"So, what happened?"
Lacuna sat cross-legged on one side of the bed, hugging a pillow. Aureum sat on the other, making a hideous face.
It seems she could not so easily evade Lacuna's curiosity this morning as she did last night. It had not been immediate, but the other young woman radiated the need to know.
"If it's not too much trouble," Lacuna said.
It was Lacuna, so that need didn't come before anyone else's needs, of course. That concern pushed Aureum more than any prodding would have.
"I just don't know where to begin? It's a lot."
Apparently, I was nearly murdered, no. Assassinated! But the assassin felt bad? So he didn't kill me? And the only reason I know any of this is because he came clean? But how much do I trust him? AH!
Oh yeah, the assassin? It's Mendax.
You know him.
"What's the easiest part to begin with?" Lacuna said.
"Well, Mendax lied to me," Aureum said.
"What, did he have a hidden wife?"
"No! Why would you even think that?"
"I've heard stories about things happening like that. Men getting with women when they're married. It's the worst thing I could imagine. You looked terrible last night."
"I don't know much about his romantic life, but a hidden wife seems unlikely. Well, actually, it might be possible at this point."
She tried to plan out what she would say next, but the words just wouldn't come.
Usually, she spoke whatever was on her mind, but she didn't want to talk about this.
"He tried to kill me," Aureum said.
So she fumbled. Aureum wasn't one for holding her tongue when she could just say the worst thing possible.
"WHAT?!"
Whatever Lacuna had expected, it was not that.
"Not now! Apparently, he was told to do it earlier, and he didn't go through with it."
"EXCUSE ME?"
"Yeah, I wasn't focused on his explanation, and I don't think he was that forthcoming. Anyways, it doesn't make alotta sense to me either."
It still made her feel sick, but she pushed through it. She leaned forward as she spoke.
"So, if Mendax shows up before you or Sitis, maybe don't treat him as a friend. That sounds awful. Um. Be aware that he works, or at least used to work, for the Lord Nix, as some kind of… assassin, I guess."
Lacuna looked at Aureum intently. Aureum swallowed.
Is she going to tell me I'm insane? Or silly?
Lacuna sat back, thinking about it.
Should I just call it a joke? No, I can't muddy the warning.
Mendax was probably not out to kill Lacuna or Sitis. But probably wasn't good enough for Mendax now.
Lacuna looked past Aureum.
"He just isn't the type for it," she said.
"What? So now his lies are messing with your head, too?" Aureum said. "Don't trust him."
Lacuna shook her head and fiddled with the blanket as she spoke.
"His face makes him too easy to remember. He feels too emotional to be an assassin. Or a killer, really?"
"Mendax? Emotional? I guess if Sitis is what you're comparing him to."
"No, I'm not thinking about Sitis right now. Though he's a much pleasanter thought. I mean it. Mendax doesn't suit the methods of a cold killer. I thought he was more of a scammer."
"And what makes you an expert?" Aureum tried to soften the question with her next words. "I've seen him kill someone. Very casually! Are there a lot of those types in Bonumbas?"
Lacuna paused.
"My mentor, Mors, told me about such things. I think you can trust his judgement. But I might be applying it wrong."
"Right. I almost forgot about your mentor. Do you think he'd protect you if anything went down here? In the worst case, I doubt Mendax will do anything that serious."
Lacuna looked at her with narrowed eyes. Aureum looked away. She hadn't meant to defend Mendax, only to avoid the fear that Lacuna might feel. Saying that felt like an excuse, so she didn't.
"I don't know," Lacuna said. "Or rather, I know he'd protect me, but I don't know what he'd do with my family. Sitis would probably be given a task to do in return, at least."
"Oh… he doesn't sound very nice."
"He was always kind to me. But no, Mors isn't very nice. I wouldn't want to, but I could if I needed to. But he sent me away, and I think it was for a reason."
"All riiiiight," Aureum said.
"Shouldn't we get back to the matter at hand? Mendax. What did he tell you?"
"Not much, he did offer to tell me more, but. Hey, don't judge me! I'm not sticking around when somebody says they tried to kill me, or were commanded to or whatever, and I think that's the wise move!"
"Heh. You're not wrong. Can you give me the basics?"
Aureum hugged herself. She did not want to, but she could.
"He told me he had tried to kill, no, he had been told to try and kill me. I… I don't know if he ever actually said he tried it."
"That's a good sign," Lacuna said. "Ignore me. Where was this?"
"I'm not certain if I want to remember it in detail," Aureum said. "Is that fine?"
"That's alright. Can you tell me if he told you anything else?"
"He told me to be aware that I had caught Lord Nix's eye—
Aureum cut herself off and shivered throughout her body. She gripped her wrist.
"We can talk about something else, Aureum," Lacuna said. "It's not worth it if you feel bad."
"I just don't get it! What did I even do to catch his attention? I was engaged and I broke it off, yes, but it wasn't even official yet! Hardly anybody knows! Doesn't he have tyrannical duties he needs to get going with?!"
She wanted to cry. Actually, her eyes were already blurring.
"I thought I had gotten away. I thought everything would be good now. I thought…"
Her lip trembled. Lacuna pulled her into a hug, which Aureum stupidly tried to fight off.
"I'm fine!"
"You're obviously not," Lacuna said, softly. "Is it Lord Nix that you're trying to get away from?"
She won the fight, and Aureum was hugged. Aureum felt guilty and ugly as her few tears dried.
"You don't have to keep caring for me. I won't be around to return anything for you. I'm leaving with Spesavia soon, so. I'll be safe, Lacuna. Don't worry."
"I will worry. You told me to be stubborn about what I want. So I will."
"Seriously? What good does it even do?"
"You'll send me letters, of course."
