Jaune limped along the main thoroughfare that led up to Elodria, his horse, Quick Ranger, behind him. A golden bird sat atop the saddle, its feathers shimmering in the sunlight. Azaryon let out a soft noise that made Jaune look up. The city walls were starting to come into sight. Thankfully, this was a relatively large city and he likely won’t be stopped. He was just glad that nobody would really take notice of him. Though, of course, his Aurivex Phoenix was quite the unusual sight. It wasn’t everyday someone saw an ex-Solaris Knight squire trudging through the countryside or through their city gates. He just… He missed the Solaris Knights, but it’d been years since his injury. Even Celestial Healing hadn’t been enough to be able to heal the injury he’d sustained in a battle with the Umbral Covenant. Nothing could be done about his injury…

  He started to move through the city gates until he heard somebody shout at him. "You! Hold!" He groaned internally but moved off to the side holding area where people would be stopped and questioned. He had set his sights on Elodria because he thought he wouldn't be questioned or detained. It was one of the larger cities in Nytheris and he thought he'd be able to blend in more easily. The small villages hell been passing through for years had been suspicious of him, but he had been able to find somewhat steady employment despite his wanderings.

  A town guard came down to the detainment area. "How can I help you?" Jaune asked, fidgeting with his cloak clasp. Apparently he'd done something suspicious despite looking like any other traveler. He really just wanted to settle down somewhere and have a place he could keep his head down for the rest of his days. Why was fate so against him being steady?

  We weren't informed a Solaris Knight was coming to town," the man said. "We're always told before a knight comes to town." Oh, that was it…

  “I'm not a knight, at least not anymore. I was in training but sustained an injury fighting the Umbral Covenant some years ago..." He really didn't want to have to tell his whole life story to this stranger. He hoped and prayed that this would be enough to get the guy off his back. He wasn't suspicious; he was just a traveler like so many other people. All he wanted was a job and a place to sleep. Was that too much to ask?

  The man was silent for a few moments before nodding. “I see then… Well, feel free to go in. Although…do you need work?”

  Jaune blinked but nodded. “Yes.”

  “What do you do?”

  “I’m mostly a farrier. People need to take care of their horses, but plenty don’t want to do it…” A lot of people didn’t know about horse hoof health and preferred to hire somebody to do it, at least if they were in the upper echelons of society. Some people did have coaches, but none of the Solaris Knights did. They considered coaches to be unsightly and an affront to nature. Horses should be the only way people got around in their minds. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the weird contraptions, but if people could afford them and wanted them, he saw no reason to stop people from having them. Plus, they might be easier in upkeep than horses…

  “I heard the Belladonnas were looking for a new stablehand, actually. They’ve been looking for at least one more person to help them around their stable.”

  Jaune frowned a bit. “Why does that name sound familiar…?”

  “They’re one of the preeminent Echo Keeper families in all of Nytheris. They help military orders with trauma and take away memories from men that can’t cope with them.”

  “I think one of them might’ve been at the Dawnspire Bastion while I was training…” He couldn’t be for certani, though, because he’d never visited the Echo Keeper. He hadn’t been in too many battles beforehand. He’d been so close to becoming a full-fledged Knight that they’d thought he’d be able to keep up with them against the Umbral Covenant but that didn’t happen unfortunately. He just…wasn’t able to keep up despite the training he’d been put through.

  The man nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised. If you want to go talk to the mistress of the house, I’d ask for Kali Belladonna.” He gave Jaune directions to the Belladonna manor home. “Thank you for your service.”

  Jaune sighed. “I wasn’t even a full Knight… But thank you.” The man allowed him to leave and he took Quick Ranger out of the area. He got Azaryon off the saddle and slung himself into it, the Aurivex Phoenix settling on Quick Ranger’s head. He urged Quick Ranger into a trot and they set off. They headed through the main body of the city where he turned more than a few heads. It wasn’t everyday people saw an Aurivex Phoenix with someone that wasn’t dressed as a Solaris Knight. They were easily identifiable due to their beautiful coloration and large size. They were about the size of an eagle which made them extremely easy to notice along with the golden color that reflected off their feathers.

  He seemed to find a house that matched the description of what the man told him, but there was a fence there. “Who are you?” A guard stood at the gate.

