Sophie made her way to Caulis, watching out for the wyvern the whole way, but the strange little creature never seemed to show up when she was outright looking for it. She had thought about it a few times over the past few days of working with Elowen’s bond, and she half-wondered if it thought it was helping her that day.

She had been awfully low on mana. She wondered if it could sense such a thing. Surely it must be able to, if it was able to channel mana back and forth as it did.

She hadn’t seen it since the strange incident, however, and she hoped she hadn’t finally scared it off.

Since she hadn’t been to Caulis for a few days, she stopped by the bathhouse first, spending perhaps a little too much time there, before heading onward to Acacia’s bakery. One day she’d really like to figure out the indoor plumbing situation at the shrine, but until she figured out some sort of stable income, that would definitely have to wait.

The little bell above the bakery door rang cheerfully as she pushed it open, and Acacia looked up from where she was helping another customer. “Be right with you, Sophie!” she said, grinning as she handed over the customer’s change.

Sophie held the door open as the customer juggled a large bag of baked goods on her way out. As she made her way to the front, Hollis chose that moment to return with a large tray. “Sophie!” he said, happily. “It’s been a while.”

“It has!” Sophie agreed. The last time she had been in Caulis, she had immediately returned after talking with Calli and then seeing that strange mana impression. She had almost completely forgotten about that, writing it off as some sort of odd side effect of the Magewort tea.

“Where have you been?” Acacia teased. “We were about to send the Watch out after you.”

Hollis snorted as he moved some of the croissants from the tray in his hand to the display case. “She says that like she’s joking, but she literally argued with Calli about it this morning.”

Acacia shot him a dirty look, and Sophie laughed.

“Really? You’ve been talking with Calli about looking for me?” Sophie glanced between them. “I’ve just been at the shrine. Elowen and I are working on something new –”

She considered mentioning the bond, but decided against it for now. She shook her head. “You’re always welcome to visit,” she teased back. “No need to send out a search party.”

Acacia rolled her eyes at the comment. “I know, I know. Calli was just complaining about some mana pool they found nearby. Apparently they need someone to purify it, but it’s going to be a while before they can get anyone in from out of town.”

Sophie chewed on her lip at the news. Calli had mentioned the mana pool last time, but it’s not like Sophie could do anything about it. “Unfortunately, I can’t purify anything yet,” she admitted, feeling oddly guilty about that. It’s not like she hadn’t been trying to work on her skills. Mana purification just hadn’t come up yet.

Acacia nodded. “That’s what Calli said.” She glanced over at Hollis for a moment as if she wanted to say something more, but he was still busy lining up the fresh pastries in the display, and then she shrugged. “Anyway, I know you have a croissant addiction, so I was getting a little worried when you hadn’t stopped by to get your fix.”

Sophie laughed again. “How can I resist them? Especially the chocolate-filled ones.”

Hollis’s cheeks looked a little pink at the compliment, but he didn’t even glance up at her. Sophie had been planning on resisting the baked goods, but now that she was in the bakery surrounded by all the buttery, mouthwatering smells, she couldn’t help it. “I would like to pick up a few today, but actually, I stopped by to see if you could help with something.”

“Oh?” Acacia asked as she pulled out a bag to get ready for the pastries.

“Apparently I have to plan some sort of festival,” Sophie said. “The Midsummer festival? I don’t even know where to begin. Have you ever been to one?”

Acacia made a thoughtful noise as she handed Hollis the bag for the pastries. “Stick a few in there,” she instructed him, not answering Sophie’s question.

When Sophie tried to complain Acacia waved a hand at her. “On the house, today, Sophie. Think of it as a reward for giving my sister someone else to complain about other than me. In fact, feel free to stop by the Adventuring Guild and tell her no on a regular basis.”

Sophie choked out a laugh. “Um,” she said. “Thank you??”

“Unfortunately, I haven’t been to a Midsummer festival, either,” Acacia admitted, when Hollis handed the full pastry bag back to her. She pushed it over the counter towards Sophie. “We just don’t hold them here in Caulis – most people go out of town to get their classes, so we’ve just never had one…” She shrugged. “I don’t know why exactly. I suppose since there wasn’t an active shrine, they never held the festival. Maybe they didn’t see a point since no one could assign classes.”

“Hmmm,” Sophie replied. “I guess that makes sense. If it’s typically a class festival…”

“You could ask Ryland, though,” Acacia cut in. “You’ve met him, I hear.”

Sophie blinked at Acacia. “Wait, you know Ryland, too? Do you know everyone in Caulis?”

“Of course!” Acacia replied easily, and Sophie couldn’t tell if she was teasing or not. “Besides, he’s Briony’s brother. Didn’t you know? He and Oliver both, actually.”

Sophie thought back to the owl-like librarian, Oliver, and the romance-cover-worthy Ryland. They had seemed awfully familiar with each other… But they also seemed to be cut from totally different cloths. “Those two?” she asked. “Briony’s brothers?”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Acacia laughed. “Yep. Looks like you’re putting it together now.”

“It’s even more complicated than that,” Hollis cut in with a mischievous look. “Acacia forgot to mention that Ryland is Linden’s best friend, and Linden –”

Acacia reached up to clap her hand over Hollis’s mouth. “Okay, okay, I think that’s enough gossiping for one day,” she said, sounding vaguely panicked at the mention of Linden.

