Caia’s right.
I’m holding Amber. What should have been a simple killing blow went astray, leaving a wound that will take a half hour to finish her. The whole time she’ll writhe and cry in pain. There’s nothing humane in this death.
Andeos stands beside us. “At least take the blade out of her chest. It’ll hasten the death a little bit.”
I look down, my eyes trailing the shallow rise and fall of the hilt, the blood that oozes with each broken breath she takes.
“You started this. You’ve got to finish it. Don’t let her suffer.”
I lay Amber down on the ground. “Yeah, you’re right. This is messed up. Like everything in my life.” I fumble with the strongbox on my hip, unlatch it and pull out a vial.
Caia squats down beside me. “What are you doing?”
“Poison.” I check the cap again to make sure it’s the right one. “Nightshade extract with sea urchin venom tied in. Another Mavis specialty.” I hold it up.
“Yeah, that’ll be fast. So do it now. Every moment you leave her like this isn’t humane Do it now.” Whether for emotional support or to just give me a push, Caia puts her hand on my shoulder.
I uncap the vial and lean forward. Bubbles of blood are beginning to form around the edges of Amber’s mouth. “The da’Jari was right. I was wrong.” That brings a faint smile to her lips between raspy draws of air. I continue on. “I remember our conversation. I’ll find you an urn. You’ll have a place on the bar.”
Amber focuses for a moment and forces out the words slowly. “Do you love me?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll protect me in death as well.”
“I will.”
She coughs up more blood and lets out a cry of immense pain. “Then I’m ready.”
I put one hand on her mouth and pour the poison through the cracks of my fingers. When she chokes on the fluid, I cover her mouth fully, making sure she swallows it all. In seconds her body relaxes. Her breathing slows, and then stops.
For a long time nobody says anything.
At some point Caia removes her hand from my shoulder, and I know it’s done.
Chapter 78
The Bottom Up hums along as it always has, though I clearly look under the weather to all. Even Gloom has been unusually kind the last five days, randomly coming to wherever I am in the establishment and offering companionship.
I reach down, find Gloom’s ears, and give the cat a couple good scratches.
“It is a pretty urn.”
I look over to the shelves behind the bar where I’ve added the second urn. It is true. The two urns look quite stunning. The new one is a lovely, dark black teak with simple alabaster inlays.
I look over to Caia. “Mavis helped pick it out. She’s got a good eye for those kinds of things. The whole staff, actually. They’re all going beyond the pale to make things easier for me. They’re good people. I’m afraid I’m still too morose to properly thank them.”
“It’s to be expected. They’ll understand.”
I tip the rest of the Heloniam mead into her cup and examine the label for a while. Then, with a snap of the wrist, I arc the bottle into the fire, the glass shattering safely inside the firebox. That still doesn’t stop most of the patrons from ducking and shooting me worried looks before going back to their drinks. “Just like everything beautiful in life, we consume it and discard it.”
Caia lets out a hearty laugh. “Wow, even for you that was a little over the top with the melodramatic. You sure you won’t take me up on my offer for some good, old-fashioned killing, thieving, robbing and adventure?”
I offer back a half-hearted grin. “No, this should pass at some point. I’ll get better. Speaking of thieving and robbing, how are you and Mom progressing?”
“Fine. It’s only been a few days, but we’ve made contact with most of the guild survivors and I’ve been able to assert my dominance. We’ve started further negotiations with Pets. It looks like he’ll give us run-of-the-town within limits and keep the constabulary off our backs as long as we’re not too disruptive. On occasion we may have to do a chore or two for him.”
“Same deal as before, just different people. I still wouldn’t trust him very far.”
“Ah, he loves his city and his people. As long as the guild doesn’t interfere too badly with either of those, it should be ok.”
“You and Mom know what you’re doing.”
We both enjoy the sounds of the bar for a bit.
“You sure there’s nothing I can personally do for you?”
Caia’s question triggers a full smile from me. “I appreciate your offer, but will decline. In all honesty I’m just going to take a few more days of moping around here and then pick up my bootstraps and start doing what I’m always good at.”
“And what’s that?”
“Are you kidding? It’s being myself, that rapscallion everybody knows and loves! I’m Pinty Lightbottom and I’m the best at that!”
Caia may have rolled her eyes.
Epilogue
“You realize that she’s dead.”
“Not fully dead, just mostly dead.”
“Uh, ‘mostly dead’ still includes the word ‘dead’.”
I think about that for a moment. “Why not try it this way: don’t think of her as ‘mostly dead’, but instead as ‘partly alive’.”
He rolls his eyes at my insistence that she’s not pushing up daisies. “Given the dagger sticking out of her chest and the advanced state of rigor mortis, she really seems completely, totally, one hundred percent dead and not even a little bit alive. Your confidence in my skills is truly appreciated, but bringing back the dead is simply not possible.”
“Here.” I toss him an empty vial. “What do you make of that?”
He runs his finger around the inside, draws out a tiny, blue, bead of liquid and places the drop on his tongue.
“I detect notes of cherry, maybe a bit of pine and definitely something else. Maybe, maybe a hint of Ox Briar.”
“Mavis would say that you have a good palate.”
“Mavis concocted this?”
“Yup.”
It dawns on him at this moment. “Then this could be — you’re not saying, are you — it’s some version of Noctul’s All-Natural Remedy?”
“Yup!”
“I thought this recipe was lost decades ago. Even with its significant healing properties, it fell out of use because of the deep sleep users would experience while it worked.”
“First off, I don’t think anyone should tell Mavis her recipes are decades old. She might think you’re commenting on her age. Secondly, what was the known danger of overdosing on Noctul’s?”
“The imbiber would lapse into death-like trance. Victims were known to have been buried alive.”
We both look over to the body. He breaks the silence first. “So, mostly dead, you say.”
“Mostly.”
“No guarantees here. I mean she does have a knife protruding from her chest.”
“You’ll notice that it avoids all major organs.”
He looks closer at the wound. “True. Still no guarantee.”
“None taken.”
“Well then. Let me go to work.”
End Page
Thank you for completing the book! I hope that you have thoroughly enjoyed it. If you have, I could use your assistance in motivating me to write more!
I’d really appreciate it if you would take a moment to review it online. Reviews are a phenomenal way to provide feedback to the author (me!) and help other people find new novels to read. All I ask is that you be honest and constructive!
You can also sign up for Pinty Lightbottom announcements at SRCassady.com or twitter @Lightbottom. There is an illustrated version and an audiobook in the works!
And, although he would never say it himself, Pinty loves you too for reading Melee, Magic & Puke.
Yours,
(Stephen) S.R. C
assady
srcassady.com
Credits for how this was written
Always give credit where credit is due!
You can contact the people involved in this project at:
Eumir Carlo Fernandez theartofeumircarlofernandez.daportfolio.com
Shelly Fausett shellyfausett.com
Robin Thompson thompsoncom.com
First draft: Exclusively on a Nexus 7 tablet with Swype keyboard. File management using Google Drive and Google Docs.
Second draft: Mixture of Nexus 7, Samsung Chrome notebook, ASUS laptop and a custom-built Windows desktop.
Collaborative editing process: Penflip.com.
Individual editing process: Penflip.com and Microsoft Word (track changes), assistance from the Utah State University Department of English internship program.
Cover and image artist sourcing: Fiverr.com and Deviantart.com.
Foodstuffs: Lots of green tea, generic diet pop, popcorn, peanuts, pistachios and Hawkins Cheezies.
Time: Two years. Lots of friends to help.
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