Two descended the stairs and exited the house. Onto the veranda, the sun having crested the horizon cast oblique shadows along the chairs statues. Carved columns supported the overhanging second floor. She stopped by on her way. Her eyes caught a snakelet among the many carvings on its surface.
They seemed sad, and supping the air she found the emotion mirrored and tinged with melancholy. A slow layered melancholy, that echoed with age. She stepped off the veranda and turned to the house. Abery shifted with nervous excitement beside her.
“Thank you for sheltering me.” She said to the house. The air wavered with bitter-sweet tones. “I left a lot of statues in my room. They’re small and none are as ones you already have but I promise, that if I can. I’ll come back and make an offering worthy of you.”
She turned and walked the forested path to the city beyond the manor. Behind her, a whiff of summer flowers pushed through the musty gloom. Abery bounced to her side. His eyes flickered between and the retreating house.
“What?”
His focus centred on her. “Why’d you do that Ma’am?”
She glanced askance. “Do you not respect the spirits of the places you live? “
He shifted uncomfortably, “Yes, but I pay respect to the city most of the buildings I visit don’t have spirits.”
“The governor’s palace does.” She replied flatly.
“But that’s an exception. Most buildings don’t have spirits.” He insisted and Two let the conversation drop.
She filled it with the many such differences of opinion she’d had with Abery. After Rhevier had assigned him to follow her to the academy he’d opened up and through their conversation showed another side of the city.
One filled with fondness and itching boredom. It wasn’t the first such mix she’d sampled. Tasting emotions in an oft crowded city ensured she had some familiarity with most. But it was the first time she learned of the thoughts that spurred the sentiment.
Her musings carried her to the manor’s gate. A carriage and its driver waited outside as did a tall man that smelled of stale air and neglected flowers.
Her light mode abated. “Rhevier,” she addresses the tall man dressed in enough layers of black and dark blue to spite the sun. That was unsurprising, she’d grown used to his ensemble and photophobic nature during her brief education. What was surprising was his presence in the morning. Afternoon was more typical for him.
She noted the heavy distaste mixed in the cultivator’s predominant scent. For once it wasn’t directed at her. “Good morning.”
His attention snapped to her. “Yes, good morning.” He drawled tone flat and tired. He pulled a case as long as his forearm from his beneath his suit. She blinked at the casual violation of physics. He thrust it in her hands. “Our brief time together has been as laborious as insightful. I’ve taught you all you can manage in the time allotted. The rest depends on your efforts and fortune. May the Mothers sprint guide you.” With that he turned and left.
Two stared at his retreating back. A confused hiss on her tongue. Abery peaked from his hiding spot behind her. Shaking off her confusion. Two cracked open the case, only to be hit by a second dose.
A pair of simple swords sat on a bed of gold cloth. Their edges a gleaming steel and hilt mat black. “Does he expect me to need these?” She whispered.
“Yes?” Abery offered.
She sighed and snapped the case shut. Se entered the carriage. Suddenly his blessing felt like a curse. The thought made more sense. Abery dealt with the driver and joined her in the cartridge's disgustingly cushioned interior. Then they were off.
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The cartage jostled down the streets pulled by bright yellow fur. As garish as anything else the Imperials touched. But neither her trite musings on her patron’s poor taste nor contemplations on how they kept the stones sparking when horses roamed the streets kept her attention. Instead, wistful worry pulled at her thoughts.
Somewhere along the trip her melancholy found her anxiety and decided they went quite well together. Leaving her mood strained.
While she tried to find calm between slow blinks the cartage rolled to a stop.
“Ma’am we’re here!” he bounced and raced out the carriage door. She looked out the thrown open door. It took her a moment to realize where ‘here’ was.
The city’s plaza was as wide and crowded as ever.
People of all sorts filled the space From the rich in garments as fine as those she now wore. To those in drab wear that still managed to put her perfumed cloak, presently packed as luggage, to shame. There was a constant buzz to the place. A constant thrum of life, that flew unfettered by the paroling guards.
