Flashback My Mum Exists in Twilight II

[Lani Stranger]

79th of Summer, 508AV
Name timeline

She never actually got the lessons. Her mother did though, and the young teenager was well into her thirteenth year on Mizahar when she realized she was never going to get the lessons. She could read her mother’s notes, and not really understand them. The adults were pretty confident in her ignorance on the matter, despite her burning curiosity… and they would be correct. She could practice glyphs that didn’t work, but there was a slim chance in Hai that her mother would sign her up for Alchemy classes at the Tower, even if she could manage to qualify.

Instead the thirteen year old had dedicated herself to her lessons at the Academy. R’yse would only pay for one lesson per season, and encouraged the child to help neighbors for pay in her free time. But Leavou had fallen in love with the written word now, and she was enticed by the idea of calligraphy, which Priya encouraged her to break into. If she could learn calligraphy and painting, she may be able to help create signs or work for the Gazette, both would be very good jobs to settle into and start a family. At least that is the rhetoric that the two Konti women in her life were pumping into her. But that idea did not appeal to Leavou as much. Sure she was boy-crazy, and definitely girl-crazy, but she had no intention of birthing children. It sounded awful.

”Leeeeeaaaaaaa.” R’yse groaned from her room in the cottage and Leavou poked her head into her mother’s door to see what the odd call was for. She did not have nicknames. Some other children her age had tried to call her Lea, but Leavou refused the name at insult to her mother, which it was. Now her mother was using the name, which snagged her attention and curiosity. ”Pour me some tea dear.” R’yse requested as soon as Leavou’s black curtain of hair was visible in her room.

Leavou didn’t answer but turned out and back into the kitchen, immediately putting a fresh log into the stove and setting a bundle of tinder on top of it. Once she got the fire lit and the kettle going, she reviewed the tea and herbs in their pantry. Her mother was not coughing; she didn’t have a sore throat. It was probably migraines, or perhaps just her joints were sore. Dread was seeping into Leavou’s chest as she realized that the migraine was significantly more likely.

The Konti that raised her was relatively young for a Konti. She was a spry one-hundred-and-ten years old, on the young side of middle aged for her race. But she had always been very healthy, and so the sudden onslaught of migraines was unusual. Leavou would have liked to been a snotty rebellious teenager, but her mother was like her best friend, and seeing the Konti in pain so often was beginning to make her worry.

She let her hand hover by the kettle to test how hot it was before turning back to the cabinet and pulling a jar of dried ginger strips out. She placed one in the mug, and then pulled out some white tea for flavor, scooping it into the tea strainer and adding dried chamomile and willow bark. It was her mother’s favorite sleeping concoction. Well, excluding the ginger, R’yse was not a fan of ginger tea. Still, Leavou was making an executive decision to add it in. She knew it was good for digestion things, and she could only assume that if R’yse was having another migraine, she wasn’t eating properly either. Once the strainer was prepared and resting inside of the mug, Leavou turned back to the kettle watching it carefully for steam before it started screaming. She didn’t want to stress her mother with the noise, but she also knew that the less hot the water was, the better the chamomile and white tea would steep.

[Lani Stranger]

When she started to see steam rising from the tip of the kettle, just as a very small whine begun, Leavou grabbed a rag and snagged the kettle from the stove, pouring it over the tea strainer and letting it steep for a moment. While she did so, she gathered her things for going out. If her mother was waking up from dusk rest with a migraine, then she wasn’t going to make it all the way to the Sartu peak to tell Tasa. Leavou would have to go in her place and let the Ethaefal know about why R’yse would not be showing up tonight. Which was fine, she didn’t have much better to do that night in particular. She didn’t have class or the will power to go help her neighbor pick the late summer weeds, and her few casual friends had not planned to go do anything.

Once she was sure the tea was steeped enough, she scooped a very very small spoonful of honey into the cup and stirred it in with the ginger. She had heard that one shouldn’t eat sweet things with a migraine, but she knew her mother would not finish the cup without it.

Padded feet whispered across the wooden floor of the cottage as she silently made her way back to her mother’s room, carefully pushing the door open and entering. Leavou set the mug down on the table beside her mother’s bed, and moved to the curtains to open them. The sun was out of the sky, but there was still a little bit of lightness. She hoped that Zintila could keep her mother company while she slumbered or suffered through her migraine.

”No, dear, it’s too bright.”

