The Consumption of Magic (Tales From Verania 3)

Gary, of course, found him precious and cooed at him while baring his teeth. It was adorable in a frighteningly aggressive sort of way.

“M-m-my lord wizard,” the page said, taking a stumbling step toward me.

“Apprentice,” Gary coughed.

I ignored him. “Hey, dude. Haven’t seen you around the castle before.”

“I-I’m new. I have. A. Um. Letter? For you. Sam of Wilds.”

“That’s me,” I said, pushing myself up.

He squeaked again, sounding like he was deflating. “Please don’t make my nipples explode,” he moaned.

“Man,” I breathed. “That is just awesome. It will go on forever.”

“He won’t do that,” Ryan said wryly as he came to stand beside me. “He actually can’t do that.”

“Hey! You don’t know. Maybe I’ve just been keeping it a secret this whole time.”

The page’s eyes bulged as his gaze snapped back and forth between Ryan and myself. “Oh my gods,” he said faintly. “It’s HaveHeart. HaveHeart is standing right in front of me.”

“So gross,” Justin muttered behind us.

“And look, everyone! There’s also DragonCorn here too. Everyone loves DragonCorn! Raaaah! Listen to all that applause for DragonCorn. Raaaaaaaahhhh!”

We all turned slowly to look up at Kevin.

He stared blankly down at us. “I don’t know who said that. It wasn’t me.”

“I’m a h-h-huge fan,” the page sputtered as we looked back at him. “Me and my sister. She’s eleven. She j-just l-l-loves you two so much.”

“She sounds very sweet,” Ryan said kindly. “What’s your name?”

“C-Caleb.”

“And hers?”

“C-C-Christie.”

“Does she work in the castle too?”

He shook his head furiously. “No, Knight C-Commander. She’s… sickly. She doesn’t l-leave her r-r-room much.”

Ryan stiffened beside me. “I’m… so sorry to hear that.”

Caleb smiled weakly. “It’s okay. Sh-sh-she has her good days. Sometimes. But sh-she loves you g-guys. Sh-she has all your posters in her r-room.” He blushed, looking down at his feet.

“And she’s here? In the City?”

Caleb nodded.

Ryan looked at me, arching an eyebrow, and I knew exactly what he was asking me without him having to say a single word.

I rolled my eyes and bumped his shoulder. My knight had the biggest heart.

“Tell you what,” Ryan said as he turned back to Caleb. “We could give you an autograph, if you’d like to take it to her.”

I thought Caleb would fall down. “You w-w-would?” he gasped.