Once everyone had finished eating, I gave the pot to Archie to give to the other staff. He insisted, though, that he’d return the leftovers and that a single bowl would be more than enough.
Sitting in the living room, with the fireplace lit as Crisplet was practising sothing inside the flas, Milo broke the silence.
“Oh, the prince is going to be joining us on our trip up north,” he said.
Hari raised an eyebrow. But Jen sat upright. “Why?” she questioned.
“He’s on a job from the King up north, and he didn’t want to do his trip with guards. Said he’d prefer to go with us,” Milo explained.
Hari just nodded. “Sounds good. Nice kid, that one, and it’ll be nice to have a sparring partner. I’m close to evolving my own skills.”
My attention was piqued at that; sothing I had rarely asked was details on the party’s skills, and I really hoped I could see more. I knew Hari had his sprint, at least two defensive abilities, and a massive power strike, but the others, I knew very little.
“Maybe we’ll get to fight so monsters, too,” I said happily, getting a burst of sparks from Crisplet.
“I don’t know why you’re happy about monsters. You’ll not be fighting them,” Jen said.
“Sure, but Crisplet can, and he gets experience from it, too,” I countered.
Hari frowned. “I’m sure we’ll run into sothing, but we will not look for trouble.”
Liane let out a snort, earning a glare from Hari.
She just raised her hands in the air. “What? We’re travelling with Trev. What do you an, we will not look for trouble? Since when has that stopped us?”
“It’s not been that bad, has it?” I asked, feeling worried.
Milo and Jen just laughed.
It was getting fairly late in the evening when there was a soft knock at the door to the living room, and I was surprised to see Archie again. Usually, they had the late evenings to themselves.
“Sir, I’ve shared the soup with everyone as you requested, and I have co to return the rest to you,” he bowed before pulling out the pot and placing it on the table.
“Everyone enjoyed it imnsely,” Archie smiled.
“Thanks, Archie,” I said, reaching over and storing it.
I’d have liked to convince him to keep it, but I knew a lost cause when I saw one, and there was no way he’d take it. I noticed the pot was still half full as well, so I’m sure everyone was given a very conservative amount of soup.
“Goodnight, sir,” Archie bowed again, leaving the room.
I felt it was a good ti to go to bed myself. I would finally get to see the statue Crisplet and Clifford had been working on.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t kind of nervous. Impulsively, I had put Clifford forward like that, not knowing if he’d ever made large statues, and working with Crisplet can’t have been easy.
The only saving grace was that Luis had alluded to it looking amazing but wouldn’t tell the details.
Then a thought struck , sothing I needed to do.
“Is there a temple to the goddess of fate here in the capital?” I asked.
“Yeah, there’s a temple to all the gods here. Did you want to visit before we leave?” Jen asked.
“Yes, please. I don’t know why I have put it off so long, but it doesn’t feel right not to leave an offering. Anyway, I’m heading to sleep myself. Goodnight!”
***
I had barely made it down the stairs the next morning before the voice of Sylverith ca across the foyer.
“Morning, young Trevor.”
“Morning, Sylverith. Did you want to head off right away today?” I asked.
“That would be handy. I have to go on a quick trip tonight to be back for the dinner,” she smiled.
Nodding, I didn’t need to get Crisplet; he had already left for the day, as he had done for the last couple of weeks, but I was excited.
“Let’s go!” I said happily.
Heading downstairs, I wondered if anyone else was coming with us, but there was no one else around, which surprised . I really expected to see at least Liane want to co and see the statue.
“Is it just us, then?” I asked.
“Yes, dear. Lily will et us there,” Sylverith smiled before walking out the front door, leading the way.
Out front there was a carriage ready to go, but what surprised was it wasn’t my usual one, nor was it a royal one like I would have expected. Instead, what stood there was a dark wood carriage with what appeared to be a green interior with thick green curtains.
“Whose carriage is this?” I asked as we approached.
“Mine, dear. I had it made for , as I’ll be here for a little while,” she said, as her driver opened the door for us.
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Inside, it seed incredibly luxurious, with cushioned seats, and there was even a green trim throughout.
As we rolled, I noted it was considerably smoother than my own carriage as well.
I was confused when we left the upper noble district, rather than heading to the palace where I was expecting to go.
“Sylverith, where are we going?” I said, looking out the window.
“As I ntioned, Lily and I have a gift for you, so we’re going to collect that now, then we’ll head to the palace afterwards.”
I watched as we rolled through the noble district, moving towards where the cafe was, but soon we pulled up outside a small but expensive-looking tailor shop.
“Clothes?” I said mostly to myself. I liked the jacket I had, and I didn’t want to replace it.
Entering the store, I was surprised to not see clothes around the place. Instead, it was just rolls of fabric, with two mannequins off in the corner. A giant mirror dominated the wall.
I was surprised to see a familiar face appear from the back room. Toby, the royal tailor, entered the room.
“Ah, Sylverith and Lord Ashmoon. Welco, welco. Can I get you any refreshnts?” Toby asked.
“No, thank you, Toby. Is Lily here yet?” Sylverith asked.
“Yes, ma’am, she is. She was just inspecting the items one last ti,” Toby bowed.
“Thank you. I shall go and see her. Trevor, dear, wait here a mont,” Sylverith said before heading into the back room where Toby ca from.
“I’m sorry if they caused you any trouble,” I said to Toby.
