The first guest she expected, Julius. The same young man who had already introduced himself. Only now did she notice ‌he was a half-elf. The distinctly rounded points on his ears made it rather obvious. What was surprising was that the sides of his hair were cut close; drawing attention to the fact that he was a half-elf. In the Kael valley, half elves weren’t considered servant class. But they weren’t far off either. A half elf intentionally displaying his heritage was an uncommon approach. Aliera liked that he didn’t shy away from his blood. She could relate to that.

A Librarian’s Capelet hung off of his shoulders bordered with ether silk. Marking Julius as a member of the Kaelton Library and the Gate-Keepers Guild as well. The Kaelton Library functioned as both research and development of essence technology, everything from mana engines and circuits to complex essence compounds. The Librarians are among the most skilled scientists, alchemists, artificers, etc. and are vital to the defense of Kaelton and the Dragons Keep from the Ley-lands. Beyond that, to be selected from the Librarians to join the Gate-keepers speaks of significant accomplishments in combat focused essence research. This Julius was part of two of the most powerful organizations in the valley.

The other guest was unexpected, though unfortunately familiar. Fenton Haedron sat at the table, dressed in a respectable coat and vest with a Haedron clan pattern stitched into it. Aliera choked a chord of panic down. Mechanically moving her Gran to the head of the table, she took a deep breath.

Aliera felt faint just being in the same room as her mom’s cousin. But she couldn’t leave her loved ones to deal with the second most influential leader of clan Haedron without her.

Glancing at Cim, Aliera moved to her seat. “Everyone sit. I believe in the saying ‘Unexpected guests are an undue joy.’” While patently untrue, Aliera often found small deceptions necessary to keep peace in polite society. “We have plenty to serve everyone. Please enjoy.”

Cim brought the meat out and helped Sely serve the meal. The Madam first, then the guests. Last Aliera and themselves. Thinking ahead, Sely gave Fenton an extra portion of Highland Hog. Aliera tried to focus on her meal, but couldn’t help glancing across the table wondering why she had two guests tonight. Last time she had any visitor was 3 months ago. It tempted her to stop the meal and tell them to spit it out.

But that would be... rude.

Instead, she tried to distract herself from panicking by going over formulae equations in her head. Worried she wouldn’t be able to keep anything she ate down. So all she could do was wait.

“I can’t stay to eat,” Fenton Said, trying to wave off Sely as she moved to give him seconds. “I’m here on clan business and am in something of a hurry. Miss Aliera, shall we talk in greeting room?”

Aliera stuck a slice of meat into her mouth. The time to think was worth the risk of her hurling it up later. As she chewed, her stomach reminded her how ravenous she was. She’d had a long day cleaning a Haedron facility and then done her training with Cim, all while forgetting to eat lunch.

Perhaps she could afford a little rudeness; after all, she’s not acting as a member of Clan Haedron at the moment. Besides, she’d be a much better host if she wasn’t at risk of fainting from exertion. A cold wash of panic begged her to just do as Fenton asked. But her stomach won out; “Master Haedron, I’ve had a rough training session after working the full day as a servant for Clan Haedron. As you can imagine, I’ve worked up something of an appetite. Whatever needs to be discussed can either be at the dinner table or wait until I’ve eaten.” Aliera replied, taking a bite. “Though if you’re here to tell me you no longer object to my pursuing a traditional education, I believe you’re a year and a half late. Not to mention a rather invasive surgery.” She said, tapping the Mana Battery implanted at the base of her neck the handle of her knife.

Fenton’s jaw clenched, but it was The Madam who spoke. “If you’re here as a representative of the clan, then you will act with the propriety that fits a leader of Haedron. Do not tell me we have fallen so much since I stepped down that..” the woman began wheezing. Struggling to regain control, she gestured for Fenton to take his seat. He did, giving the Madam, his grandmother, a look of concern.

Having won a moment of peace, everyone worked on their dinner. Once everyone had their first plate, Cim broke the silence. “Tell us, what brings you to the Orthal estate, young Julius?”.

