I led Hana and Marin to the front door, and we entered the building to find a puzzling scene; Lia stood with her head held in her hand, hiding her eyes from the receptionist who leaned over the counter towards her father. Marten was tapping his hands anxiously at his sides as he stammered something quietly under his breath. “I...I am...uhm, Marten, and I, erm, I am..”
The receptionist, a young man with brown hair and kind eyes, looked up at me as we filed into the room. “Good morning, sir. Are you with this gentleman?” he asked, motioning with his head towards Marten. “He seems...confused.”
I looked at the pair with a furrowed brow, curious as to what could have caused the current situation. “Yes,” I said slowly, looking back to the receptionist, “I’m with them. We’re here to see Elise. She’s an old family friend.”
“Oh, good,” he sighed, looking relieved. “Did you have an appointment?”
“I’m afraid not,” I answered apologetically. “Just tell her the Corell family is here to see her.”
“Hmm,” he mused, his face shifting to one of concern. “Miss Tressel is very busy today, I’m not sure she’ll have time—”
I held up a finger to cut him off and retrieved my coin purse from my belt. “If that’s not enough,” I added, shaking the purse with a satisfying jingle, “tell her that they have a lucrative business opportunity to discuss as well.”
He eyed our group nervously for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll relay the message. Please wait here.” He left his desk and moved to the back door, pausing one more time to look the five of us over before he disappeared into the stairwell.
Satisfied, I turned back to Marten to find out what had flustered him so badly, only to find him staring at me in stunned silence. “What?” I asked, confused. I looked to Hana and Marin for support, only to find them with the same shocked expression. I took a step back towards Lia and held up my hands defensively. “What?!”
Marten shook his head in disbelief as if I had spoken complete gibberish. “What do you mean, ‘what’?! Since when do you speak fluent Lybesian?”
“Since when do I…” I managed to say before my brain put the pieces together. Marten was confused because he doesn’t actually speak Lybesian. The receptionist was speaking Lybesian, so if he understood me, I was clearly speaking Lybesian as well. “Oh, I’ve always known Lybesian, or at least, how to speak it,” I lied casually, mostly for Marin’s sake; had she not been present, I would have explained the helpful yet mysterious power that came with my reincarnations to Lia’s parents. “I picked it up when I lived in Doram.”
“In Doram?” Marten asked quizzically. “When were you in—” he interrupted himself suddenly as a spark of acknowledgement entered his eyes. “Right. When you lived in Doram.”
“I have to ask, Marten. Was your plan really to just walk in here and assume everybody would speak Kaldanic?” I prodded, trying to shift the focus away from my sudden knowledge of a foreign language.
“Well...yes!” he answered. “It worked last time I was here!”
Marin laughed. “It’s a good thing you brought me along, Marten. I’m not sure your business could have survived the language barrier without my help.” She rubbed her hands together and put on a sinister smile. “We’ll have to consider that in my upcoming contract negotiations.”
Marten moved to respond, but a loud bang from the stairwell in front of us drew all of our attention to the door. The receptionist returned a moment later, red-faced and flustered. “Miss Tressel will see you all in her office immediately. Please follow me.”
We entered the narrow stairwell single file and followed him up to another reception room. It was much larger than the initial entryway, with multiple sets of tables and chairs in a waiting area, plus a larger reception desk at the back of the room that blocked a wooden door labeled in gold lettering. The woman attending the new desk eyed us suspiciously as we were led past her post to the door. “Just through here. She’s ready for you.”
Without hesitation, Marten knocked and opened the door simultaneously, leading the way into the office. The room was lavishly decorated, implying the success Marten had spoken about on the road had only grown since his last visit. The wall to our left was covered floor to ceiling in beautifully intricate maps, each depicting a different country or region thereof. The opposite wall was lined with bookshelves packed with ledgers, books, and various bundles of loose paper. Light poured in from a small, square window at the far end of the room and was supplemented by two small chandeliers. A small rolling cart stocked with bottles and crystal decanters of amber liquid sat next to the extravagant blue-dyed emberwood desk that faced the door. Behind the desk was a high-backed chair made of the same polished wood, upon which our host sat.
