Satin Rose and the Witch Hunters

9. A Party for a Quest

It was still early in the morning when I walked outside. Taking inventory I had one piece of illegal parchment, about three or four cake balls in a pouch, and a whole lot of nothing. All of which fit neatly into my hooded cloak. The lightness of my pockets was troubling, but if dad said it was fine, then it was probably fine.

The Dark Wloran. Bring This. The Third Kings Fountain Square. Initiation.

Taking a deep breath, I started walking. There was the even more troubling problem though that I had no idea where the initiation was. Yes, the note clearly states, The Third King's Fountain Square. Initiation. But there was no Third Kings Fountain. As a matter of fact there weren't ANY king's fountains. Those names were mostly reserved for the nobles, aristocrats, knightly heroes, and anyone else that was deemed cool enough. The kings didn't get stuff named for them, they were the ones giving the names.

Cogs turning in my head as I walked past the other shops in the district, I almost completely went by a small inconspicuous well. It was almost dried up, muddy water filling it for half of the year, and overgrown with vines that hade little black. It was only built so that the residents around here could say that they built a well even when they just fetched water from the bigger one a few blocks down the street. The ruin made a good wait shed though with what little water was left keeping the area moist and the overhang just hanging a bit over the usually. Leaning on the stones, I waited for my party to arrive.

"Hi Satin!" A high and rough voice greeted from behind me making me jump.

I turned around as nonchalantly as I could in my state of surprise and out popped from the well's otherside Phinion. The son of a lumberjack, his starchy hair was wild and seemed to be pointing out in every direction. Light with blue eyes, the boy would have been had the look of a quintessential street urchin if not for the clothes that I had lent him. A size too small for me, they fit him perfectly and I wouldn't have had it any other way. A tweed jacket over a blood red and presto he was a midday sun on a hot summer day.

"You figured out where we're supposed to be going yet?" Phinion leaned over tilting his head with the question.

All the way I had racked my brain and now was time to connect the dots. Pulling out the note again they I started, "The notes pretty straight forward. We just need to bring our papers to them and we're in, or at least in the initiation proper. We obviously need to go to a square with a fountain. We don't have a third king yet, but once prince Aust comes of age, assuming he nothing tragic happens-"

"We'll need to go to Austen Square," a stout voice finished.

We turned to see Christopher, a large boy both in height and width. The son of a sea farer, his father traded spices from the with western islands. He reeked of money and I helped him to be. A white shirt accompanied by dark purple overalls, held up by golden buckles that matched the sparkle from his cufflinks. His hair was so blonde that in the morning sun it looked like snow. All this with a cloud of perfume that was subtle enough to not literally reek. At his side was a rather large leather satchel.

I bowed low and drawly joked, "Of course his majesty has unlocked all secrets."

"Please limit the flattery," He rolled his eyes and touched his face as if moving a stray hair. "I will have more ingenious revelations later."

"Can we go now? I've brought a bug!" The red head stated hopping over to show small glass jar with a smaller beetle in it.

"Excellent work Phin. As for myself." From his satchel he extracted a ball of fur that stretched slowly from its nap. The puppy's eyes were barely open. "Its name is Aurum."

They both turned to me.

I was looking my nails without a care in the world. "My own excellence will carry me. When the time is right, the world will give me my own."

They both looked at each other and a smile quickly grew on their faces. Christopher put the sleepy Aurum back in his satchel then threw his hands up at Phin. "The world will give him his own."

Phin snickered hugging his jar. "All right Mr. Excellent, but if the two of us get magical powers without you. You know who to blame."