Mariel kept up her work, and as the weekend came and went she were still practicing her footwork and keeping up with the movement-oriented style of combat that Charne had picked for her. To that end, she had climbed ropes, thrown herself into cover, rolled, stood, been thrown down and jumped back up.

“Alright, last one for today! Come at me like you mean it!” Charne presented his shield, and kept his sword low for a stab. She drew breath, steadying the aches in her body from her bruises, and attacked. She prepared her sword for a hard-downward blow. As she neared him, she threw a sharp rock at him. He immediately deflected the rock and before she could hit, he gave her a rough bash with the shield, sending her crashing into the hay.

Mariel laid on the ground groaning, the last bruise using her many other bruises merely as a foundation for even more corporeal misery. Charne placed the sharp end of his kite against her throat.

“Good trick! If that was a knife, I’d be much more focused, but I’d still have countered and killed you… I saw through your plan. Your hand was not grasping the sword, and you kept it firmly clenched. You need to find some way to retrieve your trick from your person and let fly in an instant.”

He knelt next to her and looked her over briefly. “Uh, are you alright? I didn’t break anything? I admire your toughness by the way. You’ve taken a far rougher pounding today than I expected you to take… And I expected quite a bit.”

“Owww… Yeah, lucky for me, training won’t kill me… I need to work on this to be at my best.” She took his hand and he pulled her back on her feet.

“I admire your dedication. Tomorrow is the harvest festival, so we’ll call off the training, and before you overrule me with the realities of combat, resting is also very important to a soldier and should be appreciated when you are offered the chance.”

Mariel pouted and grumbled a little, but came to accept his reasoning. He had not let her off easy, and her body could use a little time to get over the latest multi-layered bruises. They brushed off the dust and grime on their gear and collected it in neat leather-wrapped bundles.

“Are you going to the festival too?”

“I am.” He nodded. “I’ll be helping out with the preparations, and coordinate the guards on duty. Are you going?”

“Yep! Welidia said she would help me out with a fitting set of clothes.”

“I see, just be careful, she can get a little… obsessive with the little details, anyway, maybe I’ll run into you tomorrow then…”

Upon her return to the temple, Mariel brought Saya and Casindire together in her room. Casindire had brought some tea and refreshments, so they sat down together. Mariel could indulge her sweet-tooth and drink sweet tea and eat home-made chocolates and pastries. For a change, Saya had groomed herself out of her usual dishevelled appearance into the more recognizable Saya.

“Mariel? Why are you having us here? I… Appreciate it, but there’s a reason, right?” Saya popped a small pastry into her mouth, a weary smile appearing on her face as she felt the morsel melt on her tongue.

“Sure, we’re all going to the harvest festival together!”

“Ooh, a festival! I’ve been to some of those before! They’re fun!” Casindire was immediately on board with the whole idea, and her excitement was plain to see.

“I don’t know, there are a lot of strange people there… And we won’t be armed, right?”

“I’ll let you carry a boot knife?” Mariel commented, which had the desired effect; the hardened expression on Saya’s face immediately softened up. “In that case, I won’t mind.”

“We’ll go meet a new friend of mine and she’ll get us some fitting clothes.”

“Do you trust her? Worse… With the sky opening and everything… I somehow struggle with the feeling it follows us around.” Saya shook her head. “Seems silly, I know but…”

“I know what you mean, but there have been several other incidents… Rumours say that some only deposited a whole bunch of confused, normal people… Others began attacking and forming up immediately.” She recounted the information on the street to Casindire and Saya whom both nodded solemnly to the news.

“But, let’s finish up and go see my friend! Maybe we’ll have to fit whatever clothes she has for us… So, we should probably hurry.”

They had soon put on their clothes and headed out. Saya and Casindire taking up the appearance of maidservants to Mariel and having asked around, borrowed a simple tunic for Saya and an old, washed-out, slightly tight dress for Casindire. As they moved through the city, many stopped to look over their shoulders. Some younger children pointed with curiosity, only to be pulled away by their worried parents. An eerie silence followed their footsteps as everyone around them stopped to look, stare and point. The pressure remained intense even as they entered the tavern. The usual clientele had not yet arrived, and so it was mostly deserted, save a few craftsmen sharing drinks.

“Mariel! There you are! I was wond…” Welidia’s cheerful disposition suddenly turned pale as she spotted Mariel’s company.

“These are my friends; will they be a problem?” She asked, to which Welidia shook her head, controlled her confusion and drew her smile back up.

“Not at all… Um, please follow me.” She led them hurriedly up the staircase and into a big room at the end of a long corridor. The room was a storage, filled with lockboxes and crates of various types and sizes. A small skylight window let light into the room.

“Alright! I, guess I should introduce you… Welidia, these are my two friends; Casindire, and Saya.” She pointed at them both in turn. “And this is Welidia, she works here and knows my mentor from before…”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you… I’ll tell you that I’m blind, so please do not worry about me not being focused, you have my complete attention.” Casindire made her polite gesture and waited.

“I’m Saya. And you don’t trust us. Why?” Saya puffed up her chest and put herself in between Welidia and Casindire.

“Saya, remember that most of my kin here have never seen a human before… They’ve been fed crazy stories and heard tales made by soldiers during the last war. So, nothing at all flattering…”

Saya remained quiet for a bit, before letting out an aggressive snarl, causing Welidia to recoil slightly.

“Fine… Sorry about that.” Saya bowed her head politely and stepped aside.

