Boil and Bubble was a cozy but unassuming shop on the corner of two intersecting streets.
The space was small and warm and absolutely packed. Shelves covered every wall from floor to ceiling, crammed with bottles and vials and jars in every size and color imaginable, many of them labeled in handwriting so small it required leaning in. Between the shelves were other things — a framed embroidery, a clock that had stopped at some point and nobody had bothered to fix, a small collection of ceramic figurines that had nothing to do with alchemy and everything to do with someone's personal taste.
In the center of the room, a large wooden worktable dominated the space, covered in the organized chaos of active work — mortars and pestles, open notebooks, small burners with things quietly simmering on them. The whole shop smelled like herbs and something sweet underneath and something chemical underneath that, all of it combining into a smell that was specific and warm and oddly comforting.
Two cats occupied the space with the complete authority of animals who knew the shop was theirs. One was asleep on a shelf between two large green bottles. The other watched us from the worktable with a look of indignation, as though we had interrupted something important.
Tessa gave a small squeak of joy and bounded for one of the cats. I expected it to run, but instead it stood, gave a big stretch, and leaped into Tessa's open arms, climbing up onto her shoulder and settling in; its purr was audible from across the room.
Tessa eagerly scratched the cat under its chin. "This little guy is Mittens. That's Billingsly over there; I call him Bill."
The other cat, Billingsly, jumped from the table and sauntered over to me, sniffing my boot curiously.
Tessa looked around the shop curiously. "Hulda! Are you here?"
I assumed that Hulda was the owner of the shop.
A response came from beyond a door with a beaded curtain. "Tessa? Is that you, darling?"
The voice was definitely a woman's but bassy in a way I didn't expect.
Tessa leaned over and spoke quietly. "I forgot to mention. Hulda is a minotaur. Don't be scared."
I blinked. "A minot-"
The beaded curtain at the back of the shop parted.
Hulda had to fold herself nearly in half to get through. First the horns, angled sideways to clear the frame, then the broad shelf of her shoulders, then the rest of her — enormous, dark-furred, and moving with a grace I would not have expected.
When she straightened up, she filled the room in a way that should have been alarming.
It wasn't.
She was wearing a floral apron. It was powder blue with small yellow flowers on it, and it was tied in a neat bow at the back. Her large dark eyes were warm and dark. One of the cats, the one that had been watching us from the worktable, had relocated to her left horn at some point during the transit and sat there with complete composure.
She looked at Tessa.
Her whole face changed.
"My little Morian." Her voice was low and slow and warm, like a fire that had been burning long enough to stop crackling.
She wound her way past shelves and around tables with a grace that I would not have guessed she had, given her immense size. Tessa rushed to meet her. The huge bull-woman lifted the halfling girl with ease, and she hugged Hulda's snout affectionately. "You look so thin. Are you eating enough?"
Tessa grinned at her. "Yeah, we just had a dungeon job, so I probably lost a little weight."
Hulda frowned. "You work too hard, child. Tell me, who is your companion?"
Tessa leaped from Hulda's arms and bounded up next to me, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "This is Lorne Callister! He just joined our team!"
My initial shock at seeing Hulda had long faded. I gave a polite half-bow. "A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Hulda."
She laughed, a booming but somehow still gentle sound that put me completely at ease. "Mrs. Hulda. Don't be so formal, boy! Hulda is fine. Have you come with my little Tessa to purchase supplies?"
"Yes. Tessa speaks so highly of this place that I had to see it for myself."
Hulda looked at Tessa, who was coiled like a spring, clearly eager to leap into the shop proper. "Well, welcome to Boil and Bubble. Tessa knows her way around. Just be careful of the shelves. Lots of expensive and fragile items. Also."
She leaned down, looming over me in a way that I'm sure would be terrifying if she weren't so kind. "If you go into the room all the way in the back, speak softly. The items there don't like loud noises."
That disturbed me, but I said nothing, just nodded.
Tessa made a beeline to the nearest shelf with a happy squeak, and I followed more slowly.
