Chapter Text
Eda Clawthorne was running out of snails.
It had started with small things, like only being able to afford 8 bottles of apple blood instead of 12, or having to put off buying Ghostie Toasties from the cafe on the way to the market. But now she could scarcely afford more than a bottle of apple blood if she wanted to have enough to feed herself, King and Luz (seriously, who made griffin eggs so expensive?).
Selling her human wares just wasn’t cutting it at this point. What would happen most frequently would be that she could convince a witch or two to take a look at what she had to offer, but they’d end up making some excuse to leave after she showed them some torture device that Luz called a drill.
Their loss, Eda thought as she picked at a hangclaw, who wouldn’t want one of those?
She had yet to address her problems to Luz or King. They both seemed perfectly content with their lives; King spent his days plotting another scheme to rule the Isles with Francois, whereas Luz was much too preoccupied with learning every track at Hexside and planning the perfect date with Amity Blight. The last thing she needed to do was make them worry about her.
Eda hated it when people were worried about her. If there was a word far stronger than hate to describe how she felt, it still wouldn’t be enough to convey her utter loathing of people fussing over her. It was suffocating, like someone had wrapped her in bubble wrap in some twisted attempt at comfort.
But despite her self confident nature, Eda had to admit to herself that she was desperately in need of some help. If her current rate of business continued, she would not only be forced to admit that she needed help to herself, but she’d also have to admit it to people around her. And Eda Clawthorne is not the kind of person to rely on other people.
Never again.
She paced across her bedroom for a few moments, observing a slightly more frayed corner of her carpet. Her hurried footsteps continued until she felt the pinpricks of feathers bursting out of her wrist. Sighing, Eda plucked them from herself with a weary hand, discarding them to the every-growing pile of beige plumes.
“Hiya Eda! Luz is out with Amity today, and King has gone to conquer the playground again, so we have the whole day to ourselves! Isn’t that great?”
Her door demon snaked around her as she descended the stairs. “That’s great Hooty,” Eda responded halfheartedly, swatting away his neck as he attempted to hug her.
“Aren’t you excited to see me?” remarked Hooty, looping his trunk around in the air like a poorly programmed plane. “We can have a gossip session, paint each other’s claws, maybe you could even tell me about that mysterious person with the round glasses that you have a hidden file abou-”
“Now why in Titan’s name have you been snooping through my files?” Eda exclaimed, prodding the demon with an accusatory finger. “That is a personal matter, and none of your business, thank you very much.”
“Somebody’s bluuushing…”
“I am not blushing!” Eda declared, feeling her face heat up.
“Are you their secret admirer?” Hooty’s face spun around, a sly smile upon it.
Titan, she hated that smile. “Shut it Hooty,” Eda said snippily, shoving him out of the way to make her way to the kitchen.
“I bet you are!” he called after her as she opened her morning bottle of apple blood. “I bet you’re a massive fangirl for Rai-”
“La la la, can’t hear you, sorry!”
Eda detached her hands and plugged her ears. That was one of the few advantages of her curse: surprisingly useful detachable limbs. She balanced the glass bottle between her handless arms and tilted it towards her lips, expecting the sweet crimson liquid to flow out of it.
Nothing. Not a drop. The bottle was completely empty. Frustrated, Eda reattached her hands and lifted it to her ochroid eyes. As expected, nothing remained of her favourite drink. Could she afford another bottle? Maybe if she worked extra hard to sell that damn drill today, she could get a few more snails…
“Hoot!”
The sudden noise brought the bottle clattering out of Eda’s hands. It smashed into the tiled floor, sprinkling the squares with its crystalline shards.
“Shit!”
“Oops! Sorry Eda!” Hooty said with a smile. “I can clean that up for you!”
Without a second thought, the owl demon maneuvered himself across the glass covered ground, practically inhaling the glass fragments in a mere matter of seconds.
“Look Hooty, if you’ve got nothing good to do today, then stop bothering me,” muttered Eda irritably.
“Oh wait! I do!” Hooty began to retch uncontrollably.
“Yeah no, if you’re going to be sick because of those glass pieces, that’s a you problem, not a me problem, so I’m going to go to the market, and you can deal with that.”
“Wait!”
A flurry of letters spilt out of their mouth, along with a few half chewed crumbs of glass.
“Post!” declared Hooty happily.
“Gee, thanks,” Eda said, pushing him away yet again to try to get some peace and quiet. Huffing, she picked up a handful of letters with her, leaving the rest to be a later her’s problem.
“Have fun at the market!”
Eda slammed the door with a bang, and promptly summoned Owlbert. Wasting absolutely no time, she clambered onto her staff and flew into the muted indigo sky, leaving a dejected Hooty to guard her house for yet another day.
The city of Bonesborough was as busy as ever. An array of brightly coloured stalls dotted the ground, with their vendors loudly proclaiming their goods to the witches passing by. Amidst the morning shoppers, cloaked figures drifted between their pockets, slipping their hands through their purses before fleeting away.
Heh, nobody can beat the original, thought Eda smugly as she passed over their heads.
Pickpocketing was an art that she had mastered, but Luz’s morals must have rubbed off onto her, because she had strayed from using that as a source of income.
Eda leapt off of her staff with surprising elegance, and with a swift flick of her wrist, her table and tent assembled in front of her. Content, she set down her letters inside the tent, and hurried to watch over her human collectibles.
“How about a human device for ear piercings? Quick piercings, minimal damage guaranteed!” she called out into the crowd, waving the heavy duty drill in the air (which was most probably, not suitable for ear piercing).
A witch with a raven-black ponytail cast a wary glance in her direction. “How about it?” Eda continued, now directly addressing her. “A few snails for this incredibly valuable piece of human machinery?”
