Eighteen

At first, while Borin was still inside the inn, he met Sylvie's stare with a look that was no longer as surprised as it would have been a night or two earlier. Something had finally gotten through to his - currently - thick skull. He shrugged at her smile innocently enough, then ate silently.

He had the decency to look at least a little repentant, but Sylvie gave him little chance to do that. Sebastian chuckled at the whispered word and narrowed his eyes mock-warningly at her. "Quite," he replied, smiling.

Once they had eaten, Sebastian crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back in his seat. "I'll have to remember this place next time I come this way," he said quietly and nudged his satchel with his foot.

Sylvie had been waiting for him. Automatically she answered, "It's somewhat hard to miss." She tilted her head. "But now you're bored and eager to leave?" That'd be fine with her.

"I wouldn't say bored, that was a bit on the... er. Interesting side just now," he said diplomatically - that is, downplaying his alarm - and shrugged. "I'm all for leaving if there's no further business here. There's still a race against nature going on."

"Right. I'll be right back." She'd left her pack and dragon in the room, and was accompanied by someone to check if her pet hadn't damaged anything (he hadn't).


There were somewhat more people on this road, but it was still far from busy.

Once they were out of the village, Sylvie asked, "So, did I understand this correctly, The Hat went by the name of Fox occasionally?"

He had been expecting that question, obviously. Sebastian smiled momentarily. "The Fox, sometimes the Silver Fox. Other names, too. Fox Demon, now that would be a new one... ah, I just couldn't help myself."

"You couldn't help what?"

"Well, telling Borin last night how ducks would have made more sense than chickens."

Sylvie shrugged. "A bit. I'm not sure they'd actually survived it, though. That kind of story is even less about sense than stories in general."

"You're right about the chances of survival," he said, looking to the side and narrowing his eyes. "And about the story otherwise." Regardless, he was looking forward to seeing if there would actually be ducks in future versions of the story...

Sylvie fell silent. Making suggestions to change a story like that did not seem unusual to her, but then if Borin would have guessed why Sebastian actually was that interested the "couldn't help myself" would have been more than fitting.

By afternoon the wind picked up near Canyet, bringing with it the scent of fresh rain. The watchmen by the city gates watched as the weather finally completed a natural circle. They could see from their posts how the rain fell far, far in the distance and inched closer. They were glad, as they had had their share of standing around and patrolling in the late summer warmth.

As if anticipating the rain, the amount of travellers in the past day had dropped. Some still came, of course. When the wind and rain got steadily worse, however, they were no longer expecting to see anyone. The watchers relaxed - and began to complain about the coming weather just to have something to do.

Canyet began to mute itself as thunder tipped off the inhabitants. The streets began to clear slowly. After some time, the thunder and shuffling of feet by the gates was the only sound the guards heard.

As the rain began to gently fall by the gates, two travellers hurried toward them.

"Quite the timing!" said Sebastian as he took off his hat and grinned at the sky.

"Quite." Sylvie's smile was wry. The thunder had made her nervous, but Sebastian's mood helped brightening hers.

Ayu-Asra, on the other hand, did not like the weather at all, and crawled into Sebastian's jacket to avoid getting wet.

While they passed through the reasonably dry room between the gates, Sylvie said, "I should call on master Garren immediately; the sooner he gets my notes and samples, the better."

Sebastian stretched as much as he could with a dragon in his jacket and gave a sigh of contentment. He wore a slightly dreamy smile as he turned a single look at the last leg of road they had walked and the rain beating down on it. "Oh?" He shook water off his hat. After inspecting the hat thoughtfully and placing it back on his head, he turned to look at Sylvie.

"I don't know what to do yet," he said uncertainly. "If it's all the same with you, I could tag along until I find someone who can tell me where I need to go. I don't... remember much of this place anymore." It had changed. His earlier memories were indeed correct, and though he could see certain familiar landmarks even from so close to the gates, it would take a bit of wandering to learn how to walk about the city.

Sylvie nodded. "I'd suggest House Crow for rooms. Small, but cheap and reasonably clean. I can explain the way easily from Old Ivy - that's where I'm headed." She had spent a few months in Canyet, and while there were certainly things she'd missed, she could find her way around well enough to, for example, know which alleys were reasonably dry in weather like this.

A smile lit up. "That ought to work, thank you. I can get the rest of my directions from there." Sebastian nodded and tugged at his sleeves, preparing his plans for what to do after the rain had stopped. He wasn't going to say anything about those, though, at least... not yet. Or at all. Time would tell, he mused as they made their way to Old Ivy. While they walked, Sebastian drank in all the sights and tried compare them to his memories.

