"Guild receptionist, huh? What got you into that?" Asked Winnifred.
Sarah thought about her answer. "When I heard someone like Myeloch was gonna be the master, I thought it was my chance to be part of something bigger, you know? Or at least my chance to get out of the house."
"Uh huh," said Winny, seemingly unconvinced.
"What do you mean 'uh huh'?"
"Don't worry, I won't pry. It's just good to see you working again. You look a lot brighter than you did last time I was here."
"You think so?" Sarah got up and walked over to the bar. She pulled out a bottle of champagne just as one of her plant minions brought her a glass of orange juice. "Want one?"
Winnifred shook her head. "I'll take a sip of yours, but I can't do more than that. I'm still supposed to be on the job."
"Yet here you are," Sarah chuckled.
As the girls chatted, the rest of the guild continued on as normal. Boriel had been in the main hall, but left as soon as Winnifred showed up. He had instead gone to the nearby forest to practice his magic. Lina, meanwhile, could be seen poking her head up over the railing upstairs, as if trying to hide while watching the Rune Knight officer. Myeloch was nowhere to be found as usual, but was surely only a ring of the bell away. Great clunks from above indicated that Drell was just getting up, later than usual this morning. She greeted Lina as she appeared on the landing, unable to appear as inconspicuous as the smaller Phoenix but similarly interested in the guild's guests.
"The heck are Rune Knights doin' here?" The reptile scratched at the frills atop her head. "They tryna steal us all up after the epic job we just did?"
Lina jumped back with a yelp at Drell's sudden appearance. "I wasn't– I mean, uh, hi?"
She took a moment to compose herself. "They're probably here to investigate the mine incident, since we found dark wizards in the tunnels. If there's a dark guild lurking somewhere, the Knights take care of it. As for why they're
here here, I'm not sure. Maybe they wanna question us since we saw them?"
"Maybe. I just hope they didn't spook Vor," said Drell with a frown. "You seen the lil' guy around?"
"Haven't seen him. He probably shouldn't wander around alone, not until the townspeople get a bit more used to him at least."
The older Phoenix let out a pained groan, "Mmmmmm, real glad he was gone when I woke up. Su- er, ex- ecstatic. Super ecstatic, big happy. You got breakfast already?"
Lina chuckled. "Dude, it's like almost lunchtime." She paused for a moment. "One of us is gonna have to check on Vor, aren't we?"
"
Almost lunchtime, keyword 'almost'. Before lunchtime means brekkie time- uh, right- if ya don't mind looking, er- right. Tell ya what. I'll grab something to eat quick-like and have a poke around the guild while I shove it down me. Then you can go and check outside, I guess? Or inside too so we're done quicker - it's whatever, to be honest."
"Ripping our princess away from the object of her admiration to look for your charge huh? That's a little rough, innit?" A voice sounded from just above the two on the stairs. Rowan put a hand on Drell's shoulder and the other on top of Lina's head and stuck his smirky mug between them. Drell, unfazed by the mug's smirkiness, gave him a quick greeting. "If anything, Lina should be down there right now, grilling our sweet Winny on everything about being a brave knight~ The opportunity to talk to one doesn't come every day, y'know. 'Specially not one who's close to a friend already."
Lina froze. "What? Admira– pssh, I have no idea what you're talking about. I mean, you can't
not be interested in the vice commander or the Rune Knights, right? Totally normal."
"Oh, I'm
interested alright." Rowan all but purred, to which Lina shuddered. He patted Lina's head for good luck and good measure before he passed the girls and slid the rest of the way down the bannister.
Drell turned to Lina and said, "Imma be honest. I don't like the way he said 'interested'."
"Not one bit," Lina agreed.
Rowan took all of two steps away from the stairs before he called across the main hall to his 'future wife'. "Hey Sarah! Why haven't your loving guildmates been introduced to your charming friend yet?"
"Oh my God," they heard Sarah groan from downstairs.
