Chapter 15: Summer Ale and Shopping Sprees

Hilde still was not back in the kitchen the next day much to the dismay of everyone. Marta had been in such a foul mood during her previous absence that Violet and the others had just focused on staying out of her way. Even then, Domni and Ada had both found themselves on the wrong end of her long wooden spoon for small mistakes that Marta blew out of proportion.

As the group ate a subdued dinner after a long, trying day, Flora told Marta that she would go check on Hilda after they finished prepping breakfast for the next morning.

The next morning, Jael met her at breakfast.

"Good morning," he greeted her. "Do you have any pressing plans for the day?"

"Just some light reading on the rise and fall of Myth Dranor."

"Light reading, eh?" he smiled.

"Either that or the entire 900-page treatise by Elreed the fifth on the hierarchy of goblin society," she grinned.

"Well, then, allow me to save you the agony by inviting you to accompany me into Highmoon. I have multiple errands to run this morning and could use the company."

Violet wanted to accept his offer but was hesitant to do so. While Alliun hadn't specifically told her to remain with the confines of the temple, it had been implied. She would hate to go out into the city and have something catastrophic occur that put others in harm's way. Still, she hadn't left the temple since she had arrived and was beginning to feel a little stir crazy.

Seeing her hesitation, Jael frowned. "Are you worried about being attacked out in the city?"

"I was told the temple is warded and fae could not get to me inside its walls," she explained.

"True, but I hardly think that hag would attack you during daylight hours in the middle of a city," he reasoned.

She had to admit he made sense. Maybe as long as she stayed in populated areas and with Jael, she and the rest of the people living in Highmoon would be safe.

"Okay, I will go with you," she jumped up from the table. "Just let me go get something from my room first."

"I'll be right here finishing my breakfast."

Violet hurried to her room. Inside, Chi-Chi was stretched out on her bed, sleeping in after a night out and about the temple doing whatever cats do at night.

"You're getting fat from all the food people sneak to you," she told the feline, who didn't bother to even open her eyes.

Smiling to herself, she opened the drawer with her clothes and dug back behind them until her fingers found what she was searching for. Pulling out the bag of coins, she untied the cord and emptied it onto the bed. Her eyes bulged out of her head at the contents: 43 gold coins, 20 silver coins, and 27 copper coins. This had to be a fortune! Honestly, though, she realized she had no idea about currency here. She would have to ask Jael.

Scooping the coins back into the bag, she went back down to the waiting priest. Sitting down beside him she held out the pouch.

"I don't know anything about the monetary system here," she admitted. "But I have this. Is it a lot? Can I buy a few things without spending it all?"

Jael took the bag and shook about half the coins out into his hand. Shaking his head, he dumped them back in and handed it back to Violet.

"Unless you plan to buy a house, yes," he pronounced with a snort, "that should be more than enough. But I would caution you about carrying all of it around on your person. Highmoon is a civilized place, but there are still thieves and pickpockets around. If I were you, I'd only take about a quarter of it out with you."

Once more, she went back to her room, where she picked out the amount he advised, leaving them in the bag and tucking the rest into a pair of stockings in the drawer. With a quick stroke for Chi-Chi, she rejoined Jael.

He led her out the temple gate and into Highmoon. When Violet had first arrived, it had been after sunset, so she had seen little of the city except for the Silver Shield Inn just outside the city and the neighboring stables. Now midmorning, the city was bustling with activity as its population hurried to their jobs, run errands, visited friends, and shopped. Not far from the temple, in a large open field, an open-air market was set up and in full swing.

At Violet's delighted gasp, Jael laughed. "Looks like I will be following you around instead."

She turned to him, hiding her disappointment, "I'm sorry. We're here for you. I can come back another day."

"Nonsense," he spun her around and gave her a gentle push forward, "my business is here, and we have plenty of time."

Violet grinned as they entered the market, already planning what she wanted to buy.

Just before noon, with her coin purse considerably lighter, Violet allowed Jael to lead the way from the market to a nearby inn for lunch. His purpose at the market was a book vendor whom he had commissioned to procure several volumes. Violet had indulged, buying a slim volume of herblore similar to Etta's and a book of poetry. Combined with her other purchases, they had quite a collection of bundles. Jael paid a porter to deliver their purchases to their quarters at the temple, freeing them from the burden.

