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Edarial is nine, and he's avoiding his mother again.
Exploring the palace gets old after a while, but the library's even worse, and he suspects that if he spent any more time in his room, he'd scream. So, exploring the palace it is. Berathyme's with him, anyway, so the palace won't be so boring. She tends to make observations he didn't notice himself, and that's always interesting, if not always useful. Corridor, corridor, guest rooms, oh yes that is the closet with all of the uncomfortably looking coats, he'd forgotten about that one. Berathyme observes that they've been used relatively recently, some poor souls must have suffered - and then he opens a door and there's something he doesn't recognize.
He stares at the bar in confusion, consults briefly with Berathyme, and then wanders in.
What exactly is going on here?
royal_obligation
royal_obligation
"Then c'mon!" he declares, and he goes up to the bar with quite a bit more speed than necessary.
"... Hi?" says Edarial, suddenly shy. "Is someone there? With books?"
"... Hi?" says Edarial, suddenly shy. "Is someone there? With books?"
she_sells_seashells
"The bar is a lady," explains Shell Bell. "You just ask her nicely and if she talks to you she does it with napkins. Hi Bar!"
Hello, appears a napkin. What books can I interest you in?
Hello, appears a napkin. What books can I interest you in?
royal_obligation
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," says Edarial politely, because he is a prince. "Spell charts, do you have books of lost spell charts? Or - non lost spell charts that I don't have access to?"
royal_obligation
"Maybe later, thank you, though."
There are, as it turns out, quite a lot of books of spell charts. Including lost ones. Shell Bell is welcome to read through them with Edarial.
There are, as it turns out, quite a lot of books of spell charts. Including lost ones. Shell Bell is welcome to read through them with Edarial.
she_sells_seashells
She peeks, but mostly she mops (and then wipes down tables and polishes Bar), since she can't do the magic.
royal_obligation
That is entirely fine.
"Hey," says Edarial, after a while of reading and one glass of a substance Edarial doesn't recognize but likes immediately, "um - miss? Girl? I'm sorry, I don't know your name - does this hex look like it would be helpful?"
He points at the one he is at in the book he's on. It is, in summary, a small easily carry-able item that dispenses food.
"Hey," says Edarial, after a while of reading and one glass of a substance Edarial doesn't recognize but likes immediately, "um - miss? Girl? I'm sorry, I don't know your name - does this hex look like it would be helpful?"
He points at the one he is at in the book he's on. It is, in summary, a small easily carry-able item that dispenses food.
royal_obligation
"I'm Edarial. Hi. I'll work on memorizing it, then, I just - can't cast it right now. I've used two spells today."
Another thing he looks annoyed about.
Another thing he looks annoyed about.
royal_obligation
He nods. "Okay, good. I - hope my spells will recharge properly, so I can cast it for you. But I need to memorize it first."
So he gets to doing that.
"I think I did it," he tells her, after a very long time of doing that. "But I won't know until I try the hex."
So he gets to doing that.
"I think I did it," he tells her, after a very long time of doing that. "But I won't know until I try the hex."
royal_obligation
"... Probably, it'll take a while for them to recharge. But I can sleep through a lot of it, I think, that'll help."
royal_obligation
"Thank you! I want to see if there are spells that I can use today that will help, too, though. Like, I don't know, something that makes a meal. That's be useful, even if it's not the hex."
she_sells_seashells
"That would be nice. I have to ration my shells very carefully to stay as long as I can here. I mostly eat potatoes and milk."
royal_obligation
"... I really want the hex to work for you," he says. "Because that sounds unpleasant. I'll look for something to make food."
she_sells_seashells
"Potatoes and milk are nice, I like them fine, and it's not like eating clams and salmon and bread all the time at home is much more interesting. But it would be nice if you could make something else."
royal_obligation
"You're welcome!" he says brightly.
Read. Read read read read read - he finds something promising, spends fifteen minutes cramming it into his head, followed by testing it and getting a pair of glowing eyes for his troubles.
"Hey, Bell," says Edarial with a grin (and glowing eyes). "I can make food now."
Read. Read read read read read - he finds something promising, spends fifteen minutes cramming it into his head, followed by testing it and getting a pair of glowing eyes for his troubles.
"Hey, Bell," says Edarial with a grin (and glowing eyes). "I can make food now."
royal_obligation
"Ummm," he says, and he reads the description for the spell chart, "'One hardboiled egg, an apple, celery sticks and -' oh, sorry, bread and butter. That part's probably not helpful, but the rest is."