Private Tales Scorched Earth

[Fife]

She snickered. Shifting the blame off the trouble he intended to start onto Masselin. Smart. Fife got up, gathered up the blanket, and covertly took her letter to tuck amongst her things under the guise of fetching her hood and depositing the extra blanket on their bed. She returned to the middle room a moment later, tugging down her hood and laying it neatly about her shoulders. With a final skipping step, she stopped beside Raigryn.

Are you hungry? she asked with a smile. Are you tired? We can stay here. Rest before dinner?

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"I don't feel all that tired," he said, "which probably means you'll escape today. I'll probably fall asleep after one cup of wine."

He chuckled at that, but she would probably notice the little flash of concern across his expression. Riding could be tiring, however this was the most he had packed into a day since they had escaped - since she had broken them free - from the Steel Coin stronghold.

He was genuinely worried he was running on reserves and going to start flagging soon.

"We should eat," he agreed, "then I can rest for a while and you can practise some more writing to show me."

 

[Fife]

Fife would not demean him by expressing any doubts. He would or he would not, and she was not going to be shaming him for having ambitions or limitations. One was progress and the other was inevitable. She laughed with him. A good thing. She had missed his dry humor as much as him rambling on about nothing.

He settled on a plan for a restful afternoon, which she had been hoping for. Fife was relieved and another knot of tension eased from her mind. She was trying not to fuss too much, but it was proving an impossible task.

It was a lazy afternoon to follow up a lazy morning. Fife, of course, praised their lunch and ate as much as physically possible, still enjoying a chance to eat things that weren't dry rations. They retired back to their room to rest before the evening's social call. She sat down and spent a few minutes demonstrating her writing, which had improved. Her spelling remained rough and composing thoughts was difficult, but she had a neater script and wrote faster. There were few things from their residence with the Steel Coin that Fife could regard as a positive, but her improved writing and independence were unfortunate growth. Still, she did not dwell on it; she didn't want to distress Raigryn unnecessarily about his lost time. They could worry about that when they had their talk.

After, Fife loosely feigned some fatigue, which was not entirely a lie. She stretched and proposed her second favorite indulgence: a cozy nap. She had not napped… Well, it had been long enough that she couldn't really remember. Which meant she definitely deserved a snooze. Maybe a snuggle. She hiked a thumb towards the bedroom and invited him to join her, making it rather clear the activity would be sleeping since he'd expressed a mind to other things last night. It gave him the choice, at the very least.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

That she could write at all was a skill that set her apart from so many people. There was something else that concerned him and wanted him to accelerate her learning.

His left hand hadn't stopped shaking from time to time. His right hadn't for two days, but he was worried that is was a symptom that wasn't going to go away. Raigryn held a worry I'm the back of his mind that it would interfere with his professional scribing.

Raigryn didn't feel all that tired when she made her suggestion, but he liked the thought of some peace and quiet and closeness.

Fife seemed relaxed when they got comfortable. He took that as a good sign. She felt safe enough for now to let some of her guard down. She couldn't life her life with one eye open and a knife in her hands.

He liked the idea of having her falling asleep first. His body wasn't willing and he was fast asleep first.

 

[Fife]

He agreed and she gladly she'd her boots and hood to crawl into bed. It was quite literally the nicest bed she had ever slept on, and it was going to be hard sleeping in her bedroll on the hard ground when they were back on the road. That was an inevitability that she happily pushed out of her thoughts to bask in other comfort for now.

The bed, as nice as it was, wasn't the best part. Fife snuggled up against Raigryn and laid her head in the curve between his chest and shoulder. His heart was steady. It's sure, warm tempo hummed in her ear and soothed her. It was okay for now, but she was going to miss this.

No. Simple truths were sometimes the most easily forgotten. Evidence of the mind was muddled by thought and reason, and proof of emotion was clouded by insecurity and doubt. Something as easy as I love you and you love me became a mire of what if and for how long. But Raigryn had loved her -- really, honestly loved her. She had felt it, in ways that few ever could. It had been tangible and pure.

As she had done so painfully often these last months, Fife rallied. She closed her eyes to recall the colors and patterns, the bloom of emotion as she had felt it when he had kissed her, held her, made love to her. She had all the proof she would ever need to dispel her doubts. She used that absolute certainty like a whetstone to sharpen her resolve that that would not be so easily broken.

