Chapter 6: The Lord’s Party
2 Warnings: 1- DeMorte started saying ‘we’ last chapter when he and his child-self were in agreement/synchronization and will continue to use ‘we’ on occasion to refer to both himself and his child-self … 2- Slight bullsh*t justification near the end of the first part.
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Inside the palisade of Entrials.
A few days before the Water Phase begins, cycle 3070 AF
“@%#$*&-”
Nathan threw a glare over at the speaker, not realizing that I was desperately trying to memorize the new profanity.
Curses were like alcohol, they each had their own distinctive history and flavor that were unique despite the common undertones that each carried. Although I was the only person I knew who actively tried to collect and memorize them.
Regardless, I was having trouble understanding why he seemed so hostile over a little foul language, I learned to curse in three different languages by the time I was five in my previous life. It was also an impossible to keep me or the others from hearing such language as the town had swollen to the point of bursting and as happy as people were about the harvest, it was still too crowded.
Nathan, Florence, Carly, and I were currently trying to fight that crowd ourselves as Nathan tried to get us to the mayor–no, the lord mayor’s mansion. As if any mayor really deserved to be called lord so grandiosely. In this world, the title only meant that you were the highest ranked individual in a specific area of administration. In this case, as we were in the outer edge of our country’s civilized lands, there was no one above the mayor was anywhere nearby. This turned him into the preverbal big fish and officially he could not be overruled remotely by anyone except the crown, even if nobility in the area could seize control.
It also meant that any visiting officials, researchers, and nobles would visit him if they ever had to come out this way, which put him at the top of Nathan’s “Stay Close With” list. Although I had yet to hear of an explanation of why Nathan was so important to the mayor as to try and tie his family to mine. It was one of the things to look forward to at the biggest celebration of the cycle, the lord’s party. Another being the abundance of cheap food.
Held amidst the last harvest festival in the metal phase of the cycle the lord’s party was basically just another excuse to spend money and help people relieve stress. That said, it appeared to also be a good excuse for political negotiations, like marriage arrangements. Personally, I was more concerned about collecting information about the world at large and the main roads in the local area.
After all, I would have to get far away from this backwater in order to become a male again.
According to Anton’s teachings about my own body and Leo’s list of curses I would hit puberty on my sixteenth anniversary of my birth, or birthday, as Anton had called it. Until I hit sixteen, according to Anton, I had two different ways to turn myself back into a man. First, I could find a mage to transform my body. That was both dangerous and expensive, as such mages would have to be both stronger than my new body and trustworthy as I would literally be placing myself, body and soul, in their care. Of course, complete and purely magical changes like that frequently worked on levels that most people simply did not understand, the cellular level for instance. Although, if I did that at least it would give me a clear path to pursue, as the only mages with that level of power and talent would be in the larger cities and capitals; least the kings lose track of them. The second way I could try was creating some magical device or otherwise deliberately rebuilding my body. The problem was with the second way lay in how I could change my body, just removing an “X” and adding a “Y” would not do it. I would have to deliberately deconstruct my female sex organs and then systematically rebuild them as male organs before reworking my hormonal, neural, and circular systems to compensate for my newly grown manhood. Although I would be in total control the whole time, the construction would have to take place on the cellular level and if there were complications I would have to deal with them over the cycle or two it would take to self-operate. Or I could try and create a device that would use magic to instantly change my body. The advantages to building a magical device being the speed of change while the downsides included a lack of preparation for anything that went wrong.
I had around seven cycles to prepare and choose my path though, so I was trying not to worry about it too much. Especially since I was almost helpless in my new body without more control over myself. As it was I could only take full control for about thirty second intervals a few times a day, not including magic.
Interestingly, in the little time I had to grow accustomed to my new body’s mana supply, I had gone from two circles worth of controllable mana to four circles. I had anticipated a much slower acquisition of mana control so, the jump in power threw up some fascinating possibilities about how the amount of an individual’s mana available to that person might somehow be related to how acclimated their body was to using magic. It might even be tied into a person’s subconscious somehow!
While I mentally explored the mysteries and possibilities of mana, Nathan finally managed to navigate his way through the crowds to the mayor’s mansion. A mansion it was too, despite being out on the outer edge of nowhere the mayor had not skimped on expense when building the thing. The building itself was made of stone and was large enough I had to wonder if the town had been built around it. Obviously having at least three stories above ground, I estimated another two below ground, with numerous rooms and a nice sized entrance hall visible on the ground floor alone. The two floors above ground level would probably be divided between private and public use. Of the floors I thought existed below ground, I attributed one layer for storage and another for the hidden ward keystone that would anchor the house wards. Although this world could have different habits when it came to architecture, my old world certainly preferred circular structures while this liked to build on right angles.
