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tamingthemuseTitle: Prelude
Fandom: Original
Prompt: administer
Warnings: None.
Rating: G
Summary: word count: 1485. Temuji, a loner and thief, comes to his old friend’s deathbed to honor his last request. Prelude to my newest story.
Temuji doffed his hat when he entered the sickroom. His dark eyes searched and found the thin frame of his dearest friend, Davin, hidden away under a heavy blanket, leaving only the pale face visible. He slowly walked toward the feeble man, pain cracking his often cold expression as the realization that his old friend really was knocking on Death’s door.
He lowered himself to a well-placed chair at the bedside with a creak of leather and removed his white gloves, gripping them tightly in his hands. The deathly pale man on the bed woke, his head slowly turning to Temuji before blinking in the light of the late day.
“Temuji?”
Temuji rested his hand over his friend’s and felt how thin he had become with his illness. “I’m here, old friend.”
“I didn’t think you would come. Or if you did, you wouldn’t make it in time.”
Temuji smiled widely and chuckled. “Did you think that I would miss sending you off to the afterlife? After all the pain you’ve caused me?”
Davin on the bed laughed until he coughed and Temuji spotted a cup of water and brought it to his lips, helping his friend sit up with an arm around his shoulders. After he drank, Temuji was waved back into his seat and the watery blue eyes turned solemnly to him.
“I really am dying.”
“What happened?”
“Do you remember the sorcerer Dago?”
“Crazy Dago? The Cloud Breaker?” Davin nodded, lips tightened in pain. Temuji frowned. “What did you do? Scold him on proper speech?”
Davin chuckled. “Not so much. I stole something from him.”
Temuji’s expression turned to one of exasperation. “Davin! I thought you were smarter than that? Surely you weren’t caught?”
“Not right away, no.” He smiled, a hint of his old self showing through in the glint of his eye. “I learned from the best, yes? You are still the best, are you not?”
Temuji sniffed. “Of course. Tell me what happened.”
“Six months ago, Dago discovered that which I had stolen from him, and where I was hiding.”
“Here?”
“Just so.” He raised his hand, one finger pointing to the floor above them. “I have it here, as well, protected. Dago couldn’t steal it back from me.”
“He didn’t go to the authorities?”
Davin shook his head. “He wouldn’t dare.”
“Illegal?”
“Very.”
Temuji grinned, leaning back in the chair and throwing one arm over the back. “The kind I like best. What did he do?”
“Cursed me.”
The mirth left Temuji. “Is that this?”
“Some. Mostly its old age. I had a flu before the spell hit me and the spell made me too weak to recover. I’ve been dying ever since. When I realized I wouldn’t make it to summer, I sent for you.”
“Why me? What do you want me to do? I know magic, but not healing, and not great magic like Dago.”
Davin shook his head. “I need you to take guardianship of a child I adopted.”
Temuji blinked at him, nonplussed, a moment before he launched to his feet. “You’re the crazed one. I’m a wanderer, a loner, you know this. What am I going to do with a child in tow?”
Davin reached out an entreating hand. “Temuji, when I die, the protection spell will disappear. I need you to care for this child when Dago comes.”
Temuji covered his face with his hands, running them through his dark red hair before he turned his equally dark eyes back to Davin. “Don’t you have any other family? Your sister?”
Davin shook his head. “She wouldn’t lower herself to care for a child found on the streets.”
“You picked up an urchin off the streets?”
Davin smiled, his gaze going distant. “Nearly. That’s not all, Temuji. He’s…” Davin hesitated, eyes wandering over the room as if to look for the right words. “Injured,” he finally settled on.
“How so?”
“Dago hit him with a spell as well. The boy wasn’t unaffected.”
Temuji dropped to the chair once again, elbows braced on his knees. “What happened to him?”
“He’s become quite simple.” Sudden pleading entered his voice. “He’s a brilliant child, he’s quick witted and so cheerful, but . . . But now he’s . . . Lost.” His breathing became labored with his pleading excitement. “Please, Temuji, take him with you, I know you have a mansion by the sea. Take him there and place him within your family’s magic. Keep him safe.”
“You know that place is empty,” Temuji scoffed, turning his eyes away from the pleading man. He couldn’t refuse, as much as he wanted to.
What was he going to do with a child? A child that Crazy Dago was apparently after? He frowned and looked back at Davin.
“Why would Dago be a threat to your boy after your death?”
Davin smiled. “He’s what I stole from him.”
Temuji’s eyes widened. “You stole his child?”
Davin shook his head. “Not his child. His slave, if you will. The boy is special. Dago knows this, so he used him, abused him. How he survived as long under Dago’s thumb, I’ll never know. But I freed him, and I mean to have you keep him free. Temuji, your family has the strongest magic barriers in all the lands. Please, administer to him. Keep him safe from Dago.”
Temuji sighed. “You’re not giving me much of a choice, old man.”
Davin smiled. “No.”
“He’s that important to you?”
“He is. He doesn’t deserve the lot in life he’s been given. Even if you abandon him in your family home, his life will be so much better than what he’s known before.”