“Marten! Hana!” she cried out excitedly, jumping up from the desk as we all entered the room and closed the door behind us. Elise stood at the same height as Lia and her mother, with vibrant green eyes behind a set of square glasses and puffy, blue-black hair that was held in a messy bun above her head by three large pins. She wore a knit gray sweater that seemed to be missing most of its fabric; it had no back, no sleeves, and a diamond shaped hole in the center of her chest, all of which combined to reveal a shocking amount of sable skin. Likewise, her tight black skirt was cut up one side nearly to her hip and looked to be held in place only by a thin, blue belt.
She rushed towards us and embraced Hana tightly, shaking her around like a dog with a new toy. The room was filled with a melodious echo as the two women laughed and exchanged hellos. Without warning, Elise dropped Hana and moved on to Marten and gave him similar treatment. Lia stepped ahead excitedly, and Elise let out a loud gasp when their eyes met. “No!” she exclaimed dramatically. “This can’t be little Marly, can it? No! You’re all grown up!”
“Hi, Aunt Ellie!” Lia yelled, jumping forward for a hug. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“Oh, Marly,” she said, sounding as if she were on the verge of tears, “it’s so good to see you. You’re such a beautiful young woman now. I can’t believe how fast time has gone by!”
“Stop it,” Lia said, burying her face in Elise’s shoulder to hide her flushed cheeks.
When she had finally finished her reunion with the Corell family, Elise’s attention turned to me and Marin at the back of the room. She met my eyes, and the corner of her mouth curled into a grin. “And who is this?” she asked, slipping past Lia to approach me. “You must be the man my assistant told me about. He said you had a...proposition for me?” She walked two fingers up my chest to my shoulder, grabbing it to pull herself up until her face was uncomfortably close to mine.
“Uhm...that’s technically true,” I answered, leaning my face back away from hers, “though it may have been a bit of an exaggeration to ensure we could see you.”
“And now you’ve seen me,” she whispered, her breathy voice lowering in volume the closer her mouth came to my ear, “and I’ve seen you. Perhaps we could discuss this proposition over lunch?”
The scent of her perfume overpowered my nose and set my head spinning, and it took the entirety of my focus to keep my eyes looking straight ahead. Lia’s face had morphed from one of excitement to a look of pure horror as she watched from across the room, and I saw her foot rise and fall as she fought over whether she should intercede. “Lunch sounds great,” I managed to say. “We’ve been subsisting on trail rations for quite a while now, so a full meal of warm food would be amazing.”
I felt a hard tug on my arm as Lia dislodged me from Elise’s clutches, positioning herself quickly between the two of us. Both of her hands clasped mine tightly as she menaced at her aunt. “Yes, WE are all very hungry.”
Elise giggled as she continued to stare at me, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. As she looked down to address Lia, she did a double take when she saw my fingers laced in between hers, and she turned to Marten and Hana in genuine shock. “Did little Marly find...a man?” Hana put a hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh and gave a small
nod. Elise squealed and clutched her hands in front of her chest. “Oh, I never thought I’d see the day! Marlia in a real relationship!”
“What is THAT supposed to mean?!” Lia yelled.
Elise ignored the challenge and stepped forward, reaching over Lia to put her hand back on my shoulder. Her lustful, seductive aura from earlier was completely gone, instead replaced with the bubbly demeanor of the woman who had greeted the Corell family. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ll expect the full story of how you two met over lunch,” she said with a wink. “Now, you still haven’t given me your name.”
“I’m Lux,” I answered, offering my free hand out to her over Lia’s shoulder. “It’s nice to meet you, Elise.”
“Please, call me Ellie!” she smiled, shaking my hand. Satisfied with the encounter, she turned and looked over our assembled group, pausing when her eyes fell on Marin. “I’m sorry dear, I’ve completely ignored you this whole time,” she said, giving her a deep apologetic bow. “You must think I’m incredibly rude, and rightfully so.”
