{-Llewel-}
They did a couple of quests in the surrounding area but, mostly by Casrane’s suggestion, still didn’t go too far from the city. She claimed it was easier to do everything around there and then spread out once they’d finished; Llewel had a feeling, though, it had to do with everything else that was going on. She didn’t want them to get too far from the city, because the city was practically the only failsafe she had during whatever was happening.
“Jasmin mentioned how she had other friends in other safe parts of Anseshara,” Zetai remarked. They’d all gone back to the inn after the day of quests, able to spend a little bit more time together before the players had to go. “Do you think we should try a couple of those tomorrow? It sounded like they were practically all the same thing.”
Tinath nodded. “I think they’re all worth looking into. If they’re not in places that’s going to cause any trouble, there’s no reason in not doing them.”
“I think that’s actually what the majority of the safe quests are about,” Reynneak said. He was looking at his map, with a dwindling number of quest spots that weren’t near anything Casrane marked.
Llewel didn’t hide the fact he was speaking directly to Casrane when he said, “Unless there’s something else we need to be avoiding?”
She intentionally turned away from all of them, and lied, “No. I guess there isn’t…”
“You can be honest,” Myr pointed out. “I think we’d all prefer it if you were…”
“There’s still some things I’ve got to work out,” Casrane said. It was hard to tell whether this was just another excuse, or something she’d honestly meant to be true. “I’ll talk about it then, but until I have all of that figured out, there’s no reason to bother you all with it.”
Tinath sighed. “Then I guess there’s no reason to argue. We’ve got more important things to do anyway.” She stood up. “I’m going to go ahead and head off. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
After she left, Zetai and Reynneak soon did, too, leaving just the twins and Casrane.
It was almost amusing, how it seemed she didn’t think they’d start any kind of conversation. But Llewel saw the opportunity and he wasn’t about to just let it go to waste.
“Are you not going to talk about it at all? Or are you just hoping to avoid it in front of the players?” he prompted, looking directly at Casrane so she knew he was only talking to her.
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“I’ve said it dozens of times before. It’s not something we need to worry about right now.” It seemed that she didn’t intend on changing that answer.
Unluckily for her, he was quickly getting annoyed with all of the secrets, and was willing to try to get it out of her one way or another.
“That other thing you told us not to worry about? That weird feeling?” He made sure his voice was lower, so that only the three of them could hear, but that didn’t make his meaning any quieter. “All it’s gotten since then is steadily worse, whether we’ve always been acknowledging it or not. I don’t know what you think is going on, but it’s not going away. Not in the way that you think it is—or maybe just not at all.”
Casrane’s expression didn’t change, nor did her words. “I’ve already contacted someone who should be able to take care of it. I’ll admit that I’ve noticed it getting worse, too, but I’m trying not to worry about it—I know that the situation is under control. I want the two of you to see that, too.”
“I don’t really think saying that is going to do anything,” Myr mumbled. “It hasn’t done anything so far, it’s probably not going to start now. You can’t just tell us a little..?”
Llewel, for a moment, wondered if he wanted to bring up another possibility. But he knew, at this point, there was no reason to try to avoid it. It was just one of the other things they’d figure out in one way or another. “It has to do with the Heart of Anseshara, doesn’t it?”
For the first time in the conversation, Casrane’s expression faltered—it grew more panicked, more troubled. She quickly put the mask back on, though. “Why do you say that?”
“You seemed to actually be getting comfortable with everyone while we were with Jasmin. I saw you as we wandered around—you were actually participating, instead of just watching from a corner. But once you came to get us, and you saw the Heart, that stopped. You went right back to being the same apprehensive, quiet person you’ve been since you joined us.”
“There’s just a lot that happened in this area. The Heart of Anseshara is like the reminder of it all.”
“In that case, then the entirety of Anseshara should be like that to you. Didn’t we get stopped before we could properly see it? It shouldn’t mean anything more to you than anything else. But you were opening up, at least a little—as much as you dared. Now you’ve got yourself guarded back under lock and key and I doubt you’re going to make the ‘mistake’ of changing that.”
“Quiet down, no one wants us to make a scene right now.”
“But I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Maybe you are, maybe you aren’t.” Casrane sighed. “How about this: let’s give it one more day. If there’s no avoiding it, then I’ll tell all of you what’s going on before the players leave for the day tomorrow. It doesn’t matter if, for some reason, not all of the players are there, or whatever else we might’ve done lasts longer than we thought. I’ll tell you, no more excuses. Does that sound good to you?”
“If I knew you could keep the promise, then yeah.”
“When I say I swear it, I mean it this time. Llewel, Myr, you can trust me with this. At this point, telling you might be for the best anyway—it could prepare you for whatever might happen in the future.”