Chapter 29 — A Familiar Face

Mr. Farrel's directions proved helpful, and she found the general store without incident. It wasn't hard. The general store was just two houses down.

Like most of the houses in Vorshan's Hills, the houses in this section of the village were all built directly up against their neighbors to conserve space. The bottom floors were mostly storefronts with the families living on the floor or two above.

Ria greeted an old man sweeping the front porch outside the store and entered. The interior was packed with household goods and daily-use items. She wandered around for a little while, but soon accepted the assistance of a young woman who worked inside the shop.

With the woman’s help, her dreams of a washbasin large enough to soak in and a full-length mirror were realized… well, mostly full-length. The mirror was an ornately-framed oval as big as she was. Her main goals accomplished, she moved on to purchasing play clothes and mundane things like a sewing kit, scented soap, towels, and so on. For the tea party, Ria saw a tea set she liked, but decided to wait and have fun shopping with Emily later.

That the mirror was more expensive than her armor was painful, and she felt guilty spending her parents’ money on it. In the end, Ria rationalized the purchase by planning to use it for clothesmaking. To that end, she saw a wonderful black fabric. The Festival of Fear should be coming up soon, and she had the perfect idea for her costume. Some cones of wool yarn were purchased just for good measure.

The only thing she still needed was writing supplies. The young woman, Stevi, who was the granddaughter of the shop owner, helpfully told her about a stationery store near the lord’s manor and was also really helpful about arranging delivery of the purchases, tasking her younger brothers, Koben and Wess. The teen brothers thought Ria was cute, so she tipped them extra.

Leaving the store, Ria decided to check in with Ranger.

{Everything okay?}

{Was bored. Went downstairs to watch food.}

{Do your best not to get in trouble}

{Lots of food. Smells really good.}

{I’ll be back soon, okay?}

{No problem. Watching is fun.}

Ugh… was that good or bad?

While worrying about whether Ranger was going to get himself in trouble, a man’s voice she recognized from last night called out to her.

“Ria?”

Ria wasn’t sure she wanted to turn and acknowledge the source of that voice if his reason for seeking her out had anything to do with Gebs and gang. Ugh.

“Good afternoon, Captain Bastach,” Ria said pleasantly and stopped to curtsy.

Bastach looked a bit stunned at her transformation. “Can I walk with you a ways?”

“Of course. To what do I owe the honor?” she asked as they resumed walking.

Bastach blinked. “Are you really just a village girl from Revant?”

“You flatter me, Captain. What else would I be?” Ria laughed at how off-balance the captain seemed at her charm offensive. She had loved dressing up and pretending to be characters from her favorite stories when she was little, and there was something about wearing a fancy dress that made her want to act like a storybook princess.

The captain coughed into his hand. “That aside, how are you settling in?”

“I don’t have any particular complaints. I was able to convert my coins. Jarrel’s parents have accepted me as if I was their own granddaughter. I’ve made some friends, and I’ve already been offered work.” She nodded to herself after noting how successful her day had been. Her new life was off to a great start.

“That’s a relief to hear. You’re not upset about the incident this morning?” Bastach asked. He was watching her reaction carefully.

Of course, the reason he wanted to talk to her was about that.

“I am a little worried they or others may try to attack me from behind, now I’ve proven I can defend myself,” Ria admitted. “And, the rumors being spread about me aren’t particularly helpful.”

Bastach sighed wearily. “Many boys are understandably scared about the idea of having a witch living in town. And you traumatized Gebs and his friends to the extent that I don’t think they’ll try anything for a while.”

Ria huffed. “You know, five large boys trying to rob and beat up a small girl like me is pretty terrifying, right?”

“I know, and I want to thank you for showing restraint. If you had injured, or gods forbid, killed one of them, the situation would have been very serious. I have personally impressed upon them their stupidity and had talks with their parents,” Bastach said.

Nodding, Ria replied, “Good. Gebs’ dad saying stupid stuff was what started the whole mess.”

Bastach grimaced. “I heard you took a piece of Gebs’ shirt so you could curse him. Can you return that?”

Ria rolled her eyes. “I took it so Ranger could find him if he continued to cause trouble or if he managed to steal any of my stuff. I have to head home soon, is it fine if I do that tomorrow?”

