It wasn’t packed, but the little tent city was surprisingly busy already. Merchants were set up underneath awnings, calling out to people who were walking nearby. Businesses that were better off had signs hanging from the fronts of mostly-enclosed pavilions.
Gregory noted the few he thought they’d be interested in checking out later. The one that caught his attention the most was a scrivener with two guards to help make sure his collection of books and scrolls didn’t wander off.
Most of the businesses there seemed to be focused on food stalls. A wide array of food was being cooked and served as people waited. The scents mostly worked together, but at times, there was a clash of odors that made Gregory wince.
Lightshield turned down a different path rather than continuing to follow the main street. That eventually led them to an area that displayed the academy emblem. Past the first few academy pavilions, tents with clan emblems started appearing. Aether’s Guard was on the far side, as far from the Eternal Flame as they could be.
Their closest neighbor was the Iron Hand. Magus Klim stood outside her clan’s main tent, directing her apprentices to their designated places. She glanced their way and gave the group a nod before going back to making sure her clan was set up as she wished.
Lightshield paused when they reached the collection of large canvas structures— they were much larger than what Gregory would’ve called tents. “Hemet and I will be staying in this one.” He gestured toward the first tent. “The three tents behind this one are for you to split. I figure that you can divide yourselves as you see fit?”
The group agreed they could.
“Very well. Remember the rules, and be ready to fight when the time comes,” Lightshield said. “And try to enjoy yourselves.” With that said, he started for his tent with Hemet walking beside him.
“We should check the tents, first,” Jenn said, everyone agreeing with her.
Walking around the elder’s tent, they found clear paths marked out. Roshana and Mindie headed to the left while Clover and Ling went right. That left the largest of the three tents for Gregory and his wives, not that any of them were small.
Stepping inside, Gregory paused just within the entryway. The tent had separate rooms divided by cloth. The front room held a table with chairs, along with a couple of divans to relax on. Yukiko and Jenn stopped to change their boots for slippers, and Gregory just had his boots change how they looked.
“Some days, I envy you those boots, dear one,” Yukiko said.
“Agreed,” Jenn said.
“Maybe we’ll find more pieces in time?” Gregory suggested.
“Darkness told you that there might be more still hidden away,” Yukiko nodded. “Left or right first?”
“Left.”
“Right.”
The two words were nearly on top of each other as Gregory paused in going left, and Jenn stopped going right.
Yukiko snickered. “Well, I guess I’ll break the tie. Left first.”
“We’re not often out of sync,” Jenn said, joining them.
“It’s going to happen sometimes,” Gregory said. His arm went over her shoulder when she joined them.
“Considering how often we all agree without discussion,” Yukiko said, “I think it’s odd that we aren’t out of sync more often.”
“I guess that’s true…” Jenn admitted.
The curtain to the left is what blocked the bedroom from the front room. The bed was large enough for the three of them, with a wrought-iron frame depicting trees. It stood in the exact center of the room with a lantern hanging just over the headboard, where they could snuff it with little difficulty at night.
“We don’t need to unload any of our things,” Yukiko said slowly as she eyed the chests and armoire in the room, “but we might want to place a few things that would be okay if people found them.”
“Setting a false camp,” Jenn grinned.
“Exactly.”
“I think it’s a good plan. We should tell the others to do the same,” Gregory said. “They don’t have the same storage space we do.”
“Agreed,” Yukiko smiled. “Let’s get it set up, then check the other side.”
It didn’t take them long to each place a couple of outfits in the armoire, and a few odds and ends in the chests. With that done, they crossed to the other side of the three-room tent. The right-hand space held a copper tub big enough for two people. The only other item was a bell resting on a table with a note.
Yukiko read the note first before handing it to Gregory. “The bell will summon our single staff who will take care of anything we need.”
“Like filling the bath,” Gregory said when he read the examples at the bottom of the paper.
Jenn took the offered letter, reading it over. “Some of them will abuse this,” she said a bit stiffly. “Massages as needed? With the Eternal Flame here?”
“I do feel bad for them, but the staff here have the laws to back them,” Yukiko said. “If one of them tries to do too much, the clan will find themselves in trouble.”
“Oh?”
“If one wants… ‘special attention,’ they would need to visit one of the establishments that are allowed by the city. Staff are protected from force in such matters,” Yukiko explained.
“That’s good, at least,” Gregory said.
“What should we do today?” Jenn asked as they went back to the living room.
“It’s a little after midday, and the city is only a mile away,” Yukiko said. “We could go see my parents. They should have Elsa and…” She trailed off as her mind caught up to an inconsistency she hadn’t thought of before. “Oh…” That single word was full of sadness.
