Chapter 9 - Breakfast Planning
Seeing Eolande standing at the entrance, Lilly quickly approached her for a hug. Eolande seemed happy to receive it and stretched her arms out with a smile.
Since Lilly was only wearing socks and Eolande had boots on, the height difference became a bit problematic. But they made it work.
“I’m so sorry I had to leave, Lilly. Have you been okay?” Eolande asked, still hugging Lilly tightly.
Lilly nodded slightly. “Mhm. I’ve kept myself busy, as you might be able to tell.” She ended the hug and gestured towards Beak, still sitting on the plate of water and playing around. “This is Beak, the phoenix that Myndia used for his hearts.”
Eolande looked at Lilly with a mix of worry and realization, seemingly having understood some of what had happened. “So he came here to be reborn? And now you’re raising him?”
“Yeah, or we're doing what we can, at least. We haven’t figured out everything yet, but there shouldn’t be any huge problems. Mia had to take care of him yesterday while I headed to the library, but she managed to calm him down in my bed… after having lost most of her clothes to the flame.”
Eolande chuckled and walked over to study the little red bird. “He’s rather cute. Does he remember his past lives?”
“Not yet. He only gains access to them after reaching a certain age. According to the book, it should be a few months,” Lilly replied.
Beak was looking back at Eolande, and started moving away from her as much as he could. Once he got off the plate, he tried to hide behind it, but he only managed to cover his head.
Lilly continued to explain, “He’s imprinted on me, so he thinks of me as his mother. I’m not sure when he will start trusting others, but it might take a while.”
Eolande backed away from Beak with a somewhat sad expression. “That explains him only calming down in your bed. Maybe he’ll like me more if I give him food?”
Lilly considered it for a moment while picking Beak up from the counter and putting him in her top, where he got very comfortable. “It’s possible. I didn’t get to talk much to Mia after getting back yesterday, so I don’t know what she tried… But enough about us, what happened with the gathering?”
Eolande turned to her with a smile. “It went surprisingly well, actually. Almost everyone supported the changes we wanted to implement. Some of the documents in the spatial ring helped us a lot to convince them of Eolanathel’s excessiveness.”
Lilly felt elated, knowing they had gained a strong ally in the fight for justice. It was better to look at it that way than saying they had removed an enemy, but the net gain was immense either way.
“Some of them still had issues with the clan revealing itself to the people, but we managed to convince them it was the best way to keep those in power on the right path. And Rantas, the guy who attacked Selene, joined me back here to apologize. He should be on his way to her house now.”
Eolande looked slightly worried about it. “He said he would accept any response she gave.”
“Ah, that’s great! I hope Selene takes it to heart. She’s been hard to read lately, and I don’t know what to do after she recovers… Sending her to the war might be dangerous if the king knows what we know.”
Eolande hesitated slightly before responding. “Do you think she will forgive him?”
Lilly felt a bit confused by the question and furrowed her brows. “Forgive the king?”
“No, Rantas. He was very quiet on the trip here, which was quite unlike him.”
Lilly noticed she seemed worried for him and thought about the question seriously. “I think the only person she cannot forgive is the king, but I’m not sure how she would react to the man who tried to kill her. Her survival was pretty much a miracle.”
“... I know it was. The only two people in the city capable of saving her were right there.”
Lilly knew her reply didn’t help Eolande’s nerves much, so she tried again. “I’m sure she won’t hurt him as long as his apology is honest and heartfelt.”
Eolande nodded, looking more at ease now. “I think you’re right.”
“I was planning on heading over to Selene later to discuss things. We can see how it went then. First, I just need to make sure Mia is alright and have some breakfast. She used your bed last night, I hope that’s fine.”
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Eolande nodded. “Of course it is. I think I hear her coming down.”
Lilly turned to the door, and sure enough, a sleepy Mia appeared soon after. She was covered by a blanket and didn’t appear to have anything else on.
Her expression changed to a mix of elation and embarrassment as she saw Eolande standing in the kitchen next to Lilly. She tried covering herself better as her cheeks started turning rosy. “Elly! I didn’t think you’d be back yet. Ehm, I’ll go take a bath!”
She started walking backward into the hallway to make sure nothing was shown and yelled a quick “Welcome back!” to Eolande as she disappeared behind a door.
Lilly started grinning, seeing Mia turn so flustered again. She had become harder to tease with just the two of them, so it was a refreshing sight. A dreamy sigh escaped her lips. “I love her so much…”
Eolande also started grinning, looking at Lilly with cheery eyes. “You’re both too cute!” She pinched Lilly’s cheek playfully, and Lilly let her.
