True Love and Necromancy [Featured Story!]

Chapter XIV

AS IT TURNED OUT, the Sorcerers' Research Institute had only equipped Theo with none of the necessary skills to remodel a decades-old cottage. It did, however, provide him with the know-how needed to neutralize the threat of the bear living inside the cottage. But, seeing as the poison would take several weeks to create, Tansy ended up handling the situation by shooing the bear out with a broom.

They set to work tidying the up the place and bringing it into a livable condition. Tansy had an uncanny knack for figuring out the tangible, practical things in life. With a little industry, a lot of order-following on Theo's part, and a bit of an initial investment, they were able to bring the cottage more or less up to code within just a few weeks.

That first year was a whirlwind of bliss.

Theo spent his days figuratively buried in books. He had an impressive collection of his own, and he continued to borrow regularly from the Hidden Library of Mysteries, using the forest entrance that appeared in various locations in the wilderness around his home, each one increasingly inconvenient and dangerous, which was to be expected.

Tansy spent her days getting to know the forest. She took an interest in the plants she found there and took to bringing home samples to study. She became not just Theo's research assistant, but his partner in apothecarial studies. Together, they developed several new tinctures and potions, especially for allergies, from which Theo suffered in the extreme.

With the fruits of the forest and the luxury of a decent mail order delivery service that ran regularly from Barenn to the End of the World, Theo and Tansy lived comfortably. They sold their wares back at the city, where the Hiccoughing Pony had agreed to sell them out of a small stand by the bar.

Oh yes—and Elliot the cat spent his days hunting mice and largely ignoring the existence of the humans with whom he boarded, which made him exceedingly happy.