Michellin

Wanderers

Kire snorted softly at Ruli and Ysaryn’s opinions on her hair color. “Your responses are obviously rather biased, aren’t they?” she teased, glancing at their heads. Still, Ruli’s reaction to it intrigued her. It certainly had given him pause.
Gavin looked to them, hands on his hips, curious, but when it seemed that Ruli didn’t go anywhere with the strange déjà vu he had just had, he shrugged. He, too, still had that weird lingering feeling, thinking about his dream, but until another clue presented itself, he would focus more on more immediate tasks. The lad cleared his throat. “Er—well, should we keep going?” he asked, knowing he was put in charge but not knowing how much to assert himself in this situation.

Narda smirked at the lad’s eagerness, while Kire nodded. “Carry on when you’re ready,” she remarked, stepping back and letting them continue. They still had the business with the forest-town and Daryll’s slim lead afterwards, and she was curious about what developments had happened overnight, despite Myka’s updates only detailing the fevers the residents had been afflicted with. Hopefully the fevers really were simply a result of the erratic climate and not a plague. A plague was the last thing she wanted on her hands at the moment.

While Daryll took notes, with Precy curious by his side and the other Amrians observing with interest, Gavin went back to work with Ruli. Though now well-acquainted with the task of warding, especially after the siege, Gavin still had moments of uncertainty, more out of self-doubt than actual lack of expertise, and he would now and then consult with both Ruli and Envy to make sure he was doing things properly and not accidentally summoning some three-headed demon from the pits of hell.

Later, the moment they were finished, Kire inhaled, feeling the unmistakable signature of the wards as Gavin closed the circuit. “For the rest of us non-magic folk, how does this work? Kire just said it was supposed to glow when a magic-wielder crosses the threshold,” Narda asked Envy. “Would that work on anyone? What if someone tried to hide themselves the way Gavin and Kire did during the siege?”

Wanderers

Etta grinned at Ruli, then nodded. “I’m okay. Fever kinda went away. Are you Ki—”
“Hey now,” Kire said, tugging at Etta’s curls. “Don’t be bothering Ruli with that silly business, or I’ll tell the cooks you did eat those strawberries.”
“I didn’t!” Etta said, frowning with a pout at her. Narda chuckled.
“Mostly limestone,” Kire said, answering Ruli. “How much of it do you need? If you need it now we could go and fetch some now. There’s one not too far from the Capital.” Once Ruli agreed, Kire offered her hand so he could take the location from her memory before they Walk.

The vision at first didn’t seem particularly exciting. She blinked, a little frown on her face. “Let’s get the stones first.” They emerged a short time later just at the entrance, where the people who worked the quarry recognized her after getting over their surprise at seeing her there unannounced and without her usual retinue. It didn’t take too long for them to gather the amount Ruli needed, and once they were ready, they were back at the Palace.

“That was quick,” Gavin remarked, and immediately set to work, taking the stones from them as he went over his calculations. Kire almost laughed at the extra seriousness he seemed to pour into his expression, as if doubly eager to prove he could be High Sorcerer material as much as Ruli or Envy was.

She turned to Ruli, knowing he was curious about the vision. “It’s—weird, but not as weird as the others. It was just me looking at myself, like in a mirror. No scar on my face, and I had red hair.” She looked up, picturing it. “Actually, I do look rather nice with red hair.”

Wanderers

Kire shook her head at Ruli’s question. “Not necessarily, but given how I’m getting those visions unintentionally and without your conscious control, it could maybe get past whatever block the Goddess is giving you.” She shrugged. “I don’t really know. Just thinking about options before you decide whether or not to shut her out.”

Daryll, who looked like he was still eager to pursue the matter about the woman in his vision, nevertheless perked up when Envy and Ruli had gone back and forth for a short while about the role of the divine and magic. “I’d have thought magic in the world springs from divinity, or is made of the same stuff gods are made of. The very elemental energies that had formed the world. Sometimes I wonder if Kire’s portals and world gates are that raw elemental energy that separates one world from the next and is also the building blocks of its existence,” he said, pausing from his meal to rub his chin in thought. “And the Ring acts as a funnel, a conduit, that converts that energy into different things: into a tunnel cutting through the divide between worlds, or drawing out the dormant magical energies in Wyvern blood. No wonder it burned your skin when you overexerted your portals, if its raw energy that’s coursing through your body unregulated.” Narda grunted at the talk, not at all comforted by the thought of magic being described that way.