”Okay.” Leavou frowned, pulling the curtains back shut and then walking back towards her mother. The night, with only a sliver of Leth which was rising in Leavou’s window and not her mother’s,was too bright?”Should I pray?”

”Can’t hurt.” R’yse moaned, and Leavou perched on the edge of her bed, reaching for her mother’s hand. R’yse had had her first migraine halfway through spring, and it was so debilitating the woman was in bed for four days straight. Tasa had even come to visit, bringing tea and explaining the benefits of poppy. She had had three more in the summer, and they were not even done with the season yet. Tasa had not come for the last two. The time between migraines was shrinking, and Leavou was worried her mother was developing a condition. She had heard that magic could do this to people if they weren’t careful. And even though she knew her mother as an almost unhealthily ambitious woman, it didn’t occur to the girl that her mother may be doing it to herself.

Good evening Rak’keli, patron of my mother and her sisters. Leavou gripped her mother’s scaly hand, feeling the dryness of her skin with a slight worry. R’yse was a water-dwelling creature, and Leavou was a desert one. Whereas Leavou needed but a glass of water every few days in order to keep from even feeling dehydrated, R’yse had to hydrate significantly more. I know that R’yse chose the path of intellect instead of compassion, but you reign over all of our health, regardless. She is still a devoted Konti, she is still my mother. Please, please, please, do not let her suffer so much. Or tell me what is wrong with her? Give her strength to bear through these migraines, to get better, please. She pleaded with the Goddess without opening her mouth, knowing that the words would pain her mother. But once she was done praying to the deity of medicine, Leavou gave her mother’s hand another squeeze and stood up.

She retrieved a fresh cup of water from the pump and a handful of dried berries in case her mother was hungry while she was gone. It would take her a little over two hours if she was quick, so she was sure her mother would be fine. ”Drink the water, ma.” She whispered, leaning over to give her mother a quick hug. R’yse only nodded against her shoulder, and turned over once she stood up. On her way out, Leavou stepped over a lump in the ground, something her mother had not picked up. It looked like clothes so she stooped to pick it up, intending to put it in the basket with the other clothes for washing day. Leavou tucked it in her elbow to take with her and paused at the door. ”I will let Tasa know you can’t make it today.”

”Leavou… Can you please bring her my notes? She needs… the glyphs in the scrolls… on the right side of my desk too.” R’yse instructed, her voice wobbling a bit with the pain it was clearly causing her. Leavou nodded, the light of the fire in the kitchen casting the movement in her shadow over her mother.

Carefully Leavou let R’yse’s door close, moving it slowly so she could not even hear the tap of the door on the frame. She pulled the garment from her elbow to toss it into the laundry basket when she caught a whiff of the very not-R’yse scent on it. Curiously she sniffed the fabric for a tick, crinkling her nose at the strong body odor that remain on the garment from its owner. It was a male’s shirt. Old and dirty and flimsy, and not her mothers. For a tick Leavou wondered who it could possibly be, and then she realized she wouldn’t know. She had been out for most of the dusk rest, enjoying the solitude of the library while everyone was sleeping. Her mother had probably had a guest over. Leavou rolled her eyes and flung it into the basket anyway. Maybe this guest would come back for his shirt, maybe he was only around for the one… chat, with her mother. Leavou tried to ignore it, picking up the things from her mother’s desk and snagging her waterskin and dagger before heading out.

[Lani Stranger]

By the time Leavou reached the Sartu peak, the majesty of the tower glimmered in the moonlight to greet her. By now she had visited the Tower enough to at least not be nervous walking in and greeting Frost.

”Good night, Leavou.” Frost welcomed her, and she held up her satchel with her mother’s notes.

”Hey Frost. Mum is sick, gotta let Tasa know.” She said, waving to the woman and taking the staircase up to Tasa’s study with familiarity. She had done these migraine runs before.

”I hope she feels better soon!” Frost called after her, a slight amusement in her voice. Leavou was still content to not play the politeness game that the Towers liked to play with one another. Her mother was their student and assistant, but Leavou owed them nothing. Luckily, Tasa and Orath were fairly plain spoken beings, and where really the only ones she had to talk to. She had briefly sighted Altelo and Nosumo, but had not met their wives, or their parents. She didn’t exactly want the meet the cold Weisur who stared down at her from his twenty-foot portrait in the elaborate foyer of the tower. She didn’t know him, but she didn’t like how utterly submissive her mother was towards him. Her naïve ignorance and awe over the Towers and their members had faded now. They were just people, but corrupted with power. And Leavou was starting to understand that Lhavit may not have always been so, but the Towers currently ruled the people, and their odd rules and regulations… well, they were mostly Weisur’s fault. So Leavou was content with slipping through the expensive hallways of the Tower in search of the only two people that she really had any interest in talking to there.

