The next morning was almost what I had become used to since joining the troupe, if you did not count having a child to care for. I awoke a little earlier than I usually did, ready to get to my sword practice, but it took me a moment to recall why there was a small child snuggling in my arms. I had planned on pulling the cot above mine out from the wall and sleeping there, but I had not wanted Kalara to wake up in a strange environment and believe herself to be alone with how skittish she was.

So, I shared my usual cot with her and held her as she slept. It was not as if she took up much space, and she seemed to thrash around less in her sleep while I was holding her. When my addled morning brain finally filled in those little details, I attempted to extract myself from the bed without waking her so I could start my day.

Sky blue eyes opened to look up at me pleadingly and I sighed. “Come, but quietly,” I told her in a whisper. She may not be able to understand either language that I was familiar with yet, but I felt that talking to her and explaining things sometimes would help her to learn faster.

-There are spells that could be used to help us communicate with her and the Undine,- Sharai suggested wistfully, -alas they are well beyond the simple cantrips that I learned in life. For that matter, they would allow you to become more fluent in Fae as well. Perhaps the enchanter that you wish to see in Hindra, Lady Arinade, can be of assistance.-

I thought about it for a moment and then gave my spirit guide a mental nod. “I will ask her about it, hopefully she is capable of doing it and I will have enough coin for those and the other enchantments that I need to get to get. The enchanter in Loden did say that we could probably come to an arrangement for allowing Lady Arinade to study Neva’kul and my armor. That pouch I found the keys in had a small fortune in it as well, even split equally between the adult members of the troupe. At the very least, we should not have to worry about lean times for a while.”

Taking Kalara by the hand, I led her to our wagon’s small privy and sat her down until she finished her business. At least she seemed to have been taught to use a chamber pot since that had been the only thing in her cage aside from her and a thin covering of hay on the floor. She nearly jumped off the privy when I gently took her hand and showed her to trace the rune drawn on the wall beside her to activate the cleansing spell.

I could not blame her since I had nearly done the same time when I first used it, another of those little luxuries that the Voyagers had come up with to make their lives on the road easier. The rune was an enchantment tied to the privy and when traced, it would activate a spell what would cleanse the undercarriage of the person sitting there. It tickled a bit and took some getting used to, but it was far easier and more convenient and sanitary than using leaves or moss to wipe down there.

I smiled and nodded once the spell had quickly run its course and then I let her up, we left the privy, and I took her to the basin where I washed both our faces and hands. The poor girl needed a proper bath and some clean clothes to wear, but this would do for now and I would see Zenna about clothes for Kalara after breakfast. Once we were done, I summoned my armor, took Neva’kul in hand, and led Kalara toward the door so we would not wake Vesha and Master Nirlyn, who needed more sleep than we Fae did.

The Elfin girl seemed curious about the sleeping Ravieri and Salamander but not afraid. She had been the same with them last night, even allowing Vesha to hold her in my place for a short time when I had to leave the fire to us the privy. She looked at Zaiya, sleeping in her box nest as well, and stared in wonder for a moment before I could lead her outside. Zaiya was very cute since she still had her baby down, but I wondered if maybe there was more to it than that. They were both mana-touched so I had to wonder if she could sense that somehow, or the faint sense of magic that was emanating from the owlet.

Shava was waiting outside and poor Kalara immediately clung to my leg. I gently pried her off, knelt down to her level, and told her in as gentle a tone as I could manage, “That is Shava, my cousin. She will not harm you.”

Shava immediately understood what was going on and knelt to Kalara’s height as well, adjusting her headscarf and pulling her hair aside to show off her pointed ear. Then she pointed to the young Elf’s ear and said, “We are both Fae.” Being a quarter Elf helped since, like her mother, Shava had ears that were a little longer and even more pointed than most Voyagers. Kalara still seemed a bit wary and uncertain, but at least she stopped clinging so tightly to my leg.