“Let’s get some breakfast while we wait,” Lilly mumbled, trying to speak with her cheek pinched.
Half an hour later, they were all ready to meet the day. Eolande had traveled for most of the night, but she insisted she could stay up for days if she wanted to. Lilly didn’t know enough about elves and their sleeping schedule to argue with her too much, so she let her be.
“Elly and I will go to Selene’s place, Mia. I’ll bring Beak, so you can do whatever you want today.”
Mia, now wearing a normal set of clothes, looked out the window thoughtfully. “I think I’ll head over to the workshop then, to check the wares and get the cuirass ready. Do we want any sockets in it for jewels, or is that wasted?”
“Well, it might be a good idea since we don’t know if everything will fit perfectly. I could adjust the strength of the final enchantment, but I’d rather use the materials fully. We can decide after the first two enchantments, though.”
Mia nodded thoughtfully. “Right, you can limit the area of the enchantment so that changes won’t ruin anything. What about future projects, then? We should agree on one instead of having me make something random again.”
Lilly put a hand to her chin, deep in thought. “Hmm… Elly, would you have any use for something we make? A dagger or something?”
Eolande seemed hesitant, scratching the back of her neck. “My strongest weapon is my speed, so it won’t really do much for my total strength. If anything, I’d prefer a bow or new boots. But I’m assuming it would be expensive…”
“Oh, for sure. We would give you a great price, of course, but the total cost would depend on your specifications. Those boots are very complicated, aren’t they?”
Eolande removed one boot and handed it to Lilly. “See for yourself. According to himself, it’s Eolanathel’s best work.”
Lilly took the boot, feeling a bit intimidated. Many things could be said about Eolanathel, but no one could call him a bad enchanter. Even while hiding his abilities, he became a royal enchanter.
She gently inserted her flame into it and sensed a complex pattern of both small and large enchantments, each one feeling perfectly adjusted.
One of the large ones seemed to give the ability to stick to surfaces, which would be perfect for fast movements. Another had something to do with springiness, making it easier to run at high speeds.
The total space in the boot didn’t seem all that great, but it was socketed with an indigo crystal, giving it nearly a third of the space in the palladium cuirass. Lilly knew that recreating these boots would be incredibly hard, not to mention improving them.
“These are very advanced, and I have no idea what materials he might have used. I don’t think I’ll be able to make something better at this point, sorry.” She handed the boot back to Eolande, feeling slightly bitter. It felt like a loss against her damnable teacher.
“Don’t worry about it, Lilly. I would need a lot of training to get used to new boots in any case. I was considering asking for a bow that could fire arrows soundlessly, but I can’t think of any great uses outside of assassination…”
“What about something giving you more strength, then? There was a pearl in the emporium that could give very fast and strong muscles. Gallus said it would be perfect for an archer, but it sounds great for fast movements as well,” Lilly suggested.
The notion of even faster movements seemed to intrigue Eolande as she put her boot back on. She raised an eyebrow as she considered it. “That could be interesting. What would it cost?”
“Well, with only that enchantment, I think the material would be about 10,000 gold. An indigo crystal should be enough to make anything capable of containing it. I would suggest something solid, though. It would be a shame if it broke.”
Eolande seemed excited and looked over at Mia. “What light material would work best? Something like a belt would be perfect, considering the center of gravity.”
Mia briefly considered the best material. “Mithril is the lightest and most durable metal I can use, and I can make a belt pretty fast. Would it still need a crystal in that case?” she asked, looking at Lilly.
“No, it might be enough with just the mithril then. You would have to finish making it before I can be sure.” Lilly looked back at Eolande. “Do you want us to start making it, then?”
“Absolutely! With your added purification, I can’t wait to see how fast I can become!” Eolande cheered gleefully.
Lilly smiled, happy to help Eolande get even stronger. She was their most lethal weapon, after all. “Then you know what to do today, Mia. We’ll probably meet you at the workshop after we visit Selene.”
Mia put her hand in a salute. “As you wish, My Lady! Have a safe trip!”
Lilly covered Mia’s face with her hand outstretched, discomforted by her gesture. “Don’t do that, love.”
Mia chuckled through her fingers. “I’m sorry, dear. I’ll see you later.” She grabbed Lilly’s hand and pulled her in for a kiss instead.
Eolande had a grin on her face as she left first, giving Lilly enough time to return the kiss properly before following after.