Marin’s head spun as she looked for some unseen target of Elise’s apology behind her. “Who, me? No! Of course not!” She waved her hands vigorously and took a step back. “I-It’s nice to meet you, Ellie. I mean, Miss Tressel! I’m Marin. Sesaude. Marin Sesaude.” There was a visible blush to her bronze cheeks as she awkwardly tripped over her greeting.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Marin Sesaude!” Elise answered, giving her a tight hug. “Are you a friend of the Corells?”
I watched Marin’s brain shut down and reboot over Elise’s shoulder as her face shifted from a blank slate to complete embarrassment. “Y-yes! Or, I think? I’m, uhm, I’m Marten’s business...partner. Or, I was going to be...and will be, eventually.”
“Business partner?” Elise asked, spinning around with Marin in tow to look inquisitively at Marten. “Marten Corell has a business partner?”
“Things have changed, Ellie,” he shrugged. “It’s a bit of a long story.”
“Well, it sounds like we have plenty of stories to tell!” Without warning, she dropped Marin and walked to the exit, grabbing a large fur coat from a rack beside the door. She pulled the door open and stuck her head into the lobby. “Clear my schedule for the rest of the afternoon; I’m going out.” After a murmured response from the receptionist, Elise turned back to us. “Let’s go have lunch! My treat.”
Marten and Hana followed closely behind her as she left the room, and the rest of us fell in line behind them. Marin wiped the sweat from her forehead and held a hand over her chest, seemingly in an attempt to settle her rapid breathing. My hand was still firmly locked in Lia’s, and she led me forward intently while we descended the stairs and exited the building. Elise turned to address us when we were all outside. “Marten, I’ll have someone take your wagon inside for safekeeping and make sure your horses are fed. We’ll take my carriage to lunch.” Without waiting for a response, she dashed off around the side of the building and disappeared.
I could feel Lia’s hands rhythmically squeezing mine much harder than was comfortable, grinding my knuckles together. “Are you okay, Lia?” I asked, gently rubbing her shoulder.
“I’m fine!” she snapped. A few seconds went by in silence, and then she shook her head angrily. “Where does she get off acting like that? That’s not the Aunt Ellie I remember!”
Hana turned away from us, and I saw her shoulders bouncing slightly as she tried to hide her laughter. “The thing is, dear,” Marten started cautiously, “you only know her as ‘Aunt Ellie.’ Elise has always been…” he trailed off, motioning in vague circles with his hands as he tried to think of the proper wording, “...that way, at least when it comes to her business.” He looked up at me with a barely suppressed grin. “You’re lucky. I think she was restraining herself, on account of all of us being there.”
Restraining herself? The only way she could have been more overt would be to take me to her room and—
“Restraining herself?!” Lia shouted, echoing my sentiment. I took the sudden outburst as an opportunity to let my train of thought die, and I ardently refused to consider it further. “That’s not what restraint looks like!”
“It was just a misunderstanding, is all,” Marten continued in his attempt to defuse the situation. “I’m sure she’ll behave herself now that she knows how things are.”
“She’d better,” Lia grumbled, settling down into a more subdued pout. I wormed my hand out of her iron grip and hugged her from behind, resting my chin on the top of her head. Although her face was still set in a hard scowl, my mana found another story entirely; she was filled with doubt, fear, and an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy. I squeezed her tightly in my arms and impressed a thought against her energy. I love you more than anything in this world. You. I love you.
A moment passed, and I felt her slowly begin to relax in my arms as I heard a response in my head. I know. The uncertainty still lingered in her mind, but a sense of relief began to spread across her body. Thank you.
From the side of the building where Elise had disappeared came the sudden sound of a wagon approaching, and an ornamented emberwood carriage appeared from around the corner, drawn by two dappled horses. When it parked in front of us, the carriage doors opened to reveal a large, posh interior with two long bench seats. A man in similar clothing to the other employees hopped out and jogged over to Marten’s wagon, quickly mantling up into the driver’s seat and taking it back the way he came.
