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Rhel came to with a start, and sat bolt upright. She remembered floating in a black expanse, and then–colliding with something? And before that, the headaches, and Nethe's warning… she was in a blue and gold room, and before her stood a robed figure, who appeared to be averting their eyes.
"My apologies, madam," said the figure. "This is rather difficult to explain, but if you'll just hold still I'll make you solid, and then-"
"You'll what ?!?" Rhel only then realized that her body appeared to be translucent. And naked . "Is this your doing?"
"Er, yes. Now, do hold still." He waved his staff, doing what exactly she couldn't tell, and sure enough, she could see herself again. "I believe an explanation is in order, but I'm sure you'd like to be properly clothed first-"
Rhel leapt to her feet and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him.
"Do you have any idea how worried Nethe is? Two of her friends collapsed, and now me! Do someth-"
The hooded man raised his staff and she found herself pushed back by a clear dome-some sort of magick, no doubt.
“Now, I fully understand your frustration, but I really do ask that you put on some clothes.” He yanked his hood back in place, then took a few steps back, staff still extended, and rapped on the door.
“Milord?” It was a woman’s voice.
“We have another visitor–a mystel woman. Find her some suitable clothing, would you?”
“Yes, milord.”
As they spoke, Rhel finally thought to cover herself with her hands. Really, what had she been thinking? As ever, she had a short fuse where Nethe was concerned, but to lay hands on an armed man? Surely not her wisest choice.
The hooded man, still standing by the door with his staff at the ready, said, “I assure you that I mean you no harm, and that this is all a terrible mistake, which I will do my utmost to rectify. Can I trust you not to attack me?”
“I’d gain little by it,” said Rhel. “Yes, I’ll keep my cool.”
“Very good,” said the man. “I am called the Crystal Exarch, and-”
A knock came at the door, and he opened it to let in a tall woman–viera, with gray hair and ears, armed and armored. She bore a bundle of cloth. Rhel liked the looks of her immediately.
The viera took the Exarch’s tense posture and raised an eyebrow. “Milord, was there some trouble?”
He shook his head and seemed to relax. “No, nothing of note. I’m sure our visitor will be in a better mood once she is clothed.”
“Very well.” The viera held out her bundle of cloth, giving Rhel a dubious look, and Rhel accepted it.
The clothes, a long tunic, loose trousers, and soft shoes, were similar to those that might be offered to a novice mage–she’d seen young thaumaturges wear the like–but the loose cut meant that they fit well enough. She pulled them on and turned to the Exarch.
“You’d best explain yourself. Where are we, and why am I here?”
The Exarch, having treated her to a lengthy explanation and many excuses, but no solutions, summoned his guard again and introduced her as Lyna.
“You’ll no doubt want something to eat, and a place to rest,” he said. “Lyna will make the arrangements, and perhaps introduce you to our other visitors, if they are available.”
She dutifully followed Lyna out of the building and down the broad stairs that separated it from the adjoining plaza. Once they reached the bottom, she looked behind her.
“Huh. That really is the Crystal Tower. That is, we’ve one much the like, in… er, the Exarch’s homeland.” That last, she added for Lyna’s benefit.
“So I have heard.”
“So, these visitors. Y’shtola and uh… Thancred? Are those the ones?” She’d had a visit from a teary-eyed Nethe just the day before, before her headaches began, telling her of her friends’ collapse. Rhel knew that Nethe harbored more than friendly feelings towards Y’shtola, but also that she had not told her. Of Thancred she knew less–she rather suspected that Nethe and Thancred were not nearly so close.
“You are well-informed,” said Lyna. “I believe that Thancred is away at the moment, but Y’shtola may be here, if you would like to meet her. She arrived some months ago.”
“I would like that.”
Lyna guided Rhel through the Crystarium, offering explanations on various sights along the way, until they reached the markets. Lyna stopped mid-explanation and gestured towards a short miqo’te with white-blond hair waiting in line in from of one of the counters.
“There she is. Let me introduce you. Y’shtola?”
Y’shtola turned to look at them, and Rhel scrutinized her face, trying to see what Nethe saw in her. She was certainly pretty, but-
“Lyna? What brings you here?” She raised an eyebrow at Rhel. “And who’s this?”