Fife lifted her head and shifted her hand to sign, only to stop when she saw that he was fast asleep. His breathing was low and even, and Fife bit back laughter as she very carefully placed her head back on his shoulder.

It would be okay. There was not a storm that they could not weather together.

---

Masselin's home was in a nice part of town. Or, at least, it looked nice to Fife. The lane they followed was still the kind dotted with businesses, but just behind that veil of commerce was domesticity. Homes of varying shape and size behind gates and over stone walls that she could just barely peer over.

She spared Raigryn a questioning look, one brow raised in playful curiosity that begged for him to tell her what he thought about this turn of events. It was her turn to drag him to meet some mysterious someone. It wasn't one of his friends, but hers.

It was a weird subversion. Fife was not sure she liked it.

At last they arrived at the address Masselin had given Raigryn. It was identifiable as a farrier's by the iron sign hanging from the low wall surrounding the property: an anvil inside a horseshoe. The gate was open and they entered into a small courtyard. To the left was a forge and livery, the heads of several horses peeking out of stall doors. In the center of the courtyard was a small well, and to the right was a garden and the home proper.

And on the other side of a waist-high willow fence, five plump black and white speckled chickens were pecking in the garden. Fife gasped and, as if the birds were a wonder similar to seeing the gryphon, reached for Raigryn's arm in loosely restrained excitement. Lots of people had chickens, but she didn't get to see them so close up very often.

Yet as she stood with Raigryn just beyond the gate, Fife realized that she had no idea what to do. How did one make a social call? Unsurprisingly, she had not made a lot of visits in her lifetime. She glanced between the house and Raigryn, quite visibly uncertain. As usual, her gaze settled on Raigryn to lead the way forward.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"I'm sure if you'll be able to see the chickens up close if we ask," Raigryn said quietly as hey approached the door. Raigryn was about to suggest she might get to feed them when realised he didn't quite know the relationship between Masselin and the others that lived here. He didn't know who owned and looked after the birds.

He smiled, because they had seen a gryphon sleeping in the street, but she had plenty of excitement left for domesticated chickens. Her attitude towards such things was always infectious. He wondered if they would ever get to see those giant eagles again and find something that could truly astonish him.

The giant dragon that had passed overhead before crashing into Elbion had been a surprise that he wouldn't welcome again. He still had those scorched lands around the demonic incursions at the back of his mind, but had firmly concluded that they had been through more than enough adventure for the time being.

Raigryn stepped up to the most likely wooden door and gave a polite rap.

 

[Fife]

It was stupid to get so excited over something as simple as chickens, but Fife couldn't help it. She had always liked birds. There was something about the idea of flight that spoke to her more than even song -- how freeing it must be. Of course, chickens were not known as great fliers, yet they had their own charms. Plucky and buxom, they were irresistible.

But she had to resist them for right now. She steeled her wits and looked away and did not allow herself to look back at them again.

Being far more socially adjusted than herself, Raigryn appeared to have no issue walking up the path to the front door. Fife felt a spike of nerves and the jitter of her Aspects as they wobbled. In the ringing silence that followed the rap of knuckles on wood, she felt almost every emotion there was to feel on the spectrum. She was excited and terrified, relieved and jealous. She wanted to be here but it felt like a mistake. She was glad to see someone from her past but she felt out of place. Would Masselin even be the same as he had been as children? Would she be too boring? What if meeting again tainted the sweet nostalgia of their youth?

Fears and apprehensions that she did not have to stew in for long before the latch rattled and the door opened.

A girl in a simple linen dress with round features and eyes as big and dark as buckeyes greeted them. She wore an apron, a cap, and a kerchief tucked into the neckline of her dress. She curtsied and it took Fife much longer than it probably took Raigryn to realize this was a housemaid.

"Good evening, sir, miss. Please, come in. I'll let her ladyship know you are here." Before the young woman could fully open the door, another voice called from within the house.

"Lila, is that her?" A moment later, a very well-dressed woman appeared in the foyer. The maid turned and bobbed again to whom Fife could much more quickly presume to be her ladyship.

Her honey-colored hair was streaked with strips of white and was swept back from her pretty features. Her eyes were an uncanny pale blue and they fixed Fife immediately as she marched down the hall, shoes clicking all the way. Almost as tall as Raigryn, the woman was likely similar in age to him as well. Fife was bosom-height to her -- something she figured a man might have appreciated more than herself because, like her chickens, the lady of the house was a very buxom woman.

