Twenty

Blushing and grinning, Mael nodded. "Thanks... yes, Loga." Running out of things to say - serious, non-silly things -, he just drank his tea and continued to blush.

"They thought we were fooled," Riya said gently and put some jam on her bread, letting a knowing (slightly smug) look wander between Garren and Gemma before gravitating to Sylvie, "and were terribly surprised when mother and father weren't."

Mael snorted rebelliously.

Sylvie covered her mouth as she had to grin while chewing. Her curiosity did not let the age question alone.

"And what's a usual age to get married here?"

"Sixteen is common," Riya said and made sure to not look at Mael when she continued. "Earlier if there's... well. You understand."

Mael shifted in his seat a little, glaring at Riya. "We promised we'd wait until we're sixteen," he said a little disappointedly, almost daringly. Riya didn't rise up to the challenge, but instead gave Mael a diplomatic, pacifying look and waved it off with a hand. It worked.

"Unless mother and father change their minds, anyway," Mael said a little hopefully. "And Loga's, as well."

"Oh, that bit of time to grow together is a good idea, believe me," Gemma told Mael. Garren nodded absentmindedly. He was quite happy letting others do the talking.

Turning to Sylvie, Gemma said, "You need to start some time." Her tone grew surprisingly serious, almost worried. "If you and Kai are not an item, you could give Ludovic a chance. He's certainly interested, and would be a good catch."

Sylvie's smile became forced. "No, I couldn't. He reminds me far too much of my father."

In reply Gemma sighed. Maybe she could help things along, in some direction, but not right here and now.

"Reminds you far too much of your father?" Mael frowned, obviously not understanding for a moment. A second later some manner of realisation struck. "Oh, you mean it like a bad thing..."

Riya shook her head at Mael, but looked at Sylvie curiously anyway - for as long as she got away with it.

"Yes. It would be awkward," Sylvie answered with a far better faked smile. 'Awkward' was somewhat of an understatement.

Ignoring Riya's look, Sylvie turned to her breakfast again.

Riya said nothing and did as Sylvie did, glancing warily at Gemma as she did so. And Mael decided to look a little embarrassed and repentant over having asked such a silly, stupid thing from Sylvie.

"Anyway, you really should get out more. Can't lock yourself up in a study all the time," Gemma said.

Garren wryly commented that the door was not locked, to which Sylvie chuckled and nodded.

"Besides, the sooner the work is finished, the sooner I can go out and about." She glanced out of the window on steady rain. "Today seems to be a good day to stay indoors, anyway."

The slow conversation moved on to similarly trivial topics, giving everyone chance to relax.

After the meal was finished, Sylvie swept up the shreds of egg Ayu-Asra had missed. The dragon took up station on her shoulder again.

"Hm, maybe I can try taking you along so you're not all alone?" After addressing her pet thus, she looked a question at Garren, who shrugged, frowning.

"It's worth a try. If he causes problems, you can still take him elsewhere."

So three (or four, depending how you count) retreated to the study.

After his ill-fated visit to the tailor Karrel Sebastian had come to find his room in good order and succumbed to sleep deprivation. His uneasy nap was filled with dreams of trees and bushes and high grass surrounding a wealth of water. It wasn't that it was unusual in itself, but it was disturbingly clean - there was no sign of mud, no driftwood, no debris, merely green grass and trees in the the bluest of blue...

There had been some nightmarish aspect to the dream, but he couldn't remember what it was. Sebastian felt it was maybe for the best: he had woken up soaked in cold sweat, which was just the perfect way to continue a cold and wet day.

He needed something to cheer him up and make him forget his ambivalence, to calm him down. And so he had ended up in a theatre on Row Shrike, paying well enough to get a slightly better seat than the average townsperson. This didn't mean much anything for most of the people working in the Southspire (named so for the tower of the old guardhouse the theatre had moved into), who were perhaps used to seeing strangers.