The half-elf looked up and smiled. “Honestly, I’ve always wanted to visit since studying to become a librarian. When the opportunity arose, I volunteered.”

“You’re rather young for a fully fledged librarian. That’s quite an accomplishment.” Sely said.

“Not as much as you may think.” Julius replied. “I have more elf in me than it looks. I’m actually in my late 30s, which is plenty of time to be accepted into the librarians. It also helps that my father was part of the first generation of engineers. I grew up around Mana Engines and have always had a love for essence circuits. In some ways, I was bound for the librarians and gatekeeper guilds since I was a child.”

“Use modesty modestly, my dear,” Sely said, giving Julius a reassuring look. “Your accomplishments are worth praise. But what business do you have for tonight? Other than a long held desire to visit my god-daughter’s home?”

To Aliera’s right, Cim sat still as a knife. His eyes trained on the visitor.

A sheen of worry covered Julius’ eyes. He was intelligent enough to know that Cim and Sely still considered him a potential danger. “Yes, right, I brought these,” he said as he reached into his bag and brought out a collection of folders. “On behalf of the Librarian and Gatekeepers Mana Facilitator research project, I am returning the notes and research of the late master Orthal that you so generously allowed us to study.”

Cim took the folders from Julius, a slight ting of essence emanated from him as he inspected the folders.

Julius, clearly relieved that Cim’s attention was no longer so intently focused on him, nodded to Aliera. “Thanks again for letting us study those. It is an honor to continue your father’s work of strengthening the city. Rather than horde knowledge for personal benefit.”

Aliera’s great grandmother flopped a hand through the air. “Please, the radical benefitted plenty from his genius. This is what his children insisted on,” she said, voice trailing off as she signaled for Sely to fetch the Sweet loaf dessert.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“You’re done with them already?” Aliera asked. “Father left behind a significant amount or research. I thought it would take another year or two before it had been thoroughly worked through.”

“Oh, no, there're loads left to do,” Julius said, smiling as he took a bite of his dessert. “This is delicious. What bakery is it from?”

“It’s homemade. My Sely puts all the bakeries to shame.” Cim said, smiling at his partner.

“If you like it, I can give you the recipe. Do you Bake?” Sely asked.

“Not habitually, but baking is a type of science. I dabble when I have the time,” Julius replied.

“Wonderful. I’ll send you with a copy of the recipe, then.”

Fenton dropped his fork onto his plate. “If you have ‘loads left’, what is it you brought tonight?” he interrupted.

Clearly having forgotten that Fenton was there, Julius scratched the back of his ear. “These are the materials and subjects that we could process this far. The rest is... somewhat harder to interpret.”

The rest of the table laughed to varying degrees.

“You mean Illegible”

“A complete mess”

Even Fenton added “unorganized, at best.”

“That man had a whirlwind of thoughts in his head. He wrote as if he could spit them all on the page and finally know a moment’s peace.” The Madam said. Aliera’s heart skipped. Her great grandmother rarely spoke about her father who’d married into the Haedron clan but never really fit in. “His first and greatest love was Kael. Driven to protect this valley. I never thought there would be anyone who matched my granddaughter’s passion until I met that man. I still believe that their love for each other sprang from their love for this city”

Cim cleared his throat, an unabashed tear in his eye. “To my dearest friend and the woman who was too good for him.” He said, raising his glass. Everyone at the raised their glasses in salute; even Fenton, and downed the rest of their cup. The others followed suit.

Allowing for a moment of silence, Aliera continued the conversation, asking, “If you haven’t finished all the notes and journals my father left behind, what is it you delivered to us?”

“Oh, simply the frameworks that you expressed an interest in first. Honestly, they were rather straightforward, as Master Orthal was already working with the librarians on them before he passed. Which meant that we already had means to decipher his related notes.”

“That’s wonderful. I wasn’t expecting the testing to be done for at least another couple of months.” Aliera said.

“We were eager to test out these designs. You father was one of the best Artificers there was. His research into specialized techniques for Mana Engines is continually leading to breakthroughs. We’ve already improved on many of the frameworks open to the public.”

