Tala sat beside Master Simon, looking out over her sanctum.

With her threefold sight, she could see the long basic passage leading over to Irondale.

They’d made the floor of hard, uniform stone only about an inch thick. She could have simply left it as the edge of existence like the walls and ceiling, but Master Simon had explained that it was rather disconcerting to stand on the edge of existence, even in an expanded space.

Tala had never minded in all the time she’d had Kit without all the trappings that the dimensional storage now had, but she’d bowed to his expertise.

For fun, though, she had made about a ten-foot section near the middle that was the exposed edge of existence.

It didn’t matter, but to the unaware, it would seem like a trap that had to be crossed.

In the odd case where someone was trying to get from Irondale to her sanctum, it would delay them a bit before they realized it was just like any other floor.

And, that actually might happen, given they were working to finish the construction of that more ‘public’ side of her dimensional space.

After long discussions with Master Simon, Adrill, Brandon, and Kedva, Tala had reduced the level of power in the area spanning a few feet below ground level all the way to ten feet up, creating a band in which gateless could work without any concern of them being reborn in magic.

At the moment, a lot of gateless were working within Irondale.

Well… a couple dozen, give or take. It seemed like a lot to her.

Master Simon had them doing all sorts of things, most of which weren’t of interest to Tala.

“Have any stood out to you?” That was one of the core reasons that Tala had agreed to push forward so aggressively on the creation of Irondale.

Well… that and the wedding.

For some reason, Brandon and Kedva were quite interested in having their wedding within Kit.

Tala supposed it did make some sense. They were going to be tied to her and Kit at least for the near future, at least until they learned how to better control their own power.

So… she was about to have a newlywed couple in Irondale.

That was far preferable to having them in her sanctum. Thus, she was bending her resources to completing that section of Kit’s inner dimensions.

Master Simon shrugged. “A few, and only a few of those have families that could be reborn with them.” He smiled. “As ‘othered’ as gateless are, most still end up marrying gated spouses, and most of their children are usually gated.”

“But not all?”

“No, not all.”

“So…?”

He chuckled. “If we really want to engage in this little experiment, I think there are ten families we could approach. If we expand to gateless with Mage spouses, we could just about double that number, though.”

“How complete would the community be?”

“It would be surprisingly well balanced, actually. There are a few teachers among the spouses. Though none of those are currently working in Irondale. If they were included, that would sort out the children and childcare situation before it could arise to become an issue. Aside from that, there are quite a few farmers and craftsmen of various stripes.”

“So, it’s doable?”

“Yes, but we already knew that.” He chuckled. “Why else would we have them building a little settlement?”

She shrugged. “It’s always good to have safe places to put people at need.”

He gave her a side-eyed look. “If that was your only aim, this seems like a waste of resources in that regard.”

“Is it allowing you to test out things that would otherwise require my involvement?”

He considered for a long moment, then shrugged. “...yes.”

Tala grinned. “Then, it’s not a waste.”

He smiled at that. “Yes, Mistress.”

“Plus, the wedding… Are we going to be done in time for that?”

Master Simon’s smile widened. “Easily, yes.”

“Good.”

They sat in silence for a long moment.

After a bit, she glanced his way. “Have you two found an answer?”

“Hmm?”

“For eternity. You asked if eternity was worth the price of admittance. I assume that I wasn’t the only Archon who you asked.”

“You were not.” He looked away from her again, his smile fading.

“So?”

“Everyone has a different answer. Some were… rather unhelpful.” He sighed. “Honestly, most were unhelpful.”

“Oh?” Tala chuckled, already considering what some people might have said.

He straightened, clearly putting on airs as some other Archon he’d spoken to, “‘There is no greater cost than eternity, Master Simon, but if the prize is valuable enough, any cost is worth it.’”

“So, it depends on what your goal is? Interesting to view eternity as a price.” She bit her lip in thought. That was actually a very interesting way of conceptualizing it, now that she considered it.

“That was my understanding, yes.”

She gave a half smile, still considering. “Any others?”