The play was a comedy of manners, and it was obvious enough to have entertainment value for someone who wasn't too obsessed with meanings and representations while being reserved enough to carry a deeper meaning.

Sebastian certainly enjoyed it, especially the irony between the gentleman and his manservant, both of whom switched between the roles of the hapless victim and witty mocker.

He was less amused by the old gentleman who pretended to be young, but smiled nonetheless.

Another unamusing aspect was the conversation going on in a loge not far behind him. After much snorting and huffing one young man could not keep his from voicing his annoyance to his friend.

"This was the worst idea you had in quite a while."

"Well, you refused all better ones. I don't think it's so bad."

"Bah. It's too stupid to be entertaining. No-one with self-respect would employ such a scamp."

His presumed friend stayed calm. "Oh, calm down. It's just a play."

More grumbling ensued from the easily annoyed party. In an attempt to counter it, the calmer one said, "At least I was right about there being only few people in the audience."

"And it still stinks. Ha! You'd think there was water enough now, but, no, they're too stupid to wash!"

After a slight pause the other one said, "Maybe we should just go, if it all annoys you so."

"Now there's so little time till we are to meet Brannig it's really not worth going anywhere else, and standing around somewhere waiting? No."

A faint sigh. "Whatever you say."

Oh, surely self-respect requires a sense of proportion, and that is a sense of humour. Sebastian had glanced over his shoulder with a hint of annoyance at first, trying to convey a message - it was impolite to speak so loudly in a theatre once the play started.

When the conversation suddenly acquired traits Sebastian considered offending, a one-sided smirk appeared on his pale face. Stifling the urge, he turned some of his attention to the play again, telling himself this was not a good time to feel vindictive. He decided to settle for asking them to be quiet if they began to talk again.

There was more, though it had to be said it was quiet enough most people would not have heard it.

"And did you see how that freak looked at us?"

"For pity's sake, calm down. Or let's leave and get a drink to help with that."

The addressed fell into sullen silence.

And to make things worse for the sullen one, Sebastian shot a pearly white grin over his shoulder, just out of spite. He got a rather nasty glare flashed right back at him, but met it with a simple, humble smile. For the rest of the play, that was all the attention he gave the two, preferring to instead catch up with the play's wittiness. Thankfully it relied more on wordplay than any actual plot.

Once the play was over, however, he stood up and set his arms akimbo, turning a little drowsily to get a better glimpse at the two just so he could remember to return a favour the next time he saw the annoying one.

As he turned, it occurred to him he wasn't supposed to be thinking such vengeful thoughts. Not now.

The annoyed one would certainly have looked better without that enraged look on his face. He seemed small, until one realised his friend would have to duck to get through the door. Their clothes seemed high quality and fancy enough, though the calm one's also were a little plainer, but maybe not quite as rich as the displayed arrogance may have suggested.

They left quickly, the small one just short of stomping off.

Oh, poor boy, poor boy - perhaps you should wear parfume so you could live in a cloud of good scents every waking hour. Sebastian considered his unspoken promise for a moment. Shrugging, he set off, making his way after the two - soon ending up outside. Spotting the taller man from the crowd wasn't much of a challenge, and so he didn't have much trouble at all as he stepped outside and raised the hood of his raincloak.

They were apparently wealthy enough to have a carriage waiting for them, leaving the more common scum walking the streets.

Sebastian watched the carriage for a while, memorising that as well. Then, feeling as if he had received that day's worth of amusement, he began to make his way back toward House Crow. The constantly darkening grey of the rain brought back memories of his dreams, and that one nightmarish aspect he couldn't quite remember haunted the edges of his consciousness.

Halfway to House Crow he changed his mind and set his course again, this time to Fortuna's shrine.

Ayu-Asra had been happy for quite a while listening to Sylvie and Garren arguing, occasionally throwing in noises or random words, particularly because he was getting some absent-minded scratches on the side. Even when he'd lost his patience it hadn't been a disaster.

