“What do you think Leo’s deal was?” Kieran said from behind as he trotted up to Rowena, who had been leading the party down the dusty road toward Arcania for the last few hours. They’d gotten going not long after first light, forgoing any additional goodbyes in favor of a quick and early start.

It was better that way, Rowena knew. She’d heard Kieran’s mother Kella’s weeping through the walls of the Inn late in the night despite her calmed sleep. It had to be hard to have just gotten her son back from his terrifying coma only to lose him again so soon. Still, Rowena thought, his mother of all people should have recognized Kieran’s drive for adventure. Rowena hadn’t really put two and two together before, but looking back, it was obvious that Kieran had always intended to choose MAGIC USER and leave Tunehlan. Perhaps she just hadn’t wanted to admit that her best friend had planned on leaving their home– so perhaps Kella was in the same kind of denial.

Mattie and Sorel trailed behind them by several feet, deep in conversation. Rowena briefly wondered what a country girl like Sorel and a relatively wealthy girl from town had to talk about all the time, but she was glad she didn’t have to force conversation too often.

“What do you mean?” she asked Kieran in a distracted tone. She’d been feeling a growing sense of unease since they left, though she wasn’t sure if it was just nerves at finally setting off, anxiety over leaving her sister Calla (her father stung too much to think about, so she refused to do so), or something else, she’d been having trouble figuring out.

“You shouldn’t run too much,” Mattie called out to Kieran from behind them as he slowed his pace to match Rowena’s. “I heard that it can really add extra steps to your journey and tire you out considerably more than a measured pace!”

Rowena looked around nervously– she could see for miles in any direction. The path was fairly broad, enough to fit a large cart and two people walking on either side of it easily. It meandered along the sloping hills and farmland surrounding Tunehlan. She’d never understood quite how much farmland surrounded their little village, and felt dismayed by how little she knew about any of it– the world outside of their town, the practicalities of traveling, even anything more than the basic facts about Classes and Subclasses.

The fact of the matter, she realized, was that she’d never experienced anything like this before– in point of fact, she’d pretty much never left Tunehlan. Rowena had never been particularly fond of the outdoors, preferring to play shop with her mother or Kieran, and the last few years she’d been entirely focused on keeping her family fed. Perhaps, when she was small, she had felt this sense of unease outside of town, but as it hadn’t been a feeling she’d needed to face, she’d ignored it, buried it away under plausible explanations and excuses.

“Eh, so we take an extra break,” Kieran shrugged dismissively. He waved one hand in the air, but with the other he fingered the ugly necklace Leo had given him.

Rowena felt some small beads of sweat beginning to form on the back of her neck as she looked ahead to the next hill rise, and the one after that. She felt a little cold all down her body, and her throat felt thick.

“We do not take an extra break,” she snapped. “The murderer already has a head start!”

Kieran peered at her, his uncanny orange-red eyes focusing on her for what appeared to be the first time. “Ro, are you alright?”

She tried to swallow, and found it difficult. Have I been poisoned? Already? she thought frantically, remembering the Detect Poison Ability that she hadn’t chosen. Maybe that was another mistake. Like the damn truncheon! She attempted a reassuring smile that she realized probably just looked a bit hysterical.

It was just that the sky was so… so open. There was nothing around her to help her feel grounded on this earth. She felt like a kite with its strings cut, or one of those ceremonial paper lanterns the people of Tunehlan released into the night sky every autumn. She’d always skipped that ceremony because the shop was always so busy selling them– at least, that’s what she’d told herself. Looking back, she recalled a certain sense of unease when she watched the lanterns floating into an unknown eternity.

Her eyelids fluttered and she reached into the part of herself that seemed connected to her Abilities. Calm Person, she thought. Calm me… calm me…

The Fog seemed perturbed, but she’d realized that while it certainly seemed to have opinions, it was not in control of her. It didn’t even necessarily need to speak, though she sometimes found its chatter comforting. Just a little, she thought, and felt her anxiety subside as the Ability activated slightly.

