Ch 3.22: Caravan

Three weeks flew by, and the sight of the caravan set Elaina’s stomach upside down. Convoy, not a caravan. She’d had half a hope that they might be able to ride with Char on the trip, but that clearly wasn’t the case. The Endrin military was apparently providing large scale reinforcements to the war up north, not just sending a few groups of students, and the resulting army of people that had marched up was far less welcoming than a carriage.

“It’s bad that there’s so many, isn’t it?” Carly asked from across Tira’s desk.

Tira herself had her eyes glued on the monitor in the guardroom. “It’s certainly not good. For many reasons. Why do they need such a large force up north, and why are they willing to risk sending so many people away when we were just attacked by the Red Order…” The “deal” mentioned by Myriala didn’t need to be brought up again. The details weren’t exactly clear, but there was something there, and we’ve apparently broken our end of it…

“I can’t believe it’s tomorrow,” Flora said, tapping the edge of the desk with her knuckles. Carly was staring at that, biting her lip in thought, but eventually she placed her hand on top of Flora’s, calming the tapping and bringing out a smile from the girl. “I think we’ll be okay. After all, we’ve been through worse, right?”

“We haven’t done worse,” Tira mumbled, standing up and pacing around the office. “I’m not worried about what’s going to happen to us out there.”

“Right,” Flora said, bowing her head and beginning her tapping again, even with Carly’s hand on hers.

“We need to come up with a plan for that,” Elaina said. It had been on everyone’s mind, but no one seemed to want to talk about it. “If we’re asked to do something… terrible, what do we do?” The room went silent, Carly and Flora staring at the ground as Tira looked up, but as time went on none of them responded.

“We have some time to think about it, I guess,” Elaina continued. “But we really need to figure it out before we arrive in Kaldish. Give it some thought; what are we willing to do? We can’t wait until the moment an order is given to have the conversation.”

The words hung in the air, but this time the other three at least nodded. Elaina didn’t like the hesitancy they showed, but maybe that was just because she was worried the final decision would have to come down to her.

“We’ll talk about it before the caravan arrives,” Tira said, picking up the bag under her desk and plopping it on top. “In the meantime, I’m still worried about this.”

“I am not ‘this,’” Temmie said from inside the bag, voice clear in their minds even through the muffled blankets she was wrapped in, “and I can hear you as well.”

“I still think it’s better to leave her with you,” Elaina said. “You’re less likely to get searched than me, right? You’re known for being super strict with rules.” Tira blushed at that, pursing her lips and looking away.

“And even if someone does find the cores in your luggage,” Flora said, “they won’t be likely to think they’re… what they are. Elaina is supposed to be poor, so two valuables of any kind might be suspect.”

“Not like I’m a noble either,” Tira said.

“I do not mind what location I reside, but I do still need access to Elaina in the event of a System emergency. I do not like being separated from her at all times.”

“Maybe we can work something out,” Elaina said, to herself just as much as Temmie. “If we have packs on patrol and such, I may be able to take you with me. Speaking of emergencies though…”

“There has been no activity I can sense from any other subcores. I would have let you know immediately if there had been.”

“It has been a while since we found another one. Is that normal?” Flora asked.

“No. I am operating on protocols put in place by the creators millenia ago in the event of unforeseen circumstances; the very fact I am executing them at all is evidence that things are not normal.”

Creators? That was the first time in a long time, maybe ever, that Elaina had heard Temmie talk so candidly about her own creation. Elaina had been meaning to ask about those things, Temmie’s past, but things were always so busy. Never enough time to address everything.

“Alright, I don’t think we have anything else we can do now” Tira said, placing the bag back under the desk. “My watch is gonna be here soon, and I can’t have any more rumours about me slacking and letting you three hang out here.”

“Just tell them we’re having orgies,” Flora said. She made sure to catch the shocked reaction from Carly before continuing. “It’s better than conspiracy to commit treason at least.”

“Right, that’ll go over so well,” Tira said with an eye roll. “The four of us are marching together at dawn, so I guess we’ll meet up here tomorrow morning a little before sunrise?” The last part was punctuated with another glance at Flora.

“Come on, I’m late to class, but I won’t be late for… well, I won’t be late, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Elaina said, shaking her head.

As they walked back to their dorm Elaina had half a mind to hope that she and Carly could lose themselves in each other for just a little while, forget everything, but the turning of her stomach continued even as she laid back in her bed, and Carly seemed just as upset.

There was no backing out now. Just one more night of freedom, and then off to the unknown.