Ch: 47 The Savoy Truffle

Gary woke, when Otho and Dannyl let themselves in. His internal baby monitor gave him a sense of the rest of the house being filled to capacity and largely unconscious. 

The kids were just waking, no doubt feeling him stir in Shai’s arms. They snuck off together, leaving Shai and Becky to sleep. 

Gary eased downstairs with a tiny child in each arm, both were still hardly larger than a typical two year old and similar in size if not build. 

Beefy Wilford and slender Amy could share clothes, If Wilford wanted to dress like a Disney princess and Amy would tolerate some bagginess.

 The kids were waiting for toast and oatmeal, pushing the utter limit of Gary’s kitchen skills. It didn’t take a lot to get the bodies scattered around to shudder into hideous mockery of life.

When the coffee started brewing in his summoned french press, they were quickly surrounded by groggy men and women. Their hands reached out for the steaming pitcher with a desperate need that moved him… not enough to share though.

“Wait a few you animals, go bathe or something, shoo! Put that baby down Quinn, you aren’t even awake yet.” 

Gary snatched Wilford back from a young woman who was very excited about being an aunt. 

 

It took a bit of thinking to come up with a giant coffee urn he could summon. He would need to have Tallum show him how petcocks and ball valves worked in detail later.

‘Heheh, petcocks, ball valves… cool’ He thought to himself, since in one's own skull no one could ever find out how low his brow could go.

 

When the army of zombie friends and relations staggered back into the common room he was ready. 

“Everybody throw an iron bit or two in the jug, we’re out of coffee now. Tallum, you get to go buy it when the market opens.” The big man sagged visibly but perked up when he got a steaming mug first.

“Get back with the beans before Shai wakes up, I wanna live till lunch.” Gary was in the crowd somewhere, dispensing mugs to the towering red haired mob. 

Amy and Wilford were in the bath, using a still slumbering Harlan as a raft while Adelia supervised with a blissful smile.

Day two was more about recovery and snuggling in Casa De Ward. Rowdy relatives were banished to the garden in the bright morning sunshine. 

That kept things peaceful until the bath and coffee could wash away the hangovers.

 

Thankfully almost all of Shai’s kin were involved in the cult of Craft in some way, their own business summoned them away before mid day. 

 

Without a recognized apprenticeship, Gary was ineligible for the main Craft competitions and activities. The events for hobbyists and amateurs seemed a bit unfair by the same measure.

Shai, on the other hand, had only been a journeyman since autumn and had nothing prepared for the festival.

 

“T’would be an ill omen tae submit just any workpiece fer judgment on me first feast as a journeylass.” 

She smiled, but her competitive spirit was shining bright behind her eyes.

 

“Next year lover, we will own this thing.” Gary had Amy bundled in his coat, despite the sunshine. Wilford toddled along manfully, holding Becky’s hand and peering about in wide eyed fascination.

Amy was taking a more measured approach, staying warm, while craning her neck and directing Gary with an Iron hand.

“Go back to the glass blower… I wanna watch more.” 

 

“Maybe you just like how warm his furnace is? Is that possible?” Gary suggested mildly.

 

“Shai, Gary needs a bridle.” Amy found a ready ally in his cruel and heartless woman, Shai seemed excited at the idea.

“Annie suggested it, he doesn’t follow directions well.” The tiny monster said in a ‘whisper’ that brought snickers from the surrounding crowd.

 

“You’re all a bunch of gossips, don’t you have your own lives?” Gary asked, as they passed the marriage pool board. 

Gary and Shai were chalked on it as a prohibitive longshot for the next five years. A few risk takers had bought dates for the near future. 

They were a sure thing, locked in and sold out for every date after the end of his theoretical indenture, it was kinda sweet for a betting pool.

Gary strolled up and grinned at the booth operator with maximum sass on his face, merchant Fargnahagn (no relation) smiled back. 

“I want Gary and Shai on midsummer’s day… this coming one mind you.” For an iron bit he bought a wooden token for the date, hung on a leather thong.

With a flourish he passed it to Shai. “I’m invested now, no backing out once I spent money on it.”

 

“Fie! I did hae plans fer that date, there be a bonny kilted knees competition I had mind tae judge. Shai mulled that over for a while. 

“Tis an inconvenience but aye, I kin marry ye that day, an the law gets it’s arse out o mine way.”  She scooped up Wilford, slipped in beside Amy and kissed him long and hard, right there in front of the booth.

 

“Technically it is against the rules to bet on your own nuptu-...” Tony was silenced by Jennah, who slipped from the shadows like a specter, fixing the blonde giant with a stare so dreadful, he shivered in his armor under that terrible regard.

