TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO & TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-THREE
Sunday Update: All goes fairly well! Normalish amounts of outline adjustments are happening. No serious problems in sight. You can expect 264 next Sunday.
These Chapters: I have ended up breaking this section of the story into chapters differently than I first planned. I think this part feels better as two, with the harder break provided by a new chapter. I decided to put them both in one post, though, instead of posting two chapters back-to-back. I wanted to avoid the chance that someone might see the second one in their email before the first and read without realizing.
Enjoy your read!
TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO
Snow IV
Alden liked the Christmas market. In most ways, it was exactly what he’d expected it to be—lots of food, lots of people, lots of ways to spend his money. There were plenty of magical surprises because this was Anesidora, but nothing truly astonishing. And yet, bit by bit, the atmosphere worked a human kind of spell on him.
Almost everyone they encountered was happy.
Energetic dancers spun each other around in the tent run by a group called Salsa & Swing. There were people wandering the festival in elf costumes, stamping bingo cards for anyone who wished them a Merry Christmas. Lute only needed to find the elf with the silver shoes to finish a line and earn a prize.
Twice now, someone had heard Alden’s accent, asked him if it was his first year as an Avowed, and insisted he pick an item they were selling to have for free. One woman had even invited him to come for Christmas dinner with her family if he didn’t have anywhere else to be. “You won’t be alone with some strange old bird if that worries you,” she’d assured him. “I have a granddaughter your age, and we usually have a few kids from intake, too. You’d fit right in.”
He’d been touched by her offer, and he suspected it had primed his emotions for every other nice thing that had happened afterward.
A ceremony took place every fifteen minutes at the base of the park’s satisfyingly enormous tree, in which globies added a traditional ornament or symbol from their homes, and he found it so moving that Lute asked him if he needed to watch it again. Then there was the kid riding on his father’s shoulders, gleefully shouting that he’d spotted the blue-shoed elf. It made Alden think of his own dad and sent him on a quest through the market in search of a tabletop nativity scene. He’d suddenly remembered that setting one up on a shelf had been something the two of them did together at Christmas.
By the time he and Lute made it to a walk-through gingerbread village populated by pastry chefs made of flesh and blood and waist-high people made of cookie, the mere act of a girl running off in search of more vegan options made him feel loving toward, and loved by, his fellow man.
There are some doors I could walk through, he thought as he and Lute left the last gingerbread house behind, that would let me come back to this market again and again. Most likely.
He could sign up to hang an ornament next year. Maybe he would leave his job at the hospital one day and head over here to meet an older Lute. Or a family.
Some people who would be waiting here for me. Who would be mine.
What would that be like?
He remembered Stuart suggesting he think of home as something he could build in the future.
“I still haven’t found anything for him,” he muttered.
“Your foreign friend?” Lute asked.
He was walking along unencumbered by any shopping since Alden was carrying it all, with only the bags preserved, in his left hand. In his right, he held a gingerbread girl. He bit off one of her arms, and the smell of warm spices filled his nose.
One of the must-have items here was a cotton candy balloon. It was sculpted into the shape you requested by one Avowed, then levitated and given instructions to hover a few inches above its owner’s head by another. Alden had bought one in the shape of a pig for Lute, and now whenever he faced his roommate, he was eye-level with its pink candy trotters. It should float for at least another half hour if Lute managed to keep it out of the wind.
“I thought you included him in your custom gingerbread biscuit order,” said Lute. “Isn’t he getting the turtle frog?”
Alden had ordered Stuart a klerm cookie. He was also getting custom made ones for Esh-erdi, Lind-otta, and Porti-loth.
Porti-loth’s gingerbread man would be painted in chocolate “mud potion”. Lind-otta and Esh-erdi would be getting each other in cookie form, complete with knight uniforms. Alden wondered if the shop would have agreed to make gingerbread generals if they’d realized who Alden was and that he’d be giving them to said generals.
“Getting him food is fine,” he said to Lute. “He’ll like it and be glad I included hm in the holiday, of course. But I’ve been trying for a while to think of something more high-effort and non-perishable to give him. Something he can keep for a long time.”