Sophie glanced between the two of them, wondering what Hollis was going to say next. What – did Sophie wander into some sort of fantasyland soap opera? She shook her head. Whatever that was about could wait for another time.

“Okay, well, regardless of whatever complicated romantic entanglements you have going on, I need to figure out this festival business.”

“Fine, fine,” she said. She pointed to Hollis. “You, go make yourself useful.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied and took the tray back to the kitchen, chuckling to himself the entire way.

“And you –” Acacia pointed to Sophie. “Well, I’m happy to help plan if you can figure out what we need to plan.”

Sophie nodded, feeling slightly forlorn at the prospect. She didn’t really want to go ask Ryland, but it looked like she had little choice. “He’s probably not at the library now, is he?”

“How should I know?” Acacia replied, but then she held up a hand again. “Wait, scratch that. You’re totally right. He’s usually back at the apartment by now.”

The apartment?

“I’ll take you there, actually,” Acacia offered suddenly, and her face turned a mysterious shade of red.

Before Sophie could ask further questions, Acacia had left her place behind the counter.

“Hollis! Get back in here!” she hollered down the hallway to the kitchen. “Sophie and I are going to run errands.”

“You’re just going to be nosy,” Hollis retorted on his way back down the hallway.

Acacia didn’t even bother to deny it as she dragged Sophie out of the bakery, leaving the bag of croissants behind on the counter.

***

Acacia took Sophie to a residential part of town that Sophie hadn't been to before, ushering her down a side street that ran along a row of what appeared to be townhouses. A large, orange and white striped cat – totally different than the one Sophie had seen previously – peered at her from its place on a bin, unconcerned by their presence in its alley.

Acacia stomped up the set of rickety wooden stairs connected to the townhouse to a cramped landing, and Sophie reluctantly followed her to the top.

“Um, are you sure this is okay?” Sophie whispered at her back.

“Yep,” Acacia said over her shoulder and then proceeded to bang loudly on the door. “Hey, it’s me!”

Sophie could hear the reply from inside. “It’s open.”

Acacia pulled the door open, revealing an extraordinarily cluttered apartment filled with all sorts of knick-knacks and trinkets, old books and other things.

Ryland walked out of a doorway along the far wall, book in hand. “Briony’s not here,” he said, barely glancing up. “She’s working today.”

“Not looking for her,” Acacia replied, and then pushed Sophie in Ryland’s direction. “We have questions, a lot of questions.”

Ryland seemed to notice Sophie for the first time. “Oh! The priestess. I haven't found out much more about your shrine unfortunately,” he began, but Acacia cut in.

“Not that. Festivals, Ryland. What do you know about class festivals?”

Ryland threw the book in his hand down on a side table stacked with other books next to a well-worn, overstuffed couch. “I know I've got a book about Midsummer somewhere in there,” he said, gesturing back to the room he just walked out of. “But I've never been to one personally. You know that, already. We haven't held them here in Caulis since the former priestess disappeared.”

“That's what I told her,” Acacia replied sagely.

So far, Sophie had come to Ryland for information twice, and so far he had been almost completely unhelpful. She was starting to wonder what the point of a historian was at all.

“Here – Let me take a look around, and I’ll see if I can dig some stuff up,” Ryland said, and he disappeared back into the other room.

Acacia sprawled down on the couch, picking up the book Ryland had dropped earlier. She glanced at the first page and then set it aside nearly immediately on a small table next to the couch, shaking her head. “So it’s ice caves now, is it?” she muttered.

Sophie began to ask what on earth Acacia meant by ice caves, but Ryland was already walking back out of the doorway he had disappeared through, far more quickly than Sophie had expected.

Ryland set three large books on top of the one he had been looking at earlier.

“Here,” he said, tapping the top book. “One of them on the history of Midsummer across the continent, a more broad history on classes, and another one on shrines in general.” He pushed the pile towards Sophie. “Hopefully you'll find something to help you out in one of these.”

Sophie picked the first heavy volume off of the top of the stack and opened it to the first page. Great, more dry reading. At least she’d have something to read to Elowen other than thrillers.

“You’re planning on holding a festival, then?” Ryland asked, drawing her attention away from the book.

Sophie glanced up, nodding. “It seems like my duty,” she replied. She didn't add the bit about how she was hoping to get some coin out of the matter as well.

“Well, you can take these with you if you want,” he said. “Just don't tell Oliver that I lent them to you.”

“Oliver?” she asked, but then she remembered. The librarian. Who was apparently Ryland’s brother?

Ryland waved a hand at the stack of books. “He’s a little picky about these things.”

Sophie glanced back down at the pile of books suspiciously and suddenly wondered if Ryland was even supposed to have these books. Had he pilfered them from the library? Ryland picked the whole stack up again, though, and pushed them into her hands.

“Here,” he said. “Really.”

“Um, thanks,” Sophie replied. She managed to stuff them all into her Tailored bag, which thankfully lightened the burden a bit.

Acacia hopped back off of the couch, pulling Sophie towards the door again. “Right,” she said. “Well thanks anyways.”

“Sure, sure,” Ryland said, but he was already distracted again – scanning the room with no small amount of confusion, before he finally shrugged. “I’ll tell Briony you were looking for her,” said in parting, as he wandered back off into the back room.

“I wasn’t!” Acacia shouted over her shoulder, but there was no reply, so she dragged Sophie right back down the stairs and into the alley. The cat watched as they left to head back to the bakery.