Wren
Ch. 17
Rich found himself suspicious of everyone he passed on the street. If the blackmailer, if Wren had been watching him last night, when he thought he’d been alone, then in a crowd, a shape changer could be anybody. Shape changers generally couldn’t change into children, but this was a special case. Who knows what this one is capable of. Rich stepped to the side of the street and stopped walking. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and slowly exhaled. Even if they’re watching me right now, He thought, there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. And I wouldn’t really be able to tell. He opened his eyes. It’s a nice day out. The sun’s blocked by the clouds, so I can see without squinting. The wind is breezy without being cold. The air smells of… He took in a deep breath through his nose … manure. I forgot that this part of the city is just across the wall from the pig farms. With his attempt to re-evaluate his surroundings having gone awry, he continued on his way to the University.
On his way there, he stopped by a flower stall, and picked up some orchids. Brandon liked to decorate his desk, and he owed him for his help the previous night. He used magic to change them from their natural white to purple. Purple was Brandon’s favorite color. A simple color change like this wouldn’t take more than a couple days off his life. He could spare that for as good of a friend as Brandon was to him.
The streets were busy, even for a Saturday. Saturday. My sword was stolen on Thursday. Only two days ago. I haven’t had this much going on in my life at once since I met Alex. As badly as it ended with him, at least he got me out of the shit. And now I’m back in, deeper than ever. I guess a simultaneous murder and attempted murder really is just about as bad as a relationship can end. As he got closer to the university, he started feeling hungry. I’ll have to invite Brandon out for lunch.
Walking into the library, he was relieved to see Brandon wasn’t busy. He walked down and plopped the flower down on his desk.
“I figured I owed you one after last night. Purple’s still your favorite color, right?”
“Yeah. Finally getting up the courage to ask me out, huh?” Brandon had a smirk on his face. Rich just looked at him sternly. Brandon’s smirk dropped. “Sorry, I forgot. Touchy subject. I shouldn’t joke like that. How did last night go anyway? Did you—”
“Y’know what? Let’s discuss it over lunch. I haven’t eaten since breakfast yesterday. And besides, I’d rather not mention that with so many possible eavesdroppers.”
“Sounds great! Do you have anywhere in mind?”
“Why don’t you pick? I’ll pay, since I don’t think just the flowers make up for how much help you were.”
“I mean you used magic to change this orchid. I know how much you hate using magic. That’s more than enough to repay me.”
“Okay, then how about this: I pay because my inheritance is enough for me to live off of for several lifetimes.”
“You make a compelling argument. How about we go to The Blue Bateau?”
“You—”
“Yes I know how you feel about them branding their business after your family’s work, but their fried pork belly is the best in the city.”
“Fine, let’s go. But if I didn’t owe you for last night I would have vetoed it.”
“I told you the orchid was enough, but I won’t let that stop me from taking advantage of your generosity.”
Rich wondered why he put up with Brandon. But deep down, he knew that if it wasn’t Brandon it wouldn’t be anybody, and he didn’t want to think about that. And besides, for the first time in a very long time, Rich wasn’t dreading the future. Or, at least, not the immediate future.