Ch:6 Nobody Ever Died of Tired

He came back to some place warm and quiet, the sound of trickling water, the herbal and mineral scent of his hot spring. He was drifting in his pool feeling more solid and real.

His limbs moved and he was hungry, in a weird way, he felt half full. His eyes were still closed but he could feel his house around him and feel the people in it. They were all familiar and comforting. Liam and Otho in the kitchen, Amicus in the reading nook and Tawny here in the bath. He drifted on, barely aware.

He heard Liam's voice faintly. “Is he awake yet?” from nearby Tawny’s liquid gold voice came “He’s more awake than yesterday.” ‘That's nice’ he thought. ‘I must be getting better, ohh Aisha is here.’ and he floated away again.

A sudden jolt sent him swirling back. As his eyes dragged open he was floating a yard away from Liam, Tawny and Aisha, all nude, all in the bath with him.

“Hyurrk” he drowned, drowningly. As he struggled back to the surface, hands seized him to help, soft tiny hands. She managed him like a stray kitten, folding him up to her bosom and holding his head above water. So soft.

“I told you he has a thing about nudity.” Liam complained as he dressed and fled through the door.

Tawny snarled furiously. “I am NOT wearing my clothes in a mineral bath! Ruin my robes, as if I would!” While holding Gary above water.

Aisha had complaints too “Tawny we are friends, how could you keep this delicious secret from me!”

Aisha peered closely at Gary’s face, pressed to Tawny’s bosom. “Ohh! I suppose he is handsome in a way, it's probably the way you are holding him though, everything looks better draped in gold.”

Gary flailed weakly and Tawny tightened her hold.

“Aisha, if I let him drown in the interest of strangling you, that might just balance out.”

Aisha rose from the pool and wiggled her way back inside calling; “well I know when I’m not wanted!” Pausing at the door, “Get better Gary!” and she was gone.

Leaving him alone with Tawny, the naked girl in his bath. Gary struggled to maintain his dignity while also being too weak to stand or really do anything beyond flail around.

“Acolyte Tawny,” Gary croaked, ‘I assume you are here in your professional role?”

She dragged him to the steps and beached his almost corpse. “No Gary, in my professional capacity I see the sick and injured at the temple, or in their beds. Rarely, I travel to the scene of an injury. Never do I soak in a bathtub for three days and nights, to preserve the mind of a fool who neglects his body and soul to this degree.”

Gary felt the sting of those words even though he didn’t understand.

“Whah? Huh?” He asked.

Confounded by those logical arguments, Tawny huffed and held him in place. “Explain yourself to Otho, since I am unworthy of learning the mysterious Gary’s circumstances.” The hurt in her voice was raw and honest.

“I’ll tell you everything, I promise, but maybe when we have clothes?”

She smiled sadly “I didn’t believe Liam, that you were shy, you seem so confident in your pants. Is that all it takes to shatter your resolve?”

Gary flailed weakly. “We just don't go around naked where I'm from… definitely not with girls.”

Seeing an opening, she pounced. “Where are you from Gary, the nearest towns are not so different from Wheatford. I have been to Port Ellis, Flintspire Town and Herndon. They wear their hair differently, and their clothes have a different cut, they are not like you. So odd, so strange, those songs… where are you from Gary?”

“A town on the north coast…” He started to lie.

“No. Sorry, I promised.” And he told her, waking up slimy and lost, about the dead man and the weird spear. His house and the birds, there was even a bit about a magic flute. “...and I passed out.” He rasped to a stop, exhausted. She frowned.

“But where are you from?” She looked frustrated. “Before last week, you dolt.”

“We should also like to learn those secrets.” Otho announced, following Amicus and Liam. “Now that you are on the mend and can't escape this pool for a few days we are going to squeeze some answers out of you boy.”

All of them immediately disrobed and entered the pool. “I can't believe this is my life now.” Gary moaned weakly.

Struggling to sit a little higher, Gary got rolling.”I was born in a seaside town, my family were all musicians or instrument makers, they died, I lived.”

Gary paused for questions and then went on. “It was an accident, I was hurt badly. With no other relatives, when the money dried up, I got booted out of the hospital and dumped in foster care. Just another destitute crippled kid.”

