Suggested Listening

All this talk of guilds, riots, and planning for after she finished getting training was too complicated for Elruin, and she had a solution for games she didn't understand: don't play. "The city seems almost as scary as the wilderness."

She smiled, a genuine one at that. "There is a reason I run the wilds at every opportunity. There, the threats are straightforward, with clear goals and outcomes. Worst thing a monster will do is kill you."

"I don't think I'll take their help," Elruin said after a moment. She looked at Calenda, seeking approval from the older mage for her choice. Elruin didn't have many friends at the best of times, and now she was down to two, one of which was buried in the woods outside the city. "Would their gifts have helped a lot? Will learning real music help me? We could still go see Rig and a music tutor without them, right?"

"That's a lot to unpack," Cali said. "Some think training in a classical art will help mages focus their skills, but I've seen wild talents with no formal education that were quite comparable to their classically trained counterparts. Maybe they'd have been even stronger with the right training, maybe not. But as my father likes to say, the only tools you can't use are tools you don't have, and all Revealed mages have a natural talent for learning arts which suit their magic. Once an academy takes you, I'm certain they'll have you with a music tutor within a week. Not one as illustrious or as likely to give her best to your education, but still a quality tutor."

"As to visiting Rig? I wouldn't bother," Cali dismissed the idea out of hand. "He's the high end specialist, you don't get to walk into his place unless you've been recommended by a previous client, or drag a man's weight in gold to his doorstep."

"Truth told, their offer opens all sorts of doors for you that I can't see any other way to open. Doors that are more valuable now than they'll be at any point in the future for you." She slowed her walk for a moment, then fished the extra pair of sarite from her clothes. "Although, now that I think about it, there might be a way. It involves joining their game, but as players rather than pieces."

"Does it put us in danger?" Elruin may have been convinced to reject the offer, but not because she didn't want the benefits.

"No, but it comes at a cost." Cali walked into one of the side-streets, still holding the pair of magic jewels made from crystalized life force. "These sarite are comparable to what Rig uses in his low quality works, with perfect properties. But I recommend saving them for a straight trade, with any luck we can find a death sarite. They're rare, but there aren't a lot of people compatible with them, and they're expensive to refine."

"The trickier part is, well, I can adopt you?" Calenda fielded the possibility as a question.

Elruin looked at her. "What's an adoption?"

"Oh, surely you've had parents with children die, and then another adult takes charge of those children? We'd do that, then the law will consider me your mother for these sorts of things."

"You can do that?" She always thought children were handed off to a relative, which would make Carob and Kasa her new parents if Mother died. Cali seemed like a better choice, since a choice was possible.

"It will be considered improper, but legal. Don't worry about my rep, I'm already the city maverick. They will pay for mages with your potential, and with my family name you've gone from technical to actual nobility. The money, the name, and the prestige you could gain from being accepted at your age, will be enough to get what the twins are offering."

"But it does mean you have no choice but to play by the academy's rules for years to come, and it'll still cost favors, but to people with less finesse than the twins. Plus, well, the whole nobility marrying into nobility, but that's as certain as the sunrise, anyway. With your power you'll have suitors to spare when the time comes." She slipped the shards back into her clothes, then began to walk again. "No need to decide now, we'll have a few days before we can get you to an evaluator. You'll pass, hands down, but bureaucracy demands we go through the system."

They continued their walk while Elruin considered her options until they started through an area that was full of lush grass and large trees. "Why do you leave this spot barren?"

Cali looked back at her. "Barren?"

"Yeah, the grass is healthy, and the soil looks strong, but it hasn't even been hallowed." Elruin ran down her list of complaints one after another. "Is this supposed to be a hay farm? It's too early in the season for the first harvest, and it's too late for it to be this short, and it's the wrong type of grass. There aren't any fences, so it can't be for cows. Does nobody here know how to farm?"

Cali laughed at the girl's assumption, but she had to admit she knew little or nothing of the assertions the girl had about working the land. "No, it's not a farm, it's a park."

"What's a park do?"

"It doesn't do anything, it's just here so people can come look at the pretty grass and trees. They love nature, as long as it's a fake, safe nature that's not hiding vicious monsters. Cultivating the land never crosses most of their minds."

