Water's Reflection or Hero's Guilt

Chapter Thirty-Eight

          The following morning, the Royal Mage was quick to get out of bed and don his apparel. His silver sword too, despite the mixed feelings he carried about the weapon. This was not the time to be picky about their weapons after all; they had so little of them to fight June. However, he had decided to tell Terrance of something he had kept from him the day before. He hadn't been sure to trust Terrance enough to inform him of the cure of lycanthropy. He had a single vial. It might help planning their next attack...

         He met Sir Byzantine when leaving his room. The knight seemed to have gotten as much sleep as he had, although he managed a polite smile. Neither of them spoke when they descended the stairs.

         The taproom of the Golden Scale inn was rather empty; obviously, most guests were still sleeping. It would be a while before breakfast was served. However, Terrance, Maya and Adam sat at a table in the corner. Lupine lay at Adam's feet. When the Royal Mage joined them, Adam smiled. “Slept well?”

         He did not answer, nor did Byzantine. The Mage watched Maya and Terrance; the little girl sat on his lap and played with the folds of his cloak. “How long have you been up?” he asked.

         “Terrance couldn't sleep,” said Maya.

         “No, I couldn't. She's been up since sunrise.” Terrance shrugged. “We came down here, because we were sick of sitting in that room. It gets cramped.”

         Michael Westwind nodded, then turned to Adam. “How about you?”

         The trickster smiled and shrugged. “I slept fine. Got up early to walk Lupine, then joined our happy couple. Didn't have much troubling me though... It's strange to walk outside. The city is asleep. They don't know what's about to happen.”

         “What is about to happen?” asked Laurent Byzantine. He looked around the group. “Did you come up with a plan?”

         Terrance sighed. “Our plan is to do nothing yet. We need to figure out some more things before we can attempt anything. We have to know what that demon inside of June is planning exactly.”

         “And until we know that?”

         “We'll do what you and Whitesands did: we keep the casualties to a minimum.”

         They continued the conversation on how to do this; it had been troublesome for Mage Whitesands and Sir Byzantine to reach all the guard posts. They could not risk for June to find them, and they had to keep in mind that she could have spies. Anyone might betray them. The Royal Mage did not join in. He barely listened. He watched Maya, who looked utterly bored. The seven-year-old watched the grownups talk and occasionally glanced under the table to see Lupine. When she noticed how her father stared at her, she smiled and got off Terrance's lap. She took a seat next to him.

         “How are you doing?” Michael Westwind asked his daughter. She shrugged. Her hands fiddled with the ring around her finger. It was much too big for the little girl and did not fit at all, but that did not interfere with the illusion resting upon it. He frowned. “You don't like that ring, do you?”