Silently she vanished, her shapely and colorful form fading from view, as though embraced into woof and warp of the dim regions between dreams and nightmares.

 

The blissful pair never noticed, carrying on through the fair without a worry beyond their tiny bubble of happiness, for today.

 

Back at the house Otho and Dannyl were still lounging in the pool discussing something. 

When Gary summoned a pile of construction paper and crayons for the kids, Dannyl lost interest in Otho and became the ideal child minder.

 

“Wow, that works. Lets hit up Esperanza while the kids are busy, my cacao should be aboard.” Gary whistled a happy tune while polling the mystery machine out of its place in the corner of Annie’s home

Otho the dog was more than happy to pull the cart and visit Falco. Poor sweet Annie dwarfed the dog cart to the point she was unable to fit in its traces. It would be easier for her to carry it like a howdah. 

Gary contemplated that idea for a minute. 

 

The crew was doing a brisk trade, but preferred customers who paid in advance got loaded up quickly. 

Annie had two giant jute bags of cacao on each side, with a hundred pound sack of sugar strapped on top for the short walk home. Hardly a burden for the mighty familiar but impressive to see.

The dog cart held more sugar, a small keg of vanilla pods, sealed with wax and a large bundle of colorful rolls of fine waxed paper. Sacks of dried fruits and berries and the real prize, a single small cacao tree, its roots wrapped in a jute bag of soil.

 

With a kiss for the entire party, familiars included; Esperanza declined to stay at the inn. “This one would rather not be so far from sweet Falco, perhaps another night.”

“Soon we shall travel again, this one enjoys docking on your pier…” Even Falco sputtered and squeaked at her crude innuendo.

“Very well, this one feels your current locale is too… landlocked. Does it not stifle your trade, to be so far from the action?”  She could not help moisten her lips in that distracting way, or conceal the tiny shiver that ran throughout her shapely form at the thought.

 

Gary grumbled a bit, eyeing the open spaces at the edges of the docklands. “Upstream, downstream, whatever. I like walls as much as the next guy, but a little more sunshine would be nice.”

 

Back home Gary did some work in the garden, summoning a prodigious barrel roaster for the job. 

The scent became distracting, even with a fitful breeze whisking away over the walls. Before long, Ivy had followed the trail and was observing with interest. 

“Most people assume you’re just roasting coffee again. What’s the next step?” Personal, professional and pleasurable interests were colliding wildly inside the blonde sorceress.

Her eyes flashed with pleasure at each new process. She tasted and re-tasted every step with almost religious zeal. Shai was along for the ride, but Ivy’s intensity was scary.

 

When all the nibs and a few pounds of coffee as well were finished, the cacao went on the cart again. Most of the sugar, vanilla and several jugs of cream trundled across the courtyard. 

Down the long curving ramp into the dark corridor of basement storage rooms, Gary lit a lantern on a pole to dispel the gloom. 

 

Only one room had signs of recent activity and enchanted glow stones spilled their clear yellow glow into the hall ahead. They trotted into that one and Gary started working again.

“I want all of us to be able to operate the machines safely before we go monster smashing again. That way one of us stays and runs the operation here.” 

 

Gary held up a handful of small bronze semi circles, inscribed with fanciful vines and ornate flowers in amber. He took one and carefully placed it around his earlobe, where it clung fast. 

“Fetching, no?” His foolish grin came blasting out despite his dislike for such enclosed spaces. “If you wear one of these and stay near these machines they will run on your innate mana. If you get tired, trade it off to a fresh person.” 

He winked as though they were not entirely alone in a magically lit, but otherwise obscure basement room. “Any of us ‘out of towners’ can run them constantly without trouble. Don’t let that get around.”

 

“We need a formal structure that runs without me, cause this is orphan’s business, not Gary’s.” He looked as serious as either woman had ever seen him. 

“We form a secret society, a trade guild and keep it tight. No leaks unless they are delicious and tempting chocolate. We play this secret close.”

 

His mad grin returned with a vengeance. “Operation: Sweet Tooth is fully underway. Release the truffles.” They went upstairs while the mill rumbled and mumbled to itself. 

“I gotta put glow stones in the hallway, it's too dark. We aren’t running that kind of secret society.” 

#

 

In the early afternoon, after lunch, before the awards and after the exhibitions of skill, folk were roaming and shopping idly. 

Orphan lads with shallow baskets filled with bright waxed paper twists began circulating in the crowds. For some reason they all wore bright green caps with the emblem of a rampant horse in luscious brown embroidery. 