The raven haired girl shook her head, muttering something about a performance before darting away.
“Hmph, some people don’t know when they’re getting a good deal,” said Eda with forced nonchalance as she sat on the edge of her table.
Business was shockingly slow. Eda had managed to convince a few people to purchase a few clocks - none of which displayed the right time - as well as some teapots, but that had been it. Sighing, Eda walked over to her tent behind her stall to take a much needed break. The letters on the ground shifted as the purple folds of fabric were pushed out of the way.
With nothing better to do, Eda started to read through them. They were mostly the usual things: letters of warning from various wardens, flyers for Hexside events and propaganda from the Emperor’s Coven.
Snorting at her sister’s stern face on the parchment, she sifted over its worthless contents. Nothing out of the ordinary it seemed, just pages of mindless reminders to join a coven. Eda flipped through the rest with a yawn, just as a flash of mint green caught her eye.
Are you looking to prove your loyalty? Bodyguard wanted for head of the Bard Coven
In light of the recent attacks on coven head speeches, Raine Whispers, head of the Bard Coven, will now require a bodyguard for their upcoming performance.
Interviews will be held by a member of the Emperor’s Coven. The starting salary for this role will be 5000 snails per shift. Those interested in applying should proceed to Bonesborough Main Hall this Tuesday.
The poster ended with a photo of a blushing musician awkwardly smiling at the camera.
Eda's breath hitched. Raine needed a bodyguard because of the attacks on coven head speeches? Surely the attacks hadn't been that bad, considering the lack of damage to the area and any of the other coven heads' pretentious little faces. And why would they need a bodyguard to begin with? Their magic must be plenty strong to protect themselves with a rank like theirs.
And 5000 snails per shift as well? That was far more than she earned in a month; if she worked as their bodyguard for a bit, she'd probably make more than enough to last her for years.
Eda's thoughts swirled around her head as she pondered the poster.
It was certainly a well paying job, and with her magical ability, she was doubtful that anyone would be able to harm them, but then again, it was Raine.
Raine, who she had loved throughout her schooldays. Raine, who she had snuck out with at night to watch the shrieking stars. Raine, who she had promised to spend her life with. And Raine, the person who she had pushed away after making that promise.
She hadn't spoken to Raine in years. She'd kept tabs on them, sure. Eda could tell you what they had been doing recently, and could tell you when and where they'd be performing soon, but the last time that they had properly seen each other must have been over a decade ago.
Anxiously checking that her human goods were still where she had left them (if it had been any other day, they'd probably have been stolen already), Eda walked back into the burning sunlight of the Isles to take a closer look at the page.
Raine's hair was greying; their pale turquoise hair was streaked with the smudges of age. They wore the classic bard uniform, and yet, the same dorky smile that she'd adored since she first saw it.
She couldn't just go barrelling back into their life. Raine was a successful person now, and the last thing they probably needed was a reminder of how Eda had been back on that hill all those years ago. She couldn't just show up one day, suddenly assigned to protect them against every evil that came their way.
Then again, even without the offer of a couple thousand snails, she would probably throw herself in front of a raging fireball to keep them safe.
The edges of the paper crinkled between her grip. Would Eda be able to forgive herself if she let this opportunity slide? Would she be able to continue with her day, knowing that a few miles away, Raine Whispers was with some heartless brute that could see them and speak to them and talk to them and get paid just to be around them?
The answer was no.
The prospect of actually being able to interact with Raine again was far too tempting, and with a pay of 5000 snails per shift, there was pretty much nothing to lose.
But how on Earth was Raine Whispers' ex-girlfriend going to be able to convince an interviewer that she should be the one to protect them?
***
“I told you; it really isn’t necessary for me to be guarded during my performances.”
Raine rubbed their temples with a sigh, accidentally knocking their glasses askew in the process.
Terra’s lip curled. “Each coven head has been provided with a bodyguard who will be present at all public appearances from now on. It would be a safety risk for you to be the only unguarded coven head, would it not?”
“Well yes, but I doubt that the witches that disrupted the last few speeches would pose that much of a risk-”
“No harm in being too prepared, sprout,” Terra commented, placing a wrinkled hand on their shoulder. “There wouldn’t be a problem with somebody monitoring you throughout the day, would there?”
Terra’s plum coloured stare hardened.
“No no, of course not,” said Raine hurriedly, shaking their head.
“Good. You know I only want the best for you and your performances, Raine.” Her grip on their shoulder tightened. “Adrian was quite distraught at the disturbances at his last speech, we wouldn’t want anything going wrong at your concert now, would we?”
Soundlessly, Terra moved to exit the room. “And rest assured sprout, the Emperor’s assistant will personally see to it that a suitable candidate will be assigned to watch over you. Carry on with your paperwork now.”
Raine waited for the eerily faint footsteps to fade before promptly groaning. Adrian Graye Vernworth was the epitome of a pompous snob, the type of person that would fuss over tiny, meaningless details. Of course he would stir up such a commotion about the rebel witches campaigning against them during his speech.
Sure, the rebel witch leading the group had instructed them to make more of a show due to a more personal vendetta against Adrian Graye, but still. The fact that Terra had requested for the Emperor’s assistant to review their bodyguard in particular was a matter of concern. Raine felt a headache coming on; they winced as it overwhelmed their thoughts.
They’d have to be more careful covering their tracks from now on. The BATTs were their one consolation between pretending to be the loyal Bard Coven head, and from now on Raine would have to ensure that nothing more would put them under suspicion of assisting them.
Painful as it may be, they’d do anything to keep her safe.