Nathan was waved past the guards without them even checking the wagon, which both impressed and concerned me. It impressed because it could be a statement that Nathan was more important than I originally thought and concerned me because I had come up with a plan to sack the town within a few minutes of seeing it. Suddenly my original estimates of around three or four hundred men dropped to less than fifty if I could get enough deep sleep potions. Lax security was unforgivable because it led to death, even the fool nobles rarely relied just on wards. The wards were too easy to fool, making vigilant guards the key defense to overcome when attacking someone. I mentally make a note to check all the food I consumed, least I end up getting killed in an attack that I would have been perpetrating in my past life.
After prodding her, my child-self turned to ask Florence if her father was that important, but Florence was clearly lost in her own fantasies as hummed to herself. Even before we stitched her torn dress up with a white sunwatcher, a flower that turned and followed the sun all day, Florence had been in lost in her own head. We sighed and decided to stick close to Nathan for a while to see if we could not solve the mystery ourselves.
Surprisingly, it was a short lived investigation. As one of the manor servants came over to take care of the wagon another went inside and quickly returned with a large man following him. Fat was the sign of non-magical nobility for a reason, this man clearly had no magic, but plenty of money to spend on food. The large man was dressed in green tunic, brown trousers, and was clearly wearing a white haired wig to cover the fact that he was beginning to bald. Although he did not ware any sign of office, he looked like a stereotypical mayor.
“Nathan!” the mayor yelled, his voice booming out to fill the area between us, as he rushed over with speed defying his weight. “It has been far too long for my old friend and savior to stay away from town! How are you?” The last part was spoken as he pulled Nathan into such a large hug that I started to wonder if I was going to have to heal him afterwards.
“I am fine as long as I can breathe.” Nathan wheezed, which only brought a louder laugh and a bigger squeeze before they separated. “I greet you lord mayor.” Nathan said formally, adding a steep bow, which was promptly ignored by the mayor who moved on to greet the children.
“Posh with the formalities Nathan. I believe this flower is Florence.” He smiled at the young woman as she gave a small curtsy and looked her over briefly. “I do believe my boy will have his work set to be worthy of you, my lady.” He gave her a small bow before turning to me and looking me in the eyes. I did not flinch and tried not to show the distain that I usually had for such men, especially when I was robbing them.
For a moment no one spoke. Then Nathan politely coughed and did the introductions. “Lord Mayor Guthan, this is my daughter Bella. Bella greet the Lord Mayor.” Nathan’s voice carried an undertone that emphasized the man’s titles.
“Greetings.” I stated simply, continuing to meet the man in the eyes until he broke eye contact, shaking his head slightly.
“Greetings violet, Bella, I mean. I apologize for staring, but you do have such very interesting eyes. I suppose with how frugal Nathan here is you have never seen them?” Mayor Guthan offered.
I blinked in surprise, I knew from my curse list that my eyes were supposed to be a variant of purple, but were they really that different? I wondered how he would react to my ears, which were very well covered up by my hair. Maybe I should have paid more attention to it? Out laud however I only told the mayor no, mirrors were expensive so, frugal or not, I did not blame Nathan for not purchasing one. By the ovals, mirrors were so expensive in my old world that it would take a farmer like one of our tenants seven cycles of good harvests to buy one, if the famer did not pay his rent.
“Well do not worry about that, someone managed to leak the secrets to making mirrors to several individuals so the price in dropping fast. Even Nathan will buy one soon.” The mayor spoke modestly for once smiling with his face, but not his eyes, before booming out again. “Maybe I will send one home with him this cycle as a gift, ha! Now this must be Carlatus! How are you enjoying our humble town little man?” The mayor moved onto Carly and I ignored Nathan’s look of annoyance.
Carly, unlike me apparently, had the excuse of being too young to know better and could be blatantly rude. “It stinks, the people were throwing poop into the streets!”
That earned a pair of nervous laughs from both the mayor and Nathan as they both knew the boy was right. Public facilities however were expensive things for such a small town, even if it could double in size on occasions such as tonight’s festival. Farms had outhouses, but towns and some cities were without any form of waste disposal besides emptying the chamber pot into the street.
I had cringed, repeatedly, when Anton had described just how much of a health hazard the city night soil was. After entering the city (we had the wind at our backs while approaching it) I had even been compelled to cast a small spell inside of my nose to keep the offensive odor to a minimum. Even someone like me who had literally lived in the gutter at one point did not like the smell.
Privately, I wondered if the mayor had someone cast a spell on him to dampen his own sense of smell. As long as no one with magic, like a healer, tried to examine the individual, magic spells cast inside the body were impossible to detect. Of course, when the magic was inside your body even people with no talent could feel it and therefore know when it was disturbed or touched by another individual; as a result, I had no intention of investigating the state of the mayor’s nostrils, no matter how curious my child-self or I were at that moment.
