Matteo was more curious on who the person was than anything else; Tara just seemed like her normal ball of anxiety and Adelinde glanced up a few times because—he decided—she probably didn’t really trust that anyone Rene used to know was friendly. Either that, or she didn’t recognize the other woman, which was entirely possible because Matteo had never seen someone look so clearly from the first island outside of dedicated villages.

Regardless, at some point in the conversation Rene looked back at her family and brought the woman over. Matteo sat up a bit straighter while Adelinde gave the women a curious look—Tara might’ve actually shrunk a bit more.

Rene offered a little nod to them once she reached the table again, reclaiming her seat next to Adelinde. The stranger continued to stand, albeit didn’t seem to mind; she almost looked like she wanted to give off the impression of being unshaken, but Matteo could pick up on a few cues that implied otherwise.

“First things first, Matteo,” Rene said, giving him a kind of joking smile. “You have proven me wrong.”

“In what way?” he asked.

Rene gestured to the stranger. “This is Hannah.”

Matteo had to take a second to remember the name, but Adelinde recognized it fairly quickly.

“Rene’s first love?” The stranger—Hannah—returned the question with a nod. Adelinde stood up so she could offer her hand, who shook it with a kind of respect. “I’m Adelinde Dakari, Rene’s wife.”

Tara frowned at the open mention to their family—they agreed to use Horize while in Sólstaður if they ever needed a first and last name, but in Dakari they were an odd enough mix people would expect them to have some other name—while Hannah just paused for a minute as Adelinde sat back down.

“…Holy crap, Ren.” Hannah gave Rene a look that managed to look both impressed, confused, and slightly self-ashamed. “How did you manage to marry royalty?”

Rene seemed only capable of offering a kind of shrug and Adelinde must not have expected that kind of response, so Matteo cheerfully cut in.

“Rene ran into Mom for some reason or another,” he explained, “Then they bonded over music and me-as-a-two-year-old.”

Hannah seemed to recover from her surprise, looking over at Matteo.

“That’d make you the prince?”

“It does,” Matteo confirmed, nodding.

“Today ended up being more eventful than I thought,” Hannah murmured. She cast Rene a curious look. “But, anyway, what brings you to Eyset? Someone on my crew said you were looking for a ship to Sólstaður.”

“We are,” Rene said. “Do you happen to be able to carry passengers over?”

“I can,” Hannah replied, nodding. She looked around a bit, then briefly left and returned with a chair. She resumed the conversation once she settled into it, sitting backwards with her arms resting on its back. “Need me for something?”

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“We just need someone who can get us there quickly and safely,” Rene reasoned. “It’s…”

She trailed off when she needed to try to clarify what it was for. Matteo couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t confusing or made the situation more complicated.

Tara murmured a very, very quiet response. “…My parents. Legends.”

Matteo had no idea how Hannah heard it, but she did. Her expression almost became a bit sympathetic.

“Like a family search kind of thing?” Hannah asked. Rene murmured some agreement; they didn’t really have any better ideas, so they might as well go along with it. “I might be able to help, but just to get it out of the way—late fall and any time in winter isn’t the ideal time to head into Sólstaður. There aren’t a lot of normal passenger ships running to it, and I’m a bit limited on space right now.”

“…Time sensitive,” Tara muttered.

“I’ve been looking around since we got here last night and you’re the best option I can see at the moment,” Rene said. “Any other people I can get ahold of—like the ones who actually have advertisements posted—can only take one person or won’t be leaving for another two or three weeks.”

“Whatever you’re doing shouldn’t magically disappear in that time,” Hannah pointed out.

“It might, though,” Matteo replied. “And none of us really want to wait and see what happens.”

“Okay then.” She readjusted her position a bit; he didn’t think she quite understood, but he didn’t really expect her to. “In that case, me and my crew can leave as soon as we’re ready—and I won’t make you pay. However, there is one issue.”

Hannah frowned and continued. “I have exactly twenty-one people in my crew not counting myself. Although I can theoretically hold thirty or forty people, Sólstaðuric law says my ship’s limit is twenty-five—and yes, they count and keep record of how many people are getting on and off ships, and it’s a pain to smuggle people in nowadays. Everyone involved can run into trouble and I’d rather avoid getting my ship sold off.”

“They won’t let just one more person get on?” Matteo asked. “It’s not that much higher from the limit.”

“Nope—people have tried that argument,” Hannah replied, shaking her head. “The only time they make exceptions is for really little kids, and Miss Pink-Hair over there is the closest to it but she’s not small enough to pass. Your best option would either go with me and leave someone behind, or wait a little while and take another ship out.”

Sighing, she stood up. “I’ll let you guys discuss it. My crew should be done their food by now, so we’ll be heading out soon. I won’t leave Eyset until I hear a response from you, so just let me know whatever you decide; I’ll probably be at the dock making sure I have enough supplies for the trip back.”

They all murmured some agreement, and Hannah left to return her chair and rejoin her group across the room.

“Only three people,” Adelinde said quietly. She looked at Rene. “I don’t want to risk running out of time. I can stay here—help Mark with his work in Matteo’s stead.”

“You’ll be worried too much to focus,” Rene pointed out.

“That would be the case no matter who stays behind,” Matteo reasoned. “I wouldn’t mind being with her—then it’d just be you and Tara.”

Tara let out a little noise, and the others looked over to see why.

“…Itzun has input,” she explained.

“I’ll go ahead and pay for the meal, then we can find somewhere to stay,” Rene decided, standing up. “Try to stay awake until then, all right? We’ll continue this once we’re there.”

Tara nodded, returning her focus back to her drawing—something that, based on what Matteo could see at a quick glance, required her to pay attention to her surroundings.

She continued drawing even after Rene had left and returned, and while they walked. As soon as they went to a good place to stay and decided on how to split the rooms, though, she was fast asleep.