They continued walking for another couple of hours, Rowena finding herself able to better appreciate the beauty of the outdoors now that she was a bit calmer. The hills were a lovely golden color, already shorn down to nothing in preparation for the winter months. The air was brisk, but not too cold just yet.

It really was a perfect time to be traveling, she realized, since they’d be at their destination long before winter was in full swing. Though where the journey would take them after Arcania… better not to wonder about that now, though– no sense in planning for things you couldn’t know. I wonder if there’s a Divination MAGIC USER option? she wondered idly.

“Can we stop for lunch?” Mattie called out from behind them. “This looks like a nice spot for a picnic.”

“Lunch?” Rowena whispered, horror dawning on her.

She’d forgotten about food.

Some Adventurer she was!

“I didn’t–” she started, face flushing. How could she have forgotten food? It was her responsibility to look after her party, even if she hadn’t exactly asked them to come.

Kieran burst out laughing.

“It’s not funny, Kieran!” Rowena looked around frantically, as if to spy a farmhouse or another village. She did have a little bit of money with her, though she didn’t really know the cost of buying food for a whole group for the week or so it would take them to get to Arcania. She’d thought it would be used for… for bribes, or something.

“Actually, it is,” Kieran replied.

Even Sorel and Mattie were smiling– one of the first times that day she’d seen them do so, Sorel because she wasn’t inclined to smile much anyway, and Mattie because she’d been rather morose since the incident the day before.

“I don’t understand,” Rowena said, standing with her arms open by her sides. She felt exposed again, and a little helpless.

Sorel had taken off her long cloak and spread it on the ground. She and Mattie sat on one corner and Mattie opened up her bag, pulling out a loaf of bread. Sorel did the same with some dried meat, a hunk of cheese, and some apples.

“I was wondering how long it would take you to realize we had no food,” Kieran said cheerfully. He joined Mattie and Sorel on the cloak and waved for Rowena to join them.

“How did you–” she asked, dumbfounded. She made her way back to them and sat.

“If it makes you feel any better, we didn’t,” Kieran explained between large, juicy bites of apple. “Eleanora did.”

“I had some dried fruit and jerky. And nuts,” Sorel protested, pulling out a fold of waxed cloth that was stuffed full of, presumably, dried fruit, jerky, and nuts.

“Well, bully for you,” Kieran said with an eyeroll. “What were the rest of us going to eat?”

Sorel shrugged but grinned, a twinkle entering her hazel eyes. “I was going to share.”

“But when did–” Rowena began to ask, feeling woefully inadequate.

“When you were saying goodbye to Calla,” Kieran explained. “She came over from the Inn, called me a foolish child and handed me a sack with a bunch of bread and cheese and stuff. I think I saw a tear in her eye, though. I knew she’d miss me!”

“Why didn’t you give me some to carry?” Rowena asked. “It’s not fair that you all share the food.”

“Oh, I stole an extra waterskin from your shop and snuck it in your bag while you were training with Leo. Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to let you get away with slacking,” Kieran grinned. “Though it’s not like you have an abundance of stamina.”

“That’s going to cause Calla some issues when she sums up for the week.” Rowena felt a pang of dismay when she thought of her sister taking over the arduous duties of the shop. It was one thing for Rowena to be forced into such work at a young age– she’d always intended to become a Merchant, but Calla? That had never been Calla’s interest or talent.

“You had enough to worry about,” Mattie said, reaching across the cloak to squeeze Rowena’s arm. “I’m sorry I forgot to mention it to you.”

“I’m not. The look on your face was priceless!” Kieran said, tearing off a hunk of bread.

Rowena noticed Sorel hiding a grin as well– perhaps she and Kieran had more in common than he thought. “Don’t eat it all at once,” she said. “It has to last as long as possible.”

“Of course, oh Leader,” Kieran’s tone was mocking but kind.

“I’m not really… I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Rowena said a little guiltily. “I didn’t mean for you all to… well… this isn’t really your concern.”

“Nonsense,” Kieran scoffed. “Tommie was like a brother to me, too,” he added softly.

Mattie studied her hands for a few moments, her mood turned suddenly morose, “I had always wanted to go to the University, but I never thought I’d manage it— now I feel like I have to.”

Rowena remembered Mattie’s terror after she’d inadvertently caused Ayla’s hair and nails to grow wildly after using Regenerate on the little girl and shuddered.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Still, it’s hard to leave family behind,” Rowena frowned. “How is Melody?”

In all of the excitement, Rowena had completely forgotten about Mattie’s twin sister. As hard as saying goodbye to Calla had been, she couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be separated from a twin for the first time in your life.

Mattie shook her head a little sadly. “It’s hard to say. She was so terrified of the Heartstone after what happened– but I think she’s much more upset now. This is the first time we’ve ever been so… so different.”

Sorel frowned and held out a dried plum to Mattie. Rowena had noticed the two young women growing closer over the last few months– it was sweet, really. She was glad they had each other on this journey. “And your family, Sorel?”

Sorel shrugged and looked away for a few moments. She’d always been a person of few words, but after several seconds of silence she said, “I love them. I miss them. But I always wanted to see… what else was outside of Tunehlan.”

“Farmhand goes to the big city!” Kieran laughed, and Sorel reached over and shoved him. He toppled backwards but kept laughing, adding, “I’d pay money to see that play!”

“Well… I guess that’s that, then,” Rowena said, looking at the three of them with a sigh. “We should get going if we’re going to make it to the woods tonight.”

