Side A – Yasgrid
Despite having traveled lighter than she could imagine for months, and the fact that the trip to Frost Harbor was going to be shorter than a walk between Gray Falls and Gray Rift, getting ready to go still took the better part of a day, and Yasgrid was not particularly fussed about that.
“Do you know where you’ll be going next?” Yasgrid asked, as she brought the freshly boiled water over to the makeshift table which the Stoneling Innkeeper had cobbled together for their unexpected Elven guests.
“I have a number of appointments in Fallglen, Pine Walk, and Blue Falls,” Naosha said, pouring the water over a mix of Stoneling tea leaves Yasgrid had procured for her the day before.
“So back to the Darkwood?” Kyra asked, accepting the first cup Naosha offered.
“That is where I am supposed to be,” Naosha said, as a curious little smile graced her lips. “Right at the moment in fact.”
“I can’t help but notice that we are very much not in the Darkwood,” Yasgrid said, accepting the next cup Naosha poured.
“We are not,” Naosha agreed.
“I take it those appointments are not important ones?” Kyra asked, blowing on her tea to cool it off.
“That would be a matter of perspective,” Naosha said. “There are discussions to be mediated as to the future of commerce, trade, and other relations between our peoples. We have the mixed fortunes that both the Stoneling and Elven cultures seem to eschew a singular central authority the likes of the Humans or the Aviandors prefer, so all discussions must involve a plurality and are unlikely to resolve into a single binding agreement for all. At least not right away.”
“It’s hard to imagine any one or two people making decisions for us all,” Kyra said.
“There have been Stonelings who got that idea into their head, Mayors who felt like they needed to be ‘Grand Mayor’ or Council members who were fed up with the rest of their council. It hasn’t gone well for any of them though.”
“The other mayors and council members put up fight I imagine?” Kyra said.
“More that the people they were governing did,” Yasgrid said. “I think as a general rule, Stonelings are fine with organizing into groups and appointing someone as leader of the group. It’s more efficient and saves on a lot of general squabbling. Giving power to someone is a lot different from them taking it though. That’s what our gods tried to do and I think ‘disagreeing’ with someone seizing unoffered power wound up baked into our bones as a result.”
“The Elves did not have a unifying struggle of the same caliber. I believe the Troubles served a similar function however,” Naosha said, sipping her own cup at last. Her eyes fluttered wide in evident surprise, but the swiftness with which she took another sip dispelled any notion that the surprise had been unpleasant or unwelcome.
“I suppose they would have,” Kyra said. “At least for the ones the Fate Dancers didn’t get to first. The Dancers believed rather strongly in prevention as the preferential treatment for Troubles.”
“That sounds like a potentially extreme solution?” Yasgrid asked, fully aware of how her biases were directing her thoughts.
“As extreme as the leaders thought they needed to be,” Kyra confirmed.
“Those leaders will thankfully not be part of any of the appointments I mentioned, which allows me a more interesting pursuit,” Naosha said.
“What did you have in mind?” Kyra asked.
“I thought I might travel with you, if you would not mind the company?”
Side B – Nia
Leaving wasn’t any easier for Nia than it had been for Yasgrid, but where Yasgrid was largely responsible for her own delay, Nia was beginning to suspect that everyone and everything in Gray Falls was united in their desire to prevent her departure.
“And you are sure you do not want to bring a drum with you?” Horgi asked.
“It does sound like these Fate Dancers could be dangerous after all,” Grash said. “Didn’t one of them stab, uh, it still feels weird calling her Yasgrid, but your other half there.”
“One of them did in fact stab Yasgrid, and Yasgrid is now dating that one,” Nia said. “As I already have a romantic companion, I shall not be requiring any of those services from a Fate Dancer, or any other Elf for that matter.”
“Or any other Stoneling?” Margrada asked, clearly teasing but Nia could tell there was a wrong option lurking in the space of possible answers.
“If any Stonelings should make such an advance, I encourage you to stab them and see if they would make serve as an upgrade to my own humble offerings,” Nia said, turning from packing her travel sack to sketch a bow towards her fiance.
“You’re not getting rid of me that easy,” Margrada said, without turning from her own packing.
“Well, she kind of is, isn’t she?” Horgi asked.
“We mean, you’re still going to Frost Harbor and she’s going to the woods, right?” Grash said.
“That is the plan,” Nia said. “She is abandoning me, but only for the best of reasons.”
“I need to warm my grandmother up to the notion that I’m marrying a Kaersbean,” Margrada said. “She’s going to think I’ve lost my mind.”
“Wouldn’t you want Nia there to prove you haven’t?” Horgi asked.
“Horgi, my buddy, my friend, my pal, you’ve met me. Do you really think my being there would move the needle towards convincing my impending in-law that Mar has not lost her mind? Or would I open my mouth and within the first ten words convince everyone that Margrada had?” Nia asked.
“Ouch. True, but ouch,” Grash said.
“I am not entirely lacking in self-awareness,” Nia said. “Also, I figure in this particular case there’s a lot more to take in what with the whole ‘looks like a Stoneling, grew up an Elf, bonded to the person whose body I’ve more or less claimed as my own’.”
“I’m kind of planning to ease Gram into that,” Margrada said. “Maybe on our tenth anniversary we can mention it?”
“I’d be a little worried she’d find out sooner on her own, but I am more than willing to play things however you’d like,” Nia said, a stab of concern going through her at what her reception might be like when she finally did meet Margrada’s grandmother.
“Ahh, don’t worry about old Karsda,” Osdora said, barging in to the room like she was as welcome as she actually was. “Just tell her I’m heading to the Darkwood too and she’ll be so happy she won’t have the heart to give you any trouble at all.”