“Nonsense. It was no trouble at all. I got two more levels from these items,” Toby said with glee.
Judging by the excitent on Toby’s face, especially compared to the last ti I saw him, I guessed that was significant.
I didn’t have ti to ponder it, as Sylverith and Lily both ca out front. In Sylverith’s hands was a small box.
“Here you are. This is a gift from us, and sothing I hope you’ll find very useful,” she said.
Opening the box, I saw a pair of gloves sitting on top. They looked to be made out of leather, and it felt incredibly soft to the touch. The leather was dark, like charcoal, and I could see they were lined with Lily’s fur, as it looked like smoke almost on the inside of the glove.
Placing my hand inside felt strange. It was a cool feeling, and not the fur-like texture I was expecting. Instead, it almost felt like an air pocket between my hands and the glove, but moving it and clenching my fist, it didn’t feel like I lost any dexterity with my fingers.
Pulling out the next item, I saw it was a more traditional piece of armour. I looked over the leather cuisse, noticing there were scales sewn into the leather itself across my knee, my thigh, and my ankle, but it would still allow full movent. I also couldn’t help but notice these were also lined with Lily’s fur.
“The pants you should wear underneath your normal clothing. Both items will provide you with exceptional resistance against physical attacks, and importantly, no dart or needle will pierce your hands,” Sylverith explained.
It was then that I noticed each glove had separate images, with Sylverith’s dragon head on one and Lily fully on the other, stitched onto the back of the hand.
“Nothing I need to know with these?” I asked, looking at the two of them.
“Not with these. They should provide you with ample protection without the need for runes. The fur lining will provide a buffer that will dampen any physical attacks you get, while the dragon leather and scales will provide you with strong magical resistance,” Sylverith said proudly.
“Thank you kindly, Tailor Toby. You have exceeded our expectations yet again,” Sylverith smiled.
“It was no problem at all. Any ti you have an item you’d like made, I am at your service,” Toby bowed deeply.
“Go put those on,” Sylverith instructed, pointing to the side room to change.
Getting back in the carriage, the new cuisse and gloves on, along with the scarf and chest plate, I really felt incredibly protected, overly so, if anything, but I knew they were only doing this to keep safe, so I wasn’t about to say no, plus it was all very comfortable. The chest plate I hardly noticed at all anymore.
Though I wasn’t sure I could use these gloves while cooking. I’d have to see.
I couldn’t help but stare at them in awe as we travelled. Lily looked very smug.
As we made our way back to the upper noble district, my excitent only grew. I had been wanting to see the statue Crisplet had made for weeks now, and finally it was ti, and I was eagerly peering out the window, only to abruptly have the curtains shut on .
“Now, we can’t have you ruining the surprise early, can we?” Sylverith chuckled.
I even attempted to look around the curtains a little by leaning back, but I saw she was working with Lily, as the windows were covered in dark shadow.
“No fair. Two of you working together,” I said, half joking.
As the carriage ca to a stop, the anticipation was at a boiling point, especially when the door opened to the opposite side of where the statue was.
“Welco, Lord Ashmoon,” Kathrine said formally.
“Thank you, Kathrine. Now let’s see this statue!” I said, turning around, trying to catch a glimpse.
“So impatient.” The formal, stoic face cracked into a smile.
I couldn’t help but grin before racing around the back of the carriage.
Then I saw it, and it was truly magnificent. In the centre of the courtyard was an enormous statue of Alira. She was half human and half bird, with the human part carved in white stone, while the wings were made out of fire. Not burning coal. Just straight fire.
Her humanoid body ca down to two bird-like feet, and it even had the mischievous smile on her face.
“That looks incredible!” I yelled as Crisplet turned around, bursting in a giant shower of sparks.
Clifford stood back, still with a chisel in hand.
“Thank you, sir. Just adding the final touch,” Clifford said, bowing.
As I got closer, I saw what he was working on, and carved into the plinth itself was a mini statue of Clifford and Crisplet together, with Crisplet’s figure made of fire as well, lighting up the box they were in with an orange glow.
I walked around the statue, admiring it, noticing it was more than just the wings that were made of fire, with feathers appearing and disappearing across the body, just like they were when she visited.
Kathrine had walked up beside . “It’s a pity you’re leaving so soon. The King is adamant that he wants several more statues, and Clifford won’t make one until Crisplet returns. Apparently, they are a team now,” she said with a small laugh.
“When the nobles see this, Clifford’s not going to be left alone,” I said, actually a little concerned for him.
“Yes, that will probably happen. I’ve heard that his small statues that he used to sell in the market have already beco sought after, and we’ve had to put guards near his house to give him so peace,” she explained.
Clifford had made his way over by now, with Crisplet pushing across happiness and pride constantly.
“It’s not that bad yet, though I may need to move eventually,” Clifford said, beaming.
“Again, thank you for the opportunity. I never expected to take carving beyond my small statues, but this has allowed to reach above my station, and for that I thank you,” he bowed.
I waved it off. “You’ve earned it. This is truly amazing work.”
“We just need to find a long-lasting source of fire mana, I believe, to ensure the flas never go dull,” Kathrine mused.
I looked at her, confused for a mont. “I don’t think we had to do that for the tree?”
She just shook her head and laughed, pointing at Crisplet. “Trev, that’s because you have a source of fire mana right there, who’s probably stored so much in that tree it’ll burn for years.”
Crisplet just let off a burst of sparks.
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