Phynis couldn’t do anything for a long moment, shocked by Opal’s response. Finally she smiled gently, hugging Opal and murmuring, “Cry yourself out if you need to, Opal.”
“I think that you’ve got a bit of the wrong impression about the others in some ways,” Topaz told Phynis, her tone speculative as the two set their books down.
Tilting her head, Phynis considered before asking, “How do you mean?”
“In the case of most of them, I think that what’s going on is a need for stability in part of their lives. I didn’t manage to go to the temple save for the rescue mission, but from everything I’d heard, it was a quiet, peaceful life that most of them had grown used to. To suddenly be torn from that would be quite traumatizing, I imagine,” Topaz explained, her eyebrows knitting slightly. “I also had been on the receiving end of Jared’s personal attention for longer, and he forced me to adapt. He couldn’t spare that much attention for the others. So now they’re clinging to two things. Medaea, whose personal safety is unknown, and to Sistina, who saved all of us from a horrifying fate. I know I’m not a complete exception, mind you.”
“I think I understand. I did something similar, when I decided that I couldn’t trust anyone back in Sifaren,” Phynis murmured, realization dawning on her. “That explains a lot.”
“Maybe so. The others seem to think that you’re getting along with them fairly well. Are you?” Topaz asked, smiling.
“And here I thought I was supposed to be the one asking questions.” Phynis laughed softly, smiling in return as she shrugged. “Well enough, thus far. I’m not sure I know Ruby or Amethyst well enough yet, but I’m just getting to know each of you. Which brings us to you. What do you want to tell me about yourself?”
“Honestly, there isn’t much to tell. I was a normal town girl and particularly loved the faith, enough to join as a simple acolyte. Eventually I was sent to a temple in a larger town where I took my vows as a priestess,” Topaz explained, seeming a bit lost in the memories, and a little sad. “Those were good years. I was so excited when I was chosen to head to the temple, and decided to tend to some of the border towns on my way there. That’s when I was captured and branded.”
“I see. About as simple as my own life in its own way,” Phynis told her happily, then paused, considering a moment before murmuring, “You know, you’re the only person aside from Desa or Sistina that I feel this comfortable talking to.”
“Really? Well, I’ll take that as a good sign,” Topaz replied, grinning. “So, what are you studying?”
“Fire magic. If any Kelvanis soldiers get this far into the dungeon, I want to be able to set them on fire,” Phynis replied, glancing at the books. “It’s going slow. You?”
“I can understand the desire to set them on fire,” Topaz agreed with a giggle. “For myself, I debated for a while, but have taken up lightning magic. Shocking, isn’t it?”
Phynis winced at the pun, complaining, “That… was slightly painful.”
Topaz just grinned more.
The only one of the priestesses Phynis hadn’t gotten to know at this point was Emerald, and she studied the shy priestess as Emerald smoothed her robes pointlessly. Phynis hadn’t seen the other woman meet her gaze once since the priestesses had gotten back from the temple, which made her a little curious.
“I think your robes are smooth, Emerald. How are you?” Phynis asked, smiling at the other woman.
“Um, I’m w-well enough, M-Milady,” Emerald stuttered, glancing up and almost meeting Phynis’ gaze before looking away. “I’m s-sorry. I j-just… don’t know w-what to say.”
“How about you just call me by name? Just call me Phynis,” the dusk elf replied, now a little amused.
“I couldn’t do that!” Emerald quickly protested, shaking her head. “Y-you and Sistina saved me and the others! How could I be so, so… familiar with you?”
“What? Why do you feel that way?” Phynis asked, growing a little worried at Emerald’s reaction. “I didn’t think that either of us were that scary.”
“It isn’t that!” The priestess’ stutter had all but vanished, and she looked up, meeting Phynis’ eyes for barely a moment before blushing bright red and looking down again. “It’s just… just…”
“Just what?” Phynis asked gently.
“I…” Emerald hesitated a moment, then swallowed and spoke nervously. “Sistina saved us. She saved us because of you. If it hadn’t been for you, she never would have saved us. We would still be enslaved.”
