The sun had barely cleared the horizon when Mariel woke up and headed over to Saya’s room. A part of her expected her to not even be awake, and what had started out as a simple visit had somehow turned into an increasingly awkward feeling the closer she got.

“So why are you worried?” Siah asked in her mind.

“I don’t know how she’ll deal with it… They’ve been together for… Long. She said herself, they agreed to face everything together. And now he ran off to put himself in danger.” She shook her head in resignation.

“Perhaps she needs this? She can’t possibly be expecting to count on him for her whole life… Humans are far too fragile for that sort of thing.”

“Have you felt attached to someone before?”

“Sure I have.” Siah replied, with a strange tinge of pain at the end of her sentence.

“Then you know what it feels like… She obviously lo…” Mariel stopped herself halfway through her sentence. “No… Best not to jump to any conclusions…”

They arrived outside of Saya’s door and she knocked on it twice to no reply. She announced herself and pushed the door open to find complete darkness inside.

“Saya?” She entered the room and almost immediately, nearly stumbled over a stack of books on the floor. One of the books landed pages down and she bent down to put it back together. The title: ‘Lady Farantine’s Classic Cuisine’. Its golden letters reflecting the light from the door. Another book appeared to be an old legend, from its decorative cover, and lack of any visible title.

“Oohh! Look over on your right!” Siah’s voice was excited. “It’s a book on necromancy! And beneath that… Huh? Botany?”

“Understanding weather, a report collection.” Mariel read one of the titles out loud.

“Please leave it open… I haven’t finished it yet… Morning Mariel.”

“Saya?” She looked around. Suddenly, a big stack of books came down in a book slide, revealing Saya underneath it. Wearing nothing but a shirt and with her hair pointing in every direction of the sky, she looked worn out and lazy. “Um, what are you doing?”

“I tried to read these books… All of them.” Saya turned her head gently until an audible wet popping sound made Mariel’s nerves freeze. “I couldn’t finish even one. No matter how many times I try, the text doesn’t stay the same twice. At one point, it’s a perfectly clean sentence, next its messy, and then something entirely different…”

“Why are you reading?” Mariel sat down and began to sort and close the books back into neat, more structurally sound stacks.

“You know, when people are really worked up, they sit down to read? I tried it. Didn’t work.” Saya up righted herself and removed the pamphlet that was stuck to her cheek. “But why are you here so early in the morning?”

“Oh… Well you see… Tizare has rode out together with an army to lift the siege in Adriested.” She tried to make it sound causal, but her tone of voice had no impressionable effect.

“So he left?”

“He’ll return before winter.” She added quickly.

Saya stumbled over to her bed and sat down on the edge, drawing her knees up. “Typical… He always does that.”

“Leave you behind?”

“Not like that, he’ll come back… But I just, wish I could depend on him a little sometimes. That he would listen to me. That and…”

“And?” Mariel caught herself echoing, and fell silent.

“He’s run off just in time for his birthday… Again. Like last year and every single year, that I’ve known him.”

“Okay, let’s celebrate him when he returns. It’ll give us plenty of time to prepare.” Mariel shrugged.

Saya nodded, and immediately picked up a book from the floor. Its title read: ‘The Thief of Santilian.’

“Would you mind reading a little from this? Sorry, I know this seems weird, a grown girl asking to be read to… Tizare read something for me… And it lessened the pain…” Before Saya could finish her reason, Mariel interrupted her by taking the book from her.

“Sure thing.” Mariel began reading from it. By its appearance and embellished letters, it was a child’s book, with vivid images on every page detailing the important scenes of each page.

“In the faraway lands of Giranti, there lived three brothers…” Before Mariel could continue, Saya broke out into laughter.

“Wow! You’re amazing! You sound just like Tizare! And equally shocked and doubtful! He used to read books to me back then, and got me interested… I never told him why I can’t read properly… Please continue.”

Mariel smiled and read on. Recounting the tale with her most dramatic tone, melding her voice to fit the many people and creatures in the tale. The story of a young princess who rose to the occasion when her family fell in war. Taking reign of the kingdom and fighting off the evil magistrate that plotted her downfall as frequently as rain during a storm.

A good while later, Mariel found a good pause just after the apparently one of many plots had failed. She had been so absorbed in her storytelling to not notice that Saya had managed to fall asleep, still sitting. With no small amount of disbelief, she put Saya to bed and quietly snuck out of the room.