Fenton’s mouth flapped around like a fish trying to breathe air. “That’s great to hear and all but Aliera. Why do you care what they finished first? You don’t have a mana engine. Your father’s research wouldn’t benefit you.”

Aliera squeezed her fists under the table. Forcing herself to look him in the eye. Telling either of the clan leaders that she wants to sponsor recruits into the Gate-Keepers Academy was bound to be a big fight. She hoped to at least have candidates in mind before informing them. “It’s just me being sentimental.”

Fenton’s eyes narrowed, and he turned to Julius. “What frameworks did my cousin-in-law improve on? Guardian, flame blade, or some such.”

“While I’m sure we’ll get there.” Julius said, becoming more animated as he talked. “These are specialized Frameworks. They are highly effective, but will take specific training and skills to make use of them. Because of that, we are not making them public. Instead, it’ll require a certification process like other specialist framekworks; Spark wisher for example”

Fenton’s surprise showed on his face. While specialist frameworks and libraries weren’t unheard of, they were only classified when either significant skill and judgement was required for them to be handled safely. Spark Wisher was notorious as both a powerful and ridiculously dangerous. The framework uses techniques creates an electric aura that allows the user to electrocute anything in the field. Used correctly, it can decimate hordes of enemies. But it also requires exacting control. Otherwise, it can kill a battalion of allied soldiers. Or clean out a neighborhood.

Excited, Julius continued. “Of course, as the owner of the Frameworks, Miss Aliera may give the frameworks to whosoever she pleases.”

Aliera suppressed a groan. Strange how the smart ones are never smart enough to be quiet. Fenton’s face grew more stern and seemed to age several years as he listened to Julius. Now turning to Aliera, he all but growled. “Private frameworks!? Specialist class ones at that? Aliera, are you planning on offering those up to build a team for your academy? You want to play at being a soldier, fine. But to drag others into it just seems cruel. You’ll just be throwing others’ lives away like you are your own.” Fenton’s voice rose as he picked up steam. “You want the family to pay for putting Mana engines in strangers, and then hand them specialist frameworks? It’s a waste of the clan’s resources. Whoever you convince to join, you won’t be able to handle the types of techniques your father invented. Can’t you think things through at least once?” Fenton looked to the Madam for support, but she seemed to be dozing in her chair. “Fee is going to boil over this. The clan already acquiesced to your petition. You may remain at the Founding Academy as an individual student. The team aspects of the academy were never part of the agreement.”

Aliera dug her nails into her hands, voice steady and cold. Emotionality is a sign of weakness to the aristocrats. “I remember petitioning the clan to be allowed the same stipend as your son. I also remember passing the same tests and classes as him, but getting denied anything beyond the required resources. If I only did the individual classes, it’d be impossible to qualify for the next year while doing my work for clan Haedron. Work that is apparently non-negotiable. I am a student of the most elite program in our military academy and won’t follow demands that are intentionally designed to make me fail.” She had to focus on keeping a snarl off of her face. Though Aliera was terrified to speak so forcefully. The sheer outrage at the fact that she’s treated as a waste when her cousin is in the same class and is lauded as an asset to the clan and head family.

The Haedron patriarch looked mad enough to spit fire, but struggled to find words.

Before he got any more worked up, the Madam spoke, “Sit down grandson, enjoy some of Sely’s dessert. If you won’t be friendly, then go home. I’ve no mind to sit through family drama.” Despite having seemed to be asleep a minute before, the frail woman seemed quite aware of the conversation.

Taking a deep breath, Fenton sat down and did as his grandmother asked. After all, Sely’s cooking was divine.

Cim and grandmother were the only ones finished with dessert when a thud came from the front room, a resonance circuit they had on the wall in the dining room played a chord signaling someone was at the door.

Cim and Sely were on the move before anyone else had breathed. Cim striding to Aliera’s side while Sely had somehow left the room without moving her chair.

A shriek came from the entry room, followed by a shrill voice. “It is not wise to threaten the Matriarch of a powerful clan. Make yourself known next time. Or at least wear a bell.”

Feillah Haedron had arrived to make Aliera’s day that much worse.