Another pause, and Tawny asked “What of the local temples?”

“We don't have those, not like here, ours don't actually do anything but collect money.”

Tawny scratched her head in a way that was very distracting. “What about your god?” she asked, “Did you seek guidance?”

Gary sighed, preparing for an uphill battle. “We don't have real gods or magic where I’m from.” He braced for chaos but received only a mild “Oh! How strange.”

Garry continued his explanation. “When I had enough, I ran away and lived on the streets for two years. I took care of myself just fine.”

Amicus called out from around his pipe stem. “According to Zygno’s notebook you died young in that world, boy. Low marks for ‘taking care of yourself’ if you ask me.”

“So your powerful nudity taboo is from your world?” Otho asked.

“I don't like being seen naked… by anybody, it was bad enough when it was just the leg and back, doctors poking, showing their students.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “The other kids, they made it worse. I know in my mind that they're gone now, left on my old body…”

Gary felt warm, soft skin embracing him as his body shook. Sadly, it was Otho, holding him close with tender compassion..

From across the pool he heard Tawny’s voice, so golden. “That's why there are no mirrors…” Her soft words cut him. “I should have noticed right away, No mirrors in your whole house. Even the pool is never able to cast a reflection.”

“I just don't like seeing myself, or being seen.” He struggled against the wiry old coot, visibly weakening.

Tawny clapped three times, so loud they rang off the walls, breaking the silence.

“Boys that can stand and walk, please leave the pool, the boy who can't leave the pool needs to sleep.” Tawny wrapped herself in a plush robe and settled into a comfy chair, “I will watch over him.”

Gary once more slipped away, her golden voice humming idly about second hand emotions. Too wrung out and too weak to do anything about it, he listened to her as long as he could and drifted off to sleep.

When he woke, the format had shifted significantly. Gary was still unable to stand, weak, and floating around naked. The three men were clothed and seated in chairs around the corner where Gary floated.

Tawny was scolding them softly. “When he wakes, none of this nonsense,” She was pointing at Otho and Amicus, waving her finger at them and putting on a fearsome display in her robes of office. “Your research can wait until he can function.” She spun on Liam, “And you, running him like that in his condition, did you even listen while Patel was assessing him? Foolish boy.” She cut the air with a long wand in her right hand as she spoke the last… that sounded familiar.

The men noticed Gary’s eyes opening, and pointed as one, hoping to end the tirade. She whirled and pointed her long slender switch at Gary. “You,” she said, “are not getting away again until I get my answers!”

A short chant bubbled across her lips, incomprehensible to Gary, and she tapped his feeble, bobbing form in the thigh.

At the touch of her wand, Gary felt more awake and alert than he had since before the festival. A fog seemed to lift from his mind, bringing the world into closer focus.

“Ohh!” Gary gasped. “Thanks!” She smiled sadly. “Don't thank me yet Gary, you have been shamefully careless of your own health, body, mind and spirit.”

Pointing at the others she scoffed. “These fools had Patel examine you, knowing he would do an excellent job, but not wonder about any deeper questions. I am not Patel, Master Otho”

Otho waved his hands silently, as if to swat away her accusing glare. “You suspected this boy was strange from the beginning, but you wanted to scheme. Shame on you.”

Her switch pivoted to Amicus. “So hungry for old man Zygnos’ notes you did not even stop to wonder how this boy fell from the sky with strange gifts? Another fool.”

Liam was her next victim. “You are perhaps just an ordinary fool. Did you use that line about ‘Nobody ever died of tired’ Liam?” Her switch poked him in the chest. “When I told you ‘they died of exhaustion’ that was not a suggested edit.” She sighed in exhaustion. “Muscles for brains, but Aisha likes you, so you must have something between your ears. Try using it, rather than relying on these wretched old goats” She jerked her thumb at the goats, who did look abashed.

Back to Gary she scolded him anew. “Either whoever was in charge of your education was utterly incompetent, or you are the greatest fool to ever stand up from the mud and pretend to be a man.”

She smiled sadly. “Because only a dumb animal would do what you have done to yourself.” Her words became sharper if at all possible. “For the next three days you will not leave this pool.” She ran her gaze around the spring. “This miracle is the only reason you are not currently soiling yourself, lost in a child's mind for the rest of your days.”

