Sobon considered the 'city' before her with a keenly uninterested eye, as she repeatedly and successfully suppressed her instincts to say or do anything that showed her intense disdain for the people who labelled their large-ish town a 'city'. It was a matter of context, she knew; there were thousands of people packed into an urban area at the bottom of a river valley where several wide and (admittedly) well-paved roads met. For a pre-industrial society, the effort it took to pack thousands or tens of thousands into a single location was significant. Sobon knew well that it was asking too much to expect the same sprawl here as existed in a world with proper sanitation and transit technologies.

And it's not as though there wasn't obvious prosperity here. Sobon could see the vast distinction between rich and poor parts of town, and it was clear that the areas packed around the main trading roads were built up and well kept. Rich neighborhood and sections of town stretched out in various directions from the trade roads and from what looked like a market sector, with the areas between packed with smaller, uglier buildings. Although Sobon couldn't tell the full layout of the city from here, it was obvious that the trade roads had made the city prosper.

Sobon's group, naturally, had only been on a wider trade road for a little while. The road to the inn that Alassi had called home was on a much smaller trade route through the mountains, and while it served a purpose, the money that flowed along that road was much less compared to the money that flowed from the Ijian people to the west to the Djangese in the east, and to a lesser extend, back the other way. And even this city, somewhere along that route... Sobon studied the city as they approached, but even the greatest of the dwellings and buildings she saw were not palaces. There were two districts that were each dominated by a series of mansions, but neither seemed to be a cohesive whole, as would be owned by a single noble or royal family.

Sobon considered asking for more details, not for the first time, but the city lord had rushed on ahead from the very start of the travel, along with several retainers, leaving Sobon in the questionably helpful hands of a guard commander named Spangh. Alassi classified him mentally as Ijian, from the west, but she had doubts enough to suggest he was mixed parentage. He was also scarred and stern, despite his Iron Qi, and although he had been deferential, he eyed Sobon like she was likely to cause problems.

"It hasn't changed as much as it looks like," Mian said from her side as they continued on down the road. "There were fewer big dwellings when I first came here, but I think they are all the same families. They have simply gotten more money as time goes on, thanks to the Diamond Lord." He made a face as he said it.

Ah, I keep forgetting about that, Sobon reflected. The Bilgs were forcefully recruiting in the name of the Diamond Lord... but if that were happening here, Alassi, Lui, and Mian would have all been dragged in.

[ We are not a colony here, and not under Starbeast invasion. ] Alassi replied mentally, although it was clear she didn't have a lot of information herself. [ In my homeland, they simply bought people's service if they were willing, and many poor folks had little choice. But some places where they need warriors or hate the people they conquered, service is mandatory, perhaps even to death. Here, they won't even pay much for service unless you are strong, because they have enough warriors already. ]

That was a clinical way to describe what Jom had been through, Sobon considered as she stared down at the city below. Mian, perhaps expecting a response, shifted uneasily, so she shook her head. "I barely remember anything," she said, and it was true. Alassi herself had only stayed here while in the military, or when her husband had been, before her.

"At least there are no major noble families here. If there were, I imagine they would be neck deep in the slave trade, like House Mofu. The largest is house Xoi, and they are only small players."

Xoi? Sobon frowned, but only for a moment. If that was the same house that Xoi Xam came from--which would be a stretch--that would be a good indication that some major fate manipulation pattern was controlling his resurrections. From what he understood, he had last met the woman half a world away, in what Alassi was calling a Djangese colony. "Small players, you say."

"Not enough money," grunted Mian, simply. "Every end of these roads has a major family at the end of it. If anyone controlled the small cities in between, and took their share of the coin passing through, someone or other would get upset. It happened in the city of Russet Vale, to the north." He paused. "That's where I met you, when the liger Starbeasts poured from the mountains."

Sobon let that roll of of her, although Alassi's spirit tried with some effort to recall her circumstances from back then. At last she recalled--a lesser mission she had put beneath her quickly. She mostly remembered the inconvenient travel and poor lodging. "That was a long time ago," Sobon said, half keeping an eye on Mian's reaction, but mostly trying to understand the city before her.