"You must be miss Fife?" she said, reaching toward her. Fife threw Raigryn an uncertain look before unlinking her arm with his and offering her hands back with a nod and a hesitant smile. The woman's grasp was soft and warm.

"You are such a charming little thing! Oh, but your hands are so cold! Come in, come in!" She drew Fife inside and patted her hands. "I am Romelia, Masselin's mother. I am delighted to finally meet you, Fife."

And as if noticing him at her side for the first time, Romelia looked up at Raigryn. Her eyes and smile widened.

"How do you do, sir?"

Reading moods was second nature. Fife could yell that Masselin's mother was honestly very excited and that the housemaid was at ease, apparently accustomed to such lively greetings at the door. It was also evident that Romelia was instantly taken with Raigryn, a bloom of navy that draped over her like a cloak. Fife blinked.

It had been quite amusing before; random barmaids didn't stand a chance, as no woman was ever going to make him settle down. But no one had fancied him since he had been hers. It was a little less amusing now. Fife was not accustomed to feeling possessive or jealous. She would have to learn to check that. Still, Fife flashed Raigryn a wry grin.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Her ladyship.

Raigryn had balanced a broad range of expectations in coming here. This was well outside of that range. Had the boy been taken on as an apprentice of he household? Sometimes women with more money and time than they knew what to do with found charity projects to work on. Few were known for placing street orphans into their own homes.

Masselin's mother

Perception had to shift again. The lady of the house was well dressed and well spoken. She had a staff household, even if it was only of one. Suddenly, Raigryn found himself far more interested in Masselin's story than of what he could reveal about Fife. He imagined the boy would be equally impressed by the path she had trodden.

The situation also shifted the risk factor. If Romelia was aware of Oban high society news then she likely knew of various magical circles around he region. For nobility, having a sponsored wizard was considered something of a badge of honour.

"I do very well, we are much obliged by your hospitality," he repeated. He offered a shallow bow.

 

[Fife]

She'd seen Raigryn be much fancier than this, but he had his good manners out. Romelia answered with a coy smile.

"Please, come in. We've been expecting both of you. Masselin finished his day's work and went to wash up, so he should be coming down presently. Lila will take your coats for you."

Fife took off her coat and hood and handed them to Lila. She was standing there, nervously flattening the front of her tunic when Romelia took her hands to link arms with her and start down the hall. Fife threw a look over her shoulder at Raigryn, but he wasn't saving her.

She led them from the foyer into a hall with portraits, and Fife swung her head around to look at them. There were at least ten of individuals and half a dozen of groups. One was definitely Masselin, clean shaven and orange as the flame.

They turned into a room and it was there that Fife realized she had only been in a couple of houses. She didn't know what room it was. It had places to sit so she quickly surmised that it could have been a sitting room. Or a drawing room. Fife didn't really know what the difference was. Romelia led her to sit down with her on one of the small couches that seated two.

"Do you like wine, Fife?" she asked. Fife glanced toward Raigryn -- something she did a lot when she wasn't sure of herself -- before smiling and nodding. "Do you have a preference between white or red? No? Dry or sweet? Sweet?" She was patient as Fife shook her head and held up two fingers to indicate the second option. Either Masselin had prepared her well or, like her son, Romelia was considerate of how to ask questions in a way she could answer them. It put Fife at ease to know that she did not have to struggle to explain herself. Or, rather, have Raigryn translate everything. It gave her a sense of autonomy and independence.

Then Romelia turned to Raigryn and there was that bloom of blue again. Fife watched her, both intrigued and horrified.

"And you, sir? Do you drink wine?"

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

This time Raigryn realised that Fife would be picking up on her shift in feelings every time she addressed him. It was one thing for him to be aware, and to be polite about it, but another to have his responses under careful scrutiny by his partner.

"Red would be lovely, thank you," he replied.

There was no sign of Masselin yet, save for the portrait in the hall. The situation was truly holding his curiosity, which he was hoping Fife would not mistake for intense interest in their host.

"And I'm sorry for not introducing myself properly earlier. Raigryn Vayd, a travelling scribe and wizard of truly minor renown. Fife was genuinely quite shocked to walk into Masselin again up here in Oban."