  Jaune frowned. Of course things wouldn’t be that easy… They never were for him. “The gate guard told me that the Belladonnas are looking for a stablehand. I can easily handle that.” He really wasn’t anybody suspicious, but the Aurivex Phoenix essentially sitting in his lap definitely told a different story. Then again, they were birds renowned for their purity that refused to accept darkness in their partner’s heart. So far, Azaryon hadn’t left him which was definitely good… The loss of an Aurivex Phoenix was incredibly painful to their handler.

  “I suppose I can go talk to the lady of the house. Stay here.” The guard withdrew and Jaune sat there in silence for a good ten minutes until the door next to the gate opened and a Faunus woman with cat ears came out. She was clearly older with the wrinkles and the grey in her hair.

  “So you’re the young man that’s looking for work?” she asked.

  Jaune dismounted and nodded, though he stayed where he was. He was pretty sure there was somebody standing with a bow and arrow aimed at him, lest he do something ill against the lady of the house. “I… Yeah. The gate guard told me you were looking for a stablehand?”

  “Why do you have an Aurivex Phoenix with you?”

  “He’s my familiar—I was a Solaris Knight in training until I sustained an injury that forced me to retire.”

  The woman nodded. “Honestly…that’s all I need to know.” She smiled. “I’m Kali Belladonna.” She turned and motioned toward the door. The gate to the house began to open and she led him inside. Jaune took Quick Ranger’s reins and followed her to the barn which was relatively large and spacious. “What’s your name?”

  “Jaune Arc.”

  “That would be a good name for a Solaris Knight. It’s a pity you were injured.” She led him to a stall. “You can put your horse here and put him out to pasture as well.”

  “Thank you.”

  “How about you get your horse untacked then we can go inside and I can show you where you’ll be staying?” Jaune nodded and did as Kali said. He picked up his saddle bags and held his arm out for Azaryon who landed on it. He looked at Kali with a bit of a wary eye. Was there something up with this woman? He had no idea. Maybe it had something to do with her being an Echo Keeper? Echo Keepers weren’t inherently dark or anything, but they still dabbled in things an Aurivex Phoenix may consider dark. Granted, he only knew a little bit about Echo Keepers, so he could be off base… There was no telling, though…

  “Let’s go now.” Kali smiled at him and he nodded, following her inside the large manor home. “We have a servant’s wing, so it won’t be too much of an issue for you to stay with us while you’re in our employment. Our horses definitely do need attending to. We had somebody that was coming every six weeks or so in order to keep their hooves in order, but having someone on hand will be so much easier than having to wait for someone to come especially if there’s an emergency.” She paused for a moment. “By the way, what all do you know about their health?”

  “Plenty, really… I know all about grain and different ratios and what they need, farrier work, and such… I was taught everything while I was with the Solaris Knights. We take good care of our horses.” He took care of his own horse since it wasn’t like he was from a noble family where he could afford an attendant for his animals especially while out on the road. He had to do everything himself unless he was at the Solar Bastion where they did have stablehands. Still, he’d spent a lot of time learning how to take care of his mounts and how to handle them. He’d taken on the full duties himself just because it felt better to take care of his horse rather than leave it for somebody else…

  “Well, that’s good to hear… We do have quite a number of horses, and having an extra stablehand will be helpful especially since you know how to do farrier work. We’ll pay you three silvers a week for your work as well as room and board.”

  Jaune blinked. “That’s…really generous.” He hadn’t expected to be paid that much. Maybe five or six coppers, but three silvers? He really wasn’t going to complain about it. He’d had to be extremely careful with his money to make it last as he moved from place to place. He was on his last several coppers, so he definitely needed some money. He had all his clothes and everything sorted out, so he didn’t need to buy anything immediately but still… It would be nice to be able to have a savings started pretty quickly. He wouldn’t need to replace anything for a while since he’d bought new clothes and boots a while back.

  Kali smiled at him. “We pay our people fairly, regardless of their social standing. Even Unwoven deserve a good wage, though a lot of people don’t agree with that. You’re a Woven, but still… You should know.”

  Jaune nodded. “I’m actually not from a noble family… I just got Celestial Healing by the luck of a draw.” Sometimes the gods touched people randomly and it seemed like he’d been one of those that had been randomly touched. But, unfortunately, not every god touching ended well. He was a Woven mage, but he didn’t get to use his abilities much anymore. He had learned the rest of the Solaris abilities since he had only been gifted Celestial Healing, but he didn’t really use them much anymore… No point in using combat magic when he was a non-combatant.