There had been quite a bit of progress, particularly after the final decision to used Enklad's works as first point of reference instead of arguing about what name to use for which plant when different older works contradicted each other.

Sylvie did feel accomplished, but she was quite happy helping Riya clean the kitchen after supper, thus getting at least a little bit of exercise.

Riya, thinking back on the supper conversation, sighed contentedly as she dried a washed plate. She set it aside and took another plate to dry, humming and watching Sylvie work for a while. Ever since supper had ended and the two of them had begun their work, she hadn't been very talkative. But a topic from the breakfast table suddenly popped up in her mind and connected with another memory. "Sylvie, who is this Kai mother mentioned?"

Sylvie hesitated and smiled amusedly for a moment - that was a good question.

"A friend of mine. Well, maybe more of an acquaintance; we just met two or three times."

"Including this time?" Riya asked, watching Sylvie with a smile while her hands worked automatically. "Mother said you were traveling together."

Sylvie shrugged. "Yes. We met by chance and where going the same direction, so we went together. Having someone to chat with isn't bad, and he can be fun to talk with." She grinned slightly as the thought when he's not concussed or confused or confusing occurred.

Riya smiled and put the plates away. "I guess it does get a little frustrating to only have yourself to talk to when you're traveling," she said and went back to the dishes. "Isn't it a little risky though?"

"Not any more risky than travelling alone, I'd think." There was a slight raise in her voice, turning it half into a question. She set to scrubbing the table thoroughly with sand.

Riya chuckled and stopped working for a moment. "Yes, I guess you're right. I don't know what it's like, but I'd like to travel too, someday."

"Maybe -" Sylvie frowned and fell silent before a bitter-mocking you could ask you mother to marry you off to a travelling trader could escape.

"Maybe you need to create a chance to get it. Travelling in trustworthy company is better, though."

"Maybe. I really think I would have to have that company before I could go," Riya said, her gaze slowly gravitating to Sylvie. She resumed her work. "Maybe I will just have to get to know people who travel a lot, first."

"We are saying 'Maybe' an awfully lot, aren't we?" Sylvie tried to joke.

"Maybe," said Riya, her face shining brightly.

Sylvie laughed, but had nothing to say to that. She grew gradually more serious as she considered things. After a bit, a certain topic bubbled up through all of it.

"Something entirely different... can you tell me something about Lady Luck?"

Riya looked surprised for the briefest moment. "Not much, just that they say calling her that is like inviting her to take notice of you, and that they don't mean in a good way. We call her Fortuna instead." She considered something for a moment. "I really don't know much. I don't think she's very popular outside gamblers and sellswords."

"Thanks for the warning," Sylvie said absentmindedly, frowning slightly. The problem of looking at things from different angles what that it got confusing. Sebastian not warning her about the goddess's name he'd used could mean trouble - but you could just as well assume that Riya was being superstitious.

She looked back at Riya suddenly and asked, "Do you have any idea where I could find out more?" before she could change her mind.

"There's a shrine here, of course. I think they'd be happy to tell you all about themselves," Riya said a little uncertainly and paused her work again. She thought about it carefully. "I know the shrine's in the northeastern side of town. The poorer part of Canyet. The woman there is called Auker." For some reason, Riya sounded slightly amused.

"And that's funny?"

"Oh, no. It's just that she won some money gambling last week." Riya grinned. "I wouldn't know her name if she hadn't - the gossip was something fierce."

Sylvie grinned right back. "Didn't you say everything'd been quiet?"

Riya blushed slightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't think you would be interested in gossip like that..."

"Sorry, I was just joking. It's not really important, anyway, just general curiosity. But if you wouldn't mind passing on said gossip...?"

"Oh." She gave a short laugh, then continued with renewed vigour. "So the gossip. Rumour has it she picked up a silver shilling in front of a gambling lair and took it as a sign. They say she went inside to gamble and kept on losing until she had a few pennies, which she used in a lottery." Riya paused again as she put the mugs away.