“How even are the gods born?” Gavin wondered. “I’d have thought that gods are just—well just are. Not like some other life form, like you or I, or the animals and plants and whatnot. Talking about gods like they are made of the same stuff everything else is, isn’t that kinda implying they might be just a higher form of creature or something?”

“Somehow, the question of what or who had given birth to a god makes for a dizzying thought,” Kire muttered. “I’m already not very fond of gods. I don’t want to meet their parents.”

They continued with their meal, with Narda telling Envy more about Amrian lives and habits, Gavin and Daryll debating lazily on the nature of gods, and Ed badgering Kire in Taakalon about the matter of her resignation, or if he had actually understood her correctly about that. Kire sighed.
“It’s not like I haven’t been thinking about stepping down from ruling, you know,” she said finally, switching back to the common speech. “I was just looking for a sign.”
“What sign?” Ed asked, undeterred. His gaze flickered for a moment to Ruli. Kire caught the look and frowned.
“Not what you think, Ed.” She shook her head, going back to her meal and muttering in Taakalon under her breath.

After they had eaten, the party got ready for the next task of placing the wards. As Ruli, Gavin, and Envy began their preparations, some curious onlookers from the Palace staff would look in now and then, both out of curiosity and wariness, though more of the former, now that they were at peacetime. Kire and Narda observed, the giantess, like Ed, prying Kire for more information about her recent revelation. At some point, the two youngest cousins sauntered over, having heard that the visitors were back and in the middle of a strange ritual.

“Hello, you two. Etta, has your fever gone down?” Kire asked. “If you’re still not feeling well, we’ll fetch Elva.”
The blonde Wyvern girl shook her head, her curls bouncing. “I’m doing better now, thanks, Kay.”
Kire gave her a mock frown and bent towards her. “Why do you smell like strawberries, hm? Have you been nicking them from the pantry again?”
Etta looked indignant, while Pres laughed behind her. “I didn’t!” Etta insisted, pouting.
“What are they doing, Kay?” Pres asked, clearly more interested now in the men’s work. She tilted her head at them as she watched, funnily echoing the tilt of the head Daryll had as he stood nearby to observe.
“Wards, Pres,” her brother answered her, grinning. As Daryll explained some more, Etta looked up at Kire, then touched her hand.

“Can I ask something?” she whispered. “Is Ruli your suitor?”
Kire’s cheeks colored. “Uh…why do you ask that?” Etta shrugged.
“Just a feeling. Is he?”
“Sort of. But before that, he’s a good friend,” Kire answered back.
Narda snorted, playfully tugging at Etta’s curls. “If anything, my little goldie lass, your cousin here did the wooing.” Kire slapped the giantess’s arm with a pout, and Narda laughed, rubbing the spot.

Wanderers

Kire stifled a soft snort at Ruli’s remark about her lack of tact and getting away with it without the crown. “How? I’d run away fast,” she replied softly, a slight smirk on her face before she returned her attention to the matter at hand. She nodded at Ruli’s offer of help for the fevers; while the Amrian healers were capable, this supernatural phenomenon might have presented them with more challenges to their skills and knowledge and an experienced helping hand certainly wouldn’t hurt. He may not like the title, but he was through and through High Sorcerer material. Selfless, brilliant, and as loyal as he was stubborn, gods, no wonder she was in lo—Stop it,, Kire thought, shaking her head slightly to keep her mind from wandering back to that sentiment.

The Amrians listened to the exchange between Ruli and Envy, though Ed still had a slight frown creasing his features, his impatience about discussing Kire’s accidental announcement about her tenure apparent. His face softened, however, when Ysaryn joined them, and he smiled at her as she sat down to eat with them.
“Someone’s in a much better mood,” Kire remarked, addressing Ysaryn though looking sidelong at Edward, who couldn’t go back to his earlier frown fast enough.

