Page 15 of The Gargoyle’s Glade (The Gargoyle Knights #3)

Merry

I t took several days before I felt comfortable in the office at the crossroads.

Every time one of the ancient documents gave way and crumbled to dust under my fingertips, my heart lodged in my throat.

I had no idea how important such things were, especially the ones that old, but it seemed tragic to lose a piece of history just because I’d disturbed it.

They’d been here long before I’d existed, after all.

The first couple of times, I’d made enough noise that Seir had peeked in to check on me.

Assured I was still on the ladder and in one piece, he flashed me a smile and disappeared again.

He was helping his brother manage the doorways while also keeping an eye on me as I scaled the deceptively tall rolling ladder.

The ladder itself had surpassed all expectations. Instead of separate rails, there was one that continued around the entire room. I would absolutely roll around all day if left to my own devices.

The third time I let out a very unladylike squawk, Tap himself appeared in the doorway. “Is everything alright in here, Merry?” Concern laced his soft tone.

My face itched from the dust, and a warm flush bloomed up my neck.

“Yes! I’m sorry. I’m fine. I apologize for interrupting you, I know you’re busy.

It’s just, they keep falling apart.” I held up a sad parchment tatter, the rest of the document still sitting on the shelf.

A sneeze suddenly burst from me, sending a plume of dust into the air.

The corners of Tap’s mouth tipped upward, but he didn’t offer the reflexive blessing like I would. I found myself smiling, realizing that such a thing might be odd for a demon to do.

“I should have warned you about the documents,” he said.

“Don’t worry yourself, they have a habit of doing that after so long.

What you’re able to pack up will be sent for long-term storage in the archives but losing some of the oldest is expected.

For the most part, anything not issued within the last several decades will never need to be referenced, so the loss is not devastating.

Besides, the parties involved in the bond all have a copy as well.

” He nodded sagely as he clasped his hands behind his back.

That specific posture reminded me of Vassago so much I snorted.

He tilted his head, eyebrows drawn together. “Have I said something amusing?”

My blush became full blown, and I climbed all the way down off the ladder, brushing my hands on the light apron I’d found to put over my clothes. “No, it’s only that you looked very much like your brother just then.”

He frowned, confused. “Seir?”

“Vassago.”

Tap’s mouth opened, then closed again. His expression went through several transformations before he put one hand over his heart and let loose a raspy laugh that was louder than I expected it to be. I was startled at first, but then laughed with him, the new pose furthering the similarity.

“Posh cad. Though I suppose I could do far worse. What was it, exactly?”

“The way you were standing.” I imitated both poses, badly, but well enough to show what I meant. “And you hold your arms in a very similar way.”

He put his hands on his hips, then self-consciously crossed them.

Giving up, he dropped one to his side and used the other hand to bump his glasses up his nose.

“Well. In any case, don’t worry yourself about the ones that fall apart.

Perhaps work your way up instead of down?

They’ll reorganize them how they like in the archives anyhow.

We can assist you later with the more fragile ones.

I’ll ask Seir to help remove the crates as you fill them. ”

Things went much smoother after that, and I worked faster, no longer terrified of things crumbling in my hands.

When we returned home that first night from the crossroads, my collection of animals waited politely a short distance from the portal.

“We’ve discussed this,” Seir told them, shaking a finger at the lot as he gently scolded them. “Go on. Give the lady some room.” Several of the small creatures backed into the grass or trees, and a few of the birds took flight.

“They’ll still turn up outside the cabin.” I smiled despite the strain they were putting on me. I couldn’t blame them. Not really. If I wanted to be heard and finding a conduit like I apparently was to make that happen was right in front of me, I’d keep it within sight when I could too.

Seir and I walked down the path together, animals quietly creeping along behind us.

“Whatever they need from you, they’re not willing to share with me.”

“You asked?”

He nodded. “I have. My mind speech is not the most practiced, but I get by. They understand me fine, but they seem very set on speaking with you specifically. It seems very much like … loyalty? I’m unsure how to explain it.”

