Small Steps of Change

 

There was a knock on the door, but Sloane didn’t get up. She sat on the floor in the sitting area of her room and just… sat. More knocks came, this time louder, and Sloane just stared at the door. Still intent on remaining where she was. When the banging ceased, she turned her head and looked back at the small flame burning in the fireplace again. She leaned her head back against the wall and let out a big sigh. 

She closed her eyes, wishing to just fall asleep and let the day pass her by when a kick on the door surprised her and she jerked her head, hitting the wall. “Ow! Shit.”

Sloane looked at the door and yelled. “Leave me alone!”

A muffled feminine voice yelled back. “Open this door Sloane or I swear I’ll get Deryk to knock it down!”

Sloane groaned, then rolled to her hands and knees, then pushed herself up. She slowly made her way to the door and jerked it open, seeing nothing but red hair. “What do you want, Maud?”

The red-headed knight just shoved past Sloane and looked around. With a nod of her head, she turned and grabbed Sloane, dragging her along as they walked to Sloane’s room. They stopped by the bed and the knight looked around before pushing Sloane. 

“Maaauud!” she screeched and her arms windmilled as she fell backward in slow motion, crashing onto the bed. 

“Now. Tell me what is wrong.” Maud said from above her. 

Sloane scowled at the woman. “For someone whose role is to heal people, you sure enjoy inflicting or relishing my pain.”

The telv raised a red brow and crossed her arms. “Sloane, spill it. What is wrong? You’ve been up here all day and haven’t eaten a thing. Deryk is down there getting your food as we speak. When he brings it up, you will eat as you listen to him.”

“I am not hungry. I’m fine.” 

Maud sighed and sat down next to her. Without looking at Sloane, who hadn’t moved from where she lay, she said, “It’s about Gwyn, isn’t it?”

Sloane closed her eyes. Of course, it’s about my daughter. Why the hell else would I be a mess up here? No leads. Nothing except business deals and politics. Nothing about finding Gwyn. We’ve been cooped up in this damn city for far too damn long and I want to leave! I should be searching for her, not this, and I hate that we have to do this shit. I hate that you are just going to leave me. Especially with two people I barely know who are definitely not working for my interests. I hate that I want to beg you to stay. I HATE THAT I CAN’T KNOW IF SHE’S SAFE!

“I’m fine,” Sloane said through gritted teeth.

Maud turned and scrutinized her face. “You’re not fine. You’re a ball of barely contained rage and tension.” Her voice turned softer. “Talk to me, Sloane. I think we can consider each other friends at this point. I care about how you’re feeling.”

If we were friends, you all wouldn’t be so ready to leave. Sloane closed her eyes tightly. That wasn’t right. They weren’t ready to just leave her. They quickly and easily agreed to detour toward Marketbol. I can’t take my pain out on them. 

She sighed. Opening her eyes, she wiped away the tears that had formed. “I was working and did the math. If there was no delay between leaving Earth and arriving here–which I have no evidence either way except feeling–today is Gwyn’s tenth birthday.”

“Oh,” Maud said.

Sloane nodded. “Oh, indeed.”

Maud sighed. “Yeah, I’m sorry, Sloane. I didn’t know. Listen, if you–”

A bang on the door caused them both to jump. 

“Ugh. That would be Deryk, with the worst timing ever.” Maud said.

Sloane tried smirking, but her face just made a slight grimace. 

Maud got up but glanced back at Sloane. “We’re going to talk about this. Later.”

Sloane nodded.

Maud let the big orkun in and Deryk came in with a big bowl of stew and a mug of ale. He set them down on her desk and looked her over. “Stew and Ale is perfect sad food. We need to talk.”

“Thank you, Deryk. Maud told me,” she said. 

Maud nudged her. “Eat. He can talk while you get something in your stomach.”