“How would that work? The charm?” Gavin asked. “D’you think that’d work for weird dreams? Would those count as visions?” He had been looking at the Palace now and then as he ate, then behind him at the orchards, in the general direction of the Tower. He felt—weird. Like someone was walking over his grave.
“I wonder if we could try your Touch again, too,” Kire put in. “It’s a long shot, but if deliberately trying to unlock Solaralai’s visions isn’t working, maybe the strange accidental visions might give us something.”

“Narda,” Daryll asked suddenly, “the forest-town—it’s not too far from the borders of the Wild Meadows, correct?”
“Mm, correct,” the giantess affirmed. “Why? Is this about that House Glenn lead? Haven’t heard that name in a while, but some of the other nobles might know what happened to them. Best we can infer is they’ve lost their status some time ago, hence the lack of recent knowledge about their family. If you’re going back to the town after you lay down the wards here, we can look into it. And I still owe Envy an Amrian sunset, anyway,” she added with a grin.

Wanderers

Kire shrugged at Ruli’s comment, agreeing with Envy. “Consider it back pay for all the other times I leeched off of you and your cooking,” she said, grinning. “But in all seriousness, this should be fair. Like Envy said, it’ll help with whatever else you would need to thrive in Úvano.”
Gavin’s brow creased at Ruli’s question. He’d seen the nobles of Cordon and their preoccupation with honorifcs. Ikegai had been much the same, in a way. Coveting what he couldn’t have in Amria. Kire shook her head. “No titles—yet. That’s for every commission. Titles only come in if you want a contract written up and you’ll officially be employed by the crown. If that ever happens, though, it would only be for another couple of years, anyway.”

“…What?”
Ed had made his way towards them—newly bathed, after returning from his romp with Ysaryn—but now he had stopped short of the table. Gavin, Narda, and Daryll, likewise, all looked at Kire then. Daryll seemed the least surprised, while Ed crossed his arms. Kire sighed, waving her hand. “A discussion for some other time,” she said to her cousin, who looked about to start it, anyway. “Besides, I’m surprised that you are surprised.”
“That’s because we hadn’t had an actual serious discussion about it yet.” Ed said, frowning. Kire gestured at the table.
“Another time,” she repeated, firmly this time. “I promise. And with Jan, too. Speaking of which, the wedding preparations are going well,” she said, moving on to the question Envy had raised, away from the topic of her abdication. “She and Lord Ulrich are very practical about it, so while the preparations are meticulous, they’re efficient. It is rather like a business transaction, as are most important marriages here.” She dug into her plate.
“Don’t look at me,” Narda pointed out, seeing Ed stare. “I didn’t know about her plans, either.”

Daryll looked about, then cleared his throat. “Have we heard back from Myka about the townsfolk who saw the visions? Anything else happened in the forest?”
Narda paused. “Hm. So far, it seems the forest hasn’t gone away, nor is it growing larger. No further visions, though some of the townsfolk had developed fevers. For now, the healers attributed this to the sudden unusual hot weather, but they’re keeping a close watch. The rest of the [i[Wenches[/i] are still keeping one ear to the ground for any other unusual occurrences.”

Wanderers

Narda grinned, pleased at his eagerness. “Eh. I am at the Empress’s beck and call,” she joked. “And yes, to pluck her out of trouble too, whether she wills it or not. But I’m staying for this. She had asked my help, something to do with pursuing some vague clue about the visions Daryll had yesterday.” She smiled fondly when he asked about joining her at sunset. “Now that is a capital idea. I would very much enjoy that.”
--
Kire glanced at him as he stammered through his response. It was…strangely comforting, both the way he flustered and what he said. At least it wasn’t outright rejection. “’What comes after’? Do you mean…getting hurt?” She sighed. “I understand. I’m not rushing you into anything you don’t want, I promise.” She rubbed her nape, looking ahead. “And no. I don’t blurt that out with just anyone. Just you. Or, I don’t know if ‘accident’ is the word; that seems to imply I didn’t mean it.” She turned to him as she said that, a small smile on her lips before tilting her head towards the caves. “Better fetch them before the food gets cold.”

