True Love and Necromancy [Featured Story!]

Chapter III

TANSY RETURNED THREE DAYS LATER. She stopped just inside the door of Theodosius's shop, afraid she had come to the incorrect place. She looked around, blinked in confusion, and stepped back out onto the cobbled street.

Tansy frowned and studied her surroundings to get her bearings. To the left was a tavern. Above the door hung a wooden sign, and on the sign was a horse sitting inside a brimming mug of ale, his tongue theatrically sticking out. To the right was a tavern. Above the door hung a wooden sign, and on the sign was a terrifying creature with a woman's head grimacing in a friendly manner atop a disturbingly curvy bird's body.

And directly above Tansy's head was a sign, and on the sign was:

BARENN APOTHECARIAL EMPORIUM

"Cures what ails ye"

THEODOSIUS, ctd. SORCERER

Tansy cautiously stepped back through the door and looked around again.

Three days ago, the shop had been dim, cramped, and crowded with a dizzying array of articles that could be described with a variety of adjectives including "disgusting," "disturbing," and "dead."

Now, shiny lamps were hung at even intervals around the room, already lit. The floor gleamed, reflecting back the lamplight and her own astonished face. The shelves, haphazardly leaned against the walls before, now stood straight and neat. They were populated with the endless array of Theodosius's now dust-free wares, impressive-looking books and small stacks of scrolls with bright tassels hanging down. The stack of skulls was conspicuously missing, and a bizarre floral slip cover had been tied over the rumpled chair she'd sat in the first night. A new service counter separated the sorcerer's tidy, orderly work area from the rest of the shop. There was a tray of complimentary peppermints set upon it like the cherry on top of an immaculate, alarmingly shiny sundae.

"Welcome!" Theodosius called from behind the new counter.

"Goodness me," Tansy murmured. "I like what you've done with the place, Theo."

"Oh, you caught me at a bad time the other night," Theodosius said, which was to say, I hired two housekeepers and a professional interior decorator in order to impress you upon your return, and if I were to do this over again I'd give myself a week instead of three days, and did you call me Theo just now, because you could do that again if you like. "Please come in."

Tansy moved through the room toward Theo, still marveling. "I came to pick up the philter for my grandfather."

"Yes, of course. Here you are." The sorcerer placed a stoppered crystal phial on the counter. "How did the tea seem to affect him?"

"He said it tasted like—well, I won't tell you what he said," she replied. "It doesn't seem to have affected his memory at all, no matter the taste. He still comes and goes. Then again, it's only been three days, and the herbs ran out this morning. My father said ... are you wearing a cravat?"

Theodosius laughed nervously, tugging at the knotted lace he was wearing tucked into his embroidered robes. Aside from definitely putting on a cravat, he had combed his bedraggled hair and tied it at the nape of his neck. He had even oiled his beard and combed it until it shined most impressively. "Uh. No. That is, yes. I—uh—should have warned you that the tea wouldn't be pleasing to the palate. What did your father say?"

"That it's all nonsense, that you're a quack, and that he didn't want me to come back." Tansy smiled.

"And yet you came."

"A lady shouldn't make a habit of obeying men, in my opinion." She picked up the phial and turned it in her hand.

"Hopefully this medicine will go undetected in your grandfather's morning cup." He indicated the phial with a nod of his head. "Three drops each morning, no more. I'm afraid it may take a couple of weeks until you can discern whether it is working to beneficial effect."

"I understand." Tansy watched the liquid settle in the phial, gleaming golden in the lamplight. She slipped the phial into her reticule. "Will there be any side effects?"

Theodosius removed his gaze promptly from her hand, upon which, he had noted, there was no ring. "There should not be, no, but should you notice any, please advise me as quickly as you can."

"Very well. What's the cost, Theo?"

"Let us tally the final cost when we have exhausted all of our options," Theo said.