Leaning back the mayor looked over at Nathan and gave him a grand smile. “Your children are wonderful Nathan, if you are alright with it I will have Cedrick here show them to their rooms.”
As Nathan gave the mayor an affirmative nod I quietly took note of how the man had not asked after my mother, but a logical possibility was that he had received forewarning about who would be coming into town to visit. Cedrick, the servant who seemed to originally inform the mayor of our arrival, quickly ushered the kids off into the mansion as Nathan began asking the mayor something about a mine.
It was almost enough for me to accuse Leo of trying to create intrigue in my daily life. Although, in all seriousness, Leo would know better than to do that given my record of wandering feet.
Previous record, I amended, as the kids were shown into the main hall of the mansion, which was a hive of activity. Cedrick however easily dodged the other servants and led us through the hall to the main stairway. Looking at how wide and expensive it was I could not escape the feeling that there was way more to this town than I knew. There was simply no point to have such a grandiose house that it needed a central stairway wide enough for twelve people to descend side-by-side.
I put my suspicions aside however as we made our way up the stairway to the second floor and off to a set of guest rooms. Rooms, being plural, surprised me as I was sure that Florence would not be needing her private room for anything besides sleep (child-me had been privately tasked by mother to ensure that). The rooms themselves were very nice with a feather’s mattress for sleeping, a dresser with a chair what appeared to be a built-in mirror, and a small glass window to let in the sunlight. The fact that this place had a history was so obvious I almost threw up my hands in defeat. Clear glass windows in the guest rooms! Maybe it was just a technological difference between worlds? If they had a way to make clear glass cheaply enough to use so freely this would definitely have things for me to learn.
My child-self and Carly were given the room next to Florance, who still seemed to be floating around instead of walking, while we were told that Nathan could share the room with us if we wished. I rejected that out of hand, but Carly was less decisive so the discussion was delayed until later.
Speaking of which, I decided to take the opportunity to finally get a good look at myself in a real mirror. It was a slightly unnerving idea as mirror always seemed unnatural to me, but my child-self was more flexible so she walked over to the dresser and pulled out the chair before standing on it. The dresser had two wooden door covering where I thought the mirror was so I opened them and blinked in surprise.
…I– we were cute.
Partly disgusted, partly fascinated, we stared at ourself, together reaching up and touching our cheek. We had bright blond hair that covered our ears and the back of our neck in a thick mat, though our bangs were short. Our face was slim, with a slightly pointed chin and a small nose. It held a childish attractiveness that hinted at future growth into, while not a full beauty like Florence, a sly, intelligent, beauty. Our eyes were a piercing violet that some would describe as flashing and when we pushed our hair out of the way and looked at ourself with our pointed ears, we were truly an odd sight. Although, an odd sight to some would be an otherworldly beauty to others.
We heard a small gasp from the doorway and turned to find a young boy, around our body’s age standing at the doorway. Carly, was looking at him oddly and trying to figure out why the boy was staring at us– at child-me.
The boy promptly ran off, clearly smitten. I shook my head mentally, I had slept with another man twice before, back in my previous life. Both times I ended up every well paid as The Guilt worked me over for the crime of what I did to them before I took my payment. I did not speak about it and Anton had tried to say something about mental trauma before I accidentally blasted him with spirit speak.
It turned out that I could show others just what The Guilt felt like.
Moving on, I pushed child-me to go collect some festival spending money from Florence. I had seen Nathan pass it to her as Cedrick led us inside and knew that he had talked about giving us some spending money on the way to the town. One plus one equaled…
20 copper coins apparently. I quickly ducked out of the house and went in search of cheap food, only stopping to tell one of the guards who I was so that they would let me back in. We had a few hours until the sun started to set and people really started celebrating so I quietly ran off and encouraged my child-self to play up the ‘cute kid’ act for more food.
By the time she was done we had around 22 coins worth of food in our stomach and another 3 coins worth in my hands. The best part about being a part of this festival was turning out to be the way I could buy from multiple vendors and almost none of their competition noticed me. As a result no one questioned a hungry, energetic little girl who just happened to eat more food than 4 grown men. Energy cultivation used my nutritional intake very efficiently.
The thing about energy cultivation though, was that it both took total concentration and made one want to move around. This meant that most people could not cultivate while moving and could not stay still for for more than thirty minutes of cultivation every few hours. Since my child-self was moving around all the time and I was totally concentrated manipulating our mana, this meant that in the few hours that I was wondering around I managed almost non-stop cultivation.
In fact, the amount of cultivation I did almost made up for the fact that I had been limited for the last few weeks. Although I did have to occasionally take breaks to rebuild my muscles, which were small, especially for a farm child.
As the festivities starting to bring the people out into the streets in a slightly tipsy mood however, I took total control of my new body. I needed more calories and asking for more money or taking lots of free food would be suspicious.