"That makes no sense." Elruin had never had much love for nature. She didn't hate it, but it never rated high enough in her attention to merit an opinion, it simply was a thing which had always been there, and she expected always would be there. "How do you feed all these people, without farms?"

Calenda looked forward and up, unable to explain to the little girl that often times they didn't feed them, and more people in the cities died from starvation and the elements than any other cause. Nobles, soldiers, anyone else with magic potential, would be fine, but those of weak bloodlines faced a reality more cruel than any wilderness. The worst of it happening during the rainy and cold seasons, when access to the farms and their produce became difficult. "You're right, it doesn't make much sense."

They stopped in front of a large building of white stone which became the new record-holder for Elruin's list of tallest buildings she'd ever seen. "Who lives here?"

"According to the priests: Ecross, Ifaril, Nalet, Lenor, and Enge," Cali said. "This is the church, and I must attend some duties and find a midwife suitable for the trip to your cousin's farm."

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"To help the babies!" Now Elruin had something positive to think about, instead of the empty field sitting in front of the church.

"Right," Cali said. "This shouldn't take long, just stick with me."

Moments after they entered, a priestess clad in orange and brown, her pink hair tied in a series of elaborate loops which reminded Elruin of a flower, approached them. "Sister Calenda, I hope the sun greets you well." She gave a look at Elruin. "I'm afraid we're low on space for the needy right now."

"Sister Erena, the sun chose to greet me with interesting times, today," Cali answered back. "This is Elruin, she'll be staying with me for now. More likely than not, an academy will be looking after her in a week or so. But there is need for a midwife at one of the outskirt farms."

"I see." Erena gave the girl a longer look, wondering if the girl was indeed academy material, or if Calenda had finally spent too long in the woods. "It will be... difficult to find an escort in this season."

"How's an Inquisitor, an Exorcist, and an Archmage sound? I talked to the Guard before I came here, they are ready to do their duty."

"An Exorcist? I see you were not exaggerating about interesting times," Erena said. Exorcists were Church domain, but they were also considered a military resource, to seek out and destroy undead taint wherever discovered. There weren't many situations where Church and Military were in full accord, but the threat of undeath was known to all. "I hope this does not imply a death cult."

"I suspect the events to be unrelated to one another," Cali said. "It appears to have been spontaneous taint, brought on by the lives lost in the storm, a woman lost one of her unborn triplets when a tree fell on her house. However, the Inquisitor and Exorcist will be better suited than I to judge the situation. The Guard has agreed that taking the Midwife along as well would not be an undue hardship, considering other circumstances."

"Then I shall make the arrangements, immediately." Erena was suspicious about the situation; it seemed like a convoluted chain of events, and Calenda was not an easy woman to trust. Still, it was true an injury causing a miscarriage could bring on taint, and lost fetuses or children often caused the worst outbreaks, so she had little choice but to follow through. If time proved Calenda a liar, it would be the Inquisitor's business to deal with. "Will you be staying long?"

"I cannot, Sister." Calenda chose to phrase it in a manner that couldn't be called into question. "I must show Elruin to my home, and see to it that she is properly cared for. The wilderness was not kind to her."

"The wilderness is kind to no one," Erena agreed. "I hope we shall see you, soon."

Calenda smirked at the obvious lie. "If duty permits."

She left, taking Elruin through the park again, then down a side path that brought them back toward the wall. A small but well made house sat in the shadow of the wall, and it was there that they approached. "Welcome to my home. It's not much to look at, but it's all I need."

Suggested Listening

A creature poked its head out from a perch on the roof. It looked somewhat human, but also like the occasional praying mantis her brothers tried to scare her sisters with when they felt like being mean. They gave up on scaring Elruin that way, when it became clear the bugs were more scared of her than she was of them.

It hopped off the roof, then glided down on wings of gossamer in front of them. If not for the metallic-green skin, and hair that looked like it was made of moss, the creature might have been mistaken for a six or seven year old child. "Hey, Lyra," Cali reached out and gave the moss-mat a rub.

"Did you adopt her, too?" It was the obvious explanation for why there was a weird bug-child on the roof of Cali's house.

"More like she adopted my maid. It's how we met. I'll tell you the story some day," Calenda said. "This is what they call a dryad. Don't let the shape fool you, she's not a person, in fact she's more plant than animal. Some dryads are intelligent, but this one is around the level of a smart dog, with the personality of a cat, and the power of a dragon. She's been here for centuries. Luckily, she doesn't mind people, I'm not sure how many of us would die trying to kill her. In theory, she belongs to the church. In truth, she picks a new 'owner' whenever the old one dies."

