Page 20 of Wizards & Weavers (Cozy Questing #1)

Chapter

Fifteen

In the light of the luminous cavern, the juice-laden water was a vivid, beautiful violet. Its color reminded Braiden of pressed grapes, the sparkling bubbles evoking the inside of a gemstone. He nodded his head in quiet, restrained approval. Elyssandra applauded, always so supportive.

“Well?” Augustin asked. “Take up your glasses. We ventured out here for a little something sweet, and here it is.”

Elyssandra collected her glass with all the caution of someone picking up a vial of poison, but Braiden could see her curiosity mounting, pinpoint twinkles in her eyes.

He licked his lips again as he watched the bubbles in his own cup, the glass cool in his hands, the fizzy water within even cooler.

Sure, the Wizard of Weathervale had done one or two foolish things since they’d ventured into the dungeon. He wasn’t going to actually get them all poisoned with bubbling berry water, was he? It wasn’t fermented, at least, and it smelled far lovelier than any jar of pickles Braiden had ever met.

As the bubbles raced to the surface and popped, Braiden caught tiny sniffs of a fragrance that was at once fruity and floral.

Just one taste. It couldn’t hurt. And if this did poison them, Braiden at least had a fine last meal.

It would give him enough strength to throttle Augustin as they went down.

He raised the glass to his mouth, tilting it back for a tentative sip.

His lips tingled on contact. Did poison tingle?

This was only like ale, wasn’t it? Like Dudley’s best beers at the tavern.

He breathed in, the scent of the gloomberries filling his nostrils with something rich, a fragrant, fruity sugar. Braiden drank.

And he drank, and drank some more. The bubbles burst against his tongue as the fizzing juice went down, a delightful experience very much like the feel of drinking good ale. But this beautiful new beverage didn’t come with the bitterness of beer, nor the bitter promise of a hangover.

Braiden drank and drank of the berry’s bounty, the subterranean fruit tasting of deep, dark honey. This was the flavor of oldest earth, rich with jewels that glistened like cuts of fruit.

When he finally pulled the glass away, Braiden sipped in a long mouthful of air, as if he’d neglected to breathe. A few last bubbles blistered against his tongue, his lips still coated with the sweetness of gloomberry.

“I can’t believe I ever doubted you,” he told a grinning Augustin Arcosa. “That was the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”

Elyssandra only spoke after she had fully drained her entire glass in one long pull. “Augustin! That. Was. Incredible. I, too, had my doubts, but my goodness. The flavor! The fizz! I feel so refreshed.”

The wizard wagged his finger as he grinned, his glass only half empty.

“What did I tell you? And you’ve only tasted it with gloomberries.

Imagine this with the juice of your favorite fruit, or in any flavor you like.

You could bottle this stuff and sell it.

You’d make a killing. If only it wasn’t so difficult moving bottles of the pool water up to the surface. ”

Bottling this lovely beverage? That didn’t sound like a bad idea at all. But the wizard had a point. The best of luck to anyone who tried. Traps in this cavern, elementals patrolling the upper levels? It didn’t seem very feasible at all.

Only the hardiest adventurers would leave the dungeon with enough unbroken bottles of bubbly water. And even then, would the effort be worth it? How much would anyone actually pay for some flavored fizzy water?

“What would you even call this stuff?” Braiden asked, swirling the remains of the pretty purple liquid in his glass. “It’s so delicious.”

“So delightful,” Elyssandra added.

“So divine,” Augustin cooed dreamily. “Beats me. Well, actually, I would go with something exuberant, something fancy that might appeal to my admirers. Augustin’s Effervescent Elixir. Something like that.”

Braiden grinned. “That rolled off your tongue very quickly. Almost like you’ve already given this some thought.”

Augustin chuckled, smoothing back his hair. “And maybe I have, once or twice. Settle down somewhere nice and quiet, open up a shop to sell my bubbly brews? It’d be a welcome change from all this dungeoneering.”

The wizard let out a long sigh. Braiden watched as his excitement seemed to dissipate, his cheery mask disrupted for a scant few moments.

There it was again, this exhausted version of Augustin Arcosa that Braiden had only seen in seconds and snatches.

There was more hopeful intent behind these silly bubbly dreams than the wizard was letting on.

