Kalie Rana

The final days aboard the Thorn's Tamer were a mixture of tension of both major varieties. Lux was made obviously uncomfortable by my request in its entirety. I felt that it wasn’t about the request itself, rather the logistics that it carried. Alongside Hark’s order, Lux was trapped alongside Maria and I in the confines of my cabin. The other tension, the tension amongst the men was easy enough to feel through the cabin door. Valier was well liked on board—as most bards would be—but I suspected his effect was more than that as well. Just the presence of a perception altering being like Alito was enough for most to feel more at ease. It was easy to tell that the sunlight was a little less glittering, and a little more harsh with him locked away in the brig. Regardless, his actions were more than enough to have him locked away and I wasn’t looking to see him freed. There was a world of difference between my request to belay his harsh sentence, and allowing him to roam freely on this boat.

I had little clue to what his true intentions were, but whether it was a feeling like my father’s or intuition, I knew better than to think that his intentions were to hurt me.

Looking over our travel itinerary that Lux had prepared for me, I quickly realized that while our time on the Tamer was the longest leg of the journey, the time travelling across the mainland would be significantly more uncomfortable. Upon making landfall at Scuttleview, we would immediately depart the town by carriage. Our first real stop barring any changes of horse, wouldn’t be until we reached the Jesop dukedom, an independent but loyal dukedom to the south of Corvus. It made sense that the White-Raven would prefer that I did not spend too much time travelling before being presented, but the harsh schedule was already daunting. A week or so to reach the barony, and another few days' travel to reach the king’s city, Cartigia, just proved exactly how massive both the alliance and the kingdom of Corvus was. A size only possible due to the solid grasp the White-Raven had on his people.

Even though we had scarce time to prepare for the even longer trip ahead of us, I still managed to enjoy the last few days aboard the Thorn’s Tamer. With Lux and Maria by my side, I felt practically invincible. Despite everything else, Lux’s apprehension included, I finally managed to break down at least a portion of his noble propriety. I had enough of it from Maria, that I couldn’t bear it from him as well. So, by the time the mainland was in sight, Lux sounded to me a little more like a friend.

Maybe it was wishful thinking, but I hoped that it was something more.

“Kalie, I don’t think you can wear that.” Lux, who had just returned into my cabin after waiting outside, spoke with the same nearly affectless tone that I had come to realize was his most friendly tone he could reliably reach.

“Who am I trying to impress? Other than Hark, who would I have to feign mainland propreity for? Besides, am I not to attempt to travel as subtly as possible? This outfit would serve that purpose, as well as keep my comfort.” I was wearing my breeches, essentially leather pants, and a blouse. A common outfit for me on Cerith, less so on the Thorn’s Tamer, but there was no way that I’d be comfortable for days cooped up in a tiny carriage in a dress twice as heavy as I was.

Lux stared at me, as I adjusted my tight bun of hair. Maria, looked in his direction, and sighed.

“Trust me, Mr. Anipinna, I have tried many times to explain to her what you are no doubt about to attempt.” Maria walked toward the door, and by happenstance Lux as well. “But, maybe if you told her that your preference was elsewhere, she may consider that.” Maria let out a small cackle as she left the cabin, no doubt to fetch our last meal about the ship.

“So,” I said, turning my full attention on the man, “is she correct? Would you rather I wear something else?”

“I would—”

“Oh, and please do be sure to tell me the truth.”

“No need to worry, I planned to. This outfit isn’t against my personal taste.”

“Is that your round about way of telling me that you like my outfit?”

“I guess. But I—”

“Great! Then I won’t be changing.”

“Kalie…” But while Lux began to put up his token defense, he was interrupted by a harsh change in my expression. “What’s wrong?”

The expression itself was mere reflex. Equal parts shock and awe overcame me, as I watched as a formless bundle of mana floated between the planks of the cabin’s walls. In the immaterium, spirits lacked shape and color, but as the spirit floated along my eye line, I was able to discern more about it.

It was a greater nature spirit—many times as powerful as Valier’s Alito—but rather than the completely subdued yet intelligent feeling that the light spirit gave off, I recognized the greater spirit as if it was almost unconscious. The nature spirit continued to drift along, until it finally disappeared through the opposite wall of the ship slipping between a barely perceivable crack.

