“E-excuse me?”

“Scyla Eorial, I said.”

I stared at the girl, barely my senior, with confusion.

“What?” The girl faltered, her expression of bravado cracking.

“I don’t know that is.”

“What?” The girl, Scyla, put her hands on her hips, looking me up and down. “How can you not know who the Eorial are?”

“I’m new here?” I shrugged, raising my hands as if I hoped the answer would placate her.

“Well, we run these parts.”

“Right.” I nodded along with her as if what she said was obvious. “But, uh, what does that have to do with me?”

Scyla exhaled, pinching her nose as if she hadn’t expected our conversation to go in this direction.

“Look, I don’t actually care much about you, to be honest.”

“A bit rude, don’t you think?”

I struggled to understand the strange girl, her game, or even what to make of her.

“The man you are traveling with. I want to know more about him.”

My master. Of course, this was about my master.

“And why do you need to, want to know more about him?” I felt myself growing defensive for the sake of my master. I didn’t know him well. In truth, it was a stretch to say I even knew him at all, but what I did know was he wouldn’t appreciate others meddling in his business.

This brought me to another point: why and how had this girl taken the time to investigate my master?

“I want to know more because my family wants to know more. Rugged-looking guys are a dime a dozen, but apparently, your traveling partner then went on to meet with some…connected individuals. Of course, my family was all over it. My older brothers are currently hounding after your partner, but I figured I’d go for his overlooked acquaintance.”

“And what makes you think I’m with him?”

“Besides the fact that you’ve all but confirmed everything I’ve said by failing to deny or look surprised? I had some contacts look about, and apparently, a kid of your description was seen getting bread with him.”

I thought back briefly to when we had been waiting on our Vilchma bread from the bickering duo running the stand. The thought that we had been watched by someone who had bothered to remember our faces made my stomach roll.

“So you’ve been watching my whereabouts this entire time?” I asked the question that weighed most heavily on me that I’d been under a microscope this entire time.

“What? No. Only after I got out of the bath did my informants reach me. So, would you imagine my surprise when the guy I bumped into just happened the match the exact description?”

A wind of relief passed through me. It had only been by chance that she had run into me in the first place.

“What do you want with me then? Are you going to like, kidnap me?”

“Kidnap? Hardly. One, I’m not sure you qualify for kidnapping anymore. Second, why would I want to get on your traveling friend’s bad side by harming the person he was with?”

“So, what do you want?” I looked at her with squinted eyes, trying to see her intentions through her expression alone.

“I want to meet your traveling partner.”

“Excuse me?”

“I want to meet him. If even my parents are scrambling to meet with him, this is my chance to get ahead of them.”

“You don’t have a very normal family life, do you?” I sighed, finally relaxing for the first time since the girl had ambushed me outside the bathhouse.

“No, what gave that away?”

I was about to open my mouth for some sort of witty remark about it being obvious, but the pure genuineness of her expression made me close it, for once not wanting to say anything that might come across as rude.

“Uh, just a hunch.” I settled with instead.

“So, what do I have to do?”

“For?”

“To meet your traveling partner, duh.” Scyla flipped her hair as she spoke, a scent like a gentle rain emanating from her as she did.

They must offer scents in the women’s bath.

“Well, that’s the thing. Not sure I can help you there.”

“Oh? Playing hard to get?”

“What? No.” I waved my hands in front of myself in denial, but the girl seemed to have already decided I was doing it on purpose.

“Fine, if that’s the case, give me a chance to convince you.” The girl waved her hand, and just like that, she was holding a handful of gold coins, which began to twirl and dance between her fingers.

I couldn’t deny, it had been impressive when I’d seen the bartender do the same trick with the pench my mentor had laid out the day prior but seeing the same coin trick with the significantly more valuable golden rost coins, I couldn’t outright deny the sudden temptations tugging at my heartstrings.

One or two dansh, equal to ten pench each, was enough to stay at most inns for several days.