Sloane groaned as she went to sit down. Grabbing the spoon, she took a sip of the broth. She closed her eyes. It was really good. I hope Gwyn has good food. Sloane held back a sob and almost broke as she felt a small hand rub her back, while a bigger hand gripped her shoulder. 

“Sloane,” Deryk said.

She took a bite of the food and looked up at the dark green knight. His eyes had nothing but kind concern in them. “I have a contact.”

Sloane’s eyes widened. Really?

She quickly swallowed the–she looked down–beef, and said, “They will meet with us?”

Deryk had spent the last nearly three weeks trying to make contact with the Westaren Order of Secrets. He and Ernald had been out daily, attempting anything to learn how to meet. 

He nodded. “Yes. It seems they were at the ball and saw… everything. They approached Ernald and me this morning. They knew we were trying to make contact, but what you did in the ball swayed them.”

Sloane’s head swam with the implications of just that much. “When? When can we meet?”

“They will let us know. Soon.”

Sloane sat up straight. That was good news. She might finally get a lead on where to go for Gwyn. If they knew anything, hopefully, they weren’t just meeting with her because of magic. That does seem the most likely circumstance, unfortunately. Don’t get your hopes up, Sloane. 

Sloane took a deep breath and looked around her room. 

“I have a lot to do before this meeting. Maud, I need to meet with the smith. He was done with the order yesterday and I haven’t even met the man yet.”

“Deryk and I can join you,” Maud said.

Deryk nodded. “Yes, I will join you. I am interested in what you are working on.”

Sloane shoved her feelings back into their box and locked them right up. She took another bite of stew before grabbing her mug and taking a long drink. 

She set the mug back down a bit hard, and liquid splashed onto the table. Oops.

Sloane narrowed her eyes. “Okay. Here’s the plan…”

 

* * *

 

Sloane walked with Deryk and Maud into the third district, which Sloane felt was aptly named because it looked like it would easily fit within a third-world nation. It was a stark contrast to the central and merchant districts. 

Luckily, Deryk had warned them of the area, and they all got their gear on. Maud and Deryk were in their full armor, while Sloane wore her breastplate. She looked more like a fantasy swashbuckler, in her opinion, than someone who fit in with the armored knights. Especially with the current outfit she wore, which consisted of her aforementioned torso armor, but also the slightly poofy sleeves of her shirt, her traveling boots, pants, and the short sword on her left hip. Too bad I don’t have a rapier. Next purchase for Elodie! Now she just needed a ship and she could be the Dread Pirate Sloane. Oh! Or a flying ship… a Sky Pirate. Hashtag goals.

“Arr!” she whispered.

“What was that, Sloane?” Maud asked.

“Uh. Nothing?” Smooth.

They continued through the district, and the scenery seemed to be getting worse. Sloane would not bet against the chance someone would try to rob them. She looked at Deryk, who seemed completely at ease, and whispered. “Deryk, are you sure we’re going the right way?”

The man nodded. “Yes. We will arrive shortly.”

She followed along, ready for a gang or something to jump out and mug them. She squinted her eyes as she saw some smoke coming from ahead. They continued down the street and she saw that it was coming from a chimney attached to a very worn-out building, which luckily had all the hallmarks of being a blacksmith’s workshop. Well, at least I know why he volunteered to the Guild to join her. 

They walked up to the old, shoddy-looking building and Sloane followed Deryk into the shop, Maud following closely behind. 

The three entered a small lobby that was equally shoddy. Boards were hanging on the wall with large nails in them that hung goods for sale. She saw bags of nails, horseshoes, tools of all shapes and sizes, and everything she had originally expected from a blacksmith. She thought back to Valesbeck and Tobin, considering that the man had obviously been forging everything needed to defend against the wolves and other beasts. 

