Chapter 17: Chapter Twelve Part 2

Back in the present, Hazel pinched her brows and sighed into her oatmeal. Edelweiss lifted his head from his own bowl, oats slopping down his face. But she patted him away.

“Headache,” she said. “Bad memory.”

“Which one?” Edelweiss asked.

“Weaver Cycla,” she quietly admitted.

“Hm… an old one. You should rest tonight, Lady Webb,” he said. “These have been very busy days.”

“Mm…”

Hazel remembered how she struggled to sit still last night without bad memories creeping into her mind. She reflexively checked her shoulders for ghosts, patted her head to find what she knew was supposed to be there. But as ever, the patterns of her mind’s Fabric were a mystery to her. She could roughly feel the shape of it, but it always folded so easily under her hands she was only left with vague impressions.

“Let’s just see what Taé wants to do,” she said.

What Taé apparently wanted to do was wait for her to finish eating. Then she waved for Hazel to take l her boots off, leaving Hazel in stockings and garters. Then, Edelweiss watching from Hazel’s shoulders, the pair of them carefully crept into the pantry. Taé silently lifted the hatch and crept delicately down the stairs.

Hazel crept afterwards. The boards barely squeaked under her feet. In the dim light, she saw that the previously orderly wine cellar had been buried in papers, some stacked in neat piles but others crumpled and strewn about randomly. The board Aurelius had set up had grown more complicated and manic, papers held up by bent and straight nails. The man himself was slumped in a chair, a slim volume held to his face by one hand. Hazel noticed that his skin no longer looked lively and flushed, and instead had returned to a deathly gray pallor.

‘My gift to him lasts for so little time?’ Hazel thought sadly. ‘One life for just a few days healthy?’

“I can hear you two,” he said, not looking up from his book.

Taé cracked a wide grin, but kept silently creeping across the room. Aurelius rolled his head on his neck and stared at Taé as she approached, her hands held like claws as she dramatically crept closer and closer.

“Au… Relius!”

Aurelius cried out as Taé grabbed him under the armpits and yanked him backwards, holding him aloft and sending the armchair toppling.

“What in the bloody hells?!” he cried.

“You look hungry, brother!” Taé said, throwing the man over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Let’s grab a bite to eat, eh?”

“What?!” he squirmed in Taé’s grasp. His jaw dropped when he saw Hazel. “No! What in the world are you suggesting?”

“A hunt, Relly!” Taé shouted jovially as she began stomping up the stairs. “The jungle is full of good food, and we don’t even have to cross The Burn to get at it!”

Aurelius almost looked relieved. He gave Hazel an apologetic look as he passed by… then his head conked on the ceiling as Taé tried carrying him up the hatch.

“AUGH!” Aurelius cried, digging his fingers in his hair. “Let me go you batty wench!”

“Is that any way to talk to your sister?” Taé said as she hoisted him up through the hatch.

“You’re not my real sister!” he barked. “Let go of me!”

“I repeat!” Taé declared. “Don’t talk to your sister that way!”

Hazel couldn't help but crack a grin as she followed the pair up the steps and out the front door. From within the cave, the Soppmoss in the house almost felt redundant. Both the air inside and outside was pleasantly cool, only becoming wetter as they entered the cave. Edelweiss leapt off Hazel’s shoulders and immediately pounced on a hermit crab idling in a distant tide pool, quickly pulling the little crab from its oversized snail shell. Taé dropped Aurelius on the garden path, and oddly, began patting him down, lifting his arms and forcing him into a crouch. Despite his annoyance and occasionally slapping Taé’s hands away, Aurelius generally followed along.

“Hm… yup. Yup,” Taé said. “That coat’s too limiting. Take it off. And you sure you wanna go with shoes? You’re a vampire, Relly, you don't need shoes.”

“Need? No. Prefer? Yes.” He rolled his shoulders, and, glancing back at Hazel, removed his coat in a huff. He was down to his white shirt and cravat. He made no move to remove his shoes. When Joy raised her eyebrows at him, Aurelius huffed and said, “Some of us don’t like dirt.”