“Ah, yeah. It’s probably best to let things calm down for a day anyway,” Bastach agreed.

“Thanks for walking with me, Captain. This is my destination,” Ria said, motioning to the sign indicating the stationery store. “Let’s talk more another time.”

“Do your best to stay out of trouble,” Bastach replied and, after receiving her reassurance, continued in the direction of the lord’s manor.

The interior of the store was dim and smelled of parchment and paper, but a glowstone mounted on a stand provided a pleasant enough light for the shopkeeper to read by. He was a spectacled man with wispy hair that was starting to bald.

“Oh, a new customer. What can I do for you, miss?” the man said, looking up from his book.

“I’m interested in a writing set and a journal for taking notes,” Ria requested then an idea hit her. “Um, do you sell enchantable inks and pens or brushes that can be used as focus tools?”

The man looked surprised at her request. “Are you an apprentice enchanter?”

Ria shook her head. “No, I was just thinking that making wards on paper might be more useful than drawing them on the ground.”

“Wards?”

“Ah! I have a license to practice shamanic magic,” Ria hurriedly added.

“Hmm. If you are using ritual magic to enchant paper, you’ll likely need to register with the Enchanters Guild,” the man cautioned.

“Okay?”

At Ria’s blank look, the man chuckled. “Master Rigure would have what you are looking for, and he’s also the local contact for the Enchanters Guild. I’m Simon, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

“Ria of Shadewood.”

“Interesting. You’re from Revant then. How rare,” Simon commented.

Ria got directions to Master Rigure’s house and chatted with Simon for a while. In addition to normal writing supplies, she also purchased the next book in one of her favorite series. Simon liked a lot of the same authors that she did and stocked their books. Many of the best writers were Crysellian, so it wasn’t a coincidence to find more recent works here in Crysellia.

“Ah, Bastach.” Lord Vorshan waved his guardsman captain into the room. “How's our newest mage apprentice doing?”

Bastach sank into the chair opposite. “I know you told me to help the witch girl feel welcome, but even dressing her up like a noble, she really gives me the creeps. Are you sure this is wise? She already caused an incident this morning.”

Lord Vorshan raised an eyebrow. “An incident? Tell me about it.”

“Five of the guardsmens' son's led by Gebs confronted Ria about possibly ill-gotten coin, and it ended up with three of the boys unconscious and two scared off. No one injured, fortunately.”

“I hope you were sympathetic when you interacted with her. You know this Revant girl could be quite the useful asset for House Vorshan when it comes to making new connections in the capital city, particularly if she attracts the attention of the Greater Houses.”

Bastach indicated he had done as asked and reached for the tea placed in front of him. “Won't awarding her the sponsorship cause tension with the Clearwells?”

Lord Vorshan rolled his eyes. “The regional sponsorships to the Grand Academy are for nurturing new talent, not for providing retainers with guaranteed placements. Even if the Clearwells have expectations of Amilee following in her older sister's footsteps, honestly, Amilee's results have been disappointing. A little competition might be good for her. And there's no reason why she can't go to the Regional Academy. Now, I'm guessing none of that is what you came to report.”

“No,” Bastach admitted and took a draw on the tea. “At Nevill's farm up north, he, his wife, and children were murdered yesterday. I sent Meslin to investigate. Animals got to the bodies, but he says they were slashed up something awful with blood all over the house.”

“Any leads?”

Bastach shook his head. “Not as yet. Though the timing could fit the arrival of Jarrel and the girl… and she did have that bloodied rag.”

Lord Vorshan settled back in his chair and contemplated in silence. The timing was coincidental enough to be worrisome. But unless the time spent in Revant had changed him, Jarrel was too professional to create such a bloody crime scene, and the girl's expressions easily gave away her thoughts. She was far too green and naïve to imagine her capable of such. And if it was related to the earlier-reported disappearance, those farm teens went missing over a week ago—long before the pair were spotted in the area.

“No, I'm not seeing it.” He reached forward and drained his tea, Cassi promptly refilling his cup as soon as it was returned to the low table. “Why risk seeking the pardon and sponsorship for the girl if they were involved in the murder? They could have continued on to another village and no one would have ever known. Keep investigating.”