At the time she had been too caught up with everything that was happening. She hadn’t considered that the forging of all of those weapons and armor was odd. In hindsight, it made sense, especially with the other hints there such as the guard arming a militia, the hasty attempt to build a wall, and the fact that there had already been attacks that killed people. I hope Tobin and his son made it out alive. She looked at Maud, seeing the mace hanging from her waist. He probably thought we were there to help. Likely, that was the only reason he dropped what he was doing to work on the mace. And we just ran…

Sloane knew she shouldn’t feel that way. They had no way of knowing a town could fall to beasts. They had their own mission to accomplish. Yes. Sloane could rationalize it, but an irrational side of her couldn’t help but feel they had abandoned them to their fate.

I am poorly equipped for living like this, it seems. I need to get my shit together, emotionally.

An orkun came out from a door situated between two wobbly bookshelves. He was tall and muscular and wore a leather apron with some heavy leather gloves hanging from a belt. His skin was fairly pale with just a small tint of green, but his eyes were like looking into deep emeralds. The smith wiped his hands off on a rag that was on the opposite side of his belt and looked over the three of them. His eyes scrutinized Deryk the most, but then his gaze settled on Sloane. 

The smith scoffed slightly. “You must be the Lady Reinhart that I am to work for.” He said.

Sloane raised a brow at that. “Were you coerced in any way?” She asked.

The man laughed. “No. No, I can’t say that I was. You’re one of them terrans I been hearing about, yeah?”

“I am.”

“Hmph. Bigger than a telv at least.” He said while looking at Maud.

Maud scoffed. “I am quite capable, despite my size.”

The man chuckled again. “Didn’t say you weren’t, Lady Knight. Just making an observation.” 

Sloane wasn’t quite sure what to make of the man, but it was leaning negative. “Instead of examining my body proportions, can we get to why we’re here?”

His eyes opened wide, and he put his hands up. “Woah now. I didn’t mean anything like that. I–My apologies ser telv.” He said with a nod to Maud.

Deryk smirked. “It is common amongst orkun communities to view the other races as diminutive. Sloane is tall and not as thin as a high elf. She has more of an orkun stature. I believe that is all our smith here meant.”

Sloane deflated. “Oh. Then my apologies as well for my assumption.”

The smith rubbed the back of his head. “Probably not a good first impression with your future employer.”

Sloane smiled. “If it helps, I am a bit taller than the average terran. I’m sure orkun communities will add us to a list of people to make short jokes about…” She hesitated, trying to think. “I’m sorry. I didn’t get your name from the Guild when they told me they had someone who volunteered.”

“Ah, I am Koren Moore. Welcome to my shop,” He said.

Sloane reached out her hand. “It is nice to meet you, Koren. I am Sloane.”

Koren smiled and took her hand and shook it. She had to hold a chuckle in at the firm grip and squeezed tightly in response. A brow raised as she did so, and he gave her a subtle nod. 

Pulling her hand back, she said, “Now. I received word you had my order prepared?”

He nodded. “I do! While my shop doesn’t look like much, my forges are top-notch for small-scale work. It took thirty-one tries and failures of various combinations from your notes, but I was able to figure out one combination that worked out well. I believe I will need a more equipped forge in the future to maintain the temperatures needed.”

Sloane nodded and listened as best as she could while he explained all the steps and issues he had overcome to forge the stainless steel. The more he spoke about it, the more excited he became. She only knew the basics and had only remembered the percentages and materials needed because of a Wikipedia rabbit hole she had once gone down. Hours… Hours I’ll never get back. It happens to the best of us.

The orkun led them to the back, where his forge and small foundry were. The man wasn’t kidding when he mentioned that he had a small operation. He must have noticed her scrutiny because he answered her thoughts. “I primarily forge nails, tools, and other small objects for the district. This was a new job for me, but it’s fascinating.” 

He grabbed a blanket that was on the table and moved it aside, showing small plates of stainless steel and several joints she had sketched. “Oh! You were able to do the joints as well!” She rushed over and started looking at it all. It was everything that she needed to complete her falcon. Picking up the stainless steel, she pushed mana into it and examined the makeup. 