The various lines of the poster walked freely. A woman with long feathers descending from her head, walked beside a man with plates of chitin descending his neck to disappearing beneath his clothes. Even the city’s aquatic population made a showing. Their skin wet with slime and water as they went about their tasks. Until the need for hydration forced them into one of the nearby rivers.
A wide road led away from the plaza. Passing through the large stone wall that encircled the city. Adding a constant stream to the diverse mess.
It was the liveliest place in the city. Eclipsing even the market as it was the largest of the few paths into the city. Its importance further aided by the scarcity of roads that accepted vehicles of any kind in the city’s heart.
She looked at the buzz of life and the gate scarcely visible through the press. Her anxiety found another step to mount.
“Are you okay ma’am?” Abery drew her from her trance. She turned her attention to the ring of guards separating, her and the rest of the academy hopefuls from the press. She’d never imagined she’d be on this side.
“Abery, I hope I’ve not grossly misunderstood something because here seems to be the place, not the academy.” She said in a casual tone. His ears twitched and embarrassment touched his features.
“No! I mean yes Ma’am. It’s just I’ve never left the city,” He said the final words in a conspiratorial whisper that was audible over the din. She smiled and eased as his raw excitement managed to overwhelm and infect her.
“Neither have I, but try to spare some excitement for our destination.” Abery nodded then returned to buzzing. Two huffed and turned to the carriage when a wash of calm stopped her.
She turned to the source. Finding a towering man with beige brown wings dappled with shades of pale yellow. He smiled and Two schooled her features into something respectable. He tasted of a calm, light rain and gentle mist rolled into one.
He was one of three angels in the city and likely the empire. A delegate from a people she knew more as fiction than fact. Yet the two didn’t differ much. He was kind and possessed a quality that set him apart. A rarefied presence that while distinct from beauty. Drew eyes all the same.
“ Good morning Igni.”
“Good morning Two, good morning Abery.” The angel rolled through the greetings and then nodded to the carriage driver, who jolted in sunrise, before returning his attention to her. “How has your morning been.”
“Ok,” She said.”Though the carriage’s cushions are uncomfortably soft.” She added quickly. Unwilling to be too brusk.
Igni glanced at the thing. It was a construct of lacquered wood and garish colours. Blue paint danced with silver around an excess of golden embellishments. That if genuine made the construct’s most miraculous feature the fact it could move at all.
Igni stared for a long moment before returning his attention to her, a flicker of amusement in his eyes. “I see,”
Two swallowed an embarrassed hiss and settled for cursing Rhevier and his sister, the governor, in her thoughts. Her attendance in the academy was sponsored by the imperials, he’d said. It was important she represent them properly, she’d been told and drilled on polite society’s oddities.
They had a city of artisans and the best they could do was slap gold on everything. It was a miracle her erstwhile residence was drowned under a dozen layers of gold!
“I’m managing,” she said flatly.
His smile widened, drawing further attention from the watching crowd. “There’s extra space in our carriage if you’d rather. It’s a lot simpler.”
Her heart jittered and she turned to Abery before it jerked her into a poor decision. The mouse in question nodded with restrained excitement.
“Yes, that would be appreciated.” She said not letting the thought of a long journey in his company lighten her voice. They spent most mornings in the last week in one conversation or another. A few hours didn’t mean much, she argued to herself.
They followed after gathering their luggage. The buzz of future students and various others, servants like Abery to family giving final send-offs, parted before Igni who stood heads and shoulders above the crowd.
As promised, Igni’s carriage was a sensible thing of sturdy dark wood and occupied by a pair of figures that matched Igni’s height.
A cloaked figure with feathers resembling steel and the other one. Possessing stark white wings and a wide grin. They turned to the approaching group, first noting his brother. Before his gaze landed on two.
Recognition stirred in the steel orbs and the weight of the light’s judgment fell on her.