I made it back to the apartments almost under my own power. Larkspur gave me a small boost about halfway there that got me in the door and out of my regalia with Efa and Kayt’s help.
My dinner attire was as simple and comfortable as that first night. Kayt plaited my braids back from my face and Efa dressed me in a soft blue wool wrap dress that was saved from being a house coat in terms of comfort only by the presence of a modest train and a golden fur wrap. We exchanged my heavy jewelry for a set of golden rims that hugged the shells of my ears. Those, the precious stones in my hair, and my manicure would serve to display the wealth of our clan well enough.
Larkspur accompanied me to the hall that evening as a companion and a more subtle sort of bodyguard. Odele accompanied us so Aster and Maeve could stay behind to rest.
The human delegation appeared at the same location as before, but I was moved up to the head table just three seats away from the Prince. I’d either proved to the master of ceremonies that my manners could be relied on or Amos had proved that his could not.
It wasn’t an inappropriate upgrade. I was no longer a supplicant to the Prince’s court but a guest of his household –although my former colleagues wouldn’t know that.
My dinner companion was one of Ylem’s younger daughters -she was still twice my age- who wanted my thoughts on the garden expansion and wasn’t shy about getting them. We spent most of the meal discussing the illuminated water features. I’d been correct. The effect was magical, but Akan was fascinated by my description of phytoplankton and became determined to see it in person.
I left the hall with a firm invitation to tour a mural gallery with her the next day and discuss the matter. There was something very restful about the dwarven way of doing business, but they’d walk me to death if I let them.
Efa was waiting near the door when I dragged my protesting body into the apartment for the final time that night. Dinner had been sufficiently restorative that I’d made the trek back without needing help, but my legs felt fused underneath me. Kayt helped me out of my clothes and into the soaking bath. Aster joined me with a low, pained groan as she lowered herself into the water. I’d seen her last laying face-down on the bed only half undressed. Her muscles must have stiffened up. Ylem had taken us all over the gardens. It had taken hours, well past our allotted half hour. I’d been weighed down plenty too, but Aster had been in full ceremonial armor that wasn’t broken in yet.
Larkspur joined us in the room, but not in the bath. Her one concession was leaving her shoes behind and putting her feet in the water –coincidentally where Aster could easily put her back against Larkspur’s shins.
I soaked for a while until Kayt brought the hair kit back. I was tempted to object. There was something too decadent about having my hair done twice in once day, but the extensions and ornaments were just too heavy to wear for long. I’d spent most of the day fighting off a headache already. Fortunately she was only trimming the ends shorter and swapping out the hair jewelry for something lighter and easier to match.
“A productive day.” Larkspur commented, once we’d all had a chance to revive.
“Yes.” I agreed. “We’ll need to get the household together before bed to discuss plans. We didn’t plan to stay the season.”
“Your guards will be able to stay...” Aster looked up and backwards to Larkspur. “…and you, my heart?”
Larkspur smoothed Aster’s fridge away from her eyes. “I have no plans to be anywhere you aren’t. I do not know about Efa or her apprentice. They may have commitments at Red Harbor for the summer and autumn festivals. I can open and hold a portal if we need to send them home. If we are all staying, then I would like to request a legal clerk or one of the apprentices. My hand is good enough for general correspondence, but I think Lady Alessa will need a contract or two drafted before long if this evening was any indication.”
“Oh ho?” Aster looked towards me.
“Lady Akan is an avid botanist and landscape artist.” I explained. “She would like to arrange an excursion to a bioluminescent beach. I’ll be visiting one of the gallery halls with her tomorrow. We’ll see if she’s able to make it worth our while. If not, I’ll direct her to Markham. He’d do it for the goodwill.”
“Dwarves don’t have goodwill when it comes to business. Even I know that.” Aster objected. “He’d just end up doing it for free.”
“There are worse ways to learn that lesson than a fun field trip.”I replied. “If nothing else, he can invite some members of Congress along and make Brinkerman’s life easier.”
Akan would need to offer me a lot to arrange that excursion. We’d have to liaise with the Bureau, but I didn’t mind that. Brinkerman would handle most of it if I got him the opportunity and made sure he benefited from it. He was a valuable connection, it was just a shame that I was starting to realize that I’d never had a future at BIR.
