Rene couldn’t say stepping into Eyset was nostalgic per se, but it did bring back a few memories. She barely went close to the train station while she was here—Hannah always had her sights overseas, so she spent a lot more time in the port—but the times she did were distinct enough that she could easily recall them.
Still, just at a glance it seemed to be the same—a little cleaner and the streets weren’t as crowded, but there were still groups of people standing around corners either selling things or talking amongst themselves. About half of the people walking around were Sólstaðuric.
Lord Dazuz didn’t say a word when they got off the train, merely giving her a glare when they left the station. She took that as her sign to stay close. The next train out didn’t run until the evening; she might have some time to shop then, if she was lucky.
She let Lord Dazuz lead her to the docks, at which point they waited until a Sólstaðuric man—rich, from the looks of it, albeit not savvy enough to actually dress for the weather—came up to them and gave Lord Dazuz a greeting nod.
“It’s been some time, Dazuz,” the man said.
“It was before Elina was born,” Lord Dazuz agreed. He gestured towards Rene; she tensed when the man’s attention shifted to her, more scrutinizing than she’s seen in years. “To get right to the point, you said you wanted to meet the first of our two omyn. This is Rene.”
The man examined Rene with an unimpressed look.
“She looks like she came out of Sólstaður’s back alleys.” He glanced at Lord Dazuz, both curious and unbelieving. “How did you find her?”
She could recall the exact street—just behind them, actually—and the weather. She stayed silent just to appear respectful, even if neither of the men seemed particularly fond of her. She wondered if she imagined Lord Dazuz taking a step away from her and closer to the Sólstaðuric man, distancing himself from his adopted daughter.
“Rene is from Eyset,” Lord Dazuz explained. “Her last name was Horize, and she’s strong enough to bind things. She’s exactly what we need.”
“You could stand to make her look more…presentable. Even at a glance, it’s clear she wasn’t born into her station—she looks the part of a typical port girl.”
Rene tried to hold back a sigh. Honestly, she should be used to the comments by now—the only people that cared about her appearance were the ones who needed her for the creation effort. Some of them just couldn’t understand that the required omyn would, logically, appear more like Dakari’s native people than the first island’s.
Fortunately, the man turned back towards Lord Dazuz.
“Oh, I don’t believe I ever heard the story,” he said, his tone implying it was little more than gossip. “But you’ve had this one for a few years now, haven’t you? Wasn’t there already a ‘first of our two omyn’ before then?”
“Aurik Qrian,” Lord Dazuz confirmed, albeit coldly. “Another orphan, fittingly, but he made a…few mistakes.”
“Is that the person who tried to stab Dakari’s queen three or four years ago?”
“It is,” Rene said. Lord Dazuz seemed surprised at her contribution, but it was the only thing she could say that wouldn’t be a lie.
Even if she knew her tone held a bit more emotion in it than she would have liked, and Lord Dazuz noticed.
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The man didn’t pursue that line of conversation, instead giving Lord Dazuz a curious look.
“I wanted to ask a few…questions, regarding how we’ll go about things once we have a second omyn,” he said. “Is there a good place for private conversation?”
Lord Dazuz looked at Rene for some kind of input. She took a second to realize what he actually wanted, then another to recall any suitable locations. There were plenty of places one could go for privacy, but none would be commonly visited by two middle aged men and a woman in her twenties.
With that in mind, she thought of a place near the port and glanced around for it. After seeing its sign, she pointed in that direction.
“That restaurant has rented rooms meant for business deals, if money isn’t an issue,” Rene reported. “There was another one a few years ago that was cheaper, but less respectable.”
“It looks fine enough,” Lord Dazuz decided.
With some murmur of agreement from the Sólstaðuric man, he took a few steps towards the restaurant before pausing. Rene didn’t even have a chance to follow before he glanced over his shoulder at her.
“Why don’t you look around town?” he suggested. To a stranger, it would sound kind—but to her, it was cold. “I’m sure it would be interesting to see what’s changed since you were here last, and you said you wanted to get gifts. So long as you’re back before the next train leaves, I don’t mind if you wander.”
“You said the opposite on the train here,” Rene pointed out. Frowning, she warily asked, “Why do I get the feeling you just want to keep me uninformed?”
“You’ll hear of everything eventually,” he replied. He faced ahead again. “Neither of us are willing to repeat the mistakes that Qrian made or caused.”
He walked off without any further comment, with the Sólstaðuric man trailing after him. She stood there for a few seconds, slightly bothered, before she decided to take advantage of the time she had.
It didn’t take very long for the reason of being here to fade.
…
Rene went back to the station as soon as she finished shopping, leaning against the wall and just…staring at the little charms she got for Adelinde. It was surprising how many shops were still open; there weren’t as many kids running around unattended either, and those that were seemed to be well off.
She was better at giving gifts with the person there, if only to help her visualize said person interacting with it. Still, she found it easier to shop for Matteo than Adelinde; the toddler was remarkably easy to please.
Hopefully Adelinde wouldn’t mind it stemming from another tradition. At worst, she would just—
“A music note and a sun? Rather insightful gifts for a young boy.”
Rene jumped at Lord Dazuz’s voice, almost dropping the charms. He just gave her a disappointed look and sighed.
“Sometimes I wish you were easier to manage,” he murmured. Slowly—he already saw them, so there was no point in rushing—Rene put the charms back into a little box with the necklace chain. “I can convince Elina and Leo with a few promises, but you’ve always needed something to back it up with—you’ve always had the potential to stray.”
“I’m just trying to cover all my bases,” Rene tried as an explanation. She didn’t want to meet his gaze—partly because she feared his expression, and partly because she feared him reading into hers.
Lord Dazuz noticed, walking so he was in front of her. She stared at the ground instead.
“For someone so averse to risk,” he said coldly and quietly, “You’re taking a rather large one. As soon as she knows who you really are—what your purpose really is, no matter if you’re committed to the cause or not—she’ll have nothing to do with you; it’s entirely possible she’ll hate you. You said earlier that your mind was made up—how does that opinion change when you think about the harm your actions will eventually cause her?”
“Who do you—”
She started the question, but when she actually looked up he was gone.
She wished she could say it didn’t bother her; she wished she knew if he would ever bring it up again. Removing herself from this whole thing sooner rather than later might be best, but…
She just hoped she would be lucky enough for this to never come up with Adelinde. Considering the overall situation, Rene doubted that she would take it well.