CH 246: Trek Back
Claire and Hannah helped with carrying Samira. They took the spots of the two mages, while Ursa and Victoria “guarded the perimeter.” It was a thinly veiled excuse to keep Ursa from helping and keeping their secret safe. The four mages walked ahead of the group carrying Samira, with Victoria and Ursa even further ahead.
“So which one of you is Elsie?” Mabel asked the twins.
“I am?” Elsie tilted her head. “Who are you?”
“Ah, I’m Mabel. I work as Lady Roseline’s offensive mage,” Mabel smiled at her. “I hear you can use three types of magic. That is impressive at your age.”
“Yeah,” Elsie grabbed her sister's hand. “I guess.”
“At your age, I was still getting used to my wind magic,” Mabel continued. She glanced back at her Lady. “Elincia was my childhood friend, so she hired me. Felt like it was nepotism for a long time.”
“Oh, shush,” Ariah spoke up. She had taken off her headdress, since she was beginning to sweat. It was clear she was from the southwestern desert. “You were the strongest of us all for a long time.”
“Never felt like it,” Mabel shrugged. “But still, it took me a whole year to gain a second element.”
Elsie held back a smug smile. Though in her mind, she was gloating to her sister.
“E-excuse me?” Ana asked Ariah. She ignored Elsie for her curiosity, “Are you from Patragon?”
“I am,” Ariah nodded with a warm smile. “Did my skintone give it away?”
“I-it did,” Ana replied. She thought back to her lessons about Patragon and its desert. Patragon used to be a separate country from Riefleheim, but eventually joined them. One of the few land gains Riefleheim acquired by negotiations and not conquest. “And the clothing.”
“Oh! So you have lamias near you, right?” Elsie chimed in since Ana was ignoring. “How different are they from Samira?”
“Very different.” Ariah glanced back as her smile dropped. “This one is so much more human-like. You also don’t see such vibrant colors from our lamias. They’re a mix of sand brown, sand grey, and faded black. Never this bright red or deep black.”
“Is it strange that her hair is the same shade as that woman’s?” Mabel tilted her head and pointed towards. She was comparing Claire’s hair to Samira’s. “It’s not a red you see often, either.”
Elsie held back a laugh. It probably wasn’t a coincidence, given Claire’s Goddess. “I never noticed.”
“You usually see a lighter red, almost orange.” Mabel rubbed her chin. “Claire, was it?”
“It is,” Elsie confirmed.
“Her hair’s beautiful.” Mabel’s voice rang with a familiar emotion. It was no longer a cold, observational tone. Now, it was bordering on lust.
“Um, Miss Mabel?” Ana broke from Elsie’s hand. She tugged on Mabel’s sleeve. “It’s best not to stare.”
Ariah furrowed her brow and examined Mabel with her Analytical Eye. That encoded influence was back. “Mabel!”
The wizard shook her head and turned towards Ariah. “It was that influence again…”
Everyone stopped after Ariah shouted. All eyes turned towards the woman.
“I’ll explain it later,” Victoria said.
Claire was watching her the entire time. She took her eyes off her for only a moment, and she was now by Ariah. Claire blinked and judged the distance. She traveled 30 yards in the blink of an eye, it seemed.
“Sure,” Ariah nodded. “But I’ve never seen an influence like this. It’s like it bypasses Mabel’s high resistance…”
“Probably because of its origins,” Victoria patted her back. “Don’t worry about it.”
They quickly resumed their march. Claire watched Victoria like a hawk this time. She traveled normally, semi-jogging to catch up with Ursa. It just didn’t really make sense how she moved so fast.
“Best not to strain yourself,” Elincia’s voice cut through Claire’s concentration. “I’ve tried many times over the years to follow her.”
“You two know each other well?” Claire asked. She turned to the noblewoman, and her mind nearly went blank. Elincia was so much like the noblewomen she read about. As beautiful as she was kind. It was a different kind of beauty when compared to her lovers.
“The Efreits and Roselines have a long-standing alliance,” Elincia explained. She glanced at Claire and noticed her blush and look away. “They guarded the east, and we guarded the west. Riefleheim expanded eastward, so they no longer have our left flank. But the alliance stayed.”
