The next morning found Maura in a dress and sitting with the Carters for breakfast. She had actually dressed herself for once as she was hoping to spend most of the day outside waiting to catch her first glimpse of the city. She had an excited smile on her face and found herself bouncing a little bit and fidgeting at the table. Maura couldn’t know, but she actually looked her age for the first time that the adults had ever seen.

Amelia waited until the very last moment of breakfast so as not to dash her mood before saying, “Maura, we need to have a serious talk about what you should expect and watch for in or near the city. We won’t be within range to see it until noon at the earliest, so I’d like to sit with you and explain some things. I know you’re excited, but this is important, alright?”

Maura’s spirits fell and she drooped a little at hearing this, but she nodded and said, “Okay.”

Once breakfast was cleaned up and the table put away, Chief Carter left to make sure everything was running smoothly and she sat on the couch with Amelia. She was nervous now, but still excited. Her dreams for years were going to be challenged today, and now that Amelia had brought her back down to earth a little she was worried that it would crush her.

Amelia began, “Now Maura, I don’t want to alarm you overly but you are used to and well suited for the wilderness. Where we are going is going to be very different. We won’t actually be entering the city just yet but we will still be in a large group of people. If what Captain Logan has said and our own guesses are true, there will be around five thousand Khersi camped near the city.

“That will be quite a dramatic shift for you as right now even a crowd of ten you find overwhelming. Our clan is also somewhat… gentler than most. Mostly due to our rough years and low population. We don’t have enough people to be too boisterous; most of our elders have passed and we are few in number.

“When we arrive, I’ll need to take you with me to a meeting of clan heads and elders to explain the situation, and it will be challenging. There is a strong tradition of honor and battle in our society, so you might need to watch out for that. There will be pitfalls aplenty that you could fall into but it’s my job to protect you from that.”

Maura blanched at the idea of so many people and noise all around her. She knew intellectually that it was going to be that way, but that was different than being told that it was going to happen soon and that it may be even worse than she thought. She would have to walk through a crowd of people, most likely. Could she do it? They were going to be louder than she had thought. She would have to sit in front of the tribe leaders?

As the wagon began to move Amelia patted her head and continued, “I know you are afraid, but you are a member of our clan. We will protect you as we are your guardians and you are our ward. That’s the most important thing to keep in mind. No matter what, I need you to stay close to us. Don’t let yourself get separated or isolated from us for any reason whatsoever. If you do find yourself alone, run back to this tent as fast as you can. We’ll find you back here.

“If anyone tries to tell you what to do, you don’t listen to them and either find me or a member of my family, or come back to the tent. We both know that your situation is… unusual. As far as anyone else knows, however, you are a twelve year old ward of the Frozen River Tribe. This means that you cannot make any agreements and that your word holds no weight. The age of majority is fifteen, so if anyone tries to tell you anything or hold your words against you then they are up to something.

“There are people much stronger than those in our tribe that you will probably meet. I have a suspicion that you wouldn’t have an issue with them, but if they try to push you around just run away and find us or back to the tent. Do not, under any circumstances, fight back or reveal your power - even if we seem to be in danger and you are confused. The same goes for any time someone from the Arcanum or the city tries to talk to you. Understood?”

Maura was looking into Amelia’s soft blue eyes with worry but her calmness and the gentle rubbing of her shoulder calmed her down enough.

Maura said, “Will it really be that bad? I thought… I’ve been waiting for so long…”

Amelia smiled a bit more and scooted over to pull Maura into a half-hug. She hummed a little and said, “No, dear. It will probably be different than you think, but not so bad. I just want to protect you, is all. You’re important to my people, yes, but you are also a member of the tribe and important to me personally.

“There are a great many wonderful things to experience, also. Amazing food, plays, storytellers, music, shops, clothes and all sorts of interesting people. In a few days we will maybe take a trip into the city itself, or at least Perry wanted to take you. I know you want to get writing supplies and books and they have those in the city as well. I just want you to be safe.”

Maura nodded her head as she ran her hands along her blue dress. She had been getting too excited, perhaps. Amelia was right, she didn’t really know much about cities or large groups of people. Even from her flat memories she had never really seen what anyone would call a crowd before.

Maura didn’t miss the repeats of ‘if anything happens find me or run away’ and she had to admit, that went right along with what she would probably do anyway. It was still nice to be given official permission to do that, though.