Working the spell in my mind I changed my hair and eye color and threw some more dirt on my generic farmer’s robe. It was not enough to really hide my identity, however I already found out that there was a well in the back of the mayor’s mansion so I decided that a haircut and bath would have to satisfy for throwing others off any idea that this little girl was about to become the best purse thief in the city. Nathan and mother would be less angry with a little hair trim than they would if they learned I was a thief. Not to mention how many people I might have to kill making an escape into the countryside.
…Then again, given enough time, calories, and nutrients I could grow parts of my body back even if the guards did something like chopping off a hand for theft.
Regardless, I used a brief illusion spell to see what I looked like and confirmed that most people would not recognize me at a glance. Just another farmer’s daughter playing around.
Drifting out into the streets I then spent the next twenty minutes being pushed around by the crowd, swapping control with my child-self for most of the time, while guiding her hands. Before we finally found an alley that was being used for the storage of empty crates. We slid our way into the small maze of crates and quietly removed first one pouch, than another, and then around 20 more.
A good night’s work I thought. Although I preferred the more honest approach of just hitting someone over the head and taking their money, my body was currently built much more for nimble finger action right now instead of brute force. It still left a slightly bad taste in my mouth though.
Spreading out the small piece of cloth that I had cut from the inner layers of my robe, which also let me store these pouches without incident, I began emptying them onto the cloth one by one. The one truly universal trade commodity, salt.
Too many people kept an eye on their coin purse and an observant person would notice the weight missing fairly quickly, as compared to their salt, which, while equally important to carry around, was light enough to not be notice for a while. People also tended to avoid enchanted salt pouches with anti-theft magic as it was expensive.
Quickly dumping the salt into the cloth I sealed it all together into a small salt block with my mana. My child-self would be able to trade it for coin and buy more food before the lord’s party officially started.
Slightly tired, I left my child-self to sell the salt herself and started creating the mental framework for the spell that I was going to use for our haircut. Although odd, I felt no need to hide my pointed ears and would personally enjoy Nathan’s shocked expression when he saw us.
The couple of coins worth of food that I did not eat while cultivating earlier had been eaten and quickly digested when I used my illusion spell and the snip spells I had cast to steal the salt pouches. As we once again consumed an insane amount of food I reflected how nice it was to finally have 4 circles worth of mana.
Being a successful bandit in my previous life with three circles of mana had not only been hard, but it had been dangerous. I had to trick others into thinking that I was fighting ‘fairly’ while trying to hide my real plans. I also had to be paranoid and unsure about who would betray me next in order to survive. In fact it became easier for me to encourage the betrayals than worry about who was going to try and kill me that particular week.
One of the first people who earned my highest level of trust was Horus, who later fathered Osiris, my successor. When he learned about my method of thinking he jokingly suggested announcing it as the “Bandit’s Creed,” which, after some key alterations, I did.
I thought my creed was fairly simple:
A Bandit was someone who tried to take the possessions of others by force, whether to survive or for greed. A Bandit was someone who accepted that life was a war, one in which the strong enforced their views on the weak as best they could. A Bandit was someone who knew that, if caught, they had broken the rules of the enemy and would be punished. A Bandit was someone who lived their life their own way because of their own choices. A Bandit knew that there were no rules in war, that all laws were only enforced by the power of their instigators. A Bandit knew that he would die. A Bandit knew that while he could not always choose his death, the Bandit could always choose how to live their life. A Bandit was a choice, a choice of violence and living day to day instead of being one of the sheep they fed on.
…Maybe it was a bit self-righteous, but it got me more followers and helped keep them following my rules, so, as time went on, I never felt the need to change it. Especially as part of it turned out to be true for The Guilt as telling my subordinates to offer the sanctimoniousness mercenaries (who came for my head by the droves in the latter half of my life) the choice of living for three cycles as slaves or dying on the spot. Even not choosing one of those options was an allowed choice, but usually resulted in death by fire instead of decapitation. As long as I let them chose their path however I would not have to deal with The Guilt when my subordinates did the deed.
Personally executing someone or ordering their death directly however would activate The Guilt regardless of their choice. It was a small loophole that allowed me some relief in the face of an otherwise unavoidable conclusion.
As my child-self moved back into an alleyway I removed the illusion spell that had changed her hair and eye color before having her lean over by a barrel. Someone made a bad joke about giving kids too much cider, however the individual left quickly and no one else was around so I took the chance and cast the clip spell. Similar to snip, clip was a specialized spell which cast a snip like spell on your hair, cutting it into the exact pattern you wanted.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Leaning up and brushing the stray pieces to hair off my neck and blasted the hair on the ground with a spell that would make it impossible to use for blood (DNA) based magic before going back to the mayor’s mansion.
