Chapter: 196 - Exceptions Aside (Patreon)

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Tala did her best to not fidget as she looked around at the crowd of siblings.

She couldn’t even properly enjoy the spectacular view of the city and surrounding plains that stretched out in every direction. Though, she could see hints of mountains to the east, running northward; the shadows of forests to the far south; and what was likely the sparkle of light off of the ocean to the north-west. They really built the city on a nice rise, and this restaurant is in a great spot.

The views weren’t unobstructed, of course. Other multi-storied structures cut off parts of the vista, but not so much as to obscure those massive features.

Latna cleared her throat. “I have a question.”

Tala brought her attention back to her sister. “Yes?”

“Why did you leave us? Why did you ignore us when we sent you letters?”

Tala felt like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water into her face. Still, she took a moment to collect herself, and with Alat’s help formulated an answer. “I was…very angry with mother and father. I felt used, untrusted, and unloved.” She closed her eyes, feeling the emotions of the last years washing over her. She continued without opening her eyes, not wanting to be distracted by her family before her. “Anything that reminded me of them, of what they’d done, hurt.” She opened her eyes. “That included you.”

Latna frowned but didn’t interrupt.

“It was immature, but I was a child. It was petty, but I was aggrieved.”

Olen leaned back and Tala heard him whisper to Akli, “What does aggrieved mean?”

It was Mita, Akli’s twin, who answered in a similarly quiet whisper. “It means hurt, or wronged. Shhh.”

That caught Tala off guard, even though the words had been so quiet most wouldn’t have heard them.

Use smaller words. This is your family, not teachers sitting in judgment over you.

She hesitated, then let out a long breath. “The long and short of it is this: I had my reasons, but my choice to ignore you all was wrong. I should not have cut myself off from all of you. Will you forgive me?”

Silence rang through the room. In that stillness, they heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

No one wanted to speak in front of the servers, so they waited.

Great timing, Tala…

It took a few moments for the two attendants to reach the room, and they passed out the food and drinks, receiving polite “Thank you”s and other forms of gratitude before they departed once again.

In the returned silence, they all waited until the footsteps had faded, sipping, nibbling, or shifting nervously.

Finally, of all people, Caln spoke up. “You want us to forgive you? To forgive you for the years of broken relationship? We were on your side from day one! We had nothing but sympathy for you and a desire to help.

“Mom and Dad told us everything. They cast themselves as the villains in that tale and rightly so.

“We have been striving for years to help save up to repay the debt laid upon you. We tried to invest the money wisely, expanding the shop and getting a Healer to work with us, among other things. The plan was to have a good chunk ready for you, when you graduated, and have a good foundation so that we could then blast through the debt with our increased capacities.”

He scoffed, shaking his head.

“And what do we get for all our work? All our scrimping? All our sacrifices? You seemingly graduate and vanish. When you finally do show up, the money is tossed back at us like it’s nothing.”

He pointed to Latna.

“She cried much of the night because of you, Tala.” He grimaced. “Mistress Tala.”

He shook his head again, his features becoming a mask of anger once more.

“We have suffered as a family, trying to be ready to lift the burden from you, and it. Means. Nothing. You don’t need us at all. You don’t want us at all. You throw gold around like it’s candy. Why are you even here?”

The silence returned like a struck bell.

Nobody said anything, all eyes remaining fixed on Tala.

Well, all eyes but that of the littlest. Tala hadn’t caught her name.

The small one was staring at Caln for a long moment before standing up and toddling over to where he was sitting on a cushion on the floor. She grabbed his face, shocking the young man out of his glare at Tala. “Wha-?”

“Ookie?”

“What?”

“Ookie!!”

Caln pulled back at the shout, blinking at the loud proclamation. “Cookie?” He glanced down at the plate of cookies he’d gotten along with his drink.

The entire demeanor of the girl changed as she stood up straighter, wiggling her little head in obvious pride. “Ess! Ease!”

The little one then turned to look at Tala.

“Ookie you?”

Tala blinked back. “Do I want a cookie?”

Again, that little one shimmied in obvious happiness. “Ess!”