“‘There is no more valuable prize than eternity, you must simply strive to be able to pay the cost with which to seize it.’” His voice was a bit different, clearly pretending to be another Archon, though she didn’t know who.

“That is…” Tala frowned. “That’s almost the exact opposite answer?”

He sighed. “That it is, Mistress Tala. It is at that.”

She still smiled at his repetitive answer. The man was clearly a bit frustrated. “So, no luck?”

He shrugged. “It seems to come down to whether or not a given Mage has the drive to reach for eternity for one reason or other. Right now? Petra and I don’t really have that calling, that drive.”

“I see.”

“It’s nothing definite, of course, and we’ve got decades regardless, but even this brief deeper delving into the topic has been enlightening to say the least. Thank you.”

She looked his way. “For what?”

“For bringing us to Alefast, waning. Waning cities are comparatively filled with ancient, powerful Mages, and we’ve been able to inquire with many of them of all levels of advancement. I don’t know that we’d have even made as much progress as we have without your assistance. So, thank you.”

She gave a little smile, “Well, in that case, you’re welcome.”

* * *

The following days passed uneventfully, with Tala continuing her work, training, and time with friends.

There was nothing of note until Rane’s birthday had arrived once more.

She didn’t have any specific present on the day, as she’d already arranged for the syphon fascia from the beast that they’d slain to be given to him to enhance his dimensional storage.

He had then insisted that it was the perfect birthday present—even though it was a week too early—and she shouldn’t get him anything else.

She had reluctantly agreed.

Rane had been hale and jovial as they’d parted the night before, with plans to meet up for breakfast. Though, neither of them had mentioned the significance of the next day.

The plan was for the two of them to begin the day by having breakfast at his family’s estate.

Given his parents were each only Bound—and obviously barely advanced toward Fused—Tala expected things to get incredibly awkward.

Well, awkward in Tala’s mind.

She expected it to be difficult to look at two people who were more than double her age who hadn’t taken the time to understand themselves enough to Fuse.

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In truth, she knew that was incredibly unfair and not even that accurate to her true feelings.

After all, she thought very well of Mistress Petra and Master Simon, but they had been much, much older when they’d fused.

So… why was she feeling so awkward?

She grimaced, slapping away Alat’s attempts to disrupt one or another of her six morphic iron-dust and void constructs with irritated ease.

She stopped just in front of the main doors into the Gredial family’s central building.

She looked down at herself, though she really assessed herself from every angle with her threefold sight.

Her perception flicked away and into the building, allowing her to see someone coming to open the door for her.

She normally would have just strode inside and up toward Rane’s room, but this was a bit more ‘formal’ of an occasion. So, she would follow the more formal rules of propriety and let an attendant let her in. Thus, she had about half a minute before they arrived.

Her attention returned to herself, and she truly took in how she looked.

In truth, she looked quite nice.

She was wearing what she always did.

Her near white tunic falling halfway to her knees.

The dark gray pants comfortably fitted to her legs, ending above bare feet.

All tied together with a black belt cinching at her waist with Flow on her left hip.

Only Kit’s absence stood out as different from what she’d worn in human lands for years now.

She frowned. It looked fine… But today is supposed to be special.

In this very city, the old seamstress Merilin had made her a wide array of outfits, and Tala had never really bothered to wear them.

Tala had even merged the numerous outfits into her elk leathers ages ago, but still, she continued to wear what she knew, what she was used to.

Maybe it’s time for a change?

As Tala considered, she briefly noted Alat’s stark silence.

That’s odd.

She waited another moment, but the alternate interface didn’t comment.

Her time was running out, so she turned back to the matter at hand.

With a sigh, she decided. Now or never, I suppose.

She had the ability; she should use it.

Her elk leathers shifted and transformed, the change taking less than a breath.

It did take a good chunk of power to enact that change, but Tala had magical power to spare.

After the brief ripple of power, Tala was left with an entirely different look.

As a final step, she altered her illusion just slightly, as it was created by her through-spike.

Then, she took herself in with her threefold sight once more.

