{-Lyrei-}

  She felt like there was something going on that she wasn’t really a part of. First, there was the obvious thing between Rennyn and Kaylin—but that made sense, given the connection they’ve had with each other all this time. And then there was the more odd one: something between Seldir and Noa. Did they realize that she could tell? Noa clearly wanted something, and Seldir, whatever it was, was clearly looking out for it. As much as she wanted to ask, she didn’t, figuring she’d figure it out eventually anyway.

  At least this little game of detective was a better way to pass the time than any other line of thought, or the non-existent conversations they found themselves in.

  Seldir had gotten them another job, one that involved talking to a couple of merchants. It seemed to tie into whatever he and Noa had between them, because he mentioned that it would help, since the merchant would be able to give them what they needed. What that was, Lyrei had no idea.

  So, as they were getting closer to the merchant, she prompted, “This is probably where we’ll be getting our reward, right? Wasn’t there something specific you wanted?”

  Noa nervously glanced at Seldir, who nonchalantly answered the question. “This merchant in particular sells weapons. I’m planning to use some persuasion in order to get him to let us take a spear from him.”

  Kaylin tilted her head. “A spear?”

  “For Noa. He asked me about it earlier, but he can’t exactly practice with something that none of us have. I’m going to see if he’ll at least lend us a second one but, if not, I could probably manage with a long stick.”

  Well, that was one mystery solved, and a conversation started. Lyrei was on a roll! “Oh, is it a spear for any particular reason? I mean, I’m pretty sure Seldir’s good at anything you give him, but he’s probably a little bit more knowledgeable in swords and stuff.”

  Noa nervously shuffled. He either thought it was a dumb idea, that they’d mock him for it, or both. Knowing what she did about him and what she could vaguely recall from their previous time together, she had a feeling it was probably the latter. “I want to be able to help—do more than just stand on the sidelines and watch Rennyn and Seldir do all of it. And, well… my mom had a spear. I always kind of wanted to be like her, so…”

  “It’s almost like in her memory, then? That’s neat! Does that mean that she has one back in Ilatenes, too? Will you be able to get it from Lord Aymer?”

  “N-no, I still don’t think he’d let me take it. I… don’t think I would’ve earned it, anyway. I don’t know what I’ll need to do to feel like I am, but I’m sure it’s going to be a long time from now…”

  Seldir shrugged. “It’ll give you something to work towards, at least. Trust me, learning how to fight definitely isn’t as easy as you might think it is—especially not when you’re trying to do enough to change something. But I’m sure you’ve got it in you. You’re determined, and that means you’re one step of the way there already.”

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  Noa more nervously glanced at Kaylin. “What… do you think about it? I know Rennyn probably wouldn’t like it, and I kind of assumed you might, too, since you would know his reasoning better than the rest of us…”

  “I wouldn’t confuse Rennyn’s fears with how I feel,” was her first simple answer. Then she offered him a kind smile. “I think it’s good that you want to help. Rennyn might feel the same, too, when he’s able to see the logic behind it. There’s one less person he has to be dead set on protecting, which is good for all of us.”

  He eased a bit to hear it. “That’s good to hear. I was a little afraid at first, to be honest…” He shrunk a bit. “I hope Rennyn will be okay with it, too. I’m still a little worried about what he’s going to say…”

  “I understand what you’re probably thinking, but you have to remember that Rennyn cannot ultimately decide what you want to do. If you want to do this, then don’t let him stop you. He needs us to prove to him that we’re capable of handling ourselves, and that he doesn’t need to worry about us as much as he does. We’re only going to be able to do that by defying him, whether or not it’s really an act of ‘defiance.’”

  Noa seemed a lot more reassured. “I’ll do my best, then, to make sure I can hold my own when I need to. I don’t want to let any of you down.”

  “I think you’re doing good enough already, kid,” Seldir remarked. “The rest, you’re going to have to show me tonight, after we get what we need from this commission.” He stopped by one of the stores, and made a motion towards the door. “And speaking of the commission, this is where we need to be for it. Let’s see what we can do.”

  …

  After one long fetch quest of nothing of note happening, they got what they wanted from the commissioner. He was, almost surprisingly, quite enthusiastic about giving away two not-quite-expensive, not-quite-cheap spears, along with some extra money they tried to say was worth far more than the relatively easy nature of the commission. Then again, Seldir was pretty good at negotiation, and the merchant may or may not have realized that they were the same group of unlucky travelers who had their friend injured quite badly just outside of the city. On a somewhat related note, Lyrei also acknowledged how fast rumors seemed to spread, and that their situation was apparently a pretty novel one.

  And that definitely wasn’t a good thing, as a group that should probably be trying to keep as low of a profile as possible.

  Though, on their way back, they saw something that proved they probably already failed at that.

  There wasn’t really any reason to dance around saying it. It was Kharis and Ether, a bit too close to the inn. The fact that they were just casually talking to some people outside hardly made it any better. It wasn’t a stretch that they would be here—it wasn’t that far from where they’d met them before—but what amount did they know? And was there a command they were following by being here?

  Kaylin, as soon as she saw the two of them, immediately stopped. “We should make sure they don’t notice us. Nothing good is going to come out of getting their attention like this.”

  “We should also try to figure out why they’re here, though,” Seldir pointed out. “We can’t risk them seeing us now if they don’t already know we’re here, but we need to know what they do if they’re already aware of the situation.”

  “I don’t exactly see how we can do that without making ourselves stand out more. I’m not sure there’s something we can do that won’t end up creating more risk than it’s worth.”

  But then the whole situation was more or less solved for them.

  “Ah, you all look familiar. I’m almost certain we’ve seen each other somewhere else. How’ve you been?”