“I…uh…sure?”

The girl turned back to Caln, then pointed to Tala. “Ookie!!”

That was too much, and everyone burst out laughing.

The laughter wasn’t so much because the girl’s actions were humorous, as how effectively they’d shattered the tension of the moment.

Caln hesitantly stood and walked over to give Tala a cookie. He then looked down. “Are you happy, Sella?”

Sella was glaring at Tala. “Ank, ooo!”

Tala cocked her head, squinting and trying to understand. “Oh! Thank you, Caln.”

Again, little Sella flipped her expression on a copper, beaming once more.

Caln retook his seat, and things quieted down. Everyone was clearly still waiting on Tala’s answer, but much of the horrifying tension was gone.

Tala cleared her throat and then took a small bite of the cookie. It was actually rusting delicious. There was something in them that made them crunch while being warm and moist. No… two things. It wasn’t nuts, or anything silly like that either. I need to buy a few dozen of these…

She was stalling.

She took a sip from her cup and forced herself to not evaluate the tea. Even though it wasn’t nearly as good as what she had in Kit. Tala… Come on.

“I did not intend any of that as a slight.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. Oh, Alat, please help me here? I’m too close to this. I don’t know what to say.

And so, Alat helped her.

“I apologize for the hurt I caused. I chose to go to Bandfast after graduating because there is a larger Caravanner’s Guild Hub there. Also, more personally, I wasn’t ready to face mother and father, or anything that reminded me of them, not yet. As to giving the money back.” She shook her head ruefully. “I would love to keep it. It would help in so many ways, but it will help you all more. I think I can even give some suggestions as to what it could be used for.” She gave a wry chuckle. “But I’m getting ahead of myself. I think it best if I just tell you what I’ve been doing, since I graduated. But, before that: Can you forgive me for my callousness? For not considering you all in my actions? I want to explain everything to you, but I don’t want it to be an excuse.”

Caln sighed. “I am willing to hear you out. I can understand making a mistake, and I forgive you.”

Latina nodded, as did the oldest twins, Mita and Akli.

Illie frowned before she too, sighed. “I want to hear what you have to say. I’ll forgive you, but it will take more than that to repair the harm that you’ve done.”

Nalac turned to his twin sister, shaking his head. “Stop pretending you’re a queen.”

Latna cleared her throat. “I think I speak for all of us when I say: We forgive you, but it will take time and effort to rebuild our relationships with you.”

Tala felt a tension ease inside herself, and she smiled. That addressed, she told them the story.

The tale was obviously abridged, and she left out mention of dead woodsmen, founts, Archon stars of any kind, or arcanes… or, well, any of the myriad other things that shouldn’t be told to mundanes or very small children.

As an example, she skimmed over some of the scarier details for the sake of the little ones but did her best to tell it as completely and truthfully as she could…those exceptions aside.

The servers dropped through several times, refilling drinks and bringing more savory foods as the time for lunch came and went. Tala was restrained in her eating, mainly so she could continue her story.

She did pause every once in a while, to allow clarifying questions, but there weren’t too many. Alat was helping her organize the story and structure it in an understandable way.

It was mid-afternoon when she finished up the tale, concluding on her arrival in Marliweather. “And so, I’m here for another day before I have to head back to Bandfast. If you want me back, I can probably get another contract over to here and be back in around two weeks.”

After a short pause, Olen spoke up. “Yeah, we want you back.”

Sella looked at her older brother, held up a new treat over her head, given after a full and healthy lunch, and proudly proclaimed. “Ookie!”

The girl had not focused on Tala’s story, not that Tala had expected her to. Instead, she’d spent the time moving between various siblings and playing with their hands and feet. She’d even sat in Tala’s lap for a bit before moving on.

The other siblings smiled at Sella’s pronouncement before agreeing with Olen, each in their own way ranging from Nalac’s hearty seconding of the sentiment to Caln’s reserved, hesitant nod.

After that, there were a few generic questions about what it was like to be a Mage, which Tala answered as best as she could, but it was starting to get late, and apparently, they’d promised to be back home before dinner to help with the final preparations.