“What happened?”

“We must be close now,” I said, by way of explanation but, Lux’s confused expression didn’t budge. “Sorry, there was a spirit here. A very old and strong one by the looks of it.”

“And nothing happened?”

“It’s the wind and water spirits that you need to worry about, the wild and ever changing ones. Nature spirits like that one are a lot more calm. It was just a shock to see one on a boat. It was the first time I had seen one so large as well.”

“Well, Scuttleview and all of Lacan are known for being particularly verdant.”

“That would explain it. I guess there are many new things that I’ll be able to see here.”

“Let me just say, that if that is your reaction to all of it, I’m glad that I’ll be at your side to see it.” I felt my cheeks rush with heat as his gaze bore into me. That was another habit that he had developed these last few days aboard the Tamer, a game of sorts, where the goal was to say things that left me embarrassed.

“I… I look forward to it.”

***

“Sweet Leona above, thank goodness. Solid land!” The moment the Tamer docked, Maria was only a few steps behind the first crewmen down the gangway. If I hadn’t been only a few steps behind her with Lux in tow, I could only imagine the impatient looks she would’ve given us.

“It is nice to be off that stuffy boat,” Lux added.

“It's beautiful,” I offered to the chorus.

“Beautiful? Scuttleview? Are you sure?” Lux asked, thoroughly perplexed.

“The land,” I corrected, “the spirits.” Unlike Cerith where the wind and water spirits were thin but ever present, Scuttleview and the verdant hill it was built upon was teeming to the brim with ancient and beautifully powerful greater nature spirits, just like the one I had seen on the boat. I understood how it would be easy to miss for those who couldn’t see the immaterium, but despite the explosion of spirit, the town itself was a beautiful intersection of human ingenuity and nature’s resilience. Built into a steep hill, the buildings of the town itself were seemingly built upon one another up the hill with thin switch-backing dirt paths carving their way up the hill toward the uppermost homes. Although I knew better, that this sort of construction shouldn’t have made me think twice, not after witnessing the true feats of human capability in my old life, I couldn’t help but full understand how much effort must’ve gone into building each and every one of those houses on the unforgiving, unyielding land. It was amazing.

“Looks like a rats nest to me,” Lux muttered, “worse yet if you know the sort of ilk that make the place their home.” The comment stopped me for a moment, but I had more or less gotten used to Lux’s sometimes harsh way of speaking. The harbor of the town was quite expansive, understandably so due to Scuttleview’s position on the southern tip of the mainland. But, with the docks nearly empty, there weren’t nearly enough people around for me to understand his opinion.

“Why’s it so empty? Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Gone, if they’re lucky.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Like I said, it’s a rats nest. Only the worst made their way here.”

“That’s hardly an answer Lux.”

“There’s a much longer, but hardly better answer that I’d rather not bother with.”

“Oh. I see.” His answer still lacked all the context I knew there was, but I didn’t press the matter further. His mood was foul enough already, and I knew that talking more wouldn’t do much to sway it. That was just how he was after all. So, with those few words unsaid, I followed Lux, Maria, and our porters toward the true solid land.

With every step I took away from the Tamer, and toward the town, I found myself quickly realizing that they weren’t just steps toward something, they were also the final steps of my exodus from Cerith. Cerith was intrinsically tied to the ocean that it floated in. So, heading toward the mainland, it was the last steps I would take that were away from Cerith. A small pain crept forward in my chest one last time as I made the transition onto the cobblestone pier.

Almost like he sensed the gravity of the moment, Lux stopped and our eyes met. Although I could still feel the mixture of negative emotions he was facing at the same time, his mouth curled into a small reassuring smile. Leagues wider than I had ever seen on his face, the small expression was like a blessing for my pained soul.

“Allow me, Kalie.”

Taking his offered hand, I allowed him to pull me alongside him, before he withdrew his hand again. It was a small movement but it, like his smile, had a resonance within me all their own. I knew then that each step was no longer away from Cerith rather, they were toward my future.