Amelia took a little more time to explain about the tribal leadership and an overview of upper level politics so she would at least be able to recognise certain people of importance.

Generally, the Khersi were autonomous groups of tribes that had a chieftain and elders on top. When they met, there was a complicated and almost mystical process to determine who was more important or powerful than the next person and she didn’t go into detail. All Maura needed to know was that there were probably two major tribes that were large enough to be considered a clan and anywhere from ten to twenty smaller tribes near Torrine.

A clan was simply a larger tribe that had multiple families that all fell under elders or a patriarch, but the overall leadership of the clan still fell under a single chieftain. Clans would routinely break up into several individual tribes or be absorbed into smaller tribes once they reached a certain size or a patriarch died, historically. There were also new and according to Amelia incorrect other groupings such as warclans and such that they would be using their influence and traditions to fight back against. A semi-nobility had been growing like a cancer for years inside of the Khersi, and Amelia was having none of it.

When they met there would be people with more weight behind them, but what Maura brought into the picture would launch one of the weakest clans (theirs) to a level of importance that wasn’t normal. Chances are there would be people trying to take Maura away, force the Frozen River Tribe to merge into a larger tribe or, if everything went the way Amelia and Chief Carter wished, a whole bunch of new wagonmasters clamoring to join as well as a flood of individuals.

When it came to dealing with the city, chances are none of the nobility or religious organizations would care too much, but the Arcanum probably would. The issue was that when the Arcanum flexed its muscles it dragged in any nearby political factions to suddenly care about whatever they were interested in whatever they were. Being Khersi and under the protection of a technical noble would allow the tribes and Chief Carter to place a bunch of roadblocks between Maura and any trouble, in theory, but it might not work, especially with the younger and more violent generation.

Maura asked some questions to clarify certain things, but generally just listened and tried to assimilate as much knowledge as possible.

Finally, right before noon, Maura was released to go think about everything and wait for a chance to see the city.

She left the tent in her dress and shawl, but also brought her sword and dagger. She had wanted to bring her spear as well, but Amelia told her that would be too suspicious looking. At least her sword looked more like a toy than anything else, but the spear was an obvious weapon.

Maura made her way swiftly to the lead wagon, which happened to be Perry’s. His wagon was very different from Amelia’s or Eric’s. While theirs had tents that took up much more room for their families, Perry only had a small tent with a larger greeting area in front and more room for merchandise in the back, though it wasn’t as packed as some of the others. He had only had his own wagon for a season, and was just starting off. Eventually he would probably have some people live with him either as guards or partners but for now it was just him and his driver.

As she was walking towards it, she had a suspicion that he had made sure to be in the lead on purpose so that they could chat about trade goods and Maura’s skills as she waited to get a glimpse of the city, but she didn’t mind. She could ask him clarifications on what Amelia had said and they could make plans to go into the city maybe.

As Maura hopped up onto the wagon, her suspicions were confirmed as she saw Perry sitting out front all bundled in warm furs. The moment he noticed her he smiled widely and said, “Maura! Won’t you join me? We should be able to see the city soon, and we can have a chat!”

They spent the next couple hours talking about all sorts of things. Perry sure had a sharp mind for business. Maura found herself agreeing to make some leather goods and a few more knives and daggers, but she remembered towards the end that he would have to ask Amelia first. She was training herself to defer everything to her, and Perry laughed and agreed. He had asked if she was cold, but Maura wasn’t bothered by the temperature, though she did eventually let him drape a spare cloak over her shoulders to keep up with appearances.

She really did like him. He was pretty handsome and quiet with those spectacles and his lust for life, too. Maura felt some strange feelings, but just blushed a little and ignored them while they kept talking.

Maura was sitting next to the fire out front with Perry when she heard some cheers from ahead. They were moving up a gentle hill, but Maura could see the soldiers slowing down and pointing with smiles on their faces.

She suddenly found herself standing and holding her breath. As the wagon made it to the crest of the hill, a vista opened up before her.

There it was.

Torrine.

A city of people who had banded together to push back the darkness. Civilization thriving on the continent she had been terrified was only full of graves and memories.

Torrine was a classic walled city, with a series of smaller walls that broke up the land around it into sections and a much larger wall surrounding the city core. The smaller walls were still at least thirty feet tall at the walkway and had towers spread all along them. The larger walls must have been close to fifty feet and were obviously of different make.

