Wisteria eyed her mom after the door shut and Alister was gone again. “You said yes,” she said, cleaning up the dirtied cups, “I’m surprised. I said he’s my friend but you still hate nobles.”

“Yes but I trust my gut, na’ah,” Myrtle answered. Wisteria always loved it when her mom called her that. “My gut says he’s a good person. That his dad is a good person. I wouldn’t have brought us here otherwise. You know that.”

Wisteria nodded, “I know. But I’m still surprised. I got hurt before.”

“You did, but you’re better for it, even if it was dangerous. I couldn’t have hoped for a better unlock for you,” she gathered a bowl of wash water, “This is also an opportunity for you to rise in status.”

“I don’t care about status, mama. Not anymore.”

“I know na’ah. I know. Just focus on enjoying yourself. You consider him your friend, yes?” Wisteria nodded, and she continued, “Then have fun with the trip. I trust Alister and his father to bring you home safe - Goddess Vera willing.”

“Mama, can I take out the eye rings?”

Myrtle glanced at her, “I guess you’ll be wearing them a lot on the trip. Go ahead. You have to stay inside though, remember? And no showing it to Alister or the Duke and Duchess.”

“I know mama, I won’t, I know better,” she grumbled in response. She took out the rings one at a time, the thin black material clinging to her fingertip. The two merged into one and stretched into a plain black ring that sat on her index finger.

After a moment Wisteria’s eyes went from their usual deep black to shiny onyx. The gem sheen made her eyes look like they were cut from pristine stones, deeper and more reflective than ever before. Her black hair took on that same gem quality. The strands moved just like normal hair, but looked like it was made of stone. She flexed her hand, looking at the ring.

“It sucks we have to wear these,” she rubbed her eyes with the backs of her thumbs, “Ugh. Mama, it’s gonna suck to wear these all the time on the trip.”

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“Noooo. I want to go! I just don’t look forward to this part of it! I gotta make sure to get you some souvenirs from the trip. I can’t believe I’m gonna be going to the capital!”

“Just be mindful of the nobles you’re around. Be careful not to be too proper to them. You want to act like an uneducated commoner, but not so lowly that you harm your friend Alister’s reputation,” Myrtle squeezed her daughter into a hug, “You’re turning into a woman before my eyes. I'm going to miss you while you’re gone.”

“I’ll miss you too mama. I'm so nervous. This is so sudden… I hope I don’t insult the Duke or Duchess…”

“You won’t. Now, ii’neh, get packing! You better pack your best clothes,” she kissed the top of her head, “Make sure you bring your token. The goddess will protect you. You need to pray every day to Goddess Vera and thank her for our lives. Okay? I hope you can get a good class from her.”

Wisteria nodded, “Okay. Okay. I take my token everywhere with me. You know that. I don’t want just any old class though. If my class is gonna have to do with the goddess I want it to be a good one. A really good one! I want to make us rich one day. You saw how sad Alister was about our house.”

“Mm. I did, yeah,” Myrtle said, letting go, “He came off a bit rude about it, but his concern looked to be genuine. Given his position, he could actually do a lot of good. While you’re gone I’ll manage the business on my own. You’ve memorized your herbs and plants so you should be able to help the servants and make a good impression on them. Make sure to make good impressions on his parents too. Other nobles are probably going to give you trouble, though.”

“Mamaaaaaa! I know! Stop worrying. I’m thirteen! I’m practically an adult,” Wisteria huffed, sorting objects, “You could take your rings off too, you know.”

She sighed, “You’re at an age where you think you know everything. Just… be careful, please. And no. I’m not taking mine off. It’s too risky… I’ll just keep an eye out, or else you wouldn’t have time to put them back in if your friend returns.”

Alister was overwhelmed preparing for the trip. Normally, he only really had a couple of servants. His father wasn’t too fond of relying on people outside the family. He mostly saw Harriet and two other maids, Juliet and Fania. While Harriet had black hair she always kept in a bun and motherly white eyes, Juliet and Fania were both blondes with straight long hair. Juliet had blue eyes, and Fania’s were green. They looked like young 20-something sisters, but they weren’t related at all.

Now, though, there were more servants than he even knew they had milling about getting the carriages prepared and making food and whatnot.

Wisteria got there early in the morning, wearing well-kept white temple clothes with a lace collar. She looked pretty in the outfit, but Alister didn’t say so. He avoided distraction by helping the servants move and prepare things with simple magic tricks and buffs, especially a minor telekinesis and feather spell that made the heavier luggage lighter.

The girl eventually noticed what he was doing, and decided to do the same. She had learned a small repertoire of spells from Alister, mostly when he got frustrated with her doing them wrong. Among them were the same spells he did now, which she insisted to Alister’s mother she use to help smooth the process. The duchess was mildly insistent that ladies need not help in such affairs, but Wisteria made a surprisingly adept deflection; “I’m happy I’m not a noble lady then, it seems like watching your behavior so closely could be tiring.” Aliana was a little flabbergasted by this, and made a small remark along the lines of “well, if you insist,” but she was clearly distracted when doing so, studying the child.

The duke himself was busy coordinating with his knights, though he did take the time occasionally to help carry especially heavy loads and compliment the children on their assistance. This of course came with slight ribbing from the knights from time to time with comments like “What an excellent young gentleman he is. I’m sure he’ll be quite popular with the courtly young ladies,” all while watching Wisteria help with the labor. The smirk made their intent apparent even to the blind.

Everyone knew, of course, that he would be wed to someone from one of the other major families, but they liked the young girl. She had proven herself honest, kind, wise, and clever beyond her years in the time that she’d been spending with Alister. There were rumors among the servants that the duke and duchess were thinking of having her brought on as a servant herself, so that she could stay with Alister when they inevitably moved to a greater center of the duchy. At the same time, it was naturally speculated that they would take on her mother as an official alchemist for the family; she was well known in the region for masterful brews beyond the ken of some state alchemists, nevermind backwater herbalists. The only trouble was that she had turned down similar offers from lesser nobles than the duke, and it would look quite bad on them to have a commoner reject such an offer.

With the magical assistance, it took substantially less time than anticipated for everything to be packed and ready to go. Blas and Aliana, despite having been all over and managing many different varieties of last-minute business, seemed to appear at the carriage the moment it was ready to go. Some sort of noble skill that Alister supposed he would learn in time.

Blas cleared his throat and spoke to the assembled mass of servants.“Thank you all very much for taking time out of your usual work schedules. We shall be returning within roughly two-to-three months' time, but the home is well stocked and there should be more than enough to last for all of you. I trust you’ll take excellent care of our home as usual. We shall miss the lot of you, and hopefully, you will feel the same,” he said, then opened the door to the carriage for his wife and child, as well as his ward, “If you have any problems, Harriet has been temporarily granted much greater authority than normal.”

Alister felt… excited. This would be his first glimpse at this new future world and he had little idea what he would see and learn. He beamed at Wisteria, “I’m glad you’re here with me on the trip.”

“I’m happy to be here too! I hope we’ll get to ride the train!”

He gave her a perplexed look, “The what?”