Chapter 191: Familiar Pendant

The letters consisted of two sheets of heavy paper. The first contained enough compliments to make her district the second. The Argent Vanguard commended her resourcefulness, adaptability, and remarkable composure under adverse conditions. They also expressed particular interest in the versatility of her Class.

Misha read that phrase twice, then she lowered the page.

"They watched me nearly get killed and decided I would be good at solving their problems." She looked toward Elyes. "That’s flattering, in a diseased sort of way."

"They’re offering support. Read the conditions."

She did. The promised support included repairs, discounted supplies, access to guild accommodation, and a monthly allowance that looked respectable until she reached the obligations beneath it; exclusive operation service, mandatory participation in assigned expeditions, and disclosure of capabilities relevant to party coordination.

"Disclosure." She tapped the line with one finger. "That’s a very tidy word."

"People fighting beside you need some idea of what you can do."

"Some idea," Misha agreed. She followed the paragraph down to the smaller test at its bottom. "Apparantly they would also like to know what I can’t do, how often, under which conditions, and whether my abilities can be made available to other members."

Nyxie’s wooden fingers curled against her skirt. One of them caught in the fabric, and she tugged it free with an impatient little jerk. "They can find their own dead people."

Misha’s mouth twitched. She folded the first sheet over the second, concealing the terms.

"The Meridian Compact proposed sponsorship rather than membership," Elyes said. "Merchants, and useful contact. Their gifts usually expect something back."

She swallowed her bread. It had gone slightly dry while she was reading, and she reached for the tea. "What did they want?"

"Public associating with their equipment suppliers." Sebastian drew a smaller envelope beneath the tray. "They mentioned your cloak."

Misha looked down at Hearthkeeper, draped over the arm of her chair. The distinctive stitching caught the light near her shoulder, as though the garment was pleased with all the attention it had caused.

"Of course they did." She took the second envelope and left it unopened. "This thing has a more promising career than I do."

Nyxie pushed herself upright on the cushion. Elyes steadied it with one hand, earning a quick suspicious glance before she decided the assistance was acceptable.

"You could charge them for staring," Nyxie suggested. "Enough people do it. We might as well profit."

"I’d have to let them keep staring then." Misha tore off another piece of bread.

Elyes watched her for a moment. Then he looked toward Sebastian, who seemed to understand the glance without needing anything said. He withdrew, closing the door softly behind him.

For a little while, Misha ate. Nyxie attempted to drag a biscuit onto the cushion, discovered it weighed more than expected, and accepted Elyes’ assistance with visible resentment. He broke it into smaller pieces without commenting. She selected the largest one and held it as though she had won an argument.

Misha highly doubted that a wooden doll could taste anything in the first place. Which only raised the more important question: why had Nyxie even tried to eat it?

"The recruitment attempts will increase soon," Elyes said, interrupting her thoughts. "The Ashmoor Crown Trials begin in four days."

Misha finished chewing before looking at him. "What’s that?"

Across the cushion, Nyxie’s head turned so quickly that Elyes caught her by the back of the dress before she tipped over.

"The Arena event?" She slapped his finger away once her balance returned. "That’s already happening?"

"Registration has been open for a week." Elyes released her dress and smoothed the creased fabric with one absent movement. "Most of the larger guilds send scouts."

Misha had begun to recognize the tone he used when a question was being approached from several cautious directions.

"No," she said as she reached for her tea.

"I haven’t asked yet."

"You are arranging the furniture around it."

Elyes looked at her over his cup. He let that pass, which made Misha feel slightly more childish than a clever answer would have.

"I thought you might want to enter. There are prizes, and the purse would cover a fair amount of new equipment cost. Especially if you’re going to have a child to take care of."

Misha hesitated. He was not entirely wrong. If she intended to leave Carl here, then she needed to make sure he had enough money to manage on his own in case House Faust ever decided to turn him away. It was the worst-case scenario, and one she did not expect to actually happen.

Still, expecting kindness and depending on it were two different things.

She wanted Carl to have enough that, even if everything went wrong, he would not be trapped simply because he had nowhere else to go.

"How fair an amount?"

"Enough to buy another house here. Participation also gives you somewhere to meet guild representatives with official presents. If you decide to hear any of them."

