“This…” She can feel all the colour leave her face as she eyes the disfigured, dead redback centipede in her hand. “-must have gotten in there when she was gathering for the tea.” She shakes her hand and crushes the dried carapace of the insect in her hand. “She wouldn’t have. She had no reason to.” Sanora tells herself before quickly leaving the room to head to the baths.
A smile spreads on her face when she opens the door and sees Liddy already chilling in the water.
“Oh, heya Sanni, you’re late.” She lazily raises her hand.
“Busy day.” Sanora starts to undress. “Gia not here today?”
“What, am I not enough for you?” The maid feigns a pout. “Nah, she’s on the nightshift today.”
“Oh, like you were the other day.” Sanora sinks into the hot water with a nod and a sigh.
“You look a bit beat up. Been out again?” Liddy looks at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, got scouted by the adventurers and did my first quest today.”
“You joined those guys? Can you do that?”
“I mean I joined kindasorta. I agreed to help out two or three times a week at most since they wanted me aboard really badly.” Sanora shrugs. “But im kinda fed up talking about me. How was your day?” Sanora turns to the girl.
“My day?” Liddy looks up and holds her chin. “Pretty normal. Did some cleaning, went to the market, some more cleaning after I came back, helped with the wood for heating the baths, then a bit in the kitchen… oh wait, I did see some funny people at the market today.”
“Funny people?”
“Yap. It was an elven girl with black hair and pretty hairstyle, and a human girl about our age with brown hair. And I kid you not, the human girl went to a stall, bought a meat skewer just to take off the meat and eat the damn skewer.” Liddy laughs.
“What?” Sanora joins her giggle. “Who does that? And why?”
“Beats me.” Liddy just laughs and shakes her head. “Some really weird people out there.”
“And the meat? She just threw it away?”
“No, her elf friend ate it. But you should have seen the look on the face of the stall owner when she told him ‘that’s some tasty fucking skewers you have’.” Liddy has gone from giggling into a fit of laughter, as has Sanora.
“No way she said that!” Sanora holds her stomach, barely able to catch a breath.
“Oh, she did. And the guy was like. ‘Uh thanks, if you like the skewer you should try the meat’!”
The two girls break out into a hysteric laughing fit. Both holding their stomachs with tears in their eyes. It takes a few minutes for them to calm down again. Both still giggle stupidly though.
“You should lead with stuff like that in future.” Sanora says.
“Noted.” Liddy nods and the girls just sit there for a while longer. Stupid grins plastered on their faces as they enjoy the water.
Sanora can feel the grime from the day wash off and her flesh being soothed by the hot water as she leans back. She is about to fall asleep when Liddy speaks up again.
“So, how you been holding up?”
Sanora looks at the girl groggily. “Huh?”
“Since the thing with Jared. Feeling any better?”
“Ah that you mean.” Sanora sighs and lays her head back down. “I guess. The last days have been distracting at least, and I met some nice people too so maybe Jared was just bad luck.”
“New people? In the guild?” Liddy asks curiously.
“Yep. I’ve been thinking about your advice a bit and I think the people there are alright. At least the ones I’ve met so far.”
“That’s good to hear then.” Liddy says with a satisfied smile.
“Thanks, Liddy. Would have been a harsh week without you and Gia around.” Sanora says with a smile.
“You’re welcome Sanni, any time.” Liddy answers with a soft voice.
They sit in the water for a while longer. Sanora has no idea how long it has been when they finally get dry to head to their rooms again. She walks through the dark hallways, only the candles on the walls are illuminating it with their flickering light. It’s quiet, and after Liddy and Sanora part ways she has an uneasy feeling walking alone through the castle. The dark nibbles at her neck. Even though she can see just fine, it’s still eerie. She finally reaches her room and quickly closes the door behind her. The room is filled with the faint light of stars falling through the window. Sanora looks around for Vadia, but she still isn’t here. She is usually finished by this time, but Sanora just figures that something must have come up. She falls into bed, her hair still damp as is her shirt but she is too tired to dry it and change so she decides to just sleep.
