Echoes of the Reach

[6.2] | Rude Awakenings

    meet at adamant entrance

    bring cloaks for disguise (and lots of pastries) (also for disguise)

    see you soon!!

    (dary says hi)

    Though the note was unsigned, its bubbly, looping red stylus strokes and motley construction of white and green leaves all but confirmed Tangle to be its author. The fact that the sheet had sailed in an avian shape through the toolshed's window also helped, as did the rows of smiling flower heads that adorned the page's margins. While rough and uneven, Talwyn could not deny that they carried a certain endearing appeal in Tangle's scraggly style.

    "Are you sure you're alright?" Kerensa laid a hand on her friend's shoulder and squeezed. Over her other arm, a bundle of suitably ragged cloaks bounced with the rhythm of their steps over Trocari's cobbled, rain-slick walkways. "This little infiltration ploy we're walking into is probably going to be quite stressful. We can always push it back if you need."

    "I'm fine, I promise," Talwyn answered, slipping Tangle's letter into the sack of mango tartlets she clutched to her chest. Emboldened with adventurous twists of ginger and lime, the rich scent alone had set her mouth watering before her coins had landed on the counter. At the bag's neck, Ham had replaced the usual string-tie with a broad, frayed green ribbon, a substitution that sparked sunny joy in the murky, dismal dawn.

    dary says hi. The letter's final words sparked something too, a small hook that snagged Talwyn's curiosity, a tangible thought that was not unpleasant to carry around. 

    Smiling to herself, Talwyn bumped her shoulder against Kerensa's side. "Anyway, I don't think Steele would appreciate us leaving him hanging," she said as they passed by a young human busker that was somewhat less deft with strings than their half-elf bard companion. "He put a lot of work into setting this up for us, after all."

    From the low branches of the stout rubber trees that lined the path, swathes of ragged vines wept drops of warm morning rain, a drizzling curtain between the city's neighbourhoods. Clumps of moss and wet leaves spilled over the cloaks as Kerensa held them aloft against the grey clouds above. "I'm sure he'd get over it quickly enough. He seems like a very understanding individual," she said, keeping close to Talwyn under their shared cloth cover. Veiled in fleeting privacy, a sly smirk sparkled across her dark lips. "You know, I think he might have a thing for me."

    A blend of surprise and incredulity reduced Talwyn's first few words to snatched stammers. "I'm not sure Steele's the type to have a thing for anyone," she answered as cool water trickled past her face, the pattering raindrops joined by the thudding of footsteps and sprinklings of bleary-eyed chatter. Against the gloomy weather, Trocari stirred back to life, yet none of its unwavering energy thrilled like the moment of stolen intimacy she shared with her irreplaceable companion. "You really think he's into you?"

    "I do! Didn't you see how he looked at me during the ritual?" Kerensa relished in a sigh of swelling pride. "He was breathless. He was awestruck."

    "He was terrified, Kerensa."

    "Same difference."

    The snapping of nearby foot traffic forced the lowering of their cloth shroud, swiftly replaced by the shelter of Kerensa's shadow umbrella. Straight ahead, the telltale slate-lined roof of the Adamant Shipping warehouse crested over the docklands' labyrinth of mazy side streets. Dark walls forged from dense stacks of imported metal alloys shrugged off another morning downpour, free from the stains and scratches that tarnished the surrounding sandstone structures. Portholes protected by thick glass slabs at once admitted the little daylight on offer and obscured any glimpse of the rooms they served. Hoisted over the building's main gates, black flags harnessed the wind to display an elaborate, unfamiliar elven-style insignia. From afar, the warehouse stood as calmly and commandingly as its reclusive owner.