with powerful magical beings wasn’t going to be easy. He wasn’t even sure how he’d do it. His ace in the hole was he still had the lamp and by God, he’d get Hemmy involved to rub the damn thing so they could make contact again with whoever made the decisions. Even if Hemmy had to wish Ben into the accursed thing.
That would certainly be an awkward conversation with his friend. As planned, Dae’s absence had been explained to Ben’s friends and colleagues as him having to leave suddenly for Scotland to deal with some family emergency. Ben hoped fervently Dae would return soon so his hare-brained scheme didn’t become a reality. He could only imagine what Hemmy would say.
He shuddered at the thought.
When he walked into the house, only Tess was there to greet him, rousing herself from her dog basket to lick his hand and allow him a cuddle.
“At least you’re here, old girl,” Ben murmured affectionately as he prepared her food. He’d gotten into the habit of leaving kibble in her bowl to snack on while he was out of the house and giving her a tasty meal of canned lamb and vegetables when he got home, followed by a leisurely walk up the lane.
Later, Tess fed and walked, Ben was ready to put his feet up and lose himself in some mindless television. He found something on Netflix he fancied watching and escaped into the world of Eleven and her friends again in Stranger Things.
It was close to eleven p.m. when he made it to bed with his sleepy furry bed partner. He got comfortable, then placed a kiss on his fingers, then transferred it to Dae’s pillow.
“Night, babe,” he murmured before he snuggled in. “Hope everything’s working out wherever you are. Sweet dreams.”
***
Dae was antsy as hell after the rest of the day passed and the Lady Mage still wasn’t home. The lilies were no longer doing it for him, so he’d taken a long walk, found a family of beavers building a dam in the river, a brightly coloured mushroom display, which he avoided like the plague, because even if they were pretty, yuck, mushrooms, and then skipped stones across the lake until he got bored. That had taken care of an hour. After that, he’d gone back to the house, found something to eat and hoped he hadn’t been too forward, but he didn’t think the Lady Mage want him to starve. He’d lain down on the reed mat to take a small nap. The small nap had turned into a few hours, and now he was awake, still groggy, and sitting outside in the sun, wondering what he could do next.
He’d been cloud watching, assigning shapes to them all: an erect penis and balls, a rather scruffy goat, and something that looked like a frog riding a bicycle. When he heard a soft swoosh behind him, he turned to see the Lady Mage standing at the entrance to her home. Her forehead was furrowed, her lips pressed together, and she looked thoughtful, which Dae took to be a good sign.
Dae’s pulse beat faster as he stood and moved toward her. “Lady Mage, you’re back.” He didn’t want to rush her about how she’d fared, so instead, he spurted out the first nonsense that came into his head. “Do you know clouds aren’t weightless?” He’d learned a lot of facts about a lot of things watching Blue Planet with Ben, who loved any type of animal or nature programme. “An average cumulus cloud can weigh as much as a million pounds. Cirrus clouds are made of ice, not water.” He pointed up at the sky. “They’re quite fascinating things.”
She regarded him in amusement. “Is that so? I agree. That’s quite interesting.” She entered the house and Dae followed her, his curiosity welling like floodwaters.
“So, how did it go?” he blurted out. “With the Lord and Lady?”
The Lady Mage flapped a hand. “A little give, a little take, like all worthwhile negotiations.” She turned to face Dae, who was at the hand-wringing phase of this situation. He sat down on a stool and wrapped his arms around his knees so he wouldn’t make a fool of himself.
“Uhm, what was given and what was taken?” he asked hesitantly. “Anything I should be worried about, or Ben?”
The Lady Mage shook her head. “Nothing that would concern you. Purely a favour owed.” She poured another glass of lemon water for them, then sat down on her stool