A silent creaking pulls her from her slumber. She opens her eyes. It’s still night. The odd noise continues and after a moment the realization hits her. Sanora jolts up on the bed and looks at the door, magic already gathering at her fingertips to-
“Vadia?” She squints her eyes.
“Ah sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.” Vadia closes the door behind her.
“It’s alright. Have you been working until now?” She asks a bit worried.
“Yeah, some extra stuff came in today.” Vadia sighs and walks over to fall face first into the bed.
“Poor you.” Sanora looks at her with furrowed eyebrows. “Want a massage?”
“Thanks, but not today. Just cuddle and sleep please.” Sanora nods as Vadia gets out of her dress. But something catches her attention. She would have never seen it in the dark if it wasn’t for her eyes, but Vadia has a giant bruise on her back. One that wasn’t there the day before.
“What happened there?!” Sanora says worriedly, running her fingers over the giant bruise but Vadia quickly turns away.
“Nothing! I just… fell.” Vadia says.
“You just fell? In your office?” Sanora raises an eyebrow.
“Yeah, long story. Let’s just go to bed.” Vadia quickly slips under the blanket. “I don’t want you to worry about it right now.” She adds quietly.
“Alright.” Sanora obliges, unsure what to make of the situation. Vadia was acting odd just now, and that bruise doesn’t look like one you get from falling over. But that wording. ‘I don’t want you to worry about it right now’. Something is off.
Vadia is asleep in no time, but Sanora can’t shake her uneasy feeling and just lies there, staring at the ceiling. She is wrecking her brain for an answer. What could have caused that injury and why would Vadia not tell her?
When Sanora wakes up the next morning after a night of uneasy sleep, Vadia is already gone, as usual. Still groggy she pulls herself from bed and gets dressed. The sun is already high in the sky. She has slept way longer than usual, almost until…
“Shit!” She curses when she realizes that she is supposed to meet Mari just about now. She scrambles to get dressed, stumbling around the room with on leg in her pants while scraping up her satchel and hopping to the door. She grabs the handle and goes through a mental checklist, looking down at bare chest.
“Right, a top would be good.” She shakes her head and throws on one of her comfier tunics before finally heading out.
She runs through the city in a straight line to the guild. At least as straight as the streets allow. When she arrives there, Mari is already sitting at one of the tables, looking a bit bored.
“Sorry! I overslept a bit.” Mari perks up when she hears Sanora.
“Ah don’t worry, I just got here a few minutes ago.” The girl immediately starts smiling the moment she looks at Sanora and gets up from the table. She’s not wearing in her usual robes. Her outfit consists of a short white dress with loose sleeves and a leather corset worn over it. Under it she’s wearing normal pants and shoes. And instead of the usual bun her surprisingly long hair is tied into a braid. Over her shoulder she has slung a satchel much like Sanora’s. Looking at the pretty girl Sanora almost feels bad for just coming in her regular clothes.
“That’s good to hear then. You look really nice. You should braid your hair more often.” Sanora smiles at the girl whose face turns red.
“Thanks.” She averts her gaze with a bashful smile. “I asked Mehena to braid it yesterday. She’s really good at it.”
“I can imagine.” Sanora chuckles. “Alright, ready to head out?”
“Yes.” Mari nods and they go on to leave the guild and head to the shops.
“So, got anything in mind yet?” Sanora asks as they walk down the busy street. At this time of the day, it’s bustling with people and beastkin as usual. The constant noise of people talking and shouting surrounds them.
“Nothing in particular. That’s why I was hoping for you to come along, to help me pick.”
“Of course.” Sanora nods. “Alright, let’s start with the most basic question; how do you want to fight?”
Mari holds her chin for a moment. “I guess defensive. I don’t think I’ll be able to get into offensive fighting anytime soon. So, for now I’d like to focus on at least being able to stand my ground in case I get separated. Buy myself some time until the others come to help.” Mari tells Sanora who nods along.
“I see. In that case we should rule out anything without a handguard. Nothing too long and heavy either.”
“That makes sense.” Mari nods.
“As for material; I don’t really know a lot about metals myself to be honest. But I guess it depends on the kind of monsters you’ll be fighting.”
