Alcingeria Chapter Twenty Five: Another Safe Night

After returning from hunting, Ceberus and Redmond are back at the bunkhouse. Ceberus and William announce that they will be going to Queen Yuka's castle to report in to work to avoid suspicion.

Chapter Twenty Five Another Safe Night:

“Redmond! Are you out here to help?” Raymond asked.

I looked over to him and nodded.

            “I sure am.” I said.

He grinned.

            “Great! Can you go through and collect all of the ripe crops that you can, as well as the weeds?” It would be a big help!” Raymond said.

            “No problem.” I said.

            “Thank you so much! Here, take this basket.” Raymond told me, handing me a basket.

I took the basket from his hands and began looking through the rows of crops, casting my gaze downwards as I had done the first night that Robert, Macalister Don and I arrived at the bunkhouse. I spotted a ripe carrot and I reached down, picked it from the ground and put it in the basket. I moved on, keeping my gaze downwards and I bumped into someone.

            “Oh, sorry!” I said, looking up to see who it was.

It was Stella, beside her was Erin. They were looking ahead of themselves. I bumped into Stella’s back.

            “It’s alright, Redmond.” She said.

I looked to see what they were looking at. About twenty feet away standing in the field I saw Tabatha and Don. Tabatha’s pointed hat was silhouetted in the late twilight and Don was holding a basket with both hands in front of him, and Tabatha had her staff. She was using manipulation magic and causing the vegetables to levitate and float over to Don’s basket. She used her staff to manipulate their movement through the air.

            “It’s fascinating, is it not?” Erin asked.

            “Yes, it’s.” I said, still looking at Tabatha.

I saw her put a few more vegetables in Don’s basket using manipulation magic. After a few more, Tabatha accidentally ended her levitation spell too early and the vegetable missed Don’s basket by about a foot.

            “Nice miss!” Don taunted.

Instead of making a witty comeback of her own, Tabatha lifted another vegetable, a carrot, out of the ground using her manipulation magic and she brought it in close to Don’s basket. She moved it slowly until it was about two feet from Don’s basket. I saw Tabatha jerk her staff forward slightly as she held it. This caused the carrot to fly towards Don at quite a speed, hitting him right in the face! Don let out a yelp of pain.

            “What was that for?” He asked while holding his face with one hand.

Tabatha giggled and turned her back to Don.

            “Oops, my mistake. It must have slipped…” She said playfully.

            “Well, in that case your manipulation magic could use a little more work.” Don said with a smug expression.

            “If you don’t want another vegetable to meet your face, I suggest you take that back.” Tabatha said with a grin.

            “Not a chance!” Don said teasingly as he turned and ran across the field, careful not to step on any crops.

Right as it seemed as though Don was going to make it back to the house, Tabatha used her manipulation magic to make a carrot levitate out of the ground. She held her staff out, controlling the carrot in the air with the staff’s movements. She wound back with her staff and swung it in the direction of Don. The staff remained in her hands, but the carrot was sent hurdling towards Don at high speed. In a few seconds, the carrot hit Don in the back of the head, sending him crashing to the ground. I broke out laughing and so did Tabatha, Erin and Stella. Across the field I could see Macalister and Robert pointing at Don, holding their stomachs. They were out of earshot but I can be positive that they were laughing themselves to death. I could hear Raymond laughing as well. Francella came up behind me and took notice of the situation. He burst out laughing.

            “I’m starting to really like Tabatha.” Francella said.

            “I think that the same can be said for everyone. Well, everyone except for Don that’s.” Stella said.

I could see that Don was now picking himself up. He raised a hand to the back of his head where the carrot struck him. He cast a glance at Tabatha, only to find her doubled over, laughing twice as hard as before.

            “I told you! I told you to take it back!” Tabatha said, regaining some of her composure.

Don said nothing. He just turned and walked to the house. I couldn’t tell if he was angry, sad, embarrassed or all three. Most likely all three. I felt bad for him. He was getting embarrassed a lot more than usual since we started staying with The Vipers. In all fairness, Tabatha warned him to take the comment about her magic back and he didn’t, so I suppose that he got what he deserved. Still I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. I went back to work, turning my attention to the ground once more. I spotted a carrot that looked ripe and I plucked it from the ground, shaking the dirt off of the crop and placing it in my basket. I saw a ripe cabbage and placed it in the basket as well.

            “Hey, Redmond. Can I talk to you?” I heard a familiar voice call.

I looked up to see Francella.

            “Francella, how can I help you?” I asked.

Francella fidgeted his fingers slightly. Was he nervous?