 

[Fife]

"Very good," Romelia replied with a nod. Lila had finished in the foyer. The lady of the house directed her to fetch the wine, and she was off with a bob and a swish of her skirts.

Fife was literally biting the inside of her lip to hold her grin to a sensible measure. Raigryn introduced himself, and that was fine, but as a wizard. Fife had come to terms with the reality of being a mage or sorcerer, even a witch if one were more inclined to consider Empaths such practitioners. But a wizard was somehow not in that realm of expectation. Wizards had their noses in books and lived in lofty towers.

Romelia seemed impressed by his trade, one brow quirking upward toward her hairline. Fife was not worldly enough to know if this was a common response; they tended to slip unseen from one place to another, only drawing attention to Raigryn’s scribing abilities if they advertised his skills at all.

When the conversation turned back to Masselin and Fife, she turned to pat the knee of the latter -- a gesture that made Fife's shoulders prickle. Romelia was very friendly, and normal. Fife knew she was the odd one at the moment. Her hands balled up around the hem of her tunic and she focused on remaining calm. Romelia was technically a stranger, but she wasn't a threat.

"Yes, it is such a wonderful happenstance. My boy could hardly contain his excitement when he returned with the news that he had met you at the market. You must be reeling, seeing him here again after so many years."

Fife took the opportunity to smile and nod.

"I am so eager to hear all about Masselin in his youth. He was already a strapping young teen when he came to live with us, and he shares so very little about his life in Elbion."

She could not blame him for that. Fife looked to Raigryn to translate for her.

Tell her I am younger than Masselin. I only remember him… Fife held her hands out in a gesture to indicate her regret. Time soon before he went away.

Romelia watched in wonder, but didn't interrupt. Though overly friendly, she did seem a very well-mannered woman. When Fife finished, Romelia also faced Raigryn expectantly with a pretty smile.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

She seems nice doesn't she? He took the opportunity to sign back. Aware that Fife could sense emotions just as keenly as he could, he took the opportunity of signing to tease. The corner of his mouth twitched just enough to betray his sense of humour.

That Masselin hadn't explained much of Elbion was interesting. He could have to drink lightly and guard his words. It might be the case that Romelia wasn't to know of just how far into the Elbion underworld he had sunk during his time there.

If that was the case, he would have appreciated a warning.

"Fife says that she was, is, younger than Masselin. She didn't know him for long before he left. Do you mind if I ask how he come to move here from Elbion?" he added for his own benefit.

 

[Fife]

Do not tease me or you can sleep alone tonight, she replied very matter-of-factly. She did her best to bite back a playful scowl. Talking in a language only they understood to have a secret conversation felt rude, especially when Romelia was being so hospitable, so she did not carry on her own teasing. She queued that for later. She was amused for now, but jealousy was new territory. With her mind already out of its normal balance, it was probably best to avoid stirring up new feelings.

Romelia was oblivious. When prompted with her and Masselin's shared history, she perked up.

"Oh, but at all! It is a very amusing story, though I must confess that I was not the mastermind of this devious scheme." She scooted to sit closer to the edge of her seat with a gleeful giggle. Her hands moved a lot when she spoke.

"My late husband, Franklin, and I had been in Elbion with our children on holiday. One of my cousins had a husband who was teaching at the college at the time and they had a gaggle of their own children, it was all very good fun for all of them to see their cousins. Unbeknownst to me, we left Elbion with seven children instead of six.

"My eldest daughter, close to Masselin in age at the time, had conspired with one of her brothers and a cousin to sneak the boy into our wagon amongst the luggage. It was not very well premeditated, however, and we discovered him the day before we arrived at the portal stone."

Romelia chuckled and shook her head.

"Franklin and I thought we would see their plan through. What's more, we decided to adopt him into the family as one of our own. We already had six children, what was one more?"

Fife did not know what she had expected, but it wasn't that. Masselin had left without her of his own volition. Very old feelings she thought she had long since come to terms with drew new breath. She tried not to jump to the dark conclusions that first loomed in her mind from only Romelia's account, but Fife very quickly closed her mind off from Raigryn to manage her response to that with some privacy. She stared for a moment, brows high, before straining a polite laugh.

Not what I thought she would say, she admitted to Raigryn. She is very kind. Not many would have kept him. Too many kids bad.