“Oh, that shouldn’t be too hard. I don’t think I have money for more than a cheap adamant alloy weapon.”
“Mhh I see.” Sanora nods. “Well, no use talking about it all day. Let’s just check out the stores and see what we find.” She grins at the young girl who just nods with a smile.
“Let’s do that!”
The two of them walk around the stalls first, checking out some of the people selling swords and the like. But few of them have fitting daggers, and the ones who do usually only sell ones made of plain iron or ones that are too specialized for the young magic caster. But relentless they continue their search. Talking, laughing, checking out vendors on this calm and sunny day. It would be so easy to forget why they are actually walking around the market. Sanora could get lost in conversation with this girl for hours on end. It feels nice to have someone rely on her. She imagines this is how Amni must have felt when she was with Sanora. But now it’s Sanora’s turn to be that ‘big sister Mari never had’, and it’s a great feeling.
“Oh, this one looks nice.” Sanora points at a black, sheathed dagger on the table of the stall.
“The black one?” Mari raises an eyebrow at her.
“Yeah.” Sanora picks it up. “Shape is good, balance too. Here.” She holds it to Mari who just gives her a scrutinizing look. “Don’t like it?” Sanora tilts her head.
“That’s not the problem. This is Narcium, or at least alloy. I can’t afford, let alone use this.”
“You think so? Hey, how much is this?” She asks the man behind the table. He looks at the dagger for a second.
“Fifty.” He says.
“Silver?”
“Gold.”
Sanora puts it back onto the table.
“It’s alright, I don’t think I need something as good as Narcium anyways.” Mari says as they walk away from the vendor again.
“I have to admit I didn’t expect it to be this expensive.”
“Really? But your sword must have cost a fortune too.” Mari eyes the weapon hanging on Sanora’s belt.
“Ahhh yeah…” She scratches her head. “I actually got this as a gift.”
“As a gift?!” Mari stops in her tracks and gawks at Sanora.
“Ah yeah, remember Bawarag? He actually has a ton of those just lying around, so he let me pick one.”
Mari just stares at her with her mouth hanging open. “That’s insane. That’s completely insane.”
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“It is?” Sanora just chuckles and walks on.
“Yes! It is!” Mari takes a few big steps to catch up.
“I had no idea. He just made it seem so trivial back then. I never realized.” Sanora looks at her sword with a smile on her face.
“I swear every time you talk about your friends it gets crazier.” Mari chuckles.
“I’m realizing that a lot lately too.” Sanora laughs. Something catches her attention. A shop, not a stall but an actual building with a wooden sign above the door depicting a sword and an axe above an anvil.
“Oh, we haven’t been in that one.” She changes course. The noise of the street dies down as the two enter the store. Wooden stands filled with weapons of all sorts line the walls left and right. At the far wall is an unmanned counter. Sanora walks straight to the daggers and looks over them. The selection is a lot bigger than at any of the stalls. And even better, there are price tags on them.
“Anything you like?” She turns to Mari who is studying the weapons as well.
“Hmm I guess this one looks nice.” She picks up one of them. It’s a bit on the short side, made of a similarly white metal as Serantis’ shield. The scary part however, is the price.
“Fifteen gold.” Mari sighs, putting it back. “Figures. Mithril alloy.” The two look over the daggers again, trying to find the best option for the money Mari is willing to spend.
“I’ll look around the rest of the place a bit.” Sanora says after some time.
“Oh, alright. I’ll make a shortlist here.” Mari nods.
Sanora walks around, looking at the plethora of weapons. Maces, swords, flails, warhammers and more. This story really has everything a warrior could want. She looks at the beautiful tools of murder on display as she makes her round. Just when she is about to return to Mari, a dusty barrel standing in a corner catches her attention. Some old-looking weapons are dumped in there unceremoniously. They all don’t look like much. Simple iron, mediocre quality and full of cobweb. But the dusty sword hilts are not what makes Sanora curious. There is something radiating from the bottom of the barrel, something magical. It’s very faint and reminds her a bit of the magic from her ring. Curious she walks over and investigates the barrel. At the bottom, covered in dust and web lie two long daggers. She fishes them out and blows the dust and spiders off. They are indeed radiating faint magic energy. She pulls one out of its sheath and looks at it. The metal doesn’t look like metal, but rather like stone, almost like a mix between the two. Engraved in the sheath are runes she cannot read but they don’t matter to her as the magical energy already has her hooked.
