“And here we are!” Azure proclaimed, stepping up to the edge of the cliff with her arms spread wide, her cloak fluttering in a slight breeze. The wind carried a bit of a chill on it, but it was not enough to be uncomfortable. “It really is everything I was promised.”

Ariya slowly lifted her head off Lusya’s shoulder and groaned. “Does that mean we’re done climbing?”

“It would seem so,” Lusya said.

Ariya sighed in relief. “You can put me down, then.”

“As you wish,” Lusya said, lowering to set Ariya on the ground. “Be careful. There is a long drop ahead.”

“I will.” Ariya turned toward Azure and gasped. “Wow, it’s so pretty!”

Ariya hurried to stand alongside Azure but stopped a couple feet back when she realized how close the latter was the to edge. Instead, Ariya, stayed a safe distance back to admire the view with her jaw hanging open. Azure, of course, had little to fear from the fall.

After a moment, a shiver rocked Ariya’s small form. “It’s kind of cold, though. Almost like winter.”

“It does tend to get colder at higher altitudes,” Lusya said.

The Golden Tower hadn’t seemed affected as much, though. Maybe they did something to keep it warm, or maybe it was just the body heat of all the other visitors at work. In any case, comparing the current temperature to winter was a gross exaggeration. It was well within the normal range for an autumn day, and none of them were dressed for particularly warm weather. Though it was possible it really did feel worse for Ariya.

Ariya frowned. “That’s kind of cool, but I don’t like it.” Her frown quickly shifted to a grin. “Get it?”

“Your pun was understood,” Lusya said. “It was not funny.”

Her smile not faltering in the slightest, Ariya looked to Azure. Azure sighed.

“I’m gonna have to go with Lusya on this one,” she said. “Sorry, Ariya.”

Ariya let out a small groan.

“Would you like your coat?” Lusya asked. It had been languishing in her pack for months now. It took up space, but there was no reason not to keep it. Ariya would no doubt need it again before their journey was over. Although, it may be wise to make sure it still fit before that time came.

“You know, though,” Azure said. “I’ve heard that some mountains are so high, they’re topped with snow in the middle of the desert.”

“I have read about that,” Lusya said.

Ariya’s discontent evaporated. “Wow, that’s so cool! A desert is the hot, sandy place, right? But not a beach.”

“Correct,” Lusya said. “A beach borders a body of water. A desert is lacking in water.”

“They’re actually pretty cold at night, though,” Azure said. “Doesn’t sound like a fun place to be. Not like the beach.”

Ariya hummed in thought. “I’ve never been to either, so I don’t really know. What about you, Lusya?”

“I have never left Ysuge, and there are no deserts here, so I have no personal experience with them, but I agree that they do not sound pleasant,” Lusya replied. “Beaches have their positive and negative attributes. I do not particularly like or dislike them.”

Ariya gave another thoughtful hum. “I want to see them both!”

“I’m sure you’ll get a chance,” Azure said.

“You will at least see a beach before our journey is done,” Lusya said. “Technically, the land below, around the lake, is a beach.”

“Really?” Ariya exclaimed, peering down at the lake.

Azure sighed and shook her head. “Don’t get her all excited. You know that’s not really a beach.”

“It is not the typical conception of one,” Lusya conceded.

Ariya deflated. “It’s not a good one?”

“I am sure you will see a ‘proper’ beach as well,” Lusya said.

They would need to reach the west coast to get a ship to Midbud Isle. Lusya’s current intended route did have them passing some open coastline along the way as well. She did not know if any of that land consisted of a more ideal beach, but the odds were good.

“What about deserts?” Ariya asked.

Lusya shook her head. “As I said, there are none in Ysuge, let alone the way we are going, so we will not see any on this journey. However, it is not impossible that you will see one later.”

She knew little about what waited after death, after all. It could be one big desert. Barring that, the chances of Ariya seeing a desert were as near to zero as they could get. Midbud Isle was the closest she would ever get to leaving Ysuge.

“I hope so,” Ariya replied. “I wanna see all sorts of places with you, Lusya.”

Lusya blinked and paused. “I see.”

“As for me,” Azure said, “I can’t really leave Ysuge now, but I definitely want to go see some things once I retire. What about you, Lusya?”

“There are certain destinations I am interested in outside of Ysuge,” Lusya replied.

It was a moot point, of course. The world would be incinerated before she ever got the chance. It was not impossible the renewed war would somehow take her elsewhere, but, more than likely, Father would use Miudofay’s Final Release without ever needing to leave the continent. He had been ready to do just that before his death.

Azure beamed. “Maybe we can all go together someday.”

“Perhaps.”