One silver gilly could get you a week and a half.

An entire golden rost could reserve you a whole inn for the same period or even a place at an upscale establishment. A single rost could have kept me going back home for most of the year.

And here she was, flashing eight or nine of them, nearly an entire vaash worth.

Don’t even get me started on what a vaash could get you. That much money was more than most would ever see in one sitting in their entire lives.

“Fine.” I threw my hands up in exasperation. “I guess I can tag-along for… well, whatever.”

What? That was a lot of money, and I never said I would bring her to my mentor after everything was said and done.

“Excellent.” Scyla smirked at me like she had known that I would fold. “I’m happy that you see to reason, Mr…?”

“Rook.” I answered, filling in the awkward void of silence. “Rook Baster.”

“Baster…” Scyla squinted for a moment, and I had a second of terrifying realization I might have said something wrong by giving my last name, but at last, she gave up on trying to make sense of it. “Huh. Sounds familiar. You said you’re not from around here?”

“No.” I answered instantly.

“Well, our family deals with lots of notables. Can’t be helped if names start to blend.”

I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but I had already nearly given myself away. The Baster name had some level of fame, or infamy, to it, that much I knew, but I had no idea why, or even to what degree. It would be in my best interest to watch what I said or risk bringing down trouble that I knew was best avoided.

“So, uh, what first?” I tried to crack a grin, to look at ease even though the situation was far from anything I’d ever experienced before.

And that said a lot considering my last two weeks.

“You’re hungry, right?”

I nodded, not trusting my words to betray just how much I could go for a meal.

“Well, let me show you a bit of my generosity.” Scyla clapped her hands once as I stared in confusion at the gesture.

“What was that supposed to do?” I finally asked after several seconds of silent waiting.

Rather than respond, the girl flipped her left hand to me, showing me a golden ring with an inlaid sapphire. It wasn’t the ring that was especially important, though you could have bought half of Junaper out with that ring alone, the runes carved into the faces of the gem.

“Is that an enchanted ring?” My curiosity piqued as the girl added a flourish of her hand as if for extra effect.

“Oh? Does this impress you?” she was smiling widely, but it was clear that it wasn’t out of purely innocent thoughts. “They’re expensive, but I’m sure-”

“No.” I shook my head, already knowing where she was going with this. “You can’t just buy me over with a ring.”

“Moving a bit fast, aren’t you?” She winked at me, and I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment.

“No, t-that’s not what I meant! I mean, like-”

“Relax.” She was still grinning at me, but she was pointing down the road now. “Our ride is here.”

“Our-what?”

Clopping down the street and pulling a small carriage was perhaps the strangest creature I’d ever seen. It had the head of a donkey with the body of a bear and hooves like circular cups that it chopped towards us on.

“What is that?” I felt my head spin staring at the creature.

“Our ride, of course. One clap while I have this ring on summons it.”

So that’s what that ring does.

“C’mon.” She motioned me forward as the beast pulled up aside us, opening the door to the two-person carriage.

“But where are we going?” I questioned as I stepped towards the open carriage door that Scyla had pulled herself into.

“Food, pretty sure I said that already.”

I looked between the carriage and the open street, debating if it was worth trying to run away, but I had already gone along with what she had said so far.

At this point, wouldn’t it be rude to leave?

“Remember, Rook, manners are important.”

“Really mom?”

“Yes, and even more than manners is having proper manners when someone with money is involved.”

I let out an involuntary groan as I remembered the memory from years ago.

Thanks, mom. Upstanding moral compass there.

“You coming?”

Sighing, I stepped towards the open carriage, pulling my leg in a second later.

“Yeah, I was just… distracted.”

“Oh?” The off-hand comment seemed to spark the girls’ curiosity. “And what exactly distracts the traveling partner of someone so important?”

“You don’t actually know if he is important or not.” I pointed out, but the girl only stared at me blankly.

Right. People who aren’t important don’t meet with people who are.