The inn he took her to was crowded with patrons, but they managed to find a small table against a wall. A harried waitress took their orders promising to be back shortly with their drinks.

"You're in for a treat," Jael told her. "The Oak and Spear brews the finest ale in the Dalelands. They change with each season and their summer ale is especially good."

Violet wasn't convinced, "I don't know. I've never been a fan of beer."

Jael sputtered, "what? Not a fan of beer? What are you, an elf?"

"Nope. Not even a drop of elven blood at all," she smiled. "Speaking of, I couldn't help but notice that Milya has pointed ears, but not as pointed as Tamirell and Tamaval. Is she an elf?"

Her companion shook his head, "no, she's half elf. Her mother was human."

"Oh, so the different races interbreed here?" she asked.

Jael looked around at the tables nearby before answering. "Some can, but it's generally discouraged. Many look down on half breeds, especially elves. Milya's had a hard life because her father was a sun elf, and they are particularly prejudice against it."

Violet had read up on the races at the library, especially the elves and knew about the subraces, but nothing in her reading had mentioned half-breeds.

"But Milya had nothing to do with being born a half-elf," she said indignantly.

"Do you really think that matters to those that take exception to her heritage?"

"If there's one thing I've learned since I got here, it's that some elves can be real assholes," she replied, thinking of Tamival.

"And you've only met moon elves so far, I'm wagering. Wait until you meet a sun elf. I think you will have to invent a new word for their brand of asshole-ness," he grinned.

Before Violet could respond, the waitress returned with their drinks and dropped them to the table with a thud before leaving without a word. Jael reached for his tankard eagerly while Violet cautiously lifted hers to sniff the liquid inside. It smelled like beer. Taking a sip, she made a face. It tasted like beer. She just couldn't see what people saw in the beverage. She said as much to Jael's amusement.

"Ah, but if you drink enough, you'll get used to it," he assured her.

"What if I don't want to get used to it?"

"Well, you can wait for the lovely lass to come back with our meal and order some wine, but you might finish your lunch before you got it."

She took another drink and made another face.

"Maybe you'll get lucky," the priest said, raising his tankard to her. "Just don't let Vorn know you don't like ale, or you'll never hear the end of it."

"Is he a dwarf?" Since she had asked about Milya, she figured she might as well ask about Vorn also.

Jael looked confused then shook his head, "I forgot that you said there were only humans where you're from. Yes, he's a dwarf. It's not considered rude to ask, but some people can be a mite touchy about it. Milya for example wouldn't have taken kindly to you asking if she was an elf because of her circumstances."

"I can see that," Violet agreed. "I'll just keep my mouth shut about it until I can ask someone tactfully."

"Good idea."

Once their meal had been brough out and Violet requested wine, to the waitress's exasperation, Jael motioned with his fork, "now, I owe you some answers, correct?"

Violet took a bite of her cottage pie, finding it surprisingly delicious, before answering.

"Yes, I wanted to do some research on magic, but the library has little to offer."

"That's not surprising. Wizards and Sorcerers tend to keep their knowledge to themselves. They usually have grimoires full of their notes and musings, but because of the spells contained within them, magic users keep them close. Very seldom do grimoires end up in libraries and the few that do are not of any quality."

"That makes sense," she mused. "I have my own grimoire as well as that of my mother, grandmother, and two of my ancestors. They are very dear to me." She looked down and sighed, "at least they were. They're back on Earth and I have no access to them now."

She was quiet for a moment, fighting back tears and despair. Blinking rapidly, she looked up to meet his compassionate expression. "Sorry. Sometimes the enormity of the situation is overwhelming."

He reached across the table and laid his warm hand on hers, "do not apologize for how you're feeling. It's a perfectly reasonable response to what you're going through. In fact, I'm surprised with how well you're taking it in stride."

This, she thought, is how it feels to have friends; something she had been deprived of since the deaths of the mother and grandmother. This was what had been missing from her life. The thought cheered her, banishing the tide of despair that had been washing over her. She vowed that she would no longer live in isolation when she got back to Earth.