  “I see… Well, we could always use healers around her and the Emberfang Legion might even want to take you on.”

  “I can’t really keep up well.” He’d sustained injury to his ribs and lungs when he’d taken a nasty spear hit from the Umbral Covenant. There was only so much Celestial Healing could do in the end, and he still felt pain when he was pushed to do tasks that were too hard for him. He did feel pain if he was on horseback too long, unfortunately, so that made him completely unable to handle being on the battlefield. He kept Quick Ranger mainly because a Radiant Equinor wasn’t something that could easily be taken from its rider. They were bonded magically; to separate them forcefully was seen as a sin against Vaelis himself. It was one thing if the Radiant Equinor left their rider; it was another to separate someone that maintained the Solaris Code and everything that came with it.

  “I’m so sorry. Well, there I’m certain that there would be people in need of a healer.” Kali smiled at him, her ears twitching. “You can stay with us however long you want or need to, Jaune. We won’t hold you here unnecessarily. Feel free to stay here for the rest of your life, or only a few months until you find your footing here in Elodria. You’ll always be welcome back.”

  “I— Thank you.” He really wasn’t certain what to say to that. He hadn’t expected such generosity from Kali. Most people in the Arcane Order and the Magisterium were incredibly unkind to commoners or people they saw as below them. He was a Woven, but he was far from their equal. He had only been a Woven through the luck of the draw as he’d said. He really couldn’t believe Kali’s kindness. Azaryon still seemed a bit wary, but if she was somebody that was truly unkind, the Aurivex Phoenix would definitely let him know.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  “It’s no trouble.” It was then that they reached a room and Kali motioned. “This room will be yours. Feel free to do whatever you want… Well, as long as you don’t destroy it. Feel free to furnish it however you want to, add decorations… It’s yours to do with as you please.”

  “Thank you.” It didn’t seem like they ran a tight ship around here which…he was definitely glad for. He hadn’t exactly flourished in the extremely tough order of the Solaris Knights and how strict things had been. Living a normal life was definitely more his speed.

  He went into the room. It wasn’t huge but it wasn’t small either. It was a reasonable size for one person. He put Azaryon on the bed and started unpacking his saddlebags into the dresser and closet. That took a little while and, by time he finished, he could feel his stomach rumbling. He hadn’t had anything that morning because he was scant on supplies. He’d skipped breakfast so that way he could hopefully get to Elodria a lot quicker. The one thing he did miss about the Solar Bastion was the guaranteed meals. Being on the road, he had to be really careful about what he consumed and when… If he ran out between towns, then he was pretty much just out of luck…

  He wandered around for a bit until he found the kitchens. They were full of warm smells and they helped chase off the chill of the road that came with it only being early spring. He was given a plate and half a loaf of bread with some butter, and he sat down to eat. The bread was still warm, so he greedily ate that and washed it down with some of the warm milk he’d been given as well.

  Once finished with his meal, he headed back out to the stable to take care of Quick Ranger. He had done what he could, but road care wasn’t very easy. Quick Ranger was a bit skinnier than he would’ve liked, but there wasn’t a lot he could do about keeping grain fresh as well as hay while on the road during the winter. He curried Quick Ranger down and groomed the Radiant Equinor as well as he could without a bath. He gleamed like burnished gold in the faint light of the barn which Jaune was glad for. He really hated that he couldn’t do better for Quick Ranger. But now…the horse would have a comfortable stall to bed in as well as grain and hay.

  He turned Quick Ranger out to pasture and then found another stablehand. She was a young woman, clearly of The Bound as he now was. She seemed kind and willing to help, showing him where everything was as well as how to handle everything. She’d help teach him about the horses’ diets which he was thankful for. Each individual horse had different needs and he wouldn’t know right off the bat. Having someone help him would be extremely nice… Once finished with that learning, he headed back to his room and curled up on the mattress. He was exhausted from the long journey and was thankful to have a bed to sleep in once again.

  Σ

  Weiss worked relatively long into the evening, completely bypassing her meals until the point came she could no longer ignore the hunger pangs. She left the archive and explored for a bit until she found the kitchens and was given a meal. She sighed and picked at it. Despite her hunger, all of this was stressing her out. The archive was in complete disarray and it would take a very long time to fully sort through. She was more than capable of handling it, but it would just take far, far more time than she was hoping it would. She really just wanted to be able to work a relatively normal day, but no, she’d probably have to be here before dawn in order to continue to sort through the nonsense the last administrator had clearly neglected.

