabbed Awen’s hand next. We formed a little line as we moved through the house and out the front where a carriage was parked in the entranceway.I hopped on, then helped Awen up while my harpy friends flapped aboard.There were a pair of big stout horses at the front, both connected by reins to the front of the carriage where a young harpy boy in a spiffy outfit was waiting for us to settle down. As soon as all our butts were planted in place, he whistled and we were off.“The yards are a pretty dangerous place,” Rosaline said. “There are lots of machines and big moving parts. So stick close to me. We won’t be venturing into the most dangerous parts, but it’s best to stay safe.”“Okay,” I said. “I’ll keep all legs and arms and ears close until you say it’s safe.”Rosaline snorted and nodded. “Sure! I bet you’ll love it. It’s very noisy and chaotic. And there are a lot of very fit young men and women in sweaty uniforms.”Both Awen and the carriage driver choked at the same time.“Can we talk about literally anything else?” Amaryllis asked.I nodded. “So, which one of your plushies is your favourite?”“What?” Amaryllis asked. “What kind of dumb question is that?”“I had a teddy bear I liked a bunch. I slept with him every night. I didn’t bring him when I came here for adventure though.”“Please don’t compare me to you,” Amaryllis said.Rosaline leaned forwards. “It’s that one that looks like a harpy. I think it looks a lot like Clem-Clem, and it has these little joints, like a puppet.”“Rose,” Amaryllis warned.“I checked in on her last night and she was sleeping with it.”“Rose!“She had it cuddled up against her chest and was muttering about you two while hugging it.”I’d never seen Amaryllis’ face turn such an interesting shade before. “Rose!” she squeaked.
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