The kitchen was as strange as the study, in its own charming way. A large hearth roared and fizzed in a deep recess in the stone wall. Three metal tubes ran from above the flame, as if borrowing its heat or smoke, up into the ceiling. There was a large round table in the center with four wooden chairs, three of which were worn deeper at the seat.

“So you’re ‘ere to study at the academy?” Margo asked, as she took hold of a loaf of bread and placed it firmly on a chopping board. A large knife seemed to be conjoined to the board, which itself had a rusting key protruding out of its side. Margo wound the key and the bread began to shuffle forward as the knife swung up and down like an indecisive drawbridge.

“Yes,” she said, as she fascinated over the knife that carved off a thick crust of bread. “I’m going tomorrow for my induction.” A lie, but a needed one. Half the reason Margo had been so keen for Aelia to stay with them was the fact that Aelia had a source of income waiting for her in Rhodes — the allowance from the academy that she had not yet been accepted into.

There an erk and a clank and the knife stopped dead mid-swing.

“Typical. Stone God be saved.” Margo slapped the board hard, but nothing happened. “He says his gadgets’ll make my life easier. But do they?”

“Um, do they?”

“Do they 'eck! They break when they shouldn’t and work when they shouldn’t, and dinner never gets made if I rely on them one bit.” Her face softened a smidge. “Bless him for trying, though — but I do wish he’d stick to his clocks. That’s what sells and that’s what keeps the flour in the pan and the bread in his stomach.” With that, Margo yanked the knife away from the contraption and carved a final piece. “Here we are now.” She ladled something brown and steaming from a pot on the stove and handed a full bowl of it, plus two slices of bread, to Aelia.

Aelia sniffed the bowl and the meat and gravy and rosemary, and whatever other heavenly foods were in the concoction, made her mouth wet. “This looks incredible.”

“Hope it tastes it.”

It did, Aelia decided, as soon the first spoonful met her tongue. Hot and thick and invigorating.

“Now tell me, what do you think of our little city?”

Little! There was an exaggeration and a half. It was like saying the war with the Necromancer had been only a scuffle in the yard. Rhodes seemed like its own kingdom to Aelia, not just a part of one. “It’s fascinating.”

Margo laughed. “Oh, ain’t it just that. Always something going on, but not always something pleasant. Why, just yesterday— No, where are my manners. You’ve just gotten here and would rather ‘ere the niceties, I’m sure.”

While Aelia’s curiosity was piqued by whatever had happened yesterday, it was probably more than she wanted to hear right now, so she didn’t chase. “I saw the Transformation before I arrived here. It was… I’ve never seen anything like it. How a place that big can change so completely, in front of our eyes? And the town was packed for it. More people than I've ever seen in one place — even at cattle auctions”

Margo nodded. “It’s always packed. Oh yes, packed it is. Oftentimes, a lot hinges on the blessing so people want to know as soon as they can.”

Aelia said neutrally. “It was the Raven’s blessing, this week.”

“Aye. We heard jus’ before you arrived.”

The lady didn’t seem agitated. Not like most of the crowd had been.

Instead Margo took a seat next to Aeila and asked, “You enjoying your food? You look like you are, but I know a starving kitten 'll eat jus' 'bout anything.”

“It’s the best meal I’ve had in…” Aelia tried to remember when the last time they’d eaten meat had been, back at home. It usually all got sold. And this was rich and warming. “Well, in a long time.” She paused before she asked, “You don’t seem as upset as most that were at the blessing. Does it not... not...”

“It does. It might be a tough week. Good timing for you to arrive, to be truthful.”

That reminded Aelia, she hadn’t paid the week’s rent yet. And she was already eating their food! She reached down for her bag, but Margo said, “You finish your meal before we worry about that.”

"Thank you."

With a sigh Margo said, “It’s not such bad news for us as it is for some. Our eldest son is a squire and he’s out east in the borders of the Augmented Kingdom. The Raven might be hard on our pockets but it also might keep him alive for another week.”

