Hagan complied and neatly recoiled his tail after setting the box down.He moved closer to Amellia as if to protect her.“There was a holo at the end, after I’d opened the box but I didn’t see a trigger for the message so it may have been one time only.”
Cheline nodded and murmured a few ‘hmm” sounds as she circled the table.She rapped her staff on the floor, startling Amellia into flinching violently and asked, “What came out of the box when it was opened?”
“A cloud of sparkling glittery stuff,” Hagan said with distaste.“I breathed some of it in and a portion of it fled the room, going to find Amellia, I fear.”
“I didn’t see anything,” she said as her aunt turned to her and raised her penciled-on elegant eyebrows in silent query.“I was out with friends and fell ill at about the same time though, as near as we can pinpoint it.”
“Open the box for me,” Cheline said to Hagan.
He obliged, and then removed the leaves and the vine, spreading them out as per her orders, being careful not to allow any of the items to stray off the edge of the cloth onto the wood.Amellia’s aunt studied the array for a few minutes, rocking back and forth on her heels, chewing her lip and moving to assess the pile from various angles.
“Powerful indeed,” Cheline said at length, straightening her spine with obvious effort.Resting one hand on the small of her back and rubbing gently, she added, “I’m going to have to study potential remedies for a bit before we can continue.”She gestured at the far wall and Amellia pivoted to see a huge bookcase stuffed with old fashioned paper books and even assorted scrolls tied with ribbons.
“But do you think you can help us?”Hagan asked.“How can your magic have any effect on a curse cast at a temple on my planet?”
Eyes narrowed, Cheline stared at him.“Magic is magic, my friend.There are rules, bargains, prices to be paid, loopholes to be negotiated.The fact this isn’t the planet of origin helps a bit with neutralizing the curse but time is short and I need to concentrate.I have a task for the two of you, which will also conveniently get you out of my hair for a few minutes.I need to think, not answer endless questions.”Her voice had a snap of annoyance.“Go into the shop, to the bracelet display on the western wall.There’s an entire section of braided ones.I want you to each select one and it must be whichever attracts your eye first.”She shook her finger at them.“No second guessing.Allow yourselves to be drawn to the right one.Bring what you select here to me and hopefully by then I’ll be ready to proceed.”
“And this nightmare will be over,” Hagan said with relief, flicking a loose scale off his forearm.
“Oh no, this is merely the beginning.”Cheline made a shooing motion with her hand.“You’re wasting time—go on.”
Amellia stepped into the hallway with Hagan but then paused, saying, “I need to ask her something.You can go ahead into the shop if you want.”
“I’ll wait for you right inside the entrance.”Shoulders squared he strode away.
Smiling broadly, Amellia hurried into the conference room.Voice low, she said, “You’re doing a great job, auntie.I can’t thank you enough.He’s definitely relaxing and he hasn’t shed any more scales since we got here.Well, except for the one which just fell and it was loose when we were at my apartment.I’m grateful for all this stuff you’ve done, to make things look official, real I mean, not fake.”
With a frown, Cheline glanced up from the ancient, dusty book she was perusing.“Child, this is all real.You’re both in grave peril and dawn will bring your deaths if we don’t succeed.Lucky for you Iama wielder of old and sacred powers and knowledge or lost scales would be the least of his problems.Now scoot—I’m busy and you have a task to accomplish.”
Blinking hard, astonished by the severity and seriousness of her aunt’s tone, Amellia retreated from the room and staggered to lean against the wall, her stomach churning and her head spinning.Real?Auntie thought this was all real?Could it possibly be true?Cold chills ran up and down her spine.
She jumped at a touch on her arm.Hagan had come in search of her.“Are you all right?”he asked, assessing her from head to toe.
“It’s starting to sink in how much trouble we’re in,” she admitted.“My aunt is pretty persuasive.”
“Fortunately for us she appears to be a woman of great wisdom and power.”He took her elbow and gently guided her steps toward the store.“Let’s go pick out bracelets, shall we?”
Amellia was familiar with the layout of the store, having worked for her aunt when she was in school.Nothing much ever changed inside Spices, Spells and Sundries.As she led the way through the aisles, she took a deep breath of the scented air.“I used to love it here when I was a kid and then I was a part-time clerk when I worked my way through school.She doesn’t do much obvious business during the day but she’s rumored in the family to be rich.I suspect she does a lot of those private readings and other consultations after hours.”
“I like it here,” he said.“The atmosphere is welcoming and the aroma reminds me of temples on my home planet, with spice and incense.Even though I’m counted as a warrior not a mage, I feel at ease here.”
As she approached the display they’d been ordered to find, Amellia stopped.“All right, the bracelets are around the next corner.She said not to hesitate and to pick the first one that catches our eye so I think we should go separately.You first.”
Without another word he made a right turn around the end of the shelves, moving out of Amellia’s sight.Moments later he returned and she held up her hand.“Don’t show me—I don’t want to be influenced.”Hagan stepped aside and Amellia made the short distance to the wildly colorful woven bracelet rack.She remembered her aunt bought these from a tribeswoman who lived in the mountains and came to trade twice a year.It was always the same elderly woman, accompanied by a changing cast of grandchildren and then great grandchildren but the weaver herself never seemed to grow any older.Idly she wondered if there was a new weaver by now, it having been years since Amellia worked here.As she walked up to the cascade of colors and patterns, she found her attention drawn to a section where green and purple dominated.Taking her last two steps to close the distance, she found herself reaching for a bracelet so high up on the hooks she had to balance on her tiptoes to snag it.
Driven by a sense of urgency she couldn’t explain, Amellia ran to rejoin Hagan, grabbing his hand as she darted past him.“Come on!”
He jogged easily beside her and allowed her to re-enter the private room first.
Cheline was seated in a large, elaborately carved blackwood chair which Amelia couldn’t remember having been in the room before but which was surely too heavy for her aunt to have moved from somewhere else.She was leaning her chin on her hand, her shoulders were slumped and her voice was weary.“You’ve made your choices?”
“We have.”Hagan stepped forward and held out the one he’d chosen, which Amellia saw was purple-red-and-white, with tiny golden bead accents.
“And yours?”Cheline pointed at Amellia.
She displayed the green one which had drawn her attention.“This doesn’t mean we’re engaged or anything, does it?”she joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Cheline shook her head, unamused.“I suggest you think twice before joking about such serious matters.The choices you made are excellent and bode well for success.Now I want you to tie the bracelet you selected onto your partner’s wrist, signifying you accept the bond and are in this combat together, as a team,” Cheline said, rising and reaching for her staff.“The curse wants to separate you—there’s a lot of hatred woven into this black magic we’re dealing with.”
