“And there we were, sitting at the campfire while the Captain was still working his magic at the broken bow, having bread and rum.” The old man told. “While the catch of the day was sizzling on the fire, we were having the time of our lives, beautiful I tell you. Didn’t take long for the natives to find our spot either. They were angry, humans aren’t allowed on the eastern half of Nagnastam, after all.”
The old man in question was Monsieur Ladimothe, a former seafaring explorer and now a high-ranking man in the city’s merchant guild. He had a thin and grey appearance with fiery eyes of hazelnut, bushy eyebrows and a moustache so wild it seemed to leap off his lip at every syllable he spoke. Gualdo had introduced him to the two girls while Nannade and Olybrius had to discuss much more important matters. The four of them stood in the rose garden, in a corner of a waist-high hedge and a marble statue of a naked shepherd playing a lyre.
“When they came, they hissed and yelled at us. They came from the trees and the cliffsides, the crolachans they are, and descended upon us with their special kind of hook-shaped knives, the Svadhi. It is said a crolachan man can dismember a human in a single strike.” He made a slashing motion at Merry, who flinched backwards with an excited giggle. “In the end, we convinced them with rum and some of our catch to delay our imprisonment. When we woke up the next morning, they marched us to their elder who decided we weren’t worth the hassle. He then scolded the leader of their scouting party for wasting our time which we could have used to further the repairs on our ships and be off the island already. He left us with some gifts, one of them was a pearl necklace that we sold back in Halonnes for quite a price, but not before I pinched one of the pearls for myself, as a memento.” Monsieur Ladimothe winked at the girls and rolled up his right sleeve. There he pointed to a woven leather band, one among many, bearing even more tiny trinkets and amulets, one of them a pearl of a pearl rosy like a babe’s cheek.
Merry clapped in excitement at the third tale the Monsieur had told them already. Carryl was equally grateful. It felt like she had finally been allowed to listen to one of her father’s stories – except that this one had been much funnier and less suited for the ears of noble children – without the Lady Mother dragging her away. She had never learned so much of Nagnastam in her life. Whether Monsieur Ladimothe was a reliable source, Carryl neither could tell nor cared for, maybe because of her fourth cup of wine that evening or maybe because it was the first time in a long time she was moved to so much laughter in one evening.
They were interrupted by the voice of Bernard’s amplified voice.
“Dearest guests, a presentation for your entertainment has been prepared, if you would be so kind to clear some space up to the first row of hedges.”
The guests obliged and a large enough space was cleared right in front of the mansion’s rear entrance. Then, with a wave of his staff, the famulus dismissed the lights of the lanterns in the garden and in the dark, drew everyone’s attention with a column of light projected from his staff, reaching from the ground before the entrance to the window above. From this window descended a bundle of silk. As it seemed, it was a length that was tied to an invisible hook in the air above, but as it almost hit the ground, the cocoon unfurled in a single motion and clinging to the silk was Blanchetta, pure white, sparkling in the light in all her body’s appearance, for it was apparent at the first sight that she was naked. Carryl inhaled along with many of the people present, but then she heard someone mutter next to her.
“Oh Susanna must be running out of ideas, she showed this one already. And the girl is not naked, she is merely wearing white!”
When Carryl looked closer, she found it to be true; Blanchetta was indeed covering the most indecent parts of her body with white and rosy cloth, covered even in fine white fur to mask that fact. Blanchetta began a dance on the length of silk. Without ever touching the ground, she wrapped the silk around her limbs, her body, between them and made herself twirl and spin in all positions, not caring that her head-down poses displayed her bare legs and her almost bare body for all to see. She wore her body like noble ladies wore their most expensive clothing, unashamed but proud instead to show them off. At one point, Merry leaned over to Carryl and whispered. “If Nannade bears herself in private like that, I understand how she could get a hunk like Olybrius.”
Carryl decided to ignore that, but she saw that quite a few guests were entranced by the show, even though it seemed La Madame had presented this performance once before. La Madame seemed determined to offer her guests something, in absence of her latest gem. Carryl’s thoughts returned to Nannade and how she might be. As if on cue, Gualdo leaned down to the two of them. “If the crolachan of your class is only half as athletic for the Erutoris society, she might be able to place first in the games.”
The display dragged on with many acrobatic feats displayed by Blanchetta and when it was over, somewhat tired applause was all she earned, except for from Merry, who cheered loudly to the bodily skills of the crolachan. When the two girls turned around, there stood Nannade, sombre and humbled.
Merry fell around her neck immediately. “NANNADE! You’re back! How has it been? Smooched enough?”
