Phony Potions

Chapter 1 part iii

iii.

I was already faint from splitting my food with the little brat. I'd been worried I might starve before I found a buyer. My fatigue made the long, winding cobblestone path surreal. I climbed those stones through splotchy shade cast by the flowering trees lining either side of the path. Petals fluttered off, sprinkling the air with pleasant, dreamy scents. I stopped and inhaled. The ache in my arms lessened, even as the little Giant baby kicked against me.

"Shush." I patted the downy hair on the top of her head. Her wet, orange eyes blinked at me and she gurgled, reaching up and grabbing my sleeve. She pulled, much stronger than a normal baby, and as my seam tore I'd laughed. A little bit more damage, compared to what she'd already done to me was worth the reward I was about to get.

I stammered through my introduction at the door, the Assistant basically had to lead every word out of me. I'd never been inside a sorcerer's mansion before and had no idea how to act. Even he was imposing, his clean pale clothes, his tidy nails, his articulate and clipped speech. Even being a lowly servant to an Arcanacrat, you lived well.

The lobby of the mansion was about as big as my parent's farm house had been growing up. Another servant, this one a well-fed young woman, had immediately attended to me, dusting travel soil off of me and the Giant baby. Then we had been escorted, politely but forcefully, to a secondary room so none of the other guests that might come calling would get the wrong impression. That made me laugh. The Assistant hadn't even bothered lying to spare our feelings. That's how far below the spell caster that owned this place I had been – still was.

I sat at first on the fine but uncomfortable chair in the smaller drawing room. My eyes skimmed the books on the shelves. I read some of the words. 'The,' 'Nature,' 'Season,' 'Cold,' 'Weather,' 'Sun,' the basics I'd picked up in my few meager years of schooling. Others I'd stopped at and sounded out, unfamiliar to me. It'd been about three years since I'd really bothered to read anything besides signs. I bet this sorcerer read all the time. I bet he even read fiction.

As I saw the Giant baby getting into a vase full of ferns, I quickly climbed off my own chair and sat down next to her. I was exhausted beyond all reason, but I had to try and distract her. We went through our litany of games, that while time consuming, had made the time on the roads admittedly pass faster. Peek-A-Boo had been one of her favorites. She also enjoyed it when I counted her toes. I'd picked up enough sleight of hand while fancying I could someday become a cutpurse (before realizing I was far too old to learn) to trick a baby that I was finding stuff behind her ears.

I became so engrossed in entertaining that when the door opened, it took me off guard. A small child burst into the room. He tilted his head and then sat down next to the baby. I'd wondered if if this was the sorcerer I'd come to sell to. He certainly had not had his Age Day to become an adult yet. He hadn't even grown any of his adult teeth yet. He couldn't rule the city.... Could he?

"Ugh." He groaned. "Not another baby."

"Excuse me?" I asked. He had a plumpness in his cheeks and a gentle roll to his well-fed stomach beneath the fine clothes that hinted he was a sorcerer's child. He huffed impatiently at me.

"I said, 'not another baby." He jabbed a finger at her. "We got one this year. We don't need another one. I'm supposed to be the kid!"

"A Giant baby?" I asked, nervous. Was this a thing? Did lots of people bring Giant babies to sorcerers? Was it like a city warming gift? The boy shook his head.

"No, just a normal baby." He'd pouted before crawling around on his hands and knees toward the baby's distracted face. She gurgled at him. "This one is way more better than my lame little brother. He can't do anything. Especially not glow."