It was just that I’d spent a week around my mentor, seeing him as nothing more than a man, creature, whatever, of questionable humor and high tolerance to alcohol. I wasn’t surprised that he had some sway; he was an elevated magical beast. I just hadn’t expected to see it, or hear about it, so firsthand.

“So, what was on your mind?”

I stared at the girl, wondering how much I could or should say, but I finally shrugged. It seemed harmless enough.

“My mother used to talk about how to accept the generosity of others.”

“Well, don’t think of this as generosity, so much as my attempt at winning your favor.”

It was my turn to ask questions as I did my best to not catch the girls piercing gaze.

“Why?”

“Why what?” She looked at me as the carriage began to pull away.

How does it know where to go?

“Why put in so much effort? You said you wanted to beat your family to it. I’m not from around these parts, so I don’t really understand that.”

The girl seemed genuinely amused as she watched me silently for several seconds, over which I began to feel more and more uncomfortable with her unwavering gaze.

“Where are you from? You’ve never heard of the Eorial, which is impressive given we have a presence throughout every regional hold, especially the country capital.”

“I’m from a smaller village.” I finally admitted the best way I could answer without being plainly obvious as lying.

“Hmm.” Scyla seemed to consider the information before she waved it off. “Well, that makes sense, at least. The Eorial is a family-run ‘business’ empire, if you will. Within each regional capital, our interests are headed by a family member chosen by the current family head.”

“And that’s not your father?”

Scyla laughed it off, the sound reminding me of chiming bells. It would have been the very sound one would think of when they thought of how they would expect a noble girl to laugh.

Except, something about it felt off.

Practiced.

“No. My father is what you could consider a co-chair for the Theronhold portion of our family enterprise. It’s my great-grandfather who is the current head of the family.”

“Great-grandfather? Just how old is he?” I was impressed that her great-grandfather was still alive, much less leading a country-wide enterprise.

“One hundred and fifty-one. It was his birthday just last week.”

“One hundred and….” As I said them, the words died out, my brain slowly wrapping around them. “How is he still alive?”

Realizing what I had asked may have been rude, I raised my hands in a placing gesture. “Err, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“No, it’s fine.” Scyla laughed, again with that chiming laughter that didn’t sound quite right. “He has the money for the best doctors and elixirs around. Plus, he is a great mage.”

I felt my ears ring at the word ‘great,’ but I forced myself to relax.

A great ‘mage,’ not a ‘Great Sage.’

“My great-grandfather is the head of the family, but he doesn’t manage any specific region anymore, not since his mother gave him the title of the family head long ago. Our family’s Theronhold portion is run by my father and my second aunt. Dunehold is my uncle, and Songhold, the country’s capital, is led by my Great Aunt.”

“That’s… a lot to take in at once.” I answered truthfully.

“Anyone who rises to prominence in our family receives training as a mage. It’s what lets the higher-ups live so long.”

“Right.” I nodded. I could understand that, at least. “But you never actually answered why you’re trying to do... well, whatever.”

“I want to be the family head.”

“Excuse me?” I was sure I’d heard her correctly, but it surprised me.

“You heard me.” She wrapped her arms around her chest with a tight smile. “I want to be the family head. Do you realize how many cousins and family vying to claim that spot? My Great-grandfather is getting old. Most of us figure he has another ten, maybe fifteen years at max. The different factions of our family are making moves already, positioning themselves to be the front contender to be the next family head.”

“So what makes you think you can claim it yourself.”

The girl stared at me as if what I said made no sense to her.

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, like,” I was suddenly at a loss for words, floundering as my hands wordlessly moved about the air as I thought. “You’re what, eighteen?”

“Nineteen.” The girl answered defensively.

“You’re barely older than me. If you have as much family as you do, who have as much experience as you’ve made it sound, how can you reach that point in ten or fifteen years?”

Scyla narrowed her eyes as she watched me before shrugging.

