Riss Cobalt, sorceress supreme, and her family go on a little outing into the city.
Like Mother, Like Twins:
An Adventure in Sorcery
It was a day like any other day in the busy port city of Westover. People hustled and bustled all over the place, running errands of ranging importance. Down dark alleys, thieves and cutthroats awaited their choice prey. At the docks, sailors tended to their ships while dockworkers unloaded the various cargos from the ships. Sailors who had finished their work headed into town for some shoreleave.
When the blue-haired woman suddenly materialized in the middle of a busy city street with her redheaded husband and their black-haired son and daughter in tow, all nearby pedestrians stopped in their tracks and stared in awe.
“It…it’s HER!” one man stammered. “Marissa Cobalt!”
“Marissa Cobalt?” a lady said in reply. “The sorceress who defeated the Dark Lord Yangul and saved all of Andor? It can’t be!”
“But it is!” another man said. “She’s the only person in the world who has blue hair!”
“She may have saved the world,” another lady said, “but I hear she still has that quick and violent temper of hers.”
“Right,” the first man said. “I heard that, too. So we’d better be nice to her.”
“Right,” the others said.
All the people who had stopped immediately bowed to the young lady. “Welcome to Westover, Miss Marissa!” they said as one.
Marissa Cobalt smiled graciously in thanks, but inwardly she laughed. She enjoyed the effects her mixed reputation had on people. She finally had a somewhat positive reputation because she had saved the world from the Dark Lord’s evil influence. But her long-standing, worldwide reputation as a ruthless, tempermental sorceress still reigned supreme and still made people wary of upsetting her. Thus everyone tended to be nice to her, or to avoid her all together.
The crowd around her went on their way, leaving the little family standing by themselves in the middle of the street.
“Okay, everyone,” Marissa said. “We’re here. Welcome to Westover.”
The two children, twin brother and sister, who had been born only two years earlier but who, because of their elfin blood, had matured to seven years of age and had the sharp features and pointed ears of an elf, stared about them in awe. A toyshop caught their eye and they squealed and ran off for it.
“Elyssia!” Marissa called. “Elisha! Come back here! I’m not going to chase you all around the city!”
“Let them go, Riss,” her swordsman husband said. “We know where they’re going. And they can take care of themselves.”
“I suppose you’re right, Fiore,” she said with a sigh. Then she called after her children again. “Be back here in an hour! I mean it!”
The kids turned, waved to her, then ran into the toyshop.
“Well, Riss, where to?” Fiore asked.
“A pawn shop, of course. That’s why we came here. I need to sell some of those old coins I picked up in the vault in Archadia so that we can have some current currency to spend on the supplies I intend to buy while we’re here.”
“Right. So, where’s the pawn shop?”
“I’ve not been here in a few years, but if I recall correctly, there’s one a couple blocks over to the east.”
“Okay, then. Let’s go.”
The two headed off. While their back was turned, a dark figure slipped out of an alley and slinked, unnoticed, into the toyshop.
***
Marissa and Fiore’s daughter, Elyssia, and their son, Elisha, wandered up and down rows of shelves full of all kinds of toys. There were plush animals, dolls, dollhouses, building blocks, kaleidoscopes, storybooks, picture puzzles, all sorts of magical toys that moved and made noises …anything and everything a child could possibly imagine to play with. The children’s eyes were wide with amazement. Elyssia picked up a pretty little doll and started playing with it. Elisha started working a picture puzzle.
Engrossed in their play, they didn’t see the tall, dark man creep out of the shadows and walk up behind them. He grabbed Elyssia around the waist while clamping a hand over her mouth, but not before she let out a small scream. Elisha turned from his puzzle at the same time, sensing his sister’s fear. He jumped up from the floor and glared at the man holding his struggling sister.
“Let her go,” Elisha said.
The man laughed and petted Elyssia’s head of black hair. “Let her go? Why? Are you going to do something to me if I don’t, kid?”
“I just might.”
“Oh, yeah? Why don’t you try it, then.”
“Okay. But you’ll regret it.”
Elisha charged at the man. The man stepped aside, and Elisha went passed him. The man laughed. Elisha screeched to a halt before running into a shelf that had been set up along the back wall of the store. He turned around. Elyssia then fought back, biting the man’s hand and kicking him in the groin. The man let go of her as he doubled over in pain. She then kneed him in face, knocking him over onto his back.
The kids ran from the store. The man followed after them, his movement somewhat slow with pain.
“Come back here, you brats!” the man called.
The kids stopped. They turned around.
“Brats?” Elisha said.
“You attack us, and then dare to call us, the children of Marissa Cobalt, brats?” Elyssia said.
A crowd had formed around the three. At the mention of Marissa Cobalt, the crowed let out an awed “Oooo” and stepped back. The man just growled and stepped towards the twins. Behind the crowd, Marissa and Fiore came to the scene. They stopped to watch.
“WE ARE NOT BRATS!” Elisha and Elyssia cried out at the same time.
A swirling ball of flame formed in the air in front of each child. They grabbed hold of them and tossed them at the man. “FIREBALL!”
The balls of fire found their target and exploded. The man cried out, then ran around screaming while he swatted at the flames burning his clothes.
Everyone laughed at the spectacle. Marissa and Fiore walked up to the kids.
“Everything all right?” Marissa asked.
“Everything’s fine, Mama,” Elisha said.
“He tried to kidnap me,” Elyssia said, “but Elisha wouldn’t let him. But we took care of him.”
“So I see,” Fiore said. “Good job, too. I’m proud of you.”
“Me, too,” Marissa said. “Good restraint on your part. Teach him a lesson, but don’t kill him unless you have to.”
“Right,” the twins said as one.
“A restraint that you’re only slowly learning yourself, Riss,” Fiore said.
She glared at him for a second. “Well,” she said, “I’ve sold some coins, so we can go get some lunch now. Then we can buy supplies and head home.”
“Yay!” the twins cried. “Lunch!”
Marissa and Fiore laughed as they headed down the street to find a restaurant.
“Mama,” Elisha asked as they walked, “can I have that picture puzzle I was playing with?”
“And can I have that doll I was playing with?” Elyssia added.
“Well, we’ll see,” Marissa answered with a smile. “If we have enough money left after lunch and buying supplies, I’ll get them for you. I think you earned them.”
“Yay!” the twins cried happily.
The parents laughed.
The happy family continued on their way to a restaurant.
Valiant escapades, wicked battles, and heart wrenching loss await readers in this fourth installment of the bestselling Dragoneer Saga. Hold onto your dragon!