Her muscular body’s highlights and the elegant ruff at her fetlocks were picked out in silver spider silk. Annie had final approval, as the mascot for the Sweet Tooth guild. 

 

Beneath those jolly caps and smiling faces, treachery lurked. They passed around freely, distributing their cargo at their own discretion. 

Pretty girls, kindly faces and folks working food stalls reaped a small bounty of the mysterious twists of paper. When the first few were opened by the curious, it did not take long for the lads in green caps to come back.

 

Now it was a single iron bit for a single plump twist of paper, no change and iron bits only. Each lad only had a dozen or so of the ‘truffles’ in his shallow basket. When empty, they would cheerfully doff their caps and cry; “So sorry guvr’nr!” or “Beggin miladys pardon!” before vanishing in the mob.

Within moments another would appear with an identical basket. It was almost as though they were not trying to make money, but rather spread their treats far and wide.

#

 

Back at the inn, on the surface, where watery sunshine warmed the afternoon, things were shaping up as expected.

“All out of the batch we made on the road, we have more running now.” Gary announced to a common room full of his female friends and new relations. All of whom could not possibly care less about anything right now, thank you very much.

 

Tawny had a fleck of chocolate on her cheek and was very distracted, trying to sniff it out in a room that had seen a lot of cocoa recently. 

None of her ‘friends’ cared enough to tell her that the anachronistic phone call was coming from inside the metaphorical house.

 

The men in the room looked exhausted and satisfied with the day’s events. The orphan lads kept half the iron bits, instantly making them the wealthiest non Gary orphans in generations. 

The Orphan girls got the other half, under Becky’s direction, making them a force to be reckoned with. 

 

Shai had objected to his plan, especially the outrageous bribe for the kids, but he stood firm. “All those bits will come tumbling back, in bronze marks and gold. I feel bad for the girls though. Gotta come up with something fun for them.”

 

Becky patted him on the shoulder and smiled. “Leave the girls alone, you’re an idiot.” Her smile sharpened after a moment. “We will get good rates on what we commission Gary. Trust that and just make it easier for everyone.”

 

He nodded along, mildly confused but happy. “...wait. What? Am I being strong-armed right now?” He bleated.

 

“Yup.” 

That smile was razor keen now, it bit like a spider’s kiss, he could feel the sting already. “Every girl on campus and some of the boys, noticed Amy’s dress. I kinda feel bad for not abusing you before this. If I’d known you could really sew…”

 

“That’s just my gifts being weird, if the girls wanna come over and get crafty while I tap my toes they can.”

 

Becky stared at him long enough for a clever dog to have solved the problem or decided to go chase squirrels instead, before she spoke.

“Orphans can learn to sew, but we don’t get money. So no materials to practice or use for us. We hustle and scrape for bits, but until we get out of indenture we can’t legally work for coin.” She had to spell it out, while he was busy being a man. 

“Only kids with at least one contract and who are over fifteen can. It’s the law.” She fumed and almost spat in old repressed fury.

“We don’t get contracts, only special cases like Ivy and Liam… and now me… and Dannyl…”

 

Gary took a moment to enjoy the feeling while she did the math for a change.

“Things are changing, but you’re right, talk to Ranza and Shai. Put your stuff on my tab. Don’t be shy, the price those rings are going to fetch will be ruinous.” He giggled insanely. 

“Some lord or lady slipped a note under my door offering to buy one on the sly for three gold marks. It felt like a lowball offer.”

“Get the girls together for a sewing circle when the stuff is ready, I’ll do what we did in the craft ward. Just good clean fun.” He took her by the hand and her down into the workshop. 

 

“I thought I’d lay it out plain.” He pointed to his long workbench against the wall. On one end stood the frame of a harp, just cut and bent into shape on a wooden form. Down the way, a pile of wooden laminate plates and leather was clearly meant for a suit of armor like Gary’s own.

The beginnings of a spear, sword and buckler were nearby as well, laid out and sized to her.

“I’m making all of these, decide which one you want a  Contract on. Ducky says more than one item contract gets dicey, psychically and psychologically, at least from the same maker.” He gave an excited wiggle. “And tell me what you want your theme to be.”

 

“My what?” Becky asked, still mulling her choices.

 

“Theme, like Liam has big bad kitty cat, Tawny has general goldenness. Shai does…” He paused and a slow smile made him look really dumb. He shook himself to break the spell. “Moving on. What do you want your thing to be?”

“Colorful. Fun. Not boring. I wore hand me downs in brown and gray till I scraped enough bits to finally buy some real clothes.” She eyed him up and down in his brown and gray workman’s attire. “Some people look great in that.” She said. 

“I guess… never met one myself…” Someone mumbled softly, as she went to look at the goods on display.