She now wore a dark purple skirt that ended just above her ankles and still bare feet. It was pleated just enough to give easy movement and flow to the garment without making it unmanageable.

The lower garment was cinched by a dark gray band of fabric, from which Flow now hung within its sparring sheath. The weapon now rested much higher than her hips, the dark gray material pulling in at the narrowest part of her torso.

The holsters and holders that were usually tucked against her low back, had been drawn into the garment. Now, a comfortable harness affixed them in their usual place, but against her skin, rather than outside of her clothing. They were now accessible either through cleverly disguised openings in the folds of fabric, or by an easy manipulation of her elk leathers.

Tala’s blouse was wrought of billowy white fabric, quite well suited to the warm summer morning, even if the temperature didn’t really matter too much to her. The neck of the blouse was wide and open, barely catching the edges of her shoulders, with small sleeves that were just large enough to reach a bit down her upper arms.

The front and back dipped in graceful arcs, maintaining a modest neckline all the way around.

It was a bit funny that modesty mattered for such garments when many Mages wore far less for their work.

Though… most Archons don’t. She didn’t really consider fashion very often, but she supposed that she had noticed Archons tending toward more full coverings than unadvanced Mages.

But she was getting distracted. She needed to finish her self assessment before the attendant arrived.

She looked to her own eyes.

The change she’d made to her through-spike allowed her dark, ruby-red eyes to truly shine through as was their nature.

She usually kept the color slightly suppressed, because the color—and the glow—was clearly magical in nature, and she’d found that the bloodred glow tended to unsettle people.

Now, however, the ruddy hue was nicely offset by the dark purple of her skirt, the glow emphasizing her eyes enough to counterbalance the much larger source of purple.

Also, if Rane’s parents were a bit unsettled, then they and she would all be in the same boat.

Really mature, Tala.

Still, she didn’t change anything else.

Tala moved back and forth slightly, feeling the skirt swish and swirl just a bit with the minor movement.

She felt… odd.

It had been a long time since she’d worn a skirt or dress.

Still, she didn’t dislike the outfit.

In fact, she felt like it reminded her of happier times—both at home before her father’s addiction, and at the Academy when she’d wandered the island on her own.

She hadn’t moved to preferring pants and a long tunic until later in her academic career, when she’d begun fighting at close range more frequently.

A moment later, she was pulled from her reverie as the great doors opened, one of the servants bowing in her direction from within. “Mistress Tala, welcome to the Gredial Estate.”

Tala smiled and nodded slightly in return. “Thank you, Dennairen.”

The man had a small smile on his lips as he straightened, motioning for her to follow him. “You look especially lovely this morning, Mistress.”

“That is kind of you to say.”

“It is the simple truth. I fear that this estate rarely sees one so lovely, so well presented.”

Tala frowned slightly. “I’m here all the time, Dennairen.”

He glanced back her way, a twinkle of mirth in his eyes. “That you are, Mistress.”

She found his mirth infectious, and she returned his look with a grin. “As you say, then.”

Tala followed Dennairen through the hallways and to a dining room that she hadn’t been to before.

Two people were already seated at the large table centered in the room, though there was no food yet in evidence.

The two were a man and woman who looked like Rane in the oddest of ways.

His father had Rane’s hair, which—while cropped close to his head—still had some interesting patterns. Those she could only see because of her threefold sight, given their location on the back of his head.

Mainly, the similarity lay in their shared head shape, hair line, and hair color.

Rane’s eyes came from his mother, at least their shape did.

Both parents had rather standard hazel eyes, mixes of brown and gray for the father and brown and green for Rane’s mother.

Neither were particularly large people, which was interesting given Rane and Chloe’s larger proportions.

Though, to be fair, Furgal is a rather more standard height. I suppose Rane and his sister are the outliers, then?

She’d never met Rane’s other siblings, and she realized that most of them were at the Academy. I might have passed them in the halls there and never known it.

That would be awkward… She decided not to think on it further.

Rane’s mother’s hair was a dark, dark red, very close to the color of dark wine.