"I can't say no right now, can I?" Aureum said.
They pulled away as Aureum wiped her eyes. She still felt like she was close to shattering, but she could hold it together a while longer.
"I hate to ask you for anything more," Aureum said, "but can I ask you to come back to the inn with me?"
"What for?" Lacuna said. "It might be better to leave it alone. You have your spear and cloak here."
"There's a lot of money," Aureum said.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
She'd kept the stone for writing to Vitreum on her, too. The money would be nice to have, but maybe it wasn't important.
They sat in contemplation.
"Was it a lot of money?" Lacuna asked.
"Nearly everything I'm worth."
More thinking.
"…Yeah, we can go."
"Thank you. If we see anything suspicious, we can leave immediately."
It wasn't an immediate thing. They had to have breakfast and speak with Lilium and Fibra a little. It was surprisingly painless. Neither seemed like a morning person. The conversation only got a little bit past the polite pleasantries and the weather.
Watching Fibra carve a different animal, with the newly finished fox behind him, was much more engaging. Though the fox was bare wood still, without any stain. Radix was absent, probably still asleep.
As Aureum got ready back in Lacuna's room, she noticed the flower on her spear. She'd gotten so used to it, she'd become blind to it. The highlight of the ribbon catching light had pulled it back into her eyes.
She ripped it off and threw it out the window. It fluttered down slowly.
Then, Lacuna and Aureum left.
"Are you going to stay at the inn if nothing is wrong?" Lacuna asked.
"No way!"
"Then you can stay with us, if you need to," Lacuna said.
"No, I know not to overstay my welcome," Aureum said. "I got a bit rude with your mother yesterday."
"Oh, so that's why she acted like that at dinner. But—
"I'll be fine. I'll go to a different inn, or just get my tent out… though I might have to borrow a different one if we can't get mine."
"I won't need mine anytime soon."
"Maybe wait until I know we need it first before you offer it," Aureum said.
Off, everything still felt off, but the scenery was the same.
They walked by a group of young men joking around loudly. Some streets of Fluentem looked so old. A few might literally be from the time Aeternitus hadn't been split into city-states, but the seat of a kingdom that stretched across seas. It was easy to pass over, but even a casual glance stripped away the daily scenery that had trodden across these stones countless times before. There were slopes in stone where footsteps and water had cut through what had been an edge.
"Aren't you afraid of being taken advantage of?" Aureum said.
"No? I'm more afraid of regrets," Lacuna said.
"Regrets?"
Lacuna nodded as she took a careful step to cross the road.
"What's the point of keeping a dry tent until moths eat it when you might get rained on? If I give it to you, then I don't feel bad later."
"What if Sitis asks you on an adventure?"
Lacuna laughed.
"Hah! He's stuck studying now. After that, I guess we can find a new tent. Or use his. No big deal."
She shrugged.
"It makes sense when you say that," Aureum said.
A bit of quiet passed by, but Aureum was too nervous to take the walk in silence.
"Have you ever thought about going to Viadelux?"
Lacuna shook her head.
"There's nothing there for me," she said.
The girl who could talk for hours about other people gave one sentence for herself.
"Why not?"
"I could do it," Lacuna said. "They'd probably be happy to have a student of such a rare pearl element, even if I hadn't been trained by an ascended sorcerer. But I don't want to learn to fight, and I don't want to study about mana either."
"Just like that? That easy?"
This other perspective was drawing Aureum in. She wanted to know more. She wanted to forget.
"It's not easy. I've seen some of the things people use mana and pearls for. We have so many kinds of amulets that can protect lives, but the warriors of Bonumbas only had what they could make themselves, because the prices were too steep. I don't want to be a part of that."
Lacuna kept it short, or tried to.
"Couldn't you study to make cheaper amulets?" Aureum asked.
Lacuna looked at her.
"Do you know why amulets are so expensive?"
"No," Aureum said.
"They're trade secrets. The amount and kinds of mana are mixed and structured inside until it creates a desired result. It's not the price of materials. The scarcity is because every useful amulet diagram is hoarded by its maker and its progeny afterwards."
Aureum grinned. This wasn't surprising. This was the way of the world.
"So make better amulets and give them away," Aureum said.
Lacuna rolled her eyes.
"So just be a genius," she said. "Simple. Even if I could make miracles, they'd kill me for cutting into their business."
"So kill them," Aureum said.
"I can't do that," Lacuna said.
"Why not?"
Lacuna sighed.
"Will you come visit us after you go?" She changed the topic.
"I don't know," Aureum said. "If I can, surely. But you might have time to meet me before I can meet you."
With a turn, the inn's plain sign came into view. Both stopped and stared in silence for a while. Aureum halted with fear, but Lacuna watched, both Aureum and the inn with concern.
"It doesn't look off," Lacuna said.
"I know," Aureum said.
They entered and found everything calm. The man behind the counter, the owner, whom Aureum should have known by name by now but didn't, was as chipper as every day. Aureum went upstairs as Lacuna nodded at him. Instead of going to her room, she went to Mendax's.
It was locked.
She looked back at Lacuna.
"Did he lock your room?"
"No, this is his."
"What are we doing here then?!"
Aureum shook the door handle one more time.
"I can ask if he left?" Lacuna said. "Let's get what we need from your room first."
Aureum entered her room. Everything was fine. Everything looked fine. There didn't seem to be any obvious rummaging going on. She grabbed her things and turned.
She narrowed her eyes. Lacuna froze, but didn't see what was wrong.
There was the bag that hadn't ended up being used for getting her cloak. Then another bag, a new bag, with a note folded underneath it.
"The money your father gave me for a job I never did. Mendax."
Aureum opened and read the note aloud.