When she reached Tasa’s study, the door was closed. Leavou slowed, taking a deep breath to make sure she was not huffing from the stairs, and then tentatively rapped her knuckles on the thick wood. The Tower was not silent, as students and staff and family members were occupied with their various nightly activities, but the hallway she was in was not busy, and so she tried to focusing on her hearing for what was inside. Unfortunately, the rich expensive door was too thick for her to hear anything from the other side. She had her head just a little too close to the doorway when it swung open, Tasa’s ethereal form greeting her with slight surprise on her face.

”Sick again?” Tasa asked, a slight suspicion in her voice, already. Leavou just nodded and held up her satchel. Tasa sighed. ”Come in for a few moments, Leavou.” Tasa said, a slight irritation in her tone.

”There is a sense of responsibility one must have as they age, and commit their knowledge and time to projects that are much larger than them.” There was no masking her irritation as the door was closed behind Leavou, and that rubbed the teenager the wrong way a bit. Leavou stepped over to Tasa’s desk and set her satchel down, frowning as she pulled out the things her mother had sent her to deliver.

”I hardly think a migraine is considered irresponsibility.” She countered to the Ethaefal, speaking bravely. She had now conversed with Tasa enough to know that the Ethaefal did not shy away from the truth, nor did she try to sugar coat her words, and so returning the same to her was often respected. Leavou looked up though, when Tasa didn’t answer. The woman was paused at the side table where she was pouring a cup of water, a slight shock in her features as she thought about what Leavou had just said. ”I-I mean, she knows she is in the wrong, which is why she sent me with her notes.” Leavou offered, interpreting the mage’s reaction wrong and assuming she was upset with Leavou’s brashness. Tasa may appreciate a truthful tongue, but Leavou was still worried about offending her. She had interacted with the Tower enough to know how to backpedal and word things in defense of her mother, or at least, she was learning.

[Lani Stranger]

”How often does she get these migraines dear?” Tasa asked, not fazed by Leavou’s tone after all. Leavou paused, carefully stacking the three scrolls on Tasa’s desk as she joined the half-blood on the other side of it. Tasa spread her arms out and leaned her weight on the desk in a triangle shape as she watched Leavou hand over the materials.

”This is her third this summer, fourth all together.” Leavou answered, carefully unsure what the correct answer was. ”Why?”

”Do you know what the migraines are?”

”I’m sure it is over-working, I can’t imagine this is an illness, she is so healthy.”

”Yes, it is overworking in a way.” Tasa nodded, picking up the small stack of parchment that was her mother’s notes. Leavou was not entirely sure what they said, but she saw that they looked like planning for glyphs. They had not been set all the way, but merely outlined with notes on each part of the glyph as explanation, only there was a dozen of them. ”But it isn’t just headaches by stress or malnutrition, dear, its overgiving.” Tasa said, a heavy weight to her words bringing all of Leavou’s attention to the conversation.

”Can’t that kill her?” She squeaked, not very familiar with the scary concept.

”Yes it can.”Tasa nodded gravely, flipping a page to skim the next one. ”Your mother is very lucky because she is only suffering incredibly low effects right now-.”

”I hardly think a migraine that lasts for days at a time is light.” Leavou countered, worry making her tone come across sharper than she intended. ”Sorry, I just, I didn’t realize. I don’t want to be rude.” Tasa waved away her apology, not offended.

”Believe it or not, this is a low effect. But it isn’t because of Alchemy.” Tasa sighed, but not in frustration as she had earlier. She sighed as she sat into her chair and motioned for Leavou to do the same, sipping at her water. Leavou perched lightly on the arm of the visitor’s chair in front of Tasa’s massive desk, uncertain if she wanted to settle in for this conversation. Tasa didn’t force the offer. ”Whatever your mother is doing on the side, whatever magic she is practicing outside of Alchemy, she is going too far. Your mother is an ambitious woman, but magic does not like those who force it. She is a novice, at best, she should not be attempting anything too drastic. But she is, and with hypnotism of all magics, if my suspicions are correct. I’ll have to talk to her.” Tasa shook her head, and Leavou stayed silent and still.