Another unlikely scenario, but Lusya would let them enjoy the fantasy.

“That sounds great!” Ariya said. “Let’s do that.” She turned her attention back to the land before her. “First, though, I wanna enjoy this.”

They had climbed up much of one of the mountains bordering the valley, though they were still nowhere near the top. Azure had led them here, to a sharp drop overlooking the land. Forest lined the ground beneath, but a huge lake occupied most of what one could see, the trees forming a border around it. The rising sun reflected off the pristine water as it peeked over the horizon and bathed the land in its soft glow. Wisps of mist clung to the water and the forest alike, obscuring small patches.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Isn’t it great, Lusya?” Ariya asked with an excited hop.

“Do not jump that close to the edge,” Lusya said.

Ariya blushed and hung her head. “Yes, Lusya.”

“To answer your question, I do not see what is great about it,” she said. “It is a landscape.” It would have been wrong to say Lusya had no preferences with regards to aesthetics, but they had never been applied much to the land. “It is the way it is.”

Azure sighed and turned toward Lusya. “I thought you would react that way. Sorry for dragging you out here. I know you’ve never had much of a taste for literal sightseeing. Every mountain and lake is the same to you, isn’t it?”

“They are not the same,” Lusya said. “But I do not judge their appearances much.”

“What about a desert?” Ariya asked. “You seemed kind of interested in that. Would you wanna see one?”

“For the novelty, perhaps,” Lusya replied. “But I imagine I would feel much the same after the first time I saw one.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Sorry again,” Azure said.

Lusya shook her head. “There is no need for apologies. I may not enjoy it or understand why you do, but I have no objections to coming here.”

“That’s good to hear. I was excited to see it.”

“Then enjoy it.”

Azure nodded with a smile. “I will.”

She turned back around to stare at the lake. Lusya joined her for a moment, in the hopes of understanding what was appealing about this activity. Whatever it was, it continued to elude her. With that experiment failed, she allowed her curiosity to run elsewhere.

“You seem to have known me quite well for a mere friend of my mother,” Lusya said. “I cannot help but wonder how that came to be.”

Azure started, apparently caught off-guard by the question. Her eyes widened, and it was several seconds before she collected herself enough to reply.

“I guess that’s true, isn’t it?” she said in an odd pensive tone.

It was. Granted, Lusya was no expert on parenting or friendships, but it still struck her as odd. Father had had few friends, but none of them had ever been close to her, even when she was young. Her knowledge outside of that was founded in research, hearsay, and cultural depictions, rather than personal depictions, but that also gave her the impression a parent’s friend knowing so much about her was abnormal.

“I thought so too,” Ariya said. “You’re like a little-Lusya encyclopedia.”

Azure coughed into her hand. “Yes, well, your mother and I are very close, Lusya, but I suppose that doesn’t explain everything.” She pursed her lips, almost contorting her face in pain, before continuing. “I had a daughter of my own, you see, about the same age as you.”

“You must have had her young,” Lusya said.

“Right. Just a little younger than you are now.” Azure sighed and rubbed at her eyes, perhaps wiping away tears. “She died right around when you left.”

Ariya let out a horrified gasp.

“I have no memory of her either,” Lusya said.

“I can’t blame you,” Azure replied, “Before you left us, since we were friends, your mother and I, we wanted you two to be too. We were always pushing you too to spend time together and get along, but you never clicked the way we did.”

“I see.”

Azure said nothing more. She seemed to consider the conversation finished, and she returned to gazing out at the lake beneath them. It was not with the same wonder as before, however. She looked out with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes. A gust of wind blew through the area, kicking around both their cloaks.

“This lake’s name is Lake Gevor, you know,” Azure said. “It’s said the hole that forms the lake was created when a god was born from the land here. The name means ‘birth’ in Zeltan.”

“I have heard the story,” Lusya said.

According to the same legend, the god in question was now dead. His mother, goddess of the earth, had foreseen his tragic demise, and trapped him in her womb—which was to say, the ground. Heedless of her warnings, he burst out at this spot and lived several hundred years before falling in battle. How he died varied between versions of the story, as did depictions of him.

Some version cast him as an arrogant fool who rushed to death in defiance of his mother. Others a hero, determined to live life to the fullest even knowing he would meet a horrible end. Most struck a middle ground and depicted him as a rather tragic figure.

“It must have been difficult raising a child while being a Sacred Knight,” Lusya said. “Or perhaps not, if you are a noblewoman.”

She guessed as much. Azure did not act like a typical noble, but her quickness to state her family name, her clear comfort with status and money, and something else Lusya couldn’t quite place marked her as one.

