#a shame about hendryk though

[the-inkwell-variable]

Lochmallow Mystery Novella Snippet!

I've decided to write a little prequel novella to the Lochmallow Mystery cozy fantasy series I've inexplicably been inspired to write, to get myself into the heads of the characters and figure out the world a little before I throw myself headfirst into it.

This little snippet explains how Hendryk and Amara got such a good deal on their shop. Enjoy! Concrit is welcome and appreciated, just don't be a jerk about it <3

"Just one more, Hendryk. I promise."

The handsome tiefling groaned, running his hand through the amaranthyne curls between his curved horns. "We've been through three empty shops already. Must we really make it four?"

"l saved the best for last. I think this one is exactly what we're looking for."

"The 'best'," he mocked, drawing his fingers up in air quotes, "can wait until tomorrow. My contract states I'm entitled to a meal and a sit-down after four hours of work, and it's been six. Six! You may be a glutton for drudgery, dear sister, but I am not. If I don't find myself back in the tavern sharpish, I fear I shall wither away!"

Amara, hand resting on the door handle, rolled her eyes as she shot him a patient stare. "Are you quite finished?"

He grinned at her, pointed canines glinting in the golden rays of the late afternoon suns. "Would I be myself if I was? You love my flair for the dramatic." He swept her his most gallant bow, and she could not help but smile. "Shall we get this little song-and-dance over with, dear sister?"

"Let's shall."

As Hendryk slipped his arm around hers, their personas draped around them like a comfortingly familiar cloak. He pulled the door open with his free hand. The soft tinkle of a bell welcomed them and attracted the silvery gaze of an elderly half-elf woman. She clapped her leathery hands on the counter to push herself off the barstool. "Sure and how can I help you on this fine day?"

Hendryk flashed his winning smile. "We're looking for a shop to make our own, and the mayor's assistant said you might be able to help us. Rose Fenwick, I presume?"

The woman studied them, smoke-gray eyes flicking between their faces. Amara innocently twisted the thin band on her finger until the afternoon sunrays glinted off its plum gem. It seemed to catch the woman's eye, and her lips parted in a hearty, partly toothless grin of her own. "Aye, I am. And you must be that couple she warned me about. What do they call ye?"

A question like that was practically begging to be snarked at. Amara braced herself; there was no way he could resist such an opening.

"Trouble, usually," Hendryk quipped with a chuckle and an easy smile. "They call me Hendryk, and this is my dear wife Amara. We've only just moved to Lochmallow, you see, and it's our dream to open a quiet little teashop in a quiet little town. Grown a bit weary of the Verthurst glamour - you understand."

To Amara's surprise, Rose let out a hearty guffaw and slapped her hand on the counter. Yet another lesson in judging a chimera by his mane - she'd assumed the half-elf would be stoic at best, stuffy at worst. Perhaps rural folk were more chill than the other carnies had led her to believe.

Yet another piece of her to leave behind.

As usual, Amara was content to let Hendryk handle the bulk of the proceedings, choosing instead to wander the empty shop with keen eyes. It was well suited for the tea shop they claimed to desire - Rose informed them that it had previously been her family's fried fish shop, which explained the astonishingly well-stocked kitchen. The front-of-house was spacious enough for Hendryk's bookshelves and a few small, cozy tables. Tall windows let in plenty of fresh light, and the loft above ensured they didn't have to stay in the tavern any longer. It truly was the perfect place to open a cozy little tea shop.

But it was the little room just before the kitchen that caught Amara's full attention.

At first glance, it wasn't much to look at - a little supply closet perhaps the size of a very small child's room. Rose scoffed as she opened the door, declaring it "good for keeping the fish cold but naught else." But Amara's mind's eye filled in the missing pieces with ease. A candle-lit table to flicker the shadows. Faintly glowing stars on the ceiling and walls. A silver-backed mirror that cast no reflection on that wall. And in the center, a beautiful glass ball on a silver pedestal.

"We'll take it."

Hendryk and Rose glanced at her, startled out of their conversation by her sudden interjection. Her brother shot her a questioning glance as the half-elf drummed her fingers against the counter. "Ye sure? Yer man was just saying it might be a wee big for yer tastes."

Amara slipped her arm around his and stared into his eyes with the most adoring smile she could muster. "Not at all - your shop is perfect. Please, Henny?"

He chuckled even as his fingers tightened over hers in a warning. "Well... one more look through won't hurt, I suppose."

Her smile became genuine, her eyes crinkling at the corners. He had done his part - it was her turn now. She pulled from his arm as if reluctantly, her finger trailing a quick sigil the bulk of his tricep hid.

Rose's pointed ear pricked immediately. "Did ye hear that?"

Hendryk glanced at Amara, a poorly timed twinkle in his glowing coal eyes. "Hear what?"

The half-elf didn't move for several seconds as she scanned the room. Finally she shook her head. "May aught I'm hearin' things. Could've swore I heard a-"

What a perfect time to scream.

"Mouse!" Amara cried with a deceptively shrill trill as a tiny shadow darted across the floor from the darkness of one corner to the dim light of another. She clutched his arm and let out a faint whimper. "Ugh, how awful! How filthy!"

Hendryk patted the back of her shoulder a little too hard, a clear warning to dial it back. "How awful," he echoed solemnly, gazing steadily at the frazzled half-elf. "And here I thought you had a reputable establishment. What a shame."

Rose stamped her thick boot in the corner where the mouse had fled, but it had vanished seemingly into nothing. "Tis a coastal town," she protested, her voice husky. "Ye'll aught get mice from time to time, for certain in the autumn. Though I've ne'er seen one in me shop so soon in the year.". She crossed her arms over her burly chest and drummed her fingers on her thick coat. "Odd that. Tell ye what. I'll drop by rent by fifty bob and have the place treated on my coin. That's the best I can do ye for - that is, if'n ye still want the place?"

Hendryk pretended to think, gnawing on his thumbnail with a troubled expression. "It is the finest place we've seen today... I'm quite partial to it. Amara, dear, do you agree to those terms? I think they're quite fair."

Amara shuddered one last time. "If you think it's fair, Henny, then I'll trust you. Ugh, hopefully those awful mice are gone when we're ready to move in. How dreadful that was, and what unfortunate timing!"

"Aye," agreed Rose with a dark expression and a darker tone, "that it was."