“Rook.”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t have much for ambition, do you?”

“I-” I wanted to answer, to deny what she said, but as I considered what she said, I had to admit she was right.

My entire life, my entire ‘ambition’ if one could call it that, was simply to leave Junaper behind, a lifetime of listening to my stories, making me itch to get out of the small village.

Now, I had done that. Not exactly as I had planned, but it had happened.

So what now? I had no major short-term ambitions. My mentor himself had told me he had only brought me on as an apprentice for that reason and that the few ‘goals’ I did have would be things I’d be better putting aside far into the future.

“I guess not.” I finally sighed in defeat.

“Well, I do.” She puffed her chest out defiantly, ready to challenge the heavens themselves to a fight. “I’m going to be the greatest mage to ever live.”

“What?” I snorted, taken aback.

“Yep! And to do so, I need to raise my entire family up with me. You know what they say, a high tide raises all boats.”

“I’ve never heard that before.” I shook my head.

“Well, it’s true. I’m going to rise in the family, all the way to the top, and drag my entire family up with me. We are content with our position within Haerasong. We’re like unofficial nobles. But that isn’t enough for me.”

“What do you guys do anyway?” I narrowed my eyes as I realized she had been avoiding stating it outright.

“Oh, you know.” She waved her hands vaguely.

“I don’t.” I said flatly.

“It’s in our name. Do I have to spell it out?”

“Oh. Ohhhh.” I nodded.

“Yeah.” She laughed, this one sounding a tad huskier, lower.

More natural.

“We officially control the business of 85% of all bathhouses throughout the country.”

“Prostit- wait, what?” My head snapped back as if I had been struck. “Bathhouses?”

“Yeah, what did you think I meant?”

“I just thought- never mind.” I shook my head. “But excuse me when I say that doesn’t really seem like it should be enough to be that important.”

“Oh, it’s not.” She said cheerily. “You know the great thing about bathhouses?”

“What?”

“They just happen to be great places to learn new things.”

Oh.

I finally put together the pieces.

Officially speaking, the Eorial were nothing more than a bathhouse enterprise, but the truth ran deeper than that.

They were information brokers, and I would bet they took care of things that ran tangentially to the field.

“That explains how you got this information about me, about us.” I waved about, referring to my mentor whose whereabouts I was in the dark about.

“Mhmm. Oh, looks like we are here.”

“Here?”

“Yes, I did say we were getting food.”

For the first time, I pulled aside the small current blocking the view outside the window of the small carriage, taking in the scenery before me.

No longer were we in the part of the city where the buildings had been a miss mash of stone and wood with dirt roads and sprawling electrical wires. No, now the buildings were ornate black and white marble, inlaid with beautiful gems and gold leaf.

“Where are we?” I whispered as I took in the visa.

“Uptown. It’s where the wealthy gather.”

“Well, I can see that.” I muttered, my eyes refusing to believe the sheer wealth disparity between the lower regions of Theronhold with the wealthy up-town. Craning my neck, I could see why where the name came from, the area on a hill within the large city.

“Anyways, c’mon. Even for our family, it can be a bit of a hassle to get in without reservations if we don’t make a bit of haste.”

“Reservations?” Tested the word, unfamiliar with how she had used it.

“Yeah. Reservations, when you schedule a visit to a restaurant ahead of time.”

“Restaurant?”

“Oh boy.” She placed two fingers over her brow as she shook her head. “Just come with me.”

“Whatever you say.” I watched as she pushed open the carriage door on her side, scooting out. I followed her, admittedly less gracefully. Stepping out from her side, I took in the building that I hadn’t been able to see from my window. It was small, but it somehow gave the impression of a large hall, spiraling carvings of vines in the very marble of the building, two words spelled out in gold leaf above the mahogany door.

“Rentus Aulus? That doesn’t sound quite right, does it?” I peered at the words. It was like a butchering of Rentar and Aulous, but why would a dining place be named after the elements of earth and water?