“How do you mean? I didn’t do anything, Sistina saved you on her own,” Phynis disagreed politely, frowning to herself.
“Jared came here because of you,” Emerald said, taking a step forward and reaching out to take Phynis’ hand in both of hers, seeming to overcome her nervousness a touch as she looked up. In her eyes, Phynis saw something she hadn’t seen in months. The absolute adoration of someone who looked up to her almost like a hero as the priestess continued. “If you hadn’t been here, he never would have entered the dungeon. We would still be in Westgate, in his possession. If it weren’t for you, we would still be slaves, Milady. I… there’s nothing I can do to repay you for what you’ve done. I don’t know what to do or say.”
“I… I see. That does explain it, though I feel you’re putting a touch too much emphasis on my own presence.” Phynis fought off the blush that tried to stain her cheeks, instead smiling at Emerald and continuing gently. “But even so, I have a simple request. Look me in the eyes and say my name just once.”
“O-okay.” Emerald blushed, looking up with her jewel-like eyes, staring Phynis in the eyes for a moment before the slightly shorter woman breathed out softly, her voice like a caress. “Phynis.”
Phynis couldn’t help but blush, and a moment later, the priestess blushed even brighter red, then turned and ran away, leaving Phynis in the living room alone. Blinking, the former princess murmured softly, “That was… unexpected. I think she’ll be difficult to get to know.”
Still, the look in Emerald’s eyes had been heartening, and Phynis smiled to herself. Even so, she thought she might enjoy Emerald’s company. First, she had to pry her out of her shell, though.
So Phynis headed down the hall where the priestesses were housed. She thought she knew which room belonged to the shy priestess.
Chapter 37
“Isana! It’s wonderful to see you!” Evansly called out, grinning broadly as he saw his wife step out of the carriage.
Isana Dayrest Evansly was a beautiful dusk elf. She was a hair taller than Evansly was, nearly six feet in height, and she had a thin, athletic figure, with slightly darker skin than was typical of most of their people but which caused her waist-length white hair to stand out still more. She stood prim and proper with an icy demeanor, and was wearing a tan traveling dress that fitted closely. Turning to him, she bowed her head and smiled slightly.
“Aric. I am glad to be out of the carriage at last. It was an excessively long trip,” she replied levelly, and when he embraced her, she hugged him back gently. Breaking off the hug after a moment, he gave her a kiss on the cheek before she asked, “You said something about a mansion, did you not?”
“Of course, my dear! That’s it over there,” Evansly assured her, gesturing to the second largest building in Granite Point, a mansion crafted of elegantly planed wood panels and with proper glass windows. It had two floors, and was too large for only two people. Which was fine, as he saw his other servants had arrived as well.
The dozen women and half-dozen men were from Dayrest as well, just like Evansly and Isana herself were. While none of them had been happy to become Evansly’s slaves, they had little option after Kelvanis’ raid, and Evansly preferred people that he knew had the same background as he did. Besides, he’d fantasized about each of the women when growing up at one point or another.
Behind the wagon with the servants and another with all their luggage was the rest of the caravan, and from it poured out the other newcomers. Male and female prostitutes app
roached the brothel, about a quarter of them slaves, while a small group of priests of Tianna were examining the temple, which was unfinished, but the rooms for the priests were habitable. Finally, they also had the staff for the auction house, which would make things look better.
“A bit large for us, is it not? Even with our servants?” Isana asked after a long moment, glancing at the servants and nodding toward the mansion. At her silent instructions, they began to move the wagons toward the building.
“It isn’t just for us. The Adjudicator also intended it to function as the mayor’s mansion for Granite Point. Any visiting officials will also be staying with us,” Evansly explained excitedly, grinning, though it dimmed at his gaffe about Jared. “It’ll give us plenty of room when they aren’t here, though.”
“I suppose that it would at that,” Isana observed, nodding slightly.
“I’ve missed you, Isana,” Evansly murmured, pulling her into a kiss for a moment, and smiling as he looked her in the eyes. “I’m glad that you were finally able to join me up here.”
