Legend of Ransera

A young woman of her word, Kala returned the next day, much improved after sound sleep, though she had worried after him. The morning had been spent in a bookshop she knew to have a wide variety of foreign publications. She came to Baudric's room with several in her bag, but when he wasn't there, she had to check with one of the nurses in order to locate him.

For a while, she stood watching him exercise with the orderlies. When she noticed them shivering, she closed her hands and held them up, weaving Earth and Fire into complex, crystalline order. Her hands opened to reveal an elemental lodestone in each hand, glowing with an inner fire.

"Please, take them," she bade the orderlies quietly. "They will put off heat for hours and at least make your watch more comfortable. You can even recharge them by placing them in the coals of your fire at night."

Startled, they thanked her and accepted the small gifts, which were not small in their eyes. She cupped her hands in front of her and wove a simpler weave of Fire and then let her hands drop as a globe of fire and energy pulsed before her, putting off enough heat to make all three of them more comfortable in the cold. She hadn't the wings that made her impervious, though she had the Avialae blood in her veins.

As she watched Baudric exercise, it made her want to return to the Golden Peacock Theater and rent out one of their dance rooms. There were different sorts of strength, and she had learned how to hone hers. She was more dextrous than she was strong, but there were lean muscles stretched long like a dancer's under her layers of robes. She smiled, imagining Baudric walking gingerly on the sprung floors, trying to follow the exercises that a dancer went through every day.

Her answering smile was warm, and while she might have taken him up on his offer, he decided instead to go inside, so she took his offered and turned to go back inside. The orderlies seemed pleased by this even though her warming globe moved with them and they had her elemental lodestones to keep their hands warm.

"I went through several of my knifework exercises this morning," she said. "This evening, I'll be training with polearms, which are new to me. Different forms, different muscles."

Kala nodded to the bag slung over her shoulder. "I brought you books. I even found one published in the Imperium for me to read."

She had been successful in finding histories from more than one viewpoint, though now she wasn't sure if this would net positive results or not. He had cracked yesterday and nearly come apart, and while he seemed to be in good spirits today, she didn't know how much of that was a brittle front in order to keep himself together. While she was clearly partisan on the side of Kalzasi, it hadn't been her intention to destroy his connection with his homeland. She believed he deserved his freedom and autonomy, but if he didn't want it, if he didn't reach for it, then it wasn't something she felt comfortable thrusting upon him.

And yet exposure to Kalzasern Avialae, the maligned Synnekar, had apparently cracked the door open anyway. But again, she didn't know whether she should seek to wedge it open farther or let him exercise his own agency in the matter. Either way, she felt as though she had to continue being there, a resource and a friendly face to give his days in Kalzasi a common thread, a through-line, or, perhaps, a lifeline when his foundations began to crumble underfoot.

"I'm glad to see you're recovering. Has the doctor said when you might be released?"

"Strange; she ought to have plenty of Avialae patients working in Kalzasi. I don't suppose there's anything significantly different between Kathar and Synnekar, at least anatomically speaking. Although, I suppose there would be some differences as they have become two distinct breeding pools." It might have seemed strange for a woman to speak in such terms, but they were in a hospital and she had a broad education. Science, magic, art, and all—she hadn't specialized, which was perhaps why her brother was the superior warrior and elementalist.

"In any case, that is good news. I will be here tomorrow and the next day, so if you are discharged, I can walk you to my home." She paused. "In case she admonishes you not to fly quite yet." But she smiled at the rib he got in on the orderly; he wasn't a prisoner, but his outbursts had put them on edge enough to keep him watched. He wouldn't be watched if he took her up on her offer of hospitality, though the servants would be mindful if he needed anything.

Sitting in the lobby, she made herself comfortable and let her heating element slowly fade, just cutting off the flow of aether until it burned itself out.

"As for the books, I will leave them here in case you get bored. I can tell you are chafing at your bed rest. There's a bit of the caged tiger about you today. Anyway, there are books at my home as well. Some of them stories written purely for entertainment." He needn't have an emotional breakdown every day. She didn't want him to have breakdowns, though perhaps a breakthrough.

She idly wondered how he would like Ceran and Indric if he met them. They were no longer guests at the Cintamani Pavilion; the funds had passed from House Leukos to the Silver Wings and now they had their so-called Barracks in the Commons, but they still came over for meals. They were younger than him, two orphaned Avialae trying to make something of themselves. But while she might wish he would join the Silver Wings, perhaps it were best he didn't meet them. They might remind him of the younglings he cared for, those whom he had been forced to kill in order to survive.

Kala scanned him again quickly, not intrusively. She didn't sense anything demonic, but then she wasn't familiar with such things. She understood ghosts as she had begun to study necromancy in order to understand the creation of their race, to learn to heal, and to put the dead to rest. Summoning was not her bailiwick, and she didn't know if it ever would be. Perhaps, though, she had come to him late in his recuperation and the darkness had mostly been eradicated. She hoped that was it.

"Exalted," she said quietly, thoughtfully. She didn't know if it meant something particular to a Kathar of the Gelerian Imperium.

She laughed quietly.

"Shinsei is often title enough for Talon Novalys. I met him before his ascension and he was humble even for a prince. I don't suppose he would like any more titles, though he will have to get used to them, in the end." As for the rest, she dismissed it with a shrug and a toss of her braids. "You are welcome in my home. If your uniform offends, then it will be a problem for those other people. If you were a stranger, I would offer hospitality in the name of diplomacy. But you are, I think, an acquaintance who could become a friend, and therefore, my hearth is yours."

His sojourn with the Leukos twins at Cintamani Pavilion, however long it might last, could bring unwanted attention to the family, but such things were fickle as the tides and would eventually pass. She wouldn't bring him to Starfall, but he likely wouldn't linger long enough in Karnor to want to go sightseeing anyway.

His tangents gave her more context to understand him, though it might be some time before she could take all the disparate threads and weave any sort of tapestry that looked like the Baudric she knew. Perhaps this was only their third day of acquaintance, but she had seen him vulnerable from the first: needing care, needing touch, needing companionship. She had witnessed the shaking of his faith in the foundation of his self and his understanding of his place in the world.

If anyone whispered behind her back and it got to Great House Briathos, who owned the fealty of her family, they would likely laud her for trying to learn from a scion of the Imperium. If it got back to Talon Novalys, well, he had always respected her, and it didn't seem the normal deference of Avialae men to women.

"I agree," she said simply. "Kindness wherever possible, and treat people with politeness and respect until they give you reason not to. And even then..." She smiled. Perhaps it was a failing of hers, though she would do what must be done whether it was polite or not.

"I'm glad you will join us. There will be space to train, privacy, and companionship if you would like. A small library, as I mentioned." She knew she didn't have to sell him on the idea, but she hoped he would be excited, perhaps see his stay there as a holiday before returning home. At least, it would be more comfortable than the hospital. She was certain there were less comfortable hospitals, but nobody wanted to stay in the hospital longer than necessary.

"As for help, we don't need for anything, but if you see something you want to do, if it will make you feel better about enjoying our hospitality... well, we can negotiate." She winked. Sparring would make Kaus happy; that and talking about books would make Kala happy. But if he didn't want to spar outside of his own, she wouldn't push it at all.