The child watched as Sharai put Shava and me through our morning training session, and continued to do so as we did some sparring and our archery practice afterward. She seemed more focused on me than on what I was doing, as if afraid that I would disappear if she lost sight of me. What was it that drew her to me? Perhaps one of her parents or fellow captives was a Faerie as Sharai had suggested.

Once we finished our morning training session, I took Kalara’s hand, and we led her to the fire where those of us who were awake were eating breakfast. It was simple porridge with dried fruit and some tea, but it would be filling and ward off the chill of the cool spring morning. Once again, Kalara looked to me for permission before eating, and sometimes she would reach up to touch her neck for the collar that was no longer there before relaxing. I could not always be sure what had caused those reactions, but most often it was when someone raised their voice a little too high.

I was certain that she had not been treated well by the humans who ran the traveling menagerie and that she expected the same of others who looked human. It made me, Sharai, and all of the members of the troupe who saw this behavior simmer in fury. Were her abusers not already dead, we would have hunted them down and delivered vengeance for her.

Soon Master Nirlyn, Vesha, Daivin, and the half-human children began to arrive for their morning meal and my grandmother left to collect a sleepy-looking Undine from her wagon so she could eat as well. As the others who had already finished their morning meals began to clean up and pack up our camp, I approached Zenna while gently leading Kalara by the hand. Before I could even speak a word, the troupe seamstress smiled at us both and said, “I wager that you’re looking to get some clothes made for little Kalara?”

I nodded and returned the smile. “Aye. I would like to destroy those rags she is wearing as soon as possible, as we did that cursed collar.”

“I thought as much, and I share that sentiment,” Zenna agreed, as she looked Kalara over with a sympathetic look. “It seems as if they treated this poor child like some sort of wild animal.”

“Aye, she was in a cage when we found her with a chamber pot with caged animals as her only companions, and that and these ‘clothes’ are not even the worst of it. It looks and smells as if she has not been bathed in months; she is filthy and her hair is a knotted mess,” I told her with a frown. “And have you seen the way she jumps and reaches for her throat whenever someone raises their voice near her?”

A similar frown painted Zenna’s face as she said quietly, “We will have to be gentle with her and show her what having a family is like. Come with me to my wagon and I will get her measured. I should have something to replace those rags as well; we can burn them before we break camp.”

Zenna was as good as her word. I soon discovered that she had guessed at both of our new guests’ measurements and made simple clothing for both of them in case we needed to deal with humans. For Kalara she had made a basic dark blue dress from kirgen wool cloth after I had taken her to my wagon the night before. I had to hold Kalara’s hand while Zenna measured her, but she was able to get the job done quickly and soon I was able to strip those rags off her and put her in something that looked like it belonged on a person. Immediately after leaving Zenna’s wagon with Kalara in hand, I asked Vesha to give the rags the same treatment that she had given the collar the night before.

The Salamander was happy to do so and since she and Master Nirlyn had finished eating while we were with Zenna, we all headed back to our wagon afterward without sparing the ashes a second glance. While my Master and fellow apprentice worked on getting our two kirgen in the harness, I took Kalara inside and let her help me feed Zaiya. The owlet seemed as interested in Kalara as the Elvish girl was in Zaiya and I tried to show Kalara to be gentle with her by example since she could not understand my words. I did speak too, but it would likely be a while before Kalara could understand what I said or respond in kind.

Soon we were on the road once again, though we did stop by the remains of the caravan to pick up the saleable goods that Master Nirlyn, Vesha, and I had not been able to carry back to camp after our search and clearing the debris to the side so the road could be traveled. We would have to tell someone in Hindra about the incident so they could have people come and do a proper cleanup and keep an eye out for any animals that might have escaped, but Master Nirlyn and my grandparents would likely handle that. I stayed in the wagon with Kalara while the goods were loaded since I did not want to traumatize her any further.