Gavin met up with them just as they entered the caves, the lad stretching and yawning. “We goin’?” he asked, peering at the two.
“Yup.”
“Good. I’m starving,” the lad replied, grinning at them mischievously. “Don’t you just love getting a great nap before a meal?”
Kire narrowed her eyes. “Don’t push it. Want me to shave off all your hair?” she asked, patting the sword at her hip. Gavin raised his hands in surrender, though he did still have a smirk on his face.

--

After everyone was ready, they crossed over to the Tower, where Daryll was waiting, groggy from his own nap. “Wards?” he asked simply, not bothering to fix his hair.
“Lunch first at the Palace,” Kire clarified, withholding her comments on how disheveled he was at the moment.
“Alright. And after, we could talk about looking for the Glenn family?”
Kire raised her brows. Like a dog with a bone, her cousin was. The vision must still be bothering him greatly. “Yes, we will. I promise.”

They walked out towards the Palace grounds, where, outside in the orchards, a large tent was set up for them, with the food ready and laid out for the guests. Gavin watched Envy closely; while he knew the charm worked, he was still nervous for the elf, stopping short of outright asking if he was feeling okay every few steps. Though the orchards were definitely not back to their former glory, the grounds had been cleaned and pruned enough to be a decent sight. In the light of the afternoon sun the Palace, too, stood, still proud despite the wear and damage from the war. Gavin gawked; like Ruli, he hadn’t really been given the opportunity to have a proper look, and the last time they were here they had gone straight indoors. He now noticed the older sections of the Palace joined with its newer wing, and he made a note to ask Kire about it later while they ate.

“So, with regard to payment,” Kire said after everyone was seated. “We don’t really have a benchmark for how to pay sorcerers, though we did managed to find some records for the High Sorcerer’s salary back in the day. How’s thirty gold for each of you, plus supplies? Silks to keep Risa happy, tobacco, coffee, cheese.” Kire grinned.
“Did you say thirty gold pieces each?” Gavin clarified, brows raised.

Wanderers

Narda frowned when Envy said the reason behind his limited movement. “Uneasy? Because you’re a Kartaian?” Even now, he was still concerned by their well-being and feelings, despite everything. The giantess shook her head. It wasn’t her place but his, as he had reminded her during their first meeting, but she wished she could do something about that situation. It would have infuriated her to no end if she was feared and reviled despite everything she had done for them, had she been in his place. But evidently, he had much deeper reserves of patience and empathy than she did. “Then, perhaps we should have dinner at mine sometime soon. Neither of us need bother with the kitchen then, and I will make sure that you be well-entertained.” She smiled.

--
Kire let out a low growl, frowning as he mentioned how the memory must be blocked by the goddess somehow. “He’s right. Better not risk it, if finding the memory isn’t a guarantee. We’ll find out what Solaralai wants some other way. She can be cryptic all she wants, but gods cast a long shadow. I feel a lot less terrible now about knocking a hole through her temple, honestly, if it weren’t so important to the residents.” She followed him back out, nodding at his comment about Ysaryn and Ed, still annoyed at the thought of Solaralai showing herself to Ruli but preventing him from retaining the details of their strange meeting. She inhaled, and the pleasant cool breeze, along with the subtle smells of cinnamon and flowers from Ruli, calmed her temper down for now.

As she walked beside him back to the caves, she raised a brow when he cleared his throat, sensing an unasked question. Probably about this morning. She stared pointedly ahead, until he asked something else. “Uh—lamb, with roasted vegetables. Was tempted to try it, but figured I wouldn’t leave the table if I did.” She grinned briefly at that, before looking sidelong at him. “I—um.” She stopped short of the caves. “What I said this morning. By accident, mostly. It just came out without me really thinking. Does it bother you?”

Wanderers

The giantess sighed. “I know I am speaking from a position of bias. She is an old friend, after all. But I am also one of the first to call her out on her mistakes and offer her blunt advice. But from what I have seen, she is likewise happy, and cares for him greatly. She wouldn’t have agonized over the question of acting upon how she feels if those feelings weren’t substantial. Though sometimes it takes a while for her mind to catch up to her heart.” She chuckled.

To the suggestion of dinner, Narda grinned. “I can’t boast much by way of prowess in the kitchen, either, but I am good at a great many other things, I’d like to say.” She had a cheeky smirk when she said that. “And I do appreciate you coming along with them to help with the wards today. Not that I presume I am the object of this effort of course, but I have been told you don’t venture out like this just for anyone.”