She knew her mother to be addicted to power. R’yse liked to know all that she can about as many things as possible, it was a trait Leavou had inherited from her. But unlike her mother, Leavou did not lust for power, in fact, she avoided it if she could. She found it distasteful, because her mother was addicted. She could tell Tasa exactly why R’yse felt the need to push her magic further than she should, and why four episodes of debilitating migraines was not enough to dissuade her. But as R’yse’s daughter, worry constricted her form sharing this with Tasa. She knew her mother was about to come to a decision of a dangerous path, and… she wanted to protect her. Tasa had been right from the start, R’yse was reckless. But the Konti’s recklessness would put her own self in danger, a fearful thought for Leavou. Tasa was watching the girl, and the thirteen year old struggled to keep the worry from her face. But she was not good enough to hide her thoughts from the teacher.

”I wouldn’t worry too much dear. As long as she is my pupil, I will reign her in.”

”But what if she does the same thing with Alchemy?”

”She already has.”

”Then how do you know it isn’t the Alchemy that is giving her this… uh, overgiving?” Leavou demanded, worry making her words a little harsher than she intended, yet again. ”Sorry.” She ducked her head, sliding off the arm of the chair and settling into the base of it. Was her mother going to handicap herself with this magic? Or worse?

”World magic and personal magic work differently. When you mess up in Alchemy, you are more likely to melt the skin on your face than just have a few headaches. When R’yse has assisted my Alchemy, and had risen to a point where she was unsafe, I just cut her off. She is too new to take lead on her own projects, all she does is help me with mine and learn while she does it. But with personal magics… well, she doesn’t have anyone to stop her. At least not if she doesn’t want to…” Tasa paused, but Leavou waited for more.

[Lani Stranger]

”You know your mother better than I. Do you think she is unaware of what she is doing?” Tasa asked. No, she knows. Leavou almost blurted, but she was frozen slightly. It just occurred to her that she was only thirteen years old, this conversation was far above anything most adults would discuss with someone of her age, and yet Tasa was not hiding anything. Perhaps they wouldn’t hide it, but they wouldn’t put it so plainly.

”She is going to kill herself.” Leavou whispered, unsure if she was being dramatic or serious. Tasa nodded, and then shook her head.

”You shouldn’t have to worry about this, dear. It is unlikely, honest.” The mage reassured the half-blood, taking another sip of her water. ” I will be talking to your mother about this. The Towers will not employ someone, especially a civilian, who displays erratic responsibility with magic. I know your mother is passionate, and I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she has not been here that long. When she first wrote us from Alvadas, pleading for our help and knowledge, we took a chance on her. She needs to live up to that.” Tasa said, a slightly sour tone to her words, as if she was just as disappointed to say it as Leavou was to hear it. Leavou had the distinct feeling that she would be saying something along the same lines to her mother, and dread filled her at the thought of her mother’s dreams being crushed for some stupid irresponsibility. ”But she is a good student. I have a strong sense that she will straighten herself out.”

Leavou watched as Tasa took get another sip of her water, and although the woman seemed very cool and collected, the child was beginning to notice it was nerves. Not everyone displayed nervousness so openly or even in the same way. But the child had always been pretty observant, especially of body language, and she knew that no matter how in control someone seemed, they were all nervous about something. Only Leavou wasn’t sure what exactly Tasa was downing water like a dog for. Her mother’s lack of performance would not impact the teacher greatly, other than to disappoint her decision to sponsor her. Was she nervous about her reputation for being R’yse’s mentor if it got too bad? Perhaps she was nervous for something else? It could have been another worry in her life that was manifesting in this slightly stressful conversation. Leavou wasn’t sure, and she was too absorbed in her own worry to ask.

Thinking about Tasa’s possible nervousness made Leavou nervous, and she brought her finger up to her lips to tear at the nail there with her teeth, her mind was spinning on too many wheels to realize what she was doing.

”Do you need to go hun?” Tasa asked, pulling the top scroll from the stack and looking at it while offering Leavou a release from the situation.

”Oh, uh, sure. I guess I should get back to her.” This offer creased Tasa’s brow as the woman unlaced the scroll and took a look at the rolled paper.

”Do you have somewhere else to go? Are you still learning at the Academy?”