Aelia knew that pain, at least a little. She’d been young when her father had gone to war, and perhaps she’d always thought he’d return safely, so perhaps not shared the same worries Margo had. But she’d still missed him dearly every day, and had still prayed for his return.

A boy, no more than eleven, with a mop of brown hair and a miniature bow and papery quiver slung across his back, sprinted into the room. He slid to a halt next to Aelia, and from the whirlwind he was, she guessed he must be related to Samuel.

“Hello,” the boy said.

“Hi,” she replied with a big smile. “Are you a kingdom archer? You look like you are.”

He paused, nodded. then sprinted off through the kitchen and out of another door at the end.

“Oi! Come tell our new guest your name and—” Margo started, but the boy was already gone. “Little brat.”

“He's very cute. Is he your son?”

“Unfortunately so,” Margo replied, but she was grinning. “Wants to be out with his brother, warring. Practices shooting sticks in the garden until night falls, most days. Still ain’t no good at it though. Can’t knock a mug off the wall from two feet away. His father’s even made him a wind up bow that does the hard work for him — he just ‘as to aim and fire.”

“Does that help him much?”

“It should do but he won’t use it. Says it’s cheating and real archers wouldn’t use such a thing.”

“Well real archers are stubborn fools,” Aelia found herself saying (clearly her energy was returning), “if they won’t use a weapon that gives them an advantage, just because of some misguided principle.”

“Well ain’t that the truth. But stubborn fools account for most of the army and their ilk. Would you like some more, dear? You finished that awful quick. Must have been starving.”

“I’m fine, thank you.” She’d shoveled it down hastily, and it had been too much for her stomach really, but her brain hadn’t been quick enough to tell her she was stuffed.

“What’ll you be doing at the academy, then?”

“Um, I think I’ll find out tomorrow.” She never lied back home. Not really. Just little white ones here and there. But here in Rhodes, the lies seemed to fall out as easily as leaves off autumn trees.

Margo nodded. “Probably helping keep the Field up. That’s what a lot of new students do, so I ‘ear.”

The field was not something Aelia wanted to do. She wanted to learn and practice new spells. Improve her control of the moss and how much power she could get out of it. Not just collect moss from the forests and be part of an endless repetitive ritual. Ah, not that it was without purpose — the Field surrounded the kingdom in a transparent light that no God could pass through. As such, it had to be kept up at all time. It was just a shame doing so was as dull as weeding.

Dinner over, Aelia handed two silver and three copper to Margo, who gratefully accepted. Margo then led her up out of the kitchen, past the beehive-buzz of the study, and up the stairs to her room.

“Hope you find it acceptable. Oh, what’s he given you there,” Margo said, looking at a large clock on the wall.

Aelia had seen one a little like it downstairs. It had two carved slots at the top, like closed doors. But this one was larger and was painted a regal blue. She’d never had a clock before and imaged this would be handy come the morning.

“If you find the damn thing as annoying as I did, you just bring it down to me and I’ll find somewhere to shove it.”

Aelia thought she could guess the place Margo would shove it and winced on Samuel’s behalf.

Margo left, closing the door behind her, and Aelia inspected her new lodgings. A slightly smaller room than her attic back home. But there was a good window looking down onto the now-empty street. Thick woven curtains hung either side of it, their design a tangle of florals. The windows, and even the door, were tight in their fittings. Aelia tapped her knuckles against the plastered walls. Thick. Heavy. Yes, the cold would struggle to find her here.

She hurriedly unpacked her clothes, piling most at the bottom of the room's single wardrobe. Then she placed her thin dog-eared spellbook onto the bedside table. Finally, she collapsed onto the bed, letting out a moan as she sunk in.

Heaven.

It was still early, but it felt late enough to her.

***

“Izzy.”

“Izzy? Are you there? Can you hear me?”

“Shit.”

Aelia woke in a sweat gasping for breath.

What a strange dream that had been. Or… Or had it been strange?

She grappled, for a moment, with the fleeting dream, but it had already faded away, leaving only a curious, intangible ripple in its place.

Aelia lay her head back down and soon fell fast asleep.