“Rhel Zhwan. I’ve just arrived from the Exarch’s homeland.”
“I was showing her around the Crystarium, but the Exarch thought that you might like to meet her.”
“He was correct,” said Y’shtola, “provided you don’t mind meeting over dessert. This stand sells the most divine vanilla tart.”
“Oh,” said Rhel, realizing that she was rather hungry, and had no idea how long it had been since last she ate, “that does sound lovely. But I’m afraid I’ve no money.”
“Ah, as to that… the Exarch bade me give you this,” said Lyna, handing over a coin pouch. “The local currency is gil, which I’m told you will find most familiar. You’re to let the Exarch know should you need any more, though of course you are also free to seek work.”
Rhel hefted it, then attached it to her belt. By her guess, it contained at least a few thousand gil, enough that she need not worry about food for a week or two, assuming that lodging was provided. “He said he’d arranged for a room?”
Lyna nodded. “At the Pendants. You’ve only to say you’re his guest, they’ll have it ready by the time you arrive. Y’shtola can show you the way, I should think.”
“Of course,” said Y’shtola. “I’m very much interested in what Rhel has to say.”
A few minutes later, they were ensconced in Rhel’s new room in the Pendants with tea and vanilla tart spread before them.
Y’shtola let her enjoy only a few bites of tart and sips of tea before asking, “The Exarch led us to believe that the reason we were summoned here, in Nethe’s place, was our closeness to her. If you don’t mind, what is your relationship to Nethe?”
“You waste no time,” said Rhel, putting down her fork. “Of course, I’d heard as much from Nethe.”
She looked Y’shtola up and down, and decided that, since Nethe seemed to trust her so deeply, she would do the same.
“The thing is, Nethe’s my oldest friend. She’s also the bane of my existence, and not just because of today. We grew up together, in an orphanage. So to put it simply…”
“She’s family?” asked Y’shtola, raising an eyebrow.
“Exactly. She visited me just the other day. She’s worried sick about you. And me too, now, I suppose. How’re we going to get home?”
“If I had an answer for you, I would already have returned to the Source, believe me,” said Y’shtola.
“The Exarch says he’ll find a way, but I don’t trust him one bit,” said Rhel.
“I, too, find him suspicious, but everyone here holds him in very high regard. Everyone else who knows him does, as far as I can discern.”
“I think he’s hiding his face for a reason. Maybe Nethe knows him, and for some reason he doesn’t want her to know that.”
“But still, to hide for nearly a century, just for that?”
“Well, it also adds to his look of a mysterious and powerful sorcerer, which he probably needs.” She laughed. “I mean, he’s pretty short, even for a miqo’te.”
“What makes you so sure he’s a miqo’te?” Y’shtola’s gaze was piercing.
“He’s got clan marks,” said Rhel with a laugh. “I was so mad when I got here that as soon as he made me solid again I shook him until his teeth rattled. He also has red eyes, which put me in mind of the poor fellow who locked himself in the Crystal Tower, though I never met him myself.”
“G’raha Tia, if I recall correctly,” said Y’shtola. “I like your gumption, though that may have been unwise.”
“Oh, it was. Nethe could tell you I’m one to leap before I look. But what’s done is done, and I expect, from what Nethe has told me, that you’re one who likes to have all the facts. And seeing as she also trusts you… I would propose a partnership of sorts.”
Y’shtola raised an eyebrow. “Go on.”
“Any information we find that could help us, or Nethe when she arrives, we share. You’re an academic–I don’t doubt you’ve been scouring that library top to bottom. Me, I’m not much for books, but I am a miner by trade. If I can find employment as such, it’ll give me a good excuse to come and go, and to mix with the workers and townsfolk. I might just hear something–about the Exarch, or this world–that you wouldn’t.”
“It’s not a bad plan. I accept,” said Y’shtola, offering her hand over the table.
Rhel shook it.
“I am curious, though, what was Nethe like as a child?”
“That wasn’t part of the deal,” said Rhel, “but I might tell you, in exchange for stories of her adventures.”
Y’shtola smiled over her tea. “I suppose that’s fair. What would you like to know?’