Chapter 2: 2: To Aria

The carriage had arrived late, which had caused them to lose an hour on their journey. Deidre prayed the hotel on the route still had room given the holiday that was coming since if it did not she was completely against sleeping in the carriage for any reason. She glanced over at the other two. Lara was in a white puffy shirt and a red skirt, hair braided into a tail on which was tied a bow . Leannan's brown-red hair was styled into a fashionable bun held together by a hairpin she had gotten from Lady Galahad. Deidre checked her own hair, freshly cut and dyed to a blonder shade she often switched back and forth from because she couldn't tell the difference. She did it mostly just in case a cutie wanted to flirt with her, but that was probably a stupid reason to do it. That said best to look her best anyway. She was representing the Royal Guards and it wouldn't do to be seen as she usually presented. That and she wanted to hide from the recruitment posters her father had sent with her bloodlust face on it. She hoped that they hadn't reached as far out as the Briar Dukedom. Her father was bad at keeping track of the spread so she had no real way of knowing until she got there.

"Hey, Lara. What do you know about the area we're going to?" Deidre asked.

"Well it's mostly smaller towns with names like Riverdry." She replied, "Really not much outside of Brilage and Aria if we're being honest. And the one prison with the empty moat."

"Riverdry?" Deidre opened the map Lord Galahad had sent with them and eyed it over for a minute. "That's not even on the map."

"Well of course, silly. It cost money to be put on the map- and a population of at least one hundred, and that place only has about seventy according to Gertrude. She told me that there was some talk of fusing with the forty or so people in Hill's Hill but old blood feuds stopped that."

"Hill's Hill?" Deidre gave Lara a look that said to her that if she was messing with her the shorter girl would soon be walking.

"Yeah, it was settled by Alfonso Hill. In a valley, not on one of the hills. We actually learned about it in history, there was a battle there a few centuries back."

Leannan shook her head, "Of course you'd remember something that pointless. And let me guess Riverdry is probably right by the Eris River as well."

"Well the Southwood Stream, which is a tributary of the river. Where Alfonso Hill actually die during the battle of Hill's Hill."

The other two said nothing for a bit.

"Where is Brio from by the way? I always heard he was from the Dukedom but no one ever seemed to say where." Leannan asked

"That lazy ass? Oh, he came from Aria."

"Aria? Huh, weird. Never would have picked him to come from a town famous for actors."

"I mean my aunt was a famous actress, it's not odd."

"He clearly didn't inherit any talent from her then."

Deidre sighed, "La, in the myth the old farts asked you about- where would the most likely area for it to take place be?"

"That? Probably Freemore or Aria. Those have the most active tribes around them and the most suitable locations for kir'foy'ta related mischief and the like."

"That so? I'll tell the driver to set one of those as our final destination. I hope it's Aria. Just to get some details to annoy that ace mage friend of ours. In fact I want to go there first just in case it isn't."

The three then grew silent and returned to their own little worlds as thoughts of the mission overfilled their brains. They thought and dreamt about every insane possibility, every minute reality, until the sun had set and the carriage had stopped in from of the marble stone hotel they had planned to sleep in.

By the luck of the Twins it still had room despite the time of year and so the three retired to their rooms, Leannan with Deidre in a large suit and Lara in the most basic room on the bottom floor. Lara refused to take a bigger room, as she didn't want to waste more money than they need in case she found something she wanted to buy in Aria later on. Deidre tried to say they could all sleep together but a red faced Lara just stammered out her refusal. And so they slept, until the morning next.

The next morning after paying for a breakfast the innkeeper offered the, the trio set out again, riding peacefully in the carriage. The glass of the windows made the outside world look like someone had smudged a painting, giving no real sense of place to them. Didn't help when the rain came around noon and the shapes distorted even more and the heavy drumming on the roof overpowered their voices during the swells of the sky's symphony. Not as though there was much to discuss. They all knew what to do and none of them much wanted to talk at the moment, in their own little thoughts. Besides they had already talked plenty at breakfast that morning. It's not like Leannan needed to be personal with with them. She was personal enough with both of them, especially Deidre.

Or she thought she was. Even for a mission of this caliber the Bloody Knight seemed more on edge. She was sure that if Lara looked at her all he would see is a stoic knight since that girl's view of Deidre was warped to all hell but even for the two years she'd known Deidre Leannan had learned that the quieter she got the more nervous she was. What the nervousness stemmed from was a question she couldn't figure out. She knew that having to give reports made the Bloody Knight nervous, as did meeting new people. Those didn't seem to be it- though it may have been a part of it. She had been stone quiet ever since the carriage driver had announced that he had figured out a good path to Aria. Maybe something there had her worried? Sure, places with tribes nearby always caused issues when it involved the empire but a village was there so it couldn't be that bad, right?

