flexibility

[calescent]

They leave Thiyec, cross Soche-Tas, and re-enter Welce.

Kiri sends a letter Jayce's way as soon as they stop in a Welchin town. It's brief - we found the Lalindar prime, we'll drop him off and my next stop is the palace so please forward my correspondence there.

The Lalindar house, on inspection, appears to be completely empty. There's a note from the butler on the dining room table stating - in appropriately formal language - that no one was paying them and so they have left, but he, the cook, the gardeners, and the maids may be contacted at the following addresses respectively if the new prime, when located, wishes to re-employ their services. Unlike the Ardelay house at the time of Elytte's death, this house as of Nerine's death contains no extended family. There's nothing to do but for Loel to move in. Kiri draws him a little map of the route between the estate and the nearest town, where he will probably want to buy groceries, and she and Aleko leave to let him plan his moat.

They're at the palace the following day.

Comments

[calendarofcrime]

"It would be somewhat more difficult to do it accidentally," she says. "But yes. People are very dependent on air."

[calescent]

"Anyway. Your credentials have been established and we know what things to pack for when - anything else?"

[calendarofcrime]

"No," says Sarelle. "I will meet you here tomorrow to guide you to the ship."

[calescent]

"We'll be here."

[calendarofcrime]

She smiles briefly and steps out.





The next day, as promised, there she is. In plenty of time to lead them to an afternoon departure.

[calescent]

The twins are packed.

[liakoura]

Although Aleko absconded from lunch with a small cake and is still nibbling on it.

[calendarofcrime]

"Hello," she says. (She is carrying a single bag, which looks to have been packed precisely to its limit.) "Shall we go?"

[liakoura]

"Mmmmffsureyeah," says Aleko, completing the process of eliminating the cake from existence.

Off they go. Aleko is carrying both bags.

There is a boat. It smells pleasantly of spices and is cramped and fast. Aleko gets seasick. Kiri plays with trailing ice behind them. She and Aleko spend a lot of time sitting next to each other, not speaking aloud.

Malinqua is, in due course, reached.

[calendarofcrime]

Sarelle thanks the captain as they disembark, and then she takes one look around her and begins confidently leading the Ardelay twins away from the docks.

[liakoura]

"So what kind of agenda are we looking at here?" asks Aleko. "And slow down or Kiri'll fall over."

[calendarofcrime]

"First I am going to check my maps. Then we will find transportation to the town of Narena, which should be two days' travel by horse or carriage inland from here. When we arrive, I am going to search the town for signs of an elementally blessed person in residence. It will be very easy to find them if they are there, or have been in the past week. After that," she shrugs, "I have only to track by scent. Unless I find no trace of them at all, and then I will move on to the next likely town."

[liakoura]

"Oh, by scent, I guess that makes sense. Never heard Auney talking about it. Too busy trying to fly. Don't try to fly, it doesn't end well," he adds helpfully.

[calendarofcrime]

"If I ever try to fly," says Sarelle, "I will choose a method that works."

[calescent]

"Unless Auney discussed the ruled-out methods with you before trying them I'm not sure how you're going to do that. It's really very troublesome that our magic only ever belongs to one person at a time."

[calendarofcrime]

"I will begin from the premise that any method that relies on supporting myself solely by magic is automatically ruled out. Tia is already working on a few ideas."

[calescent]

"Tia being?"

[calendarofcrime]

"My twin sister. Tianetta Stark. She strongly prefers Tia. She is... much more traditionally elay than I am. Although she shares my streak of sweela."

[calescent]

Kiri giggles at the... diplomacy of that description.

[liakoura]

"Our mom and our little brother are both elay," volunteers Aleko. "Her more than him, personality and random blessings and all - hey, what are your blessings? You're not wearing them."

[calendarofcrime]

Sarelle smiles slightly.

"Clarity, vision, talent," she says, "and determination."

[liakoura]

"That is four," says Aleko. "Four is the number of things you just said."

[calendarofcrime]

"Our father was also elay," she explains. "Much like Tia - ravenously intelligent, but forgetful of mundane details. The story goes, as we were told it, that he went out to get our blessings and lost count of how many strangers he had petitioned. When he arrived home and turned out his pockets, he had no idea which ones had been our respective extra draws, and decided to keep them all for lack of a better solution. We are at least very sure that he correctly identified which pocket was for which twin. Hers are innovation, courage, joy, and charm."

[liakoura]

"I guess you don't wear them so people aren't like... 'that is four, four is the number of charms on that necklace' or whatever?"

[calendarofcrime]

"Yes," she says. "Tia doesn't mind, but I find it tedious."