She cut the air with her wand again. “When I release you, Liam will be in charge of keeping you on track. Follow his guidance and do not neglect your training or suffer the consequences without my aid. My Goddess is Healer, not Wetnurse.”

“Training?” Gary called. She spun, her fury peeking out from behind her mask of calm.

“Your movement and physical training, meditation and spiritual observances…” with a sour look she finished. “..and martial training, since boys can't resist pointy things.” With distaste she grumbled. “Always swords and spears, I thought this house was your contract, not some magic pigsticker.”

At his blank look she spun again, confronting the men. “Really? What am I missing here? I checked his brain, it's all there, I had wondered…”

The men all shrugged and looked back at Gary. “I’ve only been here… what? A week and a half. I don't know shit guys. How about you fill in some blanks?”

“How did you manage your magical balance in your old world Gary? Was there a different technique? We are perhaps, assuming similar magical structures there…” Amicus asked, before turning to Otho and beginning a soft debate.

“No magic guys.” Gary said.

They paused their debate and looked more closely at the floating boy. Otho asked. “So ritual magic only, that is odd, but tracks with Zygnos…” and the old men put their heads back together.

“No guys, No. Magic. At. All. No gods. No spirits. The only contracts are on paper. Everything and everyone is normal and mundane.” In the back of his mind he thought back to those brief flashes of more than normal something, from those few instruments of genius and craftsmanship, wielded by inspired musicians.

The whole group paused, watching. Gary watched them quietly in return. “No magic at all.” Otho mumbled.

Liam scratched his bristles and wondered aloud. “How do they live? What about monsters?”

“No monsters, just the human kind.” with a smirk he added. “Those are bad enough.”

Tawny’s switch cut again and they fell silent. “Otho and Amicus assure me that this ‘other world’ nonsense is true…” She shuddered. “If that is the case it explains much. Attend me, boy!”

Gary snapped back to her, he had been distracted by a new presence in his shopfront. “Sorry, someone is in the shop ringing the bell.”

Otho perked up. “Be right back, carry on!” he called as he scampered off.

Tawney continued, her once golden voice now a brazen edge. “Before a child is contracted, they receive training and lessons, they are set on a path that keeps their magic in balance as they fill their contracts.” She lectured.

“This is why the GODS, are rightly the arbiters of Contracts.” She fixed Amicus and Gary with a stern glare. “Contract items are a dangerous aberration to begin with… A weapon contract… Only a great fool would create something so wicked and leave it lying about where any child might pick it up.” With this, she looked right at Gary.

“Did you not notice? Did you not see the others? Running in the orchards? Guided meditation in the park for the young ones?”

Gary shrugged, “I thought you guys liked fitness, and that looked like storytime to me.”

“Liam, take over and educate this poor boob. I am off to scold Otho some more.” Tawny whisked away like a fast moving storm of gold.

Liam stood and began to pace, lecturing. “By law, before their first contract, children are trained by the temple before the ritual. Training in physical, mental and spiritual exercises that keep their magic in harmony as they fill their contracts.”

“You did not, it seems, receive this. You were so confident in your other gifts that I ignored your abysmal physical fitness and assumed you were doing your martial and spiritual practices in private.”

He stared at his friend with a steely resolve. “You will receive this instruction, and I will be there to make it stick.”

Amicus had been in the corner, quietly scribbling on a lap desk while Gary was berated by his friends. He perked up. Noting; “Gary’s unique magical nature caused the problem to cascade so quickly, and the nature of his lone contract did not help. I doubt Zygnos foresaw this, or he would have left instructions for that awful thing.”

Now Gary was even more curious. “What's wrong with my Contract?”

“Nothing.” Liam said firmly, glaring at Amicus.

The old man scoffed. “Weapon Contracts were tightly regulated, even in the days when they were more common.” Amicus stood, warming to his subject. “Historical reports suggest that item Contracts, being non sentient, are far more likely to influence their holder’s actions and emotions than divine, or even spirit Contracts.”

Now Liam looked as confused as Gary, Amicus really got going. “A spiritual or divine Contract is placed with the soul, an external interaction like holding hands. Intimate, but a distinct relationship between individuals.

