"Nal, I know you are excited to be in the capitol but you need to stop sticking your head out the window," Syl pulled Nal by the hips but Nal wasn't budging.

Nal was partway through the back window of the levitating carriage and watched the travellers on the road as they passed them. She had her arms in just the perfect spot so whenever Syl pulled on her the sides of the window would catch on her armpits and all it took was a little bracing with her arms to keep Syl from pulling her back through.

“Maybe we should stop by the Seacliff estate?” Nal heard Syl say louder enough to make sure she could hear.

Nal flailed her arms and legs to pull herself back inside the carriage.

“No!” Nal began hitting Syl in the arm as soon as she was inside again, “You know how much I hate Davanvia!”

Nal knew Syl said that to get her back in the carriage but would have followed up on the threat if she hadn’t so Nal had to do what Syl wanted.

Syl ignored her and closed the shutter for the rear window.

Nal puffed her cheeks, “You never let me have any fun, Syl.”

Syl turned to Iysinfyr, “I hope you do not learn from Nal’s example. She may be a Turrel, but she seems to forget at times.”

“Let the girl have her fun,” Deko spoke for the first time in hours.

Nal and Syl both looked at Deko in surprise. A person as serious as her saying something like that…

“Yes, Syl, listen to Deko,” Nal crossed her arms, leaned back, and looked to Syl.

Syl furrowed her brow and rubbed her temple, “The Duke Whitereed would have my head if he found out the people saw his daughter across the capitol with her head sticking out of a carriage.”

Nal sighed. She wanted to make a good impression on her father, so maybe she should listen this time, “I understand Syl. I will not do it again.”

Syl smiled and nodded, “Good. Your family has an image it needs to maintain.”

Still, the long trip was driving Nal crazy with boredom and they hadn’t even made it through the gates to the outer part of the capitol, “At least we can see the capitol now.”

Syl nodded and looked to Iysinfyr, “At least someone isn’t giving me trouble.”

“The journey would be a lot more fun if Iysinfyr would do activities with me,” Nal looked at the girl who was staring at nothing. Nal’s eyes brightened, “Oh! I should find some activities we can do on the way back to Tallhill.”

Syl gave Nal a smile that told her she would not like what she was about to say, “Duke Tallhill told me to wait until we reached the capitol to tell you this, but we will not be going back. He feels you will be safer here than in Tallhill, considering Toa Mirr just finished their conquest of Koaflaer just north of Amirr and the Tallhill domain. He will also be busy with the military buildup so cannot spend much time at his manor. He also worries about how much schooling you are missing.”

Nal remembered hearing the news about the war between Toa Mirr and Koaflaer. Koaflaer was the agricultural country to the north and northeast of Amirr that specialized in cotton production and hadn’t stood a chance against the militaristic Toa Mirr that lay to the east, with Flaern separating Amirr and Toa Mirr. Koaflaer had once been a part of Toa Mirr a few hundred years ago but had successfully revolted, so she guessed they only wanted their territory back. Nal hoped they would go after their other lost territory, Flaern, before they worried about Amirr.

For the first time, Nal noticed Deko’s face go dark. It was at the mention of the name Toa Mirr. She looked between Iysinfyr and Deko and wondered if the two had some connection to the country.

“Maybe we can enroll Iysinfyr once we open her up some more!” Nal immediately forgot about the talk about Toa Mirr.

Syl smiled, “I think that would be a good idea, though what year would we place her in? We don’t know her real age.”

Nal gave Syl a large grin, “She will be in my year, of course!”

Syl gave Iysinfyr a long look, then looked at Deko, then to Nal, then back to Iysinfyr, “That might be for the best. Having us around to watch her would be a good idea. First, we need to see if getting her some of this pineapple helps open her up some more. We can talk more about this after.”

Nal nodded, “I want to try some pineapple too.”

Nal eventually fell asleep and Syl woke her up when they reached the market, “Nal, we’re here.”

Nal wiped some drool off her cheek, not noticing the wet mark it had left where her head was resting on Syl’s arm, “Huh? We have arrived?”

