Feillah Haedron strode in wearing her typical sky blue dress and golden mantle, with silver wires threaded in a complicated circuit. A piece of clothing that was worth enough to pay clan Haedrons workers for half a year. That Feillah bought it, let alone wear it so casually stunned Aliera. The woman most resembled a crow in Aliera’s mind. Harsh angles, harsh tones, harsh personality. She stood taller than most Haedron women, which she took liberal use of to look down her nose at the rest of the clan.

  “Really girl, you need to train your servants better. This one does not know how to greet a guest.” Feillah said, gesturing to Sely.

Cim, still standing by Aliera’s side, grew still. Aliera could almost hear him forcing himself to ignore the insult. Aliera felt her anger rise ‌in tandem with Cim’s. She would not hold her tongue. Not on this.

  “They are my god-parents and members of the Heroic Order. Please do not demean them in front of me.” Aliera said. The vain woman looked taken aback by the firm tone she spoke with. Even Aliera was surprised at her own response.

  Feillah reacted as if Aliera had threatened to slap her. Shock and outrage struggled across her face before she settled on shocked outrage and stepped up to the table. Looking down at Aliera, she said, “I am your matriarch girl. I know living in this ruin gives you an inflated sense of importance, but you’re just a servant of the Haedron clan. Remember your place.” Aliera dropped her gaze, not willing to meet the woman's eyes.   As poorly as the clan treated her, without them, she’d have nothing. She couldn’t afford to push it too far.

  “What can we do for you Matriarch?” she asked.

  Feillah pretended to brush dust off of one of the empty chairs. “Nothing, my dear niece, Fenton and I were in the area when we heard about a delivery mistakenly headed to this estate instead of our main house.” Her eyes swept over the envelope on the table. “We figured we might as well come to address the confusion since we were nearby. Imagine our surprise when we learned that these valuable frameworks were being delivered this evening but the family had no knowledge of it. I’m sure nothing was meant by it; however we are the Heads of the clan. We can make much better use of these experiments than the last child of a lost family line.”

  Aliera’s mouth dropped. Feillah was manipulating this whole situation into another way to limit and control her.

  “Have no worries,” Feillah continued. Holding her hand out for the folders “The girl will be punished and we’ll ensure such a mix up doesn’t happen again.”

  The others in the room froze, unsure how to handle this situation. Though in decline, Clan Haedron was still influential and could make any of their lives difficult. Something Aliera Knew from personal experience. Feillah often used her position to bully others into submission. Even if she held no authority over them.

  But if Julius gave the patents to the matriarch, then Aliera’s chance of keeping the frameworks would plummet. Which would make recruiting a team go from difficult to nearly impossible, leading to the Aliera inevitable. Being cut from the academy and living under the thumb of her spiteful relatives.

  She couldn’t put this decision to chance; ratcheting up her courage Aliera opened to her mouth to argue her point. But Julius spoke up before she’d had the chance.

  “I’m sorry. I think there’s been some confusion here.”

  Aliera froze.

  Feillah, apparently just as confused, responded with her default emotion: condescension. “I know this must seem quite confusing. The older Clans can be a puzzle for the uninitiated.” Feillah waved her hand in a conciliatory gesture, nearly patting the young man on the head like a pet. “However, you should know that little Aliera has a history of stepping outside her role, and claiming authority that she has no right to. It’s an internal matter. Nothing to trouble you; trust that the Haedron clan takes full responsibility. You need not worry about your position or any blowback.” Feillah gave Julius a smile that looked entirely too reptilian for a being that had no history of the draconic races.

Julius looked up at the Matriarch, scratched the back of his head and said, “Apologies, clan leader. I mean, ‌these documents are not for Clan Haedron.”

  Feillah clenched her fist. “Nonsense. Explain yourself”

  Aliera knew the argument Julius was making when she finally looked at the labeling on the outside of the package Inheritors of the Orthal Estate. A flush of fire ran up her spine. This might not be such an awful night after all.

  “I believe Julius means that you’ve mistaken his task.” Aliera said, cutting in. “He is a representative of the Gatekeepers after all. Not an errand boy. Your insinuation that I am trying to steal from the clan is not only unfair, but it’s also mistaken.” Aliera looked to Feillah, noting the restrained anger. “If anything, the clan is trying to steal from me.” The anger in Feillah’s eyes spread to her face as she opened her mouth to argue.

  But Aliera was feeling bold. And continued. “These items belonged to my father. Lent out to the Librarians according to his will, his estate still belongs to his heirs. My brother and myself. Do you intend for the Haedron clan to claim my inheritance?”

  The air across the table grew still. Fenton froze in his seat, intently watching his sister. Feillah glared at Aliera. Aliera could practically feel Feillah weighing her options. Though the Haedron clan combines resources from the many families that are part of the clan. Individual households are still run privately. Inheritances are explicitly considered out of reach of the clan's demands. Within reason, of course.