“And I am glad to see you again, Aric,” Isana told Aric, lying through her teeth as she smiled gently at him.
Isana hated Aric Evansly with a passion that she could hardly believe, even now. It had taken ages for her to get her anger and rage under control, and to give him the impression she’d forgiven him for betraying Dayrest to Kelvanis. He was far laxer with his orders when he believed that she actually cared about him.
She could only hope that one day soon she’d be able to escape with the few remaining people from her father’s city, and that in the process they could deal with Aric permanently. She considered the bastard far worse than any native of Kelvanis that she had met.
But in the meantime, she gave him a hug and feigned her usual reserved affection.
“Well, that’s going to make sure there’s less fights among the soldiers,” Daniel murmured, pausing to look down the street at the new arrivals.
“True. They have been getting somewhat rowdy lately, haven’t they?” Eileen asked, glancing back and frowning. “Though I have to say that I feel bad for those who didn’t have a choice in the matter.”
“I definitely agree with that. But weren’t we going to check out that little shop in the dungeon?” Eric asked, pausing and tapping his foot. “We don’t know how much fruit or vegetables would even be there, or if they’re going to be as good as those apples Martin got.”
“Geez, calm down, Eric,” Daniel replied, smiling. “You’d think that you hadn’t ever gotten a decent apple before.”
“If they’re usually like that, I haven’t,” Eric told him impatiently, frowning slightly. “So I’d like to get going, if you don’t mind.”
“Come on, you two,” Eileen added, giggling. “It isn’t like we can’t take a look later.”
Sayla nodded, and Daniel smiled as he agreed. “Alright, we may as well. At least it isn’t far inside the entrance.”
They headed toward the dungeon, leaving behind the scene of the newcomers settling into town. The entrance was the same as always, but as they entered, they heard a soft scattering of voices from ahead. And Daniel could do nothing but gawk as they saw the door to the storeroom open and at least half a dozen people inside. One was even a cook from the Vine Tankard, which was quite startling since the portly man was nothing like an adventurer.
“No, you can’t have all of the produce. And I’m not going to give you regular shipments.” A tart woman’s voice came from inside the room. Something about the voice seemed familiar to Daniel, but he couldn’t quite place it. “It’s already a right pain in the ass to get even this much produce out here, I’m not going to haul even more along with me. Do I look like an orc?”
“No, no, of course not! I just thought that if you wanted a regular customer to buy produce, I could help out. It’d be wonderful for me, especially through winter,” the cook replied, seeming a little disappointed.
Ilmas’ voice spoke up as Eric sidled into the room, pushing past one of the others already inside. “You know if you happened to be able to get some decent wine, I might be willing to start hauling some of what you want each day as part of it. The one thing we don’t have is the time to properly age wine yet.”
“Hmm. I think I might be able to manage that, as long as we aren’t talking about too much wine,” the cook mused, and it was about that point that Daniel managed to fit into the room.
One section of the room had been turned into a produce stand of sorts, with several fairly small racks that were half-filled with corn, apples, oranges, carrots, potatoes, and a couple of baskets of peas and leeks. They were far better looking than Daniel had expected, but he barely paid attention to them, his mouth opening slightly as he saw the woman behind the stand.
Daniel almost didn’t recognize Sina at first. She was no taller, and nothing about her skin, hair, or face was any different than when he’d last seen her. Well, her hair was a bit longer, actually. The main difference was in her attitude and clothing. She was wearing a blouse and pair of trousers both in a weave of green cloth, each finer than he’d seen her in before. And her eyes and attitude were filled with confidence as she argued with those who were perusing her wares.
“Sina?” Daniel’s voice was soft, and for a long moment it seemed like no one heard him except Sayla, who inhaled abruptly. It was when Sina’s gaze rose and she glanced toward him that she stopped mid-word, and her face lit up with a brilliant smile.
“Daniel!” Sina called out, and darted from behind the stand, pushing past a couple of others. He only barely managed to get his arms up before she leapt into his arms. “You’re safe! I was worried since I hadn’t seen you in ages!”