Like the learning cushion.
“Buy him a skateboard like you’re getting Haoyu.”
Alden snorted.
“What? It’s non-perishable. Bet he doesn’t have one.”
“Maybe I’ll keep his Christmas present simple and find the right thing later. Does that sign up ahead say ‘Puzzles?’ Under the Wright flag? Kibby would like a puzzle.”
“You’ve got twenty things for her.”
“Five is not twenty,” said Alden.
Kibby was just incredibly easy to shop for. Young enough to like actual children’s toys, unusual enough to be excited by lab equipment, curious about everything and unable to go shopping by herself—it would have been harder to find something here she didn’t want.
He hoped she’d use the huge bag of jelly beans to make friends with other kids, but if she preferred to melt them all with her new pen torch or conduct experiments on them, that was fine.
As they approached the booth with the puzzle sign, Alden caught sight of some of the wares, and his interest increased. There were three long tables covered mostly in puzzle boxes, several of which bore a strong resemblance to the door Alden had broken the enchantment on to get into Apogee Artist Spaces. The Wright was a thin, middle-aged man with a few facial piercings. He greeted Alden and Lute as they approached.
Alden said, “Did you happen to make the door at—”
“Just a second, kid,” said the man. He turned away from them and hurried over to the table along the opposite side of his booth to greet a woman who’d just walked up. “Hello! Interested in one of these? These are my Wrightwork.”
She had A-rank Adjuster displayed on her name tag. The man started talking more quietly after his initial greeting, and Alden couldn’t make out everything he was saying, but he didn’t seem to know her.
“Did this guy really just drop us mid-sentence?” Alden said.
Lute picked up a ring-sized box with a heart made of tiny jigsaw puzzle pieces on top. “He did. Isn’t it great? Our masks and our refusal to tag ourselves make us boring teenagers who probably don’t have any real intention of buying his most expensive pieces. The stuff over here on this table isn’t enchanted. But the box he’s showing that Adjuster costs twelve thousand. And he’s telling her that it only opens for the owner. Anyone else who tries to solve it will develop a compulsion to keep solving it…so it’s effectively a trap.”
“Using your super hearing?” asked Alden.
“Eavesdropping can be fun sometimes. At a place like this it’s educational to listen to people buying and selling. The jug of milk costs the same thing for everyone at the grocery store, but here things are a lot less firm. Some of us look like we can’t even afford that man’s time. Others look like they might spend thousands on a stocking stuffer.” Lute sounded chipper.
“You’re so happy to be snubbed.”
“I’ve been on more than one shopping trip at the far other end of things. You know the toy store we went to? When I was little, I thought all families called ahead and booked a time to visit. They would close the whole store to the public for a group of Velra kids and friends of Velra kids to have the place to ourselves. Not everyone caters to wealth and power, but a lot more businesses do than you’d think.”
Alden imagined the Velra kids annoying toy store employees and buying twelve of everything. For some reason, he pictured Aimi right there with them, belly flopping into the stuffed animal pit.
“I picked out a pair of sneakers last year that had a 50% off tag,” he said. “And when I got to the cash register, they wouldn’t give me the discount because they claimed the tag didn’t belong on that shoebox. I had to spend another hour looking for shoes, and it ruined my day.”
He picked up a large puzzle box. It might not have been enchanted, but it probably cost multiple times more than that pair of shoes. It was covered in randomly overlapping metal circles so that it almost looked like it had been rolled in a pile of adhesive coins. Many of the coins could slide around or be pressed like buttons.
“This seems difficult,” he said after fiddling with it for a while. “She’ll like it. Do you think he’s almost done with the Adjuster?”
Alden wouldn’t mind having a quick turn with some of the priciest pieces. He didn’t plan to buy them, but he’d like to take a peek at the enchantments.
Lute put down the ring box. “She’s paying him for it now. She’s asking him to set it aside for her so that she doesn’t have to carry it around the market.”
More than thirty thousand dollars changing hands just like that.