As she walked the overlook, she noticed the sun had climbed quite a bit in the sky, and she hurriedly made her way outside.

Charne was waiting just outside the temple doors. He made a note on her being late, but without making an issue out of it. He handed her a training uniform not quite unlike the one she owned, still damaged from the battle at the watchtower. They put the armour on her, and began heading towards the city guard’s main training grounds. He explained he wanted her to get a feel of the weight of the extra armour, and was pleasantly surprised when he realized she kept up the pace without issue.

The training grounds were a dedicated, palisaded area inside the citadel ring of walls. At least a hundred recruits and veterans were gathered together. Orders and battle cries attempted to drown out each other. The grounds were covered in straw from the many training dummies that had met their fate, intermingled with smaller blood spatters and an occasional tooth.

“Right, let’s get started. First off, I want you to run two laps along the walls…”

Despite Charne’s rather calm behaviour off the grounds, she found him to be a dedicated instructor. His style of teaching adhered to the style of direct demonstration to place the basics, with the end goal being the adaptation, rather than copying of the move in question.

“Just bring it around in an arc like that, you need to have your sword in this position to be able to parry repeated thrusts.”

As the sun reached its zenith, the activity began to die down as the trainees and their instructors left the field to eat and rest.

“So, the last thing before we take a break… Fighting Brandt wielders… You might find yourself under attack, with an incoming attack made of any of the eight elements or a combination… Can you raise any of the defensive wards?” Charne moved away from her, taking position opposite her.

“Ah, no! I can’t raise any! I… My crystal is dormant.”

“I see… That’s fine. Just pick up that sword there… Yes, the sheathed one!”

Mariel took the sword, and drew it.

Charne began forming a visible sigil before him. In a flash, a lance of crackling power emerged from the sigil, bearing down on Mariel. She wanted to sidestep, but opted to parry the attack.

In a cascade of light, the lance impacted upon the flat side of the sword, and dissipated. As soon as the lance had been absorbed, the sword snapped in two as the impact area blackened and turned into dust.

“That’s what a warded sword is.” Charne came over to her. “It will help you defend yourself, but unless you get someone actually good at it to ward it for you, it’ll only take a hit or two at most. We’ll take a break and work on your movement next.”

“Hey… Do you think I stand a chance? I can’t even use Brandt in the fight.” To her question, he smiled.

“You do. It’ll take cunning, and precision, but those two are your clear strong points. Just because you can’t use Brandt for the fight, doesn’t mean you can’t win. I’ll show you a couple of tricks later.”

Charne disappeared inside the barracks and soon returned with water, bread and some small glass jars of jam. They ate together in silence while watching a pair of instructors push new recruits hard around the course. They were all running slowly, clutching their sides, and occasionally, a few of them fell out of formation to review the day’s food.

After eating they resumed the training. Charne picked up a couple of daggers and showed her how to parry and deflect spears, together with other heavier weapons like halberds and two-handers. His comments on her ability to pick up, copy and adapt a style to herself lit a fire inside her, and she redoubled her efforts. By the time she began throttling down, it was well into the early evening.

They cleared up their things and parted ways at the citadel gatehouse. Charne headed out to go over the necessary documents he had been putting off, while Mariel decided to buy some food.

Still unfamiliar with the city, she returned to the only place she knew.

Welidia was outside, helping unload a nearby cart carrying provisions for the tavern. Barrels were rolled inside; cheese wheels were stacked high on a nearby crate, and surrounded by raw steaks and large packs of meat.

“Hi Mariel! You know, there are other places in this city where you can get something to eat.” She put down the crate she carried and hooked off some items on the cart owner’s checklist. “Not that I’m not happy to see you though, so what will it be today?”

“Well Charne brought me straight here without revealing anything else… I just thought this was the best place…”

Welidia laughed and tipped a barrel to roll it inside. “It is, if you ask me. Mind helping me out if you got any strength left?”

Mariel agreed, and the two began to haul the provisions inside the tavern. The owner behind the counter came out to join them, and within a short while, the cart was unloaded and everything packed neatly into the cellar.

“Fantastic! You sure are useful Mariel! Not like my boss…”

“Hey! I heard you!” The owner shouted from inside. “Look forward to your next payment!”

“Ahahah… He’s just joking… Anyway, why don’t you come on in and have a bite?”

“I’d like something light, and some fruit juice.”

“Sure thing! I’ll join you in a bit!”