Even from here Maura could sense the latent enchantments woven into the bedrock and walls to reinforce them. They were a shining white color and perfectly smooth with a gentle tilt outwards to make climbing more difficult for monster waves. The towers and gatehouses were brutal but efficient and the whole thing taken from afar spoke of strength. She could see some areas that had obviously been damaged and repaired over the years, thought not as well.

With a start, Maura realized this was the old walled city she knew as Tor Farrine. It was even on the map she held inside her head. It was much larger than it used to be, from what she could tell. The secondary walls were all new and the city sprawl had poured outwards for miles. With the garbled mush that their accents had adopted, it made sense that it would eventually be called Torrine, she supposed.

She could see smoke rising from the slate covered buildings all over and there were hundreds of people she could see even from so far away, though they were just dark specs at this range. There were more obvious roads filled with wagons coming from the outskirts and the forests as well as huge flat areas with small buildings that must be fields as far as she could see in every direction.

The inner city had much larger buildings, mostly in the same white stone as the walls though some were noticeably different. She could see flags and pennants flapping in the sunlight and though it was probably her imagination she thought she could hear noises even from here.

It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

A great river wove through the lower part of the city and on the left she could see a vast encampment of wagons along one of the shores as the driver began to move them in that direction.

Maura was startled when Perry gave her a handkerchief and said, “Welcome to Torrine, Maura. There’s no monsters here. Well, ones that can’t talk at any rate.”

She hadn’t realized she was crying, but she just thanked Perry and turned back to observe as they got closer.

Time slipped away from her as she studied the sight, though she was peripherally aware of the soldiers heading out on a different course and the wagons changing their positions from a line to more of an oval. Maura was still in front, but she glanced to the side and saw Chief Carter’s wagon moving parallel to them.

Eventually, Perry told her she should probably go back to her tent as he had a lot of work to do and Amelia had been trying to wave her over for a few minutes. He gave her a quick hug as she thanked him and then she quickly jogged between the two wagons and joined Amelia.

She didn’t enter the tent until they were getting really close to the large camp or… permanent temporary area? Maura wasn’t sure what to call it, but it was obviously a more permanent arrangement for nomadic people. As they drew close more people started to stare at her, so she left to hide behind the tent flap, but stayed peeking out.

There was an obvious method to the madness of the large camp and from what Maura could gather the Frozen River Tribe had probably been expected to find one of the smaller spots further out, but Chief Carter, well groomed and dressed in elaborate clothing for the first time Maura had seen, was standing tall with Amelia standing next to him dressed in her best as he personally drove the wagon deep into the middle of the territory.

At first, there was barely a stir, but eventually people saw what was happening and a wave of motion was kicked off. Some people jogged away, some moved towards them, others moved fast into the center of the camp, and most people began to talk amongst themselves with blatant curiosity and not a little disdain.

Maura was still stunned by the sheer number of people. There were so many! She hoped that there would be many friends and new experiences ahead of her. Glancing at the Carters, she felt a little of her energy drain from their serious expressions, but she decided not to care.

Only a true idiot would bar the way of four elop with momentum behind them, so Chief Carter managed to make it to a large open area where he drove in a large circle. As the last of the tribe followed the circle, they pulled the elop towards the center in a well choreographed move that basically created an instant fort with the beasts on the inside.

Maura was super impressed, though she did realize that the area they were in was significantly larger than the little room that their wagons needed to make a circle. She imagined that this would normally be a spot for a larger or more powerful clan to be, but Maura figured that the coming politics would change the situation. She hoped it would work out well.

Amelia had described what their plan was. There were a few ways they could have gone about everything, but this one was the quickest to begin to work and head off many potential dangers. If they had taken their time and talked to individuals to garner support it was possible that Ser Ethan, who had left with the soldiers, would bring the Arcanum or political pressure against them too fast. By driving straight into the middle of the encampment they would draw those same people they needed to talk with to them, instead of having to enter the initial stages of Amelia’s plan in a position of weakness.

As Maura peeked from behind the curtain, she thought it may have worked out too well.

Before any official response could have a ghost of a chance to form, several burly men with murderous expressions walked right up to Chief Carter’s wagon and, without presenting themselves or asking for permission, climbed up and squared off with him.

The lead man dressed as a warrior with expensive armor and flashy weapons growled, “Who the fuck do you think you are, bottom feeder?”