Tala cleared her throat. “Could either Latna or Caln stay behind? I’d like to talk with one or both of you about my suggestion.”

The two shared a look, then Latna shrugged. “I can, sure.”

Nalac cleared his throat. “Can I stay, too? I need to ask you something…”

Tala gave him a searching look, then nodded. “Alright. I’ll need to settle the bill, and talk to Latna, but after that, we can chat.”

Mita cleared her throat. The girl was third oldest of Tala’s siblings, just about a year younger than Caln, only slightly older than her twin. “Will we see you again, this trip?”

“I’ll come back by tomorrow. I’ll spend the day in the park, so if any of you want to drop by, I’ll spend that time with you.”

There were some awkward goodbyes and Caln shepherded them through the process of getting their winter gear back on before trundling down the stairs.

Sella continued her loud cries as they left. “Eye, Ala!”

It didn’t matter how many times Tala said bye in return, the little one continued her calls.

In truth, Tala didn’t mind, though she did feel bad for Akli, who was holding the small girl.

She has quite the lungs.

As the last head disappeared down the stairs, Latna and Nalac moved closer, so that they were sitting at two points of a triangle, completed by Tala.

Latna cocked an eyebrow. “So? What’s this idea?”

“Iron paint. The local Constructionist Guild likely doesn’t have a supplier yet as it’s a relatively new thing. The one in Bandfast buys it by the gallon, though.”

“Iron paint? How would you even make that?”

“The formula is available to any licensed Alchemist through the Archive.”

Latna winced. “Oh Archive access isn’t cheap.” She cocked her head. “Though, we can go to the library, and get a hard copy. How much is the formula?”

“Five gold.”

Latna gaped. “Are you out of your mind? How could we possibly…afford…” She closed her mouth and hesitated. “You want us to spend some of the gold on that.”

“I think so. It’s not that complicated, if I understand the process correctly, and it sells for half a gold per gallon.” She laughed. “I’d buy a few gallons from you, too.”

The younger woman seemed to be doing calculations in her head. “I would need an introduction to the Constructionist Guild. Is there a proof of efficacy?”

Tala returned a crooked smile. “I can have something ready to show.”

-That’s kind of funny, actually. I want to see that.-

Tala hesitated. Oh?

-Yeah. How quickly are they going to smite you when you drop your illusion.-

I’ll give them warning.

-Suit yourself.-

It’ll be fine. I’ll give proper context, then do a slow reveal. It’s not like I’ll walk in, drop my illusion and say, “Buy this stuff. It’s great!”

-Fine, fine.-

Latna was nodding. “That could work. That could work. Why half a gold per gallon?”

Tala shrugged. “That’s what I was charged.”

“So, likely depending on local availability of materials and the like.” She took in a deep breath. “Still, five gold for a formula…”

“It will be a risk, but one that I think will pay off.”

“Can we go tomorrow?”

“To the Constructionists?”

“Yes.”

Tala thought a moment before nodding. “Sure. Just before dinner, so I don’t break my word to the others.”

Latna nodded, pushing to her feet. “All right, then. I’ll see you tomorrow. Are you coming soon, Nalac?” She turned and pulled on her own coat and boots.

“I think so. Let them know where I am. I’ll either be home for dinner, or figure something else out.”

Latna hesitated, then looked to Tala. “Alright, then.”

She finished dressing for the weather outside and moved to the stairs.

She had descended three steps before she paused. “Tala?”

Tala turned to regard her. “Yes, Latna?”

“Thank you for coming back. I wish you had come back sooner, but thank you for coming back.”

Tala just nodded and smiled.

Her sister turned and walked out of view, down the stairs.

“So.” Tala regarded Nalac. “What did you want to ask?”

He was fidgeting with his hands. “Well…You see…” He swallowed, then grabbed  his mug, draining the last of the tea from it.

Tala didn’t interrupt or prod.

“You see, I wanted to be a Mage…to find you.” He said the last in a quiet voice.