Nyxie raised one hand. The motion was so earnest that Misha briefly imagined a much younger woman sitting in a classroom, desperate to be called upon.

"I would like to enter," she announced. "I assume there’s no size requirement."

"How do you expect to fight others in that body? Prick them with a needle?" Elyes smirked.

"Ely!"

Misha covered her mouth with the rim of her cup. Nyxie noticed anyway, and the tiny glare she received only made it harder to swallow her laughter.

Before Misha could open her mouth to defend herself, the sitting-room door opened.

Astrid stepped inside with a folded booklet gripped in one hand. She stopped when she saw them looking at her. Her red ponytail was becoming loose near the nape, and there was a smear of dark ink along the side of her thumb.

"Sorry." She looked toward the table, then Elyes. "Are you busy?"

"We’re discussing whether I should let strangers hit me for money," Misha replied.

Astrid pressed her thumb against the booklet’s fold, leaving a small stain on the pale cover.

"I’m entering the Crown Trials." Her eyes came back to Misha, and stayed there. "I’ve already put my name down. I wanted to tell you first."

Misha was genuinely surprised. She had never taken Astrid for the type who would willingly enter the Arena just for the sake of fighting other people. Unless, of course, she had another reason for wanting to join.

Astrid approached the table. She passed the booklet to Misha without sitting, one hand remaining beneath it until Misha had a proper grip.

"The prize collection." Her voice caught slightly on the last word. "Page nine."

Misha turned through polished illustrations of weapons, enhancement materials, and equipment displayed against plain background. Everything had been arranged to look clean, valuable, and worth getting hurt for.

On the ninth page, beneath an ornate dagger and a case of enhancement stones, lay a necklace. A dull silver pendant hung from a dark braided cord, its oval face engraved with a tree whose roots curled around the lower edge.

The caption identified it as a Dawnpion Necklace (SR). It increased resistance to mental interference, and its active effect «Clear Mind», could dispel one instance of fear, confusion, or hallucination once every twenty-four hours.

Misha looked up. Astrid was watching her face, her fingers pressed against the edge of the table.

"That was father’s." She pointed without touching the page. "That’s his necklace."

Misha brought the booklet closer. The pendant was modest enough to disappear among the brighter prizes, and the engraving had been worn smooth in several places.

"Are you sure?" She kept her finger beside the image, careful not to cover it.

Astrid’s jaw tightened. She looked toward the window for a moment before leaning across the table.

"There’s a mark on the back." She pointed to the smaller illustration showing the pendant’s reverse. "Below the fastening."

Misha studied it. Three shallow scratches crossed the silver, unevenly spaced, with the last one shorter than the others.

"I made those. I thought I could put my name on it. I got as far as three lines before Mother found me. The cord was replaced too. Mother braided the new one." She pointed beside the pendant’s fastening. "See the pale thread near the clasp?"

A narrow strand ran through the darker cord, almost lost in the printed image. It had been knotted twice where it met the silver.

"He used to put it around my neck when I had nightmares. I gave it back to him every morning."

For a few seconds, nobody spoke. Misha could imagine Mateo crouched beside a bed while his daughter clutched the pendant against her chest.

"Did you ask where it came from?"

Astrid nodded, then paused as she lowered her gaze. "The registration clerk sent me to the prize office. They said the collection had been verified. They wouldn’t tell me who provided it."

"Did you tell them it belonged to your father?" When she asked, Misha already disliked the answer taking shape on Astrid’s face.

"Yes.... They asked whether I had a record of ownership. I asked whether I could buy it." She finally pulled out the chair beside Misha and sat. "They said it had already been committed to the event."

"We can request a private inspection," Elyes suggested. "At least we’d be able to examine it properly."

Nyxie nodded. "Then we steal it before anyone notices."

Everyone turned toward her. She looked between them, her small wooden hands resting innocently in her lap. "What? We can do that, right?"

Elyes rubbed his brow and let the question pass. "I’ll try to arrange the inspection. I can’t promise they’ll release the necklace, so you should keep your place in the tournament while we ask."

Misha leaned back in her chair, looking at Astrid before her gaze returned to the prize list. "Then I’d better enter too. If both of us compete, we have a better chance of getting it."