            “I wanted to ask you, what do you think about what those men said the night that Don rescued Tabatha?” Francella asked.

            “What? About how they said that Queen Yuka will have our heads?” I asked.

Francella nodded grimly.

            “Yes.” He said.

I shrugged.

            “Well, I think that it’s a serious threat. Queen Yuka is quite malevolent and it’s not wise to trifle with what she desires.” Francella said.     

            “Are you saying that you regret helping to save Tabatha?” I asked.

Francella shook his head with a frown.

            “No, no it’s not like that. See, I think that we should keep someone out on watch at night, just in case those men come back.” Francella said.

I shrugged again.

            “It could be a waste of time. I mean, if the men haven’t come yet, what makes you think that they’ll come at all?” I asked him.

            “That’s what I’m worried about. They haven’t come yet, so I’m thinking that they’re getting ready to make an attack on us.” Francella said.

            “Have you told Ceberus?” I asked.

            “No, I don’t want him or anyone else to think I’m paranoid.” Francella said.

            “Well, that may be all it is. Look at it this way; we stole a witch from those men and they shouted that Queen Yuka would have our heads. I don’t think that they were serious. After all, Queen Yuka has vampires under her control that she uses to hunt dangerous criminals, she has fairies for who knows what, and she wants to capture witches and burn any who resist or make too much trouble. Tabatha resisted, so my guess is that Queen Yuka does not want Tabatha anyway. Ceberus said that those men come by at night and capture witches and they burn a few of them. They may hunt witches during the day and burn the ones that don’t cooperate. Tabatha is among those that didn’t cooperate, so Queen Yuka probably thinks that she’s dead, and if the men tell her that they let a witch be rescued, chances are that Queen Yuka will punish them. We have nothing to worry about.” I said in order to calm Francella down.

Francella’s nervous fidget went away and he smiled and nodded.

            “When you put it like that, it does seem as though we have nothing to worry about. Thank you.” He said.

            “No problem.” I said.

Just then, I heard the dinner bell ringing. I looked back at the house to see Martha standing in the doorway ringing a dinner bell.

            “Oh, boy! Dinner is ready!” Francella said as he began walking to the house.

I saw everyone else in the field make their way to the house. Martha stopped ringing the dinner bell and disappeared inside the house. I arrived at the house with everyone else and we walked through the door. The light coming in through the windows indicated the end of twilight and the beginning of dusk. I walked over to the table, sitting next to Don and Raymond. Don looked a little depressed. Probably about what happened earlier. There was a cup of water at everyone’s seat. The smell of freshly cooked meat hung on the air. I could hear the back room door opening and Martha walked out carrying two trays of meat and vegetables.

            “A very special thanks to Ceberus and Redmond for hunting these boars in the forest. This meal couldn’t have happened without them.” Martha said.

            “Redmond, you shot a boar?” Robert asked.

            “Shot it while it was running away, he did.” Ceberus said.

            “That’s quite impressive! Way to go!” Erin said.

            “Thank you.” I told her.

            “Ceberus, Redmond, you dish yourselves out first.” Martha said.

I obliged. I grabbed my knife and fork and cut a piece of wild boar off of the slab that was on the tray and put it on my plate. I scooped some vegetables up with my fork and I put it on my plate.

            “Thank you, dear.” Ceberus said when he was finished dishing himself out.

I used my fork to scoop up some vegetables from my plate and I put them in my mouth, chewing them. Ceberus finished dishing himself out and the others began serving themselves. They all finished after a few moments. Ceberus cleared his throat.

            “Everyone, William and I won’t be here for the majority of tomorrow. We may not even be back for a few days.” He said.

            “Why not?” Asked Tabatha.

            “Well, William and I work as espionages. We work for Queen Yuka and she trusts us. We take information from Queen Yuka and we relay it to the rest of The Vipers. In order for Queen Yuka to keep trusting us, we need to venture out to her castle, just so she does not get suspicious of William and I for not showing up for a while.” Ceberus said.

            “That’s interesting! Alas, it’s a very risky job, no? I mean, one slip up and you’ll be sent to the guillotine.” Tabatha said.

William nodded grimly.

            “Yes, I have thought about that one fact for quite some time. I would be lying if I said the thought didn’t keep me up at night.” He said.

Tabatha nodded slowly.

            “I see.” She said.

            “Anyway, William and I will most likely be gone before dawn. We need to head out as soon as possible.” Ceberus said.

            “Where is Queen Yuka’s castle? I haven’t seen it around here.” I asked Ceberus.