An Item Contract is sealed to the soul, merging them. In a sense Gary is that spear and that spear is Gary. As they grow together, anything could develop. A complete unknown.”

Gary sighed. “You guys don’t talk about Contracts, so how was I supposed to know all this?”

“No one knows this anymore, Gary. Not for a thousand years. I have never seen a contract item, nor met a holder of such a Contract in all my long years.”

“So where did the spear come from?” Gary asked.

“Perhaps only Zygnos knew, he left almost no notes behind.” Amicus said. “We may never know.”

“Uhh..” Gary mumbled and said; “There's a whole room full of papers and books in Z’s cabin.”

“Liam, go get Otho.” Amicus snapped. “And you thought that too unimportant to mention I’m sure.” He griped at Gary.

Otho came bustling in with a graceful person of indeterminate gender, swathed in brown robes. Eyeing Gary with cool detachment, while examining their surroundings carefully.

“Oh, hi there,” Gary complained. “I’m Gary, these are my balls, Otho, why is there yet another person watching me bathe?”

Otho returned fire. “Priestess Naomi Qinn of Blessed Dana the Healer, these are Gary’s balls, they are the brains of the operation as far as we can tell.”

A voice creaked out from inside the hood, sounding like a rusty gate swinging in the wind. “Otho, You are still a foolish boy. This one…” a skeletal finger emerged to point at Gary “… at least has the excuse of youth.” Turning to him she croaked; “I’ve birthed more babes and lanced more boils than there are trees in the forest. I will let you know if I see anything worth noting.”

The effect was slightly spoiled when she leaned in to Otho and whispered too loudly; “Gary’s balls indeed, very droll, I like him Otho. Try and keep him alive.”

With that, she shucked her robe and waded into Gary’s bath. The woman made almost made Otho look dewy and youthful. Her skeletal form and unselfconscious nudity left Gary poleaxed until she began examining him.

“Hey!” Gary complained as she poked him. “Stop that!” As she groped his abdomen “Hey Now!” As her investigation approached Gary’s backside.

She waded out, toweled off and re-dressed saying “Seems a perfectly ordinary boy, beyond the extreme spiritual and magical imbalance.”

She shrugged bony shoulders into her robes. “This pool though… this bears examination.”

Otho whispered “Another time.” While she turned to face Gary and the group.

“I came to see what truth lay in the rumors that my apprentice was cavorting in a bathhouse with a young man.” Her gaze swept the group, now including Tawny again.

“I am satisfied, though I leave with more questions than answers.” Her eyes rested on Tawny. “I hope that my trust will be rewarded in due time.” She swept away as mysteriously as he had come.

“Thanks Otho, are you raffling off tickets to see my dingdong? Seriously, we covered this.”

“But Gary, you could just conjure some clothing for yourself in the pool.” Otho soothed.

Gary ground his teeth in simmering fury. “I tried that Otho, they just dissolved in the water. Anything conjured vanishes in the water just like it never was.” He snapped again, cranky and very unsettled. “Real clothes lasted just a few minutes, and they dissolved too.”

“Now that is interesting… where did Amicus go, he should take some more samples of the water…” Otho was off again, looking for Amicus.

“Tawny,” Gary called softly, “thanks for what you are doing, I don't understand but thank you.” Her soft golden smile was enough reply.

“Gary should remain awake for a while longer Liam, try and get some knowledge into his soggy skull.” Tawny said as she left, rich golden brown robes swishing.

Liam slipped back into the pool to continue his lecture on more equal footing. Gary was surprised to find that eased his anxiety.

“Lets start at the basics. There are six attributes; Might, Resilience, Agility, Will, Mind,and Animus.” Gary nodded, following along.

“All people get six gifts, each loosely allied to an attribute.” Gary nodded again and Liam continued. “Each person's gifts are unique. From animal handling to aura gifts like yours and Otho’s. They are mundane talents until Contracts begin awakening them. As a person contracts with the divine or spiritual, they become a magical being. Gradually at first, their gifts become magically active and develop into true gifts.”

“Somehow, Gary, your gifts are fully awakened. This means you are a creature of magic as much as a mundane person. Your Contract caused one of your attributes to increase in strength, imbalancing you.” Gary nodded again, beginning to see.

