The Destiny Detour

Moving On

Drake

Drake was good at taking unfortunate situations and dealing with them. Stellar, actually. He could move on from the ugliest of wrongs and the most shocking of deaths while accepting there was an uglier wrong and a more shocking loss just around the corner. That was just how life was. Normally.

His brain had finally quieted. There really was nothing else he could do now, which made the fact that Rosaliy's death was all his fault even worse. He should have done something else. What else, he was not sure. He was not stellar at looking backwards. For someone already feeling the heaviness of past wrongs, this weight was crushing. His horrible choice of words made him flinch internally. He decided to stop thinking altogether.

Daniella led them back down the dark mountain to the combined store and tavern. She dragged him in the door and left him there.

"Opal!" exclaimed a leathery older woman who looked like she had plenty to clean up after but was instead counting a pile of coins with glee. "You'll never believe the night I had!"

Opal/Daniella would have believed it. She just said, "Oh?"

"A Sorceress stopped by, and you'll never guess who!"

"The one you've been waiting for?" Daniella replied.

Jess ignored the subtle touch of sarcasm. "Yes, can you believe it? Rosaliy herself! I was beginning to think she didn't exist. Is he alright?"

Drake was currently hovering at the door, probably looking about as together as he felt.

"No," answered Daniella coldly. "He's having an ill-timed moral crisis. What was in the box?"

Jess proudly gestured at the little pile of coins in front of her.

"For Rosaliy," Daniella clarified. "What was in the box for Rosaliy?"

"That was her business, I'm sure," Jess answered back pleasantly.

"It's important," Daniella countered through clenched teeth before she took a breath and changed tactics. She smiled a thin smile that was as uncomfortable for her as for the recipient. "She may be in some trouble."

Jess considered this. "She did look like she was in some trouble," she said slowly, setting down the coins. "Well, hopefully she's better off in Bayselle."

"Why would you say that?" Drake blurted out.

Daniella glared at him, and rightly so. Jess faltered, not responding well to vibes of doom Drake was exuding.

"I feel like it's her business, and I probably shouldn't have mentioned..."

Daniella pointed Drake to a chair. She clamped her fingers to her mouth. He was not to speak right now. So, he sat.

Daniella's voice was calm and coaxing. "If your long-awaited mystery Sorceress is really in Bayselle, there's not much harm in us knowing how she got there."

"I'm not sure she is, anyway," Jess clarified. "She said if I touched something in the box, I'd wind up in the middle of Bayselle."

"That doesn't happen every day, does it?" Daniella mused, the picture of detached self-control.

"You know," Jess said, waggling a knowing finger, "she left the box and the note behind, so you might as well just see for yourself."

Jess went to retrieve the box from the storage room. Drake watched her go and come back with an absence of curiosity. He had stopped thinking again. It was safer. Jess put a polished wooden box on the table in front of Drake and handed Daniella a note. Daniella perused the square of paper and set it in front of Drake. He had to read the words a dozen times before "The stone will transport you to Bayselle" had any meaning to him. Rosaliy might not be buried under a crushing pile of rock. Still, she wasn't here—or safe—and he didn't feel any better.