            “Oh, the castle can’t be seen from here. It’s towards the center of Vulrock. We’re just on the border. By horse it won’t take us long at all to get to Queen Yuka’s castle. William and I will rent horses in town tomorrow morning.” Ceberus said.

            “Oh, okay.” I said.

I cut the boar on my plate with my fork and knife and I put some of the meat in my mouth. It tasted pretty good. It had a very strong flavor that was thick and meaty. There was no sauce or anything on it. I cut another piece and I put it into my mouth, chewing and swallowing it. I took a swig from the cup of water that was next to my plate.

            “Very good, Martha.” I said once I was done chewing my boar.

            “Thank you, Redmond.” She replied.

“Hey, I can’t help but notice that we haven’t played cards after dinner in a while. Anyone want to play?” Francella asked.

The idea did sound appealing. I haven’t played games in a long time.

“Sure, I’m in.” I said.

“I haven’t played in years, but sure. I’ll play. I think I still remember how to play poker.” Robert said.

“Cards… Yes. I’ll play.” Macalister said.

Don looked around at everyone.

            “I think I’ll pass. Thanks though.” Don said.

Tabatha looked at Don with raised eyebrows.

            “Why? Are you scared I’ll beat you?” She asked.

Don shook his head.

            “What? No! I-“ Don started.

            “Everyone, Don’s scared of losing to a girl!” Tabatha said to everyone at the table.

Don started laughing.

            “Alright, fine. You’re on.” He said.

            “Okay. The rest of you, are you in?” Tabatha asked.

            “Sure, I’ll play.” Raymond said.

            “It sounds like fun.” Stella agreed.

            “Why not? I’m no good at cards, but it sounds like fun.” Erin said with a shrug of her shoulders.

            “I’m not going to play. William and I need to get our sleep if we want to leave early in the morning.” Ceberus said.

            “Me too. I’m not going to play either.” William said.

            “Good night you two. Have a safe trip tomorrow morning.” Martha said.

            “We will, dear. Thank you.” Ceberus said as he and William walked off to the bunk area.

When Ceberus and William were out of the room, Tabatha looked to everyone.

            “Is everyone done eating?” She asked.

Everyone nodded. Their plates were all empty, as were their water goblets. Tabatha stood up from her seat and pointed her staff at the table.

            “Levitate!” Tabatha said.

She raised her staff a little and the plates, forks, knives and cups all rose above the table a few centimeters. Tabatha turned around and pointed her staff to the kitchen sink. The plates, forks, knives and cups followed where she moved her staff and when the plates, cups and cutlery were over the wash basin, she ended the spell and everything fell into it.

            “Well, that makes my job a little easier.” Martha said in awe.

            “No problem, Martha.” Tabatha said.

            “Tabatha, do you always have to say the name of the spell in order to cast it?” Francella asked.

            “Well, not exactly. I can cast spells without verbally activating them, but it is more difficult to cast the spell without activating it verbally. If I say the name of the spell in my mind I can still cast the spell as if I said the name out loud.” Tabatha said.

            “That’s fascinating.” Erin said.

            “I have to admit, being a witch does have its moments.” Tabatha told her.

            “Being hunted and burned at the stake isn’t one of those moments, I’d take it?” I asked.

Tabatha laughed.

            “No. I am very grateful to you all for saving my life that night. Thank you all so much.” Tabatha said.

            “It’s no problem. We’re just happy that you’re alright.” Stella said.

            “Well, thanks to you all and my magic I am.” Tabatha said.

            “I suppose I have your magic to thank for my wellbeing as well.” Don said.

Tabatha looked to him.

            “Yes, you do. Magic does come in very handy… For a lot of things.” Tabatha said with a grin.

            “Oh, like hurling vegetables at people from forty feet away?” Don asked.

Tabatha sighed and hung her head for a moment. Then she looked up at Don with her deep brown eyes.

            “Look, I’m sorry about what happened in the field before dinner. That was un-called for. I was out of line.” Tabatha said.

Don didn’t say anything for a moment. I think that he was stunned by the fact that Tabatha apologized. Frankly, so was I. Tabatha was cocky and playful… and a little full of herself.

            “Thanks, Tabatha. It means a lot.” Don said with a small smile.

            “It doesn’t mean I’ll stop teasing you, though I do admit that what I did in the field was over the line.” Tabatha said with a giggle.

            “I’d expect nothing less.” Don said condescendingly.

            “Don’t patronize me, boy.” Tabatha warned.

Don laughed, but turned away from Tabatha.

            “Where are the cards?” Don asked.

