Misadventurer

The door creaked open, hinges groaning in chorus with the tinkling of the battered brass bell mounted to the jamb. Jenna swept her hands along her belly, brushing off the dew that had been clinging to the cast iron handle. 

“We’re not open yet!” A tinny voice called from behind a bank of shelves. Through gaps in the wood, Jenna saw the comforting greenish-blue glow of Glintstone interrupted as someone or something walked behind them.

Setting her hand on the counter, Jenna knocked twice. “Allonie! It’s me.” 

A heart shaped face slipped out from behind the shelving, her body eclipsed by oak and ash. The various tinctures and lights caught in the subtle blue strands of her hair; a soft coiled braid dangled gently in the air. Her face broke into a wide grin, and she strode out from the back room, wiping her hands on a damp rag. “Well, well, if it isn’t my favorite bardic rogue. What brings you back to Felmouth?”

“Business I’m afraid.” Jenna said, sighing as she set her satchel on the floor. “And don’t be rude, I’m no rogue, I’m a sorceress.”

Allonie stepped up onto a bar, her petite frame wrapped in a corset over silver and emerald evening tunic, lace details ran along the various openings of the garment. “Too bad...Sorceress.” She purred, stifling a giggle while resting her chin in her hands. “I told you we’re closed. Have the lute and drum dulled your senses?”

“Ha…ha… This is a bit different.” Jenna shook her head, slipping off her gloves. Allonie’s eyebrow arched as Jenna reached into her corset, shifting her charisma as she searched for her prize. “We need your help.” 

Wrapping her fingers around the squirming vermin, Jenna pulled her hand free before setting it on the bar like a common tankard. Allonie’s eyes bolted open, and she leapt from the bar and disappeared back behind the shelves. The heavy thudding of her boot heels fading into the distance. 

For her part, Maisie straightened and tilted her head in confusion. She stretched, bending her spine and hips as she walked along the bar top. A pair of small empty phials sat before her. “You said we could trust her.” Maisie sighed, her own voice impossibly thin. With a hysterical mousey sigh, she placed a heeled boot upon the corks, adjusting her laces. “You’d better snatch me quickly if she comes back with a razor or scalpel.” 

Chuckling, Jenna readjusted herself and leaned forwards against the bar, near her friend. “After all that complaining on the way into town, now you want me to pick you up without warning.”

“Shining steel is warning enough.” Maise hissed, retying the laces on her boots. “Besides, since you won’t give me a needle. I’m at a disadvantage.” 

“Oh hush, Allonie is a trusted friend. I’ve known her for years.” Jenna sighed. “Besides…” She teased, drumming her fingertips along the bar. “…we’re running out of options.” 

Allonie returned with a crash. Her small arms clutching a wash basin, the rattling of keys giving her all the grace of the drunks at the tavern two weeks ago. “Hang on!” She sang, slamming the basin down on its rim before scampering past the bar and to the door. Setting two heavy oak bracers, she set heavy padlocks in place to secure the door before returning to her guests and hopping up onto the upturned basin. “Let me have a look at YOU!” She sang cheerfully, pulling out a magnifying glass, poking and prodding at the tiny Maisie eagerly.  “Tell me everything, who-what-when-where-why and how!”

“Easy!” Maisie hissed, wobbling on her high heeled boots. “Get your filthy hands away from me!”

“Ungrateful welp isn’t she?” Allonie sang, bending in close. “I need to know what I’m working with here.” 

Rolling her eyes, Jenna patted Maisie’s shrunken shoulder. “Only know bits and pieces obviously. We were up in Feldspar.” 

“Jenna!” Allonie groaned, rolling her eyes. “I thought you knew better than to mess with Fae magic.” 

“I do… This one, however…” Jenna pouted, nudging Maisie lightly. “…tried her hand at thieving. Lord Cid’s library, if you can believe it.” 

“And he just let you two leave?” Allonie said softly, resting her chin on the counter, betwixt her fingers. Her eyes were huge, scanning the tiny woman before her.

“Not exactly, it was scary at first but I managed to escape.” Maisie said, folding her arms beneath her modest bust. 

Clearing her throat, Jenna leaned in closer to the pair of smaller women. “I…found her in the hall, shaking like a leaf. No one else was even in that part of the manor. I Snuck her out the way I just snuck her…” Jenna tapped the bar. “…here.” 

“Whatever, can you fix me!? Wunderkind here ‘doesn’t know the counterspell.’ Ugh.” Maisie groaned slumping atop the phials like short stools. 

“I’m barely in apprenticeship you dozy git!” Jenna sang mockingly. “Transfiguration isn’t something I’ll learn for a while yet.” 

Allonie nodded dumbly, rocking forward and sliding her face towards Maisie. “I don’t know anything either…” She said cheerfully. Maisie’s face paled in the greenish-blue light of the nearby Glintstone, she pouted while resting her shrunken chin in her hands. “But Mistress will be back in a few hours, she knows lots more than I do!” 

Reaching out, Jenna gently rubbed the shrunken woman’s back. She could practically read her thoughts, rage, humiliation, Jenna could almost imagine the mental acrobatics the little rogue was twisting in her tiny mind to evade accepting responsibility for her plight. Again. “What’s a few more hours…” She said softly, little Maisie rolled her eyes, practically punching her tiny temple in annoyance. For a moment Jenna straightened her back as the words rose in her throat. “…little one.” She sang, chewing on the corner of her smile.