Melody of Mana

Eleanor seemed determined to be a pain in my neck. First she wanted us to stay in the same room, insisted upon it vehemently. Of course because I was currently working that meant I had to clean another room. I also had to go get all of my things and move them in, not that I actually owned all that much. Other than a few large pieces most of my possessions could fit in a carry-able bag.

She complained about the size of the room, how it wasn't large enough for people to live in long term. Of course it wasn't really meant for people to stay in long term, but that memo never seemed to land. Once I was done unpacking she began with the questions.

"Is that all?"

"Pretty much."

"What about winter preparations?"

"Um?"

"Food, extra blankets, extra fuel for lamps and the like!"

"... You do know I'm a bard right?"

"And?"

"I eat at The Sky when I'm working. When I'm not I have simple meals of bread and cheese, sometimes I'll buy some dried nuts or something, but that's about it. I've got a spell to heat myself so I don't really need more blankets, same for light. If I really need anything there are a few places in the market still open and as long as it isn't a blizzard I can just go get it."

"That's very frugal of you dear, but you still need to make some basic preparations. We'll go shopping tomorrow and I'll show you what you need. Now, what all do you do for work?"

"I wait tables, make bread or cheese, and charge magic items."

"You can make both bread and cheese?"

"And a few other things besides, yes."

"You'll need to go over your spells with me."

"No."

"Excuse me?" She seemed aghast that I would defy her so openly.

"No, that's rather personal. I'll tell you about some of them, but some are simply not your business. As far as things you should know, I've already told you about heating, bread, cheese, and light. I can also do water and sugar, and I can do some things to defend myself."

The woman pursed her lips, but held her tongue. "How much do you work? And when?"

"One day off, two days on. Normally morning shift, from before we open to anyone other than overnight guests until just after lunch. If things get weird I'll work nights every now and then." There was no harm in telling her that, she'd see it soon enough.

"Hmm, what are the meals served here like?"

I went over the normal menu. It was mostly soups and stews with seasonal fruits and veggies when available. Winter was a bit more limited because everything had to be stored, but that was normal for everyone.

"That's not terrible, though I'd like to see more greens... You don't seem to be malnourished at the very least. I'm thankful for that, too many children in the last few years..." She looked a bit sad at that thought.

I understood that concern. I'd seen too many starving faces and would be happy to never see another.

"Anyway," she started up again, "ground rules. You will keep your things in order and clean. Your bed will be made every day after you get up and you will be back in it before the final bell rings for the night. I expect you to keep yourself clean, as well as your clothing, as much as is possible."

"Pay attention Eleanor. Look at my things, they're already clean, I'm already clean, my clothes are already clean. With heating magic I can wash and launder as needed without your input and far more regularly than would otherwise be possible. Also, you can't hear the temple's final bell for the night without going outside, and if you plan to sit outside through winter... well you have fun with that. I do not need your input on these things at all."

The temples in the city ran a series of bells to indicate time. Sadly they weren't particularly loud, so if you weren't outside or in their district it wasn't all that useful. It should have been possible for them to make louder ones, but for some reason they didn't.

"Your magic has gotten you through this far dear, but the lack of anyone actually keeping an eye on you had led to you being in danger. If it were not so, I would not be here. So the backtalk will be unnecessary."

"You are here because Bishop Theodore is an asshole, and for nothing else."

"The foul language can go as well young lady, and I'll not have you talking ill of the Bishop. His concerns are keeping the country as stable as it can be."

I snorted. "If you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work." With that I left her there.

I convinced Lucien to give me my old room as a place I could study at a low rate for the winter. He grumbled but understood when I informed him that if he didn't the chances of both me and The Shield's servant making it through the winter were near zero.

I understood what she was doing. She wanted to establish herself as some kind of authority. Problem was, that she really didn't have a leg to stand on there as I was already quite capable of taking care of myself quite well. My hope was that she would get the message sooner rather than later and leave me mostly be.

I actually did go to sleep pretty early if I had work the next day, so we didn't run into any issues the first night. It was weird to think about, but I'd never realized before how easy it was to wake up when you wanted. There were a number of methods the people of this world used. Of course the wealthy had forms of clocks, but most used one of a few rather more simple methods. Mine was to manage my water intake and time getting to bed. I always woke up on time because I was rested and simply needed to find a chamber pot.

We'd had no issues so far and by the afternoon I was hopeful we wouldn't. Unfortunately our first argument started due to weather. I'd not objected to her little shopping trip because I had a few things I needed to pick up anyway.

"Alana it's time to go." Eleanor stalked up to me a few minutes after my shift had ended.

"I'm ready."

I got a raised eyebrow. "You will be once you get a shawl or the like, it's too cold to wander about without one. Hurry along and grab one so we can be off." To be fair it was rather nippy out.

"Heating Magic" I spoke slowly so that she'd let it sink in.

"It is foolish to waste mana when you can just grab an extra layer."

"It is foolish to be uncomfortable when the spell is nearly free."