The levitating carriage had slowed down as it moved through the busy streets, and Nal saw the many stalls of various kinds of food on either side of them. As they were still in the commoner’s section, there wasn’t anything fancy. She looked at the stalls selling local fruits and vegetables, fish from the nearby river and lake, various live livestock ready to butcher upon sale, and already butchered meat and poultry. There was also an occasional bakery between gaps between the stalls.

By the time Syl woke her up, they were already near the upper market where merchants sold the rarer foods and in a few minutes they came to a stop in front of a fruit importer.

“Welcome ladies!” A large man with dark skin, hair, small eyes, a wide yet flat nose, and large lips called to them as Nal and Syl exited the carriage. He wore thin, light clothing that covered most of his body and wore a wide hat. “What can I get for you?”

Syl walked up to him and she had to look up due to him being two whole heads taller, “We are looking for some pineapple.”

The man brightened, “Ah! Pineapple! A delicious fruit! One of my favorites!” His face grew more serious, “I have some but considering the distance required to transport them and how many spoil on the way they are one of my more expensive products.”

Syl nodded, “I expected as much. What is your price? I would like to buy one for now but might buy more later depending on my master‘s reaction. I would also like to see one before I buy one.”

The man put his hand together and nodded. He then walked to a crate, opened it, and took out a pineapple. When Syl saw it and that it was in good condition, he told Syl a price.

Nal never had to handle money, so she wasn’t sure what he was asking was expensive or not and Syl showed no reaction on her face so she didn’t get any clues from there.

From there Syl haggled with the man and got a lower the price.

“If you do not mind, could we get it cut up here?” Syl asked before the man.

“Certainly!” The man pulled out a cutting board and knife and expertly cut the pineapple into bite-sized chunks and Deko came out of the carriage with a large bowl to put the fruit into.

Nal grabbed the bowl as soon as the man put the last of the pineapple into it and ran to the carriage. Once inside, she plopped down next to Iysinfyr.

Iysinfyr didn’t look at Nal and was looking at the door where she had entered, so she picked up some pineapple and held it in front of Iysinfyr’s face.

“Want some pineapple?” Nal said as she rocked back and forth with anticipation and excitement.

Iysinfyr’s eyes shot to the pineapple.

Syl entered the carriage and rummaged through one of her bags. She soon pulled two things out and put one on her head. It was a mask.

Nal’s attention turned back to Iysinfyr as the girl took the pineapple from her hand and ate it, a hint of ecstasy showing on her face.

Before Iysinfyr could even finish chewing the pineapple, Syl shoved something on Iysinfyr’s head. It was a veil that covered her face with a sheer piece of fabric and an opaque piece of fabric long enough to cover her long hair on the sides and back of her head. Syl then yanked the bowl free from Nal’s hands and caught it easily. She then covered the bowl with a light cloth.

“How about we play a game? If you can catch me before we make back to the Manor…” Syl said but stopped once she noticed the glare Iysinfyr was giving her.

It was hard to see through the sheer fabric, but Nal could see that Iysinfyr looked like an animal that had just gotten its food stolen.

Syl took a step back, and when she saw Iysinfyr stand up, her eyes widened and took a few more steps back. Syl then grinned, turned around and with a burst of wind magic and a blast of dust, Syl jumped away from the carriage and onto the roof of a nearby building.

Iysinfyr looked around for a moment, then left the carriage too. It didn’t take her long to find Syl and in moments she too jumped, though without the aid of magic. She didn’t jump as far as Syl, so it gave Syl plenty of time to jump to the next building and out of view.

Deko sighed, “Let us go. I do not want to be here when the guards come looking for the source of the damage they will cause.”

The scene left Nal shocked, so she didn’t notice when the carriage lifted off the ground and begin moving. All she could do was stare in the direction the two had disappeared from.

***

Syl hummed happily to herself as she made her way to the villa. She had planned this the night after seeing that food was the thing that would motivate Iysinfyr to move on her own. Once she saw that Iysinfyr reacted to the pineapple, she enacted her plan. If it worked, she would have a thrilling chase through the capitol and if not she could always give the pineapple back.

