“Oh, hello, I didn’t see you there. Orion, yes?” She delicately extended a hand, palm down, and I wracked my head for a moment for the correct response. I wasn’t technically a nobleman, but this was a situation where it was better to act like one. Adonia was… a friend of a friend, but engaged so… The hour-long lecture I’d had Miranda prepare for me proved its worth as I remembered the correct protocol.

“A pleasure.” Wrapping a neigh-invisible layer of mana over my lips to stop any topical poisons or similar residues, I bowed my head and brushed my lips across her knuckles. She frowned momentarily, then withdrew her hand. I honestly had no idea what was going through her head or how she would interpret my actions. In theory, the gesture was supposed to imply that I considered myself a noble of similar rank, but I definitely didn’t look like it right now. Gods above I hated this already.

We both followed after Erwin in silence, who loudly called out that Adonia was here. From the way she moved between racks of clothing and behind the counter, I assumed that Adonia came here occasionally, but not often. She clearly knew where she was going, but wasn’t intimately familiar with the location.

That did make sense. She probably had a manor of some sort in the town, or possibly somewhere slightly outside of it. Even if her House wasn’t based on the island, everyone who was anyone had some presence in the capital. For an heiress attending school, it wasn’t that big an expense to have something prepared in a convenient location.

I slightly regretted not looking into these ‘Earthshadows’. I remembered the name coming up during the presentation, but that had been one of the sections I wasn’t particularly paying attention to. Her dad was a general maybe? Something like that. I hadn’t expected it to be important so soon, so hadn’t yet checked Miranda’s notes on the topic. Hopefully it wouldn’t be anything too concerning.

I was somewhat worried about how Lea was going to react. From her rant and the ensuing mumbling, I understood she had mixed feelings towards the woman right now. She still loved her and cherished the time they had spent together so far, but it was tainted by the events of the last two weeks. Hopefully the chance to get some of that off her shoulders had helped, I had a feeling that having Lea blow up on this girl would not be conducive to a pleasant evening.

Thankfully, as I stepped into the room just a moment behind Adonia, I found that Lea had barely reacted to her girlfriend’s presence, simply continuing to sip slowly at her cooling cup. I was pretty sure Adonia was hurt by the indifferent response, but I really couldn’t tell.

She looked around briefly, then made to take my seat at the square table, only for Estin to intercept her as he carried another chair into the room and placed it deliberately between himself and his brother. She grudgingly took the seat, glancing several times towards where I had retaken my spot, but not saying anything. She smiled politely and thanked Erwin when he handed her a plate and a cup, but did not say anything else yet.

It was only after a minute of awkward silence, once she had a steaming drink and a slice of cake in front of her, that she finally turned towards Lea. “I’m glad to see that you’re alright. When Corin told me he saw a stranger carrying you towards the healers, I feared the worst.”

Without bothering to set her cup down, Lea eventually mumbled, “I’m fine. Thanks.” Good, that was a nice, passive answer, if a bit rude. “No thanks to you,” she mumbled under her breath. Lovely, at least Adonia didn’t seem to have heard her, or was pretending she hadn’t at any rate.

Adonia soldiered on, “Horrible, absolutely horrible that you would be attacked, and within the city as well. To think that some jumped-up thugs would dare assault someone under the protection of the Earthshadow name. I want names, Leana dear, and I will ensure they understand the consequences of their actions. I’ll have my best servants on it that moment I get home. Just because we are having a… minor disagreement is no reason to assume we are no longer affiliated. On my Name and honor.”

Leana… did not look particularly reassured by her words, but I was certainly glad to hear it. Name and honor was a serious oath and I could hear the resolve in her voice. I was curious how much of it was her genuine anger at someone infringing on her Name’s associates and how much was a ploy to get Lea to forgive her, probably a bit of both. I was still going to make my own plans of course, I’d carefully preserved both the physical and magical samples I’d taken to ensure they didn’t lose their potency, but free help was always appreciated.