“Hey, what are you getting Emilija?” Lute asked. “Are you getting her something? You haven’t bought anything for her, Hadiza, or Natalie today.”
“I’m getting them sledgehammers.”
Lute burst out laughing.
“I really am,” said Alden. “I already ordered them. They’re getting hot pink sledgehammers and the Ultimate Destruction package at a place called Wrecking Ballroom. They can break all sorts of things, and there’s an archery instructor on site who’ll teach them to shoot flaming arrows if they want. They’ll like it.”
Lute’s laughter stopped. “Wait. That sounds awesome.”
“It is going to be awesome. And even if they get presents from a hundred other people, it won’t be this. This is a gift that tells them that I understand their true natures and respect their urge to violently attack me with weapons. You should have seem the looks on their faces this one time when I preserved an ice cream cone in front of them. They came at me with a meat mallet and knives. ”
“Do you think…maybe they want word chains to increase their ability to destroy?” Lute asked.
“I will leave that up to you and them. But don’t turn yourself into a slug again.”
It looked like the Wright had finished with his more important customer.
“Finally. Our turn,” said Alden.
The Wright turned toward them. The puzzle box the woman had just purchased was still in his hands. But there was a sudden shift in the atmosphere then. Alden’s senses caught several tiny changes that put him on alert an instant before he had any clue what was going on.
The Wright’s expression twitched. Lute straightened. The crowd at their backs became a little quieter. The hairs on the nape of Alden’s neck rose, and he turned around.
A gaggle of wizards were out and about, enjoying a shopping spree.
They would have looked harmless to Alden except for the sight of Ambassador Bash-nor in the lead. His earthworm-colored hair was braided and coiled on top of his head. Alden’s eyes went immediately to the hand Bash-nor had used to show off the threatening-looking spiked spell the last time they’d met, in the hallway outside Ro-den’s room at Matadero. But the ring the ambassador had used for that was missing. In fact, he was wearing very little jewelry compared to that night, and instead of using his hands for creepy demonstrations, he was gesticulating at different market stalls and smiling—a bit too hard in Alden’s opinion—at another wizard beside him. She was a couple of inches taller than average for her species, with long white hair. She looked appropriately themed for Christmas, wearing red pants and a red coat copiously embroidered in white.
At the back of the group, walking behind a wagon loaded with what must have been everything the wizards had bought so far, was another familiar face.
Zeridee. Shouldn’t she still be recovering?
The ambassadorial assistant wore a soft, warm-looking cap with seeds stitched to it in spirals. It was pretty enough to be mistaken for normal Artonan clothing, but having seen the healing garment covered in pebbles and nuts that Porti-loth had made her wear, Alden was fairly sure it was his work.
They were all headed this way. Bash-nor was making that abundantly clear by pointing at the puzzle sign and announcing that he’d “encouraged this Wright’s education”…whatever that meant.
The crowd parted for the wizards smoothly. Alden saw people melting away and others stepping closer without getting in the way, either because they were curious or hoping to be noticed.
The people paying no attention at all were definitely a minority.
Alden had seconds to make a decision. Shopping at the same place as Bash-nor wasn’t desirable. Being very obvious about not wanting to be around Bash-nor was even worse, though.
Be normal then. Act like he’s not here.
He turned back around and nudged Lute with an elbow. “What do you think of this one?” he asked, showing him the box he’d picked for Kibby.
Lute was willing to be normal, too.
“That one? Let me try it,” he said, taking the box from Alden. “What do you think of…that green one right there? Check it out.”
They feigned interest in various puzzle boxes they’d already seen while the wizards gathered on the other side of the stall around the Wrightwork ones. Exactly how the ambassador had encouraged the Wright’s education remained a mystery, but they definitely knew each other from the ambassador’s parties.
“Absolutely,” the Wright was saying loudly in response to Bash-nor suggesting he tell everyone about what the parties had meant to him. It wasn’t exactly a ludicrous way for an Artonan to talk about his own social gatherings, but it made it sound more like he was hosting them for cultural exchange instead of raucous fun times and showing off his superior magic. “The ambassadorial residence was the heart of the neighborhood in Punta de la Luna. The heart of Apex really. I live in midtown.”