  Feillah surely knew that without these frameworks, Aliera wouldn’t be able to make it past the second stage of the academy; and she really wanted to see Aliera fail. However, claiming an inheritance from a deceased parent. One who still has popularity among the craftsmen in the city would undoubtedly cause a litany of headaches for her.

  So, unable to back down, and unwilling to commit, Feillah lay it all at her brother's feet. “Fen, I have no patience for this girl. You make her see reason”

  Sighing, Fenton looked across at Aliera, putting his forkful of desert down. “I’m sure anything connected to your parents has great sentimental value to you. We will make sure anything that is directly from your father- notes, journals, and whatever else will be returned to you.” Fenton said, ignoring a glare from his sister. “Though honestly, I’m surprised at your reluctance to share his research. Your parents wouldn’t have wanted anything that could benefit Kaelton to be withheld from doing as much good as possible.”

  “The patriarch has a point,” Feillah said. “The Haedron clan can surely make much better use of that research than you could. Especially considering your history of misusing the clan’s resources in the past.” Aliera bristled at the barb about misusing the clan's resources. This was not the first time Feillah had specifically gone out of her way to ensure Aliera’s failure.

  “You ‌have a point there, patriarch,” Aliera said, inclining her head to Fenton. Who gave her a wary look in response. Then she continued. “I would not want to hoard resources. Which is why I’ve released the plans for the frameworks to the Librarians. That way, any team that wishes can take advantage of them.”

  Feillah swayed on her feet, letting out something of a cross between a gasp and a gag. “You... a team - Publicly released?” The thin woman gripped the back of a chair in front of her. “Haedron will not be giving these frameworks to the Librarians. We will, of course, lease them. Which is how it should be done.”

Stolen novel; please report.

  Aliera tilted her head, doing her best to look innocently confused. “The patriarch said it himself. It’s the duty of us all to support the defense of Kaelton. I would never withhold frameworks that could increase the strength of those who defend this valley. I’m simply giving whoever I ask to join my team a chance to be first to use these frameworks.”

  Feillah seemed truly outraged now; her fingernails practically gouging the chair. “Do you know how much groups will pay for plans designed by the Copper-Eye Artificer?”

  “Is it significant? I was under the impression that his research had been discredited and he was ‘little more than a charlatan'”

After her parents passed. Feillah spearheaded a successful campaign to ruin the reputation of Aliera’s father. Now Aliera got a particular joy out of using the Matriarch’s own words against her.

  “There are a couple of misunderstandings that I feel I must correct,” Julius said, standing up. “First, we have finished testing the requested frameworks and found them safe for use. However, we won’t be recommending them for public use.” That Aliera wasn’t expecting. The half-elf continued. “While the techniques are quite potent. They’re also rather unique and would take specialized training to be effective in combat.”

  Aliera almost couldn’t believe her luck. Specialized frameworks required a recommendation and assessment to get access to. She could side step that and offer them directly to her team.

  Waving down the questions he could see forming around the table, Julius continued, “second, all the research, including these frameworks, is not part of the Haedron clan. It all falls under the Orthal estate.”

  On the other side, Julius Fenton sagged, burying his face in his hands.

  The thin Matriarch sneered at the young half-elf. “What matter is that. Haedron has many assets under vessel families or businesses. The Orthal estate being one of them.” Feillah turned to Aliera. “You continue to overstep, girl. You have no claim on these resources, even if you feel entitled to them. Learn your place already”

  Taken aback, Aliera could only stare at the Matriarch. Unsure whether the woman was playing dumb or actually so clueless. Fenton spoke up with a sigh. “The Orthal estate is deliberately not part of our clan. It’s out of our hands.”

  “The clan leadership designed it that way,” Aliera said, carrying the train of thought. “they feared ‌my father would try to enrich himself through his marriage to my mom. So they explicitly forbade the Orthal businesses from being wrapped into the clan.” She couldn’t help quirking a small smile at this turn of fate. Leaders in the clan who opposed Aliera’s mom marrying ‘below her status’ put forth the stipulation, hoping her father would back out. It didn’t work.

Now the very arrangement was protecting Aliera’s chance at getting out from under the Matriarch's thumb.

  “If any members of clan Haedron wish to use the frameworks, we can set up a very favorable deal, of course.” Aliera said.

Feillah’s demeanor dropped, disgust washing across her face. “You’ve never been able to listen to you superiors.” The woman pointed a flawless finger at Aliera. “The little leftover thinks she can negotiate with me. You aren’t clan heir now. You’re barely even a Haedron. '' Leaning across the table, she hissed, “learn your place”.

  Tension hung in the air. Aliera forced herself to meet eyes with the Matriarch.

