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A couple of weeks after you sent the letter to Yena, a surprising person came to visit- for some reason, Elena Solluce had come to visit- and you met her by the river, a quiet place along the road where the noise of crossings didn’t disturb peace of mind.
You embraced one another- but you had to ask her why she was here.
“Yena’s gone along fine,” Elena said- her look had changed, to something more decidedly…local. “She said she would be alright with her people. I was getting in the way at that point anyways.” She shrugged. “So I came here. To…I don’t know. Help. I did volunteer work for the Vitelian Order of the Poppy. They taught me some things. A few things that I already knew on the farm, but still.”
The Order of the Poppy was an international collection of charity and aid organizations. They had been most active recently in places torn apart by the war.
You pointed to the lantern pin that held up a hair bun. “That’s new,” you commented.
“It is,” Elena said, touching a finger to it and spinning the little lantern piece on the spindle, “If I’m gonna be in Gilicia, I oughta fit in, don’t you think? You know what it means, yeah?”
“Something to do with Saint Svajone?”
“Yeah.” She let her hand down to stop toying with the pin. “The Saint of the Night Travelers and Refugees, the Keeper of the Lost. She would find people in the dark and lead them to safety.”
“Well, I don’t think I’m lost,” you joked.
“Nah,” she reached forward and poked your nose, “Not right now at least. You never had the best sense a’ direction. Went and got so lost you found the sea before home, idjit.”
That got a chuckle out of you. “Are you sure you’re not lost yourself? This is pretty far from home.” A pause. “Do you have a place to stay, if you’re going to be here?” You hesitated on telling her what was going to happen just yet- that she might not want to linger.
“I do,” she nodded, and leaned on the railing over the river, “You’re not busy, are ya? I wanted to stay here and talk some.”
You shrugged. “I’m not. The Armored Company hasn’t had anything to do at all. We have to keep ourselves occupied. I’m not sure why we’re even here, the way things have been.”
“I’ve got an idea of why,” Elena said, “It’s the Vilja Domkarl. He’s been really sick lately. Along with everything else, that’s got people here in a stir. It’s not like I’m in Zhantao here, Bonetto, the Poppy had me here before.”
Ah. You nodded in new understanding, though she hadn’t brought it up before. To be fair- there were things concerning the ruins…that you didn’t want to speak of either.
“Bonetto?”
“Yes?”