Clearly this had not been an issue for Romelia and her late husband.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn sensed the difference of her closing herself off more firmly. He found himself turning his head from Fife as if to afford her more privacy.

He did not know what was going through her head. Even knowing her emotions would have only been the colour of the palette and not what she painted with it.

"Fife says you are very kind," Raigryn said out loud. He offered Fife a thin smile and a shallow nod. It was strange to be holding two conversations at the same time. To be dealing with Roselia's enhusiam and Fife introspection. As different as the way he communicated with each of them.

I am here, he signed.

His notion of teasing Fife further to test the bounds of her thread had gone. As had the idea of digging into her past for something embarrassing. He was here as a conduit, to allow Fife to place her feelings in this unexpected turn of events.

"Obviously I think it was too," Raigryn added, "And really very inventive of your own children."

 

[Fife]

It was not Romelia's fault for being oblivious. She was neither well informed nor was she an Empath. In her usual manner, Fife rebounded swiftly. She anchored herself to thoughts of things that she could rely on and let that certainty of mind steady her. She offered a thin smile back to Raigryn with a small sign of thanks.

Romelia appeared to swell with pride. She was effervescent, as lively as the sparkling wine they'd had at the ball. That happiness was infectious.

"We could not be cross with them. We had taught them to be so compassionate and headstrong, after all," she chuckled.

Lila returned and quietly handed out their wine. Fife accepted hers with a smile and a nod and gladly took a tentative sip. She lacked a refined palate, but she was going to enjoy it nonetheless.

"Have you any children of your own? Or you, Fife?"

She was halfway through swallowing when that question landed. Fife nearly choked and her nose burned from wine that almost made its way out of her mouth that direction. She turned to the side to cough as discreetly as possible while also shaking her head vigorously to indicate her answer was no.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn could almost feel the question coming from the word 'have'. It was a question he had been asked many, many times in his life.

Fife's vigorous head shaking made him think of some of the more risky decisions they had made, though not repeated for a long time now. Thoughts for later.

"No I don't," Raigryn replied. He assumed he didn't, anyway. If she hadn't already threatened him, he might have woven a make believe story about a family he did not have. It would have been fun to see when Fife called him out on it. Or threw wine at him.

He couldn't decide whether this evening was going to need more wine or less wine.

"I teach a lot of children how to read and write," he said. "Some of those children must be fully grown now. I should visit some of my friends in Alliria and see how their children have grown!"

 

[Fife]

Romelia looked somewhat confused and very concerned, offering Fife a supportive pat on the shoulder when she finally stopped coughing.

"What a charming idea," she agreed with Raigryn.

There was the creak of floorboards and the rapid thumping of footsteps on stairs. Fife perked up, and so did Romelia. Both women were already watching the doorway when the tall, copper figure of Masselin filled it. His hair was styled similarly to how they had seen it earlier, but his cheeks and neck were freshly shaved. He was dressed well, though not nearly as formal as his mother. The deep navy blue and dark, warm browns complimented his color very well and made the ribbon of hair draped over his shoulder seem brighter.

"What are you doing to poor Fife?" he asked with a wide grin.

"Nothing! I merely asked if either of them had families."

Shaking his head, Masselin crossed the room in a few long strides. Fife set down her wine and jumped to her feet to greet him with a nervous wave. With a dismissive sound, he pulled her by the shoulders into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I hope mother has not interrogated you too severely," he laughed, then gave her one final squeeze. "I can't believe you're really here." He gripped her shoulders as he stepped back to smile down at her, and Fife didn't need to use Empathy to see his happiness. Nevertheless, she felt his Joy like the radiant warmth of a fire.

He let loose of her to greet Raigryn, extending his hand out to the older man.

"I apologize that I did not get your name when we met before. The shock of seeing Fife addled my brain."

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Raigryn, it's Raigryn," he replied as he shook the offered hand. He didn't need to repeat his name but he had been caught off guard.

He wasn't accustomed to seeing Fife physically comfortable with other people. There was her friend back with the idemni, Ylerial, but they had come to know one another over time and through hardship with Aretta.

Raigryn was still a little slow. Definitely slow to cut off his feelings as jade green worked its way through his feelings like the roots of a troublesome weed.

That wasn't at all fair for him to feel. Instead of keeping himself closed off he pushed that feeling down and let Fife sense the joy he also experienced for their reunion.