Tala felt something twinge in her chest. “Oh, Nalac. I’m here. I’m so sorry. I-”

He was shaking his head. “I know. I know that.” He swallowed again. “Mistress Rin—she’s my pre-magic teacher—said that someone’s motivation for becoming a Mage matters. Mine’s gone!” He hung his head. “Can I even become a Mage anymore?”

Tala blinked in surprise at that. “Do you want to?”

“Yes!...no? I don’t know.” He shook his head.

“Well, that sounds like the heart of it. If you want to be a Mage, you can be. If you don’t? You don’t have to.”

“But this is what I’ve been planning, Illie and me.”

“And now you don’t know what to do.”

“And now I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, how about you talk me through it.”

And so he did.

Tala was able to get the servers to bring them some more food and drink, and then, she just listened.

An hour later, the boy was no closer to a decision, but he seemed lighter, less burdened. “Thank you, Tala.”

She smiled. “I’m happy to listen. Come on. Let’s get you home.”

She settled the bill, receiving seventy-five silver back in change.

Together, she and Nalac walked back towards the family shop in comfortable silence.

As they walked, Tala had a thought. She opened Kit, as she had several times throughout the day to give Terry an out, if he wanted. Just as before, he didn’t come.

“Hey, Terry. You want to come out?”

He squawked back at her in the negative.

She hadn’t asked at other times, but she knew that he’d been able to sense the opening, and could have come out if he’d wanted to. “I want you to meet someone.”

Nalac was giving her an odd look. “Tala?”

“One moment.”

Terry’s half-grumbling trill came from the open pouch, then he flickered to her shoulder, giving her a squint-eyed glare.

Nalac gasped.

Terry, obviously hearing the sound, leaned out, sideways, to look across Tala and at her brother.

“What is that?”

Tala smiled. “This is Terry. He’s a he, not a ‘that,’ and he’s a terror bird.”

Terry flickered to stand on Nalac’s shoulder.

The boy felt the pressure and turned slowly to look at his new passenger.

Terry stared back into the boy’s eyes from only a few inches away.

“Terry. This is my brother. Be nice, please. He’s just a boy.”

Terry broke eye contact with Nalac, and glanced at Tala. He squawked once, then hunkered down on her brother’s shoulder.

Nalac was still frozen, almost unmoving as he watched the bird. “Tala?”

“Yes.”

“What do I do?”

“Here, feed him this.” Tala pulled out some jerky, but it vanished from her hand before she could pass it to her brother. “Stop that, Terry. I’m trying to let him give it to you.”

The next piece vanished as well.

“If you do that again, I won’t get out any more.”

Terry opened one eye, rolled it, closed it, then let out a long-suffering, basso trill.

Nalac jumped. “How did he do that? That was so deep?” He chuckled a bit. “It actually kinda tickled.”

Terry’s eye opened again, and he trilled another low note.

Nalac giggled. “Stop that. You’re making my whole chest vibrate.”

Tala slipped her brother some jerky, and when Terry opened his beak again, Nalac stuck the treat in, before Terry could make any more sound.

The bird narrowed his gaze at the boy, then slowly pulled the jerky into his mouth.

“You’re a funny little thing. Terry was it.”

Terry glanced at Tala, swallowed the jerky, then jabbered a long series of ascending and descending squawks and trills.

Nalac laughed again, reaching up to stroke the bird. “You’re trying to talk?”

Terry stopped, then huffed.

Tala cleared his throat. “He was talking. Just because we didn’t understand him, doesn’t mean he’s not speaking.”

Nalac gave a slow nod, clearing thinking the whole situation was a bit…odd. “All right, then. I’m sorry for interrupting, Terry.”

Terry huffed, then went right back to jabbering away as the siblings turned and finished their trek to the shop.

When they reached the doors, Tala bid her brother goodnight, tossed a bit of jerky for Terry and smiled as his weight flickered into being on her shoulder.

Nalac waved as he pushed open the door. “Goodnight, Tala. Goodnight, Terry. Good to meet you!”

Latna’s voice came from inside. “Terry? Who’s Terry.”

Tala grinned as she turned and headed towards the Constructionist Guild.

If I’m going to introduce Latna, I should at least meet them myself, first.

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