Calling On Fire (Book 1) (34 page)

“We’re so fortunate to have Lady Ateala,” she said. Then she gave a small snore and fell back asleep.

Lady Ateala was in to check on Toman’s progress while Esset flipped through his summoner’s tome, still chasing that new summon that seemed to be niggling at the back of his mind. When Lady Ateala was done, she gave Toman a pleased smile and a nod.

“I think we can cut you down to injections once a day,” she announced.

“Awesome!” Esset exclaimed.

“
Thank
Bright Hyrishal,” Toman said. Ateala laughed before glancing at Esset.

“It’s been a week—why don’t you take one of the other guest rooms, Esset? They’re not being used,” Lady Ateala suggested. Esset set his tome down.

“Nah, I’m okay,” Esset said with a shrug.

“Really? The beds are far more comfortable, I promise,” she coaxed him.

“The cot’s not bad,” Esset said.

“Really?” Toman piped up from the bed. “So that’s why you thrash around all night on it?”

Esset scowled at him.

“Toman’s well out of the woods now,” Lady Ateala said. “In fact, a good night’s sleep is the best thing for him, and if you’re not sleeping well, neither is he.”

“See? Doctor’s orders.” Toman was grinning now. Esset rolled his eyes.

“Fine then,” Esset said. “If you’re so bored of me, I’ll get lost. Just remember, without me here you’ll have no one to keep you entertained.”

“It’s not like you’ve been putting on puppet shows for me,” Toman quipped.

Lady Ateala laughed. “I’ll tell the maid to ready the room next door then,” she said. “I have to go out for a bit, so you boys have fun.”

“Bye!” they both bade her.

Once she was gone, Esset crossed his arms and looked Toman steadily in the eye. “Does this mean you want your gloves back?”

Toman sobered up at Esset’s words. “No, hang on to them for now,” Toman said. “I haven’t any use for them right now anyways, and they’ll be safer with you. I’m still sleeping too much, and when I’m asleep, I’m dead to the world. No. After I improve, I’ll ask for them back.”

Esset nodded seriously at the request. He didn’t like Toman not having the gloves, but he had a point. Then again… “Why don’t you just animate some stuff to keep watch? Y’know, if someone besides me, the maid, or Lady Ateala comes up to you when you’re sleeping, they’ll warn and defend you. It’s totally doable!” Esset objected. “Carrying your gloves around for you is making me paranoid, seriously.”

“Jonathan.” Toman deliberately addressed him by his first name. Esset scowled.

“I get it, Jonathan. Trust me, this brush with death scared me too. You want me to have the gloves back as a sign that I’m better now. But I’m not better now. The odds that I will suddenly die from the poison after surviving it for this long are pretty low, but there are still odds for it, however small. I’m not better yet. I’m getting there, but I’m not there yet. Just…be patient. Please?” Toman’s brown eyes were intense, and he used that intensity to lock Esset in place and keep him from trying to convince himself that the situation was anything other than what it was. The situation wasn’t all bad, but believing it was all good could be dangerous too, and Toman didn’t want to take that chance. There were too many other chances as it was.

“Yeah, I’ll keep them for you a while longer,” Esset said, looking away when Toman was done.

“And Jonathan?” Toman prompted, getting Esset to meet his eyes again. It was a lighter expression on the animator’s face this time. Esset looked at him, already prepared to accept whatever he would say.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.” Toman was the one to look down this time. Esset blinked for a moment, and had Toman still been looking at him, he would have seen the grin split his face.

“Brightfire, but that was unnecessary,” Esset scoffed, prodding Toman’s pride. Toman looked up, a trace of surprise on his face, but he grinned barely a moment later too.

“Psh, there’s no winning with you, is there?” Toman challenged him. “I don’t thank you, and you call me ungrateful; I thank you and you call it superfluous! Honestly!” Esset turned his nose up, pretending to be snobby.

“Etiquette is a far more complex art than that!” he mock-sneered. “One would think you’d been raised in a barn, not in the esteemed household of the Esset family!”

“I grew up in a castle, thank you very much!” Toman retorted, mock-indignant. “A castle rightfully inherited and with a long legacy of greatness! My etiquette is unimpeachable!”

Toman and Esset stared at each other for a long moment, then burst out laughing. Esset collapsed in the chair and was holding his sides, he was laughing so hard; Toman wasn’t faring much better. It was a while before they got a hold on themselves.

“Well, I’m going to leave you to your beauty sleep, for all the good that will do, ugly-mug,” Esset said, getting up to leave.

“Well, at least I never have to worry about seeing a face like yours in my mirror, troll-face!” Toman called the parting shot as Esset walked out the door. Esset very maturely stuck his tongue out at his brother before closing the door behind him.

Esset now habitually helped out with housework and running errands. He was on his way out to deliver a prescription to the old lady on the edge of town when Lady Ateala caught up with him on the way out.

“Esset, wait up!” she called, trying to tie the ribbon from her bonnet under the chin as she hurried over.