"Aaight," Drell announced as she began to move. "Imma get porridge."
Winnifred wordlessly pointed a thumb at Rowan, which Sarah answered with an eye roll. "Winny, meet the bane of my existence. He's harmless, mostly. Rowan, meet my old friend. Hands off."
Drell waved as she walked by to the kitchen, "Hey what's up nice to meet you I'm getting porridge!"
"Go for it, take all the porridge you want," said Sarah. She turned back to Winny. "That's Drell."
"Yeesh, excuse me for wanting to greet our visitor. Tell me how you
really feel." Rowan expressed his faux-wounded pride. "Look at her," He said to Winnifred. "Second her old pal is back and she doesn't need a drinking buddy anymore, straight into the trash with the other. Still, a chance to meet a rune knight in my own home is a good balm for the sting of our dear friend's harsh words. It's an honor, Winnifred." He humbly held out his hand, curious how seriously she took Sarah's words. She never held back, like a true spitfire.
Winnifred glanced at Sarah before taking Rowan's hand. "Hey, I never got a hands off rule. Rune Knight Vice-Commander Winnifred Tulles, it's nice to meet you. Good to know there's someone here to keep things exciting for her. She says all that, but she would have mentioned if you'd taken anything too far."
Rowan smiled warmly without a hint of the usual attitude. "Banter is all well and good, but for anything more, what's the fun in being with someone who doesn't want to be with you?" Satisfied with the handshake, he broke it off and took a step back. "I've heard of you. Leaders always get the most public glory, but every knight is vital to an order, right? Especially the second, no leader has a hope of success without one. Atria's lucky to have you and Commander Cavan, as well as those who serve under you, I'm sure."
Winnifred smiled. "That's very kind of you, I appreciate it. The Commander deserves every bit of the glory she gets, but I think we make a good team. Our knights have worked hard to get where we are, but there's still a lot to go before we can see a truly peaceful Atria."
"Peace… an eternal work in progress, but never any less worthy in the pursuit for it. But that's what being a knight is about, right?... You know who has a great understanding of knighthood and peace? Hold on just a sec." Rowan winked at Winnifred, then suddenly backpedaled into a backflip back to the stairs. Before she could wriggle away, Rowan scooped Lina up in a princess carry and pranced back to Sarah and Winny. "Vice-Captain! I present to you: Lina Latare, daughter of the one and only wizard saint Myeloch!
And the one who put the most heart, soul and sweat into building this hall." He sat Lina down upright and stepped aside to make jazz hands at her and mouth 'ta-da!'
"Former Saint, but still a man worth respecting," she corrected before addressing Lina. "So you're Myeloch's mysterious daughter, eh? There's a lot of people who don't think you really exist, but if you're anything like your dad then I'm glad you do."
Lina's eyes spun as she struggled to decide where to look. She was burning so red with embarrassment that if she were a Hoskel she'd have burned down the guildhall. She barely managed a stammer, her quiet words coming out as gibberish. And then she tried to flee.
A hand grabbed her by the scruff and yanked her back to the conversation, then rested on her shoulder just firmly enough to keep her there. "Sorry about that. Spending so much time with just one person only for them to be a legend once you're open to the rest of the world is a strong case for shyness." Rowan kept that hand on her shoulder presumably to keep her from running away again but in actuality he was funneling steady calmness and a touch of confidence straight into her, even tapping into his own reserves. He continued to smile at Winny but most of his focus was on reading Lina's emotions and trying to keep her even enough to have a real conversation.
"No need to force her," said Winnifred.
Lina took a deep breath. Despite both her and Rowan's best efforts, he could still feel her emotions churning. Then all at once, she turned back to Winnifred, bowed her head, and pulled up her right sleeve. Underneath was a thick silver bracelet engraved with various runes, never seen by her guildmates. There seemed to be a compartment on top, it's contents hidden.
"Can you sign it for me please?" Lina spoke quickly, as if her confidence would disappear if she took too long.
