Curselock

Chapter 32: Suspicion

Chapter 32: Suspicion

Jude didn’t notice Leland was “awake” until a purple grimoire appeared out of nowhere and flopped open.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

Leland stopped and suddenly found his eyes flooding. “The Lord of Spirits is one of the most beautiful beings I’ve ever had the luxury to know.”

Jude made a whistling sound. “Did you ask her to marry you?”

“What- no. Just no.” Daggers blasted from Leland’s eyes. “Beautiful as in she’s special. A kindred soul to her family.”

“Right... So did you get what you wanted?”

“Yes to both, I think. It was a little roundabout but I think I understood what she was trying to say for the Onryos. And for myself, well, let’s see.”

Leland flipped to the section of his grimoire that dealt with curses. The page after the Lord of Magic entry, was a new one.

Cursed contract of the Lord of Spirits:

Use: For the duration of the contract, all magical abilities take on a single intended spiritual effect. Those may include, but are not limited to, intimidation, warmth and care, or calming.Only usable once per hour.

Return: Not breaking a promise.

This time Leland was the one to whistle. “I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but this was not it. Illusions might have more depth to them than I thought.”

Jude raised an eyebrow and stepped over. “Anything you can demonstrate?”

“Sure, if you don’t mind having your speed slowed for a little bit.”

“Eh, that’s fine.”

Leland pressed his palm into the contract page, summoning forth a gale of purple energy and mana. Shadows seemed to stretch for a moment as thousands of tiny flaming orbs of blue light fluttered into existence before begrudgingly fading away. A violet halo blazed into the room, forming just above his head before idly swaying with vapor.

“Woah!” Jude yelled, waking Glenny. “What were those blue dots? I swear I heard one make fun of me!”

Glenny rubbed his eyes. “Why- why do you sound so eager to be made fun of?”

Jude went to respond but Leland spoke over him. “Those were spirits. Whisps, in other terms.”

The boys’ eyes went wide. “I know what you mean by beautiful now. They made fun of me and I and I only wanted to cuddle with them!”

Leland looked to Glenny. “It seems we should be careful around enemies that can compel. Jude’s a little weak in that department.”

“I concur,” said the rogue.

“Whatever,” Jude scoffed. “Are you going to hit me with a spell or sit there and make fun of me?”

“I thought you liked being made fun of?”

The boys looked at each other.

“Oh?” Leland asked. “How do you mean?”

“I am unsure if I am being honest. I just had a strange remembrance of my life before House Onryo hired my services.”

“And you think that the Lord of Spirits caused it?”

Boor took a moment to answer. “I must be mistaken, only Lady Onryo could produce such a feeling and she is elsewhere as well...”

Leland shared a look with the others. “I think what you felt was a new spell of mine. I’m sorry for the confusion.”

Stepping out of the room but staying in the doorframe, Boor eyed the young man with careful consideration before turning to the others. His gaze fell on Jude’s wrist, the hand he broke during the ambush attack. Then to Glenny and the danger that lived within his eyes. Finally he turned back to Leland, the one who had vanquished such a monster.

Something was different about Boor’s eyes, Leland saw. Something well before fear but nowhere near disinterest.

“I see,” Boor said. “Dinner will be served in twenty minutes. Is there anything I can get the three of you in the meantime? Tea? Muffins?”

Jude opened his mouth to answer but Leland spoke first. “Is there a Lord of Spirits shrine in the house I could give an offering to?”

Boor held his gaze for a long moment as he pondered the odd request. “Yes, please follow me.”

Leland stood up but stopped after only a single step. “Uh, Jude, if you don’t mind helping out...”

Jude groaned but picked up the barrel of beer. Glenny sighed and took the jar of honey from his friend with the broken arm. The trio then followed Boor to a small room connected to the study.

“I shall give you privacy,” the butler said before strolling off.

“Just before the shrine, Jude, thanks.” Leland took the honey from Glenny and placed it on top of the barrel before whispering, “Here is the beer and honey I promised, Lord of Spirits. The ratio of honey to liquid my mother uses is three spoonfulls per mug... but thinking about it, that may be wrong... seems rather sweet.”

Leland shrugged as the barrel and jar disappeared.

Jude was the one to speak up first. “I think the weirdest part of this offering is that your mother adds honey to beer. Who does that!”

“Seems sacrilegious,” Glenny laughed.

Holding up his hands in surrender, Leland said, “I know, I know. She’d always embarrass my dad when we were at restaurants. I can’t tell you how many waiters gave us weird looks.”

“But three spoonfulls!?”

Some minutes later, after the boys left the shrine room and were well established in the dining room, Boor slipped out of the shadows. His Legacy wasn’t perfect for stealth and subtlety, but he felt confident in his abilities to go unnoticed. They were children after all, he wasn’t that old yet.

He slowly creaked the door to the shrine room open, expecting to find a seemingly random barrel of beer taking up most of the walking area. But he was wrong. He looked for the honey, finding it missing as well.

Boor was sure the boys walked out of the room empty handed. Was there a trick involved? Or was something more sinister going on?

It had been many, many years since he had thought of his early life before meeting Lady Onryo’s grandfather. Most of it was filled with war and despair. He could count the number of happy memories from his youth on one hand.

Just what kind of spell can do that? Boor asked himself, deciding to keep a better eye on Master Alkin’s guests.