“Your body was a sea of undirected magic, and a storm began. As it raged your magic went out of control. Because your Contract is non sentient there was no check on the power.”

“So a god or spirit would have been able to help me control it?” Liam nodded and said; “That is why very young children can be Contracted with divine and spirit entities.”

Gary balked a little. “So how do very young kids decide what god or spirit to Contract?” He asked, suspecting the answer.

“The decision is made by the parents, clergy and elders of course.” Liam said. “Only a close blood relative has the magical resonance to accept the Contract for a child, that is why we orphans must wait. Under the old law, no child was allowed to bind a Contract until fifteen, the age when an item Contract becomes possible.”

Gary thought he saw a glimmer of light. “When did this new law come about?” He asked. “Well over a thousand years ago. Why?”

“Let's wait til the nerds get back to chase that white rabbit.” Gary said “So I'm imbalanced… How do I get balanced? Meditation? Aromatic oils?”

“Yes, meditation, there are other spiritual practices, but I will leave that to Otho. Mental exercises as well, Amicus Otho or Tawny can teach you those as well as anyone. My focus will be on your body.”

“Well, about that.” Gary said. “I'm so hungry I could eat a boot, scrounge me up something?”

Liam scoffed “You nearly burst your guts in Ivy’s kitchen, she was mortified when Otho let it slip. You owe her an apology.” He shook his head sadly. “That would have been the most idiotic death possible.”

Seeing Gary's confused expression he went on. “You were not hungry, that was the turbulence in your magic. Any child could tell the difference, but you never felt it before the last few days did you?”

“I felt it my second day, when I Contracted the spear.” Liam nodded sagely. “If you had exercised, meditated and used your spear to practice your martial arts every day you would not have spiraled out of control.”

“I don't have martial arts training Liam. I am a musician and instrument maker, please don't assume I know anything at all.”

Tawny’s estimation of three days went by the wayside when Gary was able to walk and eat solid food the next morning, needing only frequent immersion to maintain his strength. By day two Liam was walking him outside like an elderly pet.

On the third day Gary declared himself fit enough to leave without an escort, netting a solid veto from all parties. “I have business to attend to!” Gary protested. “Important business!”

“What is so important Gary? What means more than your health? Convince me and I will go with you.” Tawny challenged him. “Lumber auction.” Gary mumbled.

“Excuse me Gary, did you say Lumber auction?” When he nodded she put her hands on her hips. The universal signal that a man has just stepped in it, and was about to track it everywhere.

“Lumber auction… a bunch of old men haggling over the corpses of a few dead trees.” She sighed with long suffering. “I can't believe we ever let men out unsupervised…” a thought seemed to strike her. “You spent a day at the woodcutters guild, why are you buying dead trees instead of chopping them down?”

Gary shifted uncomfortably. “These are well seasoned and ready to use…” She waved impatiently. “Very well. I will go with you. Perhaps a helpful wood cutter will aid me in burying your corpse in the forest.”

With Wanderer’s Legacy in its cane form, Gary and Tawny made their slow way to the lumberyard. “I’ve been meaning to ask, Is it Tawny or Trelawny?” Gary smiled. “Feels like there is a story there.”

“Trelawney was my grandmother’s name, they called me Tawny when I was little. Looking as I do, tawny is a little on the nose, so I rebelled and made a stink. They still call me Trelawny to this day, despite the fact that I have embraced Tawny and made it my own.”

“You sure have, and it works for you.” He said with a saucy wink. “Don’t make this weird Gary.”

Gary recovered his strength quickly, beginning to run in the mornings with Liam, returning to the orphanage by day five.

He made his apologies to Ivy, who accepted, but grudgingly. “Try just asking next time, if you want to kill yourself, I’ll get you a rope.”

Liam began introducing martial arts to Gary “gradually”, which seemed to involve even more running, followed by Liam beating Gary with a padded spear until he couldn’t stand. Gary, that is, Liam was doing just fine thank you.

Eventually, Gary seemed to start picking up which end of the spear went where, prompting Liam to switch to beating him with a padded staff.

Not that the spear beatings stopped, far from it. Soon Gary was being walloped with a padded cane, knife and sword as well.

Their “training sessions” quickly fell into a pattern, starting an hour before first bell, with Tawny coming by at second bell to heal him, she returned to the temple, while Gary and Liam bathed and began their individual days.