Nannade pushed Merry off her with a tired smile. “We had a good talk. Thank you both for being here tonight. I think I might want to sit with you for the rest of the evening.”
They sat together, in a far-off corner of the garden, and had their fill of wine – and in Merry’s case, fruit juices – to talk about all things but boys. But it came as it had to and Merry asked that fateful question.
“What about Olly then?”
Nannade sighed. “We talked, yes. He has married a noble lady since we last saw each other. You know, he was only half noble himself, born of a commoner with the gift and a noble without it.” She seemed to smile to Merry specifically. “And Alivor made sure that our little love would not get in between Olly and his promised bride. In return, the Lord Father of House Teccarno donated a new ship to Colonel Alivor. Olly now has two children already and they live on Stakkarun, In the castle we shared as lovers.” She wiped a tiny tear from her eye.
Carryl, knowing of Ssil’s lust for justice, tried to ask a certain question carefully. “So, what will you do?”
“I will finish my studies here. And then I will stand before Alivor, whom I trusted, and ask him why he had the audacity to lie about such a thing. I will make him answer for his crime, I will make sure he will regret for the rest of his life to have crossed a mystic of Sturreland.”
It was not hard to tell that Ssil was revelling in this. She could also tell that there was some sort of compromise between them.
Merry put her hand on Nannade’s shoulder. “You deserve answers, Nannade. You deserve to be treated decently for once in your life.” She hugged Nannade tightly. “You have been through too much.”
As Merry hugged Nannade, Carryl could see the latter’s tearful nod.
It was obvious to Carryl that Nannade intended to keep her promise to kill Alivor. She was dead set on letting Ssil have that feast. She talked about being alive just be a tool, purely for the purposes of another, but now she was set on having her own justice.
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“So, Nannade.” Merry put on her cheekiest smile. “When will you be seeing him again? Don’t tell me you don’t intent to sneak through his window at night.” She finished it off with a wink.
“Merry, no. I enjoy your imagination, but he has a family now, I could never tear something like that apart. You should know. I always wanted a whole, happy family.”
Merry merely snickered, she was too inebriated to get the severity of the situation. Carryl felt something in Nannade. She felt contained rage, anger, grief, all wrapped in chains. Shackled by something far more powerful than her. Nannade’s entire life was an attempt to run away from chains, just to find herself in new ones. She pressed Nannade close to her body. She felt within Nannade the feeling of being bound.
The time came that the guests had diminished as they had returned to their own homes. The three girls did not see the cousins leave, but Nannade visibly knew when they had left. Eventually, La Madame appeared in front of the three girls as they were sitting on a bench at the edge of the garden.
“Did you have your fill?” La Madame seem much calmer and contained than at that moment that Nannade had ruined her great evening, but the spite at the disobedient girl still remained. “Are you satisfied? If I was a trading woman, I would write a bill for the damage you had caused me.”
Nannade stood up and faced La Madame. “Don’t worry, I won’t cause you grief again. I have seen just how deep this high society can sink to get their way. Nothing can stunt me anymore, next time, I will keep my composure and make my plans in silence.” Her look had a hatred in it that scared Carryl.
La Madame obviously still had stern words to speak to Nannade, but she glanced over to the other two. “At least they did not do anything unsightly. Please, escort them home.”
Nannade nodded. “Come on then, festivities are over, it seems.”
They found Monsieur Ladimothe and said their thanks to him for his entertainment, then they were on their way. For most of the way, Merry started to swerve and stumble. The other two wrapped each an arm around her to keep her somewhat straightforward and made their way through the Northeast gate, the only one still open late at night, and under very scrutinous looks of the guard; their student attire was most likely the only reason they were still let through.
They needed to pass the bridges from the merchant’s district to the temple district to reach the dormitory and as they did, Nannade suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Carryl noticed her ears pointing straight into a specific direction. The crolachan’s fine hearing had no doubt picked something up.
“What is it?”
But Nannade merely raised a finger to her lips. Carryl tried to follow the direction of her ears and indeed, on a terrace set back from the harbour wall right beneath the bridge, a closed door rattled. Then it was thrown open and a figure ran out, screaming and yelling back into the doorway.
“I recognize that voice but where from?” Nannade whispered. She let go of Merry gently and rushed ahead.
Carryl tried to follow, almost dragging Merry in her drunken stupor. “Come on, Merry, at least try to stand!” but she seemed basically asleep in her tracks.
She managed to follow behind. At the end of the bridge, the stairs from the step below met the street and there, Nannade knelt down and observed the figure who had just come out of the door. It was a young man, cursing at the people inside, then tried to come at them with fists raised, only to be repelled again.
