By Bolgerjc
Albert felt he had little choice but to leave Gwen in Theresa’s care because she was in no condition to be of any help on his journey and she was certain to be more than a little of bit of a distraction as she tried to lean into to give him a kiss before turning a bright red like a tomato as she caught herself even as he tried to think of what to do next. It was hard to trust a stranger but he had to if he was going to get everything set right. The Archmage in the capital owed Sir Garrett several favors and it was time for his squire to collect on his behalf.
“I need you to watch her,” Albert asked Theresa. “I am going to get help for her and perhaps someone to help you so mistakes like this don’t happen again.”
“I am so sorry, I will do whatever I can to help you,” Theresa apologized as she pulled Gwen back away from Albert. “You had better leave, I don’t know how long she can hold herself back. I will see if I can help her return to a more subtle self.”
“I think it is best you don’t try to anything else until we have this magic researched more because it appears very complex and will likely require a lot of studying,” Albert said diplomatically.
“I wish you speed on your journey.”
Albert got on his horse and set it on a fast pace towards the capital. He had been hoping to take his first journey on his own soon but he didn’t want it to occur under these conditions. The squire prayed to any of the gods of good who would listen that he would be able to find the Archmage in time before things got any worse. The look in the eye of Theresa had suggested that she might try to “help” Gwen more. He tried to not think about that and focus on the path to take to the capital.
There was a shortcut he had heard about that might cut a day out of his journey but he wasn’t certain of the path and it could end up taking longer than the regular path. The first turn was coming up soon to the shortcut and he didn’t want to make a mistake but if he could get things resolved quicker it might save his master from remaining a permanent bimbo. The longer it took to reverse the changes the more likely that his master would lose parts of himself. He arrived at the crossroads and pulled his horse to a stop so it could rest awhile.
The squire looked at the paths on the map to be sure of which turns to take before making the final decision. In the end, he decided to . . .