The rest of the meal went by as she picked Jael's brain about magic. Unfortunately, he knew little more than she, but he was able to provide some interesting insights she hadn't considered.

On her increased magical abilities since she came to Faerun, he suggested that maybe there was simply more magic here than on Earth.

"You say there are no magical creatures and very few magic users in your world. Maybe that's because magic is scarce there. You said you and your family were all weak, right?"

She nodded, "yes. Our grimoires are full of our failures."

"There you go," he said with satisfaction. "How many would want to dedicate their lives to a craft with so little return?"

She smiled, "not many outside my family, obviously. I guess we're either stubborn or stupid."

"Some would say dedicated."

"To-may-toe, to-mah-toe," she shrugged.

He frowned, "I don't understand what a vegetable has to do with it?"

"Some people spend a lot of time arguing about the proper pronunciation, but in the end, it's the same fruit, not a vegetable by the way. What it means is that no matter what you call it, stubborn, stupid, or dedicated, it's still a lot of lives spent on something with little reward for the effort."

"True, but that's beside the point. Maybe there's more magic available here for you to use and that's why you're suddenly more powerful?" He paused for a beat, "what do you mean, it's a fruit?"

Violet laughed, earning her several looks from nearby tables.

"You should do that more often," Jael smiled.

Blushing and lowering her voice, she said, "okay, that may be true, but what accounts for the fact that I'm casting spells I didn't know before. I'm making them up on the fly. Reflexively. How does your theory of more magic account for that?"

His expression fell, "it doesn't. But that doesn't mean there isn't another explanation for it besides wild magic or a curse."

"Again," she sighed, "the outcome is the same regardless of the cause. I have magic that I have little control over."

"Don't fret over it," Jael urged her. "We will get to the bottom of it, don't you doubt it."

His surety didn't make her feel more confident.

Back at the temple, Jael and Violet parted ways, promising to meet up at dinner. A little light-headed from the tankard of ale she had consumed – her wine never arrived – she headed to her room to go through her purchases. The bundles were stacked neatly just inside her door.

Most of what she had bought had been fabric and sewing supplies. During her short time at the temple, she had discovered that the fashion of Faerun was more diverse than what she had seen in the village. While most women wore skirts, some wore leggings and pants just like the women on Earth. Violet wasn't a fan of pants, but the multiple layers of heavy skirts were too cumbersome for her tastes. Having sewn a lot of her own clothes at home, she was going to build herself a wardrobe more suited to her tastes and lifestyle she was living here. If she was going to travel the breadth of the continent with Tamirell and Tamival, she would be on horseback and her current skirts were not conducive to that mode of travel.

Setting the fabric bundles aside for the time being, she excitedly opened a carefully wrapped package. Inside was her favorite purchase: a new grimoire. The cover was a lovely shade of heavy purple brocade wrapped around leaves of lightweight wood. It had been one of the few tomes that the vendor had carried that were not bound with an animal hide of some sort. Inside, the fine sheets of linen cloth waited to be filled with her spells and notes. It was thick, broader than the palm of her hand and had many more pages than the journal given to her by the temple as well as being better made and more aesthetically pleasing to sight and touch. Along with the volume, she had also bought quality pens and inks as well as pencils for sketching, so she was all set. She couldn't wait to start writing in it.

The last two packages contained gifts that she had bought for Tamirell and Tamival. At one of the booths a matched pair of daggers with wickedly curved blades had caught her eye. The matching sheaths and belt were leather stamped with a leaf design that invoked the feel of the forest. Jael had assured her that they were well-made dwarven blades that would hold a keen edge and last a lifetime and beyond. Violet immediately thought of Tamirell when she saw them and on impulse bought them for him. Then, having bought something for him, Violet had struggled to find something for his brother. Despite his attitude, he had grown on her and she was fond of the grumpy elf. A finely made pair of bracers made from pliant leather dyed a shade of green that matched the green that Tamival favored in his clothing had drew her attention first. Remembering the cuts and abrasions he had taken during their fight with the gnolls, and the fact that he used a bow, she thought they would be perfect for him; beautiful yet practical.