“Your brother is sleeping like a rock, so he should be fine in Melanie’s care until we get back. And if he tries to get out of bed again before my say-so, she can sit on him,” Lady Ateala said primly as she caught up to him. Esset had to grin—yes, he could see the maid’s rotund derrière providing ample threat to stay abed.

“And why are we both out at the same time?” he asked lightly, curious to know the answer. He thoroughly enjoyed Ateala’s company and hoped maybe their paths would take them the same way for a while.

“Well, I found out just this morning that there’s an herb I need that just began blooming. And since it’s most potent at this time, I need to pick it now,” she said coyly. She had a basket with her, and she held it with both hands, swinging in front of her. With her hair in a neat braid down her back, she looked perfectly prepared for a gentle herb-picking excursion.

“And, well, it’s growing just past your little errand,” the lady finished, smiling sweetly. “Might we accompany one another?”

“We might,” Esset replied with a cheerful air. He extended his arm to her gallantly and she took it like the noble lady she was. She gave a spontaneous giggle, no doubt prompted by the loveliness of the day. The sun could not have shone more cheerfully, and birds chirped happily in the trees. People greeted them as they walked down the street. They chatted happily about little things: the weather and a few of the lady’s most recent patients. Almost before they knew it, they had delivered the prescription and they were walking along the little path on the outskirts of town to where the herb the healer wanted grew.

“I’m sorry to take you away from your brother for so long,” Lady Ateala apologized out of the blue as they headed down the path.

“Not at all, my lady,” Esset replied smoothly, although he was a bit surprised by her unexpected words.

“Hm, m’lady,” she echoed, almost wistfully.

“What was that?” Esset asked, not sure he’d heard her right.

“Oh, I was just thinking…occasionally it strikes me how different, how much better, my life is, now that I live here and not with my family. At home it was never ‘Lady Ateala.’ It was ‘Silly Ateala,’ or ‘Foolish Ateala,’ or ‘Simple Ateala,’” the lady healer explained.

“Simple?” Esset repeated, astonished. “I find it very difficult to believe anyone could find you simple. It’s not every day that I get to converse with someone as clever as you are, lady.”

“Thank you for that, I appreciate it,” Lady Ateala responded sincerely, looking a bit touched. She continued more sadly, recalling an unpleasant memory. “But back home I was not what my parents wanted me to be. I guess…since I didn’t do the things they wanted me to do, or know the things they wanted me to know, that meant I was simple. I always tried to tell myself I was smart, but when everyone else says differently, it becomes rather difficult to believe.”

“Well, clever Lady Ateala, I will never drop the ‘lady’ on you, and I will remind you whenever I can of how clever you are,” Esset said, his smile a bit mischievous. “Don’t ever doubt how clever you are. You saved my brother’s life, and just look at all the people that you help every day. A simple person could not do the same job, that is for certain.”

Lady Ateala smiled again.

“Thank you,” she repeated. “It’s funny—sometimes you just need to hear the words.”

“Any time,” Esset replied, pausing to give her a little bow. She laughed, charmed.

“Oh, there it is!” the lady healer suddenly exclaimed, spotting her herb ahead and rushing over.

“Okay, now we just need this bit here.” She pointed at the leaves near the base. Esset partially missed her explanation of the herb’s various properties and uses, so caught up was he in how she lit up when she talked. He didn’t have a particular interest in medicine or herbs, but she made it interesting. They lingered as long as they could, gathering herbs, before returning to the house.

The next day, Toman wanted his gloves back.

“Really?” Esset looked at Toman, surprised. It had only been two days since their last conversation, after all.

“What I said before still stands, but...well, you had a point too, and not having them drives me nuts too. So give ‘em here,” Toman replied. He was sitting on the side of the bed, having just tried a little walk around the room. He still felt bone-deep weary, but it was doable, and he knew he needed to build his strength back up.

Esset happily dug into his side bag; he always had the gloves with him. He immediately passed them over, and Toman looked relieved too when he’d returned them to their rightful place over his hands. For fun, Toman animated his belt to zip off the dresser where it had lain quiet while he’d been ill. It wound up Toman’s leg and settled back around his waist over the simple shirt and trews he’d been clad in while in Lady Ateala’s home.

“Much better,” Toman said happily, mostly referring to the gloves. He held his hands up and wiggled his fingers before dropping his hands back to his lap again. He glanced at Esset and smirked, spotting his relief.

“You’re welcome,” he quipped glibly. Esset smirked back.

“You’re welcome,” he retorted. They grinned at each other, but Esset could see that Toman was starting to droop a little bit. Taking the unspoken cue, the summoner got to his feet.

“Get some rest, Toman. We both might be sick of waiting and resting, but that’s how you’re going to get better, and the sooner you get better, the happier the Nadra will be,” Esset said, shifting his side bag back once he was standing.

“Yeah, I know. And I know this has to be even more frustrating for you,” Toman said, scooting further onto the bed so he could lie down and pull the covers over his cold feet.

“Hey, what’re big brothers for but to look out for their littler ones?” Esset joked. It was a running joke with the Essets that Toman always seemed like the older brother, looking out for his younger, nerdier brother, so when the roles were reversed, they usually went out of their way to comment on it.