Wiping my hands off with a cloth, I studied the two figures staring at our encampnt from the distant road.
"They've been standing there for a while now," Nessa said softly. She and I stood in the encampnt still, and was staring at the distant figures between a small opening in our tent-wall.
Hm…
They had a small cart. One that was enclosed, the type that was for people to ride and not products or goods. A small mule pulled it, and was lazily being petted by a taller man. His companion, a finely dressed woman, stood a small distance from the cart and was staring at us.
Maybe one of Randle's visitors…? Maybe she was waiting for others to show up, or was just seeing if we were accepting guests or not… Or she could just be interested in us, or they were having cart troubles.
Either way I needed to handle it. Nessa said they'd been there for so ti now, and I believed her. I had heard the mule so ti ago, even before I had started cleaning the ss from our lunch.
"I'll go see what they want. Would you mind letting rit know if I don't co back soon or if sothing happens?" I asked Nessa as I put the cloth I'd been using down onto a nearby table. rit was asleep right now, having lain down after lunch to take a nap. But at the mont she was the only one I could really rely on for such things, since Randle was gone. As was Lellip and Lilly.
"Sure. Want to co with you?" Nessa asked.
I shook my head as I went to grab my hat. I'd made it a habit to wear it more often lately, but I had taken it off as I cleaned the pots and dishes and stuff. I found it on a nearby bench, fastened it to my head and headed out of the encampnt.
As I left I wondered if I should have grabbed my sword or Vim's spear… but decided against it. Odds are they were just Randle's visitors. He's been getting a lot lately, almost a dozen a day, though I didn't recognize this one or rember her or the man she was with visiting.
Was she a noble maybe…? As I approached I realized their cart had so kind of image carved into the side of it. A… symbol of a bird? Was that a raven maybe?
Usually I'd let Randle or one of his people deal with this, but they had left a little before lunch to go to Haggo's office. He wanted to put up notices in town, little flyers, that told the residents who we were and when to expect the church to formally open. Basically he was going to officially declare that the Church of Songs had arrived, but was not officially open for sermons yet until the church was built.
I was glad for it, since he said it would make most of our daily visitors less likely to show up. Once an official notice was known, people would only show up when it was dire, he had explained. Sothing to do with human traditions or sothing.
Though it was slightly odd he needed official permission from Haggo, or at least those he represented, first before he could do so… Since there were places in town, such as at the town-center and also at the marketplace and a few of the places where one could eat that had these boards one could post notices to. Such as to hire employees or sothing. I'd studied one the other day, as to get an idea of what this city was doing and needed and found out that most of the notices were mundane stuff. People looking for certain individuals, such as a lost child, or a logging group looking for a new mber to fell trees. Stuff that the Animalia Guild would have handled for people in Lun, basically. I wasn't sure why one needed permission just to post a piece of paper on a community board.
Either way I was looking forward to it.
Walking across the field of grass, I glanced to my right as I watched a field mouse run off. It disappeared into a nearby hole, and I frowned at it.
Was that what I've been hearing underneath the ground as I slept lately…? I had been hearing dirt moving and crunching lately these last few nights, as if sothing was digging right beneath my head. I'd ntioned it to rit and she had said it was likely moles...
Though that might have been a mole and not a mouse. I hadn't gotten too good a look at it… Was this whole area full of them maybe…?
Focusing back on the woman and the man as I approached them, I watched the man step away from the mule and step up next to her. He had a short sword that hung on his waist, but he didn't grab at its handle or anything on my approach… but now that I was closer, I could tell the two were likely not really related. Plus he had that look in his eyes. The kind that people in general, n or no, usually didn't have.
He was definitely a rcenary, or sothing like it. I didn't see any armband or insignia on him, but I knew from Lilly explaining it before she and Lellip had left that the rcenaries that were here were all settling down. They were becoming employees and stuff of companies and noble houses, and as such abandoning their rcenary associations. Even still she had been kind enough to sit down and draw for the more common rcenary emblems that I should be on the lookout for, such as Branches' old band the Silken Band. So that I could recognize them.