Braiden slowly finished the last of his drink, savoring the suds and the sugar. He watched the wizard through the bottom of his glass: vivid and vibrant through half a glass full of purple, then tired all over again once the color and sweetness had drained away.

Glass tinkled against earth and grass. Braiden wondered why Elyssandra had dropped her cup so suddenly, then stiffened when he saw that she’d traded it for the weapon at her hip.

Her sharp ears wavered, listening for something. She held the golden blade with a familiarity that was at once reassuring and chilling. The elf knew how to wield it, and Braiden feared for whatever stood in the way of its pointy end.

“We should head back inside,” she said, her voice steeped in unsettling calm. “Pretend we haven’t noticed. It’s all right. We’re fine. I just know that someone’s watching us.”

The three of them headed back to the jade flower, talking nonchalantly, though Braiden suspected that the other two were doing a finer job of pretending than he was.

Elyssandra had her knife and Augustin had his gale-force magics. Whatever it was that lurked in the long grass of the cavern, Braiden would feel better knowing that he could fend it off with a bolt of cloth or a gauze bandage.

His nerves settled when they returned to the warmth of the cottage. Elyssandra reassured them one final time that they were safe. Her relaxed posture and smile were more reassuring than anything she’d said. They bid each other good night, then went to their respective bedrooms.

Which, unfortunately for Braiden, meant his bedroom that he had to share with Augustin. He pushed the door open, his stomach in knots when he saw that they would have to share the bed, too.

“Well, this is simply remarkable,” Augustin declared. “To think that we’ve been afforded the very finest in elven accommodation. Out here in the dungeon wilds, too.”

Braiden couldn’t disagree. Again this had far surpassed his expectations of his first night in the dungeon.

The bed was lavishly decorated, if not very spacious, its bed knobs carved into elaborate pinecones, the sheets sewn out of a soft, satin- like fabric that reflected the same jewel-toned accents found throughout the house.

The rest of the room was very basic, yet beautifully appointed in its sparseness.

A chest of drawers stood alongside a full-length mirror, each finished in decorative flourishes of leaves and vines.

And next to that, a plush stool, the perfect kind for someone to sit on while putting on or removing their shoes.

Augustin demonstrated the stool’s function, sighing in relief as he pulled off his admittedly lovely boots. He headed for the door in the far wall, pushing it noiselessly open, filling the brief silence with a whoop of delight.

“A lavatory. There’s a sink and a tub and everything! Elyssandra really is spoiling us. A bit too late to draw a full bath, I think.”

Just as well. Braiden didn’t want to begrudge the wizard his evening ablutions, but he didn’t fancy the thought of waiting for Augustin to finish splashing around in the tub before he got his turn to wash up.

The day’s journey had actually been shorter than he’d expected, but Braiden felt the exhaustion deep in his bones. Anyone would be tired if they had to fight a few elementals and save an airheaded wizard from a thorny pendulum-related death.

“Would you mind if I went first?” Augustin asked. “I promise, I’ll be quick. I won’t make you wait very long.”

Before Braiden could answer, the wizard was already unclasping his cloak and unbuttoning his shirt. The blood rushed to his cheeks as Augustin stripped down to the waist.

Elyssandra’s words from before came whizzing back to Braiden’s mind, something about how the wizard was so leanly muscled for someone who relied on magic.

Braiden stared at the bedspread, suddenly very interested in riffling through his rucksack, intent on setting his eyes anywhere but on Augustin’s very attractive physique.

“You go right ahead,” Braiden stammered, aimlessly unloading his things onto one side of the bed, finding any excuse to avert his gaze. “I’ll just be here.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Braiden saw the wizard shrug. The door to the lavatory clicked shut, the sound followed by the rush of water and Augustin’s happy humming.

Braiden picked out a comfortable set of clothes to wear for the night, realizing he’d also picked the side of the bed farthest from the lavatory and closest to the rest of the house.

In case he felt too nervous in the night, perhaps, and needed to flee from the arrestingly handsome wizard with the annoyingly enticing frame.

It didn’t take long for Augustin to finish. Braiden barely registered the wizard telling him it was his turn before he rushed past, the faint scent of flowers wafting from his skin.

Braiden quietly shut the door, finding that the smell had lingered. It must have come from one of the many beautiful bottles arranged around the sink, a variety of soaps, tinctures, and lotions that had unfolded along with the hairpin house.