Chief Carter simply ignored the man and began bellowing orders to make camp and secure the herd. From Amelia’s lessons this was a technically correct action for the Chieftain, as the man had not followed the proper traditions to be acknowledged and was therefore not currently present, but worry spiked through her mind and she tensed.

The man pushed Chief Carter’s shouler and placed his other hand on his long sword and said, “You come into the center of the clutch with your splintered and raggedy wagons. This is territory of the Black Peak Warclan, scum! Move your shitty selves back to your place, now!”

The moment he laid hands on Chief Carter, Maura’s senses snapped into focus and all of her anxiety faded like a dream. She held her hand on her sword grip and went still as she watched the well dressed thugs. She was humming in a way that echoed into the manasphere, preparing a spell if it would be needed.

Amelia, as if she could sense the sudden danger from the tent, moved gracefully and broke Maura’s line of sight as Chief Carter turned to the man and said, “What was the name of your Chieftain, ghost?”

Maura could still see the man’s face as it twisted in anger and said, “Who the fuck do you think you are? Those traditions are dead, and you will be soon if you don’t get your ass out of here, old man!”

Chief Carter remained calm as he looked into the eyes of the other men there, all of which seemed to be belligerent and acting tough. He sighed but just stood waiting and not ten seconds later when it seemed like the first man was going to yell something new, a panting voice came from the front of the wagon.

It was loud but had the slight rasp of age as it called, “Chieftain, I am Nicholas, Shaman of Blind Water. I wish to enter your circle to converse and welcome you.”

Chief Carter spoke before the burly asshole had a chance and said, “Shaman Nicholas, enter my circle and join my hearth so we may converse. You are welcome.”

The angry man’s face had reddened with fury as he called, “Fuck off ya antique!”

Maura’s eyes had studied and categorized the men with this first person as they were talking their useless words. Most seemed tribesman, but one of them had the distinct look of a mage to her senses. What was the Arcanum doing inside of the camp?

Amelia cut in, “Remove yourselves from my doorstep ghosts, or I shall move you.”

The man looked at her with a confused look of complete surprise as if he couldn’t imagine that a woman had just said something to him. One of his cronies' eyes flashed in rage as he moved towards her.

Right before Maura was about to sing to the world and bring wind to cut them back, something unexpected halted her. Amelia’s aura flashed with a cold blue in her mana sight as she flicked her fingers and the man’s hand froze to the hilt of his sword.

Before they could react she said, “Now, ghosts. I will not ask again.”

A few more people arrived with the shaman and with Amelia’s display the others grumbled and backed away reluctantly. They had their chance but had taken too long, it seemed. Or perhaps there was something else going on here? The obvious Arcanum mage had been looking around waiting for something. He seemed more angry now that the situation was beginning to cool down, if anything.

Nicholas, an older man with greying hair and sharp blue eyes, said, “And who brings this outsider into a Khersi camp without proper procedure? Ah, it’s you Yonnim. I thought I smelled something rotting. Run along now, rat.”

The first thug, Yonnim apparently, glared at them all and then moved off, trying to shoulder the older man out of the way. Nicholas moved like water yet made it look natural as he turned to the people behind him and waved them up. This caused Yonnim to almost trip and fall off the wagon, but soon enough the aggressors were clear and the newcomers were walking up the steps.

Nicholas turned to Chief Carter as he said, “Welcome to Frozen River, Shaman Nicholas. I am Chief Carter and this is my wife Amelia. Please, come and sit around the fire. I fear I have not yet had time to ready any refreshments.”

Maura had calmed down enough that her emotions were starting to return. Her anxiety was beginning to build again, but she tried to study the scene and not let her emotions roll out of control. The shaman looked a little surprised, but he nodded and they sat on the benches across from one another over the fire out front. Amelia sat with the Chieftain which two people in the little group he had brought onto the wagon frowned a little at.

Shaman Nicholas said, “Thank you, Chieftain. Frozen River is an ancient tribe if my memory serves. Ehem… well, worry not about refreshments. These people with me are my son Gerald, and my two tribe members Frank and Youm. I’ve had them watching that toad for what he was up to for days now and I know that you have barely arrived. That Arcanum mage is not attached to any tribe and should not even be here so I smelled something foul and made sure to be ready. Now. If I may be a bit blunt, why are you inside the rings so far?”

