Lynette almost had to wonder if Regind knew where they were going when they circled through what must’ve been the same area several times. Eventually, however, they found at least one of the people that they’d been looking for.

“Loraena!” Regind walked up to a young woman, one who might’ve passed as a regular human if it weren’t for her eyes.

Lynette forced herself to continue to follow Regind, trying not to too obviously hide behind her, as a kind of unease ran through her. These people were welcoming to everyone who was different—if they could do it, then so could she.

Who must’ve been Loraena gave Regind a friendly smile then seemed significantly more startled to notice Lynette. “Regind, who’s this? I haven’t seen her around before, is she new?” Already there was a slight sign of panic evident in her voice and expression.

“Mhm!” Regind gestured between both of them. “Lynette, this is Loraena, and Loraena, this is Lynette! Loraena, do you remember when Nana and Papa decided they were going to rent one of their old rooms out? I told you a few weeks ago about how someone had reserved it, right, and was coming to Yllvamel? Lynette is that person!”

“Oh!” Loraena gave Lynette a little nod of acknowledgement. “Welcome to Yllvamel, then. Did you just come?”

“I arrived two days ago,” Lynette responded with a bit of caution. From her understanding, this might be something she’d want to approach carefully. “I spent all of yesterday helping Regind, though. I wanted to get settled before spending too long in town…”

Loraena’s smile turned into a worried frown. “Regind, you made sure she knew about last night, right?”

“Funny thing,” Regind began with a half-nervous laugh. “I actually completely forgot that you were going to do that. But! It’s okay! Because I was awake anyway! See, nothing serious—aaand you’ve still got that look…”

“I’m so sorry,” Loraena said to Lynette, clearly showing all of her panic. “I didn’t—I mean, if I’d known you’d be there, I wouldn’t have—”

“It’s okay,” Lynette interrupted. “I really don’t mind. I wasn’t hurt at all—I didn’t even leave the house, thanks to Regind. No harm done, so there’s no point in stressing over it, right?”

When Loraena looked no more calm, Regind leaned a bit closer to Lynette to whisper, “You’re… probably not going to be able to talk her out of this—she takes it way more seriously than most others do. Just keep being nice and this’ll blow over eventually.”

Louder, Regind continued, “Loraena, you were talking to your mom, right? Is she doing okay?”

Loraena, slowly, nodded. “Yeah. She said the others were doing well, too.”

“That’s good! I was gonna show Lynette around the rest of the town, do you want to come with us? Or do you know where Ragnis is? I want to introduce her to him but I don’t think I’ve seen him in a while.”

“I… think I remember where he told me he was going. I’ll be willing to come with you.”

“Great! Then let’s get going, these introductions aren’t going to make themselves!”

Loraena began to lead the way, though Regind was clearly still the one with the most enthusiasm. The two of them talked about what Regind described to Lynette the night before; that charm protection against siren song. Lynette tuned out most of their conversation until they started to reach the edge of town.

And she saw one creepy as hell estate she had, somehow, missed when she first came here.

Regind noticed her staring as they walked past it. “That’s the Takemra estate, by the way! The family used to be super involved around here, I think—at least, that’s what Papa said, it was a few years before I moved in. The mom died one day and no one’s heard from the son since. Some people say it’s haunted.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“It’s not haunted,” Loraena mumbled, glancing at it herself. “He’s still in there.”

“Is it normal for otherwise perfectly ordinary and even kind towns to have a random, abandoned estate somewhere in them?” Lynette asked before she really thought to stop herself.

Regind laughed. “Well, usually there’s people in estates. But apparently there wasn’t any family to take it over, they didn’t have any servants to run it, and nothing in the mom’s will said anything about giving it to the church. So, basically, Yllvamel has a haunted—”

“Not haunted,” Loraena insisted.

“—estate right at the edge of it. Interesting, isn’t it?”

More like a script of a horror play. But Lynette kept that part to herself and simply nodded.

They continued to walk a little bit further out of town, before Regind suddenly stopped and called, “Hey, Ragnis! There you are! We’ve been looking for you!”

Lynette couldn’t see anyone out here, until a young man came out from behind a tree carrying a pile of sticks and wood. Loraena mumbled something and walked over to help him, the two having a very short conversation. Now with only half his previous load, he strode over to Regind and Lynette.

“Well, look at that!” he said with a friendly smirk. “What brings the mysterious enchanter out today, I wonder?” Then he noticed Lynette. “Oh, the new neighbor! I’ve been hearing all sorts of things about you around town. Haven’t had the chance to talk to you myself yet, though.” He gave her a brief, playful bow. “You, milady, may call me Ragnis.”

“Lynette,” she returned after a moment. She felt obligated to add, “Drop the act. You’re not charming.”

Ragnis let out a chuckle. “Right to the point, I see. I think you hurt my ego a little there.”

“You’ll be fine,” Loraena remarked with a small smile.

“If Kadnekhs are known for anything, it is our resilience!” Ragnis turned his attention back to Regind. “Was there something you needed? Or something Nana or Papa Ransu need? Pretty rare to see you out and about without some kind of goal in mind.”

“Not really!” Regind replied brightly. “We’re just showing Lynette around. Do you want to come with us? You’ve probably got some other stuff that has to be done in town, right? You’d probably be done a lot sooner if we all help out.”

Ragnis smirked, then gestured for the rest of them to follow him as he started back towards town. “I could use a hand—or a couple! Then this new neighbor of ours can tell me a little more about herself.”

Lynette bit back her first response of “Me?” in favor of simply seeing how this would play out. She was able to be somewhat honest with Regind and nothing bad seemed to come out of it. As long as Ragnis didn’t ask too probing of a question, she could probably effortlessly play it off—she didn’t have years of experience in acting for nothing.

When she didn’t take the initiative, he did. “So, where are you from?”

After a moment’s debate, she decided to be honest and, quietly, admitted, “Seothia.”

“That’s quite a bit away from here, you know! I was born and raised right here in Yllvamel. I’ve always liked being involved so you’ll always see me running around town. What about you? What brings you to this humble town of ours?”

She hesitated long enough for it to become clear she wasn’t comfortable answering. All three of them took it to mean something different than that, though.

“You’re not the first new person to show up in Yllvamel!” Regind assured her, motioning to herself and Loraena. “We both weren’t from here originally. I’ve only been here five years! I came because it had a lot more opportunities for alchemy than my hometown did. The people were always really nice here, too.”

Loraena nodded. “I used to be near the Clymei River—it’s a little further north of here, a few day’s away—but I was allowed to stay closer to Yllvamel when I was thirteen. I saw what the community was like here and I wanted to be a part of that.” She glanced at Ragnis. “The idea of there being others kind of like me helped, too. To be honest, I kind of like being around humans rather than other sirens…”

“Trust me,” Lynette said slowly, “I’m not avoiding it because I feel like I stand out here.” Actually, she did. Too much of her was whispering that it wouldn’t end well if she told these people who were still practical strangers. “I’m just not ready to answer that kind of question yet. Maybe later.”

Maybe never.

Ragnis didn’t seem too bothered by it. “Alright, we’ve all got to have our secrets. Enjoying life here so far, at least?”

She nodded and, somehow, managed a small smile. “Yeah. I… think I’m going to like it here. In a way, this place already feels like home.”

Regind beamed. “That’s Yllvamel for you!”