The Wright set the puzzle box the Adjuster had just bought back on the table in front of the wizards. He didn’t mention that it was already spoken for.
[The guy’s pretty scummy,] Alden texted Lute. [There was no reason for that. He’s got plenty of others to sell.]
Lute lifted a hand to text back, but before he could, Bash-nor introduced the woman in red and white as a Grand Senator. Lute dropped his hand and stared for a few seconds.
Alden was doing the same.
Why is there a Grand Senator here? Alden hastily pulled up a local news site. Of course there was a front page article about the woman. A member of the Grand Senate making a visit to Earth would always be news.
Grand Senator Servin-ith. She’d arrived last night. This was only her second trip to Earth. She was here to look at all the construction that was being done and reassure Anesidorans of the Triplanets’ obligation toward them. After touring Anesidora for a couple of days, she would meet with world leaders at the UN.
There was speculation that she would also be meeting with representatives from Superhumans at Large. The senator had no comment on that. It was, of course, her honor and responsibility to maintain proper discretion.
The other wizards with her weren’t mentioned. Alden thought they were just people she’d picked up locally since he recognized a couple of them from Matadero. Maybe she was quietly showing approval for some service they’d done by inviting them on this excursion.
At least she didn’t bring Ro-den.
“What commendable craftsmanship,” she was saying to the Wright as she ran her fingers lightly over the tops of the boxes. She wore many delicate rings, almost all of them silver. “You should be proud of what you’ve made. Is it true that some of your efforts were destroyed by our recent error?”
The pause as the Wright read the translation, or pondered his answer, was only a slight one. “A few doors I made in Apex are gone. Only three. And it wasn’t your error. How could it be? Irresponsible Avowed are at fault.”
The look he sent Bash-nor’s way was eager.
Approval-seeking? Alden wondered.
Bash-nor only had eyes for the Grand Senator. And that was good, since if he’d been sparing a look around he might have recognized Alden. Or seen Lute’s mouth stretch into a pained grimace at the mention of irresponsible Avowed.
Alden was worried Lute might combust, collapse, or climb up on the table to speak out against his family even though Aulia and Orpheus hadn’t been named. Instead, he clutched the puzzle box so hard that one of the coin shapes popped off in his hand.
He looked down at it.
[It was meant to be removable, I bet,] Alden sent. [Don’t sweat it.]
“It’s our error,” the Grand Senator said, “because as your wizards it was our duty to ensure such a dangerous device was properly managed. Not all magic is meant for sharing, even with our Avowed. Let’s talk about something more pleasant. I can tell you’ve used mountain glass in this piece. An inferior type, but that, too, is our error since we supply you with many of your ingredients. The land where I was born is known for producing this. I will see to it that Earth receives some in trade so that you can practice with it and… ”
Alden’s auriad was on his left ankle today. It was hidden by his sock, his jeans, and the table. He could send it up his calf with a quick thought or, with a bit more attention, have it slide off the end of his foot and then slither up his leg freely to wherever he wanted it. He knew it was safely hidden, but it felt suddenly exposed.
“Not all magic is meant for sharing.” Don’t get panicky just because she said that. She’s literally talking about the Submerger. Sharing wizardry itself with another species has probably never crossed her mind. It’s not like she’s thinking of how to properly manage me right now.
After a couple of minutes, the senator bought the Wright’s largest piece. Two of her companions made purchases as well. And the box the Adjuster had already paid for was being passed to Zeridee by Bash-nor. The Wright had told him, loudly enough for Alden to hear this time, that it cost six thousand argold.
I’m so not buying anything from this guy.
Alden watched Zeridee and caught her watching him—one eye pointed his way.
She recognized me? He caught her eye again. She definitely recognizes me.
He didn’t know what to do except acknowledge her with a message.
[Hello, Zeridee. I’m here with one of my roommates for Christmas shopping. I’m glad you’re well enough to escape from Porti-loth.]