It was a precious experience, of course, and there was a good chance that I’d eventually serve a term as an extraplanar ambassador if we ever got that off the ground, but what I really needed to do was cultivate relationships with trustworthy native humans who I could work through.
Maybe I could recruit people willing to live across the Veil, at least part time. It couldn’t hurt to get people on our side used to what a human who wasn’t Mom or Me and hadn’t been carefully groomed to integrate with Elves was like either.
I let my thoughts drift along those lines; thinking about what Akan had to offer that Harou would want and what a fair price might look like.
Efa appeared in the door with a robe draped over her arm and a pinched expression. “Alessa, there’s a visitor for you. It’s one of the humans.”
That explained the robe. A dwarf would have sent a letter with an invitation to some innocuous outing and an elf wouldn’t have expected me to even get out of the water.
“Did they give you a name?” I asked, considering. If it was Amos then I’d be sending Aster out in that robe.
“Angie Deveraux.”
All right, that was worth getting out of the bath for.
I’d expected to be contacted sooner, really, although having one of the administrators show up unannounced at my door wasn’t quite what I’d had in mind.
My body protested as I lumbered to my feet. Kayt had gotten about halfway through my braids so she repacked her kit to follow me out of the bath.
I chose a cushion and Kayt seated herself behind me. She looked unperturbed when I glanced back at her.
“I would like to finish before bedtime.” She replied, but there was a stubborn jut to her chin that told me she was also determined not to give the other humans any more deference than she had to.
“Thank you.” I was relieved to see something ease in the angle of her shoulders.
Angie was still wearing the same champagne Gucci pantsuit I’d seen on her outside the Water Garden and at dinner. I hadn’t noticed her Louboutins though. Those were nice, although the signature red soles weren’t holding up well against the stone floors of the mountain corridors.
She and I weren’t friends –not even acquaintances. The interns were below her sight line, but of the directorship she seemed the most relaxed. Her office was dominated by a squashy red couch and according to rumor the inside of her door sported a velco dart board that more often than not had a person’s face taped to it.
I’d hoped to work with her one day. There was a secret to being a brown woman and succeeding in the human world and I was convinced she knew it, but she’d never slowed down long enough for me to do more than greet her in passing some once or twice.
“Miss Neumann.” She greeted me with a cool nod.
“Miss Devereaux.” I replied, meeting her level of formality. I gestured to the cushion nearest me. “Forgive me for not getting up.” I felt a little vain, all of a sudden, getting my hair done twice in a week while Angie was there with her casual elegance and a twa that made her look like Lupita Nyongo.
“No problem at all.” She stepped out of her shoes and sunk gracefully down onto the cushion, mirroring my posture. “So, it looks like we have some things to talk about.”
It was juvenile, but her tone rankled me.
“Do we?” I asked sweetly. “I have it on good authority that no one in your department has interest in anything I’d have to say. That’s a direct quote from Mandy, by the way.”
“Obviously, Mandy was mistaken.”
“Hmm.” I folded my hands in my lap. Somehow I doubted that. “What would you like to discuss?”
Angie took a moment and made a slow survey of the room, of Kayt’s magic in my hair, and Efa standing and disapproving just at the edge of my vision. Then her gaze came back to rest on me, the obvious outlier in the room. She didn’t say anything and I could have laughed.
My first lesson, which started almost as soon as I’d left the Shaman's lodge, had been on how to disregard uncomfortable silence. My second lesson was on how to never lose a staring contest. I was nine.
In the meantime, I was comfortable and in my own space. I had three guards a strong word away. The worst thing anyone in the Bureau could do to me had been done and I’d survived it. The absence of anxiety over my future was almost narcotic.
If she thought she could wait me out then she was going to have an unpleasant evening. I settled back with a placid look and enjoyed the sensation of someone playing with my hair.
Angie waited a bit, but seemed to realize that I wasn’t going to talk unless she asked a real question.
“Seems like you had a hell of a Plan B job waiting in the wings.” She said at last. “Did your dad hook you up? No one outside the government and the Bureau is supposed to have contact with the Elves yet. I’d be really interested to learn how he managed to swing it.”