“Fat lot of good your Name did me yesterday,” Lea mumbled, and Adonia reeled back as if struck. “If it wasn’t for Orion they… I…”

“Leana,” Erwin cut her off sharply, a note of disapproval in his voice.

“What?” she asked, setting her empty cup down with more force than was strictly necessary. “It's true! If not for Orion, if he hadn’t been there, they would have… they were going too–”

This time Estin spoke up “It's terrible, but it's not her fault. Now apologize, she’s just trying to help you.”

I simply sat back and listened as the trio began to bicker, Lea protesting that she hadn’t said anything wrong. There was no real heat in it I was pretty sure, and Adonia’s rapid ‘it’s fine' and ‘it’s ok' were rather funny.

I was honestly with Lea here, but then again, I’d never really cared much about my Name. I’d grown up as a peasant, if a comparably well-off one, so that sort of thing had never been particularly important. I’d all but forgotten just how seriously merchants and nobles took the entire thing. There had even been a part of the presentation about it, though not a particularly large section, and what Lea had said qualified as a rather major insult, especially when coming from someone of a lower class than Adonia’s Name.

Eventually however, it got rather old. “Lea,” I said quietly, setting a hand on her thigh under the table, “the names?” I could track them down without the information, but it would be helpful and hopefully would let us move on from this nonsense.

Adonia, who had been in the middle of saying something again, shut up the moment Lea began to speak. “The names? Oh, yes. The names. It was… it was a couple of our classmates. The Firewalker twins, Nettle Shieldlight and her older brother, I don’t remember his name. Um, Seasong I think, Lilac maybe? The new girl. And… Calvert,” her eyes briefly flickered over to look at me. “Calvert Timetouch.”

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Adonia’s expression darkened as Lea spoke, and at the end she slammed her hand against the table and swore loudly. “That lying snake son of a maggot and a whore! It was him, you’re sure it was him?” Lea nodded wordlessly. “Oh that little… just because… he thinks that… oh!” She began to mumble quietly, a severe frown on her face as her words kept devolving into swears. She took a deep breath, then, as calmly as she could manage, said, “Thank you. I’ll make sure they regret messing with you. They’ll rue the day they crossed Earthshadow.

“Should Lea be worried about a second attack?” I asked pointedly, “I imagine it will take some time for you to take care of things, and I won’t always be there.”

She looked over at me in surprise, seeming to have all but forgotten I was here. She shook her head, “They wouldn’t dare. Still,” she turned back to Lea, “Please do be careful. Even better, you should come stay with me for a few days. Even… even if you don’t want to stay in our room, I can definitely find you something. Perhaps a room down by the gardens? I know how much you enjoy–”

“Orion?” Lea asked, the question obvious in her voice.

I shook my head somberly. “I… don’t think that’s a good idea. The place I’m staying isn’t… good with guests.” Her face fell, but I didn’t let her puppy-dog eyes affect me. There was no way I was bringing her to Avalon unless there was no other option available.

“And where is that?” Adonia cut in, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before and I’ve met most of the nobles on the island.”

“I’ve… been away for a long time. Ten years, give or take, and I’m not living in the city now either. I’m just… visiting.” After a moment I added, “Because of the portal.” I didn’t want to lie, but I wasn’t particularly interested in telling the truth either. Many mages and wealthy nobles had items that could detect falsehoods, so it was important to know how to coach your words properly. More than that, I didn’t want Lea to think I was lying to her. She was… fragile, it was easy to see, and I had a feeling openly lying to her face might weaken our freshly reformed relationship.

“Oh? So you’re from Kyra then? I know there are only a few noble Names down there.”