She sighed. Maybe she was the nervous one. She hadn't been out of the capital since... then. Maybe she'd see a familiar face, one that would bring back a rush of memories and leave her crying on the dirt road. One that would tell her to come away with them, set her free. Of course that was dumb. Her family, childhood friends, everyone she had known had died. She only survived by accidentally drawing a rune of protection. That's when five years ago she had been delivered to the capital and made classified. They slowly built up a story to hide her identity and told her to hide her magic as she learned the basics of high society from her lowbrow base. She hadn't any friends until Lord Galahad had adopted her three years ago, angered after finding out where she was being kept. His own nephew had the same magic as her and he couldn't stand one being treated as an asset because of it. After a year of adjustment her current life began and she met her only friend so far, the Bloody Knight. All was good.

She did wonder why they had a spare bedroom already set up in the mansion when they had a large guestroom already though. When she asked Lara or Brio all they would do is stay mute. She had heard rumors of a brother to Brio but those seemed to be false- if he had one they didn't live in the city and had died a while before she was even sent to the city. She definitely didn't wish to engage Brio in conversation about his dead brother either.

By now Deidre had fallen into a slumber leaning on the wall of the carriage mumbling to herself in her sleep. Leannan could hear pieces of words every so often, "Good, help, I, lyric, not, her, Brio, die." Perhaps those last two were one sentence. Leannan wondered what dreams Deidre's nervousness wrought before leaning back and closing her own eyes, and letting herself wash away into the sleep.

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Brio hated this part. The Council on the Affairs of the Outer Dukedoms were his least favorite bunch to deal with, mostly because they all knew him the longest. He had spent weeks among them when younger as the parentage tests and adoption papers were combed over. Lord Galahad was a prominent member of the court and the idea he had a low class sister never approached anyone's thoughts. To be fair she was merely his older half-sister- a daughter of a former lady who had been stripped of her title in a divorce with Lord Galahad's late father, but still the records didn't show the divorce nor the marriage- at least until they found a stack of documents in the cellar of an old home the Elder Lord Galahad used as a gambling den. Some were half burnt, moldy- but the proof was still there. That Brio's mother was Lord Galahad's sister.

Lord Galahad strode beside his nephew, stocky body only being amplified by his tight and fanciful dress. A shaved head and gray stubble gave him a less than dignified look- as compared to his peers with their groomed facial hair and styled cuts. Even Brio's hair had effort put into it. 

"Now, I'm sure all will be said and done with pretty fast Brio. Though honestly this should have been done before you sent the retrieval team out."

"I'd rather not have to do it at all. This entire façade of them caring about anything but the prize is sickening. The safety of the nature or value of the Duke's land are meaningless bureaucratic posturing."

"The Duke cares about his land Brio, to say otherwise would be folly."

"Uncle, with the deepest respect, he doesn't. Or at least he didn't seem to when I lived there."

"The view of one villager does not a whole picture paint, my boy."

"And the view from a distance only paints a basic view."

"So, you know you could have gone out with them."

"I'd rather not. That place holds bad memories for me. Besides they have your adopted Rune Daughter so if they need runes they should be fine."

"Her knowledge of them are not as deep as yours."

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"I doubt that they need be."

Lord Galahad looked out the windows of the hall, staring at the city below. "Tell me, Brio. What wish do you have?"

"The Glory of the-" He began the scripted answer all were taught to give in the government.

"No, your personal wish. Yours and yours alone."

"I- I do not know."

Lord Galahad cast his gaze back to the High Defender. "Perhaps then... Ah but that's for later. Now mention the Tune Somnia and they should get too excited to bother you too much."

Brio bowed, "You have my thanks, Lord Uncle. Ah, what is in the Tune Somnia anyway? It's above my clearance apparently. Way above. Even the squinting trick you taught me doesn't work."

His uncle laughed a bit, "Oh hush about that trick, if they knew that worked they'd have you actually fix those ancient runes at the printing room. And well, as for the Tune Somnia I cannot say. However what is inside is important- and a great piece to insuring the dream of this country."

Brio said his goodbyes and went into the council room, alone.

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Three days in and one day out from Aria, the trio had decided to let rest for a day and enjoy the finale of the Feast. The town of Fort Aurora, famous for it's commerce and booze, was one that visitors from all over the dukedom had come to, to celebrate Tyr's Day- the end of the Feast of the Founders. Even some from Aria had come- who told the driver of the quickest path to take- news his tired steeds were probably happy to hear.

Lara had been dragged into a bar by a couple of ruffians looking for a third in a local fight ring- allowed publicly for Tyr's Day only and had been unheard from and unseen from since. Of course she was cleaning up nicely in her matches- as helping the bloody knight train meant the girl was was above the strength and skill most of the other participates would have but as the bracket went on and her opponents got bigger she was hoping the unseen and unheard wouldn't become permanent. 

