Hurry Up and Wait

Thankfully, the village remained standing after dinner.

Kyle admitted that Abagail was right. He had a number of things he needed to get done now that he knew the situation they were in. And while Benny and York could handle everything that needed to be done in the mountains, that left the work to be done in the villages. Something to leave behind as the free men and women left the only home they’d ever known.

The women drew lots to see who would do the job in Kyle’s town. That Meredith and Kari both ended up with straws the length of his arm was funny. Because the longest straw he’d picked was the length of his index finger, which Abagail had drawn.

Per Meredith’s instruction, he stayed inside. It was killing him in a way. To know what needed to be done and not have the ability to do it. It was all out of his hands. All he could do was watch from his bedroom as the sun set.

It was under the last rays of sunlight that he saw Francis start to lead people to the mountains. He would occasionally see a single lit torch ferry people into the distance.

He didn’t move when he heard stairs creak one by one. The door softly swung open behind him.

Abagail’s hand went to Kyle’s shoulder, around his neck, onto his other shoulder, and then pulled him close. “I was hoping I’d get some alone time with you under better circumstances.”

Kyle didn’t ask if she’d finished with everything. He trusted her enough for that.

“This is the second house you’ve managed to lose me,” she pointed out. “First my place in Trunsit and now this one. Though I guess it’s the orcs who are destroying it this time. I call shenanigans on that. I barely had enough time to call it home.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. The way I see it, you still owe me.” Her hand made its way down Kyle’s side and rested on his hip. “And I’m not letting you go until your debt’s paid,” she said with a grin.

That got Kyle to chuckle for a moment while he stared at the ceiling. Whatever let her protect her witch’s pride. “Abagail, you know a lot about this geas stuff. Have you used it before?”

Abagail dragged Kyle down onto the bed. All in the name of making sure he got bedrest, you see. “A few times. They’re a lot more limited than you’d think. Better for making sure someone keeps to their word. I thought about forcing one on Demerius, but knowing him he’d have hired someone to remove it.”

“…Would you use one on me?”

“Not without your consent~” Abagail sang, her fingers caressing Kyle’s cheek with a tease.

That was less comforting than Kyle had hoped.

“Besides, there’s no point on casting a geas on you. If I want you to do something, I want you to do it because you want to,” she stressed. Her hand drifted down from Kyle’s head to his chest. “Geas or not, promise me something.”

Kyle finally looked Abagail in the eye. He’d never seen her look at him like this before. Her glasses had slid down her nose, and her eyes… It was almost pleading. Begging. The confidence she always projected was gone.

“Promise me you’ll make it out.”

He couldn’t stop himself from making that promise to Abagail. In his heart, Kyle knew he shouldn’t make a promise he didn’t know he could keep it. But he couldn’t say no to that face.

-----

Kari sat down on a large rock and sighed.

She was well past when she normally went to bed. And she was covered in sweat, and her social battery had been tapped out for hours. All Kari wanted was to use that shower at Sir Kyle’s home and rest.

But no. Peasants were still filtering in. She’d promised Sir Kyle she would help in any way that she could.

A bag full of leftovers was plopped down in front of Kari, courtesy of Fiona. “Eat,” the oni told her.

“I do not think that is a good idea.”

“And I think you’re wrong.” Fiona took a few slices of bread and shoved some meat between them before offering it to her. “You’re going to burn it all off anyway. Eat.”

Kari bit down into the sandwich, occasionally watching Fiona make another one with lettuce and tomato slices stuffed in. It was a simple dish but hearty. A lone highlight of being out here so late.

More peasants passed by as they ate their food, holding everything they could carry. Some had belongings drawn by wagon and steer. They all wandered into a large cave that Benny kept pointing at and giving instructions. Everyone kept having to step over a pair of metal rails extending into that cave, connected by planks of wood on the bottom.

“I know these mountains like the back of my hand,” said Fiona. “And I’ve never seen that cave before.”

“Never?” Kari asked.

Fiona shook her head. “It looks fresh. Like someone dug it out not long ago. Whatever those boys are up to must be in there.”

Kari would have inquired further but had to stifle a yawn. “Do you think we have time to take a quick dip in the hot springs to rejuvenate ourselves?”

“Mmph.” Fiona tore a large shred out of her sandwich. “Better hurry. Meredith’s getting ready to do some magic stuff to make it disappear. That and the water supply.”

Kari gasped. “B-But I enjoy those hot showers!”

“You’re the reason we’re out of hot water by the time I bathe?!” Fiona grumped and shot up onto her feet. “Come on. Give me a reason I shouldn’t throw you in head first.”

----

Kari demonstrated that reason quickly when they arrived at the hot spring.

She’d smuggled a few bottles of cider into a box enchanted with ice-elemental crystals, keeping them nice and cool for a special occasion.

Fiona and her were joined shortly be Meredith, who slid beneath the steamy waters without much to say for it other than holding out a glass twice the size of what Kari had been drinking out of so she could ‘catch up’. It impressed Fiona at least.

The cider helped take the edge off the tension in the air. Meredith was going on and on about some spells or other she’d cast to help ‘speed things up’, which was why she wasn’t worried about helping out any further.

Fiona had to admit Kari was right about taking a moment to rest their weary bones. Being with these two wasn’t all bad. She’d never have had this hot spring without Meredith. Or the second bottle of cider she was chugging if not for Kari. So, it wasn’t a total loss having them around.

They were only a bother when it came to her finally being a woman of her word. Fiona gasped as she drank the last bits of the bottle. Just because she preferred punching to talking didn’t mean she was blind to what everyone else said. Or, in Kari’s case, what went unsaid.

Whether it was a matter of pride or noble propriety or some stupid elvish virtue, the woman wouldn’t come out and say it. Which suited Fiona just fine. More time for her to nail things down with Kyle.

Fiona chuckled at her use of the word ‘nail’.

Meredith was the wild card. Pleasant company for sure, whenever she wasn’t hiding away in that basement. The other women Fiona could understand. A witch without a home and an eye for quality, an elvish princess who read one too many steamy romance books. But this gremlin thing? No idea what to do with her.

She lied about everything. Her age changed by hundreds of years depending on who asked. The stuff Meredith worked with looked somehow ancient and beyond her time. Meredtih claimed to have invented the Isekai Ritual to boot!

What the hell sort of thing was Meredith, anyway?