“I grew up on Kyra, yes. I lived not far from Leana here. We were… good friends until I was forced to leave due to family issues. I traveled for a few years and have been studying magic abroad until now.” There. Vague, but still sufficiently thorough I hoped, and not exactly an uncommon story. The fact that I was from Kyra as well was a bit more than I was interested in revealing, but it wasn’t a hard thing to intuit since it was the only way I could have known Lea as a child. Still, it was best to stop there, so I answered with a question of my own. “And yourself? I’m afraid I’ve been rather out of touch this past decade so I’m not caught up on all the news yet, and I haven’t had much of a chance to speak with my friend yet.”

“Myself? Oh, well,” she stumbled over her words for a moment, apparently surprised that I didn’t immediately know who she was in detail. Maybe she was right to be, I honestly didn’t know much about my homeland’s politics, but it seemed she wasn’t particularly used to talking about her past. “Well, I’ve lived here for most of my life, though my lord Father has taken me on some trips to the other islands and the mainland. Recently, I’ve been studying at Lighcastle for a few years with Leana. It’s the best school around and my house is based out of the capitol, so it was an excellent option.”

“Very interesting. So, that's what, the last two years? Three?” I asked with interest.

“This will be my sixth, actually,” she corrected me. “I began a year early and am almost ready to be certified as a third circle mage.”

She said as though it was supposed to be some kind of boast, but I could only blink at her. This was her sixth year studying magic? And… I reached out towards her core, feeling the clumsy knot of mana that made up her core. And this was all she had to show for it? Perhaps she could cast a third circle spell or two, but she was in no way a third circle mage. She had enough mana to manage one or two of them, probably, but her density was frankly terrible

She seemed to be waiting for a response, so I eventually settled on a quiet, “Very impressive. You are a testament to your Name,” which made her puff up with pride. Six years… And Lea was supposed to be studying at this school as well? I would definitely have to make sure she wasn’t developing bad habits. Maybe not today, but as soon as possible. Six. Years…

Slowly, conversation around the table resumed, though it never returned to the light tone that had existed before Adonia showed up. Lea and Adonia kept looking at each other when they thought no one was paying attention, complicated expressions on their faces. Adonia repeated her promise to make the attackers regret their choices several times and used several excuses to try to get Lea alone, but Lea wasn’t having it. Eventually, she seemed to get the hint and stopped.

“Well, it’s been a pleasure. Thank you for having me, Misters Saddleshapers, but I really must get going. I’ll see you in class Leana?” Lea nodded and Adonia stood up, making for the door.

A quick time spell told me it was getting rather late, and I had three classes the next day, including an important session with Professor Yana in the morning. I also stood up, “I believe it’s about time for me as well. Lea, we still have a lot of catching up to do. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it over tomorrow, but perhaps Friday in the afternoon?”

“Of course, we’d be happy to have you over again!”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Lea chimed in softly.

I turned to leave, and heard a chair push backwards quickly. Lea rushed up behind me, wrapping her arms around my chest and pressing her cheek against my broad back. “Come back soon. As soon as you can. I don’t… I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you again.”

“I will.” Something brushed up against the edges of my senses for a moment, and I tensed, but it disappeared barely a second later. I wasn’t even really sure I’d felt anything, it felt a lot like a particularly strong current of ambient mana, but I still glanced around suspiciously for a moment. “Take care of yourself Lea. I’ll see you soon.”

She held on tightly for another moment, before sighing and letting me go. I turned around and she giggled when I planting a small kiss on her forehead. “Now, I really do need to get going. Unfortunately, I have an early morning tomorrow.”

I closed my eyes, thinking of the mess that was waiting for me back at Avalon. I hadn’t even left yet, and I was already looking forward to being back here. “Bye Lea. Thank you for having me over Erwin, Estin. Maybe I’ll get myself a new coat next time, this one’s getting a tad worn out.”

“Of course, we’d be happy to help a family friend.”

I walked out into the dark street and shook my head. They may be misguided, but they seemed like nice people. I would have to take pains to keep them as far away from Avalon as I could. The faster I settled this business with Clarient, the better. I sighed. Well, best get to it then.