The woman however was definitely not just so common rcenary or town-woman. She was dressed in lighter clothing, since it had started to get warm finally, but the stuff had brighter colors and additions to them. Her shirt, though so kind of cloth, had cleanly sewed on patches of leather and fur here and there. Such as at her wrists, or on her elbows. But the patches weren't improper or misplaced, and had mirroring matching parts as to imply they had been added on purpose with skill. Implying it was sothing very well made. Sothing expensive. It was sothing Vim would have gotten , or made for . Sothing you rarely saw even in a large and wealthy town like Lun. So it was sothing that I knew no common towns-person would wear. Plus her shoes and pants were nice too. This town had mostly brick roads already, but not on the outskirts like we were. So usually those who ca here had dirty shoes, if not even muddy ones since it had rained a few tis since our arrival. She though had flawlessly clean shoes, and the edge of her dress's skirt was just as clean. It all told that she'd ridden the cart here.
She was a noble, or sothing like it. Which only made my assumption of the man being so kind of rcenary all the more likely… he was her guard, not her husband or partner. And it was obvious. Especially with the way he was standing just behind her. That was not how a husband stood, but a servant or guard.
"Hello, can I help you?" I asked as I stepped off the field of grass and onto the dirt road. It was a packed road, not just a common path, but it still wasn't made of stone in this section yet.
The woman and man studied for a mont, so I slowed a bit until I ca to a stop a few feet from them.
Why weren't they saying anything…?
Feeling a little awkward, I wondered if maybe I'd done sothing wrong. Randle and the rest have been talking to people nonstop since we got here, and from all I've heard and seen so far the people here were friendly and welcoming. Not a one had been rude or even odd… what were the chances I'd be the first one to receive animosity? Maybe it was just fate…
"Henry," the woman than spoke, turning to glance at her companion. He nodded gently at his na being spoken and then stepped back and away from her. I watched him go over to their cart, open the small latch door that led into it, and then he reached in and grabbed a box.
What's this…?
Standing up a little straighter as the man walked back over to , and then offered the small box… I wondered if this was maybe a donation or sothing.
I'd not seen it myself, but I had overheard a few people giving Randle a few alms or tithes. From what he's said most of them had been simple coins, while others had given food or sothing they had made. To him, and the rest of our group, such things were so common that no one had found it odd or interesting… so…
Glancing down at the small box being offered to , I decided to just carefully accept it. I found it was a little heavier than it had seed, but not so much that it was worriso. I didn't feel anything inside the box shift or move, or make noise, as I gently shifted it in my hands… but I could tell there was sothing inside of it.
Plus it was fancy. The thing had little designs and images carved into it. On first glance it seed most were just simple settings, such as a starry night, but I'd need to examine it a tad closer to really find out… Was that a raven…? Yes. It was. A large raven was carved into the whole scene on top of the box; sohow rging its wings into what I assud was the night sky. It was neat.
"My na is Rivonne. When your protector shows up, please let know."
Looking up, quickly, I found myself a little shocked as I watched the woman nod at and then turn away.
"Wait…!" I stepped forward, to stop her, but she didn't seem to listen or care. Her guard, or whatever he was, turned with her and went to helping her get into the cart. He helped her step up into it, and she disappeared into it.
I wasted no ti. I hurried forward, ignored the side-glance I got from Henry as I did, and looked into the cart. "Wait, please," I said to the woman.
The woman, Rivonne, huffed a little as she sat down and relaxed in her cart. She turned and nodded at . "As I said, please let know when he shows up. You obviously know who I speak, yes?"
"Vim…" I whispered his na, and she nodded back at .
"I live in the north of town. He'll know how to find ."
"Excuse ," Henry stepped forward, and I had to step back as to let him shut the tiny little door that secured the side of the cart and closed her in. I could still see her, since the cart didn't have a window or a full cover on top, but only partly.
"Rivonne," I said her na as I realized she'd not speak to any longer. She had said what she wanted, given what she felt needed, and was ready to leave.
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She nodded. "Let Vim the Protector know, once you can. Thank you."
Stepping back so more as Henry went to grab the reins of the mule; he made a clicking sound with his tongue and got it to start walking. The cart slowly lurched forward and then began to roll away, leaving behind.
Sighing softly as I watched it slowly leave, I looked again down at the box I held.
Wait…
Frowning, I shifted a little as I…
"Oh boy…" I groaned as I realized I was indeed feeling it.
It was faint. Almost unnoticeable… but I could feel it. Ever so slightly.
The box was making my fingers tingle.
Glancing around, I found I was alone. The cart was now heading back into town, and I was standing alone on the path. So I decided to just… let it be.
She had obviously been very literal. She didn't want to speak to , only for to deliver a ssage. To Vim.
Did he know her…? She had seed human to . I had not felt tingly around her, and I hadn't slled any non-human scents either. I had not once thought, until now, that she could have possible been one of us… maybe she had been…?