Deidre had taken cash out to go to the local brewery to try fresh those brews that Bridget had been praising. Each chug of the booze sent her deeper into her drunkenness and soon she forgot all about her mission and where she was. The staff placed her in one of the so called "Drunkard's Rests", small rooms with a bed and shower they kept when patrons got too drunk to be allowed out or to get home. 

Leannan wandered the streets far from the festivals. Her braided ponytail rested on her shoulders as she walked, always threatening to return behind her but never having the momentum to do so. A few shops stood around, customers taking advantage of the festival to do shopping at hours usually unavailable. A jewelry store, an armorer, a bakery, none held her interest quiet like the one in front of her. Tessa's Antique Tomes. Professor was always bothering her to read old books with runes to help her learn but the High Defender had ever book past basic on indefinite loan from the High Library and they only were available there. Perhaps though this store would have some.

As she entered, the smell of candles hit her hard. They lit up the place not with the magic lamps that the rest of the city used, but old fashioned candles which gave an ambience to the store that was nice- though not the best for reading probably. 

Rows upon rows of shelves stood before her, wooden labels announcing the general content of each. She breezed past the fiction, the cookbooks, the history (general) and so forth until reaching a door. 

It read simply: Rare Runes.

She smiled and opened the door. Inside the walls were lined with the worn spines of books long past. The higher shelves had rows of dust on them and spider webs lurked in the corners of some. In the middle of the room was a rough cut wooden table with bench seating, upon which slept a person with a book entitled, "A History of Metamophisis Runes: From David to Forcault". Beside them were three other tomes, "Advanced Medical Runes" "How To Draw Runes in a Mirror: The Art of Self-Runing (Translated by Alfred Aermic)" "Memory Sharing and Object Memory Theory: Do Memory Runes Prove It?"

Leannan was a bit surprised to see someone else in the room, Runes weren't a popular subject since unless you could use them they were useless mysticism at best. She eyed the sleeper with a slightly leery eye before going over to look at the shelves.

After a short while of searching she found a few copies of the books she wanted and left the room, checking out from the old lady who apparently ran the store. Books in hand she stood against the wall of the opposite building and read. The night passed as she did, uninterrupted until the bell from the door on the bookstore rang and the sleeper emerged, sack in hand. Curiosity getting the better of her Leannan placed her own books in her own sack and jogged over to the stranger. As she did she took in their appearance. 

They were a girl, a woman, around the same height as her, if not an inch or so shorter. She was probably a year or two older than Leannan, if the Rune User's intuition was on point. Her clothes were simply yet well made- much too expensive a job of sewing for how they presented. Her hair was just tickling her shoulders, the darker brown roots betraying that the blonde's hair wasn't natural. Her eyes were a red, then green as her face relaxed after being startled by Leannan's approach. That face was somewhat familiar. The nose was pretty similar to Brio's though in a much more feminine form. Her lips were a cupid's bow though not large and unlike the capital style her face was lightly covered in makeup. She was much closer to Leannan and Deidre in style than even most of the villagers here. Also she was really cute, a kind of forced cuteness that felt like she was worried about being called out if she let herself not be cute.

Leannan took a second to realize she had begun staring at the increasing nervous girl. "Oh! Sorry. I just had seen you in the Rune room and was wondering why you were in it? Not much point if you can't use them."

The girl laughed, "And who says I can't? I can use them as well as you."

Leannan's eyes grew wide. Then realizing that it was likely a joke she relaxed, "Oh, is that so? I'll have you know I'm the High Defender."

"Brioche's the High Defender."

"Brioche?" That wasn't the name she knew.

"Huh? Oh, right he hated using his full name. Everyone from the Dukedom knows him by it still. I mean being her son and all it shouldn't be all that surprising, not that that fact matters now." The girl cast her eyes down.

"Uh... did you know Brioche- Er, Brio?" Leannan asked.

"Well, he doesn't know me. Not this me." She motioned to her body and face. "But yes, I know him quite well."

"Okay. You still haven't answered why you need those books."

"I already said why."

"That was a joke though." Leannan stared at the girl.

"Let's just say I'm into history. Is that good enough? I have to get to the inn to eat, I haven't had a bite in a while."

"Yeah." That made sense. Why had she cared so much? Of course a history nut would be a target demographic as well. Yeah. Silly Sioga. She giggled. Then out of a force she could not explain yelled at the girl as she shrank into the distance, "What's your name!"

The girl turned around and replied: "It's Lyrica. See you, Leannan." And then disappeared into the Tyr's Day crowd.

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