It did not take long before we were on our way again and for the remainder of the day, Kalara refused to leave my side. First, she watched in fascination as Vesha and I practiced playing our various instruments and sang. The sounds that the different instruments made left her enraptured and she tried to touch a few of them. The majority of our instruments were too delicate though and most of them were Master Nirlyn’s, not ours. We did not want to allow her to touch them until we were certain that she understood that she needed to be gentle with them. Perhaps I could find something suitable for her in Hindra if she kept that interest.

She watched during my lessons with Master Nirlyn after Vesha relieved her on the driver’s bench as well. The lessons in reading, writing, and the basics of reading and playing sheet music took a little more focus than practicing, but Master Nirlyn managed to keep Kalara distracted by pulling out a small wooden box of cloth dolls and wooden toys that Vesha had played with as a child. She engaged the young Elf in play and once she was lost in playing, my Master was there to guide my lessons more personally.

After the troupe stopped for lunch, Kalara was tired enough that I was able to place her in my cot for a nap. Fortunately, she was asleep by the time that we were underway and Korine joined us for basic lessons on the theory behind magic in general and spellsinging in particular. This was something I was eager to learn, especially since Neva’kul was a mageblade and Faeries are usually gifted with magic. Even Sharai admitted that she would have known a lot more if she had tried to apply herself to it rather than focusing solely on the art of the sword.

Kalara was not happy when it was my turn to take over on the driver’s bench. She seemed to think that I was leaving and threw a tantrum until I took her with me to the small door behind the driver’s bench and showed her that I would be just outside and that Vesha and I were merely trading places. They later told me that she did calm down after that since she was curious about Vesha and Master Nirlyn. They got her more comfortable around them by allowing her to gently touch the more obvious features of their respective species and then got her playing again so Vesha could focus on her lessons.

Still, she sat in my lap and practically clung to me during dinner and afterward, when I returned to our wagon to change into my ‘clothes’ for dance practice. Her eyes went wide when Selice emerged from her own wagon clad similarly and then changed into my twin before her eyes. Then she watched in awed fascination as Selice attempted to teach Shava and me how to dance, her eyes darting from me to Selice the entire time as if wondering why there were now two of me.

After dinner, I had Kalara help me feed Zaiya and then spent some time playing with both of them until Kalara started getting drowsy. I put her in my bed to rest and then spent some quality time cuddling with Vesha and talking with her and Master Nirlyn about how the day had gone and what we could do to make things easier for Kalara and the rest of us as well. “How did you manage to raise Vesha while being a Journeyman? Taking care of a child all day while on the road is hard,” I finally said tiredly.

“It gets easier wi’ time,” Master Niryln admitted. “Tha’ an’ I ‘ad the whole troupe t’ help, an’ it was a lot bigger back then. Vesha wasn’t as clingy or scared o’ people as Kalara either, an’ she was a baby when we found ‘er so she was used t’ the troupe by that age. Once we can communicate. it’ll get easier, I think. ‘Til then, be grateful she’s no’ runnin’ off an’ gettin’ into trouble like Vesha did when she was that age.”

The next couple of days followed a similar course, until late in the afternoon two days later, not long after I took over for Vesha on the driver’s bench. We topped a ridge and there it was, laid before us in all of its splendor. I had never seen the ocean before and the vast blue expanse of the bay seemed to stretch off endlessly and sparkled like diamonds beneath the afternoon sun, dotted by what seemed like hundreds of ships of various makes and sizes.

Where the sea met land there was a large valley containing a city that dwarfed even Majair in size, bigger than I had even believed could ever be possible. From the shores, riddled with docks and yet more ships, the city spread throughout the valley and up the slopes. East of the gargantuan city, on the side of a steep cliff overlooking the bay, there was a palace made of white stone that shone and rivaled the sea for my attention in the afternoon light. Even as we descended the slope toward the city, I could see a dozen distinct spires rising from that castle into the sky, as if in challenge, with their bright blue and gold flags flapping in the wind. We had arrived at Hindra, the capital of Kalidar.