“It’s supposed to be a linguistic take on the magic for earth and water, except in this case, Aulus is meant to reference the sky.”

“Earth and sky.” I pondered it aloud before it clicked. “Heaven and Earth.”

“Yeah, but as there is no actual language based around the words of power, they took liberties.”

“You’re pretty well versed in magic.” I nodded as we made our way towards the front door, guarded by a large-looking man.

“Of course. I already told you that I want to be the greatest mage one day.”

Well, tell that to the Sage Above All.

Rather than say that aloud, I merely nodded.

“What about you? For someone who says they are from a small village, you make it sound like you know a thing or two yourself.”

Whoops.

I had so casually questioned her knowledge that I had made it evident that I had prior knowledge.

“Wait, is that what your traveling partner is? A magic tutor of some sort? But no, that doesn’t make sense. Just any old magic tutor wouldn’t be enough to excite my father and family like it did.”

“Uhh, what about the big guy here?” I gestured towards the large man as we neared the entrance, doing my best to shift the subject.

Scyla shot me a look that told me she knew what I was up to, but she didn’t press me further on the subject.

“Hale. How’s the day been?”

“Ms. Eorial.” The large man nodded to the girl before looking at me. “Pick up a stray?”

Scyla looked back at me before turning back to the large man, Hale, smiling mischievously. “You could say that.”

I wanted to speak up, to defend myself, but I figured it would probably be wiser to keep my big mouth shut for once.

“Soo, you going to let us in, Hale?”

“That depends, Ms. Eorial. Can you vouch for your… scamp?”

Rude.

“How is this for vouching?” Reaching within her overcoat, Scyla pulled out several gilly, placing them within the front pocket of his suit.

“He has been spoken for.” Hale nodded before pulling the door open for us. “I take it you want a private table?”

“You know your stuff, Hale.” Scyla smiled at the man as she proceeded to walk in as if she owned the place.

“Er, thanks.” I nodded at the large man as I quickly followed Scyla in.

“Hmph.” The man grunted as if unable to bother with actual words when it came to me.

Rude. Again.

As we entered the dining area, I could only marvel silently as I followed Scyla towards a table seated in a back nook of the establishment. I saw signs of opulence and wealth everywhere I looked, gold leaf adorning the tablecloths, crystal platters, and jade intricately laced within the marble floor to mimic the look of sprawling vines trapped within the ground beneath us.

Just don’t think about it.

Only a few seconds later, Scyla sat down at the table, gesturing for me to do so as well as she rested her head upon her interwoven fingers.

“So, I’ve told you quite a bit about the goings-on here. Maybe a little tit-for-tat?”

“Nothing about my master.” I instantly added.

“Your master? I see.” I could see her greedily drink in the information as I internally swore at myself for giving her more free information. “But no worries. I’m curious about you right now. A guy a few years younger than myself traveling with someone who is clearly important, someone they just finished referring to as their master. This guy also seems aware of magic when most people don’t even know the words for the base elements. At first, I figured you wouldn’t be that interesting, that I would be better spent angling towards your master, but perhaps I can see the benefit to both angles now.”

I swallowed a mouthful of dry saliva as she smiled at me, a smile that looked decidedly more charming, to put it nicely.

About now, I wish I had more experience with girls.

I took a deep breath, drowning out the sudden charm the girl was displaying as I cleared my mind.

Breath. Just like before.

I inhaled a slow breath, letting it calm and compose me, a stillness to my body, but as I did, I heard a quiet gasp come from across the table where Scyla was sitting.

“I knew it.” She hissed quietly between closed teeth. “You can use magic!”

“Huh?” I opened an eye, an eye I hadn’t realized I’d closed in the first place, to see the girl staring at me with interest.

“Just now! The mana around you, it reacted.”

“Uhh, I don’t know what you mean.” I lied.

“Don’t play dumb. Mana doesn’t just react by accident to ordinary people. You pulled on it.”