Winnifred chuckled. "Sure thing, I'll use a marking spell. What would you like me to–" She froze the moment she got a better look at the bracelet.
"Just your signature is fine," Lina said. She was silent as Winnifred signed, a magical light at the tip of the finger she used to write with. Lina struggled to get her next words out. "Do you… Do you think someone like me can become a powerful wizard? Like you, or Egan, or… or my dad?"
Now it was Winnifred who had to search for her words. She put her hand on Lina's shoulder. "...I'll be honest, I don't know. It's a lot harder for people like you… people like us. But that's the beautiful thing about magic. No matter how hard it is, it's never impossible. If you want it enough, I know you'll find a way."
Lina finally lifted her head. She had stars in her eyes and a smile to match. "Can I see yours?" she asked.
Winnifred grinned. She held out her hand and requipped a massive magitech gauntlet that went up to her forearm. Several different lacrima were embedded on top, each glowing a different color. Along the arm was a compartment that resembled a gun barrel. From its size, there was surely much more hidden within. She held it out for a fistbump, which Lina happily accepted with her own adorned hand.
The clatter of plate-mail and pottery shattered the quiet as Lady Conspicuous herself stumbled out of the kitchen, breakfast in hand. "See ya dude! Uh…" Drell paused as she came to face the room's occupants, her face contorted in painful deliberation. After a while, she said: "Heya, uh, I got porridge."
"There's still some left if anyone wants some!" Called a voice from the kitchen.
Lina shrugged. "Eh, why not. I should be getting lunch anyway, and I like porridge well enough." She gave Winnifred one last, lingering look before covering up her arm and heading into the kitchen.
"Enjoy your food, Lina," Drell said, lifting her bowl to her guildmate. She took a step away, then stopped, turning to address the Rune Knight. "Uh, you haven't seen a, er- like, a small guy, or something around here, have you? Just a lil' scamper-y dude?"
"Small and scampery, eh?" said Winnifred. "Can't say I have. I could tell the other knights to keep an eye out, but I'll need a bit more than that to go off of."
"Uh, y'know, not big, uh… prone to, er… scampering-" the Phoenix swallowed. "Right, uh- completely unrelated note: kobolds! I have, uh, an opinion about them - most people have some kind of one, uh, I'd assume. And mine! Is, uh, yeah, probably! The same as yours…?"
Winnifred raised an eyebrow. "Maybe, maybe not. I'm not a big fan of kobolds and know they're classified the way they are for a reason, but I won't touch anyone who hasn't broken any laws yet; kobolds included. Now, is there something you wanted to tell me about your scampery little friend?"
"Ah! Good, right, I guess- um, not my scampery little friend, really. Uh, they'll be fine, I guess. On an unrelated note, though, uh, I have
another friend! Who I'm now looking for instead - completely different friend - they
are a kobold but are also small and scampery. Uh- haha, that's a, uh, funny coincidence. Yeah. Probably best if he, uh… doesn't get too spooked."
The knight smirked. "Right…" She held a finger to her crystal earring. "This is vice-commander Tulles. Keep an eye out for a kobold wandering around town. If you see uh, him, let him know that Drell is looking for him. If he seems frightened, stay away."
Rowan slowly shook his head and said nothing.
Ith'drell waved a finger near her ear. "That was a, uh… remote-talky thingamabob, right?"
Winnifred nodded. "Yup. It's a communication lacrima linked with the other knights."
"Great! Nice- thanks a ton, dude, you're the best!" The Phoenix flashed Winnifred a powerful thumbs-up, then scarfed down a mouthful of porridge and began to peek into a nearby cupboard.
With the Vor situation settled, hopefully, the Nestlings finished their meals and set about their goals for the day. Winnifred, meanwhile, talked a bit more with Sarah before saying her goodbyes and properly getting to work. Her demeanor changed completely as she set off for the mine; the dead seriousness one would expect from someone in her position.