She kept that eye on him as she went to the wagon to put the puzzle boxes with the rest of the wizards’ things. To Alden’s relief, they were moving right along to the next stall to look at quilts. Bash-nor was recommending they go see some Brute he knew at the end of the row, but the quilts had caught the senator’s attention. And one of the wizards from Matadero was talking about going a few down to pick up hot dogs for everyone to try.
They’re here to make nice and be seen making nice. It’s such a normal thing for them to do, but it’s like everything at the market turned a little sideways just because they walked through.
Bash-nor plus a Grand Senator was a step beyond ordinary even for Anesidorans. And people who kept abreast of the news better than Alden did must have recognized her on sight.
I wonder how the crowd would be if it were Esh-erdi and Lind-otta instead.
He remembered the recovery sauna clearing out and then refilling with a completely different bunch when Esh-erdi had come to visit.
Equally weird.
Zeridee put away the last parcel, then headed toward him.
No don’t do that, thought Alden. Why are you coming to see me? You’ll attract attention. I’m an incognito teenager minding his own business.
Zeridee stood right beside him at the table. She murmured, face pointed downward like she was speaking to the boxes, “I think…meeting the Grand Senator would be a good thing for you to do today.”
Another metal circle plinked as it fell from Lute’s hand and hit the top of the ring box he’d been looking at earlier .
Alden’s body tensed. [What?] he sent to Zeridee.
The Wright was being congratulated by another market seller now that the wizards had stepped away, but the man had realized Zeridee was still here and he was turning his attention toward them.
“Being yourself and…politely honest…in reply to any question she might ask, would be enough,” Zeridee whispered.
Are you trying to kill me, Zeridee-und’h?! I save you and now you want me to be myself and honest? You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew myself is a wizard who fired off some spells with my auriad while I was hauling your body around Apex.
“I do not need help, sir,” Zeridee was saying with a bow to the Wright. “Thank you.”
“Yeah, we’re just looking, too,” Lute said. “Go help that other guy.”
[Zeridee, I don’t want to meet a senator.]
She stayed in her bow until the Wright stepped away. Then she straightened and looked at Alden with both eyes. “I’m sorry. I believe it would be a good thing to do. I will point you out and encourage the Grand Senator to greet you if you decide to approach our group.”
She moistened her lips, nodded at him, then left him staring after her with a racing heart.
Why would she tell me to approach the senator? She wants me to avoid Bash-nor, and he’s practically touching the senator right now.
There was something sharp about Zeridee-und’h’s steps today.
Anger? A plan? Strength?
Am I supposed to be a part of her strong, angry plan? She’s got a hat on her head that looks like something a person with recent major brain trauma is being forced to wear by her healer.
She fought those guys and got those injuries trying to protect me and my flyer.
Alden took a breath. “Lute, I’ll be right—”
“I’ll go with you,” said Lute.
Alden raised his eyebrows. “You don’t have to.”
“Let’s go.” Lute’s pig had sunk lower. It was almost sitting on top of his hair. He sounded so sure of himself that either he’d hit himself with a confidence chain or he was putting on a show.
“Is it because you heard my heart rate pick up?”
Lute didn’t answer that question. “Think of how my grandmother will feel when she sees me hanging out with a Grand Senator.”
(End Chapter: Pause here if you would like a place to take a break before you read the rest. )
TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-THREE
Snow V
Once Alden had committed to doing the thing, he was better able to focus on the why and how of it. If Zeridee wanted him to meet the Grand Senator, then she must want the Grand Senator to like him. And, for some reason, she thought this meeting was more likely than not to play out well.
All right. That tells me a few things. Servin-ith must not be in the “Avowed are existential threats” camp or the “beasts of burden” camp.
Zeridee wouldn’t encourage me to hang out with anyone easily offended or dangerous, like Bash-nor. So…I have to go into this with the assumption that I’m meeting a kind, important wizard on a fun outing who will be pleased to get to know me.
“Lute, we’re going to go over there and help that hot dog wizard pick out tasty Earth food for the group. And then I’m going to offer to keep everything fresh for them with my skill while they shop.”
