𝓕rom inside the quaint abode came an almighty crashing, a stumbling. A voice from inside called, “Oh, pixie sticks- just a moment! Oof--”
They didn’t wait long, and Irennan didn’t seem all that concerned. Elise, barely recovered from the walk down with a purple man, could not have expected the winged beauty that appeared in the doorway. Ears like Irennan’s, but her wings shimmered like sunlight on the water, like starlight, like crystals. Elise found she couldn’t stop staring as they fluttered, dispersing flecks of crystalline dust that disappeared when they touched the ground like tiny bubbles.
“Irennan, Lady Ironwill! To what do I owe this early visit?” she chimed pleasantly, brushing a few errant locks of hair from her face. Irennan dipped in and they exchanged a peck on the cheek before parting and he resumed his habitual picking.
“I’m afraid it’s Lady Ironwill. She woke up... not quite herself.” It was as good an explanation as any. Zena no doubt was expecting to see bags under the commander’s eyes, to take in her pallor and feel her fever but instead she saw someone else standing there, someone she had mistaken for a friend.
“Oh-” She seemed startled. Elise knew the feeling. It was another awkward staring contest but she was getting better at those and waved off a bit of the uncertainty. Zena recovered quickly, quicker than Irennan himself had. “I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
Elise blinked, dumb again. Nobody had asked her her name yet. Irennan was clearly still hoping she knew that she was Mai Ironwill, that she was ill but not that ill. But Zena asked her name immediately.
“Elise,” she gave confidently to ensure that her uncertainty about the situation didn’t lead them to believe she wasn’t sure of her name, either. No, that she knew well. “I’m not from here.”
“No, surely not. You look so much like Mai, but I’ve never seen her wear earrings like that. And you’re smaller, too, and paler. Hmm... and there’s something else.” Zena ran her knuckles across her chin, thoughtful, brow furrowed a moment. “I can’t quite put my finger on it. -- well, no matter. It is a pleasure to meet you, Elise. But I suppose if you’re here, we aren’t exactly sure where Mai is?” Her amber gaze turned to Irennan, who’d begun to look rather ill.
“Aramis and I had both been hoping it was some manner of amnesia, but now that you mention it, she is a fair bit smaller than Lady Ironwill. And she was wearing garb I’d never seen, a very strange tunic.” He’d taken to biting his lip now, shredding the thin layers of skin from the bottom one and picking at his cuticles at the same time. Nervousness poured off of him like sweat from a runner and Elise had the feeling he’d be skinless before this whole thing was resolved.
If it would ever be resolved.
“We need to call a company meeting,” he began around his hungry teeth, “Now, ideally. I’ll fetch Aramis if you wouldn’t mind bringing Magnus, I don’t doubt he’ll be happier to see you than me at this hour. Are the others in town?”
Zena shook her head, pulling up the back of her boot. “No, Felix ought to be on his way back from the crossroads and the Shithe is on a job. I don’t think we’re expecting her back for another fortnight.”
“I’ll send word to her, then, and inform Felix on his return. There’s much to be done-- oh, Aramis won’t be happy about this...”
“Aramis isn’t happy about anything,” Zena affirmed, flashing Elise a comforting smile. “Let’s get cracking, then, hm?”