“I appreciate you trying.” Truly, I was flattered that he had. It made me feel less alone in this odd circumstance.

“You did well today. Are you planning to go back tomorrow?”

My head was throbbing and my legs ached. I’d been very busy without realizing quite how much. “Yes. Can you take me after breakfast? I need to get back early enough to see Jacks, I don’t like going too long between visits.”

Seir grinned and nodded, pausing as we arrived at the split in the path. “Of course. You’re welcome to come to our place to eat. Hailon loves having you.”

“I’ll do that. Thanks.” He raised a hand in a wave as he continued straight, and I took the curved path toward my cabin.

When I got to my little porch, I noticed that a quail carving had joined the hawk. My mouth twitched. Still, I left the little tokens of apology from Coltor as they were.

I also suspected that the extra eyes I’d started to feel following me around had less to do with the animals camouflaged by the fauna than they did the sulky stone kin I believed was keeping watch from a distance.

It should have bothered me far more than it did.

Work days and weekends weren’t the same concept at the crossroads that they were in the city, but I told Seir I’d be taking a couple of days to rest after returning to the library for five straight, full days.

The work was satisfying, even if I’d developed a chronic headache, my whole body hurt from the lifting and bending, and I had a sneezing fit at regular intervals.

He had just returned from one of his seemingly endless trips through a door in the wide hall full of portals to deliver a massive crate of contracts to the archives somewhere in Hell when I mentioned my ailments.

Seir paled. “Oh, Merry. I’ve made a terrible mistake, I’m so sorry.”

I laughed, thinking he was about to make a joke. “Oh?” I wiped my perpetually dry, dusty hands on a cloth I kept in the pocket of my apron. “It’s not that bad. I’m probably out of shape, maybe a little allergic to parchment dust.”

“No, it’s not that. Though I’m sorry that you’re uncomfortable at all, and Tap will be as well. But I didn’t think to mention the time because I’m used to it. It honestly didn’t occur to me at all.”

“Time?”

Seir sagged, the apologetic look on his face pitiful. “Time passes differently here. We leave in the morning and return in the evening in the glade, but here, about an hour and a half passes for every hour there. You’ve been working much longer than you thought.” He grimaced, horrified.

I considered this. Time hadn’t felt like it was passing any differently, but I’d been so busy I wasn’t paying much attention. I was seeing progress, and every day it got harder to want to leave in what felt like the middle of my project.

“Oh. Well, that explains some things, but it’s alright. Knowing wouldn’t have changed anything.”

He apologized twice more, then grabbed up another crate.

Sore and exhausted but also immensely proud, I’d continued on that day until I finished the whole wall. The shelves were all empty, wiped free of old dust, and ready for the new files to be installed.

“A job well done.” Tap offered his compliments as Seir and I prepared to go home. “Please accept my most sincere apologies. I’m embarrassed to have omitted several things accidentally, and very grateful for your efforts.”

“It’s fine,” I said, sure I was blushing.

“Take as much time as you need to recover,” Tap said, gently patting my shoulder before handing me an envelope.

“What’s this?”

“Your pay, of course. I’ll see you soon, Merry.” He smiled, and walked away, not waiting for me to inspect it.

“Ready?” Seir asked.

I nodded, and as usual, he linked his arm with mine as we prepared to walk through the portal. Right before we stepped through, I peeked inside the envelope, panic fueled joy flooding my veins with electricity.

“That’s too much,” I breathed. Seir glanced at me with a concern that quickly morphed into amusement.

“What, that? Impossible. You’ve done a month’s worth of work in only a few days.

If anything, he should have tossed a few more notes in there as a bonus, especially given what a toll it’s taken on you.

” He took the envelope from my hand and tucked it safely into my pocket, winked and pulled me through the doorway.

After barely getting my tea steeped on my first rest day morning, there was a knock on my door. I’d been calculating how much I could spare to send back home and marveling at how it might feel to walk through the market without worrying about every single coin when I was interrupted.