Elruin took a hesitant, but friendly step closer. "Hello, Lyra. I'm Elruin." She reached out, thinking that petting moss hair sounded like fun.

The bug-plant-pet hissed at Elruin, her bottom jaw snapping open to reveal her mouth was a set of insectoid mandibles with finger-like appendages tipped with inch long fangs that dripped a green ichor.

Elruin jumped back, while Calenda put a hand on Lyra to push her back. After a moment, Lyra turned and flitted back up to the roof. She turned, gave one more hiss, then vanished behind the ridge.

"Sorry, Ell," Cali looked up at the roof. "I guess Lyra doesn't like your magic."

"It's okay," Elruin said. She was a little disappointed she couldn't play with the dryad, but she'd grown accustomed to animals running away. "Mister Clackybones still loves me!"

"We'll save that conversation for tomorrow," Cali muttered. "For now, let's introduce you to Rena. You'll like her."

The inside of the house was also comfortable, about the size of the farmhouse Elruin grew up in, but without the conditions of being forced to shelter between ten to twenty people at a time for generations. Plants lined the walls, and the whole place smelled like clean grass and wildflowers.

"It's pretty!" Elruin gasped, touching one of the vines dangling from the ceiling. "Did you do this?"

"Well, I am a botanical mage," Calenda said. "But this is Lyra's. Fae are natural fonts of life energy, this comes from sheddings of her hair. It's edible, grows fast, and doesn't require light or water. Doesn't taste bad, either. I hope that if I can create a version that breeds true without Lyra's presence, we might be able to feed many more people with far less work, which can save countless lives."

"Lady Calenda?" An older woman brushed away some of the hanging plants. In some ways, she reminded Elruin of Mother, with her wisps of gray hair blended into the faded blonde that still hadn't lost all its vibrancy. The difference was that this woman walked with strength and youth despite her advancing years. "Oh, my, who's your guest?"

"This is Miss Elruin," Cali answered. "Ell, meet Miss Rena. In theory, she's my housekeeper, but it's more like it's her house and I just sleep here once or twice a week when I miss quality home cooking."

"Nice to meet you, Elruin," Rena gave a maternal smile to the girl. She ignored the damaged dress. "Will you be staying for dinner?"

"Yes, please, ma'am."

"Oh, aren't you a polite one! I should have you teach my granddaughters a thing or two."

"Thank you, ma'am, I would be happy to help!" Elruin thought it was so much nicer to be praised for doing good than scolded for doing bad.

"I'll cook something extra special for tonight." Miss Rena kept a gentle smile the whole time. "I'll dice some of the apples up."

"Sounds perfect," Cali said. No matter what Rena put together, she was confident it would be delicious. "Come, Ell, I'll show you the bath, then pick out a new dress for you."

"Okay!" She faced Rena again. "Thank you for your time." Then she chased after Cali who, to her surprise, led Elruin into the cellar instead of outside. She was even more surprised to learn it wasn't a cellar, but like an extra house underground, with rooms and everything. "Wow!"

"It's nothing special," Cali said. "But I suppose it's better than what you're used to. Here's the bath room, and our heating stone. Just set the water here for a time, then you can give yourself a hot bath."

The bath was the most luxurious thing Elruin had ever experienced, though she found the meal a little odd. There were lots of vegetables and the soft, tasty vine-stuff that she now knew belonged to Lyra. However, she found not a shred of meat in the entire dish. She kept silent, however, since she knew it would be impolite to mention it to her hosts. It didn't seem like Cali or Rena hogged all the meat for themselves, since their plates looked the same as hers.

"Tomorrow, I'll have to take Elruin shopping for some more clothing," Cali said. "Put out the message to the academies. Oh, and how could I forget, our future overlords invited me to take Elruin to dinner with him, so expect you'll be alone with Lyra as per usual."

"Say what you will about Lord Garit, one can find no fault in his determination." Rena gave a tired smile.

"Writ in the stars."

"Can we go to the library, tomorrow?" Elruin asked when she sensed the lull.

"I suppose we should have time," Cali said. "Anything you want to read about in particular?"