Restraining herself? The only way she could have been more overt would be to take me to her room and—
“Restraining herself?!” Lia shouted, echoing my sentiment. I took the sudden outburst as an opportunity to let my train of thought die, and I ardently refused to consider it further. “That’s not what restraint looks like!”
“It was just a misunderstanding, is all,” Marten continued in his attempt to defuse the situation. “I’m sure she’ll behave herself now that she knows how things are.”
“She’d better,” Lia grumbled, settling down into a more subdued pout. I wormed my hand out of her iron grip and hugged her from behind, resting my chin on the top of her head. Although her face was still set in a hard scowl, my mana found another story entirely; she was filled with doubt, fear, and an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy. I squeezed her tightly in my arms and impressed a thought against her energy. I love you more than anything in this world. You. I love you.
A moment passed, and I felt her slowly begin to relax in my arms as I heard a response in my head. I know. The uncertainty still lingered in her mind, but a sense of relief began to spread across her body. Thank you.
From the side of the building where Elise had disappeared came the sudden sound of a wagon approaching, and an ornamented emberwood carriage appeared from around the corner, drawn by two dappled horses. When it parked in front of us, the carriage doors opened to reveal a large, posh interior with two long bench seats. A man in similar clothing to the other employees hopped out and jogged over to Marten’s wagon, quickly mantling up into the driver’s seat and taking it back the way he came.
“Come on in, there’s plenty of room!” Elise called out to us, poking her head through one of the open windows. Lia and I followed her parents into the carriage and took our seats on the bench opposite Elise, which fit the four of us comfortably. Marin hesitated outside for a moment, and her eyes widened when she entered behind us and found the only open seat to be beside our host on her bench. Marin sat down well away from Elise, folding her hands tightly in her lap and staring at them with intense focus.
“Alright, let’s go!” Elise yelled, giving the wall behind her a few hard knocks. The carriage started forward with an impressively gentle bump, and I leaned my head out of the window to watch the city go by. Elise’s business was located in the center of what looked to be a trade district, and we passed by a multitude of interesting storefronts as we wheeled down the street. The surrounding buildings were much more modest than Elise’s headquarters had been, appearing to be residential houses that had their front ends converted for business purposes.
We hardly had a chance to get comfortable in our seats before the carriage ground to a halt. “We’re here!” our host proclaimed, opening the door and stepping down into the street. Lia and I shared a quizzical look and followed her outside; from my place on the carriage step, I could clearly see the towering face of the modified barn we had come from only a street away, most likely a two minute walk back at most. Lia looked back at me and rolled her eyes as she realized just how short our trip had been, which brought a grin to my face.
Elise led us through a side door of the restaurant to a preset round table in an otherwise empty room, bypassing any hosts that watched the front door. A bell sounded as the door opened and closed, and a server appeared from a small door across from our table before we were all seated. “Good afternoon, Miss Tressel,” she said with a deep bow, “and guests of Miss Tressel. What can I get for you today?”
“Hello, dear. Six of my usual order,” she answered, taking her seat. “We’ll start with bread and ale; something sippable, nothing too strong today. Oh, and some of those crispy mushrooms you do, those are lovely.”
“Right away, miss,” the server answered with another bow before quickly exiting the room.
“Now,” Elise said, rubbing her hands together excitedly as we finished taking our seats around the table, “you have some stories to tell me. Let’s start with why you’re in Lybesa and go from there.”
We all looked around the table, scanning each other’s faces to see who wanted to attempt to explain our situation. “We aren’t here for a leisure visit, I’m afraid,” Marten spoke up eventually. “Given the events of the last few weeks, our days of living in Kaldan are over.”
“I figured as much,” she answered, leaning back in her chair to kick her feet up on the edge of the table, but she froze in place before she finished reclining. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the incident at the Mountain Gate, would it?”
Everyone at the table turned to look at me expectantly. “I might have had something to do with that,” I answered, leaning my elbows on the table to rest my chin on my hands. “What have you heard?”
She blinked at me in disbelief. “I’ve heard a lot of things. Terrorists from Lybesa. Terrorists from Kaldan. Rebels from Attetsia. However, my more official sources in Kaldan have been uncharacteristically quiet.” Her eyes narrowed as she sat up and mimicked my posture, leaning forward with interest. “Tell me.”
“It’s a long story.”
“We have time.”
I sighed. “I guess I’ll just start at the beginning. Lia and I met in—” I paused as our server returned with a large tray balanced on one hand. She approached
