{-Myr-}
She really was willing to believe that Fininri hadn’t had any more answers than anyone else; everything he said made sense, and she didn’t think he was lying. But she still had mixed feelings about it. A part of her was glad for it—there wasn’t another thing she had to try to keep from bothering everyone—but the other part of her wished that they had. Maybe then she’d feel a little better… or probably worse, but at least she’d know why.
When they walked into the inn, Zetai waved them over to where all of the players and Casrane were. It didn’t look like anything important or tense had happened between them. Casrane looked a little awkward—and a bit relieved when the twins got closer—but that was pretty normal at this point.
“Were you able to talk with Fininri?” Reynneak prompted with a soft smile.
Myr gave an enthusiastic nod. “Mhm! We caught him up on everything we’ve done since the last time we saw him. He’s been doing good—he said he hadn’t really done anything exciting.”
“It was actually nice,” Llewel mumbled as he sat down. “How at least something hasn’t changed…”
It probably wasn’t Myr’s imagination to hear Casrane mumble “Sorry…” before shaking her head and addressing everyone. “I… figured you might all want an update—on the stuff I’m doing. You deserve something, for helping me with it.”
“Are you finally going to tell us what all of this is for?” Tinath asked.
Casrane shook her head. “That’s… still going to have to wait for a little while. But it’s going to happen soon, I promise that much. There’s just one more thing I need to do before then.”
It seemed that Zetai was starting to pick up on the mild concern, too. “So, what do you want us to do in the meantime? Because I’m guessing that, if you thought it was only going to take a couple of minutes, you’d have done it while we waited for the twins.”
“I was wondering if you’d be alright with heading back to Eslasera and stay with Bezyu,” Casrane said. “Then, when I come back, I’ll tell you what’s been going on.”
“Why does this feel like you’re just stalling for something?” Llewel questioned. “Why can’t you just tell us now? Or, if it’s important that no one else hears, there should be somewhere closer we can go. Duuzlo probably wouldn’t mind letting us use one of the rooms in the temple.”
“I promise, I’m not just doing all of this to waste our time. There’s enough going on that we can’t afford to linger on anything for long. There’s a reason for this. You’ve just got to be willing to stick with me to see the end of it.”
“Fine…” he mumbled. Clearer, he said, “But isn’t it a little too late to start heading back now? The players have to go soon, don’t they?”
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“Yeah, it is a little late,” Zetai remarked. “If we started going anywhere now, we wouldn’t get far. But we’ve probably got a bit of time to grab what we might need for the trip back? Then we won’t have to stop at Anthalas City and can just go straight for Eslasera.”
Reynneak nodded. “That could probably work.”
Myr took the opportunity to ask the optimistic question, “So, do you think we could visit Duuzlo before we leave, too? He probably knows that we’re in Nafrius already, so I want to see how he’s been doing, too. Not all of us have to be there to get supplies, right? So Llewel and I could go?”
Tinath shrugged. “I don’t see why not. I don’t have to leave as soon as the other two do, so I can walk you there and back.”
Myr gave a wide smile to show her thanks.
“It looks like you’ve got everything planned,” Casrane said with a nod. “I’ll see you all in Eslasera.”
…
Tinath ended up getting caught in a conversation with a couple of players right outside of the temple, but that was more or less where she was going to drop them off anyway. Llewel and Myr, then, wandered through the temple and up to Duuzlo’s office.
For a minute, she wondered if he wasn’t there—she hadn’t heard the music, at first. But then she heard it, faint but still the same familiar tunes he’d always play, as they got closer. Llewel knocked on the door and, a moment later, Duuzlo answered.
It looked like, for a moment, he’d expected to see someone else; no one bad, necessary, but not the twins. But as soon as he realized it was them, he grew a smile, and gestured the two of them inside.
“I heard that the two of you were back in Nafrius! Though I can’t say I was expecting you to drop by. Things have been going well for you, I hope? Have you been getting along well with the players?” Just those two questions seemed to be asking so much more—a way to better grasp the situation—that Myr hated to acknowledge.
Still, though, she gave a smile. “We came because of a quest Ucadra gave us, and it’s too late to do anything now, so we thought we’d stop by!”
“Everything’s been going okay,” Llewel said, more in line with Duuzlo’s question. Then he ruined whatever amount of casualness they could’ve hoped to achieve. “I’d like it better if we were actually told anything, though.”
Duuzlo continued to act as if they were still having idle conversation. “So Casrane still hasn’t really talked to you.”
“And at this rate, I’m not sure she’s going to. I can’t trust her to.” Llewel hesitated for a moment, and Myr tried giving him a glance, to show neither really wanted to know the answer. But he asked anyway. “Is there anything you can tell us?”
“I’m afraid anything I share might just make the situation more tense. It’s better if you hear it from her.”
“You’re just as important to us as she is, why would it make any difference?”
“Those are the kinds of things that only become known with time, Llewel. I pray you’ll be able to see that for yourself in a little while.”
“What if we aren’t?”
“You will. You’ve all grown so much, and it was only a matter of time before this happened.”
“Before what?”
Myr nodded nervously, too. “Come on, avoiding it is only making me more nervous…”
Duuzlo shook his head. “I assure you, you’ll learn for yourself after a little while. I just hope you’ll be ready for it, when the time finally comes.”