Chapter 34: Chapter Thirty-Two – Striking a Deal with the Fox

“Bernice, do you have a moment?” Harriette asked after we’d finished breakfast.

“I believe so? Until the healers get here I have nothing to do but read alchemy books and visit with everyone.”

“Well, if you’d like to follow me to my bedroom, I’ve brought a map. I think I may have located the coffee trees you were looking for.”

“You did? How?!”

“I sent a letter to my mother asking if she’d seen anything like what you described in our territory. She replied with a map that she’d circled a location on. I haven’t traveled there myself, but if you could make the trip, you might find your coffee.”

“Show me this map!” I said giddily. Finally, coffee was within my grasp.

Harriette guided me to the guest room she’d taken for herself and then spread a parchment map out onto her bed. The map was more artistic than I’d been expecting. The details painted onto the parchment with a brush, eschewing what was likely the true scale of things.

As Harriette had said, near the artist’s depiction of a hellish volcano, a circle had been made in red ink. Identifying a grove of trees at the volcano’s base as our quarry.

“This is in Scaleborn territory?”

“Yes. On the opposite border from the one we share with Ciriczar. It’s a mostly unpopulated area, it’ll be a difficult journey but not impossible.”

“Will you and Lady Otrea… er… Eskame, be able to come with me?”

“You’d have to ask her, we’ve not spoken of this with one another yet.”

“Alright, once we’re done with the healers today, I’ll ask her about it.”

I returned to the library to find Eskame riding on Eurycelia’s shoulders, using the girl’s horns as handles.

“Bernie… get her off,” Eurycelia sobbed.

“Seriously Eskame,” I sighed. “Get off of her.”

Are you really going to take your child act this far Otrea?! Aren’t you too old to even pretend to act like this?

“Aww, but Big Sis, she’s so fun to tease.”

“You’re making her cry and that is bad. If you don’t get off her right now I’m going to have to punish you.”

“Punish me?” Eskame grinned before hopping down from Eurycelia’s shoulders. “How would you do that?”

“Hmm… Well they say it’s bad to spank children, so I guess… I’ll force you to sleep in your own bed, all alone. No more nighttime cuddles until you behave.”

Eskame raised an eyebrow at me before giggling. “I guess that would make a real child feel terrible wouldn’t it? It’s easy to act like an entitled brat, but it is hard to have the right emotions. I don’t feel threatened at all by the concept of having to sleep alone. That makes this a little less fun.”

“If you’d let down your guard I could infantilize you with my magic.” Eurycelia offered as she wiped the tears from her eyes. 

“Losing my ability to reason as an adult will rob you of your safety blanket. How would a child react to a crisis? You need the swiftness of a studied mind when the time comes.”

“She could remove the charm before we do anything dangerous. It’s nothing permanent right Euri?”

“It’s only permanent until I remove it, and then she’ll return to normal.”

Putting a hand to her chin Eskame seemed to be seriously considering the offer. Causing Harriette to panic. “You can’t seriously be considering this Lady Otrea?!”

“Ess-kah-me,” Eskame grumbled. “The next person I have to correct is getting her mouth covered in spiderweb.”

With a sigh Eskame looked up at Eurycelia, “You’re using the [Enfeeble Mind] spell, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Normally that spell makes a person act like a drunkard. How do you expect it to give me a childish disposition?”

“Well… I would say there is little difference between a drunkard and the little terror you’ve been pretending to be. Still… I have a variation of the spell I think would work perfectly.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, [Impose Naivety]. Instead of dulling your mental facilities like [Enfeeble Mind] normally does, it causes a disconnect between your present self and your memories. You can still recall things with enough effort, but only memories made after the spell is cast come effortlessly.”

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“That is a truly devious modification. I’m almost scared to let you use it on me.”

“Then don’t let her,” Harriette pleaded.

“Whatever you’re doing, it needs to be soon. The healers could arrive at any moment.”

“Alright, let’s do it.”

“Please…”

“Harriette, I’m eight-hundred and fifty years old. I’m old enough to make my own mistakes. They’ve asked us here to ensure the worst doesn’t befall Eurycelia, so I doubt they’d cross me and refuse to lift the spell. It sounds like a good way to free myself of boredom for a few days, so I’m going to do it.”

Eurycelia placed her thumb in the center of Eskame’s forehead. “Defenses are gone? You’re not going to rebound this at me?”

“All gone, you’re good.”

“[Impose Naivety].”

Eskame’s eyes fluttered before closing, the little girl collapsing to the floor like a brick.

“Is she ok?” I asked as Harriette darted across the room to lift her into her arms.

“It’s a real shock to the system to have your memories bottled up and almost unreachable,” Eurycelia answered. “She’s fallen unconscious as her mind recovers. No damage was done, and she’ll be awake and acting like a real terror in a few hours I’m sure.”

“I hope she’s not a terror. Who knows, maybe without her memories Eskame will be a little angel?”

“She’s still the same person. If she thought being a terror was fun before, she’s probably still going to think it is fun.”

“Can she still use her magic?”

“With enough effort probably. As I said before, her memories aren’t entirely inaccessible. The question is more, will she be willing to exert the mental effort to access them?”

The healers arrived shortly after Harriette carried Eskame to her room, and I spent the afternoon drilling everything I knew about allergic reactions into them. Regina seemed a little disappointed to spend a second day without any practical experience, but I refused to let them rush forward.

I didn’t want to risk Eurycelia’s life, especially now that we’d temporarily enfeebled our backup plan.

“Will we get to try tomorrow?” Regina asked, as the two healers prepared to leave for the day.

“We will see. Though I’d like to take the next two days off if you don’t mind. We only recently brought Eskame into the family and she’s been a bit wild. I’d like to spend a little time with her.”

“Any delay could risk lives,” Regina grumbled.

“Family is important,” Monte smiled squeezing his sister’s hand. “Taking a few days off is fine. If anything happens during your reprieve we will do our best with what you’ve told us so far. I hope that you and your little sister have a wonderful time together.”

“Thank you.” I smiled and waved as the two of them left the manor’s grounds. Then I turned on my heels and made my way to Eskame’s bedroom.

Knocking softly on the door a few times, I let myself in and quietly made my way to the little fox’s bedside. “Still haven’t woke up huh?”

Eskame’s eyes fluttered a bit before opening, gazing up at me. We gazed at one another quietly until her lips began to quiver and a stream of tears began to pour forth from her eyes.

“Ah! I wasn’t warned about this!” I quickly pulled the sobbing girl into my arms, rocking her back and forth. “It’s okay Eskame, Big Sis has you. Everything’s fine.”

How’d she go from terror to sobbing child?! What did Euri do?

I rocked Eskame until my arms grew tired and numb and the little foxgirl finally ran out of tears. “Feeling better now Eskame?”

“Hungwy.”

“Hungry, huh?” I nodded as if she’d just said something profound. “Alright well, why don’t you follow Big Sis downstairs and we’ll find you something to eat. Okay?”

“Okay.”