"Think nothing of it, I don't think Fife had ever expected to see anyone from her time in Elbion beyond its walls."

 

[Fife]

Green was not a color she saw from Raigryn often. Fife spared him, choosing to pretend she had not noticed as he worked through his feelings, but knowing that Raigryn was feeling a wee bit possessive was fuel to her smile.

"Yes, exactly," Masselin chuckled. He smiled down at Fife for a moment and she simply smiled back. Then, patting her shoulder, he turned to Romelia.

"Let's go in. I've kept us from our dinner long enough." He offered a hand to his mother and led her to the dining room, and Fife came to link her arm with Raigryn’s to follow in a similar fashion.

They seem nice, don't they? So maybe she couldn't keep all her teasing to herself. She risked looking a little like a hypocrite, telling him not to tease her and then doing just that, so she swiftly moved on.

A wizard? Bad word. Use a better one. You could be a wizard, look like a wizard, but I cannot be a wizard.

She was smiling playfully as she released his arm. Masselin had pulled out his mother's seat and, having seated her, pulled out another beside her.

"Here, Fife."

The table felt small in the much larger dining room. She imagined that a man and wife with more than half a dozen children would need a large space to seat so many of them at once. She assumed that the divide in the table meant there were several leaves that had been removed to make this dinner feel more intimate. Fife sat where she was told to and Raigryn was sat across from her. The same as their private dinner the evening prior. The same as their home in Indretar.

Fife smiled and behind her carefully closed walls there was a giddy flutter of color to match the thrill of her pulse. She was quick to look down at the table.

"So what details has mother interrogated out of you in my absence?" Masselin asked with a knowing look toward Romelia, who made a small harumph as she settled in her place like a broody hen.

Fife lifted her gaze back to Raigryn, but the lighting in the room shifted drastically. Raigryn was sitting across a plain, solid wooden table and Fife was seated beside him. They gestured between each other but she didn't know what it meant. She didn't need to, because Raigryn's face said enough. Fife had agreed. She felt satisfied, triumphant, the pieces of a puzzle settling as Raigryn looked from Fife to her.

"I hope I haven't missed any exciting revelations."

Masselin's voice and laughter cut through the memory with the efficiency of a very sharp knife. Fife's smile sank and she blinked. Her heart raced in the dispersing fog of emotions that were not of her own origin. She didn't feel that pride of victory anymore. It was replaced immediately by confusion, which Fife grappled with quickly to fix her expression as the room returned to normal. Her mental walls were blown wide open and she attempted to corral herself back in like a bunch of horses escaping a stable.

Go away, she told Lawrence's memories. Go away.

Her hands were shaking as she settled, copying the dinner etiquette of those around her. Fife feigned a convincing smile and shook her head to answer Masselin's question. She did not look at Raigryn again right away and she was honestly terrified when she did. But the memory stayed put away in whatever dark place those stolen things were hung up and she saw Raigryn as he was -- not as he had been.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

They seem nice, don't they?

Raigryn arched an eyebrow. It wasn't challenging her comment, but pure surprise. He knew that she could tease him, but given her reaction to his attempt he hadn't expected her to come back at him.

He was smiling before she explained that she wanted a title that was better than wizard. Raigryn was trying to talk himself down from describing her as his laboratory assistant as they were led into the dining room.

This was not a family short of wealth at all. The table was the folding type that could change size. Those were expensive, a trend that had started out in Cortos based on a lost design discovered in an abandoned library a decade back.

"I hope I haven't missed any exciting revelations."

"I'm afraid your mother has already given away the story of how you left Elbion, but I'm sure we'll appreciate your perspective of events too," Raigryn replied.

He caught the shift in Fife's expression, the flurry of emotions as her walls came crashing down. It had been easy to forget how off balance she had been. Easy because there had been distractions and his mind had been slow.

"I had explained that Fife is training with me to be a mage," he said. It wasn't quite true, he had only introduced himself.

You drew deep and burned fast. Are you alright?

 

[Fife]

Masselin frowned and looked down the table at Romelia, who didn't need a word from him to look guilty.

"I was making conversation!" she defended herself. Masselin only laughed and shook his head.

"I should be glad to fill in the gaps, though I'm sure her account will have reflected the events as they transpired. There was not much else except, perhaps, to describe how my loving sister packed me into a chest."

