Errings Rising and the Velkhomme Ports

A nervous sigh escaped from Kyra's lips. It happened every time she came to the outskirts of Reinford, but the amount of times coming back home never removed the worry. The queen of Errings Rising had sent her out to her hometown to try to allow the guild a bit more leeway in terms of their actions within the city. Kyra almost anticipated that this would go incredibly poorly. After all, she was going to be begging her strict father to allow a Dark Guild a pardon within the city. That was, unless, she could convince Aria to go through with this. Aria certainly was more receptive to the youngest of the Velkhomme line than Father was, so... But even then, Aria was a Major within the Rune Knights, and that made it seem even more unlikely. After all, Aria would have to be directly going against the Rune Knight's orders in order to allow someone they were in direct opposition with to simply run free in one of the largest cities within the country, one of the biggest economical centers the land had.

"Worried about somethin', Miss Velkhomme?" the cab driver casually asked.

Kyra jumped a little. "N-no, n-nothing more than I usually would have... j-just coming back home a-always worries me a bit..."

The cab driver nodded, seeming to understand until he justified his "understanding" by saying, "Fair enough. Your pops is a bit of a protective lad, isn't he? Bet he's not too fond of you running off to join some guild outside of Goldheart. I'm sure he'd prefer for you to be under his watch than anything else."

Kyra sighed and muttered, "Not exactly," under her breath before nodding, hoping to alleviate his suspicions.

Just as she had asked, the cab driver parked right outside a cafe right at the edge of downtown, saying her ride was free of charge because of her status as a Velkhomme. As much as Kyra dreaded her status as a rich elite, it had its benefits. She walked into the coffee shop, immediately being greeted by the host with a "Hello, Miss Velkhomme! Vivilarion is waiting for you, allow me to bring you to her!"

Kyra gave a smile and nodded, doing her best to hide her nerves and her fierce, thumping heart. The kind young hostess brought Kyra over to a table strangely secluded from much of the rest of the cafe's tables, where Kyra found her third eldest sister waiting, a cup of coffee in hand and a newspaper in the other. The youngest of the Velkhomme lineage smiled and thanked the hostess when she was seated across Aria, who still did not seem to notice her.

"Too nervous to even speak to your big sis?" Aria sternly said after a few moments of silence. Kyra looked up to see an expressionless face glaring at her, an eyebrow raised. The facade of stoicism quickly faded, however, the Rune Knight's Velkhomme laughing. "You know I'm just teasing, Kyra. Trust me, we've all gotten used to your nerves."

"S-sorry I don't speak as much as I should..." Kyra mumbled.

"Don't worry about it. There's a few good people I employ that aren't much of talkers either. Not everyone is built for it. Heck, Dayne's not much a talker either, just like you. Well, not to your extent, but the same thing applies. Remember that, no matter what, we're still your siblings and we love you."

Kyra gave a nervous chuckle at Aria's legitimate smile. "E-even though..?"

Aria smiled and gave a tired nod. "Even though your... circumstances are definitely not what anyone wanted. Don't worry, I haven't told anyone else. Only me, Tegan, Demi, and Rio know. Not even Mom or Dad know. Now, if I remember your text, you were sent on somewhat of an envoy mission from Saraphina?"

Kyra nodded. "S-sorry, I-I didn't really have any choice in the m-matter... she k-knew I-I was the best choice to s-send..."

Aria sighed. "Don't worry, Kyra, it's not your fault. She is to you right now what Tegan is to Kairi. She's your guild master, you can't really say no, can you? Of course, I expect she would be a bit angry if you came back with nothing. Suffice to say, I can't really go against the Rune Knights and just let you run amok in our town. I would get fired at best and executed for treason at worst, and that's just from the government. That's not even mentioning how Dad would react." Aria took a sip of coffee. "That said, I can't thank them enough for bringing you in. So, I'm willing to try to compromise." She looked around, making sure no one was eavesdropping. "I can't say I'm all too familiar with what Errings Rising does in their... less high profile actions. However, there's something I'm willing to do for you and for Errings Rising as somewhat of a favor being paid. I know of a few people on my force that aren't exactly squeaky clean in terms of inspection of goods in the port. I'll talk to Corbyn and see if he's also willing to have some of his employees have a hand in this, but I'll be willing to make somewhat of a trade deal between here and Errings Rising. If you guys have any less than legal goods you need shipped around the world or shipped from around the world, for that matter, we'll be willing to chip in to get that less handled. Free of charge, nothing for you to do about this. I'd imagine that Corbyn would want a station in Hostia, but I feel like that should not be too much of an issue. It's extra profits for the city, plus it'll allow for things to run much smoother." Aria smiled, handing Kyra a sealed envelope, complete with Demi's personal seal. "I know it's a lot to take in that's not really your issue to take in, so I already had a letter to your queen drafted and sent to approval from Demi. At this point, Demi almost has more influence in the city than Dad."

Kyra nodded. "I-I'm sure she does..."

Aria got up, pulling Kyra into a hug. "Sorry we didn't really get to talk at all. Today's a bit busy, so I can't chat about how you're doing. Don't worry, feel free to visit any time with any of your guildmates. We'll always be willing to listen to you and talk about things."

With that, Aria smiled and walked away, leaving Kyra sat at the cafe, a letter in hand, waiting to return back to the mountains to five the news to her queen and, hopefully, be sent on another mission before Medeia could return.