Kayt’s hands paused and then slowly resumed. It was a struggle to maintain my expression, but I managed it. I’d caught that too.
“In a manner of speaking.” I said slowly. “Out of curiosity, why do you think my father got me a job?”
Angie snorted. “Because Brinkerman hired you.” She replied. “We have two intern programs. I have oversight over one and Brinkerman has the other, but his spot only ever seems to be available when he wants a favor from someone. Plus he’s a sexist old fart so it’d have to be a man, ergo; you’ve got a rich daddy who bought you your first job.”
“Is that so.” My voice sounded distant even to me.
Coryfae had been the one to introduce me to Brinkerman and I trusted her with my life. She was not an easy person to impress. I knew Brinkerman was vain and pathologically ambitious, but I’d learned to judge a human leader by how they treated their followers, waitstaff, and janitors.
Brinkerman’s direct reports were all of diverse origin, richly dressed, and unafraid to speak their mind in his presence. When our team ate out we could expect flawless, friendly service because Brinkerman didn’t tip less than 30% of the entire ticket including tax and in cash, handed directly to the server.
The offices were kept hospital clean and I’d been given the task of arranging massive holiday gift baskets for the small company responsible for it. Even so, he still made everyone tie off the bags in their trash cans and set them outside their offices at night.
I think Dad would have told me if someone had ever approached him for a favor or a payout. I would have found out about it after he’d sent a platoon to bring me home and maybe torch the Bureau on their way out, but I would have known about it.
“What I don’t understand is how this…” She gestured all around. “…came about. I’m grateful for your help at the Gate, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t understand how you managed it. I thought Brinkerman was out getting surgery. He’s probably blissed out on morphine as we speak. He’s the only person the elves have been willing to talk to. How did you manage this?”
That ‘you’ was loaded with a wealth of unpleasant meaning.
Larkspur had left the bath, I realized, and was standing just outside Angie’s range of vision. Her expression was as flat and unfriendly as a viper’s. Maeve, Odele, and Friea made a dark shadow beyond her. Aster wasn’t present yet, but it’d be too late if she decided she needed to put in an appearance.
Angie was, I realized, perilously close to really and truly insulting not only my honor but also my parents’ honor, in my territory, and in front of my household. She hadn’t explicitly called me incompetent and my father corrupt yet, but she was getting close enough for a group of well-armed women who already didn’t like her to use it as an excuse.
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‘Honor’ was a nebulous ideal in the human world and for women it was conflated with sex in weird gross ways, but elven honor had stricter definitions.
Elves spilt blood for the honor of their clans and households in Anwyn. Red Harbor hadn’t gotten its name from the annual algae bloom, after all. Elves could, would, and did kill over insults less severe than the one Angie was getting ready to offer me.
“I think you should go, Miss Deveraux.” I kept my tone and posture as neutral as I could. I wanted to project boredom, but couldn’t quite manage anything better than polite indifference. If I let on that I was upset or unhappy then Angie would leave the room on a board.
I held up a hand to forestall her protest. “You may form whatever opinion of me you like, but look around you first.” There I gestured at the women of my household. Maeve helpfully withdrew one of the curved knives at her hip and tested it with her thumb to illustrate my point in case Angie hadn’t yet gotten the point. “You’re not on Earth any longer. The rules are different here and I know that you know what they are. Ignorance is no defense.”
Angie’s generous mouth had thinned into a tense line when she met my eyes again. “So might makes right, is that it?” She asked, scorn dripping from every word. “If I hurt your feelings then your bodyguards will hurt me?”
“Manners maketh man wherever you go.” I gestured to Efa who strode forward. “Please escort our guest to the corridor. I think she would benefit from cooler air.”
“As you wish.” Efa did not quite lift Angie up by the arm and frogmarch her to the door, but it was clear to everyone involved that she could have if she’d wanted to.
Something occurred to me. “Wait a moment.” I called after them.
Efa halted Angie’s momentum with a hard hand on her shoulder.
I gently disengaged myself from Kayt with a quiet apology and retrieved Angie’s abandoned shoes. I brought them to her and set them down so she could step in.