Didn’t even realize I was pulling mana in.

I exhaled, and as I did, I realized I felt a sense of clarity, my mind sharper than a moment ago.

Oh. Looks like I did.

Unconsciously, I’d activated the first stage of my Ruptured Body, circulating mana through my mind; it allowed me to gather my thoughts and clear my head. My master had informed me that while it wasn’t proper magic, it was close enough to the girl in front of me that she had caught on.

Also, when did I start being able to do that without thinking about it?

“Yeah, yeah, okay, I can use a bit of magic.” I admitted with a shrug. “It’s not that impressive.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Scyla was beaming at me as if I was a treasured toy. “But I think I should be the judge of that.”

“Can, can we just eat something first?” I sighed. The brainpower required to watch everything I said and my every action was beginning to wear on me. Perhaps that was the reason I had unconsciously drawn on the first stage of ruptured body, which would allow me to think more clearly.

Just in doing so, I had given myself up.

“Sure.” She clapped, and for a moment, I expected another carriage to come busting in through the door, but instead, a man dressed in a fine suit briskly walked towards us.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“We’ll take a three-course if you will.”

The man nodded without another word, quickly disappearing behind doors that I figured led to the kitchen.

Scyla looked back over towards me, still smiling, which told me she was pleased with herself. “Alright. I’m not so conniving that I’ll try to take advantage of you that much. Even if you didn’t mean to, you gave me an answer, so ask a question.”

Ask a question?

What was there to ask? I wasn’t the one with a dying thirst for information here. In fact, I was only supposed to be passing through Theronhold for a few days, just a rest stop while my master met with people for… well, reasons.

Without any question I was dying to ask, my brain acted on default, blurting out the first thing on my mind.

“Do you do this with every guy who catches your interest?”

Scyla cocked an eyebrow at me, smiling with a hint of gentle patronizing. “I’ll admit-” She gave me a once over before continuing. “You’re cute, but you’re still a little young for me, from what I can tell.”

“That – that isn’t what I meant.” I felt my cheeks flush red again. “Anyways, I’m not that young. I’m fif- sixteen.”

A lie, but only technically. I’d be turning sixteen in a month.

“Mhmm. But to answer your question, no. It’s rare something gets my family moving and excited like the appearance of your master did. I was just wise enough to consider tackling things from a different angle.”

“Wise or a waste of time?” I drummed my fingers on the table, wondering how long until the food got out to us.

“Well, perhaps only time will tell.” Scyla leaned back, leisurely stretching her arms overhead where her bracelets made to match her choker clinked about. “My turn.”

I nodded, already bracing myself.

“You said your last name was Baster, didn’t you?”

Oh no.

“For whatever reason, I couldn’t get that name out of my head. Then you show magical knowledge and capability. That’s when it clicked. Baster, as in the Baster family, right?”

I needed an out, but I couldn’t think of any. Telling her anything would be stupid, stupid.

But when she smiled at me again with that dazzling smile from before, the answer slipped out.

“Yeah. My mother is Asalyn Baster.”

Her smile deepened as if the gift she had been given was only one part of her present. “Asalyn Baster. The Witch of the Phantasmal Flames, Warlock of-”

“Yes, yes.” I hissed, trying to get her to quiet down. “Do we need to go on endlessly about that?”

“I’m just surprised. In fact-” her words were cut off as I heard a clamor from the front door.

“What the-?” I turned around, just in time to see as the door rocketed open and a man came marching in, his dark mane following him as he beelined towards our table.

Oh no.

“There you are, kid.” My mentor was glowering at me, looking between myself and Scyla. “I see you weren’t lying about finding something to do.”

“Master-” I raised my hand, but he never gave me a chance.

“We need to leave.”

“Leave?”

“Yes. Now.”

“Why?” I questioned, forgetting all about Scyla.

My master leaned in, his words reaching only me.

“Because they’ve sent a subjugation squad.”