 “Is that more haunted prune tree? I don’t think I need that stuff anywhere around me, everything is complicated enough already.” 

 

“Thats regular haunted plum wood, the burl sections have that weird charisma effect, but they make up for it… anyway, this is straight grain haunted plum laminated with spider silk mesh, its natural resonance with regenerative, sympathetic and contagion magics make it ideal for non metallic armor crafting…”

 

And he was off. Becky slowly withdrew, using her new aura gift to make herself seem present and interested while she made her escape.

Gary continued talking, oblivious to the empty workshop. His own mind filled in illusory answers and  questions, provided salient interjections and generally approved of his combination sales pitch and TED talk. 

 

Becky slipped away with a sigh of disappointment in herself. That spell would only last a few minutes on Gary.

She passed Liam on the way down while she was headed up, that was convenient. A scapegoat, decoy and excuse in one.

 

Liam waited for Gary to finish his strange, singsong call and response with himself, congratulated himself on his own clear eyed attention to detail and smiled at Liam.

“Becky has a lot to mull over now, what brings you down in the dungeon Liam?” 

Whatever he had been on about seemed to have ended, leaving him as normal as he ever was. 

 

“I've been talking to Shai and I don't think a Contract Item is a good idea, at least right now. I have a new god in my head and War is finally quiet. It feels like I can think and breathe for the first time in forever.” They sat down in conjured furniture, Gary just listened quietly as Liam worked himself around to an answer. 

“But I'm confused, I’m struggling with feelings I never thought…”

He watched his friend struggle with the words for a while  before saying softly; “Feelings and emotions can surprise us sometimes, but they are ok to have. You can talk to me about anything Liam, this is a safe place for you.” Gary let a comfortable silence fall over the room. 

‘That felt like the kind of thing Thirp would say.’ He thought to himself as the moment stretched out.

 

The moment became minutes, then seemed to become a terrifying gulf. Finally he couldn't take it any more.

“I know you find me attractive Liam, that’s ok. I can’t say much for your taste, but Shai has me all to herself bro. We are still tight, right?”

 

That deadly silence lasted for an eternity. “You know I’m in love with Tawny, right Gary? I might have taken you for a tumble before Shai got her hooks in you…” He shook his head sadly. “I’ve been running from her and chasing her my whole life. Now I have a chance, maybe.”

“Wait. You get with dudes too?” Gary was trying to connect the dots… It was not going well.

 

“I talked to Shai, I know you have all these weird ‘hangups’ but sex is just sex.” He shrugged. “Otherwise, what else do we have to live for, besides each other? Orphans Gary, you are one of us.” Liam smiled at his friend and brother. “You missed your chance at me Gary, I'm going for the prize.”

 

The musician stood and went to his bench, cleared it away and summoned Liam’s spear from its rack on the wall. “I have some work to do, tell the gang I’ll be up soon. Love ya bro.”

  Liam hugged him from behind, swatted him on the ass and strolled upstairs smiling. “Love you too ‘bro’, you great looming oaf.”

 

The small number of accidental Contract items he had created early on, had been worrying him since he got tangled up in Shai. 

A few morning’s practice and he found the trick of unraveling those threads and taking back the tiny pieces of his essence strung on them like beads. The rest of the enchantments remained intact, it was a matter of picking out a few stitches and pulling the spell out whole.

At the moment the network of invisible magical strands pulled entirely free, the assembly dissolved into a mild tingle of warmth that flowed up his arms and dissipated.

 

Contract enchantment dispelled, soul fragments reassimilated successfully.

 

With a mild tingle it was gone, the magic fizzing into nothing, he dismissed the spear back to Liam's room unchanged otherwise.

# 

 

Gary made his way back upstairs, into a tranquil dream. All three kids were coloring on the floor, down by the fire. 

Shai sat on the sofa, a small conjured stove holding a kettle and a lovely tea service laid out on the low lacquered tea table.

Thankfully, this one remained innocent and undefiled. Of all the ways Gary had spent rainy afternoons this was a strong contender for first place.

 

Fifth bell came ringing in, along with a knock at the front door. Gary slid the peep hole open, ready for anything.

Otho stood outside, with Harlan, Tony, Naiomi and scarred Anglin, the elder priest of War.

 

Gary opened the door wide and held it for them. “You guys could have come through the garden or the shop door… come on in.”  He called into the house in a cheerful singsong. “Shai we have clergy over, hide anything naughty!”

“We came to the front door because we come on official business.” Otho said somberly.

 

Gary and Shai formed up in front of the children, while Becky moved closer to her two oblivious siblings.