But if she had been, wouldn't she have been in the Society…? Yet she spoke as if she wasn't a mber. After all, why would another mber need to act so? They could just summon Vim on their own… and…
I groaned as I turned and hurried back to our encampnt.
Once back I found rit waiting for . She yawned at as I stepped over to her, and I was a little glad that no one else was around at the mont as I showed her the box. "I uh… think we might have a problem," I said.
"We always do. What is it now?" rit asked with a groan, though not because she was upset to hear we had a problem but instead because she was still half-asleep.
"Do you know a Rivonne…? She said her na is Rivonne. His was Henry. Then they gave this box, told to let them know once Vim shows up, and then they just left," I said.
rit seed to snap awake with a blink as she focused on and the box I held. "Rivonne…?" she asked.
I nodded. Had she heard of them before?
She slowly shook her head. "Doesn't ring a bell. Randle would be a better one to ask concerning mbers… What's the box?" she asked.
"Well…" I hesitated as I glanced around. I could hear Nessa in the center tent. The one I'd just been in with her. By the sounds of it she had picked up where I'd left off, cleaning the few remaining pots. Folz was here too, the mute, but he was in his tent. I could hear him scribbling in a book.
Randle was gone, and he had taken Krass the old woman and her son Tristin. Angie though should be…
Ah. There. She erged from her tent, the one near my own and rit's on the south side of the encampnt. She was carrying a basket of clothes and heading to the center tent. Likely to do laundry.
"I think it might be a heart," I whispered to rit once I was sure no one was watching or listening to us.
rit's eyes narrowed at . "You're kidding…"
"Well… at least that's what I think it is. The box is making my hands and fingers tingle," I said. I couldn't outright feel it, but…
"Sure you're not just allergic to whatever the thing is made of…? No matter, open it and find out," rit said.
"But what if I'm supposed to give it to Vim and…" I started to argue but rit didn't care. She huffed at and grabbed the box from my hand and went to open it.
I groaned, but didn't stop her, as she found the lid and briskly popped it open.
Leaning forward, rit and I studied the inside of the small box… and found a cloth. A thick black one, which…
"It's a heart," I said before rit got the cloth unwrapped enough to reveal it. now with the lid off, I felt it clearly.
A small white orb ca into view. One that was glowing very familiarly, and also… kind of small. Not as small as the one I'd eaten in Lun, the small many-tailed monarchs' heart from Telmik, but not much bigger.
"Huh… so it is," rit sounded impressed as she stared at it.
"What are you doing?" Angie asked from nearby the center tent's entrance. She still held her basket and was staring at us.
"Not sure yet," I said back, a little worried the girl would co over to see. I trusted Angie, of course, but the fewer who knew about the heart the better.
rit sighed as she went to folding the cloth back over the heart. "Well, this just proves whoever it is knows who and what we are. Are they still out there?" rit asked as she went to closing the box back up.
"No… she just said to let her know when Vim shows up. She was rather adamant about it, then just left," I said.
"Did you not ntion you were his wife?" rit asked.
"No… should I have?" I asked. Maybe that would have worked…?
rit though shook her head. "Good. Keep such a thing a secret. We don't know if they're an enemy yet or not… hm… should we bury it?" rit went to glancing around, mumbling as she did.
I sighed at my little friend as Angie walked over. She no longer carried her basket, having deposited it into the center tent. "What happened?" Angie asked.
"A weird person visited, gave this box and told to let her know when Vim shows up," I said.
"What is it…?" Angie asked, interested.
"A dangerous object. I'll bury it, Renn, give a second…" rit said as she stepped away, making Angie frown at her.
"I don't get to know, or I don't want to know?" she asked .
"Both, I think," I admitted.
Angie simply nodded. "Fair enough. I'm going to wash so clothes, do you have any you want to wash for you while I'm at it?" she asked.
A tad humbled by her offer, and her readiness to simply ignore or overlook what just happened, I simply shook my head. "Thank you, but no… I'll clean my own later," I said.
"I'm good at it you know? I did it for my whole family all the ti," she said. She looked and sounded as if she wanted to convince .
I smiled at that and nodded. "I've no doubt, Angie. Maybe next ti. I really only have a little to do, and I plan to do it later when I clean my leather armor and stuff too," I said. It was ti I did maintenance on the gear Lellip and the rest had made , anyway. Plus, I didn't want to admit it but I was slowly becoming like Vim.
