Phony Potions

Chapter 50

The Contractor, with Lena's help, had moved us all to a small village near Blythe named Elsirae. Everyone was worried at first, with no wall and no guards to speak of, that we would be quickly discovered and chased down. Yet Elsirae was small enough to be invisible, and no one came searching for us. Lena even saw to Bernard's request that the several hundred coin in the shop's safe was split evenly between his two older lady Assistants. Solace for the shoe shop's sudden and unexpected closing.

The Contractor took a precaution of disguising Mallow whenever we were to go outside of the small cottage the Contractor had constructed for us to stay in. Specifically, he enchanted the door, and whenever any of us would leave, we would transform into a disguise he had placed on us while still in his sights. This meant that we could walk around without fear of being captured by any forces that might be hunting us in connection with the mysterious events of Winsor's Age Day.

This made Mallow like the Contractor more, as she was, for the first time in her life, the same size as everyone else. She would go and hang out with the farmers' daughters frequently, getting involved in the local gossip and intrigue in a way she never could before. Mallow's disguise changed her hair and eyes to natural colors, and of course made her much shorter, but still retained her likeness somewhat in the face.

One day, she ran through the door, slammed it shut, and stared at me, breathing heavily. I stood up from the table where I'd been sitting.

"Mallow, what's wrong?" I asked in a panic. She swallowed once, catching her breath. It'd been odd calling her Mallow when she looked nothing like Mallow, but I had gotten used to it after so many hours.

"Thomas of the mill said he likes me," she nearly shouted. "A boy likes me! A boy likes me!" She ran around the table in circles twice, guffawing. They may have shrank her but she still had a distinct masculine air about her. Then she stopped in place and stared at me. "What are you doing?"

"Uh." I moved my hand to cover the paper. "Writing a letter."

"Oh, to who?" she asked. I floundered to come up with a name before Mallow waved her hand and spun around in a circle once more. "Oh who cares is the better question. Sorry, Dad..." She danced in place, her shadow jumping in the candlelight from spot to spot on the wall as she moved. "I got to go tell Bernard! He's going to be SO jealous!"

And with that she was gone, darting through the door toward Bernard's room. I moved my hand again, revealing the piece of paper. I furrowed my brow, staring at the word. It was a simple enough form. Just five areas to fill in. But I couldn't make sense of this one here on line three. Let's see, I'd filled out 'Name,' using my family name for the first time in over a decade. Then I'd gone to experience, which with some difficulty, I'd listed the herbs I knew to identify. Then... this line. What was it...?

The door opened again and Sir Osoro's telltale heavy footsteps entered the room. He must have weighed a good hundred pounds less than Bernard, but the confidence of his footfalls always left a louder impression. Living together for half a week, I'd already begun to pick up on each person's peculiarities.

"Snow and Hexes, he won't let me go." Sir Osoro pulled out a chair, and threw himself down into it. He rested his elbows on the table and rested his face in his hands. He was disguised as well, but still handsome, mostly switching out his dark hair for a spring blonde and his Majikast associated coppery skin with a faint peach. I found the fact that his disguise was still handsome somewhat amusing, as Osoro hadn't had his magic since we'd fled the sewer. Either Lena or the Contractor had decided to keep him handsome even while in disguise.