Hulda called from behind us, "Let me know if you kids need help with anything!"
I saw that Tessa had immediately grabbed two potions, one pink, one purple, both very sparkly. Kael had not been kidding. "Look, Lorne! Aren't they pretty?!"
I gazed at them closely. The liquid in the bottles swirled, the sparkles causing an almost dizzying effect. "They are. What do they do?"
She looked thoughtful. "I'm actually not sure. I just like them."
We gazed at the tiny printing on the labels. The pink potion read:
"PETAL'S PROMISE"
The label on the opposite side:
"Makes your hair grow exactly one inch and smell like roses. Single use. No known practical application."
Tessa held it up to the light. "I could think of a hundred applications."
I smirked. "But are they practical?"
"Not even a little."
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
We shared a laugh and looked at the labels on the other bottle.
"VERITOSE: Causes mild, difficult-to-resist compulsions of honesty for thirty minutes. Not recommended before important meetings or family dinners."
That one struck me as interesting. A liquid that made you tell the truth? In the wrong hands that could prove disastrous.
Tessa didn't seem too interested in that. She set both bottles down gently and pranced off down a row of shelves. "Come on! I'll show you the alchemical ingredients!"
I followed her to a section of shelving that held hundreds of different kinds of plants, mushrooms, and various flora. The air smelled complex and pleasant.
Tessa put a finger to her chin contemplatively. "I need Silverroot, Moonbloom, Duskgill and Mana Thistle…oh, and Bog Standard Moss."
"What do you need those for?"
She glanced at me. "For Alara. She's running low."
I hadn't expected that answer. "For Alara?"
She shrugged. "Yeah. Those are all healing herbs, and I want to get her something while we're here, but she'll just get mad at me if I get her something personal. But a practical gift is still a gift."
I found myself touched. "That's so sweet."
"I guess. She deserves gifts like anyone else."
I shook my head. This girl was so bubbly and cheerful outwardly, but was clearly much more complex underneath. I really respected it.
We spent some time picking out the herbs and mushrooms on Tessa's list, then traipsed around the rest of the shop, looking at everything from Shrinking Draughts to magic trowels that bent with your wrist to keep them from hurting while you garden.
We eventually came to the room in the back.
As we entered, the air became much quieter; hushed, even. It was an almost reverent silence. Light filtered delicately through a curtained window at one end, revealing fluttering dust motes drifting through the space.
The walls were covered with shelves that were much more organized and less cluttered: instead of rows of bottles and vials or racks of tools and accessories, it was largely a collection of books and wooden boxes.
Tessa's voice was quiet as she spoke. "Hulda wasn't kidding. Don't be too loud in here."
I made sure to listen as I responded. "What's this room for?"
"This is where Hulda keeps her really strong and rare items. Hedgewitch spellbooks, poison kits, cursed items."
"Cursed items?"
"Items with curses on them."
"Thank you. I guess my question is: who would buy cursed items?"
"You'd be surprised. People with more money than brains will buy anything."
I pondered her answer. "Isn't selling cursed items unethical?"
She cocked her head at me. "Hulda's a good judge of character. She won't sell anything to anyone that seems bad."
"What if someone steals something?"
Tessa grinned. "Gods help them if they try."
That answer left me unsettled, but it was enough.
Tessa gently prised a book from a shelf and sat cross-legged on the floor, opening it in her lap and losing herself in it immediately.
I joined her, just looking around at all the interesting items, and enjoying the silence.
After some time, without looking up, Tessa spoke, still in hushed tones. "Hey Lorne?"
"What's up?"
She paused, as if choosing her words carefully. "How did you do that? With the trap?"
I felt my stomach clench. I knew this question would come eventually. I hated that I didn't have an answer. "I don't know."
My words hung in the dusty air for a long moment. Tessa looked up and saw my expression. "You really don't know?"
"Honest. I've been trying to figure it out. I think I blacked out when I heard the trap go off."
She studied my face carefully. "You really don't know…"
"Yeah. Sorry."
