{-Seldir-}

The more he thought about the situation, the less he liked it, but… he just needed to deal with it. This was something more than a personal trip; there were bigger stakes than his own ideas. Besides, for the most part, it wasn’t bad. Lyrei seemed to get along well with Noa.

“So, if you’re a noble, does that mean you attended any fancy balls?” she asked, most likely out of a mix of curiosity and to ward off the silence.

“Technically yes..?” he responded.

“Were there a bunch of pretty ballgowns? Did everyone seem to glitter in the moonlight? Oh, and what was the dancing like? Was it all those uptight dances or was there something like a mystical waltz somewhere?”

“Ilatenes doesn’t really have those kinds of things. They’re more of feasts—not a lot goes on outside of that. Maybe a couple of knights would put on a show, like a tournament? But when most of the nation is made of smaller farming communities, there’s kind of one thing you have an abundance of, and that’s what takes up most of the time at a celebration…”

Lyrei almost looked disappointed, but then she thought of another question. This one was general, as she proved by glancing at both Seldir and Noa. “If we’re going to need to visit every nation in order to get all those goddess’s items, do you think we’re going to be a part of a fancy ball? I want to be a part of a fancy ball. I think it’ll be amazing.”

“If you like tight corsets and long dresses, maybe…” Noa mumbled. He shook his head and gave an actual reply of, “I guess we could?”

Seldir nodded. “I don’t see how it isn’t a possibility… aside from the fact none of us are nobles, and only Astiri or Askoria would probably host those kinds of things. And we’d need stuff to wear—I kind of doubt we’re going to get a noble to do all that stuff for us…”

Lyrei shook her head, but was smiling. “We’ve done a bunch of other seemingly-improbable things, right? Who’s to say doing that isn’t going to be one of them?”

A shrug was his answer, and a short silence followed.

“It looks like this place is the inn,” Seldir announced in a mumble. He pushed open the door to find that it did, in fact, meet all of the basic qualifications he’d grown to expect from inns. A tavern below, offering food and drinks, then a staircase leading up to the rooms above, with a sign stating only those who paid for a room were allowed there.

He gestured for the other two to stay close to him for now—he didn’t know if they could trust this place yet—and went up to the counter. “I’d like to rent out two rooms, and probably get something to eat, too. It’s for me and my friends—these two here, and we should have two more coming soon. Can you do that?”

“I can do anything for you, if you’ve got the money for it,” the innkeeper responded. Once Seldir placed the right amount of coins on the counter, the innkeeper nodded, and gestured someone—probably a son—closer. “Could you show these three to an empty table, then get their rooms ready?”

The son nodded and said, “Just follow me.” As he walked away, and the three of them followed, he prompted, “Is there anything else you’d like? You mentioned food. We’ve got a good selection, just name something and I’ll probably be able to get it for you.”

“I think we’ll wait until the other two come,” Seldir decided. “But maybe three glasses of water.”

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“Alright. I’ll make sure those are out for you in a couple of minutes. Your bill will come after you eat with your friends.” The son motioned to an open table; once they all sat down, though, he walked away again.

Seldir, honestly, enjoyed the ambiance of conversation, of the occasional glass clinking together and scraping of silverware as people ate. It reminded him of when he worked with his parents—these were the kinds of places where most of their jobs came from. But that peace didn’t last long, even if it wasn’t an unfriendly interruption.

“Hey, is that who I think it is?” a mercenary walked up to the three of them. He was muscular, scarred, and had a naturally unsettling air. Noa, albeit slightly, shrunk in his presence. “You wouldn’t happen to be a certain kid named Seldir, would you?”

Now, Seldir did recognize the guy—he’d worked with Seldir’s parents before. But he just smirked and replied, “I dunno, did you ever consider getting rid of that beard? Not doing you any favors, Netarr.”

Netarr let out a boisterous laugh. “Yeah, nice to know you haven’t changed, either! Have things been going well? See you’re still getting along with this girl.” He then glanced at Noa, who definitely didn’t like the attention. “But that just leaves the question… what’s the story behind this kid? Looks gullible and squishy. Bet someone’s paying you good money to keep him alive, huh?”

“That’s Noa,” Seldir explained. “I… guess you could say I’m looking after him. No one hired me to do it, though. He’s just another friend of ours.”

Netaar nodded then moved on to the next line of conversation. “So, what brings you all outside of Zaitha? Didn’t think you’d ever leave.”

He didn’t see a reason to lie, so he was honest with his answer of, “We’re doing a couple of things for Queen Vaeri. We were actually supposed to get done a bit earlier, but we ran into a couple of setbacks—we’re just staying here for the night then heading back to Zaitha in the morning.”

Netarr looked over each of them, undoubtedly trying to figure out what was different. He didn’t find anything, or at least nothing he would’ve considered being out of the ordinary. “What did you go out for? Can’t imagine you fought anything with these two beside you—doesn’t look like they know how to handle a fight. Dunno what else you could’ve done that the knights couldn’t have taken care of…”

“She wanted us to collect a couple of items for her,” Lyrei replied with a shrug. “She didn’t really tell us why—she probably will when we come back.”

“What kind of items were these..?” Netarr, both now and in most of Seldir’s memories of him, always seemed to be the more jovial sort; he didn’t often dip down into a too serious tone or seemed to be dragged down by negatives. But now, he took on a more solemn air. Not exactly like he knew more than they did, but rather that he was able to think of something and could find nothing good in the implication.

The three of them looked between each other, a silent question of whether or not they wanted to answer. They knew what it would imply—so it just became a matter of deciding whether it was better to lie, and possibly do so poorly, or tell the truth, and let the pieces fall together.

After a moment, Noa slowly said, “It was a bunch of herbs. The kind of stuff that isn’t actually found in the city.”

“Like the medicinal kind?”

Noa nodded.

“You said you don’t know why?”

Lyrei shook her head.

Seldir, slowly realizing where this was going, tried to assure Netarr by saying, “She seemed fine when we saw her. Some of this stuff was a little hard to locate, it could’ve just been a test of character and skill.”

“I wish I could believe you,” Netarr said grimly. “But I’ve been around longer than all of you—I’ve seen the differences. There’s a couple of people who would try to deny it. But I’m not stupid enough to try. I know things aren’t what they used to be. I just hope it doesn’t mean that they’re going to get worse.”

They were left in silence for a little bit, before he announced he was going back to his group. Seldir, Lyrei, and Noa upheld a casual conversation, too—though it was relatively meaningless. Eventually Seldir caught sight of Rennyn and Kaylin and waved them over.

“Did you figure everything out?” Seldir prompted.

“Maybe,” Rennyn mumbled in response. “We were able to stop what they did there, but… I think there’s more.”

“We’ll handle it in the morning,” Kaylin said reassuringly. “Let’s just get something to eat and a good night’s rest. Maybe Queen Vaeri would have some insights about the situation.”