"What," Feyla said.

"You might want to get your hearing checked."

Feyla jumped off his desk. Emotions flickered across her face, covering everything from anger to panic to worry. "Sedgewick, this is serious! We--we have to get help." She began pacing across the floor while nervously twisting a strand of her golden hair. "We need to tell Tyrinn and Eleyna and--"

"No!" He bolted up from his chair.

Feyla jolted back in surprise, the strand slipping through her fingers in the process.

Sedgewick swallowed and took a breath in an attempt to appear calm. Then, he gently took Feyla's arms and looked into her eyes. "Listen, I've been in this business for a very long time. Give me a day, and it will be like the curse was never there. There is no reason to involve Tyrinn or Eleyna. This stays between us. Understand?"

Feyla's eyes narrowed and her mouth hardened. "I don't like this."

"Please, Feyla. It will turn out all right. I promise," he said, his eyes pleading as he stepped closer.

She glanced away and sighed. "Fine, but I still DO NOT like it. Just...stop it with the look, okay?"

He blinked. "What look?"

"You know! The big, sad EYES, and the droopy ears; don't act like you don't know what you're doing!"

"...Right then. I'm going to go have a look at the evidence collected from the witch raid. That sorceress could not have come up with something this complex. It was definitely pre-made."

**************************************************************************************

"And you are positive you recovered everything?" asked Sedgewick as he surveyed the table full of evidence before him.

Mydel nodded, his ill-fitting yellow mage's hat bobbing ever so slightly. "Yes, Master Alverdyne. Quite certain. Why, I went over the whole building myself at least-"

"Fine, fine." He waved him away and leaned over the table. Broken bits of a cauldron were scattered among half-full vials of indeterminate substances. Dried potion ingredients clung to half-scorched papers that could be either useful information or someone's grocery list. A belladonna plant sprouted from a pot on the corner of the table, stubbornly refusing to die.

"Are you looking for anything specific?" asked Mydel.

"Never you mind," he said, his eyes never moving from the table. "Is this all of it?"

"Other than some useless scraps we found, but I doubt you'll--"

"Let me see."

"Oh no, Sir, you see, Master Tyrinn already looked them over and said--"

"Mydel, where do you work?" asked Sedgewick, adjusting his glasses and raising an eyebrow slightly.

The young man blinked and pushed his hat back to give himself a better view of his employer. "...the Magic Ministry, Sir."

Sedgewick folded his hands behind his back and leaned forward slightly. "And tell me, boy, do you like working here?"

Mydel grinned and nodded his head. "Yes, Master Alverdyne. There's no place else I'd rather be."

"Good, good. I prefer to work with people who are passionate about their craft. Now, could you tell me who took a chance by hiring a boy barely out of his apprenticeship? One whose real-world experience consisted of a couple of decades checking brewing licenses and competing in local tournaments. Was it Tyrinn?"

Mydel gulped, and fiddled with his hat brim nervously. "No, Master Alverdyne."

"Then who was it?"

"You," he said quietly.

"Precisely. So when I say that I want to look at everything, what do you suppose you should do?"

"...I'll get the box." He ran out of the room

Several minutes later, Sedgewick was rummaging through a small crate filled with discarded junk. He was about to cede that Tyrinn had been right when his fingers brushed against something hard and cool. Jerking what appeared to be the remains of a cloak aside, he saw a flat disk and half of a glass orb entangled in the bottom.

Found you.

He carefully lifted the two items out of the crate and wrapped them in the remains of the cloak.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, Master Alverdyne?"

He tucked the bundle in his coat pocket. "Toss the rest of this rubbish. I found what I was looking for."

**************************************************************************************

"Do you have my rune disk engravers?"

Feyla looked up from the list she was going over. "Polished and ready."

"Excellent. And the books I asked for?"

"On your desk."

"Coffee?"

She rolled her eyes and handed him the cup.

Sedgewick took a sip and turned back to examining the used rune disk he found. "I knew that sorceress couldn't have cast that spell. She must have snatched this from whoever was training her." He ran a finger over the broken scrying orb. "They were obviously in communication."

"Mhm," said Feyla as she focused on making a list of lab materials she needed to restock while stacking several cups that had been left lying around.

"From the looks of this disk, it's slightly more complex than I expected. Shouldn't be a problem, though. Although, we might have to work through the night," he said as he leaned over the slightly charred disk with a magnifying glass.

"Oh, I can't work tonight."

Sedgewick's head jerked up. He crossed his arms and swiveled his chair around to face her. "Come now, Feyla, surely your book club or whatever can wait. I'll pay you overtime."

She finally pulled her eyes up from her list. "Sedgewick, I have a date tonight, remember?"

He scowled. "That's no excuse! Just tell whatever stranger--"

"He's not a stranger!"

"Well, who is it then?"

Feyla's mouth opened. Then it closed. She looked about ready to repeat the process but decided to glance away and mumble instead. "...Mydel."

Sedgewick burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" Feyla shouted, her face red with indignation.

Sedgewick wiped a tear from his eye and composed himself slightly. "Yes, it bloody well is! Mydel? Honestly?"

"What's so wrong with Mydel? He's perfectly nice!"

"Of course he is. Bright young lad. Lots of potential. That doesn't make the idea of him courting someone like you any less ridiculous."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she said, glaring at him suspiciously.

"Well, Mydel might be old enough to hold a job, but he's still a boy. And you're--"

"I'm what?" she asked, ready to pounce on the slightest insult.

He glanced over at her, debating how much he should say. She hadn't aged much since he'd met her, or at least not physically. The naïve ingenuity her eyes once held had given way to a wisdom that only came when the world decided to knock you about a bit. From his experience, there was usually a certain hardness that went along with that, but... not with Feyla. Instead, she had just gained the strength to let her compassion and hopefulness shine through even brighter. It was a sight to behold and one he didn't see very often.

Mydel couldn't appreciate someone like Feyla Everbloom. Gates, Mydel couldn't understand someone like Feyla Everbloom, not really, not as much as-

"I'm waiting, Sedgewick."

He pulled himself out of his musings and met her gaze. The arrogant laughter was gone, replaced by a sober softness. "You're...not a girl."

Feyla's face blushed red all over again. He turned back to the table, and although he couldn't see her, he assumed she was pondering whether to be flattered or insulted.

"Well, now that you've come to your senses,"

"Come to my what?!"

"We can start--"

A hand landed on his shoulder and turned him around. "You listen to me, Sedgewick Alverdyne, who I go out with is none of your business, and I am not blowing off a perfectly nice man just to help feed your workaholic tendencies." She closed her eyes, and removed her hand, breathing slowly in an attempt to collect herself. "Now, I'm going to see about reordering some supplies. Let me know if you need anything.

The door to his lab closed, and Sedgewick was left with nothing but his magnifying glass for company. He shook his head and turned back to the table.  She'd be back. He'd seen the type of men Feyla dated. Mydel wouldn't last half an evening. And in the meantime, he could manage by himself. He was, after all, the Minister of Magic. He'd have this curse broken by morning. After all, how hard could it be?

**************************************************************************************

Hello everyone! Thanks for reading! Comments and votes make my day, so let me know what you think!

Chapter 8 except:
"You don' scare me. Not anymore. Not like this."