Night-Owl Trucking

Wednesday, 5:57pm

By the time Luz accompanied Billy Gibbons through the end of the second verse, she had settled Hooty in a loose tangle of other Eastward-trending trucks. She bobbed her head, tapped her fingertips on the steering wheel, and beedle-ee-dee'd her own version of the guitar solo. Amity watched the prairie rise and fall with a smile. When she felt comfortable with her relative speed and position in her new-found entourage, Luz gave the taller girl a bright smile and a nod.

They began to test each other with questions about the Azura series while the Nebraska farmland rolled by. After a rapid-fire back-and-forth that established their higher-than-average knowledge of series lore, Amity looked up the infamous GWA fan forum "Hundred Hardest" quiz. The grinning brown-haired girl accepted her challenge, and she began to read one question after the next. Luz had an impressive 30-streak of correct answers until she stumbled over the names of a little-mentioned kingdom's monarchy.

"I have to say, Luz," Amity leaned her elbow on her armrest as she curled a single eyebrow toward the shorter girl, "Some of those I didn't remember, I'm just— wow." She giggled when Luz gave her a small bow, the slight motion hamstrung by her seatbelt and the steering wheel. The pale girl tapped her phone and grinned when the card flip revealed the next question. "Oooh, okay, here's a hard one." Amity gave Luz a shrewd, calculating look, "What is the surname of the Blind King's valet?"

Luz let out an oof like she'd been punched in the stomach.

"Is it—? Yes, I remember. It was only mentioned twice in book f—" Amity began reading the additional details aloud.

"Morgen!" Luz interrupted with a self-satisfied shimmy in her seat, "Morgen, of course."

Amity let her hands fall into her lap as she laughed in surprise. She wrinkled her eyebrows and scoffed, "I can't believe you know that!"

"Who doesn't know Runeard Morgen?" Luz gave her a snarky grin as she emphasized certain portions of the character's name. She held up a finger, like, ah-ha! as she added, "That is a deep-cut, I'll grant you that. I probably wouldn't know if I hadn't studied her supporting character and location names a number of years ago. Featherwhyle hid clues all over the place."

Amity paused and turned toward Luz, asking, "What do you mean?" as she brushed slender fingers through the green hair above her ear. That hint of new knowledge just within reach, at her fingertips and ready for the taking, gave her voice a familiar hungry note.

Luz cocked an eyebrow and watched her for a moment before she asked a question of her own. "What does morgen mean in German?"

Amity made a confused sound and an expression to match before she slowly replied, "...Morning?" The tanned girl grinned, and Amity almost had to audibly swallow from the light sparkling in her eyes.

"And when did Armik the Vizier try to steal the throne?"

"In..." Amity blinked, and sat back in her seat, "in the morning."

"Runeard Morgen. Rue the morning." Luz rolled her eyes and laughed, then waved a hand toward Amity's phone, "Look up Armik's name in Albanian."

"Albanian?" The green-haired girl tap-tap-tapped on her phone with a quizzical twist to her lips before her mouth fell open in shock.

armik: IPA: [aɾmik] (masc.) (indefinite plural armiq, definite singular armiku, definite plural armiqtë), From Latin inimīcus ("enemy").

"Oh my god."

Luz smiled so wide, "Right?"

"Oh my god," Amity turned large, golden eyes her way, "Are they all like this?!"