She heard the smith talking, but ignored him as she focused. Luckily Maud and Deryk explained that she was simply examining it. The composition of the steel seemed great to her, she went through each plate and checked them against each other, content that there were only minuscule differences in quantities between each. On the second to last one, her brow raised. “This one has a fracture.”

The orkun jerked in surprise and moved forward. “My apologies, My Lady. I will correct this.”

She shook her head without looking away. She pushed more mana into the steel and Altered the material to repair the crack. Satisfied, she placed it back down. “It is no bother. I fixed it.”

He froze. “I’m sorry. What? What does that mean?”

Deryk patted the man’s shoulder. “It is a long story, friend. We’ll have time to explain on the way to Marketbol.”

Sloane simply nodded. “Yes, we will need to. However, for the time being, this is perfect. I look forward to working with you and it makes me happy to see how much you love your craft. That reassures me that our venture will be successful. Now, I apologize for rushing out, but I…” She trailed off as she looked at Maud, who had a grin on her face, and Deryk, who was giving her a knowing look. He’s going to find out anyway if he joins us on our trip. Sloane sighed. “Alright. Fine. I really want to go work on the things that I enjoy now. Which is to take all this metal and finish a project I am working on.”

The smith laughed. “I can understand, Lady Sloane. I cannot wait to see what you create from this metal. What you have given me… let’s just say it’s important.”

Sloane smiled. “Trust me, Koren, I know exactly how beneficial this metal will become. Please, come by and see us at the inn we are staying in.”

As they started to walk out, Sloane heard Deryk tell the man to start preparing all of his belongings for travel. That made her smile as well. Finally.

The group made their way back toward the inn. She noticed people were closing up as the sun was going down. They quickly transited the district and were stopped on the way into the merchant district. Luckily, while the sight of the knights and her coming from such a rundown area of the city raised some eyebrows, the guards only checked their documents before letting them through. 

They were near the central district when a wagon merchant putting away his wares caught her eye. She stopped and walked over, looking at the large glowing plant he had on display. It looked like a tea plant, except the leaves had a faint shine to them. “This plant has bioluminescent properties? What is it?”

Her question startled the merchant, who hadn’t seen her approach. “Oh! You gave me quite the scare, My Lady. That? Oh! it is a tè luminoso plant. It brews the most fantastic tea. I purchased several from a terran merchant."

Her head jerked toward him in surprise. Wait. What?! "A terran merchant?" Then she fully processed what he said and her mouth dropped open. Wait… "What did you call that plant?"

"Oh, sorry. It's from a language of the terrans. He called it a Tè Luminoso," He said.

Luminous Tea? That's Italian. Where? How? 

Sloane realized she hadn't even tried speaking Italian since arriving. She was in shock. "How long ago? Is he here still?"

"Just a couple of weeks ago, I believe. Would you like to purchase some? It helps with your focus, and you can stay on task with but a single magical cup!"

Sloane made a motion. "Yes, yes. The terran, is he still here?"

The merchant started bagging up her tea. "No, I believe he left soon after. I'm unsure of where he was going next. I'm sorry. Is one package enough?"

Sloane was getting frustrated. Stop worrying about your tea, man! 

"Yes. One package is enough. Did he sell anything to anyone else who may have known where he went?" 

Maud stepped forward and handed the man some coins and grabbed the tea. The man looked back at Sloane and tapped his chin.

"I'm not aware of anyone else. I just manage my cart."

"Ugh!" Sloane groaned.

Maud laid a hand on her shoulders.

"Sloane. It's okay, let's go. We'll figure it out," Maud said.

Sloane sighed. "Thank you for the tea. I appreciate the information as well." She grabbed a silver coin and handed it to him before continuing with the knights toward the inn. With a bag of tea that she didn't really want. 

What the hell will it take to find one damn lead?

She looked at Deryk as he walked ahead of her.

Hopefully, his contact pans out.