We spent several moments glaring angrily at each other before we were interrupted by Jackson's chuckle.

"Better be careful girl. She might put you over her knee."

I looked dead on at the man. "The first person who tries to strike me will be the last." That threat seemed to cool even him for a moment.

Eleanor huffed. "Fool boy, beating a child doesn't work. Makes them afraid and teaches them to use violence to get their way." That was... strangely progressive for a viewpoint.

"You're all being foolish. Eleanor, the girl's a mage, and a rather good one. She doesn't need your input on her day to day activities." Lucien said as he appeared beside us.

"Thank you."

"Girl, stop arguing and go get another damn layer, you're wasting everyone's time."

That got a satisfied "Humph." from Eleanor.

"Jackson, stop picking fights. Because if you succeed and you lot start going at each other I'll have to get involved." He took a moment to glare at us each in turn. "And nobody will enjoy that."

I didn't think I'd ever seen him look at me that cross before and quickly went to get a poncho, only grumbling a little. I had a shawl, but was still feeling just a bit contrarian. When I got back I saw him and my assigned minder in a glaring contest. Apparently she didn't like that I'd listen to him but not her. Too bad for her though, Lucien was way scarier than she was, and actually had taken care of me when I needed it.

Our shopping trip went relatively well. While Eleanor was busy lecturing on oils and blankets and how much of what was needed for each person in a household I bought the few things that I actually was there for. Some of her info was useful, but I wasn't buying for a household, I was buying for myself.

No, our argument came afterwards. I decided to follow Kala's lead and have a long and steaming hot soak. The tub had been moved into the shared room but I threw up an illusion for privacy. As I was sitting there enjoying my bath Eleanor walked through said illusion, ostensibly not realizing why I'd put it there.

"What in the... oh goodness excuse... what's that on your leg Alana?" She went from confusion to embarrassment to accusatory in under three seconds flat, quite impressive.

"A Lover's Mark." I didn't even look up. The hot water was just too good.

"I... you're thirteen! You shouldn't be having... relations with anyone."

"I'm aware of that, and I'm not."

"Then why do you have that?"

"Because I might not have the option to get it in the future, and as insurance."

"Alana one does not put sheets on a bed nobody will sleep in." That was a surprisingly good saying, and one I'd never heard before.

"They do if sheets are a product that's hard to get. I'm surprised you didn't know I had it, Bishop Theodore did. Now if you don't mind, I was rather enjoying my privacy."

"I DO MIND... Why in the world would Theodore know anything about..." She was getting rather flustered, something which I was happy to allow.

"You'd have to ask him. Are we done?"

"We are most certainly not! Good grief, could you at least cover yourself?"

"Well, I did put up an entire wall to do just that. You seemed to realize your rudeness in walking through it for about half a second."

The poor woman looked like she had a headache. "You're actually not wrong there. We'll continue this conversation when you're done." She left before I even had the chance for a good denial.

I soaked for a long, long time, but all good things must come to an end. Eventually I got prepped and dropped the wall, to find her sitting there on her bed. I decided to sit opposite her for what would undoutably be a long talk.

She kept saying things like "Alana, sex is a very important, personal thing." and asking me if I was sleeping with anyone. The latter was asked no less than half a dozen times, until I finally snapped at her. She didn't seem to believe me on that account, sure that I'd been hooking up with someone. Eventually even her long wind faltered though and I left for dinner.

Dras walked in in the middle of my meal. It took him a moment to scan The Sky before he walked up and sat. I hadn't realized how tall he'd gotten, but I suppose he must have hit his growth spurt at some point.

"Look at you! Long time no see." I offered as he joined me.

"Yeah, no time really to travel much. Sorry for not coming to see you sooner. I've really been unable."

"I understand, school must be rough. You got a day off or something?"

"Yeah, some of our classes cover social activities. They say it's important to know because a lot of us are nobles, and a lot of us will end up dealing with nobles, or something like that. We were supposed to go to some event tonight, but everything got canceled. There was a monster attack or something."

"Yeah, I know. I was there."

"For real? What happened?"

"Well..." I spent several minutes regaling him with the tale before we were interrupted.

"Alana, who is this young man?"

"Dras, my friend."

"Is that so?" She looked down at him appraisingly.

"Oh, hi. Yeah, I'm Dras, nice to meet you." He held out his hand.

"And you as well. I'm the guardian assigned to keep an eye on Alana by The Shield."

"Pfft, I see your Bishop made good on his threats."

She didn't say anything, but glared angrily and found a nearby seat. At some point Dras had to leave, as he had class the next day. I did a bit of light studying, no point letting him get ahead of me or anything, then began to play with the other musicians for the night.

As a marked surprise, I was not told to go to bed. Eleanor did motion to me about the time, but when ignored simply went herself to go and sleep. It was a bright ray that told me that perhaps she would learn to act reasonably.

I nearly snapped when I was pestered out of bed at my normal awakening time the next day.