“Have a good night, Miss Deveraux.” I told her. “You’re welcome for your life.”
Angie’s wide brown eyes were the last thing I saw of her before Efa swung the door shut between us.
“Do you have any idea what that was about?” Efa huffed as she stomped back towards me to coax me back into Kayt’s waiting ministrations.
“I don’t know.” I had some suspicions. Angie wasn’t a stupid woman. She wasn’t a bully either as far as I knew so her behavior must have been for a purpose.
I wondered what she’d come to learn and whether or not she’d learned it.
Meanwhile, I’d learned quite a lot.
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Unlike elven magic workers, the wise folk of Ravnvalder did their workings in large, smooth-walled caverns well above the residential levels. Their magic wasn’t often explosive, but I didn’t blame them for trying to minimize the risk of interior collapse on the rare occasions when it was.
The working room Larkspur had been granted was so close to the shell of the mountain that I’d been forced to double and triple the layers I wore. Efa had wrapped me in silk, wool, fur, and knits before I’d put my foot down. I almost regretted it as the cold seeped through all my layers. I wished I really was an elf and not for the first time. Everyone else was comfortable in a single layer. Aster’s tunic had no sleeves and Larkspur wasn’t even wearing shoes.
I stood well back from the circles and ideograms that Larkspur, Efa, and Kayt had spent the last hour chalking onto the floor. Normally a mage would have apprentices to help with a major working like opening a tunnel, but there were no apprentices at hand and my ornatrixes had the right kind of ability to help. Larkspur could do the heavy lifting, but she only had so many hands.
All of the guards were present. Odele and Friea knelt in front of me facing out like linebackers. Aster and Maeve stood at my back also facing away. Periodically they swapped so no one wore themselves out if trouble approached. Larkspur, Efa, and Kayt were well able to defend themselves, but I was what Aster had so charmingly described as a ‘high reward target’ and ‘less intimidating than a basket of kittens.’
Normally we wouldn’t have bothered once Aster had secured the room, but today we had an audience. Well above our heads and out of any possible range of Larkspur’s working was a row theater seats. They were nearly all full.
The crowd was primarily apprentice and journeyman aged dwarves in the robes of the wise folk; likely come to witness a unique elven form of magic. Dwarves couldn’t skip or open tunnels. They didn’t have the internal magical reserves for it. They tended to be artificers and illusionists. However, there were some of the nobility up there as well.
It had been a little under a week since Ylem had invited me to spend the season at his court. Mom, Dad, and I had all been exchanging daily letters with Larkspur’s help. Mom had sent a letterbox with us so we were able to communicate almost as fast as email. My household had all elected to stay with me, but we’d also be expanding by a few members.
Coryfae was coming to take in the entertainment at Ravnvaldr and advise me if we had another run in with our friends from the Bureau since it looked like this visit would drag some of the tension between that branch and I into the light. The rest of Aster’s company was joining us as well so that we could set up a real watch schedule that allowed all of our guards some liberty. We were also taking on a legal clerk.
However, we needed more supplies to feed them all and ourselves. Winter was long in Jorgumandr and the dwarves were vegetarians. I’d be fine with a diet of vegetables and the occasional fish, albeit cranky and thin by the time spring came around. The others were a different story. Elves were omnivores too, but my mother thought there might be some essential amino acid or something they needed that they couldn’t get with a plant based diet so a large portion of what my parents would be sending was a private supply of preserved meat and live water bugs for a set of breeding tanks we’d use to supplement our supplies.
Odele lifted her head at some invisible signal. “It’s starting.” She said quietly. A few moments later I felt it too; a pressure that you could only feel on the inside.
Larkspur stood in the center of her chalk circle with Efa and Kayt on either side of her. A flat circle of light appeared in the air before her and she stuck both hands into it. Then she started to pull it open. She got it as far as her outstretched arms would allow, then Efa and Kayt took a side each and continued to pull until the other end of the tunnel came into sight. Warm summer air poured into the working chamber and I could hear the lazy drone of insects pick up as the tunnel stabilized, although the air in it was too hazy to see through. The silhouettes of people moved on the other side and hands appeared at the rim of the tunnel to help hold it open. The air cleared and I could see our reinforcements on the other side, neatly arrayed to move quickly.