“I am,” Azure said. “Though I’m not the heir. I never was outside the two years before my brother was born. Talsian inheritance favors the eldest male as long as there is one. He was the heir at the time, and he’s the head now. Of course, that boy adores me so I’ve always enjoyed plenty of the perks being a member of House Yasier has to offer.

“But I didn’t want my daughter raised by nannies or servants, so I ended up largely taking those seven years off. I was still officially a member of the Sacred Knights, and I took on small tasks from time to time, but I dropped out of the Paladins and effectively retired.”

Lusya cocked her head and blinked twice. “You were already a Paladin at the time?”

Azure grinned. “Only Twentieth, but yes. I graduated from the academy early when I was sixteen, and I became a Paladin at seventeen. I’m what you call a prodigy, you see. The kind you’re lucky to see once in a generation.”

“Impressive.”

“You know it.” Azure’s smile faltered again and she sighed. “Seven years off did set me back, though. I almost definitely could have made it to First. Maybe I would have topped out at Second. I might be a once-in-a-generation prodigy, but Elphrid’s a once-in-a-century genius. Instead I’m probably never going to get higher than Seventh, and that’s only because three people ahead of me died.”

“You are quite fortunate,” Lusya said.

Azure blinked and stared blankly at Lusya.

“Few people could complain about only being the seventh strongest person in all of Ysuge.”

Azure chuckled. “You’re right, of course.” Then her eyes shot open and she hurried to continue. “It’s not like I regret having or raising my daughter or anything. That’s not what I’m saying at all. I loved her dearly. It’s just…a little frustrating to think of how far I could have gone.”

Lusya was not sure why Azure seemed to think that clarification would matter so much to her, nor did she know how to respond. “I see. How many Paladins fell in total?”

She had been aware of at least three dying. All had been ranked lower than Azure, so there must have been more, but Lusya had never been in any position to receive a final count. She had asked out of idle curiosity, but it would benefit her to know. Even if the dead were all replaced, the Sacred Knights would be weakened by the loss. Knowing just how much could be useful upon Father’s revival.

“Seven,” Azure said. “Plenty more are injured enough to knock them out of Paladin strength, or even enough that they can’t fight at all. They’ll be replaced in waves. The higher-ups are worried over half the Paladins dying or retiring all at once would hurt morale and public confidence. None of the retiring ones are over me, though. Not that I would wish that on them just for my advancement.”

Lusya blinked. It was rather surprising Azure had shared that information so readily. Lusya had expected her to dodge the question somehow.

Azure shrugged. “There’s no harm in telling you. The death toll is public information if you look hard enough, and the rest will be soon enough.”

“Wow,” Ariya said. “You practically read her mind.”

Azure giggled. “Her expressions haven’t changed. I only wish I knew where she got them…” She looked to Lusya, one eyebrow raised. “You wouldn’t happen to remember, would you?”

“I do not,” Lusya said. “I was not even aware of some of them until they were pointed out to me.”

“Then the mystery remains unsolved,” Azure said.

Based on that, Lusya assumed her mother also did not have the answers. Once again, there was a brief period of quiet. Ariya and Azure were still admiring the scenery. Birds began to sing in the forest, with Ariya imitating them in response. Lusya considered finding somewhere to sit down and read. First, though, there was one more question on Lusya’s mind.

“Azure, how did your daughter—”

“You know, I heard this lake is great to swim in during the height of summer,” Azure said with what Lusya now recognized as a fake smile. “Do you like swimming, Lusya?”

Lusya blinked. “I am ambivalent on the subject. It is a satisfactory leisure activity on occasion, but I would not seek it out.”

“That’s about what I remember,” Azure said with a nod.

“I wanna swim!” Ariya said, waving her hands in the air, as though they would not see her otherwise.

“You do not know how to swim, Ariya,” Lusya said.

Ariya could handle standing in shallow streams to bathe, but no more than that. Or so she said. It was not surprising, considering her isolated upbringing. It was Lusya’s understanding that the family had gathered water from the well and other sources to bathe, so Ariya had never needed to interact much with large bodies of it.

“I can learn,” Ariya said with a stomp of her feet.

“I do not think that will be as easy as you believe,” Lusya said. For that matter, swimming was typically done in the nude, and Ariya did not usually find the concealment of water sufficient. Lusya was not sure if the act of swimming changed something, or if Ariya had not realized that yet.

“We’ll be there, so it’s fine,” Azure said. “Right?”

“I suppose.”

“Well then, it’s a little late in the year, but let’s go find out if the water’s still warm.” She winked with a mischievous grin. “Worst case scenario, I freeze the lake and we go ice skating instead.”