“Who is he?”
“I thought you would never ask.” He lifted a hand with effort and pointed to the chest at the foot of his bed. Temuji stood and lifted the lid. On top of neatly folded clothes was a thick packet of papers yellowed with age. He returned to his seat and made to hand them to Davin, but the sick man waved them away. “They are his family papers. All that I could find. His parents were killed when he was still a babe, by Dago’s henchmen. His grandparents on his mother’s side are still alive, but she had run away with the father, so they want nothing to do with him. They assumed he died in the incident that killed their daughter, so, as they said, they had already put him to rest.
“On his father’s side, his grandmother is still alive.”
Temuji carefully unfolded the papers and quickly read through them, his eyes going wide with every line of fine penmanship. Finally, he dropped the paper to his lap and stared at Davin.
“He’s heir to the Diamond Blood Legacy.”
Davin nodded, then coughed. After the fit passed, he wiped the back of his hand over his lips. “His maternal grandparents never knew.” His gaze grew sharp. “And they don’t need to know. They’re not nice people.”
“Neither am I.”
Davin ignored him.
“What’s more, his paternal grandmother doesn’t know he’s alive either. I thought about making the journey to the south coast to inform her that the heir is alive, but then this happened. It would ruin the Legacy if they discovered that the heir was so disabled.”
Temuji pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. “So not only am I going to be hiding him from Crazy Dago, but from the Legacy and Lady Star. This is a right mess you’re leaving me with, Davin.”
“I’m sorry, old friend, but you’re the only one I trust.”
Temuji laughed. “Fancy that, someone trusts me, a liar and thief.”
“You’re a good man, Temuji, despite how hard you work to prove me wrong.” Davin folded his hands over his chest and closed his eyes. “Now, I must rest. My time is coming close and I grow weak with every hour. It nearly takes it out of me to keep up the spell protecting him.”
“Let me shoulder that, at least.”
Davin nodded, never opening his eyes and Temuji stood, holding his hand out before him, palm up. With a pulse of the air around them, and a small whiff of black magic, Temuji’s own magic took over the protection spell and Davin sighed in relief.
He slipped into sleep as Temuji stood over him. He didn’t have long, a few days at the most. Temuji could see the magic eating at him, smell Death coming closer to their side of the veil. Swallowing hard, Temuji turned on his heel and walked out the door, closing it softly behind him. He tugged on his gloves with short, sharp motions as he went toward the great wooden staircase leading to the second level of the house.
It was about time he meet with his new charge.
Had Davin told him the child’s name?
Next
Fandom: Original
Prompt: administer
Warnings: None.
Rating: G
Summary: word count: 1485. Temuji, a loner and thief, comes to his old friend’s deathbed to honor his last request. Prelude to my newest story.
Temuji doffed his hat when he entered the sickroom. His dark eyes searched and found the thin frame of his dearest friend, Davin, hidden away under a heavy blanket, leaving only the pale face visible. He slowly walked toward the feeble man, pain cracking his often cold expression as the realization that his old friend really was knocking on Death’s door.
He lowered himself to a well-placed chair at the bedside with a creak of leather and removed his white gloves, gripping them tightly in his hands. The deathly pale man on the bed woke, his head slowly turning to Temuji before blinking in the light of the late day.
“Temuji?”
Temuji rested his hand over his friend’s and felt how thin he had become with his illness. “I’m here, old friend.”
“I didn’t think you would come. Or if you did, you wouldn’t make it in time.”
Temuji smiled widely and chuckled. “Did you think that I would miss sending you off to the afterlife? After all the pain you’ve caused me?”
Davin on the bed laughed until he coughed and Temuji spotted a cup of water and brought it to his lips, helping his friend sit up with an arm around his shoulders. After he drank, Temuji was waved back into his seat and the watery blue eyes turned solemnly to him.
“I really am dying.”
“What happened?”
“Do you remember the sorcerer Dago?”
“Crazy Dago? The Cloud Breaker?” Davin nodded, lips tightened in pain. Temuji frowned. “What did you do? Scold him on proper speech?”
Davin chuckled. “Not so much. I stole something from him.”
Temuji’s expression turned to one of exasperation. “Davin! I thought you were smarter than that? Surely you weren’t caught?”
“Not right away, no.” He smiled, a hint of his old self showing through in the glint of his eye. “I learned from the best, yes? You are still the best, are you not?”
Temuji sniffed. “Of course. Tell me what happened.”
“Six months ago, Dago discovered that which I had stolen from him, and where I was hiding.”
“Here?”
“Just so.” He raised his hand, one finger pointing to the floor above them. “I have it here, as well, protected. Dago couldn’t steal it back from me.”
“He didn’t go to the authorities?”
Davin shook his head. “He wouldn’t dare.”
“Illegal?”
“Very.”
Temuji grinned, leaning back in the chair and throwing one arm over the back. “The kind I like best. What did he do?”
“Cursed me.”
The mirth left Temuji. “Is that this?”