Welidia gently pushed her inside and sat her down at the nearest free table. Apart from her, there were only a few others, eating quietly or sharing sweet nothings. As she sat, she found a moment to admire the details and architecture. She felt a strange familiarity. The tavern reminded her of Traren’s place back home, and the pang of nostalgia began to take root. In her mind, she began wondering what was going on across the sea. A good while had passed since she arrived. Her rumination about her parents’ whereabouts got interrupted by Welidia who placed two wooden trays on the table and took a seat opposite her. The trays were both loaded down with a serving of mashed potatoes, boiled vegetables and mutton.

“How come you get so many breaks?” Mariel asked out of curiosity while eyeing the food with interest.

“It’s because I work too hard… Nah, just a convenience of the relaxed surroundings.”

“I see…”

“But come now, I’m interested in you.” Welidia leaned forward, staring into Mariel’s eyes with her garnet-coloured eyes, brimming with curiosity. How come a beauty like you suddenly appear out of nowhere, without a mate and asks for a sword instead of a broom?”

“Because the broom won’t get me where I need to be.”

“Where is that then?” She took a mouthful of mashed potato and chewed on the bits while pointing her spoon in Mariel’s direction.

“Home. On the human continent.”

Welidia’s face at first remained unmoving. Then she began to cough wildly while making choking noises and grabbing wildly for her tankard. After pouring several mouthfuls of water down her throat, she caught her breath.

“W-why on lovely Avine would you even want to go to that hellhole? They boil our kind in cauldrons, eat our fingernails and stuff our skin, keeping us as trophies!”

This time it was Mariel’s turn to meet an issue with her food. To her luck she managed to let it slide down without any complications.

“They don’t do any of those things! Sure, some humans do horrible things, but I can’t imagine our kind not doing anything of the sort!”

“That’s true… I had a grandmother. She served as a camp commander during the failed expedition to the human continent. During a cavalry engagement, a lance split apart her right leg and she fell, living just long enough to be trampled by our own reinforcement in the tumult. My father buried her body over there.” Welidia stared into her tankard with a deep gaze of longing and quiet suffering. She then took a deep swing from it.

“I was born while they were out, and so when he came home, he tore me away from playing with my older brothers, and shoved me into knitting, washing and cooking… I got two older brothers, both soldiers by the way.” She then put down her spoon, picked up the small wooden fork and pointed it directly at Mariel before changing to a hoarse, deeper voice: “You, young lady will not play dangerous games with your brothers! You belong inside our home! Wielding no swords, but rather a needle, and a calm, gentle disposition!”

Mariel listened quietly to every word and once more dove into her food as a way of taking her time to think about the implications.

Welidia lowered her fork, and instead shoved it deeply into the fried mutton.

“But, honestly. It was unfair at first, but I came to enjoy a simple, stable and unadventurous life. I cursed his name a thousand-fold, but in the end, he just wanted to protect me.”

“Ack!” She groaned and shoved a good portion into her mouth, chewing quickly. “But hey! Now we got to talk about me again! Hurray! So, it’s your turn now! Tell me every little secret you have…”

“But, what do you even want to know?” Mariel threw her a puzzled expression.

“I want to know the juicy bits! You know, how you’re here, why, how many you’ve slept with, whichever way you swing, your hobbies?”

“I’ll answer the first two questions, and the last one.” Mariel made her pick from the lot and confidently smiled. “The rest are too embarrassing… And I don’t really understand the fourth one.”

“How lazy… But that’s fine too! Go ahead!”

They spent a long time talking and trying to eat in-between the surprises, laughter and shock. After having ignored a whole bunch of polite cues from the owner, Welidia was in the end, grabbed by the shoulders and tossed straight into dishwashing duties. Thanks to her sudden disappearance, Mariel could finish her food and head back to the temple. On her way, out the front door, Welidia came rushing up behind her.

“Wait! Are you going to the harvest festival next week?”

“Um, no? I don’t know what that is?”

“Ohoh…” Welidia let out a strangely menacing noise, and her whole demeanour changed immediately into one reminiscent of a little girl looking at her most desired toy. “Well you’ve got to be there! Bring friends! Meet me here early and I’ll get you all sorted out, just… You don’t have like, a hundred friends, right?”

Mariel smiled and shook her head, holding up two fingers as a reply.

“Wow... They’re really close friends, right?”

With a nod and a wave, Mariel turned around and began the walk back to the temple.