Oracle (Book I)

Munchberry Muffins

"Oh no!" Caprice cried. She sprang up and tossed the covers aside and swung her feet over the side of the bed.

Wakening, Bossa sprang up jostled her hammock so badly it swung wildly.

"Who—whut—!" she shouted.

"I've overslept! Miss Karrigan will have me flayed—"

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down, it's safe," Bossa said softly after a moment of blinking and frowning. "All is well, Caprice. You're safe. Karrigan's not here. Not here in our room anyway." Drawing a deep breath, she rubbed her eyes and squinted into the cheery daylight shining in through the window. "Let's go downstairs and get breakfast."

Bossa moved her legs over the side of the hammock. She leaned forward carefully...and THUD! She promptly slipped out and tumbled to the floor in a heap.

"Bossa!" Caprice hurried over on bare feet. Kneeling down, she helped her up with a hand on her arm.

"Are you all right?"

"Thanks." She dusted off her chemise. "I'm fine."

"Have you ever thought to lower this thing a little?" Caprice gestured at the hammock.

"That was just a miss," Bossa flapped a hand dismissively. "It happens. Especially when I'm woken up just after the break of dawn without breakfast."

"I'm sorry," Caprice said sheepishly. The sensation of oversleeping when she was usually up and about by this time had been so unsettling that she panicked.

"It's okay. As long as you eat with me." Reaching into her rucksack, Bossa pulled out a colorful dressing gown with deep scarlet lining. It flowed lightly as she slipped her arms in its sleeves and tied it loosely around her hips. "To the dining hall."

There were any number of things Karrigan wanted done at this time in the morning and before noon. There would've been other chores to attend to around the manor besides.

"I can't..." A loud, tortured gurgling sounded. Caprice froze, clamping a hand over her stomach, the source of the sound.

Which had Bossa nodding and smiling. "Your tummy disagrees with you. Let's go downstairs. Come on," she cajoled.

"Karrigan will be expecting me."

"Isn't there something you'd rather be doing than tending to her?"

"I don't know. I mean, I-I've never had much of a choice."

"Ever thought, 'Breakfast without feeding Karrigan first sounds simply lovely. Hey, I'll do that'."

Caprice blinked. "I don't have to...bring Karrigan breakfast?" What a disturbingly wonderful thought. She didn't have to brush, comb, and coif her hair. Attend to her in the bath. Dress her. Kneel and put on her shoes.

"No. Sleep in. Eat in bed. Go for a walk. Find a haunt or two. Though they might be sending around your school schedule and other such stuff soon though. Want me to bring you something from downstairs?"

Distractedly, she glanced at Nezzle's empty bed. It was exactly as it had been last night, unmade and untouched. "No, no. I'll come with you. Nezzle didn't come back? And can't that bed fall? It doesn't look very safe for her to sleep there."

Walking over, Bossa gave the posts where the two beds connected a hard pat.

"Every spell known to magic kind, a wad of grim tree chewing sap between each post, and no small amount of luck has held those two beds together just like that for the past three years no matter how many books she puts up there. And Nezzle came back but she left early."

Caprice dressed in the only clothes she had, arranged her hair, and slipped her shoes back on.

Bossa padded barefoot to the door. She turned back, saying, "Oh, I forgot: As a rule you have to add three things to the room that have nothing to do with schoolwork."

~

The moment Caprice's hand touched a delicious-looking munchberry muffin on one of the food-laden tables in the Grand Hall, Karrigan strode in flanked by a small knot of flawlessly groomed students.

Bossa cast an exasperated gaze in the opposite direction.

Caprice's hand was frozen on the muffin and Karrigan was fast approaching. Bossa closed Caprice's hand around the baked good.

"Let's go eat outside."

Caprice only nodded. She took the muffin and they made a wide berth around the side of the hall, weaving through the milling students and losing sight of Karrigan.

In the Main Hall, Bossa led Caprice out one of the first door on the west side. It was as bright and cloudy. They walked to the forest edge and sat in the partial shade.

Caprice opened her sticky fingers and stared at the bright blue and red-purple bits of crystalline berries in the muffin. It smelled exactly the way she remembered.

"When I was little, I wanted to eat nothing but these muffins ever since my mother split one between me and my brothers. The Whitehare's cook had let her have it."

"I'm just going to say this: Don't be afraid of her. She can't do anything to you that she hasn't already done. Except kill you and we're not going to let that happen."

"You don't understand," Caprice whispered. Her stomach gurgled again and she bit into the muffin. The soft sweetness of the bread and the crunchy, tangy bits brought tears to her eyes. "Its good," she mumbled through a mouthful.

Bossa leaned back on her elbows and stretched out her naked legs. "If that oathbreaker tries anything, we're here for you. And her royal pastiness definitely doesn't want to mess with Nezzle." Bossa pointed to a beaten path in the arch of the trees. "She'll be here soon. She gets hungry around this time, so let's wait for her here."

"What's she doing in there?"

"Nezzle sometimes goes in and picks rare herbs in the Deep Onri. People will pay her a fortune to do their seek and gathering assignments for them."

"Picking things with my mother is fun sometimes. My grandma and one of the elders must have taught her every plant in the village."

"Oh, you'll soon get sick of teachers sending you into the woods looking for stuff to prove you know what it is and how to put in potions. Nez thinks its an art. Always saying something like, 'Borrowing from the earth, you can't just yank out its roots. It takes care'." She shook her head. "My grandma used to say things like that... Anyway, I'll go back up and grab us some food."

"I'll come and help."

"Stay here. Nezzle will be coming out from right there soon. She sees you and she'll know this is the spot for breakfast. Did you see anything inside that you're hungry for?"

As her stomach gurgled again, she mumbled a few things that she'd seen in the Grand Hall before they dodged Karrigan.

Bossa propped a hand on her hip and sent her a sly look.

"Getting used to being waited on already?"

Caprice's cheeks heated. "N-no, I—"

"Relax, I'm teasing you. I'll be right back with a feast to remember." Bossa sprinted back up to the castle, her robe waving behind her like a banner. Turning as she went and jogging backwards for a few steps, she shouted, "And don't worry. Nothing's going to bother you here. This is one of the invulnera. A safe place where the animals don't come."

Good. I'm not sure I want to be alone and stranded near the woods in a place nicknamed 'The Wilds', Caprice thought.