"Yes. I was a child, and you were..." Younger. Mian didn't voice the thought, although Sobon thought the aether wave that carried it was embarrassingly clear. "...magnificent. I can still recall the battle so clearly. Although I was so far away... a drop of blood landed on me. I meditated on that single drop of blood for two days, absorbing its qi, and by the time I woke up, you were already gone."

Sobon considered responding, but a noise from ahead turned out to be a pair of messengers, stopping at a respectable distance. The guard commander moved forward, and so did Sobon, more than half expecting that at least one of the messengers would be for her, and she wasn't disappointed.

"Lady Alassi," said one of the messengers, a distinctly Djang young man with high Copper qi--in other words, hardly any. But he was young, Sobon thought, although he had a heavy sense of something laid over him, like an aether blanket smothering him. He had bowed as soon as he saw her approach. "The City Lord has requested that I direct you to your place of residence." The other messenger, much more perfunctory, was directing the commander to something, which Sobon didn't bother to listen in to.

So Sobon gathered Lui and Mian, and the three of them followed the messenger, who as it turned out, had some kind of speed enhancement pattern laid over him. Although Sobon could plainly see it sapping his qi to the point of exhaustion, he struggled to maintain a fairly rapid pace, more than his short legs could natually make. Of course, he wasn't much past Lui's age, and she didn't have the same pattern to benefit her.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Slow down, boy," Sobon said. "My granddaughter can't keep up that pace any more than you can."

"I'm fine, Grandma," Lui protested, but Sobon would have said the same even if she were. As it was, the girl had been losing steam throughout the whole day's walk.

"My pardon, Lady," the boy simply said, and did his best to match his pace to Lui's. Sobon studied the boy, and then Lui, but although the two did trace glances, and both had traces of curiosity, neither tried to speak to the other.

"What can you tell me about this residence?" Sobon broke the awkward silence.

"Ah. Your pardon, Lady, but it is only a small house. The Lord believed that in spite of your... status, it would be to your liking. It is a bit behind the Way of Silver."

Sobon glanced at Mian, to see if he understood that.

"The Way of Silver is a side road with several of the crafts shops," he filled in. "I'm sure you went there for your uniform, if nothing else."

Sobon nodded, mentally considering the view of town from above she'd seen. Once they entered the city proper, she began filling out a mental map; though nowhere near what cyborg prosthetics could handle, the data-bundle that the Corona had given her did allow datagram storage, as well as letting her access what the AI had sent. Storing, recalling, and editing a map was nothing, though she would have paid good money to have a second mental eye again, or at least a good prosthetic interface.

Finally, the small group turned into the Way of Silver, and Alassi found that she did know the road. It was an astonishingly clean avenue, more than the trade road, and there were several young people--children or apprentices--sweeping or cleaning as they passed through. All of them had qi, save one, a youngish brat with a limp who was polishing windows at what Sobon believed was a jeweler's, until Alassi translated the sign as something more like an Inscriptionist.

Soon enough, though, they took a side road off of the Way of Silver into one of the many expensive, well-kept districts that Sobon had noted from a distance. Close in, every house that they passed was contained in a walled courtyard, with aether inscriptions of some sort providing advanced protection. She tried to keep a frown off her face--at this point, she still wasn't entirely certain whether she was being gifted property or allowed rent, possibly free rent, but either way, this area seemed a bit upscale for that.

When at last their guide brought them to a stop, Sobon was finally able to recontextualize. It was a small house--for this area. It was walled, but in poor repair. And it was very obviously abandoned, with the gate half torn from its hinges.

The guide immediately turned and bowed again. "With your permission, Lady..." Sobon didn't know what he wanted, and nodded, and the boy produced a key from nowhere and raised it up to the damaged gate.