“You said that in a strangely inspiring way.” Lute took off his mask, careful not to disturb his balloon. “I feel like I’m following you into battle instead of going to say hello to some lady.”
Alden was glad to have him for backup. “Come on. I know that wizard from Matadero. Or I’ve at least seen him there. He’ll hand over the dogs.”
He was right about that. With Alden’s mask off, the wizard collecting food recognized him immediately, and he was happy to have the knowledgable orchestrator of The Thanksgiving around to recommend orange soda and lemonade.
Lute carried their shopping bags while Alden preserved a stack of hot dog boxes and the drink caddy. The wizard trotted along with them, his brown eyes bright and wide as they approached the quilts.
“Oh, they are hand-stitched! That sign says so,” he said to Alden and Lute. “So warm looking. So nice.”
As they stepped under the tent that made a roof for the booth, Alden realized the quilts were getting more genuine-sounding compliments from all the wizards than the Wrightwork puzzles had. Maybe the Artonans were feeling cold here on Anesidora.
He kept his eyes on Zeridee. She’d moved into position at Bash-nor’s back, which meant she was also right behind the Grand Senator, since Bash-nor hadn’t been more than two inches from the woman since Alden had first spotted them.
Is he her friend, or does he want to be? Or is it just him playing host, since he’s the ambassador here?
Bash-nor didn’t seem as composed and sure of himself as he had the last time they’d met, but Alden wasn’t certain what the exact difference was. He and the senator were currently admiring a stunning quilt in dark rainbow colors.
Zeridee gave me that really beautiful family heirloom-looking quilt to use as a towel when I showed up at the ambassador’s house.
It was a bad time to remember that. Zeridee was a person with some nonstandard ideas. Like rejecting magic even though she’d been a wizard, putting the entire human internet onto individual tablets for evacuees, or brewing multiple kinds of tea while the island went under.
What if I’m one of those ideas right now?
He saw her step forward to speak to the senator. Servin-ith and Bash-nor turned a moment later. Servin-ith looked delighted. Bash-nor looked like he was trying to smile around a mouthful of ants.
Zeridee opened her mouth, but if she was about to make the proper introduction, the wizard with Alden and Lute was a step ahead of her.
“Isn’t this fortunate, Grand Senator?” he said. “This is Alden Ryeh-b’t who you were talking about with the ambassador earlier! I know him from the Thanksgiving. And his companion is a bestower of word chains. They saw me buying sausages and offered their help.”
Alden bowed, careful with the stack of boxes because what a time this would be to drop his preserved objects. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lute’s pig dipping down at the same time.
“I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself when you were buying puzzle boxes,” Alden said as he rose. “Lute and I were shopping there, too, but we didn’t want to bother you.”
“Well, if you’re <<intruding>> on the Grand Senator’s time now, I’m sure we can overlook—”
“Bash-nor, what are you talking about?” Servin-ith interrupted. “A boy offering to use his skill for our benefit could never be an intrusion. Look, he’s using his magic on our snacks! And if I’m here to meet our Avowed, what better one to spend time with? Hello, Alden. I’m Grand Senator Servin-ith. And Lute, was it? A bestower. For those people. I hope that is going all right for you. It’s good to meet you, too. You boys may call me Servin-ith. I’m so honored to be a guest in your home!”
She had pink eyes and a nose with a delicate blue line tattooed across the bridge. She stepped forward to take a look at the food.
Bash-nor had definitely made an attempt at a dig, but when Alden started explaining the flavor of ketchup and mustard to Servin-ith, he caught a very slight nod from Zeridee. So this must be going the way she wanted so far.
Fortunately, small talk was the only thing that happened for the first few minutes. That gave him time to think more about why he was deliberately courting this woman’s attention. Bash-nor wasn’t throwing a tantrum or anything, but he seemed disgruntled. If he seemed disgruntled to a human who didn’t know him that well, maybe he was very disgruntled. Alden inserting himself here was some kind of negative for the man.
Did Zeridee want me to do this because meeting the senator is good for me in general? Or because it’s bad for Bash-nor? Or because Servin-ith liking me is one more layer of protection from Bash-nor if he ever gets mad at me?