  She finished her meal and went outside for a breath of fresh air. The early spring chill hung in the air and Weiss shivered. She looked up at the stars and studied them for several minutes, furrowing her brows. The stars spoke of a presence that would change Weiss’ life forever. It was a bright presence, though dimmed by trauma and time. There was another presence, one darker but not malevolent that would also change her life.

  She had no idea what any of that meant.

  She sighed.

  There was a reason she was an administrator over choosing Astral Weaving. The stars could be incredibly frustrating to deal with as well as interpret. Fate was a strange thing and she could actively manipulate it if she wanted…but she didn’t. Fate was too fickle for her own personal liking and she really wanted to just live as normal as a life as she could. She was already 25 which…was definitely beyond what her mother wanted her to be when it came to children. But Winter was 28 and not married with children either. She was currently in Sylwen to act as a normal cartographer due to the Arcane Burn she had experienced while mapping out parts of the Somnium Veil. Willow wanted both of them married and to have children sooner rather than later, but they both had jobs and lives to live…

  She shook her head and went back into the garrison, not looking forward to the rest of what she had to deal with. However, she blinked when she saw somebody standing outside of the archive with several bags… Her bags. The ones she’d brought to the Celvian house. Syrma was there. She’d met the woman that morning. “Syrma, what are you doing here?” Weiss asked.

  Syrma frowned. “I’m sorry, Weiss… For some reason, my parents decided to not support you while you’re here. They told you you’re on your own.”

  Weiss froze. What…? Why would the Celvians turn her out like this? This had been arranged for months! She could feel Velmora’s wings flapping on her back a bit and she looked over her shoulder to try to calm the aetherwing moth. She really had no idea what was going on. “Why?”

  “I don’t know. They just said they didn’t want you under their roof. You’ll have to go find your own lodgings.”

  Weiss sighed. “Thanks…” There was no point in shooting the messenger. Syrma hadn’t made the decision. The parents were just bastards apparently.

  Syrma dipped her head then left, leaving Weiss alone with her stuff. She dragged her stuff into the archive then locked the door, being careful of Velmora on her back. The aetherwing moth was definitely quite the character and quite large even by the bug’s standards. But there wasn’t a lot she could do about it right now… The stand that Velmora slept on was definitely among the things… They had seriously just packed up everything and sent it over here. Her horse was probably in the stables as well. Ugh. She had no idea what she was going to do now!

  She went to the Echo Archive where she saw Blake, hunched over an Echo Scroll book. She was clearly deep in concentration. Weiss cleared her throat and Blake jumped a bit, her ears swivelling around before she turned to face Weiss. “Can I help you with something?” Blake asked.

  Weiss explained what had just happened. “Would you have any room for me at your house…?”

  Blake sighed but nodded. “Yeah, we have plenty of room at my place. My family has been rather large through time, so the house is incredibly large. You’d probably be most comfortable in the guest wing rather than the servant’s quarters. We rarely get guests so you’ll have the entire wing to yourself.”

  “Your family won’t mind?” Weiss was worried about that… She knew she was intruding, but there wasn’t much she could do about the entire situation. She didn’t trust any inns to fully keep her stuff secure. She had a fair bit of money on her and her clothes were expensive since she was from one of the Great Houses. People could easily break in and sell her stuff without the security of guards and such… She really didn’t trust inns if she was going to be working like she was.

  “My mother’s a bleeding heart that tries to help out people as much as she possibly can. We act as a bit of a halfway house to people coming into the city and give them employment until they can find something steady. So no, she won’t mind. And my father just agrees with what my mother says.” Blake smiled and chuckled a bit. “He’s whipped.”

  Weiss managed a small smile. “My father loves my mother too. He’s a good man. Though he does stand up to my mother. It doesn’t sound like your father does that.”

  “He does sometimes, but yeah, she definitely is the one in charge of the relationship. Plus, they do trust me. I don’t think that they’ll mind me bringing someone. Though…how long do you plan on being here?”