There was no need to insert the key. A pulse of qi forced the gates open, although the damaged hinge made a terrible noise as it moved. When Sobon felt the aether fields had fully relaxed, she stepped through the gate, looking around. The courtyard was small and made of muddy clay, with the remnants of paving stones leading to the main house. There were two shacks on either side of the courtyard, each of which was big enough to fit a bed, comfortably, and had a door for privacy, but not a great deal more.

The main house was larger, but not large. Sobon stepped inside to find himself in a living space that included a kitchen on one end, and a sealed back section that included what appeared to be a bathing room, a separate toilet, one main bedroom, and two small rooms that could be a bedroom, work room, or storage. Even the main bedroom wasn't large, though Sobon wouldn't have cared even if he couldn't do anything about it.

He returned to find Lui and Mian looking around, appreciatively, and the guide looking a little nervous. "And this is mine?"

"Ah... yes, Lady. The City Lord will have the documents put in your name as soon as tomorrow, but tonight, this place is reserved for you alone."

She considered. "What are the laws about qi inscriptions on the walls?"

The boy twitched. "My understanding is limited, my lady. I will ask. But each wall here is separate from those around it, so there should not be much difficulty."

That was all Sobon wanted to hear, and he dismissed the boy, who gave her the key to the qi seals, and then departed. Sobon could feel the key's qi in her hand, and although it and the matched seals on the gate didn't seem complex, she simply used the key to wave the gate shut. It made noise, again, but that was a problem for another day.

"Are we really going to live here?" Lui was inside the main home, looking around. "It's not much of a kitchen..."

Mian stepped in to look, but just scoffed. "It'll do," he declared. "I'll get us food, if you'll register me with the gate."

Figuring that out was slightly more difficult, but only just, and Mian had an idea of what to do--though Alassi wasn't sure where he would have picked up such a skill. He simply pressed a hand to the gate while Sobon willed the key to authorize him, and he could control it with a wave of his hand. Sobon, naturally, studied the mechanisms behind it, and after stepping outside and experimenting, decided that she could have picked the lock on any home with a similar system in instants.

Instead of fussing about that, though Sobon studied the damaged hinge, and with a minimum amount of effort, replaced the physical mechanisms with a pure-aether binding that held the gate up off the ground. It woudn't do in the long term, if for no other reason than that it looked very odd, but Sobon didn't want anyone complaining about the noise.

"You really are amazing," Lui said, and Sobon turned to look at the girl, to find that she had a look on her face that... that Sobon wasn't sure she could read. "Can I ask...?"

"It doesn't seem normal, does it?" Sobon looked at it. "It's not. Qi is complicated, but this is... fundamental. It's from somewhere else." Of course, the Ri'lef engineer had told her not to use raw aether, or not much. Sobon would stick more to those rules when she had mastered the database of qi inscriptions, or whatever, that the engineer had promisd would follow up the initial burst transmission. Sobon made a mental note to follow up, if she didn't hear from the Corona soon. For now, though, she just looked at Lui. "And you... are you alright?"

"I'm scared," Lui admitted. "I wasn't... I wasn't expecting you to take me away from my father. I guess after... after what happened, I understand. I felt like I was... in danger, a few times. Especially when those men, or ones like them, were around." She shifted, nervously. "I thought that was just a part of the job, and that I'd have to grow up strong and deal with it. Dad said something like that. Uncle Mian said to come to him if I was uncomfortable."

Sobon let out an irritated breath. Again, in small ways, Tuli had been responsible for it, though Sobon could admit the man had only a few other options. At least now, he would have to explore those options, and not endanger his own daughter. "Do you trust Mian?"

"Yes. He has a good..." she hesitated. "I feel like he is a good man."

Sobon took those words for what they were, and looked at Lui. "Did you think your father was a good man?"

The girl trembled, and Sobon knew that it had been an unfair question. So she wrapper her arms around the girl, keeping her anger inside. She knew that Lui was bright--she must have known, or at least suspected. But she also was just a girl, and children... trusted. Too easily.

Sobon wasn't sure what would happen next, but she resolved not to be too trusting. Even with this small boon, this world had not earned her trust, not yet.