At least you’re gaining more control over your Abilities, the Fog allowed.

She let her eyes open and met Kieran’s gaze directly. “I’m fine,” she said with a small smile.

“Really?” he asked suspiciously, eying her up and down. She wondered if, as a Manipulator, Kieran had been able to sense that she’d used an Ability. She filed that thought away as something she’d need to ask him about later.

Rowena knew her friend wouldn’t give up his line of questioning without an argument or a satisfactory answer, and she supposed that’s part of what she liked about him and why they were such good friends despite their differences. Calla and her father always believed her when she said she was fine.

“I’m nervous,” she said bluntly. “Of course I’m nervous. But I’m... I’m glad to be on the road.”

Kieran nodded, though he still looked a little troubled. “Me too,” he said with a smile.

“I honestly just got the sense that Leo wanted some company. An apprentice, or whatever the ROGUE equivalent is,” Rowena added, diverting the conversation to his earlier question. “What I’m more interested in is that necklace.”

Kieran shrugged. “I don’t know anything about it except that it’s very, very magical. Already saw more magic in Leo’s Inn than most other places. What in the blazes is someone with that much power– or access to power– doing in Tunehlan?”

“I don’t know,” Rowena shook her head. “Maybe it has something to do with the necklace?”

“Maybe,” Kieran said thoughtfully. “Anwyay, you’re probably right. Just wanted some customers for his Inn. Especially after his last one ended up being a murderer.”

Rowena shuddered and changed the subject. “You know, I never gave him much thought before, but it can’t be easy joining a small community like Tunehlan when you’re already so old.”

“And a ROGUE,” Kieran added bluntly, but this time she saw a mischievous glint in his eye.

“This is always going to be a thing, isn’t it?” she asked, pretending frustration and weariness.

“For the rest of our lives,” Kieran laughed.

Rowena smiled. Kieran always knew how to lighten her mood (that, and her newfound use of Calm Person, the inner voice grumbled, but she ignored that).

“May they be long and untroubled,” Rowena said wryly, repeating the often used blessing.

“A bit late for the untroubled bit, I think!” Kieran replied.

Rowena sighed. Fortunately, her Ability kept her pulse steady and her thoughts fairly even keeled, but Kieran was right.

Nothing had prepared her for this. A week ago, she’d been so excited for her Selection process, to finally choose her calling as a Merchant so she could officially begin her career and help her family do more than survive– they’d thrive, and be part of making Tunehlan an even greater town than she already considered it to be.

If it weren’t for that mysterious, horrible stranger– Damon, Leo had called him. She recalled his charismatic presence with shame and anger. To think she’d found him attractive! It really proved that one could never trust appearances… or MAGIC USERS, she realized. She wondered if he’d used some kind of charm to make himself more appealing. The thought hadn’t occurred to her before, but before she’d been naive, assuming that no one would dare to use an Ability on a nonconsenting stranger. Even that dark change in her world perspective dismayed her. She’d always known life was challenging and even unforgiving– her mother’s death, her father’s drinking, and her massive responsibilities at such a tender age had ensured she learned that lesson– but without the events following the stranger’s arrival, she’d still have some of her encouraging illusions intact.

And Tommie would still be alive, and none of these other problems would be hers– though then Rowena realized with dismay that her unexpected anxiety on the open road would have been a problem for a Merchant, too. Her vague dream had always been to take periodic journeys to exotic locations to bring back unique and valuable goods to sell. She’d never wanted to be gone from Tunehlan for too long, but the pressures of supporting her family from such a young age definitely made the idea of an extended trip appealing. She just hadn’t ever considered the practical side of things.

Well, now she’d have to learn the practical side, and quickly, she realized. She’d have to keep focused on her goal: bring Tommie’s murderer to justice.

I’m coming for you, Damon Murderer, she thought grimly, and quickened their pace slightly.