“Ah apologies, didn’t hear you come in.” An older woman comes out from the back and leans onto the counter. “What can I help you young ladies with?”
“Those daggers.” Sanora holds them up. “What are they made of?”
“Those?” The woman raises an eyebrow. “Bought them from a merchant from Rel’unkoir an eternity ago. Was blabbering something about rare dwarven steel. A good waste of money that’s what they were.” She shakes her head. “Should have known they are no good as soon as he mentioned dwarves.” The woman practically spits.
Sanora looks at the weapons again. They are built different from other daggers, looking more like miniature swords rather than actual daggers.
“They look almost brittle.” Mari comes over, carrying her dagger of choice. She’s right, the blades do look not just brittle but also dull. However, Sanora is much more interested in the magic. With the blades looking like stone they might function with the according magic. They could be an opportunity to learn stone magic, the kind that Amni uses.
“I’ll take those.” Sanora nods. “You found something you like?” She looks at Mari.
“Yes, I think this one will do fine.” She looks at the dagger in her hands.
“Well, I guess we’re all settled then.” Sanora smiles and turns to the woman. “That’ll be all.”
The storeowner raises an eyebrow at her. “You sure you want to take those? You know what? I don’t care. I’ll give you both for ten silver. Otherwise, they’ll just gather dust here.”
Both girls pay the woman and head out of the store again. Mari holds her new dagger close to her chest, a smile plastered on her face as they walk. Sanora would giggle at the view if she wasn’t busy doing the same thing with her stuff.
“What a day. I’m pretty hungry now. Let’s fetch some dinner, my treat.”
“Huh? I’d love that but are you sure?”
“Of course I am. Or did you forget that I am a rich noble.” Sanora says and Mari giggles at her feigned snooty expression. “Anything you want?” She changes back to her usual smile.
“I’m fine with pretty much anything.”
“In that case I know a stall that sells some really good fried grasshoppers-“
“I stand corrected.” Mari shoots her down. “Let’s just pick a normal restaurant, please?”
“Fine by me.” Sanora chuckles at the pleading expression of the girl next to her. They walk around town for a bit longer. But they can’t seem to really decide on something as neither of them want to settle for any of the eateries around the first ring. They all sell simple food for the average traveller or farmer, nothing that either of the girls are particularly interested in. And that is before taking into consideration that all the good-looking establishments are completely full as everyone is getting lunch.
“Haah, I can’t believe that none of these had spare seats.” Mari sighs, sinking onto the bench on the roadside. They have reached a less busy part of town. There are few stores around here since almost all the space is taken up by private living quarters.
“It’s quite a shame.” Sanora sits down as well. “I’m still pretty hungry.” She sulks as they sit and watch the people walking down the street, carrying home their groceries and whatnot.
“Oh!” Mari perks up. “We could buy something and cook ourselves. My home isn’t far from here.”
“Ohh yeah! That sounds lovely.” Sanora beams at her, causing the girl blush.
“I already have an idea then, follow me.” She gets up and leads Sanora to the nearest butcher. They buy a small load of meat at a butcher, which Mari seems be a regular at, before heading to her place. It’s not long before they arrive at a small house at the upper edge of the ring. The wall separating this ring from the next one is visible from there and the houses look rather nice. Mari fishes out a key and unlocks the door.
“Welcome to my humble abode.” She beckons Sanora in.
She walks into the small two-story house. The main room which the door leads to is a spacious kitchen and dining room in one. The furniture is simple and made of wood but tasteful. Lots of herbs, garlic and other spices are hanging from the ceiling. The kitchen part of the room lines the left wall. It consists of some counters and a hearth for cooking and heating. Shelves filled with all sorts of colourful jars and bottles in them cover the far wall. And to the right are the stairs to the next floor. The light falling in through the windows gives it a very homey feeling. Burnt down candles are standing on the table and some other free spaces around the room.