Over the next week Gary visited the quarry and mine in the stoney hills behind the city and learned a few things. Stone cutting was not his favorite pastime, and mining was hard and dirty work. His strange harvesting gift made both jobs interesting and profitable.

Quarrying was about patiently drilling holes in the stone face just so, inserting steel wedges and carefully breaking slabs and blocks free with gentle taps or mighty full body swings of a sledge.

After a morning of training, Gary was soon roaming the quarry yard with the foreman touching stones and reading the quarryman his messages. Together they filled a full day's quota and found a few small semi precious stones in half a day.

Down in the mines, Gary was less at home, the dark, dusty confines making him agitated and jumpy. The work though was satisfying in a different way than quarrying was. Mining was simple and direct; dig, smash, sift, sort and load the ore cart.

Once more his gift helped, allowing him to sort quality ore and minerals out from the vast pile of ore and tailings that the mine produced.

Gary found that crawling over the giant mound of crushed rocks outside the mine was often as profitable as digging in the tunnels. He found several barrow loads of metal bearing ore, pulling from the pile copper, silver and even a gold nugget, as well as a small number of minor gems. The mine foreman was more excited about the silver ore than the small pebble of lumpy gold, telling Gary to “Keep it and buy that healer girl something nice.”

The next week Liam added in evening mobility training as Gary’s strength grew. “Up Gary, Up that tree, imagine there is a broken harp at the top or something! Move move move!” He shouted at the struggling form among the leaves. “Now, Jump!” Liam was relentless.“Roll, tumble, spin!” He flogged Gary up one side of the valley and down the other, driving a brutal pace.

When Gary sagged to a fallen log, drenched and covered with leaves and forest detritus, Liam allowed him only a moment before dropping a practice sword at his feet.

“At this rate you might just be able to go out gathering berries in the woods next week, if Becky will escort you.” Liam’s grin was insufferable.

“Cut me some slack, You have me working in the forge next week, learning from smith Harlan… or more likely his daughter, Apprentice Shai.”

Gary had been apprehensive about the assignment at first, but gave in. His grandfather’s last words of craftsman guidance were for Gary to learn more about metal work.

Affecting a thick rolling brogue and a gravelly voice very much like Harlan’s, Gary rumbled “Finest wire puller of my lifetime, she's of marriage age boy…” Liam’s cruel laugh would haunt him for days.

Shai was an excellent smith, a fine instructor, and a truly kind person. She stood almost Gary’s height, short curly red hair and wide shoulders, her hands were scarred and calloused, but so quick and dexterous. Her forehead was wide and high making her seem even taller than her nearly six feet.

The rest of her was all woman, sparkling green eyes and a ready laugh that animated her firm bosom in interesting ways. Her hips and long nimble legs were always in motion like a dancer eager for the music to start.

Most of the first day was dedicated to starting, tending and controlling the forge, Gary’s gifts were less than useless for the job, forcing him to really put in an effort.

The day ended with Gary floating limp as a wet rag in the spring when Liam came by. He poked his friend experimentally and was rewarded with a pained groan and mumbled complaints. “Ooh, you lived!” Liam made a grand show of checking Gary’s hand for a wedding ring, expressing disappointment. “Could not close the deal today eh?”

Gary attempted to splash water in Liam’s face, but the movement was too jerky and feeble, causing him to roll over face down. He could hear the cruel, mocking laugh even under the surface.

As the two boys walked back to the orphanage Gary pulled a finely carved pipe from his Pockets!, relishing the message that appeared at his touch.

Pipe, tool, Ironwood, smoking device, unranked, can be enchanted up to Iron Rank plus by a qualified sorcerer. Quality, rare.

He had spent a good bit of time on it, delicately carving the bowl and stem into a twining vine with tiny blossoms inlaid in bone and berries picked out in bright red stain.

The absurdly long churchwarden would have been impossible without his skills and unique tools, drawing the eyes of some of the older men on the street as they walked.

Puffing amusedly on the empty pipe, Liam passed it back, handling it with exaggerated care, as though it were even longer than it was.

Watching the interplay from a nearby tavern bench, an old man called out the window, “Is your herb so stinky boy? Gotta smoke it from across the room?”