  “I’m really not sure… I was hired to look after the main archive here and it’s…not pretty. I need to basically reorganise it from the ground up. I spent all day there, but I didn’t even make a dent…” Weiss sighed. Yeah, it was going to be a nightmare to deal with. “I’m an archivist by trade, so that’s why I was asked to come here. I can’t believe the Emberfang Legion has been without an archivist for so long…”

  Blake nodded. “Yeah, it’s been…probably ten, fifteen years since we last had one? Records are not the Legion’s primary worry…”

  “I can see that.” Weiss sighed again. What a mess. She was always the one to clean up other people’s messes, it seemed like. She was good at what she did, no doubt, and that was why the Legion was trusting her to do what she was doing. She was definitely an unusual case of an Astral Weaver not dealing with fate itself, but she was just too logical for the nonsense that came with Astral Weaving. The threads of fate were very different and she could nudge possibility in her favor—or someone else’s, if they paid a high enough price. But she just did not want to deal with any of that. She preferred more down-to-earth logic and predictable things like records and keeping track of history than the uncertainty of the future and trying to pluck the threads of fate itself.

  “Anyway, why don’t we get your stuff out to my coach then we can get you to my house?”

  Weiss blinked. “You guys have a coach? I mean my family has a couple, but I wasn’t expecting to run into another person with one here…” They were highly expensive but they weren’t really meant for long-distance travel. Within a city, certainly, but not much beyond that. They needed to be refuelled with magic every so often, so taking weeks between cities would mean being stranded out in the middle of nowhere if one didn’t know how to refuel the coach.

  Blake nodded. “I mean I’m within the city, so I can use it without too much issue. Let’s get your stuff then head out.”

  “All right. I’ll have to tie my horse to the coach, though, and you’ll have to go slower.”

  Blake sighed. “All right, all right…”

  Weiss started to walk and headed to the archive where they picked up her stuff and piled the stuff into the coach’s back seat. Blake got into the coach and started it, then they went out to the barn. Weiss got her horse and tied him to the back, then they headed to Blake’s house. The coach was painfully slow due to not wanting to push Orchid too hard. It was at least late enough that most people were back at home, the street lamps softly glowing to light their way to Blake’s place.

  Once there, Blake parked the coach in the garage and Weiss untied Orchid. “I’ll have some servants help me take your stuff up to the guest wing,” Blake said. “You can take your horse to the barn and hand him off to one of the stablehands.”

  Weiss nodded. “All right.” She took Orchid’s reins and headed out to the barn. She felt reluctant to hand him over as he was a very rare breed, but she had to trust they’d take good care of him. She patted his neck and then went inside.

  The manor home was huge which was nothing unusual to her; Schnee manor was also large, but that was no surprise since they were a Great House and they had been around since time immemorial. She wasn’t sure about this family though… They were definitely quite affluent, though, considering the size of the home. It would take some time to memorise where everything was.

  A servant approached and bowed. “Are you Miss Schnee?”

  Weiss nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Follow me.” Weiss did just that and took in her surroundings, the halls lit by soft illuminators. It would look very different during the day which would definitely throw her off… But she could always ask a servant to help her if she got lost. It would be quite difficult to fully map the house out in the time she was heading to bed. Plus, she was mentally and physically taxed from moving boxes all day… She wished she could have an assistant or something like that. Blake was an archivist in her own right, but Weiss doubted that Blake wanted to help her with the archive… And Winter wasn’t someone that could help either. Winter was a dream cartographer Liminal Mage that spent most of her time in the Somnium Veil. Plus, she was recovering from Arcane Burn right now, and that precluded her from being able to cross the Weave with her magic and cross the massive distance from Sylwen to Elodria.

  Weiss was just shit out of luck.

  They arrived at a room and the servant stepped aside. Weiss opened the door to find a serviceable room with her stuff piled in one corner. “Thank you.” Weiss smiled at the servant who nodded, then headed off and leaving Weiss alone. She sighed as she put some of her clothes away but left the majority of them packed away. She still couldn’t believe that she’d been tossed out like that and Blake had been gracious enough to allow her a place to stay. It was really nice… Yeah, there were inns, but Weiss really hadn’t brought enough money to be able to allow for a long-term stay. She’d used a fair bit of her money on the journey over.

  Shaking her head, she knew she was exhausted. She changed into something more comfortable and climbed into bed, then turned the illuminator off. The house was relatively quiet, though she could hear the servants moving around. Granted, it was nothing unusual to her. If anything, the familiar sound was comforting after the nights of staying in inns. She settled down fully and closed her eyes, sleep overtaking her like an owl’s wing.