This wasn’t how he’d seen this mission playing out, to say the least.
However, there were very good reasons why he’d made it as far as he had in the Shifter Patrol Corp. He was an expert at blending in, at observing without being observed, and, he had to admit, he had just been given an excellent opportunity to investigate the streets of Portsmith in his pegasus form. While he thought it likely that the tremors were originating from around the lighthouse, it would be good to rule out an origin from within the town itself. Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise.
He cast his gaze about, examining the town as he made his slow way down the road. There was nothing unusual to be seen, no sense of danger; just windswept gardens, tinsel-draped shopfronts, and sticky-faced children staring up at him with wonder and delight as he passed, waving their chubby hands and calling out excited greetings.
His pegasus lifted itself into an even haughtier posture, if that were even possible.As well they should! At leastsomeof the children around here are showing our majesty the respect it deserves.
He gave the comment the silenceitdeserved, and looked out over the scenery once more – the cheering townspeople, the ramshackle fishing huts, the plodding horses, the confused goat. In the distance, the ocean roared as it slammed against the rocky shore; up ahead, thebwohnkof an abused tuba drowned out the plaintivebaaof a sheep that had apparently been dressed up as one of the Three Wise Men. The brisk breeze whipped up his mane, and brought the sweet promise of spiced hot chocolate from somewhere up ahead.
It was about as far as possible as one could get from his sterile life behind a desk at the Shifter Patrol Corp. If anyone had ever asked him if he wanted this kind of life, he would have politely but firmly declined, saying it was very much not for him. And he would have meant it, too.
But now… now, he wasn’t so sure. Out here in the fresh open air, the smell of sea salt on the breeze, the laughter of children ringing out along the streets… he was having trouble remembering exactly why he was so married to his job.
It wasn’t that he didn’t love it – he did. Sincerely. There was nothing better than helping someone who needed it, and he also had to admit to a certain satisfaction in helping his team of agents become the people he knew they had the potential to be.
But it had become…stale. He worked. He went home. He did the requisite amount of housework required to keep his apartment in order. He slept. He went back to work.
He didn’t do anything just for fun. He didn’t do anything spontaneous. He certainly didn’t prance about in children’s Christmas processions.
You should parade us about more often. The citizenry clearly love to see it.
He never let his pegasus do what it wanted, either. True, it did need to be kept on a short leash, for everyone’s sakes, but still. It was clearly relishing its time here in Portsmith, and Hardwicke had to admit that he’d been neglecting it, keeping it boxed up behind a shiny desk in a shiny office in a shiny city.
Here, it was almost easy to forget exactlywhyhe’d shut himself off from the world… and now it all came back to him at once.
Celeste.
It wasn’t Portsmith itself that had cracked his carefully built defenses, charming though it was; it was her. He never would have let his guard down without her being here, never would have allowed himself to do anything beyond exactly that which needed to be done.
It was a problem. The thought of going back to his desk and doubling down on the tightly controlled life he’d been living for the past twenty years was almost physically painful, but how else would he cope with having run back into the love of his life, only to lose her yet again?
You should simply tell her already. Tell her that you are the one for her. She will know.
And you should mind your own business,he snapped.
Itismy business. And you know I am right.
He didn’t have much to say to that – any reply he could possibly give, the pegasus would either bask in its own sense of superior smugness or go off to a corner to sulk, neither of which were appealing.
In any case, the parade appeared to almost be at an end – the already-slow pace was becoming slower still as they approached the town center, and the cheering was getting louder. Hopefully soon someone would unhitch him from the other horses and he could make his escape, then try to make his way toward the lighthouse unseen.
The whole thing had been a bit of a bust – no unusual activity detected, his actual plan delayed, and a bit of mild embarrassment on top of it all.
Maybe he could turn back to his human form briefly and grab a hot chocolate before flying off. He’d just realized that he was starving, and itdidsmell good –
His pegasus flared its nostrils, jerking its head up and stomping its hoof. It was all he could do to force it to keep walking before the horse behind him ran into him.
What? What is it?
The pegasus sniffed again, before nodding decisively.
Magic.
What? Where?
Up there. Ahead, on the right.
He strained his eyes to see, trying to look nonchalant and not like a spooked horse that was trying to make a break for it. But even before he saw it, hefeltit.