It was time to have some fun.
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Just north of Entrials (brief flashback):
Florence was beautiful.
Everyone acknowledged her natural curves and blossoming bust with their eyes when they looked at her.
Everyone smiled at her when she laughed or when a smile lit up her perfectly rounded face.
Everyone commented on her strong legs and well-shaped arms, balancing the plumpness and height of a good upbringing with the muscles of a woman familiar enough with the field.
Yes, Florence was the most beautiful young woman in the area and she knew it. What she did not know until recently however was that a good dress could magnify even her beauty.
As she, Carlatus, and the normally rude little Bella sat in the front of the wagon, the two smaller children taking in the sight of Entrials for the first time while their father talked to the guards. Carlatus with unabashed fear and amazement and Bella with an interested, evaluating, look. Bella was probably thinking of ways to steal food, Florence thought annoyed, the little girl was as natural a thief at the table as she was with a needle.
A thought which brought Florence back to her dress. Bella had been an annoyance to Florence for most of the girl’s young life, but for once the brash little girl proved helpful. As they were on the way into town Florence had accidentally caught the hem of her dress and ripped it horribly. Bella ended up fixing the dress with some white thread that Florence had been sure would clash horribly with the blue dress. It did not however, as Bella somehow managed to turn a small tear into a beautiful white flower in record time. Florence, her father, and even Carlatus were astounded. It would be a beautiful dress to wear when she met the lord mayor’s son.
Walking back her father told the two younger ones to get in the back before they entered the town. Normally only a few thousand people, the town swelled with people as the Metal cycle ended and the fourth Earth cycle began as everyone feasted on the newly harvested food.
The lord mayor, who was the highest ranked official this far out from the capital, would be hosting the lord’s party, where she would meet his son.
Florence was excited, between her dress and her natural beauty she was only worried about what type of a person he might be. The thought of having to reject the son of a powerful man who was smitten by her beauty was annoying in the extreme.
With such thoughts in her head Florence anxiously flitted away her time, eventually giving her spending money to Bella to get her out of the way until the lord’s party began.
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When people began arriving, her father came up to fetch her from the second floor. He was also trying to locate Bella as Carlatus had apparently managed to make himself useful to the servants and completely lost track of his sister.
Only with Bella is the younger sibling supposed to keep track of the older, Florence thought viciously. Of course she kept her outer demeanor calm, as Mrs. Ealba had instructed, while she spoke with an even tone. “I gave her my share of spending money father, I am afraid that she might still be out there enjoying the town.”
He shook his head, “It is not your fault Florence. It is mine.” He sighed.
“Father?” Florence gently probed.
“Get ready, it turns out there is a special visitor who was meant to be here yesterday afternoon, but was delayed. He should arrive tonight though.” Her father said something else under her breath that Florence was sure should not be said in good company.
“Who is arriving?” Florence asked worriedly. She almost asked if it had something to do with the mine, but managed not to. No one in their family was not supposed to talk about the iron mine that most people thought had run dry cycles ago. Especially since she knew that her father regularly sent some of his tenants out to mine it.
Her father hesitated a brief moment before speaking. “A pair of Healers who want to examine the mana flow of the forest. Now get ready and I will walk you down in a few minutes.” He then walked out and closed the door behind himself.
Why did he hesitate? Florence wondered, as she was getting undressed. There was no need to, a pair of Healers coming to visit was interesting news, but nothing to keep secret about.
He also sounded like he was not going to look for Bella. Then again, he might just be asking a servant to inform him of her arrival and how much trouble could she get into anyway? Almost half the people in town were children anyway, if something serious happened someone would notice.
Yes, it will probably be better to just concentrate on my possible husband. The thought of her future (possible) husband brought a smile to her face as she finished putting on the relatively simple dress. She had, of course, been told about his hobbies and interests so that they would be able to talk easier, however she still had no idea if they would actually get along or not.
Checking her appearance in the mirror Florence smiled widely, her dress was just her color.
While admiring her appearance there was a knock at the door and her father called in asking if she was ready yet.
Checking herself meticulously, Florence wished that her father had given her permission to buy a beauty enhancer potion, even if he insisted that they were wastes of money. She was worth a bit of expense, especially tonight.
As she finished checking herself a final time she heard another knock at the door, but before her father could say anything Florence called out “I am decent.” Which cued the door to open.
Her father was in a clean robe and had made an effort to control his incredibly curly hair. Florence smiled and bobbed a curtsy of familial respect, feeling proud that her family could afford a spare set of clothes to change into for tonight.
Her father nodded approval and extended his arm. Even if they were in the outer reaches of the kingdom there was no reason to forget proper decorum. Florence took his arm was as led respectfully out into the hall and down the stairs.
