The Black Bouquet

A serving maid came to take their orders. After she finished, Aeron turned the conversation to more practical matters.

"What items do you need," he asked, "to undertake a journey?"

"A fresh supply of my medicines would be nice. Why, are we going somewhere?"

"Away. I don't care how many oaths Kesk swears. I've twisted his snout too many times, and if I linger within his reach, eventually he'll put an end to me."

"You don't seem too upset about needing to flee."

Aeron shrugged and asked, "What is there to hold me here? All my best friends have either died or betrayed me, and anyway, this whole town is nothing more than a black bouquet."

"What in the name of Baator does that mean?"

"I don't know, but I'm looking forward to finding out. Lately it's occurred to me that the world's a lot bigger than this one town. I've never even seen the Lake of Steam, and it's just over the next hill. Well, so to speak."

"Do we have the funds to pay for a journey?"

"We will once I lift a few purses. Afterward, we'll wander until we find a city that suits us. Someplace I can go back to thieving as a regular thing if I take a mind to."

"If you take a mind to…" Nicos chuckled. "If we want to eat, you may not have a choice."

"Well, as to that…"

Aeron stealthily opened his tunic just long enough for his father to glimpse the old, brown sheets of parchment he carried inside, then fastened it up again.

Nicos lowered his rasping voice to a whisper and asked, "Pages from the formulary?"

"Slit neatly from the center. Dorn Heldeion has plenty of recipes left. He'll never miss these few. But if the whole book is worth a vast fortune, then even a piece of it should sell for a small one, once we get it authenticated. So you see, unless we develop a yen for golden ruby-studded chamber pots and similar extravagances, we're set for a long time to come."

Nicos gri