Hazel unbuckled her garters and slipped off her socks, feeling the soft grass and soil with her toes. She felt silly, and a bit nostalgic. She’d not gone romping around barefoot since she was a little girl in the mountains.

“You coming too Hazel?” Taé asked.

Hazel shrugged. “Why not?”

Taé smirked. “Think you can keep up?”

Hazel smirked back. “You better not underestimate a Weaver.”

“Then, that long skirt’s gonna snag,” Taé said, pointing at it. “You wanna change to trousers?”

“I’m used to getting it loose,” Hazel said, spinning her skirts with a twist of her hips. “I’ll be fine.”

“Can’t argue with that!” Taé said. “So Relly, what do you hunt with? What’s your weapon?”

“Words are my weapon,” Aurelius drawled, leaning forward as he sprawled his hands across his chest.

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“Mm. Yeah. Words aren't going to work on the beasts,” Taé said. “So what else you got?”

“Well I did have a knife.” Aurelius casts Hazel a side eye. “Then some dragon bit my fingers off and I lost it.”

Edelweiss looked up from a tide pool, crab shell crunching between his teeth. Distantly, he said, “My only regret is how awful you tasted.”

“Could you use the spear…?” Hazel offered.

The three of them hesitantly looked over to the black spear propped up against the cave wall. The Fleshripping spell had fallen off it, but the spellweave carved into the shaft wasn’t something Hazel recognized; she didn't know how or when the killing spell would activate once more. So there it sat. Military grade weapon. Rusting in a cave.

“Frankly,” Aurelius said. “I would rather not.”

“I saw some decorative swords in one of the sitting rooms?” Hazel offered. “Over the piano?”

“Decorative being the key word,” Aurelius replied. “They’re not sharpened. And since that would take hours, I suppose I’ll sit this one out…”

Hazel pointed to herself. “I can sharpen a knife in a couple minutes. A sword shouldn't be too much different.”

“Oh… joy….” Aurelius trailed off.

“It’s that or rats, Relly,” Taé said. “Do you wanna go back to rats?”

He lifted a single finger and said, “Point. Alright. Let’s get this over with…”

Hazel went back inside and glanced around the cluttered sitting room. If things had toppled for broken in transport, Zinnia had done well getting it back in order. Right where she remembered, there were two swords set on a rack atop the unvarnished upright piano. They were gorgeous things, the swords. Black sheaths pressed with gold, beautifully tied red and white tassels hanging from near the hilt. Aurelius picked up the shorter blade, a thin sword that was barely longer than his forearm.

He pulled out the blade and gave it a few swift chops in the air, mumbling something about the balance. Hazel had never seen a blade design quite like it before. It was single sided, like a saber, but the blade was narrow like a rapier. The handle was long, grip woven in a diamond pattern. The metal of the blade was wavy and ripply, an inscription pressed just under the hilt in letters she didn’t recognize.

Aurelius handed over the sword, and Hazel got to work. She blinked and ran the cutting edge between two fingers to pinch and flatten the metal out, humming. While she did that, Aurelius stuffed the sheath into a loop in his belt, using long red and white tassels to tie it in place.

When Hazel handed it back, he swung the shorter blade vertically, in a chopping motion. It made a sharp whish with every swing, and Hazel didn’t know if that was good or bad.

He grumbled, “Been an age since I did anything with one of these…. Bloody thing’s liable to snap in my hands.” But he sheathed it all the same, gripping the hilt and sheath tightly like they were going to drop off his belt the moment he let go.

When they headed back outside, Taé grinned. She spun around and pointed towards the sea.

“Now!”

She marched out of the caves, Hazel and Aurelius trailing after. Edelweiss gallumped beside them, bounding from puddle to puddle, making small crabs and black insects skitter away with every landing. Hazel chuckled as the water splashed the hem of her skirt. She would probably be gaining a lot worse stains than just a little water by the end of the day. She didn’t mind. There were plenty of other things to worry about than getting a little messy.