While not a massive gathering, those inside the mayor’s home represented the largest land owners under the control of the lord mayor or a good day’s ride in any direction. In all honesty it could be said that the mayor held enough territory that a minor noble should actually replace him, however the mayor had some connection in the capital that meant he remained where he was. Around thirty families were in attendance so the party was quite spread out in the northern wing of the house, fortunately Florence only need to know three of them:
The Smiths from town, the Millers from just west of her father’s lands, and the River Stalker clan from the southern county border.
The first two were important business partners for her father and the last group was an annoyance. Apparently when her father saved the mayor, one of their clan had died tragically and they blamed her father for the death. Normally that would mean dealing with a few snide comments and insults, but when they heard about Florence’s formal introduction to the mayor’s son there would be trouble.
As Florence was led through the crowd by her father it took all of her willpower to not start looking around frantically for where the mayor was. She needed to remain calm though, or, at the least, appear calm.
Then the swarm of faces broke and she saw the mayor and his son. Handsome, she thought, not too large, but athletic, around 15 cycles old with a sharp, well defined, manly face. Father did say he practiced the sword. He has been in grammar school recently though so I was unsure how well he would be able to keep up his practice.
They made their way over at a deliberate pace and Florence prayed that no one else could hear how the way her heart was pounding so loudly. Her father made the introductions very naturally and Florence quietly thanked Ealba again as she greeted the mayor and his oldest son despite the fact that she was too nervous to think straight. Ealba had drilled Florence in how to behave as well as if she had been studying under a spellmaster.
The mayor was smiling grandly as he introduced his son as Robert and joked to Florence’s father about how they were just speaking of his habit of hard work and wondering why he had not rented out the land he had harvested. Her father simply shrugged nonchalantly and gave his usual explanation of not wanting to be dependent on others. Adding that he had brought some food for the party, grown by his own hands, on his wagon when he arrived and they seemed to be enjoying it.
Looking at the mayor’s table off to the side of the room, anyone could see the half eaten remains of some avotatos. Florence let a giggle slip despite herself as the mayor looked a little chagrined. “I never said you were not a good farmer Nathan, just that you could turn your attentions elsewhere if you took on more renters.” Returning to his more jolly self again the mayor quickly added “Unless you plan on giving more of that land to your son? Even then you cannot be a true gentleman if you work Nathan.” The mayor also made sure to say his last part in both in jest and as a serious enough manner to show that he wanted an answer.
Florence had never met the man before today, however, her father had mentioned the man’s tendency to act like a happy fool and then ask difficult questions. It caught her off-guard to see it in action, but apparently her father was either expecting it, or was used to the mayor’s personality. He happily redirected the mayor, taking him by the arm and leading the way back to the mayor’s table as he spoke, “I was meaning to talk to you about such things, but especially about Bella’s future with…” The conversation trailed off as they moved away, leaving Florence and Robert together in the crowd.
Nervous, Florence tried to control her features and make conversation. “I was told that you were going to grammar school to study the great thinkers and governors?”
Robert smiled and Florence felt her heart flutter a little. “Correct, we just finished studying the Morgutz SoulWar and how it helped shape the current countries. He had a deep voice and spoke as if at ease with the world.
Florence nodded, “I have some petty school teachings regarding that, although history was not a large part of my learnings. A SoulWar is just a war with Soul Mages correct?”
Robert laughed a little and Florence blushed. “That would be like saying that adventures and mercenaries were the same. No, a true SoulWar involves the undead and the churches declaring a war of faith.”
Florence nodded and continued to question him about various things, eventually answering his questions about her family and her dress, which led to her very carefully trying not to insult Bella while describing her. “She is a frail little thing who manages to be full of energy and with a great appetite for the finer things in this world.”
That really got Robert laughing as he pointed out that, leaving out the frail and little parts he would describe his father in the same way.
As Florence enjoyed his laughter and the conversation however, they attracted unwanted attention.
“Florence, daughter of Nathan the coward correct?”
The voice was ice water on the warm atmosphere she and Robert had cultivated.
Whipping around, Florence did not need to see the small scar on the women’s cheek to have an idea of who she was. Only the River Stalkers would dare call her father a coward. The women was Robert’s age and lithe, with muscles consistent of a hunter, a thin, gaunt, face, and raven black hair. She also had piercing, dark, eyes that bespoke of hatred. Her most distinguishing feature however was the small wavy scar on her cheek which denoted her clan.
“Incorrect.” Florence said coldly eyeing the women. “I am Florence, the daughter of Nathan, chief gentry among the northernmost county of Zootrofí.” Florence used her father’s full title, despite the fact that being chief gentry in such a small county was almost useless.
“A useless title for a useless man.” The women stated without regard. “So I did find the right one. I thought so after I saw the way you were whoring yourself to the Lord’s son here.”
