Honestly, they barely got along with each other—but they were the closest friends each other had. Which… probably just proved that none of them went out much, or had people interested in being friendly without other intentions in mind.
Fauna tended to spend the most time with Imre, though it was usually just by both being in the library at the same time. Domenique soon found other ways of making herself busy—something that gave her an excuse not to be around them. Samone tended to spend a few weeks in Lelishara, be gone for a month or so, then come back for the cycle to repeat. Fauna quickly learned there was no use in tracking Lydia’s whereabouts. She bounced between the castle, the Stone estate, some nearby town or village, and somewhere halfway across the kingdom. It was around that time she first suggested they go on a trip together, in fact; though it turned into an argument that Imre settled with them being a bit too young to do anything without adult supervision.
After all, there were still two rather important teammates they needed to meet about a year after they left Ryobel.
Fauna was sitting in the dining room of the castle with Domenique and a few servants as company. They’d been told Imre and the others would be returning from their trip to the Lake soon, so all they had to do was wait until then. They weren’t prominent or noteworthy enough nobles to warrant a reason to be there themselves—at least not while all of the conversation was so important.
It was more subtle differences that made their casual conversation stop; a few of the servants disappeared, those that stayed nearby whispered instructions to each other. Then they could hear Casper’s laugh as he recounted the events to, supposedly, another servant.
He gave the two of them a wide smile when he opened the door. “Good, you girls are here! Now, everyone else, just sit down.” He gestured all of the others—Minne, Imre, Samone, and Lydia—inside before stepping away from the door again. “I’ve got a special surprise for you! She had to travel separately but she should be arriving very soon. I’ll be right back with her.” Then he disappeared into the hall again.
“That was a suspicious amount of excitement,” Domenique remarked. “I’m not even going to ask if I should be concerned, I’m just assuming the answer is ‘yes.’”
“It’s nothing to worry about,” Minne said. “We’re hoping it’ll be a good thing.”
“Hoping..?” Imre repeated cautiously. “Mother, I haven’t been told anything about this…”
“All I ask is that you all have an open mind about this. Consider it a way to see if all these talks will really amount to anything.”
“That makes it sound worse,” Samone pointed out.
Any further speculation was cut off by Casper’s voice in the hallway. It sounded like a basic description of the castle’s layout—complete with unhelpful directions that barely made sense. Then he told his companion to stay there and opened the door to the dining room again.
But when his first words were “Now, Imre, I don’t want you to think this is a punishment…” it was hard to guess what it was. When he continued, it only slightly gave more explanation, “But you wander. A lot. I don’t blame you, of course—I did it myself when I was your age—but things are different now. You can’t keep going off on your own, it’s too dangerous.”
Imre shrunk and mumbled something too quiet for anyone to hear.
“Hey, what did I just say? This isn’t a punishment! Really!” When that didn’t seem to do anything, Casper sighed, and gestured to whoever was standing on the other side of the door. The person stepped out—she was a goblin. “This is Kiah Endove. I’ve hired her after seeing her talents because I believe she’s more than suited for keeping an eye on you.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Oh! I’ve got a question!” Lydia enthusiastically waved her hand around. “Does she know magic? Goblins can use magic, right? Does she know super awesome light magic or something?”
“No,” was Kiah’s blunt answer. “My talent’s in archery and swordplay.”
“I can’t see how that’s supposed to do anything,” Samone mumbled. “You’re so… tiny…”
Casper nervously laughed before anyone else could say anything. “I know, this all seems very strange and new. But I’m certain of her abilities and letting her stay with you. Think of it, if nothing else, of a test—to see that we’re all capable of working together. If our two kingdoms can put aside physical differences for the better of our people.”
A couple more questions were asked, but it didn’t really seem to do anything; Kiah refused to even hint at an answer that related to her family or friends. Even as she started to warm up to Casper and Minne, it took a lot longer for her to say anything to the rest of them. Though that, too, was little more than casual mentions here and there.
A bit of time passed, with a few more trips to the Lake between them. Soon enough, they were all in the dining room again, listening to another similar statement from Casper. It wasn’t just a mercenary that they were going to be spending time with; he announced that Qizar’s prince, Dimas, would be staying with them for a little while.
They’d heard that he was coming and Minne gave them a final warning before then—a reminder to be mindful, something that made more sense in hindsight. She was the one to get up to show Dimas—who, frankly, almost looked guilty to be there—to his seat.
“We’re glad you came to stay with us,” she said with a smile. “Let’s get you introduced to everybody. Samone is Lord Kesem’s daughter, Lydia is the oldest child of Andrew and Diana Stone, Domenique and Fauna’s mother is a friend of mine, and Kiah’s a personal guard Casper hired a couple months ago.” Each of them nodded at their name.
“You’ll be staying with us for an entire week, correct?” Casper prompted. He continued after Dimas nodded. “Make yourself at home. May this prove that our two kingdoms can live in peace with each other by this great act of trust.”
The formality of such a statement was gone in about two seconds.
“You know magic, right?” Lydia asked. “Kiah said she didn’t, but I heard that you did. What can you do? Oh! Can you shoot fireballs out of your hand? Or throw lightning bolts from the sky?”
“N-no…” Dimas mumbled. “Nothing like that. Just a bit of Life magic…”
That caught Domenique’s attention, at least. No wonder—she’d grown in interest in it a few years ago. “Like healing magic?”
He nodded, but seemed to change his mind. “That’s what the plan is, at least. I’ve mostly been working on plant regeneration. It’s a lot less terrifying than an actual, living person…”
“It’s a shame that that’s all you know,” Samone remarked. “I heard Princess Zofie knows all kinds of things. It would be interesting to learn something from someone other than Father.”
“I don’t… have the talent for the kinds of stuff Zofie does,” he mumbled. “It wasn’t worth trying.”
“Well, knowing healing is pretty good,” Fauna said in an attempt to make him feel better. “We can’t all be throwing fireballs of mass destruction everywhere…”
Lydia nodded. “It helps with adventuring, too! It’ll come in handy in tight situations or when we’re far from a town.”
“There’s no we,” Samone corrected. “I’d rather die than sleep outside on the dirt, in a forest, and probably surrounded by Skiá.”
“I dunno,” Kiah muttered, “I think you’d do good to go outside every now and again.”
“Besides, Lydia, you can’t honestly tell me that’s the first thing you thought of when he said that,” Domenique pointed out. “You just want to see what it does—like if it makes the person glow or something.”
“You can’t blame me!” Lydia defended. “It’s not every day I can see magic in person!”
It was admirable how Minne, without losing her smile, reminded them, “Let’s quiet down, girls. You’re supposed to be making a good first impression.”
“Oh, I don’t really mind,” Dimas said. “Just act like you normally do. I don’t think anyone would like it if we had to keep things strictly formal.”
“We could prove formalities at the Lake,” Casper agreed. “Why don’t you all spend some time together, or show him around? This is his first time here, after all—we have plenty to offer. Just be sure to be home by dark.”