Unfortunately Sylvie picked a not very scenic route through the outer ring - the part of Canyet between the second and third wall. Old Ivy itself was near the former, in sight of one of the gates. The courtyard with its overgrown walls that had earned the house its name was not visible, but three ivy leaves were painted on the facade.

The front entrance, into which Sylvie pulled Sebastian for a dry place to explain, without considering alternatives, led to an apothecary. The room was was quite small, more space given to storage and workspace in the back, and lined with shelves holding glass or clay. The only person present was a big woman of a certain age poring over some paperwork.

Sylvie recognised her and greeted her as she was looking up. "Hello Gemma."

The woman's face lit up with a broad smile. She stood up and pulled Sylvie into a hug - she was taller than Sylvie, possibly a bit taller than Sebastian, even - before helping her out of the backpack, all the while talking. "Sylvie, gal, good to see you again. But where's - ah." She had spied one of Ayu-Asra's heads peeking from Sebastian's jacket. The dragon drew back immediately and curled up. Gemma's strong voice was more than he wanted to face.
"So who's this friend of yours?" She extended her hand to shake Sebastian's.

"Kai; We'd met before and ran into each other a few days ago again."

Before Sylvie could attempt anything like a proper introduction of Gemma, the older woman went on jovially, "Well, that's wonderful. Fren's room's still free -" then she addressed Sebastian directly "- went to sea, the little ingrate - and you're welcome to stay, too. The bed's a bit narrow, but I doubt you young folks mind."

Sylvie was for a moment speechless with surprise.

"Kai" had done all right up until the handshake part, but from there on, before he knew it, he was thunderstruck.

He, too, was speechless for a moment, but some by now instinctive reflex brought a smile to his face. It was that smile, bright as a candle and as polite as a veteran diplomat. What didn't come as reflexively were the words, and so he found himself feeling a little awkward for a fleeting moment. "Thank you for the offer, but we're just friendly faces who happened to have the same destination." (What he had almost said was I thank you for your offer, madame, but I must decline: it would not be proper, you see, nor gentlemanlike of me. And of course I would have to insist..., and so forth.)

Sebastian blinked and smiled one of his more boyish smiles, trying to gather his thoughts.

Meanwhile Sylvie had recovered enough to smile and say, "I brought him in here for a dry place to explain the way to House Crow."

Gemma looked doubtful for a moment - them just being shy and well-mannered about it seemed not unlikely - before shrugging it off. "But you'll be staying here?"

After a moment's consideration she answered, "Well, we'll have to go over the material I collected; at least until that's finished."

Making plans after all, are we? "That's good. You two do your talking and watch that no-one runs away with the shop, I'll take care of this " - she lifted Sylvie's pack for a moment - " and get you a towel."

After a nod and wave in Kai's direction she disappeared through the back door, and Sylvie sighed and looked at him apologetically. "Sorry about that."

He watched Gemma go and fished Ayu-Asra from his jacket, scritching the dragon absent-mindedly. How would one run away with a store that wasn't a cart? "No need to apologize," Kai said peaceably and gave the slightest of smiles, turning his gaze from the dragon to Sylvie. "She was friendly."

Kai - he had attached the name into his mind - offered Ayu-Asra to Sylvie and made a quick inventory of the more interesting things in the shop without really noticing he did so. "Anyway..."

"The way, right." She took the dragon, who was still a bit haggard and huddled in the crook of her arm, and thought for a moment.

"When you're out of the door turn to the right, then the second street to the right - before the house with the blue beams. House Crow is the fourth or fifth on the left side; it's named for its weather vane."

She smiled at Sebastian. It wasn't like she wanted to be rid of him, but she was at a loss for words.

He neither nodded or made any other acknowledging expressions while she explained, just watched her. Only once Sylvie was done talking did he nod. "Not far at all, then," the half-elf said and took hold of his hat with both gloved hands. "Thank you. It's been a pleasure."

"Likewise." She shook her head and chuckled.

"I guess I'll be busy for a few days, but if you stay here longer than that, I'm sure we'll randomly run across each other again."

He tilted his head and gave a lop-sided smile as he put his hat on. Sebastian-Kai thought about his next few words for a good while. "Maybe I will, and I'm not hard to spot," he said chipperly, adjusted his hat and smiled one last time. "See you, Sylvie. Good fortunes."

"Good luck."

After he'd left, Sylvie wondered what in the world was going on in her head, exactly. The best idea she could come up with seemed to concentrate on work, and see if things made more sense afterwards.

She smiled at Gemma when the woman returned and said, with a warm smile, "There's some warm water and I laid out one of Riya's dresses. You know the way. Garren can wait until you're not dripping anymore."

Sylvie thanked her. Gemma was a bit overbearing at times, but she always meant well.