She turned and gave him a friendly, inviting, smile while Florence blushed furiously before retaliating. “I think you are mistaking who the whore is here.”
“Now, now, thinking is not the specialty of that vocation.” The woman dismissed, her eyes never leaving Robert “I am Janeen, daughter of Mathalaous, chief of the river stalkers.” She inclined her head briefly before continuing. “Might I ask why you are spending time with such a bore? I understand that a young man might need practice, but really now.” She pouted a little.
Robert, to his credit only started flush a little before he spoke coldly. “A friendly demeanor for starters.”
“Ah,” she said nodding, “but you know others can be just as friendly.” She smiled even more invitingly before Florence spoke in anger.
“I am sure you get all sorts of ‘friendly’ practice with the rest of your clan, but please do not inflict your lack of morals on others.”
The words drained all the humor and friendliness out of Janeen’s face while she turned back to Florence in a rage, but she was cut off by a harsh voice. “Janeen.” Looking over, together the three were surprised to see the mayor, Florence’s father, and another, older, man, clearly from the river stalker clan as his scar stood out on his otherwise hair-free head. “If you throw such crude insults around they will eventually be returned in kind.” His gravelly voice matched his appearance, which seemed to be carved from stone.
“I apologize Clan Master.” Janeen immediately bowed and apologized to the stone man. Janeen did not explain herself or try to make excuses, but she held her bow instead, waiting for permission to straighten up.
The Clan Master stared at Janeen for a moment before turning back to Florence and her father, who had moved to her side. “I only heard part of what she said, but I know her mouth. She will be punished later.”
Nathan nodded stiffly. “Florence let me introduce you to Rhome of the River Stalker clan. Rhome, this is my daughter Florence and you already met Carlatus.” He never took his eyes off Rhome, “My other daughter will be down stairs in a few moments.”
Florence, having lost her anger, felt nervous and jerked at she realized that Carlatus was trying not to hide behind their father’s leg next to her.
Rhome did not look impressed, but then, his face was so blank that Florence was starting to wonder if he was not some stone creature that a mage had brought to life.
“As much as I would like to wait and meet her, the matter I told you about will be obvious in a few minutes.” Rhome looked Florence’s father in the eyes as he spoke and then looked meaningfully towards a hallway that would take them to the mayor’s personal office.
Her father nodded. “Florence, take care of your siblings and tell Bella that we will be retiring for the night when the mayor and I get done speaking with Rhome and the others.”
Florence panicked. The night was barely getting started, she only had about an hour or two to talk with Robert and she was not tired yet! Not to mention that a nice evening was about to ruined by Bella’s reappearance. She looked at her father and opened her mouth to complain, but a sharp look from him made her shut her mouth for a moment. “Yes, father,” was all she could say.
At that point, the adults all left to go talk, taking both Robert and, to Florence’s humiliation, Janeen to the side room to speak. She was so embarrassed she did not even notice the surprised gasps and murmurs that erupted around the room until Carlatus gave a loud ‘whoa.’
Turning to look she could not see what was happening because of the crowd of people, but it did not matter to her, her embarrassment had rapidly turned into anger and she pulled Carlatus over to the side where her father and the mayor’s table was still half-full of food.
Sitting down in anger, she fumed at her memory of Janeen’s interruption while Carlatus proceeded to climb up onto the chair next to her while looking at all the food on the table. “Ah, sister Florence is that stuff made of nuts?” He pointed to a lumpy mass of nutbutter.
“Yes.” Florence said tersely, trying to invent new, witty, insults in her head to be used when she and Janeen met again.
Carlatus gasped, “but, but, but, Bella said they were poisonous and I should never eat any.”
Florence looked into the boy’s young and confused eyes and sighed. Bella had always been a glutton, it had just gotten worse recently, but that was going too far for some extra food. “Carlatus, there is a reason Bella keeps calling you Carly, it is because you are too easy to order around. She only told you that to keep more food for herself.” She looked at her little brother with pity, as he looked nervously at the nutbutter. “Oh, you are a boy Carlatus, act like one.”
Grabbing a spoon she took a gob of nutbutter and ate it. It was too rich and chunky for her tastes though so she washed it down with some nearby mead. “See, I am fine.” She smiled briefly before planting the spoon into the nutbutter again, “If you want some, then eat, if not, then do not, just do not be such a baby about it.”
Carlatus scrunched up his face in anger and grabbed the spoon. Stuffing most of a large glob of nutbutter around his mouth as well as inside of it.
Florence shook her head and passed him the mead she grabbed earlier. Her father would object, mead was usually viewed as too strong for kids, but Florence did not have energy to care. “Where is that brat Bella?” She grumbled.
To her surprise, Carlatus pointed to a crowd of people before drinking some of the mead.
Florence glared at him for a moment. “Why did you not tell me earlier?”
