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Sarelle and the Ardelay twins go to their inn. They are greeted there the following day by Ekador apparently-Serlast, who says he'll be another two days settling up his affairs and then they can all go to Welce.
Ekador packs quite lightly for someone who's leaving the country on short notice and otherwise bears negligible personality resemblance to Loel. The carriage isn't particularly crowded as they make their way back to the port to find a boat leading back to Welce.
"There are three stops to make," Kiri tells him as they drive. "Although we'll land close to Chialto, I don't think that should be the first place we go. You'll have a much smoother go of taking over as uncontested prime if you can demonstrate at least minor magical power on demand - I don't think fielding questions of your legitimacy is anyone's idea of a good time and it would be better to have more than Sarelle's word to lean on. It doesn't help that anyone but her will mistake you for sweela. The Serlast estate is a couple of days by carriage from Chialto, there's a forest on the property, it's supposed to be special to the Serlasts, and going and having a walk around it might give you an idea of how to perform some minor visible magic."
"Might not. Loel figured out how to do magic without jumping into the Marisi River," shrugs Aleko.
"It might not. But it's worth a try if you don't have an epiphany before we get there," says Kiri. "Anyway, some of your cousins are living at the Serlast estate - off the top of my head, one of Valdin's children, his younger sister, and one of his grandsons, but I don't know how you're related to the family so I don't know who they are to you. You can kick them out if you want, but I recommend getting to know them and soliciting their help with the family business, and you have plenty of room to continue to board them. The Chialto house of the Serlasts was empty last I heard, but I'd be willing to bet you can re-hire Valdin's old servants if you want them, and you're entitled to maintain your own suite at the palace, too. You can divide your time between these places more or less however you please, although if you neglect the palace then the royal family may start issuing pointed invitations, and you might want to become acquainted with Prince Isten in particular, as he is heir to the throne and it's his succession you're necessary to ratify later."
"Isten's eleven," Aleko adds. "Coru, quiet."
"Questions?" Kiri inquires. "Do you want me to write any of that down, possibly in chart format?"
calescent
liakoura
"Right, I'll go get our carriage, back in twenty minutes. Fifteen if the competent stable kid is working today."
calescent
"All right. Meet you there, Aleko," she calls after her departing brother, who waves at her over his shoulder. "This way." She leads Ekador out of the temple and hangs a left. "Your house is on practically the other side of the city. Near a park. Mine's more centrally located."
It's a ten-minute stroll through Chialto. Kiri is recognized twice, and waves but doesn't stop to chat, and has more trouble keeping away from people without Aleko helping but manages it with only one incidence of stumbling into a shop window. Eventually they reach the Chialto Ardelay house.
"Here we are." She unlocks the door and lets him into the kierten.
It's a ten-minute stroll through Chialto. Kiri is recognized twice, and waves but doesn't stop to chat, and has more trouble keeping away from people without Aleko helping but manages it with only one incidence of stumbling into a shop window. Eventually they reach the Chialto Ardelay house.
"Here we are." She unlocks the door and lets him into the kierten.
calescent
"Welchin dwellings all have more or less wasted space in the entryway," she says. "It's called a kierten, it's a dumb status symbol, the house was like this when I inherited it."
calescent
"Kiertens do see occasional use in emergencies - since one isn't supposed to fill one up except in emergencies, they are by and large still available when one has a sudden need for the extra square footage, rather than being full of accumulated spare sheets and objects that you mean to get around to fixing one day and one's childhood stuffed toys. But it's a pretty weak argument for every house having a totally empty room. If there were a question of inadequate space for my usual purposes in either of my houses I would certainly consider repurposing the kiertens, but there isn't."
calescent
"Anyway, the rest of the house is more interesting. And has chairs."
She shows him the nearest room that has chairs. "Might makes sense for all three of us to eat something before we head to your forest."
She shows him the nearest room that has chairs. "Might makes sense for all three of us to eat something before we head to your forest."
calescent
"I'll go set something up." She disappears for three minutes, then returns. "Lunch will be served presently, should be ready a little after Aleko gets here."
liakoura
Aleko gets there. "Competent stable kid earned his tip, we're ready to go when oh do I smell lunch?"
calescent
And then off they go!
It is a longish and boringish trip. Aleko drives. Kiri plays with small quantities of fire and writes inscrutable cipher in her notebooks.
It is a longish and boringish trip. Aleko drives. Kiri plays with small quantities of fire and writes inscrutable cipher in her notebooks.
calescent
"Notes-to-self. When I was little I caught Jayce reading my more personal notebooks and invented a cipher."
pyrophyte
"Not quite," he says. "I have a perfect visual memory. If I ever learn your cipher, by whatever means, I'll know what was written on the page I saw. I assume you wouldn't be writing it in cipher if you wanted that to happen."
calescent
"...Lucky. I don't anticipate ever teaching anyone my cipher, but I appreciate it nevertheless."
pyrophyte
"It's very convenient," he says. "If I couldn't cart entire libraries around in my head, I'd be tempted to do it in an actual cart, which would make casual travel much more difficult."
calescent
"That is the most amazing thing I have ever heard of. I'm terribly skittish about using any form of active mind magic, or that would be the first thing I'd want to do for myself."