Chief Carter smiled a little and replied, “Yes, it was rather strange how fast someone decided to confront me. I think the manner in which the confrontation happened means a great deal more. I have come to call a council. There are things that need to be discussed that weigh heavily on the future of the Khersi. That is all I shall say for now for I do not know you, no offense.”

Nicholas nodded and said, “I will inform my tribe and Deep Wood. I have little doubt Black Peak will remain uninformed for long. I expect I shall see you again in an hour or so.”

He nodded, thanked them for the welcome, and after a bit more small talk they all left.

Chief Carter whispered that he would be back soon to Amelia and then left to make sure everything was going well in camp and Amelia turned to enter the tent. Maura skittered back, only now realizing she was still holding her sword grip.

As Amelia entered she smiled at her and said, “Maura. Well done not reacting. It would have been a death sentence for anyone to have hurt a Chieftain or his wife inside of their own camp with so many witnesses in broad daylight. I’m proud of you for not reacting, even though I myself was stunned at the situation. I imagine it will be about two hours before we go to talk to the council.

“Stephen will be going first and enacting a rule to clear everyone but those most trusted or powerful. We shall then use another rule to clear out anyone with ties to the cities or Arcanum. That probably won’t work, but not only is it taboo to break the sacred silence, it is also punishable by death. A… rather painful and barbaric one, in fact. Probably created by men, now that I think about it.

“Once that is all done, you and I will go there. I’ll talk to the council, but I may need you to show a few of your talents. Only do so at my direction, alright? This is moving a bit faster than I would have liked, but the Arcanum is obviously already trying to put some pressure on us.”

Maura was concerned, but she was also worried about her own reaction. She had fallen straight into the hunter when someone had threatened her… family? This was something that would probably end up being a problem, or could be one at any rate. And then Amelia… she was a sorceress! Maura knew she had no formal education in magic, but she had effortlessly summoned that ice magic.

Maura walked close to Amelia and whispered, “Amelia, I’m sorry. I… I almost attacked. It was an instinct. I… well, when I am a hunter, I’m a different person. I just… shut down. I was moments away from cutting that man in half when he stepped towards you. I’m sorry! I think… I think it’s a problem.”

Amelia stood a little too still for a moment, but then she breathed a deep sigh and pulled Maura in for a hug. She said, “That is a problem. If you had done that, especially in front of an Arcanum mage… well, we would have much larger problems.”

Maura nuzzled into Amelia’s chest and felt terrible. She spoke a little louder so Amelia could still hear her and said, “I think I might be a little broken, Amelia. I… I can’t really control it. I just didn’t want you to get hurt! When that man pushed Chief Carter, I didn’t get angry or worried, I just shut down and turned into the hunter. I didn’t think this would happen outside of the wilderness.”

She was crying now, and Amelia just held her for a while, humming gently. Eventually she said, “Captain Logan talked about someone he trusted to help soldiers and such through something similar, perhaps we could talk to him? It was a priest… I forget the name, right now. I’ll send him a letter in the morning, how about that?”

Maura had forgotten as well, but she felt like it was a lifeline that had been thrown to her from the darkness. She looked quickly up at Amelia’s face and with a sniff said, “Yes! Yes, I don’t want to mess up! I’ll do anything to stay!”

Amelia had a face that Maura didn’t understand as she looked back at her. It seemed caring, but also really sad? She said, “Then that’s what we’ll do. You don’t need to worry about being sent away, Maura. We both have things we want from each other, certainly, but you are also now part of our tribe which is basically just another word for family.

“For now, I need you to go get into your full outfit. Not the dress or anything, the one you had when in the wilderness. We need to show that you have survived and have strange skills. I’ll help with your hair. Sound good?”

It was a little over two and a half hours later that Chief Carter finally called for them to come to the council. The sun was almost setting and there were a few flurries beginning to fall. Maura was wrapped in her cloak to hide herself, her spear held near the middle of her chest so the cloak wouldn’t open.

As she walked she researched topics inside her mind. She was going over a book on anti-scrying wards and techniques for the most part. There were quite a few books on learning how to spot and defend against saboteurs and traitors in her mental library, which made sense as she personally was also one of those methods that the university used to keep their advanced research proprietary. While Amelia had helped her with her hair, she had whispered a few of those things to her, so she could tell her what to do.

She wouldn’t let anything mess this up, and if she was to show herself, she might as well show herself.

Her family was counting on her.