“The woods?” Kieran frowned. “I don’t want to camp in the woods. There are dragons there.”

“There aren’t dragons in the woods,” Mattie said earnestly, jostled out of her quiet reflection by the fact that someone was wrong. She’d always been a bookish sort, and Rowena supposed she’d learned quite a bit about the lands around them. “No one has seen a dragon in decades. There might be bears, though.”

“See?” Kieran looked at Rowena, but pointed at Mattie. “Mattie knows everything, and she says there might be bears. I say we camp in the open countryside.”

Rowena shuddered at the thought of staying in this exposed landscape any longer than she had to. She wasn’t sure how to convey this, but Mattie came to her rescue.

“I didn’t say that we should camp here,” Mattie frowned. “Camping in the open like this is a terrible idea. We wouldn’t be able to have a fire, for one, because that would be like a beacon to other travelers. For another, if it rains, we’ll have no protection because there aren’t enough trees we can use to hang up our tarps.”

Rowena looked at Mattie, sitting delicately at the edge of the cloak in her dress, with surprise. Mattie was book smart, but she hadn’t thought she’d have any practical knowledge of the outdoors.

Mattie blushed the tiniest bit, but it was always easy to see on her pale, freckled visage. It emphasized the red in her almost glowing eyes that matched Kieran’s. I wish I could convince them to cover theirs up, too! she thought.

“Sorel took me camping over the summer,” Mattie said, looking suddenly very interested in studying her nails. “Thank her, not me. Also, Martha gave me a book about traveling.”

“I don’t like it,” Kieran protested.

“We’re going to have to camp in the forest at some point anyway,” Rowena pointed out. It was true– while there was a possibility of finding an Inn along the way, they couldn’t necessarily count on it.

“I’ll keep you safe, Townie,” Sorel stood up and clapped Kieran on the back heavily.

“Ouch, woman! Don’t forget you have like… super strength now!” Kieran coughed.

Rowena frowned as she stood as well, brushing some breadcrumbs from her lap as she did so. “You bring up a good point.”

“I usually do,” Kieran agreed, wrapping up the rest of the loaf of bread in a cloth to keep it from becoming too stale before the evening. Sorel and Mattie also packed away the remains of lunch, Sorel taking the bulk of the heavier items. “What was my amazing point?”

“We haven’t really had the time to discuss– well, what we are now,” Rowena said. She reached down and picked up Sorel’s cloak, shaking it out before handing it to her. “Thanks, Sorel.”

Sorel just nodded and put it on. “I’m a WARRIOR - Shield. I’m Proficient in Shield use and Stamina. My Abilities are Rebound and Dedication to a Cause. I’ve used both already,” she added.

Rowena nodded. That explained why Senna had, as Mattie explained yesterday, bounced away from the two of them when she’d attacked Mattie. Rebound was a pretty common defensive Ability for WARRIORS– her own father had it. “What’s Dedication to a Cause?”

“Abilities used in service of my cause are intensified by 20% but decreased by 10% for anything else.” Sorel looked around their picnic site and, satisfied, led them down the path again, peering ahead. “I think I can just see the forest from this vantage point. We should be able to get there by dark.”

“Alright. I guess we’ll have to try to get you an actual shield, then,” Rowena said. The fact that Sorel had had the forethought to choose a Shield proficiency even though a real shield was not available to her immediately made her feel even more embarrassed about her hasty truncheon selection. “Mattie?”

“You know I’m a MAGIC USER - Healer and chose Regeneration,” Mattie said with a touch of anxiety as she, too, recalled the scene from the day before when she’d caused little Ayla’s hair and nails to grow almost uncontrollably. “I also have Uncloud Mind and am Proficient in First Aid and… and Gravitas.”

“What in the blazes is Gravitas?” Kieran asked incredulously.

“It’s a– it’s actually usually a leadership quality,” Mattie’s voice quavered and then gained a little confidence. “It’s available to Healers so that people will listen to you.”

“Hmmm. Respect,” Kieran nodded, eyebrows raised. “Ro?”

Rowena swallowed hard, grateful for the lingering effects of her Calm Person Ability.

“I’m Proficient in Agility and Truncheon,” she said quickly, trying to gloss over the truncheon part. “I chose Calm Person and Detect Secret for Abilities.” She chose to omit the fact that somehow, Influence Individual had also been added to her Abilities when she’d accidentally used it on her father. She didn’t want to think about that.

“So what’s a Secretseeker?” Mattie asked, struggling to keep the burning curiosity out of her voice. Sorel and Kieran also looked at her eagerly.

“It’s just what… what felt the most right out of the ROGUE options,” Rowena said rather lamely. “I guess I figured it would help with finding or… interrogating… or something… that it would help bring Tommie’s killer to justice.”

“I expect we’ll all have some discovering to do about our Subclasses,” Mattie nodded. “Especially given what the Heartstone did.”

“What did it do, exactly?” Rowena asked with a sigh, looking down at her wrapped up wrist as they continued trudging down the road.

Mattie bit her lip and shook her head. “I think like Martha said, we maybe just… got a little too much of whatever it is that makes the Classes work. Anyway, Kieran… it’s not like you not to brag. Tell us about your Abilities and Proficiencies. I’ve never even heard of anyone with your Subclass.”

“About that,” Kieran said, clasping the lumpy pendant around his neck in one hand. “I don’t have any.”