Liam made a cheerfully rude gesture. “Perhaps Gary will make you one Master Kinneman, so your wife can smoke with you without having to see your face up close”

The codger gamely fired back. “Truth be told young Master Liam she dinn’ae marry me fer my face.” He called with a suggestive leer.

A chorus of jeers floated out the window behind the old man, who berated his critics with good humor as the boys marched on.

At the forge Shai had Gary try his hand at some simple techniques, forming a rod into a square, then rounding it again, stretching it longer, and pushing it back into a compact bar.

The tasks required less strength, but great dexterity and control to manage with any reliability. Gary quickly found that tapping in rhythm was his best method.

Soon he was using a hot iron bar, a small sledge and the face of the anvil to tap out a catchy shuffle beat.

Curious, Gary let a little of his gift percolate, soon from the nearby carpenters, tinkers and other shops and forges he heard hammers and saws joining his beat.

Shai did not notice, but Gary did. While he practiced the repetitive training skills in the corner, she moved around the forge working at her own tasks.

It was the way she was moving. Unconsciously she was sliding and dancing in place while grinding at the water powered wheel. When she moved to the vice to do some filing she did a spin and twirl that made Gary’s heart skip a beat.

Softly at first he began to whistle and hum, soon she was humming along. Her voice was by no measure Tawny’s equal, but it was rich and full. Warm soft velvet, rather than tawny’s golden bell.

Digging into the feeling, Gary began to sing, quietly for a few verses of pre-chorus, setting the hook. When he knew he had her it was time to wind it up tight. ‘Nine to Five’ from the immortal Dolly had to be the choice.

Tumble outa bed and I stumble to the kitchen,

Pour myself a cup of ambition….

By the second verse, she was singing along with the chorus, full throated and joyous. Together they rollicked through an entire day and a good portion of his country and western repertoire.

At sixth bell she half carried an exhausted Gary to a nearby tavern to “blow off some steam” since their music had left her so energized.

As Gary slowly melted into a puddle over a mug of cold cider, Shai fielded amused questions about the noise coming from her side of the forge.

“Aye papa, if you want to check my work feel free, mayhap’ I’ll apply fer my journeyman's apron and set out on me own…” Her fathers backpedaling was impressive. “Now lass, ye know I trust yer work… don’t be rash, we’ve orders tae fill.”

“Hows the boy doin lass?” She peeked over at Gary, finding him oblivious and mostly asleep. “He’el never make a smith, he’s fun and tricky mind ye, but never have the gift fer steel.”

Her father nodded sagely. “Might have the makings of a tinker, I heard him tappin in a fine form.” He winked at her and smiled. “Is he fer keeping otherwise? Should I see master Otho and start the bargaining?”

“Papa, if ye do that I’ll have my apron and set up me own shop across the road next week.” She prodded the burly man in the chest with an iron hard finger. “Im fer findin my own way, an the elders wanna marry someone off they can start with theirselves. Widow Miriam is ten years alone, let her plant her own garden first.”

When Shai finally dragged what remained of Gary to his workshop and dropped him in Liam’s arms, it was near eighth bell. “You boys have fun now,” She called as she walked away. “I want him back at third bell, nae later.”

“GAaarrry” Liam catcalled softly. “Looks like Shai thinks you are worth keeping around, did you show her your pretty ankles?”

“Liam…” came his hoarse whisper. “Bury me on the hillside over the orphanage…” with a soft rattling gasp he finished. “So I can watch you hang Aisha’s laundry from the afterlife”

Later in the bath, as the magic rejuvenated Gary's still weakened body, Liam couldn't resist . “Shai… she is a lot of woman…”

“Liam, I watched her work and dance all day, saw how she moves, she is all woman, every inch of her.” He shook his head slowly. “I nearly set myself on fire watching her, no regrets.”

“The beautiful Tawny will be distressed to find herself displaced.” Liam mocked. “Though she did lose interest in you after she saw your spear!” The double entendre was not aided by Liam's exaggerated eyebrow wiggle and suggestive leer.

“Liam, as much as you disapprove of the ‘Marriage Games’ you do seem to dabble in them a bit… Hey don't splash, you'll put out the pipe!”