  Cim stepped forward, eyes sharp as a knife. He said, “It seems we’re done for tonight. At this rate, we’ll end up with someone issuing a challenge.” Fenton caught the look in Cim’s eyes and stood, taking his sister by the arm. The idea of a challenge from a fighter of Cim’s caliber was enough to spook the most powerful in Kaelton.

  Giving a nod to the Madam, his grandmother Fenton said, “I agree with Cim. Emotions are running hot and that is no state to deal with family matters.” Fenton turned to his sister, offered his arm and said, “Shall we, sister?”

Feilllah stepped toward her brother. Gathering herself up she said, “yes Fenton. No need to waste more time on them.” Then paused, as if just realizing something. “There is one last bit of business before we’re on our way.” Tilting her head up, Feillah regarded the room with a disdainful look. The look made Aliera. feel small and powerless. Despite having seen it since her childhood, Aliera couldn’t help but feel like she was waiting for a verdict from a judge. “While we have already declined to allow you to waste any of the clan's resources that are needed elsewhere, I, as Matriarch and leader of the Haedron’s, am revoking the clan's permission to have you attend the Academy. You have duties and it is about time you ‌earn your place.” Feillah looked like a cat that had finally caught a bird who kept interrupting its nap.

  Fenton‌ looked up at his sister with a wide-eyed panic.

  Julius’ reaction was the most interesting. His mouth half open in disbelief he said, “I’m sorry, did you just admit to refusing to let one of your wards attend the GateKeepers Academy? I’m not very business minded, but doesn’t Haedron have some contracts with the GateKeepers?”

  Before Feillah could respond, her brother cut her off. “Naturally, we process Aetherite into light fixtures and such. My sister mis-spoke, Aliera earned her place in the academy and we’d never stand in the way of that.” He wiped a thin sheet of sweat from his forehead and continued, giving his sister a hard look, “What she meant is that the young miss will still need to complete her duties to the clan. Outside the time she’s at the academy, of course.”

Julius gave a half-hearted sigh of relief, “Wonderful, I was worried that the Guild might have to revoke its contract with Haedron and sponsor Miss Aliera and her team ourselves.”

Despite getting an immense amount of pleasure at the shock and alarm her relatives were experiencing, Aliera thought it may be wise to show some grace and said “that is a kind offer, but I don’t want to cause any trouble for the GateKeepers, I will figure something out.”

  Julius waved her comment aside. “Well, you know what they say. ‘following the law may be troublesome. But it’s right’. The GateKeepers Academy is merit based, we choose who attends. Just like the GateKeepers choose who to do business with.” Julius had not only taken her side regarding the Frameworks, but then he all but threatened to cut ties with Clan Haedron for her benefit. “That is, unless sponsoring the installation of Mana Engines for Miss Haedron's team would be a burden on the clan. I’m sure the Guilds would ‌extend another contract after a routine audit.”

  “Haaa, there’s no need for that.” Fenton injected with a nervous laugh, “Haedron can handle our obligations to the guild and academy.” They might consider having to sponsor Aliera and whoever will make up her team as something of a thorn in their side. Losing the business dealings they had with the Gatekeepers' guild would be a spear through their heart. The clan couldn’t stay afloat without them.

Julius nodded. “Spectacular, I’ll pass that along so that everyone is on the same page.”

  Feillah regarded the room, lips pulled back in a sneer. She looked like a snake preparing to strike. Not missing the signs, Fenton placed a hand on his sister's shoulder and guided her towards the exit. “Miss Aliera, thank you for hosting us this evening.” Turning to Julius, his hands together in a goodbye. “Librarian Julius, it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Fenton said, before pulling his sister out the front door.

  The room stilled for a moment. The silence a welcome reprieve from the tense dinner that just came before.

  Finally Sely stood up, brushed off her dress, and said “I just happened to remember that I made dessert.” before she walked into the kitchen.

  Everyone was well into their first bowl of Starberry pudding when Julius looked up from his portion. “Uh, I want to give you my thanks Sir.” He said, looking at Cim. Who gave him a baffled look in return. “My brother was one of the civilians who fought at Linen Square when the Wight’s horde attacked. He says that you were the only reason a bunch of untrained civilians weren’t immediately overrun. Just thank you for your service”

  Aliera suppressed a wince. While she believed that Cim and Selys were heroes for their actions protecting Kaelton, for their entire lives, but during the Wight’s invasion in particular. She knew that day was a source of great pain and regret for them as well as for her. After all, it was when Cim and Sely’s closest friends, Aliera’s parents, died.

  Aliera’s grandmother gave an enormous yawn, and said “Come girl, I’m full and tired, it’s time for bed.”

  Grateful for the opportunity to end the evening, Aliera thanked Julius for delivering the frameworks and wheeled her great-grandmother away while Sely cleaned the table and Cim walked the young man out.