It was long and lustrous, woven into a series of braids and buns that collectively fell around her shoulders.

Hundreds of years of hair growth, I suppose.

-Or magic.-

That’s fair… Tala gave Alat a mental once over. Good of you to join us.

-I wasn’t about to interfere with your decision making.-

…Fine.

The two people looked up as Dennairen stepped into the room, and stood when they saw her, which coincided with Dennairen’s announcement, “Presenting, Mistress Tala, Refined Defender of Alefast.”

Rane’s mother and father gave appropriate bows of Bound toward a Refined, and Tala returned the expected bow of a Refined toward Bound.

When she returned her head to the proper posture, she cleared her throat. “Thank you for welcoming me into your home.”

She hesitated briefly then.

Alat, help!

Alat sighed within her head. -Repeat this.-

Tala did so, “It is my shame that I have gone so long without meeting you in person, but I am grateful for your hospitality on so many occasions during my time here in Alefast.”

Rane’s mother smiled, coming around the table with one hand out.

Dennairen bowed to the room in general and took that moment to depart.

“I am Filha, Rane’s Mother.” As she took Tala’s hand, she bowed over it rather than shaking it.

Rane’s father bowed again from where he stood before his chair, more in greeting than in deference, “I am Neul. Welcome to my home.”

Tala smiled, taking back her hand when it was released. She then continued to speak the words that Alat provided, “Mistress Filha, Master Neul, thank you for your warm greeting. Thank you also for allowing me to join you both for breakfast on your son’s birthday.”

Mistress Filha returned to her seat beside her husband, gesturing for Tala to sit across from her. “Of course, dear. Thank you for allowing us a meal with our son on his birthday.” Her eyes twinkled. “I think we all know where he would be if you were elsewhere.”

Tala shrugged, somewhat uncomfortably. His parents were obviously unaware of the great ordeal he’d undergone in his bid to Refine.

All that they would be aware of was that Tala had been spending a lot of time with Rane, alone, often in his rooms.

There was no question of impropriety. After all, such a soulbond would be rather obvious, especially in the immediate aftermath.

Even so, they likely were putting emotional weight behind the alone time that… wasn’t… there…

Tala felt herself flush, thankfully hidden behind her through-spike.

She suddenly wanted to flee the room, but she wasn’t one to retreat in the face of danger… or embarrassment.

Nope, that’s not me at all. I face the things I dislike. She would make that be true if it took all her willpower.

As she sat, she had to face something that she hadn’t really let herself consider.

She would be a fool to claim that she had no emotional attachment to Rane.

She cared for him tremendously.

That much was obvious.

Alat was noticeably silent once again, robbing Tala of one of her most consistent means of distraction.

Before the silence could become awkward, however, Tala heard Rane coming.

She stood and turned, completing the motion just as the door swung open.

Rane started talking as he pushed the door open. “Good morning! I’m glad that you’re…”

He trailed off, his eyes going wide as he saw her. He actually gaped as he looked at her from head to toe and then back up to her face once more.

“Tala… your clothes.”

She allowed herself a little smile of satisfaction. “Do you like them?”

Mistress Filha gave a gentle laugh. “Dear, if his mouth were open any wider, his chin would be on the floor.”

Rane’s mouth clicked shut, even as his cheeks colored.

Tala’s smile grew. “Well, it seemed like a special occasion.”

He seemed entirely tongue tied, but he was saved further embarrassment—and the rest of them were saved from an awkward silence—by a group of servants coming in to bring breakfast.

Rane and Tala sat, him taking the seat between her and his father.

From there, the breakfast was a good deal less awkward than Tala had feared, at least from her perspective.

After the birthday breakfast, she and Rane bid his parents farewell.

As her unit had the day fully off, there was nothing else to require her time or attention.

Together, Tala and Rane spent the remainder of the day with various friends and acquaintances, rotating through several groups before finishing the time sitting atop the highest tower within his family’s estate, watching a few scattered falling stars.

All in all, it was a wonderful day.