“Some. Mostly its old age. I had a flu before the spell hit me and the spell made me too weak to recover. I’ve been dying ever since. When I realized I wouldn’t make it to summer, I sent for you.”
“Why me? What do you want me to do? I know magic, but not healing, and not great magic like Dago.”
Davin shook his head. “I need you to take guardianship of a child I adopted.”
Temuji blinked at him, nonplussed, a moment before he launched to his feet. “You’re the crazed one. I’m a wanderer, a loner, you know this. What am I going to do with a child in tow?”
Davin reached out an entreating hand. “Temuji, when I die, the protection spell will disappear. I need you to care for this child when Dago comes.”
Temuji covered his face with his hands, running them through his dark red hair before he turned his equally dark eyes back to Davin. “Don’t you have any other family? Your sister?”
Davin shook his head. “She wouldn’t lower herself to care for a child found on the streets.”
“You picked up an urchin off the streets?”
Davin smiled, his gaze going distant. “Nearly. That’s not all, Temuji. He’s…” Davin hesitated, eyes wandering over the room as if to look for the right words. “Injured,” he finally settled on.
“How so?”
“Dago hit him with a spell as well. The boy wasn’t unaffected.”
Temuji dropped to the chair once again, elbows braced on his knees. “What happened to him?”
“He’s become quite simple.” Sudden pleading entered his voice. “He’s a brilliant child, he’s quick witted and so cheerful, but . . . But now he’s . . . Lost.” His breathing became labored with his pleading excitement. “Please, Temuji, take him with you, I know you have a mansion by the sea. Take him there and place him within your family’s magic. Keep him safe.”
“You know that place is empty,” Temuji scoffed, turning his eyes away from the pleading man. He couldn’t refuse, as much as he wanted to.
What was he going to do with a child? A child that Crazy Dago was apparently after? He frowned and looked back at Davin.
“Why would Dago be a threat to your boy after your death?”
Davin smiled. “He’s what I stole from him.”
Temuji’s eyes widened. “You stole his child?”
Davin shook his head. “Not his child. His slave, if you will. The boy is special. Dago knows this, so he used him, abused him. How he survived as long under Dago’s thumb, I’ll never know. But I freed him, and I mean to have you keep him free. Temuji, your family has the strongest magic barriers in all the lands. Please, administer to him. Keep him safe from Dago.”
Temuji sighed. “You’re not giving me much of a choice, old man.”
Davin smiled. “No.”
“He’s that important to you?”
“He is. He doesn’t deserve the lot in life he’s been given. Even if you abandon him in your family home, his life will be so much better than what he’s known before.”
“Who is he?”
“I thought you would never ask.” He lifted a hand with effort and pointed to the chest at the foot of his bed. Temuji stood and lifted the lid. On top of neatly folded clothes was a thick packet of papers yellowed with age. He returned to his seat and made to hand them to Davin, but the sick man waved them away. “They are his family papers. All that I could find. His parents were killed when he was still a babe, by Dago’s henchmen. His grandparents on his mother’s side are still alive, but she had run away with the father, so they want nothing to do with him. They assumed he died in the incident that killed their daughter, so, as they said, they had already put him to rest.
“On his father’s side, his grandmother is still alive.”
Temuji carefully unfolded the papers and quickly read through them, his eyes going wide with every line of fine penmanship. Finally, he dropped the paper to his lap and stared at Davin.
“He’s heir to the Diamond Blood Legacy.”
Davin nodded, then coughed. After the fit passed, he wiped the back of his hand over his lips. “His maternal grandparents never knew.” His gaze grew sharp. “And they don’t need to know. They’re not nice people.”
“Neither am I.”
Davin ignored him.
“What’s more, his paternal grandmother doesn’t know he’s alive either. I thought about making the journey to the south coast to inform her that the heir is alive, but then this happened. It would ruin the Legacy if they discovered that the heir was so disabled.”
Temuji pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. “So not only am I going to be hiding him from Crazy Dago, but from the Legacy and Lady Star. This is a right mess you’re leaving me with, Davin.”
“I’m sorry, old friend, but you’re the only one I trust.”
Temuji laughed. “Fancy that, someone trusts me, a liar and thief.”
“You’re a good man, Temuji, despite how hard you work to prove me wrong.” Davin folded his hands over his chest and closed his eyes. “Now, I must rest. My time is coming close and I grow weak with every hour. It nearly takes it out of me to keep up the spell protecting him.”
“Let me shoulder that, at least.”
Davin nodded, never opening his eyes and Temuji stood, holding his hand out before him, palm up. With a pulse of the air around them, and a small whiff of black magic, Temuji’s own magic took over the protection spell and Davin sighed in relief.
He slipped into sleep as Temuji stood over him. He didn’t have long, a few days at the most. Temuji could see the magic eating at him, smell Death coming closer to their side of the veil. Swallowing hard, Temuji turned on his heel and walked out the door, closing it softly behind him. He tugged on his gloves with short, sharp motions as he went toward the great wooden staircase leading to the second level of the house.
It was about time he meet with his new charge.
Had Davin told him the child’s name?
Next