”Oh. Uh… yeah, poetry right now.” Leavou answered, distracted. ”But not tonight, I just finished studying at the library. Priya wants me to translate some common poetry to kontinese and then make it rhyme. I think she has too much faith in my grasp on the language.” Leavou jabbered, not realizing she was oversharing. Tasa chuckled, unwrapping the next scroll and skimming it while Leavou talked.

”You were raised speaking both common and Kontinese, correct?”

”I mean yeah, but I only spoke it with my mother, I can’t exactly read tomes on medicine in it.” She grinned a little sheepishly. ”And R’yse wasn’t even born on the island, I think, so her Kontinese isn’t even as good as Priya’s.”

”What other languages do you know?”

”I learned how to say hello in Fratava the other day.”

”Oh? Have you thought about learning Nari? They are our close neighbors.”

”Ha, they are seasons away! That’s not close.” Leavou teased Tasa’s unusual wording, not realizing she had fallen directly into Tasa’s distraction.

”And we trade with them frequently, could be a good language to know.”

”Yeah, I guess. I should probably learn Fratava first. Gods, if I am going to learn Nari I might as well learn that snake tongue thing?”

”Snake tongue?”

”That the woman-eaters speak? Down south? What are they, like, snake people?”

”I think you are confusing different races dear. We don’t get many of either of those up here.” Tasa answered, shrugging at her lack of knowledge. Leavou made a note to ask around until she found out the name of the two races, and if they were real or made up. But Tasa was already moving on the conversation. ”Well, would you like to learn hello in Nari?” She asked.

Leavou shrugged.

”Hello.” Tasa spoke and although Leavou knew it was the word in Nari, it sounded almost like a chirp, not human language.

”Hello?” Leavou copied the chirp, not quite confident in it. It didn’t feel like a word on her tongue, but rather just a random bird noise.

”Eh, it can be hard for common-speakers to learn. But if you would like to, I’d love to teach you a few phrases. So you can flirt with those pretty red-headed eagle-riders.” Tasa winked at the girl, and Leavou looked away, embarrassed. Tasa was keen to dropped that attempt to connect.

”What classes are you taking this season, other than Poetry?”

”Just one, my ma wants me to work a little for coin as well. She says it’s all about ‘making connections’ so I can get a mentorship and stop paying for classes.” Leavou explained, reciting her mother’s words and relaxing her hands from where she was picking at the nails. She folded them in her lap, and Tasa opened up the third scroll. The woman was still obviously listening to the girl, but also scanning her gifts from R’yse.

[Lani Stranger]

”Well, speaking of connections. Since your mother isn’t here, do you want to do me a favor on your way out?” Tasa asked, re-wrapping the second scroll tightly and handing it to Leavou. ”Can you give that to Orath, tell him it is R’yse’s glyph?” Tasa asked, Leavou nodded and took it. She was successfully distracted from worrying about her mother as the thought of her attempt to translate poetry was back in her mind. She had class in two days, and had barely started on the project. So far, she had only picked out a poem to translate, and had not even started on it.

”Sure.” Leavou answered, and Tasa brandished a coin, offering it to the girl, a clear indication she had been listening to the earlier conversation. It was not often that the teenager felt completely heard by adults, and so the thought was kind, but she turned it down. ”I can just take it to his office, I know where he is.” She offered, grasping the scroll with both hands and offering a bow. Tasa grinned, pocketed the coin, and walked with Leavou to the door, holding it open for her.

”You’re a good kid Leavou. And your mother is a good pupil. A little blip in the road is not going to derail her potential, you shouldn’t worry too much. It was my fault for bringing up the subject in irritation. Just bring your mother some poppy and let her know I look forward to her return, okay?” Tasa offered, and Leavou nodded to the woman, the uncomfortable nerves that she had forgotten about returned to nestle in her stomach. It was merely uncomfortable now, but not overwhelming. Tasa’s assurances had assuaged her fears, a little.

Departing from Tasa’s office, Leavou headed over towards Orath’s office, scroll tightly gripped in one hand. If her mother lost her position with the Tower, it would be bad. They would have to move. And she didn’t want to move again, she was tired. So she would have to help her mother, as best she could… but how?

Leavou knocked on Orath’s door slightly distracted. There was a long pause and just as she was about to knock again, someone else opened the door. She did not recognize the person, and for a moment she could not tell if there was a man or woman standing in front of her. They were tall, and suspicious. ”Yes?”

”I, uh, have something for Orath.”