She was wrapping the gifts back up when there was a hurried knocking at her door. Opening it, she found Ada outside. The girl looked distraught.

"Ada, what's going on?"

"I didn't know who else to come to," she burst out in tears.

"Oh, goodness gracious," Violet pulled the girl into her room and made her take the only chair. She handed Ada a handkerchief and waited for the girl to calm down enough to be coherent.

"It's Flora," Ada finally managed. "She went to check on Hilde last night after work and nobody's seen her since."

"And you think something's happened to her?" Violet asked.

Ada nodded with a sniffle.

"What makes you think that?"

"Hilde has missed two days of work and her sister has missed four."

"If they're sick, there's nothing suspicious about," Violet reasoned calmly.

"But now Flora is missing!"

"She might still be there helping them."

"No, you don't understand," Ada jumped up from the chair. "We had plans for today with…," she stopped, blushing furiously.

"With boys?"

She nodded, "and Flora really likes Geffrey and would never miss the chance to spend time with him."

Violet considered the problem. It did seem a little suspicious that Flora would be gone for this long with no word to her best friend. And Hilde did live outside Highmoon. After being attacked by gnolls out in the forest and the attack by the Hag, she would be well advised to view anything out of the ordinary with a critical eye.

"Okay," she said finally. "Let's go check on Hilde."

Ada threw her arms around Violet and hugged her.

"I knew you would help!"

Violet grasped the girl by her shoulders and held her away to look her in the eyes, "but, I don't want the two of us to go alone. We need backup."

"Backup?"

Violet nodded, "Yep. Go down to the kitchen and wait. I'm going to go find a friend. We'll meet you there."

After Ada left, Violet turned and considered the gifts she had bought. They might come in handy, she thought.

"I hope they don't mind slightly used gifts," she muttered as she buckled on the belt with the daggers and pulled on the bracers. She had to lace them tightly to get them to fit her slim forearms, but once in place, they didn't slip and weren't uncomfortable.

"I'll tell them I tested them for quality control," she smiled.

Leaving her room, she went down to the common area, hoping to find Jael. She was in luck; he was having an intense conversation with another priest.

"Excuse me, Jael," she interrupted.

"Ah, Violet," he smiled up at her, not at all bothered by her butting in. "We were just discussing how we could keep better records on magic and magic users. Pierre had a good suggestion that you…,"

"I'm sorry, but I need your help," she interrupted again.

"Oh?"

"It may be nothing, but one of the kitchen girls and her sister have not been at work for four days now and another girl went to check on them last night and has yet to return," Violet said quickly. "She lives outside the city in the forest and with everything going on right now, I didn't think it would be prudent for just the two of us to go alone."

Jael's smile vanished and he rose from his chair, "Pierre, if you will excuse me."

"Absolutely," his companion answered. "We can continue this later."

Jael led Violet out of the room, "this is bad timing. The Harpers have been summoned north to Myth Dranor, so we can't expect any help from them."

"I would hate to drag them into this if it turns out to be nothing but a bunch of silly girls and their drama."

"Nonsense," he hushed her, "this is what they do."

They hurried out to the temple grounds where a group of Harpers were gathered with their mounts.

"Jael! Violet!" Vorn's voice rang out over the general din of the group. "Did you come to see us off?"

"Can I have a word with you?" Jael asked when they were close enough not to have to shout.

"For you, my friend, of course," Vorn boomed.

Walking several feet away from the group, Jael told Vorn what Violet had told him.

"Bad timing my friend, we are about to head out," Vorn told him.

"I'll go," Milya said, coming up behind them so quietly they didn't hear her approach. Or maybe it was all the noise from the Harpers. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Vorn," she scolded the dwarf. "They need our help. For the gods' sake, we can't send a kitchen maid, a sorcerer with no control of her magic, and a priest that's never seen battle into potential trouble. We can always catch up with the group when they stop for the night."

Vorn sputtered at Milya before agreeing to go with them. Violet went to get Ada while the two Harpers informed their captain.

The longer this went on, the worse Violet felt like she was just overreacting to Ada's fears. Still, it was heartening that they were willing to help her when they had something much more important to do. She hoped she wasn't wasting their time.