I didn't get in the way of the royals as they looked after Luis on the floor. I was half expecting them to demand answers on what had happened, because part of was wondering exactly that. If not for Sylverith's reassurance, I would be very concerned myself.
My attention did, however, turn to Clifford, who was still standing there unmoving, staring at his hand, and I felt it would be good to help him right now.
"Archie, any chance you could get Valorie for ?" I asked as Archie stood off to the side of the royals.
"Of course, sir." He bowed.
While he was doing that, I approached Clifford. Crisplet was already there, but putting my hand on his arm, I attempted to get his attention.
"Clifford, are you alright?"
He barely registered my comnt, and I felt the mana pressed from Crisplet of concern and worry.
"It's alright, Crisplet. He's just in shock," Jen said softly, coming up beside .
She took Clifford gently under his arm and guided him to a chair, Crisplet following close behind.
"Trevor, get him so water and a cloth from the kitchen," Jen asked.
Which I did imdiately without question. When I got the feather myself, I don't rember it doing anything crazy to , but I couldn't be sure the one Clifford got was the sa as mine.
When I ca out of the kitchen, Clifford was seated and Valorie was already there, kneeling beside him, holding his other hand in her own.
I handed the water to Jen, who used a wet cloth to wipe his forehead.
"What happened?" Valorie asked in a hushed tone.
"Well, as a thank you for the statue, he was given a gift by the phoenix," I explained.
"A gift?" she said, confused.
"Yes, a feather. I'm not sure exactly what benefits it will provide for him, but it was a soul-bound feather," I said, nodding.
I heard Jen gasp a little.
"Like what was granted to the first king?" Valorie asked in an urgent, hushed whisper.
I saw Clifford's hand visibly shake.
"I think so? I'm sorry, I don't really know. Both Clifford and Luis got a gift," I shrugged.
Crisplet let off a little burst of sparks, but also pushed worry and concern again.
"He'll be fine, Crisplet. Don't worry," Jen reassured him again.
"We have a room you can rest in and have so privacy, if you'd like," Jen offered, and Valorie quickly agreed as they both escorted Clifford out of the room.
Crisplet went to follow, but Jen turned around, quickly dropping to his level, reassuring him again. "Crisplet, he'll be fine. Give them so space."
The only person who was left in the room still looking calm at everything was Lily, as she was napping next to my chair.
Deciding it was likely ti to get so rest myself, I made my way towards the door when Kathrine stopped .
"Trev, uh, thank you," she said with a smile.
I tried to wave it off, but she continued. "I an it. At least two lives will be drastically changed from tonight's events, although Luis might not like the responsibility that will co with it."
"You're welco?" I really didn't know what to say.
Kathrine just smiled, letting go of my arm.
"Archie will give you anything you need and provide you with rooms if you need it as well." I was just about to walk away when sothing else popped into my mind.
"I can talk to Alira about getting you a gift as well, if you like?" I offered.
"Absolutely not." She shut it down so quickly.
I was rather taken aback by it. She quickly added, "Sorry, I didn't an that to be so abrupt. It would ruin how special the mont truly is if you were to just get her to hand it out to everyone. Right now, they earned it, but thank you for offering."
It made sense, I suppose, but I also couldn't help but think power was power, and surely that would be useful? I'd not argue with that though.
"I get it. I won't ask then. You said you're going on a trip, right? If I don't see you in the morning, best of luck. Also, here, I have so food, and the leftover crab. It's not much, mostly just the sauce, but I think that will still count."
I pulled everything out. I had a large stack of pastry flas, along with the pot.
"These mostly have a minor fire potency, but I have so here that I have added healing to as well, so any pastry with a green leaf in the middle will have restoration as well," I instructed.
She ended up grabbing Elijah to help store everything.
"Thanks, Trevor," she said with a smile.
***
The next morning, I half expected to be woken up by so sort of chaos happening. That fear had even plagued my dreams that night, but it never happened.
When I made my way downstairs to the foyer, everything seed… normal?
I don't know what I was expecting really, but not business as usual.
Looking around, I noticed the slight char marks on the floor had been cleaned, while Archie walked by on the top floor past the balcony that looked over the foyer.