The stuff I touched stopped slling. I'd been sleeping in my tent for well over half a month now and it was rather obvious. My own tent had no sll at all. And I didn't an it in a way that I simply didn't notice it because it was my own sll. My tent genuinely didn't sll like anything. Not even of cloth or leather, as all the other ones did. Or the grass beneath it, either.
I'd been wanting to ask rit if she noticed too, but was slightly scared of doing so. It was… nice to know I was becoming like Vim, sohow, but at the sa ti it was strange. Concerning.
I could sll Vim, and my own self, so why was it I didn't sll the stuff around us? It was confusing.
"Okay… how about rit? She stinks sotis, surely she has so," Angie said with a gesture to the small fish who was… now missing. Where'd she gone, I wonder?
"I uh… don't know. Maybe," I said softly. rit did sotis have a small sll to her, but I'd not say it was so bad as that…
"Hmph… rit! Got any dirty clothes!?" Angie then asked, turning to face the rest of the encampnt and shouting as she did.
"Yes!" rit's voice ca back from the other side of the encampnt, and I frowned at that. Was she in the tent we'd given Lilly…?
"Knew it. I'll just go grab them, then," Angie said and hurried off towards rit's tent, unabashed and unafraid to the point she just went straight into it.
Shaking my head gently at Angie, I wondered if she just didn't fear rit or if she didn't comprehend who and what rit was just yet. "Maybe it's just her nature…" I whispered as I went to round the main tent, to find rit. It was funny that only a little while ago Angie had asked to introduce her to rit. That she had been anxious and cautious of her. Now they were acting like old friends.
Sure enough I found her walking out of Lilly's tent while brushing her hands off. "Hidden," she said happily to as she noticed .
"Why her tent?" I asked.
"No one's using it, so won't be bothered by its proximity."
Oh… right. Vim has brought up that a heart caused problems if near people… "It'd have been fine in my tent though?" I said.
"No. It wouldn't have. What if I slept in there or soone else? You might be fine, but not us," rit said simply as she glanced around. "Did Angie get my dirty clothes?"
"Um… yes. I think she did," I said. We were not able to see rit's tent from this side of the encampnt, since we were on the other side of the center tent.
"Good. I'm glad we have soone who likes doing such nial tasks. I don't."
nial…? "Part of her motherly nature, I think," I said happily.
"Motherly…?" rit mumbled the word as she then yawned. A mighty one.
"You think we should just let it be, rit?" I asked.
"Yes. Let Randle know, but no one else. If you see them again though let know right away," rit said between another yawn.
I nodded as I watched rit yawn so more. I'd not realized her back teeth were pointy… not even mine were like that.
"I'm going back to bed then. Hopefully she didn't take my bedding too…" rit said as she stepped away.
Smirking at that, I nodded. "If she did you can sleep in my bed," I said.
She gave a gentle wave as she seemingly agreed, and per her usual self… disappeared around the center tent and went out of my sight without much care or worry.
Sighing softly at her, who was similar to Vim in a way, I wondered if rit's calm reaction to the heart should be my own too.
I felt as if what had just happened was a big deal… or at least should have been. Instead it seed it was just another day.
Maybe it was normal. Vim did know people outside of the Society, after all… even though as odd and strange as it were for him to do so. Such as those pirates in Lun, or even monarchs such as Miss Beak… he'd ntioned there were others like them too occasionally though never ntioned them by na or told where they were.
If this Rivonne was not a mber of the Society… I wonder who and what she was to Vim. A friend like Ronalldo? Maybe soone he owed a debt to? Had he perchance saved her or her ancestors once, and they just sohow rembered and kept tabs on him the whole ti because of it…? I'd considered that before, while traveling with Vim. On occasion we did encounter and even help random people… what if they actually took the ti to rember us and seek us out, when able? Vim always seed to believe such a thing couldn't happen, since humans died too quickly, but obviously it didn't always go that way…
No matter. If there was no imdiate threat then I should just treat it as rit had. With simple caution, but otherwise no worry. I'll speak to Randle about it later, hopefully he might have so insight…
Glancing upward, I smiled softly at the familiar sky. The sun was high overhead; there were a few white clouds… and a small breeze flowing along the river, carrying the sent of not just a warm day but the nearby forest.
A forest not too unalike the one I'd grown up in… and had lived in for hundreds of years.
We weren't too far from the Owl's Nest. Which in turn was not too far from Ruvindale or where Nory and I had lived for decades. So, in a way, I felt almost as if I was ho.
"At least I will be once we get out of these tents…" I mumbled with a sigh as I went to rejoin Nessa, to return to the boring day I was having. The fun was over, it seed.
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