--
“Noon indeed.” Kire leaned against the doorframe, keeping the door ajar as he pulled on his boots. “Daryll found a lead. A slim one, but seems to be solid. He recognized the woman’s dress as some obscure noble family’s seal, though given how that house has dissolved into obscurity, it might take some doing to track them down. Narda’s going to help with that. I’m meeting Risa and the other worshippers of the goddess tomorrow night. That should be a delight,” she added, huffing at the last. “Ysaryn probably told you—unless she’s too busy preoccupied with Ed.” She crossed her arms. “Did Envy find anything in your memory?”

Wanderers

Kire grinned sheepishly at Envy’s comment. “I feel I should apologize for that. Narda’s my peace offering, though,” she said, though when Envy said Ruli was resting from their attempt to look into his visions, her smile disappeared into a concerned frown. “’Attempted’? I suppose that means it wasn’t entirely successful? Alright, I’ll go fetch him.”
As Kire went off towards Ruli’s house, Narda smiled warmly at Envy. “Besides the new riddles being thrown our way by fickle gods? My days have grown uninteresting. Peace does that, but better uninteresting than bloody.” She chuckled, taking his arm in hers. “But of course, my days are never dull whenever I have the pleasure of your company.”
She hummed a little in thought, glancing the way Kire had gone. “You’re right about her spending more time here. Is that something that concerns you?” she asked. “Forgive me if you find that a rather prying question. I promise I won’t speak of your answer to her.”

--

Kire knocked on Ruli’s door, wondering how bad the headache was. Her thoughts went back to the word she had blurted out earlier, as well as Ysaryn’s response to that. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was making assumptions again, or that she was overly eager to rush things—but…Is it a bad thing to feel? She sighed, frowning, shaking her thoughts free from it. The moment the door opened, she gave him a warm smile. “Hey. Envy says you got a headache. Are you alright?”

Wanderers

Kire ignored the looks Risa threw their way, especially at Ysaryn. “If tomorrow evening would be convenient for you, Your Grace, I would greatly appreciate that,” she replied with a warm smile. “I am grateful for the opportunity.” She waited to see if the princess would be amenable to that, then, once agreed upon and dismissed, bowed her head politely again and turned to leave with Ysaryn.
“That wasn’t so bad—but perhaps because it was so brief,” Kire commented with a grin. “Alright, I’m heading back over to see if Daryll had found anything and come back for lunch to fetch the sorcerers.” She wrinkled her nose at that, remembering her joke about calling Ruli the High Sorcerer. “I’ll leave you with my other cousin. Enjoy.”

Downstairs at the Tower, she was greeted by a sleepless Daryll—his clothes and hair more disheveled than usual, his eyes tired, and three mugs of coffee in front of him. But the moment he saw her, he perked up, a serious look on his face as he shoved a manuscript at her. “Er—what am I looking at?” she asked, holding the large tome in her arms.
Daryll flipped a page and jabbed his finger down the middle. “The old noble families of the Wild Meadows. Look at the coat of arms. Three down after Narda’s family.”

Under his finger was a coat of arms that had a green field with blue stripes. In the middle of it were two roses: one white, one red. Kire frowned at it. “The noble house of Glenn,” she said, looking up at him. “What about them?”
“The roses, Kire.”
She looked down at the coat of arms again, then her eyes widened. She looked sharply at him. “Are these the ones you saw on the woman?”
Daryll nodded. “I know it’s weird but—those roses were vivid in my memory. That’s them.”

Kire scanned the book again. “This is an old list. We haven’t heard from their House in ages. Didn’t they run out of heirs at some point? They weren’t a big family, and I don’t remember them being associated with magic at all. But still. It might be worth a look. We can ask Narda. By the way, Ruli, Gavin, and possibly Envy will be over here by lunchtime, we can discuss that with them.”

Come lunchtime, both Kire and Narda crossed over the gate, the two of them still in conversation about what happened in the forest and Daryll’s slim lead. “Are you sure Envy will be coming along?” the giantess asked.
Kire grinned. “We’ll know in a bit, Nard. Sit tight.”