Lira led us through the winding streets and pointed out her favorite shops.
A metalsmith who specialized in a sort of thin copper cable that she called filament, an artificer who sold made-to-order magickal devices, and clothier whose store was filled with beautiful dresses and gowns.
Hailey and I exchanged looks, eyeing Lira's messy top and the pristine shop stock.
"The owner makes these work shirts for the Knights, since I go through so many of them a month I get a great discount! He's a really wonderful guy."
After translating for Hailey she let out a 'oooooh', and we both shook our heads.
Rias had made fast friends with our city guide. They both shared an interest in artificing and bonded once we'd hit the metalsmith's store. Lira made her astonishment at Rias' fluent elvish very obvious.
I wondered how she would take it if I flipped my auto-translate over and started speaking it as well.
We made our way in three pairs; Rias and Lira leading the way, Hailey and I ogling at all the stores, and lastly Julius was being dragged along into all manner of shops by Mei.
Lira took us down a tight alleyway while shouting back at us not to worry—which, of course, made me worry. But once we'd managed to squeeze through I was awestruck.
The cityscape had transformed from a flat plane of streets and buildings to having a new dimension; this district ran next to a wide river.
Staircases and walkways spanned the upper and lower sections. Down along the waterside were more shops and restaurants, bustling with activity.
"Oh wow."
"Airis! Come look at these, they're so cute!"
Rias called down the street from the front of a store window.
I hurried after her, and was surprised at the merchandise being shown in the window. Some of the items on display were way too revealing, they were worn by full-size mannequins and left little to the imagination.
"Are these… underwear?"
"No way! Look at the sign, silly!"
I panned my eyes around the storefront looking for the sign she was talking about, finally spotting a small handwritten placard near the bottom. It was colorfully decorated and had cutesy doodles of the outfits on each end.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
☆ STARCREST BATHING-WEAR ☆
Magickal enhanced wear at magickal prices!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Bath wear? They hardly cover anything… why would you even need any kind of clothing while bathing?"
"I don't know, but they're super pretty. Look at those ones!"
Rias pointed at a pair of shorts that were… very short.
"Those frilly ones look kind of cool."
Hailey had sneaked up behind us, and directed my look to a set that was lined with a beautiful lace that was sewn to give it a loud embellished look.
"What're you ladies looking at so intently over here—Oh by the Celestials, what is this place!?"
Julius found his way to us, and was taken slightly aback at the racks of revealing clothing on display.
Mei was following behind and immediately ditched him to come ogle the window with us.
"Oooo! Swim suits! That's a great idea. You'll probably need a pair if you're gonna spend time in the city. Come on, let's go in!"
The four of us went in to the bathing shop, leaving Julius outside with Lira—who declined to accompany us.
According to Mei, the Aestori practiced communal bathing, so the need for some clothing while bathing was necessary if you didn't want to show yourself off to the world.
After we'd all found our desired bathing suits we continued our tour of the city.
"We're here!"
Lira's exuberant cry stopped our party in its tracks.
We entered a wide open glade with a single complex near the center. A thirty-foot tall rotunda with a large annex tower behind it, the whole place was double the size of the manor in Tolin
It was elegantly designed, the walls were covered by ornamental pillars that stretched to the building's midpoint. A flared ring of arches sat atop the pillars, creating a band around the structure at the twenty-foot mark.
The upper floor opened out to that banded balcony, with metal railing that allowed for a full view around the building. Above the overlook was another ring of arches that supported a red-stone dome.
Three massive aspen trees flanked the sides and rear. They were taller and more dense than the other trees around the city.
Maybe another case of things being imbued with magick?
"This place is great. They have a natural hot spring and the staff is super friendly—buuut let me head inside first so we don't confuse anyone. Uhm, Rias can you let the others know to hang out here for a bit, thanks!"
Lira headed inside, leaving Hailey to look at us with confusion when we didn't follow after.
"She'll be right back."
"She's just gonna be a minute."
"She'll be back."
Rias, Mei, and I clamored at the same time.
"Hey, Airis. While we've got a minute. Can I borrow you?"
Julius called me over, and we walked to one of the big aspens away from our party.
"Somethings got you worried?"
"Our situation has changed is all. I wanted to get your feelings before I did anything too brash."
"Changed how?"
Julius didn't take a second to think about it, he just pressed on as if he'd been waiting for this exact question.
"I mean that like you, I thought we were going to a village. Maybe we'd find a hundred or so elves, and convince them to come with us back to Tolin. This…"
"Yeah. This wasn't even a possibility in my mind either. But what's your new concerns? Too many people?"
"I get they've reached out as allies, what with sending us envoys and all. I just can't shake this feeling that something is off. The big show of force at the gate really set me down a spiral of overthinking."
"Aisling seemed to think it was odd too. She mentioned something about not seeing the garrison outside in that size in a long time. It's possible some string got crossed the wrong way when Arden reported in."
"He concerns me too. It seemed too convenient that he happened upon us when he did. I don't believe a one-man patrol would be dispatched to look into strange magicka."
"You're sure you just don't like the guy because he seems close to Mei? Oh, that reminds me. Have you talked to her about him calling her Meiko yet? Maybe you should try calling her that, just to see what kind of reaction you'd get?"
"I—She—Airis! Come on. I'm being serious here."