Tabatha closed her eyes for a moment, then pointed her staff at the deck of cards, which was still on the table that Ceberus had put them on when we first came here. Tabatha angled her staff upwards and the deck of cards levitated off of the table. She directed the deck of cards to land on the table. She ended the spell and the deck of cards fell onto the table.

            “See? I don’t need to verbally activate a spell in order to cast it.” Tabatha said.

            “Who wants to deal?” Robert asked.

            “Allow me.” Tabatha said with a grin.

While keeping her staff on the ground, she pointed it towards the deck of cards.

            “Levitate.” She said.

She then flicked her staff slightly in the direction of each one of us and a card landed in front of each of us. She did this until we all had five cards.

Robert looked at the cards like they were diseased.

            “What’s the matter, Robert? They won’t bite.” Tabatha teased.

Robert cautiously picked up the cards. I suppose he still didn’t trust Tabatha. I was starting to, she seemed like a nice girl on the inside.

            “What are we playing?” Tabatha asked.

            “Well, we normally just play ‘best hand wins’.” Francela said.

            “Five cards?” Tabatha asked.

Francella nodded.

            “Okay then.” Tabatha said as she placed her staff behind her chair.

We all turned our attention to our cards. I picked mine up and fanned them out. I had a two of diamonds, a jack of spades, a jack of diamonds, a ten of hearts and a seven of clubs. Not a bad hand. I saw Don smile.

            “Don, don’t you know what ‘poker face’ means?” Robert asked.

            “Well I do, but what’s the fun in gambling if you can’t let everyone know that you’re going to win?” Don asked.

            “No, you think you’re going to win. This is why you’re so bad at gambling.” Robert told him with a laugh.

            “Everyone ready to lay down their cards?” Francella asked.

            “I sure am.” Raymond said as he laid down his cards.

He had a ten of clubs, a ten of spades, a three of hearts, a jack of clubs and a king of diamonds.

            “Sorry to tell you Raymond, but I beat you.” I said as I layed my hand down.

Raymond leaned forward in his seat to inspect my cards.

            “Wow, nice hand. That’s going to be pretty tough to beat!” Raymond said.

            “Well, you beat me.” Francella said as he laid down his queen of hearts, king of clubs, five of diamonds, six of clubs and ace of hearts.

            “I’m afraid the same can be said for me, Redmond.” He said.

He put his cards down. He had a four of diamonds, a ten of diamonds, a nine of clubs, a two of hearts and a king if hearts.

            “Did I win?” Macalister asked as he layed his cards down.

I looked at his cards. He had a five of clubs, a nine of diamonds, an eight of spades, an ace of clubs and a seven of hearts. Robert raised an eyebrow.

            “Not even close, Macalister.” He said with a laugh.

            “Tonight’s game just got interesting.” Stella said with a knowing grin as she laid down her cards.

Her hand consisted of a queen of diamonds, a queen of spades, a queen of clubs, a six of diamonds and a six of hearts.

            “A full house.” Raymond said with awe.

            “Anyone feel like folding?” Stella asked.

            “You beat me, Stella.” Erin said with a laugh.

She laid down her hand. She had a two of clubs, a two of spades, a three of clubs, a three of diamonds and a three of spades.

            “Another full house.” Robert said.

            “Mine wins.” Stella said.

            “No need to brag, Stella.” Erin chastised.

I looked to the only remaining people who hadn’t laid their cards down yet; Tabatha and Don. They were looking into each other’s eyes, trying to read each other’s minds. Each of them wore a hard, unreadable poker face. They were silent, as if closed off in their own world.

            “This is intense.” Francella said.

            “Yes, but the only question is, will Don win, or will he lose to Tabatha?” Robert asked with a grin.

            “My money’s on Don.” Macalister said.

Macalister reached in to his pocket, pulled out his one remaining gold piece and set it on the table.

            “Macalister, you do know that’s only a figure of speech, right?” Robert asked.

Macalister put the gold coin back in his pocket.

            “Of course I knew that.” Macalister said.

Robert laughed but didn’t say anything. Just then, Tabatha’s poker face melted away into a knowing grin.

            “Are you ready to lose, boy?”

Don scoffed.

            “What’s with the ‘boy’ thing? How old are you, anyway? I certainly look older than you.” Don said.

Tabatha giggled.

            “That’s a question for another time. Right now is game time. Now, are you ready to lose?” Tabatha asked.

Don grinned.

            “No, but I think you are.” He said as he laid down his hand.