"Ah! And left all of her calico behind to make room for you!"

The two were sharing a moment of nostalgia. From somewhere (Fife assumed it was a door yet she had not seen them before) the maid and an came bearing trays of food.

Fife absorbed it about as well as a rock soaked up water. Raigryn carried the conversation for her while she was still pulling together enough her senses to make something that could stand independent again. It shoved the burden of socializing onto Raigryn and only made her feel more guilty.

She appreciated his use of mage (which sounded far less pretentious) and tracked the movement of his hands.

I am alright. A brazen lie. She was most certainly not alright, and the rapid flickers of malice and pride and shame that followed her thoughts gave her away, but she was too damn proud to admit it. Fife was not yet sorry for the very bad thing she had done, either.

"You're a mage now, kid?" Masselin cocked a crooked grin down at her. "That's amazing. I don't know many mages. So Raigryn is your teacher? That's how you know each other?"

What a fucking question. Fife's brows arched high, she glanced quickly toward Raigryn, and the traitorous wash of crimson blazed across her cheeks. Masselin noticed the hesitation and looked to Raigryn as well, one brow rising in curiosity.

They had talked precious little about this, whatever it was, other than to make sure it was okay and what she wanted. They were still teacher and student, but also friends, partners, and bedmates. Sort of. It was still something, wasn't it?

She nodded, then frowned, wobbled a hand, shrugged, and nodded again. Yes. But no. But technically yes? Fife finally mustered the mental fortitude to look across the table toward Raigryn. She alpeared as expectant of his answer as everyone else. She was.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Everyone was now looking in his direction. The question was a the heavy weight kind that could easily floor you. As he mentally span through several explanations he realised that there were lots of ways this could be received poorly.

It would be far, far too easy for it to seem that he had done wrong. There had been plenty of relationships between teachers and students at the Elbion academies, but cases had been kept very quiet.

On top of that he had lifted her right out of street life, taken her to exciting places and gifted her much finer things than she had known.

"That's how we met, yes," Raigryn said. "I discovered that she had potential and had started to actively use magic in her day to day activities."

It would hopefully say to Masselin 'she tried to rob me' without having to spell it out.

"We've been travelling for some time now. I found her some other teachers in different places. And somewhere along that journey we fell in love."

There. As simple as it could be laid out with a fond smile in her direction. There was a quietion in his eyes though: was that acceptable? Was it enough? Too much?

 

[Fife]

As usual, he both surprised her and was honest to her expectations. Three watched him with anticipation. Fife didn't realize she was holding her breath until he spoke the last sentence, when the air came rushing out of her in one great sigh. Love. The word was as sweet as the wine and thrice as intoxicating. It was good to hear him say it. It felt exhilarating how proudly and plainly he said it. Color warmed her face even further, but in the fleeting moment she managed to hold his gaze, she answered his silent question: this is good.

Still, Fife was not used to being the center of attention, which she now was as both Masselin and Romelia looked toward her. The latter gasped and the former gaped.

"In love!" Romelia repeated with delight. She clapped her hand together and clutched them to her breast with a gusty sigh of her own. "Do not look so bashful, child! What a fine match! A pair of mages; two cards of the same suit. Oh, how wonderful."

Fife smiled nervously in her direction and nodded. She had never thought of it that way. Romelia didn't know how right she was. Fife's stormy gray eyes flicked back to Raigryn, and her smile had eased into one of warmth and affection.

"Someone else for my mother to direct her romantic machinations upon," Masselin laughed. "As teacher and partner, I'm sure you already know how hard-headed Fife can be." Wearing a troublemaker's grin, he winked at Fife. "And if that's the case, I'll give you those stories Fife doesn't want me to share for free. As a welcome to the family."

Fife glared and her brother laughed.

Don't, she signed to Raigryn. I am warning you. Be good. She was the color of a ripe tomato and her earlier strife had been scattered like fog by the morning sun. She also regretted teasing him, which had more or less opened the playing field between them in good humor.

"Wearing a look like that, do I even want to know?" Masselin snickered, watching her hands closely.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn noticed that he didn't feel removed from this moment. The fog and indifference had been swept away. Their opinions mattered to him. Fife's reaction mattered to him.

