The Necromancer

Chapter 5, Part 6

Lamneras was the only person in the dining hall, waiting for me with a plate of eggs, dark circles under his eyes, and a tired wave of greeting. I moved toward the food table and began to dish up my own breakfast of oatmeal and (of course) peaches that were leftover from the feast.

"Don't drink the juice," Lamneras stopped me as I reached for the handle of the pitcher. He held up an empty crystal phial that had presumably contained his forgetfulness potion. "I've been up all night brewing the Nepenthe potion. And thank the gods, too: I just barely convinced the captain of the guard to have a quick glass of juice before he went off to arrest Lord Melquas and the others. As soon as Lord Berman eats, everything will be back to normal. So unless you want to forget the last 12 to 24 hours, opt for water instead."

I put down the jug and filled my cup with water instead, then joined him. I dropped my plate to the table with a clatter. "Forgetting yesterday doesn't sound so bad," I sighed. Then I told him about how I'd gone to find Skip last night, and how I tried to kiss her.

"Oh?" Lamneras asked, sounding surprised.  "You two hadn't kissed yet?" He took a hearty bite of eggs. "I just thought you two were trying to hide your relationship."

"Wha... our relationship?" I cried out. "We don't... Skip and I aren't..." I couldn't quite manage to spit out all the right words in the right order.

A smug grin was plastered all over Lamneras's face. "Once again, buddy, it seems like you're the last to know. But you do like her," he said. Not as a question, as a fact. "And she likes you."

I blushed, and my mouth started trying to deny it before my brain could chime in. That just caused Lamneras's smile to grow even more. "Besides," I told him. "It really doesn't matter whether I like her or not. She's only after Amcerlizar so that she can bring her husband back to life."

"Ah." That got him to stop grinning. The dining hall was fairly silent but for the gentle sounds of the waves below drifting through the open windows. "Sorry to hear that, man. That... sucks." He poked at his breakfast like he didn't really want to keep eating it, but just wanted something to do with his hands.

"Yeah." I ate a spoonful of oatmeal, which tasted dull even with the sweet peaches that Lord Berman was so proud of. And I couldn't help but remember the gentle taste of wine on Skip's lips last night.

Just in time to interrupt the awkward silence, Skip appeared in the doorway looking just as tired as Lamneras. Her black curls were all over the place, instead of neatly done up in a bunch on top of her head. But she had a warm smile on her face as she greeted us. "Morning!" She started heaping food onto her plate, and reached for the juice.

"Ah," Lamneras told her, "you might want to have water instead. I spiked the juice." He showed her the bottle too. "It's a forgetfulness potion for all the guests that will brown out a good amount of the last day or so." Lamneras shot me a sudden embarrassed look of realization. "But if that's what you'd prefer..."

"No," Skip cut him off and glanced quickly in my direction. "I wouldn't want that." She reached for the jug of water while Lamneras kicked me under the table and quickly flashed his best told-you-so grin in my direction. 

"Hey," I chimed in, trying to change the subject as quickly as possible, " I forgot to tell you, Lamneras: I figured out how we are going get Amcerlizar to come to us!" Skip finished dishing up her food and joined us at the table as I explained the plan, and Lamneras's role in all of it. He seemed relatively pleased that he wouldn't have to be in any direct danger.

"So now," Skip concluded for me, "the only thing left is to find a place for this whole thing to go down. Like you said, we can't exactly bring Mog into the city."