“It is now safe to cross.” Larkspur announced and stepped back.
Aster’s guards came first; two Marshlanders -Sound of Wings on the right and Jumpingfish on the left- alongside two more elves I did not know. They’d probably immigrated during my absence. Each carried heavy rucksacks and dragged a travois of supplies behind them that they dropped near me before retreating back for another load.
Another Marshlander followed, this one was much smaller and more brightly colored than my two guards and so was probably male. He wore a scholar’s armband and was looking around with bright, inquisitive eyes. That was Sweetwater; my new legal clerk.
He joined me in Aster’s secure circle and I handed him a heatstone, which we had prepared in advance. Sound of Wings and Jumpingfish could last in the cold longer than he could and she’d only had time to make the one.
“Lady Alessa, greetings.” He bobbed his head in a particular pattern that was reserved for friendly family members. I returned it.
“Thank you for joining us. I’ll be glad to have your counsel.”
“It is my pleasure. Wings, Fish, and I have heard many good things about the baths here. This is no hardship and we have all been eager to have you back in Anwyn. So exciting to begin at last!” He thumped his tail happily and settled in at my side close enough that the bubble of warm air provided by the heatstone covered us both.
I blushed and realized he must have been part of my household-in-waiting.
“I’m excited too.”
The best response for a happy person was to share in their joy, but I found I wasn’t lying or exaggerating. I was excited. In elven society, you weren’t really an adult or ready for responsibility until you were part of your own family. This was a huge step for all of us.
My father approached as the guards crossed with last travois. My mother was behind him, anchoring the other side of the tunnel and flanked by several members of their household who all had proud smiles.
She blew me a kiss and I pretended to catch it and put it in my pocket; something she’d often done with me as a child. I didn’t fight my fond smile although it was tinged with a little melancholy. Her letters were full of praise and support, but it wasn’t quite the same as being able to hug her.
Coryfae came with her own luggage; a set of two sleek rolling Hermes cases. My father had the matching overnight bag on his shoulder. To my surprise, Coryfae had a scarf over her hair and big moviestar sunglasses that she removed as she passed through to the dimmer interior of Ravnvaldr. She greeted me with a forehead kiss and a hug I melted into. This was pretty good too.
Humans say it takes a village to raise a child and Coryfae was a principal member of the village that raised me; as much of a mother to me as my mom. All the aunties and uncles in my dad’s household had sat up with me at least once as a baby, but Coryfae was the one I’d wanted if I couldn’t have mom or dad.
She was my father’s most trusted advisor and was ostensibly using the trip as an excuse to leave her apprentices on their own for a bit in order to see if they’d swim or drown. I wasn’t too proud to turn her help away.
Coryfae handed me over to my father who picked me up and planted a big kiss on my cheek. “That’s from everyone.” He hugged me again, longer this time and did not put me down. “That’s from your mother and I. We’re very proud of what you’ve accomplished, but just know that you can all come home whenever you want.”
“Eran.” Coryfae warned in the tone of someone who’d had this conversation more than once already. They must have if she was breaking out his private name in public.
“Fine.” Dad groused and set me back onto my feet. “Since you’re here for the duration, the clan is low on iron and cinnabar. If you find a source for uncut gems we can transport over water without being obvious about it then I’d be able to use that to calm the Triton down during the summers too. Coryfae has my notes.”
I made a thoughtful noise.
A large part of why the Water People and the Coastlanders couldn’t get along was their shared tradition of ancestral worship. They’d started as one community, but split up a very long time ago. That meant both their cultures had a lot in common.
During the autumn, the Water People and Coastlanders made regular offerings of raw gems to their venerable dead in order to ease their ancestors’ burdens in the afterlife. The gems were destroyed in the process so they had a constant need for more.
The Coastlanders controlled all the regional gem mines and were never willing to export as much as the Water People felt like they needed. In fact, the Coastlanders controlled all the Water People’s easy access to overland trade. They’d never really interfered in their neighbor’s occasional imports, but for gem stock? There was no question. They’d make an exception.
Fortunately the Water People were self-sufficient enough in all other aspects that the gem trade was their only real point of pressure.
