The meal was over. Despite the fine dining, Ravina sensed tension among her companions. Perhaps invoking her father’s name had been a mistake, as their responses remained simple and polite. Soon enough, the meal ended, along with the discussions.
Carlton’s words had given her some pause. It was an eye opening fact that the kids in the orphanage had received a better education then those who had them. Children were also abandoned because of it. After all it would be an easy thing to do. Surrendering your child so they could have a better life.
Perhaps not easy but…
Ravina put her head in her hands. She went to that meeting to convince two people at the very least to support her in keeping the initiative going and now she was faced with the consequences of short sightedness. It was a tail as old as time. The desire to help those in a poor position ended up brining out jealousy from those that had, but wanted.
Or maybe it wasn't something so poetic. “What else did I miss.” Ravina wondered over the empty table.
“My lady.” an attended asked cautiously.
Ravina looked up at her, seeing the hesitation etched on her face. She smile as she stood, “I understand. Thank you for the wonderful meal and please let the proprietor know how I appreciated it.” Ravina left the restaurant to find a Knight of the Vorgeset Guard standing proudly outside as he waited for her. He nodded at her as she left the establishment and nodded.
“Lets go Sir. Salinas.”
“As you command my lady.”
Aurelia was on a mission under her orders. As such the guard had given her another knight, one to assist her when she left the manor. The downside is that the outside world had become closed to her. She could only leave the manor with a guard in toe and as such needed a proper reason to leave to request the guard.
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It was fine, she no longer had any hope of being an adventurer. It was a romantic idea—yet reality was both boring and dangerous. Ravina looked back at her hands, they healed over the months she stayed at the castle. As the daughter of a count she really did not need to do anything. Yet there were still traces of hard labor cut into them.
There were no orphanages for the villages. Only in towns. “The problems bigger then I thought.” She mused.
“My lady?” her knight called.
With a sigh Ravina answered. “Never mind Sir Salinas… actually. Do you mind if I ask where you are from?”
“Herstellerin my lady. My family is a small knightage that has served under the Blake family for generations.”
“Impresive.” Ravina commented. She learned in her studies that the Blake family were the stewards of Herstellerin, the city of creation. It rested in the middle of the county, swallowing up almost 30% of all the counties metal and grain to produce alcohol and infrastructure. “Is the town alike to Ravenfort?”
“No my lady, Ravenfort is far more ground. Herstellerin was quite the place but its a third the size and filled with smoke. The forges refine metal both day and night. The city is dark but beautiful. You know they keep the streets lit by mage light. Do you know what a Magiermetal is?”
“No, I cant say I have heard of that before.”
“Its a rare metal. Something that only accomplished blacksmith can make with a powerful mage. Three pairs exist in the kingdom, and two of them reside in Herstellerin. They can make a metal that is able to discharge a mana stone and cast simple spells. We have polls lined across the street with the spell cast a few steps above them. Its a scene only to be found in Herstellerin.”
“Sounds wonderful.” Ravina said her smile both from amusement at the way he spoke of his home town and the idea that streetlights were still a thing. “What about the villages surrounding the city? How do they look?”
“The villages? The look… normal. Nothing really special about them.”
“I see.”
“Is there something you wish to know?” he offered.
Ravina smiled back at his words. “There is a lot I wish to know.” she answered rather childishly. Her eyes caught the window to a pastry shop, the cakes in the window drew her eye. “For now though…” she stated briefly. “I could use some bad carbs.”
“Bad carbs?” the knight questioned, however Ravina was already moving inside and the knight was skilled quiet enough not to repeat his unneeded question.