Carlatus grimaced and coughed while looking at the mead like it was the poison now. “I tried, but you pulled me over here and I lost track of her. Everyone was talking because she cut her hair though so I think she is over there.”
Cut her hair? Florence felt cold, “stay here,” she ordered.
Standing, Florence navigated her way through the crowd. Although Carlatus might be a push-over, he was right about the crowd, if Bella had cut her hair short enough, everyone would notice.
After a minute of pushing through the crowd she found Bella, wearing a casual grey robe, albeit a clean one, as if showing off her new shortened hair while casually devouring a large piece of chicken. “Firegrass.” Florence moaned. Bella’s hair was now short and very practical, although it was short to the point where most young farm girls would choose to grow it out a little longer. On the farm it would be more practical so no one would care, but here in the village most girls grew their hair out by choice. More importantly, though, Bella’s ears were showing.
Bella turned at her voice and smiled at Florence. “I never heard that one before.” She joked.
Florence quickly strode forward and grabbed at Bella’s arm, but the little curse dodged easily and took another bite of chicken while looking amused. “What do you think you are doing?” Florence hissed.
Bella swallowed before speaking. “Eating. What are you doing sister?”
Florence could feel the eyes on her, identifying her and connecting them. Florence wanted to grab the little fool and drag her off to beat some sense into her, but she knew, better than most, how agile and dexterous Bella was. Florence had once chased her up the outside wall of the barn and the little monster did not even slow down!
Florence took a deep breath, “I am trying to figure out why you suddenly decided to cut your hair little sister.”
“Is there something wrong with it?”
The reply was so innocent that Florence stopped for a moment in shock. How could she explain that her family wanted to hide those darn elf ears?
As fortune would have it though, she never had to. A guard ran inside ahead of a large group of people. “Where is the mayor?” He spoke quickly and someone must have pointed, because the man suddenly nodded and the guard took off towards the mayor’s office.
Quickly, as the others arrived behind him the crowd understood the basics. There was a group with a Healer that had been attacked coming up from the south by bandits.
Florence swept Bella out of the group and tried to pull her back to the table where Carlatus was at. Bella, naturally, made a nascence of herself asking why the bandits were such a big deal. Florence promised to explain later and then stopped abruptly as she saw Carlatus’ face.
It was swollen up, with his lips, face, throat, and hands far too large to be normal.
“CARLY!!!” shrieked Bella, who sprinted forward to her brother. “I told you not to eat nuts stupid!”
Florence almost stopped breathing, her brother was allergic to nuts? How had Bella known? Did her father know and just not tell her? Had she just killed her own brother!?
The room seemed to spin for Florence as she watched Bella cry over her brother, screeching for help.
Again though, a savior appeared with a shout. “Make way for the Healer!” Suddenly Florence felt like she could breathe again and she immediately identified the Healer by his priestly robes and the way he was shoving his way to her brother.
Following his example, Florence pushed through the crowd and pulled a wailing Bella off of her brother just as the Healer arrived.
Although Florence had no magic, even she knew to give the priest his room to practice the holy art. It was illegal to falsely claim to be a Healer for a reason, only a priest could hold that blessed title, only a person of devotion could learn such a vital magic line.
As she let the man work his magic, Bella collapsed into her chest sobbing. Florence tried to console Bella while the little girl kept saying things like there was no reason for her to be crying and she should stop already. Florence just kept stroking her head and telling her that it was okay.
A minute later the Healer stood up as Carlatus’ face had returned to normal. Florence prodded Bella and told her to look just as their father arrived, white faced and seeking an explanation.
When Bella finally turned and saw that Carlatus was okay, she leaped over to him and immediately started yelling at him for eating nuts.
That got the attention of the Healer. “Little one,” he asked “how did you know what he was allergic to when his father here clearly did not?”
Bella jerked and turned to look at the Healer. “Allergic? I have never heard the word before now. I…” Bella blinked, with the remains of tears still in her eyes she stopped and looked up at the Healer confused. “I just knew. I knew it was poison to just him. How did I know that?”
Pausing a moment the Healer studied her and then did something with his hands that caused Bella to give a yip and jump high enough that Bella could almost jump over Florence before coming down in a crouch.
Before either she or Bella could object, their father stepped between them and the Healer. “Thank you for saving my son, but if I might ask, was that you who made my daughter jump so and if it was you, what purpose it served?”
“It was me, your child likely has a healing talent, which was how she knew about the allergy, I just need to test to see if she had magical capability as well. That was why I tested her just now, although, I will admit that the amount of mana she has is surprising.” The Healer, along with the rest of the crowd including a shocked Nathan, Rhome, and the mayor, stared at Bella, clearly wondering how she would shape their futures.
Though, for the first time that night, Florence was truly ready to retire for the evening and get some sleep.