She was embarrassed. Masselin's mother was simply emrassing. Raigryn breathed a sight of relief. His eyes flicked between each of them and back to Fife's hands.

"Fife said that you should go ahead and start telling those stories right away," Raigryn said.

It was inevitable really.

 

[Fife]

The traitor! Fife gasped and shook her head. She looked to her brother, who was already laughing. Even Romelia had an amused look as she began to serve herself from the dishes being placed about the table. Fife was bright red and, with one final frown to Raigryn, she patted her sides habitually for the slate.

Which she had not brought because she had thought Raigryn could be a reliable translator!

You are going to sleep alone! she told him, but Masselin was already clearing her throat.

"I can't let Raigryn have the victory of embarrassing you more. I've severap years to make up for," he teased in reply to her pleading look. Fife covered her face with her hands and sighed, resigned.

"When Fife was maybe four, she had this awful habit of stashing food around our hideout and in her clothes. She would even keep food in her cheeks and we'd find it hours later, still in there. And you couldn't rightly fish it out; she bit worse than a donkey."

Masselin was serving himself as he spoke, and paused to offer a cut of meat to Fife. She threw him a glare but accepted it.

"Spare her, Masselin. Young Fife looks as though she's going to bite you now if you speak another word." Romelia had a tone of motherly consternation, but she was smiling apologetically. Fife knew that she knew there was no stopping him, and tried to look as unaffected as one could. She copied their hosts in serving herself from the dishes (even if she didn't know what they all were).

Masselin grinned wider and barreled on, gesturing to Raigryn as he spoke.

"Nara had found work at the butcher's, cleaning and plucking fowl, so I was on babysitting duty. One of us had always stayed with her for nigh on two years, but we were confident enough then that we could take her places. She was finally starting to respond to us talking to her. Great progress since she was as wild as a cat when we first found her. We knew even then that she couldn't talk, and we figured out ways to understand one another, but this was real understanding -- knowing the words and their meaning for the first time. She had a grasp of the basics of gamin life: no, bad, yes, run, drop that, stop, come here, hide.

"So it was me, Fife, Camern, and Orelse. They were all very little, Orelse the oldest at maybe eight and Camern around Fife's age. Mind you, I might have been 11 at the time and had no real business taking care of so many kids at once. I took the whole gaggle of them down to the river to see the boats on market day. Fife and Camern had never been, and their eyes were as wide as dinnerplates. Very worthwhile.

"Now I noticed as we were walking that Fife's cheeks were stuffed full of food. But again, I wasn't going to risk losing a finger, so I told her to spit it out or swallow it, just don't keep it in there or she'd choke. Some of that I knew she understood, some she might not have. She ignored me, as usual, and I let it go thinking it wasn't a big deal.

"We walked through the market, lifting a few things here and there, but nothing too much to be noticed. It was about time we went back when I heard the most horrible squawking. I turn around and there's the kid, holding a seagull in her little hands, and this bird is making a commotion, scratching and flapping doing its best to escape. Do you remember?"

Fife frowned and shook her head. No. She didn't. Masselin struggled to keep his composure and continue the story. Romelia's eyes were glued, and she had paused cutting her meat in anticipation.

"She looked as surprised as I was, holding onto this gull. Now everyone on the street was looking at us and a guard yelled. All three children bolted in a different direction. The kid made it maybe three yards before she tripped on the bird and fell. It flew away, I scooped her up under my arm, and took off after Camern.

"We caught up to him in an alley, but when I put the kid down, she hit the ground like a sack of grain. She was blue and gasping and I, an eleven-year-old boy, didn't know what to do. I snatched her up and reached into her mouth to attempt to hook out whatever was stuck, and she bit me. In the middle of trying to save her life, this little thing clamped down so hard on my finger that I yelped.

"Ah, and a good thing, I reckon, for the guard heard and came. He took one look at the kid and knew what to do, flipping her over and giving her back one great big thump. Out came a whole little fish! An anchovy I presume she had swiped from one of the fishmongers." He held up a hand to demonstrate the size of said little fish with his fingers. Romelia made a sound of shock, but was hiding a smile behind her hand.

"How lucky that the guard came!" Romelia barely managed to keep her tone steady.

"Needless to say that the kid didn't hide food in her cheeks after that," her brother laughed.

Fife did not like the attention. She took a bite and glared at him. It would have been hilarious... if it hadn't been at her expense.