“Lloyds were a part of it, too, right?” Jasmine asked.
“They were,” Elincia nodded after getting confused about Claire’s reaction. “But they were under the Efreits, so we never really kept up with them.”
“So our noble family was more like you and the Efreits?” Claire asked before chancing a glance at Elincia. She couldn’t help it anymore, since the noble beauty was so foreign to her. “Um, until the current one took over.”
“Indeed,” Elincia chuckled. She finally figured out why Claire was acting so off. It’d been a while since someone was awestruck by her face. “But, then your Lady poisoned her family.”
“Allegedly,” Victoria popped up beside Elincia. “No one actually knows what happened to them.”
Claire flinched, but Elincia didn’t. Her reaction did cause both Elincia and Victoria to laugh.
“Right,” Elincia shrugged after a moment of laughing. “Whatever happened led to your Lady’s rise to power. Then Victoria said, and I quote, ‘let this fief go to shit.’”
“Damn,” Joslyn beamed behind Elincia. “Been a long while since I heard you swear.”
“Shush, I swear when I need to,” Elincia rolled her eyes. “But yes, even if we knew, our hands are tied when it comes to other nobles’ lands.”
“I get it,” Claire nodded. She was slowly getting over her mind wandering while looking at Elincia. “Could lead to a civil war.”
“Mhmm,” Elincia nodded.
“Well, what do you think happened to the Lloyds?” Jasmine asked Victoria. “Since you know so much.”
“Hard to say, really,” Victoria pondered. She rubbed her chin for a moment, “Poisoning is the only real consistency between accounts. Either the family died while eating dinner or later. No real answers on the poison used. Myrtle passed it off as an illness that ran in the family.”
“And she got away with it?” Elincia asked in disgust.
“Easily,” Victoria smiled at her. “The other nobles hate your family and my Lady’s. They love to see us lose allies.”
“Honorable noble families are a dying breed,” Jasmine sighed. “From what Elizabeth told me, there were a lot more when she was young.”
“Ah, the mayor,” Victoria moved closer to Jasmine. “She was very fun to talk to. Knew a lot about history and management. Far more than any small town would need.”
Jasmine got a bit defensive for a moment. Elizabeth and Sloane were her adoptive mothers after all. But she let the feeling pass after understanding the implications. She didn’t know much about Elizabeth’s past before moving to Restol, just that her skills far exceeded those of a town with a population of 16. This was compounded by Victoria’s observations about her home.
“What are you implying?” Jasmine finally asked.
“That she’s a rare talent far better suited for a noble’s estate,” Victoria responded smugly. “She’s doing the taxes and administration of six other small villages. Did you know that?”
“Wait, really?” Claire butt-in on the conversation. “That’s impressive.”
“Indeed, it is,” Victoria chuckled.
Jasmine stared at the spy with an unsettling feeling. The implications of her words were sitting with the raven-haired assassin. There were a lot more questions piling up in Jasmine’s mind about almost everything. The rare talent within Restol, a Goddess’s Champion, and her adoptive mother’s past. And this woman knew something, but wasn’t telling them.
Before Jasmine could even start with any questions, Victoria clapped her hands together. “Ah, looks like we made it to the carriage. I’m dying to see Master Anthony.”
She wandered away from the group, leaving Jasmine with more questions than answers. The only comfort she got was Quinn’s hand on her shoulder and reassurance.
“She’s always like this,” the brunette whispered in her ear. “Never willing to give a straight answer. Finds enjoyment in us figuring it out with small hints.”
“How the fuck does Lady Efreit deal with her?” Elincia shook her head.
“Two today?” Roslyn laughed behind her.
Hannah finally chimed in from the back. “She’s more straightforward with our Lady. A lot more serious and less chaotic at home. I never really saw this side of her.”
“Have to be quite eccentric given her occupation,” Quinn exhaled. “She is entrusted with so many secrets and knowledge, trained to resist torture and compulsion. You don’t go through all that with a sane mind.”
“Well, she did stop us from needlessly fighting,” Elincia shrugged. She glanced back at the assassin and then to Claire. “That, I am thankful for.”