74th of Frost, Year 119
He dropped his bag onto the ground. The leather satchel, wrapped around his shoulder with a well-crafted band, slumped onto the paneled wooden flooring with a light, almost inaudible thud.
"Isn't it incredible?" one of the women asked. As Elduweyn had stayed behind, it was him, Elandria, Rhylor and Eleanor. The two women were often called Elan and Ellen, known for their sisterhood; they uncompromisingly went wherever they did together, the dearest of friends. The Siltori could not help but admit some level of jealousy at this -- as he had not been able to require the same treatment between himself and Riven, though he knew that logically it was an entirely different affair.
He was the strongest one among all of them. The best bladesman, the best Pyromancer. So of course, as they had come here to combat a Dranoch cell, he would be the one most required. He still got that. It didn't make the unfairness of it lessen much, but at least he couldn't call it illogical.
"It is!" Eleanor replied. "I absolutely adore the fireplace. We've never had such a quaint residence. Who provided this place to us? Certainly not the Remedy... Aldrin is..."
"Not quite bathing in farthings," Rhylor replied. The two women both nodded their heads.
"An anonymous benefactor," Elandria said. "Or would have been, had I not acquired the original envelope from the registrar's office. Her name... Éloise. Apparently she's--"
"Oh Gods," Taelian replied, biting his lower lip. The realization was immediate: Éloise had brought him here. She must have been the one to arrange this entire thing; all for what? He wondered. It would've been the simple answer to say that she wished to draw him closer to her influence, but he could not know if that was the simple truth. It almost felt arrogant of him to try believing that.
"What, Tael?" Rhylor questioned. The younger Ebon Knight quickly corrected himself, attempting to avoid suspicion.
"Nothing," he softly answered, clearing his throat. "I had a strange feeling overcome me. It's... strange; I feel as if my hairs have been standing on end since we got here. It's not as cold as it was in Kalzasi, but... this place feels frigid in nature. Somehow more uninviting than our previous home."
He never thought that he would say anything like that -- considering how much he'd despised the mountainous realm not even a full season ago.
"I agree," Eleanor said quietly. "Grimholdt... well -- it's not grim, but... it feels rather stark. I can't well describe it. Perhaps it's just the overcast we've seen since going south of Kamdin though, and all the dormant trees. You all remember Alfsos, yes? Atinaw's interior is far more beautiful than this, even in the cold seasons. But this city does have a charm, and what charms we haven't seen already, we'll find. Particularly once we've rid it of the Dranoch scourge provoking so many of our worries and woes."