Carryl arrived at Nannade’s peeking spot. Then she saw the young man’s face as he came up the stairs, angry and defeated. “Nannade, that is the student I helped up.”
Nannade's head whipped around to her. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, absolutely, he even wears the same, patched and worn-down robes.”
She considered something for a moment. “I can’t do anything here, too many eyes.” Then her face showed the hatching of a plan. “Don’t worry, I’m right behind you.” Just as Nannade had said that, reality seemed to bend around her, sense and meaning were shrouded as if by rapidly growing vines that blocked all sight on her, leaving only a falsely empty spot where she had been. The process was so sudden that Carryl flinched, but a patrol of the city guard coming from behind them, marching over the bridge, seemed to not notice at all. It was as if Carryl was all alone with her drunken and possibly unconscious friend.
The thief coming up the stairs stopped suddenly. He seemed frightened as he saw the guard patrolling, trying hard to act naturally. It was the demeanour of a guilty man. Carryl decided to use the moment. She knew what she had to do to help Nannade and, more importantly, make up her debt to Ssil.
She raised her voice for both the man and the guards to hear. “Hello, fellow Charge of the Exalted, would you mind helping me?” Carryl beckoned to the man and indicated her difficulty supporting Merry.
The man seemed perplexed, but as he watched the guard throw a glance his way, he quickly nodded. “Ehrm, of course, fellow Charge of the Exalted.” He moved to take Merry’s other arm on his shoulder. “Where to?”
Carryl had to smile. “The scholar’s district, of course.” She had a suspicion this man was no real student. His robes were so old and patched up, no professor would leave his attire uncommented on. He wore no glove despite obviously being the age where he had studied several years. For a mundane student, that would be no issue, but she knew he had already cast a spell at her before. He had either been expelled before finishing his second semester or he had been impersonating a student for his illegal activities all along.
They marched through the noble’s quarter like this, followed by the patrol up to the beginning of the scholar’s quarter, where the campus guard stood and the city guard turned around. Still under watchful eyes, they walked along the street, all while Carryl felt the wrongness of Nannade’s invisibility behind them. Carryl knew Nannade could not take the thief in while in plain view of the guard and soon she spotted an alley, the very same alley she had crash landed in, the broken crate was already cleaned up, but a few small pottery shards remained.
“Oof.” Carryl did her best to seem far more exhausted than she was. “I need to sit down for a moment.” She steered towards the alley and another crate just tall enough to sit down on. “Let us rest for a moment.”
“Is it still far?” the fake student asked with a fearful glance over his shoulder.
“No, but let me sit for a moment.” She put Marry down on the crate and as she was out of both their arms, the fake student wanted to turn around, then he suddenly struggled.
“What!?” The arms of the fake shadow had wrapped around him from behind. A quick movement underneath his sash and his hand retrieved a gleaming blade, clenched and ready to ram it back wards into his attacker.
Carryl saw the sheen, rushed forward, grabbed his wrist and pulled it towards her as to keep him from attacking Nannade, he let the dagger go. It stopped in its fall in mid-air, his fingers flicked backwards, the blade dashed the same, disappeared in the fake shadow. Carryl heard a soft, wet sound, a suppressed groan, then an angry growl. Carryl shuddered as blood dripped from nowhere onto the pavement. She reflexively did the only thing she knew she could inflict and kicked forward, tearing deep in between the fake student’s legs.
He winced. The pain on his face, the despair and agony told Carryl exactly that she had hit, but he remained resolute. Carryl saw a maw emerging from the fake shadows, the Nannade-Creature bore her venomous fangs wide open and brought them down into the fake student’s neck, who was about to scream when pain seized him, cramping muscles contorted his face, bulging veins tried to escape the venom in them. Nannade’s face showed a voracious hunger, a desire to drink not of the man’s blood but of his pain. Then both of them were swallowed by fake shadows. Nothing remained but the lie itself as it slumped away.
Carryl stepped out of the alley. The campus guards seemed interested in the short tussle, but relieved that the girl had re-emerged from the dark alley unharmed.
Carryl was alone; Merry had fallen asleep on the crate. A single drop of blood remained where Nannade and the fake student had disappeared. All Carryl could think was hope that Nannade was alright but knew she could not call out to her. She tried to shake the events off her mind, to appear normal. Then she picked Merry back up and dragged her the last few steps to the door of the dormitory. She threw a last glance back into the street; the desire to call out to Nannade, to help her was almost insurmountable. She swallowed it all down, deep below her face, then turned to Merry and shook her quite heftily. “Come on now, Merry, we are home, wake up!”