“How official, and why?” He asked suspiciously. 

 

The group turned to Tony and stared at him.

“Well… Er… You see… It’s technical, this is the only temple of the God of Knowledge… and we are in the Adventure compound, not the temple district…”

 

“A single correction, this is my home, I live here with my family. Where is this temple?” He grinned in his most annoying way. “You nailed the rest of it though. Good job Tony.”

 

“This is serious Gary, opening a temple in the Adventure compound is expressly outlawed. You must either move to the temple district or dismantle this structure entirely.” Tony stood tall, doing his duty with dignity.

“I can’t trade in the temple district, can I?” He asked.

 

“No, that too is prohibited.” Tony said calmly.

 

“So was it Theo or Helene? No, I get it, don't tell me. It was both.” He nodded grimly. “I get it Tony, tell your buddy Order, he best not need anything from me any time soon.”

 

Tony looked even more uncomfortable. “There is no suitable space in the temple district for you to erect this structure. Regretfully, you will need to relocate outside the town until your status is clarified.”

 

“I’m booted out of town? That’s lame.” Gary steamed and fumed a few seconds longer. “They sent you guys so I wouldn’t fuss right? Well Thanks. It’s nice to get run out of town by friends and family rather than strangers.” His face hardened in a way Shai disliked intensely.

 

“This is where I draw a line. Is the Adventure guild kicking me out? Mikkel is the head in town. Is he on board?” That cold, sharp note was back again, chilling his voice, making it brittle. 

 

“Mikkel and the guild have no say in this. It is sacred law, not common trade law.” Tony said calmly. “I have no choice in this matter, please do not make things more awkward.”

 

“I still don’t concede this is a temple of any kind. Explain that to me.” Gary peered all around, taking elaborate sightings and measuring things off with his out thrust hands. “No stained glass, no altar… seems like a home to me. Would someone care to show me where the idol is?”

 

Tony’s armor creaked as he deflated a little inside. “Please, Gary, try to understand. If the high priest is in residence, this is the temple. That is the law, the permanent dwelling place of the high priest or priestess is the recognized temple of that god.”

 

Otho stepped in smoothly with an explanation. “Our Wheatford has a few temples. We have a temple of War, a temple of Order and of craft, but we have the temple of Joy, because I live there.” He smiled pleasantly at them. “That makes this twice a temple… or something of that nature. You keep life interesting Gary.”

 

Gary grinned at the tall knight, so uncomfortable already. “Sorry Tony, this is going to be rough. So Becky is High priestess of Knowledge, does that mean you guys acknowledge her cult now?”

“That remains an open question.” Tony said, nervously. “Though your status as high priest of Secret is not in question… oh, wait.”

 

“Keep going Tony. You’re almost there.” Gary’s insufferable smile was back. “Come on Tony, bring me all the way.”

 

Tony managed to look stone faced and pleased at the same time. “Order instructs that we withdraw at this time, please forgive the intrusion Gary.”

 

“Uh huh… So, to sum up, you can’t enforce this ‘request’, cause if you do, I get a vote in the clerical council… a high priest’s vote… and the orphanage becomes the temple of the god Secret… officially, by law.” He grinned happily. “I love lurking in the shadows and legal gray areas. I’d like to think some lawyer is having a nightmare right now…”

 

“Gary, be reasonable…” Tony squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. “The law is not a bludgeon to use for your own purposes…”

 

“Sending you guys was the right choice. Helene, Theo and whatever flunkies they brought would have had a rough night.” He waved cherrily. “No hard feelings, your god and I are having problems, we’re good.” 

He looked the others over, only Harlan shifted nervously. “I assume that Healer and Joy are not part of this little game, am I wrong?”

 

Naiomi was impossible to read, but her silence was enough. Otho simply smiled and nodded while Harlan tried to become small. “Anglin? Any input or is War still pretending things will work out somehow?” The scarred warrior bristled a bit, but remained silent.

Gary’s eyes settled on Harlan at last. “Papa Harlan… whether Theo sent you or Craft, my beef is with them.”

 

He clapped his hands briskly. “We will be going on a road trip soon, if our status isn’t settled when we get back… Well, things are already complicated, here’s hoping for a bit of clarity.” 

 

He looked over the gathered clergy slowly.

“Until my status is settled, I will operate as I have been. Within the law and without interference. If Theo or Helene want a taste, they know where to get served. War, Order and Craft too, they know where I live and who all lives there.”

 

He smiled cheerfully, all hostility blown away on a manic breeze. “Friends and family are welcome to stay for dinner and a bath, Anglin this is your invitation. It’s leftovers, we had a busy weekend!”

#