Alden was under the impression, based on what Zeridee had told him previously about the ambassador, that the danger the man presented wasn’t the type that could be completely mitigated by any number of important connections. Alden already had the art’hs, Esh-erdi, and Lind-otta as threatening wizards who’d ask questions if something bad happened to him. But Zeridee had said Bash-nor was prone to pleasurable excesses that impeded his self-control and judgement. People with bad tempers and fragile egos couldn’t be trusted to remember a Grand Senator might get mad at them when they were high on power and party drugs.
What’s it about then? Why doesn’t Zeridee text me?
Maybe she couldn’t. Being able to message humans was part of being an ambassadorial assistant, but because she was working in an official capacity, her System communications could be logged. Bash-nor might be able to access whatever she sent during work hours.
Alden walked along with Servin-ith, holding her food and her lemonade while she bought the rainbow quilt, and he sent his thoughts to Lute since Zeridee seemed to be off the table.
[Listen, the ambassador is petty and vengeful according to other Artonans. I’m not sure why I’m making nice with this senator if it risks annoying him. He’s famous for throwing wild parties. He wishes more Avowed were Rabbits. He’s under the impression that my commendation was some kind of political statement against him by the Quaternary, so he put off telling me about my evac priority and giving me access to my escape flyer. Obviously, he didn’t know we were about to have an evacuation, so he was just being a brat, not trying to kill me or anything. But my evac got complicated and I ended up injured.
Also, he’s not a fan of his assistant and vice versa. Mental text me if you notice anything about this alien social dynamic. I assume us being nice to Servin-ith is all that we ought to do, but I’d like to understand exactly why we’re doing it.]
He glanced over to see Lute’s smile stiffen. He looked at Alden. [Fuck?]
[No, it’s fine!] Alden added a smiley face. [I was just giving you background info.]
Based on Lute’s expression, it was going to take him a minute to process that.
Alden had hoped being introduced to Servin-ith would be a brief experience, but as the food disappeared into wizard mouths and his work as a preserver of snacks became less necessary, she didn’t seem inclined to send him or Lute away.
They walked with the wizards down the row of vendors. Bash-nor was still playing the role of guide, and three times in a row so far, he’d directed them all toward Avowed performers and merchants who he knew. Alden wasn’t sure if Servin-ith liked the ambassador or not. She took his advice, but she talked almost exclusively to Alden and Lute.
About their schooling, about their knowledge of the Artonan language, about how dear and darling and precious they were.
She’s so friendly, but whatever we say seems to go through a filter before it reaches her ears.
Alden realized this after he’d answered Servin-ith’s question about what kinds of things he did as a hero program student with a brief description of the obstacle course. He’d thought the obstacle course was better than a description of duels. More wholesome. Like kids playing a game together. But even though he’d made Tuyet darting him in the foot sound like a funny gotcha from one classmate to another—because it was—Servin-ith had started talking about peace on Earth.
Literally.
Peaceful and prosperous lives for all those under Triplanetary rule was a big thing with her.
Alden was in favor of that, but he got the feeling when he said, “My classmate jumped out from under that mat and poked me in the foot with a dart!” Servin-ith heard a baby lamb crying that another baby lamb had come after it with a chainsaw.
“It was a lot of fun,” Alden insisted. “Tuyet put a small bandage on my foot, and it didn’t hurt.”
Servin-ith sighed. “I must believe you if you say so, but I wouldn’t mind if our human Avowed saved such rough training until you were older.”
Wow. It’s going to be a hell of a mess to explain to everyone if I accidentally get the high school hero programs abolished.
“I really love school. Especially MPE.”
At least he now knew for sure that Zeridee had introduced him to a soft audience. Baby lambs couldn’t be offensive even if they tried.
[Lute: Her weird. Him desperate.]
Alden read Lute’s contribution while Bash-nor recounted a story about how he’d come to know the Water Shaper in front of them who was weaving hot chocolate and wevvi into Christmas shapes before filling peoples’ cups.