Making my way into the dining room, I expected to see everyone there, but instead it was just Milo and Jen.
"You're up early," Jen said, looking surprised.
"Is everyone still here?" I asked.
"The royals left early this morning after Luis woke up. They were going to cancel his trip, but he insisted and is asleep upstairs. Sylverith and Huling are still in the library, and Alira is asleep in the tree out front. Queen Amber went and had so words with Clifford before they left. Valorie and Clifford, I believe, are still upstairs."
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That all sounded reasonable and nothing too crazy was going on, so that's good. Honestly, I half expected every noble to be in my foyer after the events last night.
"What ti are we eting the caravan today?" I asked.
"Couple of hours, so be sure to wrap up everything you need, and make sure you're ready to go. We won't be back for a few months," Milo said.
I was already packed and had everything I needed. Other than saying farewell to Micca, George, Sylverith and Alira, I was ready.
I contemplated cooking sothing for breakfast, but in the end Archie appeared and insisted for the last day that he would cook for us, and I was distracted when Clifford and Valorie entered the room, Clifford looking far better now.
"Ah, Sir Trevor, I'm glad I caught you. I want to apolog—" Clifford began.
I waved it off imdiately. "You've nothing to apologise for. That was a lot to dump on you, and I threw you right into the deep with it all. No, I am sorry. I should have prepared you better," I said.
Valorie let out a giggle. "He changes our lives, earns us a small fortune and fa, then apologises. You're very strange, Sir Ashmoon."
"Please sit, have so breakfast," I suggested, Crisplet letting off a burst of sparks in agreent.
They shook their heads. "No, we must be on our way. Archie has already prepared a carriage for us."
Clifford then knelt on the ground, going to eye level with Crisplet. "Rember what I showed you and keep practising. We'll make another statue like we agreed when you return to the capital."
The feeling of happiness that I felt from Crisplet was overwhelming, and he let off one of the largest bursts of sparks I have seen.
I couldn't help but smile. "I'll be sure we visit you as soon as we return. I'm sure Crisplet will have lots to show you."
They left soon after, and people made their way into the dining room. First was Hari, George and Darren, who had been doing an early morning practice, followed closely by Micca.
"We'll take good care of the house while you're away. Don't do anything stupid, and you have to co back because we have contracts. You can't ignore the contracts." She then wrapped in a giant hug.
Releasing , I couldn't help but notice a small tear. She whispered, "It's nice that you're leaving on your terms this ti."
They went to head off to the cafe to start their day, with Darren giving a firm handshake. When I went to do the sa with George, though, I was again pulled into a hug.
"Thanks for getting us out, Trev," George said before letting go.
The last person to join us in the dining room, besides Liane, who appeared half asleep at the table, was Luis, and he wasn't kidding. I hardly recognised him.
He was wearing a dark traveller's cloak that had a hood that wasn't up yet, and what looked to be a hard dark brown leather armour. He had a sword at his waist that had no embellishnt like his normal one. What was really different was his hair had turned from a fiery red to a yellowish orange that almost looked like fla, and his eyes were almost cat-like with the sa yellow-orange that was practically glowing.
"Whatever has changed your hair and eyes is crazy. It's so different," I comnted imdiately.
Luis let out a laugh. "Yeah, I wasn't expecting that part to change. It wasn't an item that did that."
It was then that it clicked to . "The gift Alira gave you?!" I blurted out.
Luis nodded. "It forcefully evolved my class."
He didn't elaborate any further than that, but it got everyone's attention, especially Milo's, who peppered him with questions.
Hari interrupted it. "With everyone here, we should head off."
As we got up, the door to the dining room opened and Sylverith walked in. "Ah, good, you're still here."
She approached and adjusted my scarf, checked my plate armour, and seed to scratch sothing. Perhaps sothing was stuck on there. Before looking at my hands, "Gloves, Trevor. Where are they?"
I quickly pulled them out and put them on, getting a nod of approval.
"Take care of yourself out there. I'll not have my daughter moody for a thousand cycles because she lost you. I'll deal with the incoming Banawa and look after your house and friends," she said.