The cracking noises and creaks made from something heavy landing on the roofs of the buildings behind her told her that Iysinfyr was giving chase. Images of Iysinfyr’s fight played through Syl’s mind as she heard the noises behind her. Iysinfyr should terrify her after seeing what she did to the men, but to her, it only made everything more thrilling.

She didn’t run in a straight line and zigzagged in different directions. This wasn’t to lose Iysinfyr, as it only helped her to keep up, but also to draw less attention to the direction they were ultimately heading. She had also prepared the masks to make it harder for people to recognize them. The last thing she wanted was to bring trouble to her employers. She knew that it would have been better not to do this at all, but she couldn’t think of a better way to get the girl moving.

A loud gust of wind came from behind Syl and made her stumble.

She looked behind her to see that Iysinfyr wasn’t there, so she slowed down some and looked around.

At the last moment, she noticed a shadow above her just in time to move out the way as something fell from the sky and smashed through the roof.

Syl didn’t take the time to confirm that Iysinfyr had just fallen from the sky and landed hard enough to crash through the roof of the building she was standing on and redoubled her effort to keep ahead of the girl. She had known Iysinfyr would be fast without the aide of magic and she had just kept ahead of the girl using wind magic to boost her speed, but she hadn’t planned on her being able to use wind magic herself and judging by the strong gust she had felt earlier Iysinfyr’s magic was strong. Just when had she practiced the use of magic?

Now Syl was getting scared, but it only increased her excitement.

A loud crash came from the building Iysinfyr landed in as she shot through the window facing Syl’s direction, sending dust and debris out the other windows because of the strength of the wind.

Syl was mid jump, so she used wind magic to push herself out of the way, narrowly dodging Iysinfyr for a second time.

Iysinfyr too used wind magic to change her direction, though this time she followed up with a blast of wind at Syl.

Syl didn’t have time to react, and the blast sent her sideways and towards the street facing side of a nearby building.

Just before Syl hit the ground, she braced the pineapple so she wouldn’t lose it and then used another blast of air before rolling to a stop next to a surprised peasant.

It was then that she noticed a pair of ground just a way down the street rushing towards her. It would only be a matter of minutes until they called in some magic users, so she would need to finish this quickly.

Syl jumped over the building, easily leaving the guards behind.

Another blast of air hit her on the back then moments later a cascade of debris flew up from the ground causing her to spin in the air wildly.

Syl braced herself to hit the ground hard, but just when she was sure she would hit, she felt herself float as a great pressure formed over her entire body causing her to exhale forcefully and cause her bones to creak from the stress.

Syl looked around to see who had used levitation magic on her and saw the veiled Iysinfyr standing on a nearby building, cracks visible in the roof from where she had just landed.

Moments later Iysinfyr placed Syl on the ground and then she ripped the bowl of pineapple from Syl’s hands using levitation magic.

Instead of landing gently in Iysinfyr’s hands the bowl crashed into her chest with such force that it and the pineapple exploded all over her chest with some even making it the several paces back to Syl. Syl could even see where some pieces of wood had pierced her chest, though the wounds closed quickly.

After a moment, the realization of what happened to the pineapple seemed to hit Iysinfyr, and she fell to her knees.

Syl stood up. Iysinfyr had thoroughly defeated her, and she couldn’t have been more excited. It had also been informative. Iysinfyr had trained in magic, but she still didn’t seem to have good control over it. This made it even scarier considering how strong it seemed to be.

A levitating carriage pulled into the small street Syl was standing in.

Deko soon appeared on the roof next to Iysinfyr, who had was picking the remains of the pineapple off her clothes and eating it.

“You are fortunate we followed you. There are several guards close to here so we need to go,” She pointed to the carriage where Nal was peeking out a window excitedly.

Deko picked up Iysinfyr and used her wind magic to leap to it in one jump.

Syl dusted herself off and did the same.