Page 56 of Sorcery, Swords & Scones
Val slowed her pace so that she walked alongside Sass, smilingdown at the dwarf. “You ready to figure out how Florin enchanted your amulet?”
Despite the humid gusts of sugar-dusted air coming from the bakery, a chill slithered down Sass’s spine as she recalled the feel of the cool stone pressed to her neck. “It’s not my amulet, and the sooner I’m rid of it, the better.”
Before another memory could make the dwarf shudder, Val’s hand enveloped Sass’s smaller one, comforting and solid. “Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
Ahead, the door to the apothecary shop jingled as it was opened.
“I know you do,” Sass said as they followed the rest of the group inside the dimly-lit shop. She drew in a deep breath, the air thick with the scent of herbs and fragrant oils that had become familiar and comforting.
There wasn’t more time for talking or even exchanging sweet looks, as Iris was standing behind the counter with Erindil beside her. Books were sprawled open and stretched down the length of the glass. Sass had thought they’d be in the back room, but as she glanced at their number, she understood why they weren’t crowding into the cozy space.
“Lock the door,’ the apothecary requested as she flicked up her gaze.
Val paused to snap the bolt into place behind them, flipping over the “open” sign so that the gold letters on the black paper read “closed.” Luckily the windows of the shop were already darkened, so there was no chance of villagers peeking inside.
Cali emerged from the back. “Oh, good. Everyone’s here.” She cut her eyes to Iris. “Have you told them?”
Iris shook her head, and her curls jiggled. Then she lifted her gaze and smiled. “I thought I’d read about enchanted jewels somewhere, and I was right.” She tapped a finger on one of the open pages. “The Traveling Chronicles of Verendel the Graytalks aboutencountering a charmed jewel. In this case, the jewel was hexed to slowly poison the wearer.”
Lira gasped and her gaze found Sass, who swallowed hard.
“Not that we believe your jewel is poisonous, my dear.” Erindil beamed at Sass, holding out his hand. “But if you’ll pass it to me, I can start the process of determining the charm or curse.”
Sass pulled the velvet bag from her pocket and passed it to the elf, glad to be rid of it.
Iris pointed to a line in the book. “The chronicles detail how Verendel the Gray used a simple spell to reveal the magic.”
“Which I feel confident I can perform,” Erindil said. “Revealing spells can rarely go wrong or inflict harm, and as an elf, I have the power to survive magic if it happens to rebound.”
Despite the elf’s reassuring smile, that only sounded mildly comforting.
The elf poured the amulet into a black bowl that Iris produced. Then he held his hands over the bowl, whispering, “Arcana Revela.”
The room was so quiet Sass could hear her own quick breaths, as Erindil paused before repeating the incantation. After a few more rounds, Val slid Sass a look and a shrug.
Before Sass could return the shrug, the bowl started to shake and Erindil’s hands glowed as he gripped the edges. The elf’s eyes were closed and his head tipped up, and Sass wondered if the spell was as harmless as he’d believed.
Then as quickly as the bowl had started rattling and glowing, it stopped. Erindil opened his eyes, and a satisfied grin stretched across his face.
“Well?” Lira asked, her voice a hush.
Erindil locked his eyes on Sass. “It’s most certainly enchanted, and whoever cast this spell meant to use the amulet to control you, my dear.”
Sass tried to steady her scattered heartbeat but failed miserably.
Forty-Three
Sass stopped shortwhen she walked back into The Tusk & Tail.
She’d expected to see Rosie overwhelmed by the task of passing out scones and pouring chai. She hadn’t expected the merry din that greeted them. The chai and pear scones appeared to be going over well, and even more than the usual number of customers crowded around tables and bellied up to the bar.
Rog stood in place of Vaskel and was obviously standing on a stool so he could clear the bar. Now that she looked more closely, it seemed that Rosie was splashing brandy into the chai mugs as she made her way around the tables. That explained the louder than usual laughing and the lute player who’d gone from strumming lilting melodies to rollicking dancing reels.
“Are Tin and Pip dancing the halfling two-step?” Cali muttered from behind Sass.
“Looks like Rog and Rosie have rolled out the gnomish hospitality,” Vaskel said.
“Looks like she’s rolled out the brandy,” Lira added, with a nudge to Sass’s ribs.