“What?” Gregory asked. “We all want to see her.”
“She isn’t here…” Yukiko whispered. “My parents sent for her a week before we left the academy. We were using enchanted tack on the carriages. She wouldn’t have been.”
Realization dawned on both Gregory and Jenn as they considered the distances they’d traveled. The three of them took their seats in silence as a hope of theirs was just snuffed out.
Clover and Ling arrived a minute later, with Clover chatting excitedly about the food she’d smelled on the way to their quarters. They called out to the others from just outside the tent.
“Come in,” Gregory told them.
“What’s wrong?” Ling asked as they stepped inside.
“We thought we’d see Elsa,” Jenn said, “but Yukiko just pointed out that she can’t be here already.”
“Not enough time between her leaving and now,” Yukiko said. “My family doesn’t have enchanted carriages.”
“Oh…” Clover’s sadness was easy to hear.
“That is unfortunate,” Ling sighed. “I’d been looking forward to seeing her again.”
“We were discussing what to do with the rest of today,” Gregory said. “We were thinking about going into the city to see her parents, and that’s when it struck her.”
Ling and Clover joined them in a mild depression that something they’d been looking forward to had been ruthlessly shattered for them. The five of them sat there for another minute in silence before the last two showed up.
“Come on in,” Gregory said when Mindie called out to them from outside.
“What’s wrong?” Roshana asked.
Another round of explaining the situation had Roshana looking sad, too. Mindie looked at all of them, then cleared her throat. “Who is Elsa?”
Six pairs of eyes looked at her in confusion before Yukiko snorted softly. “Right… you never went to the orphanage. Sorry, Mindie. Have a seat.”
Mindie took the open spot on Yukiko’s left.
“Elsa was a street urchin who Gregory helped in our novice year,” Yukiko said. “She was the start of the new orphanage supported by the clan.”
“I had no idea the clan started one,” Mindie said.
“It was just before we left,” Jenn said. “Let’s tell the story from the beginning. Greg?”
“Right,” Gregory exhaled slowly. “It all started on our first day off. Yukiko and I went into the city…”
~*~*~
Silence filled the tent for a few moments as Mindie processed everything. “That explains the sadness,” she finally said. “I agree with Yuki. She wouldn’t be here if they didn’t have an enchanted carriage.”
“Yeah,” Gregory agreed. “It kind of took the wind right out of us.”
“I can see that. I’m a little sad now, too. She means so much to you that I wish I’d had the chance to meet her.”
“In time, you will,” Yukiko said, trying to put aside the feeling of loss. “If she isn’t a magi of the clan, she’ll be our maid, just like Greg said.”
“Which means she’ll be a member of our family in a different way,” Mindie smiled. “Yes. I just felt a sudden need to see and speak with her before then.”
“We should do something,” Clover said, jumping to her feet. Her smile was fragile, but she had one on her face. “If we do something, it’ll help us move past the sadness.”
“But what should we do?” Roshana asked.
“We go into the city,” Yukiko said, standing up. “You four have not yet met my family, and you should before things happen.”
The four who weren’t married to her looked a little daunted. Ling was the one to ask, “Will they… understand?”
“We’ll introduce you as friends for now,” Yukiko smiled, “as that is very truthful. It will let them know who we speak of later, and it will also give you the chance to meet them.”
“It’s a good plan,” Gregory said. “That should also help us push past missing Elsa.”
“Before we leave,” Jenn asked, standing up, “did you settle into your tents?”
“In what way?” Ling asked.
“Did you leave some clothing or small knickknacks behind?” Gregory asked.
“No…?” Clover said questioningly, but then started to nod as she said it. “Oh, false camps?”
“False camps?” Mindie asked.
“Making it look like your things are there when you aren’t,” Yukiko said. “We thought it best to make it look like we’ve left our belongings here.”
“To fool anyone who wants to find something,” Roshana said, understanding. “They might plant something into our belongings, or try to take small items left behind.”
“Who would do that?” Mindie asked.
“Nick, for one,” Gregory grunted. “But our hosts might not be above such things, either. If we make it look like we’ve left our stuff here, it also muddies the question of spatial storage.”
“I could leave a few of the least alchemical healing items behind, and two sets of clothing,” Mindie said.
“Greg, do you really think it’ll be an issue?” Ling asked.
“It never hurts to take precautions,” Gregory shrugged. “I hope it doesn’t matter, but I’d rather be prepared.”
“Five minutes,” Clover said before heading for the exit.
“Or less,” Ling said, walking quickly after Clover.
“Maybe a little more,” Mindie said, not about to keep people waiting for her if she could help it.
Roshana hesitated, but then smiled at the backs of the other three. “We’ll hurry.”