“Ahahah… Okay, then… I’m happy to meet you too… So! Onto business!” She shakily went over to a nearby wardrobe and opened it. A big puff of dust emerged into the air, leaving them all coughing. She reached inside and took out three dusty, stack-covered items.

“They’re a little… Dusty to say the least, we got this shipment of clothes by mistake… I pleaded to keep them…” She handed each of the three a dusty sack. “How about, we take some measurements… Then me and Mariel will go wash…”

“Ah, no! Leave the washing to me!” Casindire held out her hands to collect the other sacks.

“Oh! But I thought…” She was interrupted by Mariel whom shook her head and whispered to her to trust Casindire.

“Okay, then I guess we’ll take care of the adjustments.”

Welidia flew out of the room and soon returned with an elaborate wooden case which turned out to be a gigantic, decorated sewing kit. Inside were needles, threads, piping and many other fabrics, all neatly sorted, stacked and lined up. Using a measuring band, she hurriedly took Casindire’s measurements. Mariel felt for a moment happy that Casindire was blind, relieved that she could not see the pang of jealousy in her expression.

With Casindire led out by Welidia and towards the washroom on the first floor, Mariel and Saya took turns taking each other’s measurements.

“You know… I don’t want you to be so hard on her… Welidia I mean. She’s not done anything wrong.” Mariel raised her arms, while Saya worked the measuring band.

“No, but who knows…” Saya mumbled while correcting the length. “We’re not safe anywhere should the sky suddenly open up above us.”

“We have each other… We’ll be fine.”

Saya’s hand slipped on the band for a moment, and she quickly tried to adjust it back. She checked, nodded and continued down.

“Mariel… I nearly lost everything. You, Cassy, Tizare… Even Siravin… We stayed together, and we almost died.”

Mariel turned around and embraced her friend.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t strong enough. I’ll complete my training and then you can go back to be my friend, and not my protector… You’ve taken all the responsibility, and I haven’t even told you how much I appreciate it.”

“The thought of you, of our friends, dying… The things I saw back there, it haunts me in my dreams… What if nobody had come? Or if you had bled to death in the tower…” Mariel could feel Saya’s expression cracking, and the damp spot forming on her shoulder.

“Thank you Saya, for looking out for us… The pressure on you must have been intense…”

“You know…” Saya sobbed silently. “I was just beginning to think, that things would work out… That we’d all get home in one piece… I fooled myself into appreciating things. Last time I did that, my family died.” She wiped her tears on Mariel’s shoulder and pulled back a little, looking straight into her eyes.

“I had a plan! I’ll just shut everyone out, and if they disappear, I won’t have known them. It worked out well! Even Tizare I kept at an armlength… But then you appeared in that forest. You ruined it all! With that gentle spirit of yours, the helpful attitude, all the warmth and…” Saya fell silent. Before Mariel could ask, the door opened.

“Oh, aren’t you getting all snuggly…” Welidia smiled and allowed them a moment to rearrange themselves into a presentable state. “Got everything ready?”

“Almost! Just need Saya’s measurements!” Saya nodded, and raised her arms. After making some comments on Mariel’s skill with the measuring band, Welidia went back to check on Casindire. Mariel and Saya finished up in silence without exchanging a single word. Soon, Welidia returned with the still wet dresses and Casindire in tow, and said they’d adjust them while still wet, so as to have them ready for the next day.

With most of the dust and neglect washed off the dresses, Mariel found herself stunned by the elegant beauty before her. The dress was elaborate, with many fine embroideries on the chest piece, and on the long, white cotton apron covering the front part of a long, black skirt. A red vest, of the length to end at the upper part of the waist, completed with a red waistband, apparently lacking something important. Black long stockings, and a long black cape as a cover for the vest and the white shirt.

“Ah, there’s supposed to be some silver embellishments, I’ll let you borrow some from me… I don’t have enough for the others though…”

“That’s okay, we’re posing as her handmaidens.” Casindire shrugged.

“That’ll do… There will be noble classes at the festival, and they bring their servants… I guess they don’t trust them with the expensive jewellery.”

Under Welidia’s close supervision and with Saya’s helping hands, the adjustments took a minimal amount of time. As soon as they finished, Welidia dove back into another room to fetch a small metal lockbox. Inside were many wonderful silver fineries. She then proceeded to instruct them in how to put on the dresses, and where the silver finery was supposed to be placed or worn.

The light was fading by the time they finished up.

“Um, I really appreciate all this, but these has to be extremely expensive… Are you sure it’s okay to fit them to us? Couldn’t you sell them? I know it’s a bit late to ask.” Mariel asked, thinking the result was far beyond even her mother’s wardrobe back home.

“It’ll be fine I’m sure…” Welidia shrugged. “Besides, you’re probably leaving sometime soon, so I want you to get to experience this at least once in your lives.”

“That’s not all there is to it, is it?” Saya put her piercing gaze on Welidia whom shrunk away.

“No…” Welidia lowered her head in shame. “I, just wanted someone to go with. This way, all those years spent on learning seams and sewing paid off in a way. It’s selfish, I know.”

“I’m honoured to have this opportunity… Thank you!” Mariel smiled.

Welidia looked as if ready to burst into tears of joy, but quickly caught her composure, and shooed them all away. While giving them all a friendly push towards the door, she promised to have everything ready by noon the next day. With the plan for the day finished, Mariel and company began the trip back to the temple. The mood was light, and they talked about their guesses and expectations for the festival.