Behind her, Ilmas looked utterly stunned, then embarrassed. Daniel hugged her, feeling just as stunned and his face coloring as everyone stared at them, and he mumbled, “I… I thought you were dead. When I first saw Ilmas I finally hoped that you were alive, but I wasn’t sure if that was possible. He didn’t tell me, so I just…”
“Ilmas! Why didn’t you tell him I was fine? Or tell me about him, for that matter?” Sina demanded, turning and partially pulling out of Daniel’s arms. Somewhat to his bemusement, she seemed much stronger than he remembered.
“I thought he was one of those guys who tormented you!” Ilmas protested, flushing slightly. “I didn’t want to bring back bad memories, that’s all. I didn’t know that you actually got along with him.”
“I think he has a point there,” Daniel interjected a touch nervously. “We hadn’t exactly been open about our relationship, Sina.”
“Maybe. Still, it’s just a little annoying,” Sina retorted, then turned her gaze to the others. “So, who are these people?”
“I’m Eileen.” Eileen introduced herself immediately, nodding behind Daniel as she added, offering her hand, “That’s Sayla. It’s nice to meet you, Sina.”
Sina finally fully let go and took Eileen’s hand to shake it, while Eric spoke up. “I’m Eric. I was coming to see what fruit you had. Didn’t expect to have a reunion just now.”
“Speaking of which…” one of the other people ventured, the woman looking impatient.
“You can wait a little while so I can catch up with Daniel. I won’t be long,” Sina told her, the elf’s voice growing tart again. Looking at Daniel, she raised an eyebrow.
“Ah, I left the army and joined the Adventurer’s Guild. I believe the full name is the Western Adventurer’s Guild, actually,” Daniel quickly explained. “Eileen, Eric, and Sayla have been training with me while we’ve started delving into the dungeon. It’s a little strange, but I’ve enjoyed it for the most part.”
“I see. Well, be careful. The dungeon doesn’t pull its punches most of the time, and I don’t want you to get eaten by a bear,” Sina chided, looking around the room for a moment. Finally, she sighed and gave Daniel another tight hug, murmuring, “I want to sit here and talk for a bit, but I think I need to help everyone so we can talk properly. Don’t le
ave, alright?”
“That’s fine, Sina. I’m just happy you’re alright. I… I thought you were dead,” Daniel replied softly, returning the hug as tears prickled at his eyes. “After that, anything is fine, as long as you’re alive.”
“Good,” Sina replied, grinning as she stepped away and moved back behind the stand. “Right, no more arguing. I’ve got a few conversations to finish, and I want this done.”
“She’s not what I expected,” Sayla murmured, the other woman looking at Sina with narrowed eyes.
“Actually, she’s a fair bit different than I remember, too,” Daniel admitted. “But then she was a slave, and I was a soldier. Defiance was not encouraged among slaves. She certainly has more life to her now.”
“I can see that,” Eileen replied with a smile, watching Eric impatiently waiting to buy some apples. “Is it good?”
“I think so,” Daniel admitted, letting out a soft sigh as he added, “At least she’s safe.”
“So, what’s it like living in the dungeon?” Eric asked after swallowing a bite from his apple.
“Strangely serene. The innermost caverns are enormous and filled with beautiful gardens, as well as crops and orchards in some cases,” Sina replied, smiling happily as she leaned into Daniel. The others aside from his group had left, and a group of adventurers had hired Ilmas to accompany them on their delve. “The dungeon seems to be mostly concerned with protecting itself from outsiders and slowing down adventurers. She also doesn’t seem to be deliberately out to kill you, which makes me happier, now that I know you’re trying your hand at delving.”
“Why do you call the dungeon ‘she,’ anyway?” Daniel asked, indulging the curiosity that had been irritating him.
“What?” Sina paused, then laughed. “Oh, of course you wouldn’t know! Sorry, I should have realized. The dungeon is a dryad named Sistina. She doesn’t talk much, but she gave me my life back, so I appreciate her a lot.”
Spells of Old (Ancient Dreams Book 2) Page 26