”Leavou!” She heard Orath’s voice from inside, as he recognized hers. She did not interact with Orath nearly as much as Tasa, but the man was exceptional with children, so that she liked him a lot although they have perhaps only had two conversations since she met him. The suspicious person stepped aside, with enough room for Leavou to squeeze past.

”Don’t mind Mac, a potential pupil.” Leavou looked at the person, the name did not give her any more hints towards male or female. She had not met a proper enigma in Lhavit yet, something she had been so used to in Alvadas, and so she was slightly curious and ready to be fond of the person who was so suspicious of a random thirteen year old with odd eyes walking into Orath’s office. ”What have you got for me?”

”A scroll from R’yse. She sent it to Tasa, but then Tasa is sending it to you.”

”Do you know what it is?”

”A glyph? I think?”

”Oh, good, I was waiting for this. Let’s see. Mac, come look at this.” Orath waved the person over, but ignored Leavou standing in front of him. Curiously she shuffled slightly closer too, peaking over his elbow onto the scroll. It looked like a typical glyph, circular, confusing, and not written in a language she knew. But Orath seemed to see something in it. She watched as the mortal finger of the Svefra-seeming Ethaefal fell on the page, outlining one scripted ring inside the circle.

”You see that?”

”Yeah, the barrier.” The ambiguous Mac answered in a amatter-of-fact tone. Leavou remained silent and squinted at the text, trying to understand what it read, as if she only didn’t understand because she couldn’t see, not because it was in a whole other language.

”For what?” Mac was silent in response now, and Leavou had no clue either. She had absorbed a little bit of knowledge about glyphs. She knew that barriers were to keep an effect out, or even in. But since she couldn’t read it, she wasn’t sure exactly what it was for. Mac seemed to be in the same position.

”I can’t read that.” Mac finally answered, Leavou looked up at them, detecting a gravel in their voice. She looked for stubble on their chin, but they were either too young, or not a male as she had hypothesized.

”Let me help you out. If the point of the scroll is to focus hypnotism onto the subject that activates it, what could a barrier be used for in that situation? Use context clues.”

”To keep the hypnotism in until it is ready to be used.” Mac answered confidently.

”Or?”

”Uh, to deflect a spell?”

”Yes, and what else?” Mac’s face was composed, but they paused again, clearly thinking for the answer. Leavou had heard the standard definitions of barriers before, but could already tell it was not what Orath was asking for. Not wanting to be party to this stranger’s embarrassment, Leavou took a step back.

[Lani Stranger]

”Well, I will leave you boys to it.” She clapped her hands once, looking at Mac for their reaction to the gendered grouping, to see if she was right or not. They just looked at her, startled by the noise, but otherwise with the same blank composure on their face.

”Hold on Leavou, you’ve been around for a little bit. Do you know what this barrier is?”

”I can’t read it.” She shrugged, pausing. Again, not what Orath asked. But her recent talk about safety with Tasa was fresh in her mind, and so she guessed. ”Probably some sort of safety feature. Keeping the hypnotism inside the scroll from leaking out too early? Or for when it is released, to keep it from affecting anyone other than the target?” She guessed, a question in her voice as she waited for Orath’s response. She wanted to go, not be questioned on something she didn’t know.

”Good guess. If you could read it, it clearly states that it is to restrict the magic inside so that it retains a specific level of power for when it is released.” He nodded, patting Leavou on the head as she was clearly trying to inch out of the room. She was intimidated and a little curious about Mac, and didn’t know Orath well enough to assume she was welcome to stay. ”Well, thank you, Leavou. I appreciate it. Maybe come back and teach Mac a lesson or two about context clues.” Orath said, a slight jest in his voice.

Leavou’s cheeks warmed, and her black eyes were drawn to Mac again, watching the slight curve in their brow which spoke of irritation in their reaction. They seemed a bit older than Leavou, although clearly of a far different disposition. ”Great to meet you, Mac.” She waved, and then bowed to both quickly before slipping back out of the door. What was with today and awkward adult conversations? Trying to distract herself, she thought over the things she had to do. The poetry assignment leered over her thoughts, but Tasa had recommended poppy for her mother, so she opted instead to pilfer her mother’s coin purse and then head to the Azure market. Then maybe she could also snag a cherry puff pastry for herself…

”Thanks Frost.” Leavou waved to the Kelvic as she reached the bottom of the stairs. Frost was helping some stranger, and merely nodded in acknowledgement to Leavou, clearly occupied. The child slipped out of the door into the late summer night and started the long walk home, unable to suppress the worry for her mom for too long.