“Come on in, there’s plenty of room!” Elise called out to us, poking her head through one of the open windows. Lia and I followed her parents into the carriage and took our seats on the bench opposite Elise, which fit the four of us comfortably. Marin hesitated outside for a moment, and her eyes widened when she entered behind us and found the only open seat to be beside our host on her bench. Marin sat down well away from Elise, folding her hands tightly in her lap and staring at them with intense focus.
“Alright, let’s go!” Elise yelled, giving the wall behind her a few hard knocks. The carriage started forward with an impressively gentle bump, and I leaned my head out of the window to watch the city go by. Elise’s business was located in the center of what looked to be a trade district, and we passed by a multitude of interesting storefronts as we wheeled down the street. The surrounding buildings were much more modest than Elise’s headquarters had been, appearing to be residential houses that had their front ends converted for business purposes.
We hardly had a chance to get comfortable in our seats before the carriage ground to a halt. “We’re here!” our host proclaimed, opening the door and stepping down into the street. Lia and I shared a quizzical look and followed her outside; from my place on the carriage step, I could clearly see the towering face of the modified barn we had come from only a street away, most likely a two minute walk back at most. Lia looked back at me and rolled her eyes as she realized just how short our trip had been, which brought a grin to my face.
Elise led us through a side door of the restaurant to a preset round table in an otherwise empty room, bypassing any hosts that watched the front door. A bell sounded as the door opened and closed, and a server appeared from a small door across from our table before we were all seated. “Good afternoon, Miss Tressel,” she said with a deep bow, “and guests of Miss Tressel. What can I get for you today?”
“Hello, dear. Six of my usual order,” she answered, taking her seat. “We’ll start with bread and ale; something sippable, nothing too strong today. Oh, and some of those crispy mushrooms you do, those are lovely.”
“Right away, miss,” the server answered with another bow before quickly exiting the room.
“Now,” Elise said, rubbing her hands together excitedly as we finished taking our seats around the table, “you have some stories to tell me. Let’s start with why you’re in Lybesa and go from there.”
We all looked around the table, scanning each other’s faces to see who wanted to attempt to explain our situatio
n. “We aren’t here for a leisure visit, I’m afraid,” Marten spoke up eventually. “Given the events of the last few weeks, our days of living in Kaldan are over.”
“I figured as much,” she answered, leaning back in her chair to kick her feet up on the edge of the table, but she froze in place before she finished reclining. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the incident at the Mountain Gate, would it?”
Everyone at the table turned to look at me expectantly. “I might have had something to do with that,” I answered, leaning my elbows on the table to rest my chin on my hands. “What have you heard?”
She blinked at me in disbelief. “I’ve heard a lot of things. Terrorists from Lybesa. Terrorists from Kaldan. Rebels from Attetsia. However, my more official sources in Kaldan have been uncharacteristically quiet.” Her eyes narrowed as she sat up and mimicked my posture, leaning forward with interest. “Tell me.”
“It’s a long story.”
“We have time.”
I sighed. “I guess I’ll just start at the beginning. Lia and I met in—” I paused as our server returned with a large tray balanced on one hand. She approached the table and began to set out baskets of bread with slabs of fresh butter, full mugs of pale ale, and a particularly large bowl of breaded mushrooms.
“Don’t wait on her account,” Elise said, motioning to the woman. “Bella is my employee and one of my closest confidants. She serves at all of my most important business meetings; anything you can tell me, you can tell her too.”
I watched silently as Bella continued to serve us for a moment, then nodded. “Lia and I met in the dungeon below Yoria. I was imprisoned due to a misunderstanding with the city guard, while she was taken as punishment when Marten refused to pay ‘taxes’ to a group of corrupt guards.”
I recounted the stories from the time after my arrival in Kaldan to the best of my ability, leaving out any specific details I determined were best kept secret. The tale wound its way from our escape from the dungeon to our adventure and eventual capture in Atsal, with an abbreviated summary of our meeting with Virram and mission to Attetsia, and culminated in our clash with the Trinity Guard and the scene at the Mountain Gate. Marin shyly chimed in with her relationship to Val and her place in the story, and the Corells added their perspectives when appropriate.
Restart Again: Volume 3 Page 13