The summer fair at Vigny was the biggest dwarven market on Tapama. It actually took place just off the Tapama mainland. Vigny was a large island located along one of the Jorgumandr Veils so the dwarves could get there without boarding a ship and the island featured many deep harbors for everyone else, all convenient to one another. The temperature was agreeable enough to support the temporary market, but nothing really grew there so there wasn’t a point in establishing a permanent trading post.
More importantly, the Water People were able to trade at Vigny without interference from the Coastlanders. Arranging to have a dedicated shipment of gems available to them would make life calmer for everyone in the region. Ravnvaldr exported some gems, but I wasn’t sure how many they’d be willing to funnel to merfolk for them to ritually destroy.
Fortunately, from what I understood, the Water Folk didn’t have any particular preference when it came to quality, just quantity. Even they held particularly good pieces back for jewelry and other ornamentation sometimes.
“I’ll see what I can do.” I promised.
“That’s my girl.” He turned a brief gaze up towards the theater seats. His eyes paused and narrowed on the humans before moving on. “I can’t linger --just, remember to uphold the honor of the clan.” He said as he squeezed my shoulder.
That was a loaded statement. I knew my conduct so far was beyond reproach, but he wasn’t talking about that.
Angie’s visit weighed heavily on me. There’d probably be another in the future and I wasn’t sure how Coryfae’s presence would affect the outcome if Angie’s plan was to try and provoke me again. She could smooth things over, but just as easily make it much worse depending on what exactly Angie said or did.
Coryfae had been very patient with them so far, but disrespecting a clan member in front of one of their aunties or uncles was only wise if you were looking for a way to commit suicide and not get caught.
There was only one respect where I knew I was more human than anything else. I hated seeing people die if I could prevent it even if it wasn’t any of my business, which was a lamentable character flaw if you asked my family.
Still, there was only one answer I could give. “I promise.”
We all watched the tunnel close behind my father until even the last echoing sound of summer faded away.
Aster took command as Efa and Kayt helped a tired, but pleased looking Larkspur over to stand with Sweetwater and I.
“Huddle together. Friea will be skipping you all back to the rooms.” She examined Larkspur’s face and, seemingly confident that her wife was in acceptable condition, turned to bark orders to the rest of the guards. “Everyone else, pick your load and move out. Odele will be taking the lead. Maeve will bring up the rear.”
Friea herded us a little closer together and jumped us in one lot. We landed in the living area and I directed Larkspur, Efa, and Kayt straight towards the bedroom. However talented they all were, that had been a major working and required strict aftercare.
For once I was left to change by myself, although I found Efa had laid out a passive aggressive housedress for me in the bath. It was fancier than I would have chosen for myself on a day when we’d all agreed not to leave the rooms again, but I was boiling now that we were back in our rooms and ready to shed layers.
Sweetwater acquainted himself with the bath while I took myself off to the kitchen to start tea and supper. So far I was the only member of the household who had much luck with the kitchen and I had more time for meal planning so I’d naturally come to be in charge of the meals. It wasn’t a strenuous task. The guards took turns helping me with ingredients depending who was on duty.
The stewards who oversaw the digitary suites still brought carts three times a day, but we supplemented those meals from our supplies so that everyone was meeting their dietary needs.
Mom hadn’t had much laid by to send with us when we first set out. It was too early in the year for the dry pantries to have been built up much. I was nearly out of flour, but I had enough to put together something a little more celebratory than mushrooms. I’d started a dough that morning and set some ban -a starchy root vegetable native to Anwyn that was sort of like a less fibrous sweet potato- steaming in a basket over the water oven.
Knoppi dumplings were better with fresh meat or seafood, but knoppi made with dried meat soaked in wine was a traditional celebration dish served around the New Year so my menu wasn’t too weird.
I was nicely out of the way when the guards arrived with our new supplies. My new guards, Keva and Dalan, presented themselves to me and I welcomed them on behalf of the household -many of whom were passed out asleep in the other room- and accepted their oaths as guards.
Afterwards I was left to my own devices as I made filling and started to roll out the dumpling skins.
So of course, that’s when a visitor decided to show up.