[Alden: Desperate?]
Lute looked pointedly from Bash-nor to the Shaper.
[Lute: Only say hello to people who like him. Only.]
Alden thought he should probably have let Lute finger text. Mental texting made him look like he was trying to hold back a sneeze.
[Lute: Stories only about how Avowed him.]
[Lute: Like him.]
[Lute: Admire.]
[Lute: Need.]
[Alden: I get it. You’re saying he’s cultivating the senator’s experience, so that she can’t possibly hear anything but praise for him.]
They were skipping past a lot of neat looking experiences to beeline for the people Bash-nor had a good relationship with.
[Alden: Do you think Zeridee just wanted me to be here as a physical reminder to the senator that Bash-nor isn’t really nice to humans?]
[Lute: Shrug]
[Lute: What think you?]
The wind tickled Alden’s ears. He thought…he would check the theory.
[Alden: Watch the ambassador’s face for me when I say this.]
“Servin-ith, did you like the lemonade? It reminds me of sermuntha juice.”
Servin-ith looked away from the Water Shaper’s work. “You’re familiar with sermuntha juice? Yes! They are similar. And I liked lemonade. Don’t be unhappy that I’m trying something else now. I just want to experience as much of Earth as possible while I’m here.”
“You should try everything you can!” Alden said brightly. Here we go. I can hit the ‘Bash-nor is bad’ button without sounding like that’s the point if… “Hot chocolate might be my favorite. I’ve only had sermuntha juice once. It was after I was injured in the flood. Hn’tyon Esh-erdi brought me a glass of it. I think he was trying to comfort me.”
He deliberately used the word for comfort that Kibby used to describe the behavior of Klee-pak’s parents whenever Klee-pak was crying.
[Lute: Fuck!]
Alden cut his eyes toward him. He looked a little shocked.
[Lute: Ambassador’s face says fuck! No!]
Oh. That’s what he means.
Alden didn’t dare risk a glance at Bash-nor when he was trying to say something about Bash-nor. But Zeridee was over by the wagon, smiling faintly.
Good. I have figured it out. I am here to be a cute child who highlights the fact that Bash-nor spitefully deprived me of my flyer and other safety goodies.
This is not what I was expecting.
Not really the most noble of roles here.
What the heck has made Zeridee shift from “avoid him no matter what” to “be a tiny bit of a menace to him”?
Is this safe?
“I wasn’t going to remind you of that terrible night,” said Servin-ith, holding one hand over her heart. “But I’m grateful to hear you found comfort in a taste of our world. I drank so much sermuntha juice as a student!”
“It was delicious,” said Alden. “And please don’t worry about me. My body is fully healed thanks to Porti-loth. Have you met him? He made me drink a lot of mud. And I’m receiving help from a wonderful mind healer, too. I’m doing very well.”
Bash-nor made a noise. “I’m sure the healer is helping you with your troubles related to a certain wizard’s crimes during your first summoning.”
“Yes,” said Alden, nodding agreeably. “Mostly that. We’ve only talked a little about things like drowning. Servin-ith, have you seen the gingerbread village yet? Lute and I loved it.”
“We did,” said Lute.
[Alden: And everyone working there was a low-rank so I bet they’ve never been to Bash-nor’s Apex parties.]
[Lute: You crazy]
Alden wasn’t sure if that was a question or an answer. Zeridee had flinched a little at the mention of drowning.
[Alden: Hang on. I’m going to send a message to a knight to make sure I’m not crazy. But I think…we might be trying to get Bash-nor fired? If this Grand Senator was sent to Earth, it stands to reason she’s on some kind of committee with a say in how Earth gets handled. And he’s the ambassador. So…]
Lute swallowed.
[Alden: Don’t worry. I’m texting Esh-erdi now.]
[Lute: Elf bingo.]
Alden frowned at him.
[Lute: Elf bingo. Play. Can’t meet ambassador friends if chasing elves.]
[Alden: I’ll consider adding that to our arsenal, but I’m not sure I can actually suggest that a Grand Senator play elf bingo with a straight face.]
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