"She won with that one, and for the past few weeks there hadn't been any winners... people were 'arguing' if it was 'divine intervention' or if she just got..." she giggled "...lucky."

"Does the lottery have rules against divine intervention?" Sylvie asked in a neutral tone, meaning the question entirely seriously.

Riya looked at first as if she took it as a joke, then grew serious. "Well, no."

Sylvie shrugged and gave a lopsided smile. The difference didn't seem important, then. She sweeped the sand off the table, and after a short pause to make a mental note, next time first clean table, then sweep floor, fetched a broom again.

In Auker's office, a clean, plain room with a desk, a bookshelf and a few paintings, the caretaker of the shrine raised an eyebrow as Sebastian came through the front door for a change. Her lips curled into a sly smile. "You knocked this time," she said and grinned around her pipe. "That was polite of you. Come for another round, pilgrim?"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow right back at her, smiling lop-sidedly and measuring Auker. She looked considerably better when she didn't look like a completely washout. In the clean yellow and grey robes of her office, she could actually represent her faith. "I knocked last time, too," he said, glancing at the tip of his boot.

Auker, not understanding, merely nodded and set her diary aside. "I didn't hear it that time. You're just in time. I was about to lock up the shop, so to speak."

"I didn't really come for a second round," Sebastian-Kai said a little nervously when he thought about Auker's tone more carefully. "I was wondering if..."

"Oh, that. I tried, no luck."

Despite everything and all that had happened in his life, the half-elf actually chuckled at that one. "Very funny, sister."

"Good to know, I'll try it the next time I give a sermon in a gambling hall or someone dies," said sister Auker, getting up and walking right up to him so they were face to face. "I'm sorry I don't have a response for you, pilgrim."

Sebastian shrugged, feeling a little uncomfortable. Why is this making me feel so awkward? He squinted at Auker. Why does she pretend she doesn't notice I'm feeling awkward? (That he had the same effect on other people completely escaped him at that very moment.)

"Are you sure you wouldn't want another round?" Auker asked and walked past him to the shrine's doors, going through her keyring.

Sebastian, not seeing much else to do, followed suit. "I'm... oh, whatever. Hells. Sure. I have to warn you though, last time someone broke into my room while I was away."

"Probably some poor drunk who couldn't find his own room," muttered the sister.

"You're really funny, did you know that?" Sebastian asked with much sarcasm.

She turned around and nodded. "It keeps me healthy!"

She's serious, he thought as he looked at Auker. "I guess," Sebastian said uncertainly, although he actually agreed with her.

Soon they were sitting in the same room as last night, both holding a bottle. A little while later they were trying to find a common drinking song or game, which, in the end, failed and forced them to come up with one that was centred around flipping a coin. As if Lady Luck herself was participating, there were streaks where neither of them would get to take a sip for ten or more coinflips.

In the process, Sebastian got to know Auker well enough. He avoided talking about himself, preferring to ask and to turn around any questions thrown at him.

"So you're from some other town?" Sebastian asked after Auker told him about her problems with getting acquainted with Canyet.

Auker, by this time very tipsy, laughed. "Oh, yeah. I used to be a missionary, but I guess you know how that goes... it was gambling, cheap fun and dumb games. Got to travel quite some, though, only almost got killed a few times. Of course sometimes they gave me some snotty probabi... probable... probabilicist, to show them the ropes and that kind of thing."

"Uh huh..." Sebastian shivered slightly. He wasn't completely happy with how wild the clergy could be sometimes, but the opposite side of the coin nearly drove him howling mad sometimes. One of them had once tagged along with him for months, wondering what the odds were - for example - for him narrowly escaping death three times in the course of one minute. And to think that runt had made some joke about 'third time being the charm'.

"So how did you end up with the church, anyway?" he asked.

"Oh that," Auker smiled and stared at him blearily. "Tell you some other time..."

With that, she fell asleep.

How unsurprising.