"Everything has been a little weird. But not so much so that I'm worried about any ulterior motives."
"Okay. I won't press it any further for now then."
"Your concern is noted, Commander Adaemus."
I gave him a disarming wink and nudged his side with my arm. We returned to the group just before Lira came out, motioning for us to head in after her.
"Welcome to Triple Monarch Springs!"
A dozen well dressed elves greeted us, bowing their heads. In the center was a man wearing a deep-necked six-button jacket. I assumed maybe he was the owner or at least a manager as his outfit was way fancier and intricate than the others.
"Please, follow me to your rooms."
He led us up a flight of spiraling stairs to the second floor. The floor split into two halls, with rooms down each side. Each of us got our own room starting with Mei, then Julius, Rias, Hailey, and finally mine.
Hailey giggled to herself when we got to the last room, which was the most luxurious of the four we had seen.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh nothing, just thinking how we can use my room as a storage room or something. There's no way I'm letting you have this palace all to yourself."
Our host bowed, and faced Mei.
"Esteemed guests, If there is anything at all you need, please do not hesitate to ask. Someone will always be available at the desk below."
I tapped the man on the shoulder before he could walk away.
"Excuse me, I have just one question. Would you happen to know how we might get in touch with the gate to let them know to bring our things here?"
He looked at me with a puzzled look, but turned back to Mei.
"I apologize, it has been quite some time since I've practiced the Empire's language… Would it be possible for you to intermediate for me?"
» PROCESS SUCCESSFUL: AUTO-TRANSLATION ENABLED
» ALTAERIAN TO IỌ-TON'IC
"That won't be necessary. My apologies, I shouldn't have assumed you would have been fluent in a language you haven't heard in decades."
As I started to speak to him in his own tongue, he whipped around with a look of bewilderment twice that as before.
"Oh my! I must apologize again! I was not told any of the human party had spoke Iọ-Ton'ic."
"Please, don't worry about it. I had just one question. We left our things at the gate, is there a way for us to let them know to deliver them here?"
"Of course, Your Grace. I believe the woman in… contaminated, clothing has already contacted the provisional government to arrange your belongings."
"Oh, perfect. Speaking of which… where did Lira disappear to?"
"I believe she retired to the Knight's garrison. She said she would be returning here in a few hours. While you wait for her, might I suggest spending some time in our hot springs?"
-✵-
"I could really get used to this… ahhh"
I let out a sigh of relief as a stretched my limbs in the warm spring water. I felt a little awkward after changing into my new swim suit, but it wasn't too uncomfortable.
The pitter-patter of bare feet on wet tile followed by a splash announced the arrival of my sister as she dove in near me.
"Oh this feels fantastic!"
"Think we could convert the baths in Tolin? It can't be too complicated—Rias, do you think you could make a hot water spring with magi-tools?"
"Hmmm. I think so. If I wired a conflagrator to an aqualation-faucet… I could maybe cycle the water through a—"
"We're in the middle of a war, and you two are seriously discussing building a spa?"
Mei sat at the edge of the soaking pool, gently dipping one leg down into the water.
I smirked at her.
"It's the little things, Mei. What are we fighting for, if not for the freedom to have our own hot springs in peace?"
"I'm ready!"
The side doors into the changing room swung open and out ran Hailey.
Her ruby hair cascaded wildly over her bare shoulders, tumbling down her back. She was wearing the newly bought bathing suit she'd been eyeing earlier, a rose-pink two-piece with frilly lace trim.
"Whoa, so pretty."
I clapped a hand to my face as I let my thoughts spill out of my mouth.
Rias and Mei instantly started giggling at me.
"You're looking pretty cute yourself, Airis."
"Oh by the Celestials, I'm sorry for just spurting that out."
Mei's sly grin, eerily identical to Julius', teased me. "Hey, you're the Empress. You can say whatever you want, around whoever you want."
"Speaking of saying what you want, what're your thoughts about our trip so far, Mei?"
"How do you mean?"
"Well, you were just here not too long ago, right? Does anything seem off to you since our arrival?"
"I see Julius has gotten in your head as well."
"Haha! I'll take it that he's expressed his concerns with you then."
"He has. And I hate to admit it but I have some of the same feelings of unease he does. The scene at the gate was the first thing I thought was weird."
"That was the first thing?"
"Mhmm. Wait, is there something before then that was weird to you?"
"Oh, uhm. No. Well… I dunno, the sudden appearance of Arden and his reason for being there seemed suspect."
"I know I may have gone off at him and all, but he's a good guy! We've known each other forever. I really don't think there's anything to worry about him—wait, did Julius mention something?"
"No, no." I waved my hands frantically, "Nothing like that. I just thought it was strange for a one-person team to be dispatched out, ya' know? We don't send out a scouting party unless it's a full seven people."
"Oh."
"Pretend I never mentioned it. You said the incident at the gate seemed weird, how come?"
"That's because not only had Arden had gone ahead already, but they should have been notified of our arrival by the Tribunal. They wouldn't have known exactly when we would arrive, but the senior ranking officers would have known to expect us eventually."
A splash of water hit the back of my head. I turned around to find Hailey pouting behind me.
"You two workaholics are killing the mood. Just relax for a night." Hailey wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tight. "Besides. I don't get to see Airis look this cute very often! I wanna savor this while I can! Hehe."