"Don't be. I get excited sometimes, and the idea of amnesia is wild to me. I was kidding about you being an assassin or something…but after that…"
"Do you hate me?"
I was surprised by my own question. As I asked, I suddenly felt very vulnerable in a way that had nothing to do with dungeons. I almost would have rather been back in the core chamber with the Boss monster than sitting here right now, waiting for her to answer.
Tessa frowned. "Why would I hate you? You saved my life. And Alara's. We had just met you. I can't imagine anyone else in that position putting their lives on the line for me like that."
She stopped again; the sunlight filtering through the window caught her eyes, illuminating the emerald green of her irises. They gazed at me with an honesty that I didn't know what to do with. "I'm so grateful to you. Even if you were some cold-blooded assassin, or Imperial spy, or whatever, you stuck your neck out for me in a way most people would never. You're my hero."
My face immediately got hot, and I squirmed awkwardly. "It's not like all that."
She shook her head vigorously. "It is, though. I'm so grateful to you."
I struggled for a response. "You'd do the same for me."
Tessa smiled. "In a heartbeat. But I'm not badass enough for something like that."
I was about to tell her otherwise, but stopped as I felt a tickle of dust in my nose. I inhaled deeply.
She saw what was coming and her expression became one of dread. "Oh no."
In the silence of the room, my sneeze sounded like a bomb going off.
Before I could even inhale again, the room exploded into chaos.
Books flew from the shelves, scattering pages everywhere. Bottles shattered and hurled themselves across the room. I saw a box topple open and a grinning skull roll out. I could swear I heard laughter.
As the madness subsided, I heard careful but thunderous footsteps approaching from the other room.
Hulda burst through the door, her massive frame blocking the window. She looked down to see Tessa, wide-eyed and backed into a corner, and myself, flat on my back, horribly confused. "What happened here?!"
Her voice was urgent, but not angry.
Tessa gulped and spoke up. "It was an accident! It was dusty and Lorne sneezed! I'm so sorry Hulda. I'll pay for everything, I swear!"
Mixed in with the embarrassment I felt, I was moved that she would take responsibility for my actions.
Hulda shook her massive, horned head. "No, no, no. If it was an accident, I could not be mad at you. As long as you kids are safe, it's okay."
My stomach unclenched with relief.
She continued. "I'll get this cleaned up later. I should probably do something about the dust in here." She gave a sigh. "Come on. I'll make tea."
We followed her out into the main room and then through the beaded curtain into a small kitchen. She set a kettle to boil on the stove and smoothed out her apron. "I should close that room off. That's the third time this month."
I let that one sit.
The kettle began to whistle much faster than it should have. Hulda cut the heat and set about making us tea.
We made small talk until our cups were empty. The tea was delicious.
Once we were done, Hulda led us back to the storefront. "Did you find everything you need?"
Tessa held up the bag of items she had picked out.
Hulda looked through the contents. "Good, good. Some excellent choices here. Okay…so with the friends and family discount, and the 'room exploded on you' discount…that'll be seven silver pieces."
Tessa reached for her coin purse, but I was already sliding a gold coin across the table. Tessa tried to object, but I waved her off.
Hulda nodded and took the coin. "Your boyfriend is a gentleman."
I watched Tessa's face go beet red. "He's not my boyfriend!"
Hulda smirked and said nothing. She addressed me instead. "One gold piece, that's three silver in change. Just a second."
I held up a hand. "Keep it. I probably cost you a lot of money. I'm sure this won't cover it all, but it'll be a start."
She smiled even wider. "He's generous too."
Tessa huffed.
"Thank you, young Lorne," Hulda said. "Come back and see me soon, okay?"
I nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely!"
A few minutes later, Tessa was once again bouncing ten paces ahead of me down the street. She hummed happily. "Wanna go grab Kael and get dinner?"
I felt my stomach growl in response. "Yeah, I'm starving."
She skipped back to me and took my hand. I let her. We wound our way back to the Guild Hall, and my mind couldn't have been further from dungeons and monsters, magic and conspiracies.
It was just a good day.