It was all very serious, far more serious than I normally have seen her, but after, she just gave a big smile. "Good luck. I'll still be here reading when you get back," she smiled.
I had no idea where Huling was, but perhaps she had already left?
Walking into the foyer, I saw Archie had all the house staff lined up, though I was surprised they all kept a significant distance from the door.
"Have a safe trip, sir. I've had to leave your horses further towards the gate, as they would not approach the tree outside right now," Archie said, bowing.
"Thank you, Archie. Thank you for taking care of everything. Do you need more gold or anything?" I said, looking behind at Hari and Milo.
Archie laughed. "Not at all, sir. If we have any troubles, I will get a ssage to you. Best of luck, and I hope we see you return safely soon."
All the other staff bowed as we left.
Heading outside, I paused for a mont. There was no hiding that Alira was in the tree. The whole thing was lit up like a giant bonfire; the flas were nearly twice as high as the mansion at this stage.
I didn't want to disturb her if she was asleep, so I led the way walking past the tree. Crisplet, however, went up to the burning trunk and let off a burst of sparks.
A voice hit all of our minds, judging by the wince on Luis's face. "Farewell, Crisplet and Trevor. I hope to see you again soon."
She never ca down. I just waved to the tree as we walked by, and I spotted her in the middle, with a smile, waving to Crisplet.
Sure enough, just before the gate, there were six horses held by two guards.
"Sir, everything is ready to go. We've attempted to clear the crowd outside, but there's only so much we could manage," the guard said, bowing.
"Crowd?" I questioned.
The guard let out a nervous chuckle. "Yes, sir, uh, the events of last night got a lot of attention."
Hari let out a sigh. "Cloaks on and hoods up then."
Following instructions, I mounted Sable for the first ti in months, giving her a scratch before whispering my apology.
"Let's go! Say nothing, and keep riding," Hari called.
We rode out, with Luis and myself near the back, flanked by the others, but it was odd. Any ti I wasn't actually trying to look at Luis, he seed to slip from my peripherals, and it wasn't until I really tried to focus on where he was that I saw him.
The guard wasn't kidding about the crowd either. The road was cleared, but there were hundreds… no, thousands of people crowding the street, all looking towards the house.
We rode fast, so I couldn't hear much of what was said, but the word I picked up more than anything else was 'phoenix.'
With Hari in the front, the crowd seed to part for us and imdiately collapsed back in on itself as we passed, and I was more surprised to see that nobody was really paying attention to us.
Once we made it to the other side of the crowd, Hari seed to slow it down, but we kept a tight group.
"Anyone else find that really strange?" Milo asked.
"Yes. No one paid any attention to us, even as they moved aside," Jen said.
I noticed that as well, but looking at Luis, I half expected him to say it was one of his items, but he looked confused.
"Wasn't one of mine," Luis shrugged, seeing look at him.
"Well, whatever it was, that was good," Hari said jovially.
We t the caravan near the main entrance, which was a solid twenty-minute ride from the manor. Even going through the lower parts of the city, people seed to just move out of our way, unnaturally so. It was small things, just moving over slightly on the road.
We even had a carriage that stopped, pulling off to the side while the driver checked a wheel, just as we passed.
Coming up to the caravan we'd be escorting, it felt incredibly familiar. Two wagons sat there with five individuals, two sitting in the driver's seat, and three standing together, looking around.
It wasn't until we had stopped in front of them and dismounted that they seed to even recognise we were there.
"Sorry about that! I must have been daydreaming," the rchant laughed, shaking Hari's hand.
"Pleasure to et you. We're the Polite Company, happy to make your acquaintance," Hari said, shaking the man's hand.
"I thought there were to be five of you?" he asked, looking over the group.
Hari nodded. "We have an extra hand for this journey, but the charge will be the sa."
The rchant laughed. "That works for ! My na is Paro. My fellow companions are Anthony and Nero. But let's get on the road and not waste the day. We have plenty of ti to chat."
We didn't wait around. The rchants imdiately got into their wagons as we took off.
Leaving the capital gates, I took in the scene before . Patches of snow were still scattered in the distance, and a soft crunch ca from the road under our horses' feet. There was a freshness in the air.
Ahead was an adventure, and I was looking forward to it.
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