Outside, it seemed like the sun had almost fully set. Stars began popping up across a sky going swiftly from navy to dark black. The moon was full, but peeking in and out of sparse clouds. Taé took just a couple steps up the slope Hazel had carved, before she leapt up and began climbing the cliff face bare-handed.

Edelweiss bounded excitedly around the cliff base. He declared, “Ooh, I like this Lady Taétta,” and flew up after her.

Aurelius took one look up the cliffs, scowled, and decided to take the stairs. Hazel wondered if she should fly up… but instead she hoisted her skirts and followed Aurelius.

The night was muggy, a light sprinkling of sea mist making the steps slick. Hazel peered up at Taé but she seemed to be doing fine despite the wet rocks. Then she looked back at Aurelius. The silence between them was brief, but it felt impossibly oppressive to Hazel.

So she asked “You’re not… mad at me, are you?”

He paused, then turned and grinned wickedly back at her. “What, that you rejected me, or that you called me creepy?”

She didn’t risk it. She blinked. And winced at the pure swirling chaos. It was like his head was scribbled with a blotting pen, fear and anxiety a massive warping storm that radiated from the oozing wounds in his head.

There certainly wasn’t any anger…. For all that was worth. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything at all.

“Hm…?” He cocked his head at the silence, Fabric of black anxiety rippling with the motion. Even his posh voice sounded strained, like he was only barely able to keep it level. “How to explain. Might I ask, what do you think my batting average is?”

Hazel blinked the image away, returning to the forcefully calmed version of Aurelius.

“Batting average?” she asked. “What does that mean?”

“Oh, ah. North continent sport. Doesn’t matter.” He waved the metaphor away. “How often do you think I bed those I pursue?” he asked, tapping his chin with his index finger.

Hazel hummed. He was very attractive and had a reputation for sleeping around so… She shrugged.

“Ninety percent?” she said.

Aurelius burst out laughing. “Ninety?! Ninety percent rejections maybe! At most, I manage to bring back twenty-five percent of those I pursue.”

“What?!” Hazel cried. “But you’re so attractive!”

Aurelius fluffed his bangs proudly. “I know! I am a treat, aren’t I?” He gave a smile… but it felt weighty. She knew that a swirl of emotions lurked behind it. He twirled and fussed with a curling lock of his hair.

“The successful pick up is all about volume, dar…” He paused, and corrected, “Dear Hazel. Yes, many pursue the pleasure of my company. But most are there only to ogle. Not all of them are as loose or forgiving as our dear friend Zinnia. I merely offer up the chance–” He held out an open palm. “–And wait for those willing to bite.” And closed his hand into a fist.

“Just like a fisherman,” Hazel said offhandedly. “Using your body as bait.”

He chuckled darkly as he fluffed his hair. “Positively awful metaphor! But yes, I suppose that’s accurate…”

“But there’s no reason to do that anymore…”

She didn’t need to see his aura to feel the absolute flood of rage that entered his smile. His muscles tensed, teeth clenched. Before he folded his hands behind his back, she could see them curling into fists.

“Yes,” he said, voice strained behind his smile. “So I’ve learned.”

‘Yup yup yup. He’s still mad about last night,’ Hazel thought. She buried the apology rising to her lips. She had done absolutely nothing wrong. She established her boundary, and despite his rage… Aurelius was respecting it. It was the bare minimum of human decency, but she’d had those rock bottom expectations broken before.

“Anyway…” Hazel said hastily as they reached the top of the stairs. “I know you haven't fed on another person since um… me. So. Thank you. For restraining yourself.”

“There never was any time to feed,” he grumbled through his teeth. The latent rage still boiled in him, but there was a tinge of bitter resignation. “I suppose I’ll settle for beasts. For now.”

Hazel watched his back as he hopped up the last step, into the soft tumble of dirt and grass curling over the cliff. She thought, ‘When can I see your joy again, Aurelius? All I’ve seen is your rage and anxiety since then… I feel so useless. What can I possibly do to help?’