Down sat back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head, shooting a cocky grin at Tabatha. Don’s hand consisted of a four of spades, a four of hearts, a four of clubs, a five of hearts and a five of spades. Tabatha stared at his hand and raised her eyebrows.

            “A full house.” She said.

Don’s cocky grin did not fall from his face.

            “Indeed.” He said.

Tabatha stared into Don’s eyes. I could tell she was building dramatic tension. She raised her hand of cards and slowly set them on the table face up. I looked at her cards. She had an ace of spades, an ace of diamonds, a nine of hearts, a nine of spades and… A jack of hearts.

There was a moment of stunned silence. We all looked to one another.

            “Well, it looks like Stella wins.” Francella said with a laugh.

            “Followed by Don in close second.” Stella said.

            “In third was Erin.” Raymond said.

            “In fourth was Tabatha.” I added.

            “Everyone else had bad cards. Myself included.” Robert said with a grin.

Robert looked at Tabatha.

            “Are you sure you can’t use curse magic? I think you put a bad luck curse on my hand.” He joked.

Tabatha giggled.

            “No, you just aren’t good at cards.” She said.

            “Well, good game, Don. Well played.” Tabatha said with a grin as she reached over the table to give him a handshake.

Don reached out and shook her hand.

            “Thanks. You played a good game yourself. You had me sweating there for a minute.” Don said.

            “Well, I don’t know about you all, but I’m going to bed. See you all in the morning.” Tabatha said as she walked to the bunk section of the house.

            “I’m going to turn in, too.” I said, walking after Tabatha.

            “Good game, everyone!” Francella said.

            “Indeed it was.” Raymond said to Francella.

Raymond clapped him on the back as he walked towards the bunk room.

            “I’m tired. I can’t stay up for more than another few minutes.” Stella said as she yawned.

            “Me, too.” Erin said as she staggered off towards the bunk area.

I reached the bunks and I went to the one I usually sleep in. I laid down in it and crawled beneath the blankets.

            “Tabatha? Can you teach me to use magic?” Macalister asked.

Tabatha burst out laughing, thrashing around in her bed.

            “Are you a warlock?” She asked through her laughter.

Macalister paused for a moment.

            “No.” He said.

            “Then I can’t teach you. Good night, Macalister.” Tabatha said, still laughing.

There was a brief silence.

            “Oh, Tabatha?” Don asked.

            “I’m trying to sleep.” She replied, turning over in her bed.

            “Tabatha, please?” Don asked.

            “What is it?” She asked in return.

            “You never answered my question. How old are you?” Don asked.

            “I’m sixteen. How old are you?” Tabatha asked.

            “I’m sixteen, too.” Don said.

            “What month were you born in?” Tabatha asked.

            “February.” Don replied.

            “Me too. What day were you born?” Tabatha asked.

            “February 30^th, 1674.” Don said.

Tabatha giggled.

            “I was born February 7^th, 1674.” Tabatha said.

            “You’re older than me.” Don said in disbelief.

“Yes. Now, go to sleep before I use manipulation magic on you and put you outside with the vampires.” Tabatha giggled.

            “Good night, Tabatha.” Don said.

            “Good night.” Tabatha replied.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think!

Reviews

[KeithKVH]

Before I state anything else, as premature and surprising as it may be... I ship Don and Tabatha after this chapter. I feel like their personalities have good chemistry, IF they can also manage to get along as well, which they proved in this chapter.

The card game was good, I worried a bit when someone said Redmond's two pair was tough to beat though. There were quite a few full houses, which could pop up and beat him, but with that many people someone might get a straight or even three pair as well.

Tabatha and her manipulation magic is really useful, I feel it's going to keep showing up. Something that hasn't been a big part of things in a while though that I'm happy to see, Macalister... I got a good laugh out of him again. That boy needs to have someone else look after his money for him instead. x.x

Suggestions: Aside from a bit more dialogue distinction when the characters say "Thank you" (e.g. Thanks, Thanks a lot, Thanks a bunch, try to make it fit whichever character/situation, and "Thank you so much" is really for more important or dramatic situations. Martha as a motherly and polite character feels fine with "Thank you" though), I had a bit of trouble with just on part:

“I’m afraid the same can be said for me, Redmond.” He said.
“I’m afraid the same can be said for me, Redmond.” Raymond said.

In this situation I couldn't tell who was talking, it didn't make sense for it to be Francella who had spoke last, and for a moment I thought it was a new participant who hadn't been properly identified. I finally noticed Raymond who'd spoke second to last hadn't shown his hand.

[Ryan Henderson]

Thanks for the review! I will incorporate that change.