“I know it’s probably not what you’re used to, but I hope it’ll do.” Mari says with a bashful smile as Sanora looks around.
“Don’t worry, I like it. It’s really cozy.” Sanora says and has to hold herself back from saying it reminds her of home.
“Thank you.” Mari says with a smile and puts down the food they just bought. “Let’s get to it. Do you know how to cook?”
“Not really. But meh, how hard can it be.” Sanora waves her off with a grin. But little did she know that on this fateful day she would find out something about herself.
Not long after her cocky declaration, Sanora sits at the table, lying on it with her upper body and sulking. “I’m sorry for making you do all the work.” She says to Mari who is cooking for them. Alone.
“It’s alright, don’t worry about it.” She laughs. “But I really didn’t expect you to be…” She stops, searching for the right words but Sanora beats her to it.
“Bad? Awful? Horrendous? A disaster?”
“Not my words… but yeah, kind of. Don’t worry, cooking isn’t easy. You’ll get the hang of it someday.” She smiles at the defeated warrior, causing Sanora’s expression to light up a bit.
“Thanks. How come you are so good at it though?”
“Living alone will do that for you. Always eating out gets expensive so you’re better off cooking for yourself.” Mari explains.
“I see.” Sanora mumbles as she watches the girl hustling away. She has tied her hair back and put on an apron after changing into more cozy clothes. While her outfit for going out was pretty, Sanora finds this sort of casual wear more easy on her eyes, which may or may not have been a bit wandering.
“You know, you look pretty cute in that apron.”
Mari almost drops the pan.
“W-where did that come from?” She turns to look back with a red face.
“Dunno. It’s just what I think.” She shrugs.
“I see.” Mari quickly turns back to the stove. “Thank you.” She says quietly and finishes the meal with a smile.
Soon later it is done. They eat Mari’s home cooking over some relaxed small talk. It’s nothing special but still it has to be one of the best meals Sanora has had so far. Once done Sanora bids the girl farewell and heads back into town. She makes a small round. Nothing interesting is going on so she heads back to the castle to relax for the rest of the day.
She lies in bed, watching the sun creep towards the horizon while thinking about the day. Mari is a really nice girl, and a good cook too. Not to mention absolutely adorable. And this gives Sanora all the more of a headache. Every time the two of them do something together she can feel that tingle in her stomach. That jump her heart makes when the girl smiles at her. It’s almost like it was with Amni all the time.
‘But how does that even work? I thought people only have one special person like that.’ The solution completely eludes her.
‘What even defines love? Can someone love more than one person? But then again, I love Bawarag too, but… differently?’ She groans and roughs through her hair before sinking into the pillow with a sigh.
‘Who could I even… oh! I could ask Liddy about it maybe she knows. And I trust her too. If this is another thing that’s not normal…’
Her face grows dark. She just lies there, lost in thought and falls asleep not long later.
When she opens her eyes, it is night already. Vadia has come into bed at some point and is now sleeping next to Sanora, her back turned to her, revealing the dark bruise. Sanora sighs, trying to fall asleep again. She lies in bed with a strained expression, the bruise not leaving her any peace until she has an idea. She looks at the Sleeping girl next to her and feels her consciousness nag at her, but she must know. A bit reluctant she casts the active version of flesh sense. Her sense expands, her image of Vadia’s body immediately grows better, more detailed. But even then, it seems to be not quite enough, as if something within Vadia is trying to keep the spell out. Sanora thinks back to Virelia and gently taps the spot where the bruise is. Wherever she touches her, the image gets exponentially better, giving Sanora an exact image of the flesh below her finger. As she touches the bruise she finally gets her answer. Fury bubbles up in her when she feels the subtle imprint of a fist. She pulls back her hand and stops the spell, quietly seething in bed as she wonders.
‘Whoever the fuck did that is going to pay. But why didn’t she tell me? I don’t get it! …maybe she doesn’t want to drag me into this, or she’s scared. But shit, I’ll find out one way or another and then someone is going to fucking die.’