The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C. M. Waggoner

Author:C. M. Waggoner [Waggoner, C. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

12

Wherein Dellaria Indulges Her Most Romantical Instincts, and Is Also Shot At

It was a hard, stinking, sweat-drenched hour or so before they’d more or less cleared the kitchen, after which they all collapsed into the new chairs around the table and tried their best not to smell each other. Abstentia was inspecting a rend in her skirt with a resigned air. “Between this and the stench, I’ll have to burn this dress.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Abstentia,” Winn said. “Just send it out to be washed and mended if it bothers you so much. And speaking of which, I think that it’s probably best for us to get some rest now, eh? We’ll just spend the rest of the daylight hours pretending to work and bickering with each other if we try to push on any longer. I say we all hail cabs back home and have a scrub and a feed before an early bedtime.”

Abstentia and Delly both voiced their hearty agreement with this plan, and they spent a few more frustrating minutes trying to muster up the energy to magically ward the building before finally declaring it secure and their day of work over. Delly flagged down a cab at record speed, and then, on impulse, offered it to Abstentia. “We got a lot done today, Dok. And that was a clever idea of yours, that disguise for buying the peculiar stuff.”

Abstentia looked surprised, but only for a moment. “Thank you,” she said. “I thought it was clever as well. See you at Damel’s tomorrow, then.” And with that she was off.

“That was jolly nice of you, Dell,” Winn said, once they were securely settled in a cab of their own.

Delly shrugged, feeling unaccountably uncomfortable. “It’s always easy to hail another cab around here. And it was a good idea that she had.” Then she told Winn about the enchanted spectacles.

Winn smiled at her. “It does sound like a riliftin’ clever bit of illusion. And it was still nice of you to tell her so.”

Delly flushed and changed the subject.

When they got back to their place they decided that a quick scrub at the washstand wouldn’t be nearly good enough considering the stink that they’d both managed to build up over the course of the afternoon, and that they each ought to have a bath. There not being enough hot water in the kitchen to accommodate two baths at such short notice, they each made a change of clothes into a tidy bundle and walked three blocks to the nearest bathhouse.

“You know,” Winn said, “if we are courting, it wouldn’t be the proper thing to bathe in the same room.” She went a bit pink. “As much as that might be a jolly way to spend the afternoon.”

“We can stay at opposite walls,” Delly suggested. “And keep our eyes averted. As much as we might be inclined to peek.” Seemed a bit ginny to her, but Fine Young Ladies had their ways.

“Shake on it?” Winn said, and they shook on it very gravely before paying their half-sen each and entering the bathhouse.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.