“Merry? I know it’s early, but I’m betting you’ll like what I have to show you!” an excited Hailon called from the porch.

“Coming.” I crossed the small distance quickly, trying not to spill my full cup as I walked.

I opened the door to find my friend looking over her shoulder at the large menagerie gathered around my yard.

“That’s… disturbing. I’m pretty sure some of them don’t even live in this climate,” she muttered, but her smile brightened as she turned back to face me.

She lifted the basket cradled in her arms before pushing around the contents with a finger.

“I left some at mine, but everything’s here!

Do you want to plant today?” Her gaze turned to the collection of wood carvings that had amassed over the week on my railing, a little twitch pulling at the corner of her mouth.

There was now a raccoon, a fox, a doe, a fish, and a duck, along with the hawk and falcon. “Those are nice. Housewarming gift?”

“Something like that.” I leaned over and started poking around in the basket, impressed with the variety of things they’d been able to find. I’d thought I was making a wish list, but Grace had turned it into a proper order.

“You know Coltor fixed up my little horse for me, the one I’ve had forever? He’s quite good at woodworking it seems.”

“Mmm.” I grunted a vague agreement. The carvings were quite good, but I didn’t even have confirmation that they were from him, only an assumption. “And yes, we should get seeds for the squash and greens in the ground as soon as possible, otherwise it may frost too early for them to ripen.”

“I thought so too. Seir is getting us some pots for the seedlings. I like the idea of being able to bring them inside if it’s going to be cold. They need some time to grow before they go in the ground anyway.”

I agreed wholeheartedly, and I went to change into my shabbiest clothes so we could get to work.

We started in the back of the cabin, Hailon following along and either copying my motions or awaiting instructions as she filled me in on what I’d missed while down in the library at the crossroads.

A headache started creeping in by the time we’d finished planting the first bed full of squash and assorted greens, and only got worse as we moved to the front beds where most of the animals still lingered.

“Hello,” I greeted them all. Cautiously, I raised my eyes to glance around and got a strange muted barrage of greetings in return.

Hello. Help? Hear? Bond. Must pledge. Welcome.

Friend! No paralysis, though, which was nice.

And the tone had changed a bit, like perhaps they were also offering help instead of simply asking for it.

I sectioned out the beds, roughly marking with a stick where I wanted which plants and left the little packets of seeds where they were meant to go.

Between us, Hailon and I carved little trenches with our fingers and dropped in seeds before covering them up again.

We had a good rhythm going when she finally spoke again.

“There are so many now,” Hailon said reverently, her eyes trained on the family of quail nested up in some grass. Occasionally one of the chicks popped up and ran a few laps around the rest before cuddling back in. “Any new clues about what you’re supposed to do for them?”

I explained to her what Tap had told me about the contracts, what little I was picking up when we spoke.

“Hopefully there won’t be so many soon.” I needed to make a trip to see Ophelia to discuss the book she’d given me.

I’d flipped through the whole thing, but it was like it was written in some kind of secret code.

I couldn’t make sense of hardly anything it said.

“Come on,” Hailon said a bit later, clapping her hands together to free her fingers of some heavy soil. “Let’s go to mine. Least I can do is fix you lunch before I make you help me with my beds too.”

The animals cleared a gap for us to walk through, then followed us across the glade, my headache bad enough Hailon noticed I wasn’t quite myself halfway through our sandwiches and brought me some medicine.

“Perhaps we should finish another day?”

“No,” I refused. “I just need some more water, probably. I’ll take a nap after we’re done, it’ll be fine.

” I was also fantasizing about a long soak in one of the hot springs.

It seemed logical that doing that might relax me as well.

I didn’t know if it was the animals, the dust from the paperwork, or having been working so much, but I hadn’t hurt like I was now, perhaps ever before.

“You’re sure?” Hailon’s eyebrows were pinched together with worry.

I put on my brightest smile, finished my last bite and got to my feet. “Absolutely. Let’s get these seeds in the ground.” The ache in my temples and down my neck raged as I nodded.

I’d never hoped for a medicine to work faster in my life.