Nillork Bound

LATER THAT DAY:

A few hours away from Mulvenscroll, the carts and carriage are on the open road and are making their way toward Nillork.

"So Sydna, what's Nillork like?" John asks.

"It's nowhere near as concrete as Mulvenscroll, that's for sure. There are still quite a few buildings, but most of the surrounding land is farmland. We actually supply the most amount of kiorn in Muprosyll. However, things are a bit messed up right now with my brother-in-law being the smallest chode in a bag of dicks at the moment."

Amilia snorts as the joke was definitely intended for her, but the others get a laugh out of it too. A few moments of laughing pass by before Lani says, "I remember you talking about him the first day we arrived. You said it was because he was unhappy with the amount of land he has?"

"Yep. See, my wife took over the family as per her father's wishes, and even though she was the eldest, her brother wasn't too happy that a woman passed him up. Their father's will made sure that each sibling was given a share of land equal to what their father believed they could control. Gilla got the most as she was seen as the most capable. Joana, the youngest of the siblings was given a small amount, but she gave them all to Gilla in exchange for money before moving to Dirhamsworth since she had no interest in running any land. Then there's Owen, the greedy bastard that he is. He has four pieces of territory out of the eleven that make up Nillork."

"Why doesn't Gilla just get her men to kick the shit out of this Owen guy?"

Sydna looks at Amilia before answering. "Because a civil war will only bring more trouble. Yes, Gilla could practically stomp Owen's men, but in the process, she would be inviting any opportunistic nobles to try and usurp her. Unfortunately in disputes like this, it's often the enemies in the shadows that you should be focused on."

"What can we do to help?" Terra asks.

"Short of assassinating him? I don't actually know. Obviously, assassinating him would also cause a plethora of issues, so that's pretty much out of the question." Sydna then thinks for a few moments before continuing, "The only real way we could even kill Owen without repercussions is if he were to attack Central Nillork, and he's too smart to do that unless provoked or fooled into believing he can win."

The cart goes quiet for a few moments as everyone seemingly tries to brainstorm an idea. Eventually, Virra decides to distract everyone for the time being as she asks, "So, what are you gonna do about Kova?"

Synda sighs. "I had hoped that she'd finagle her way out of the visit, but alas, I shouldn't have counted on her, as per usual."

"Why do you hate each other so much? Isn't she your twin?" Lani inquires.

"I'm not the one with the problem. It's her. I found someone I truly love, and she can't handle the fact that I got married before her. I don't even know for certain if it's my sexuality she has a problem with. If that is the case, she'd actually be quite the hypocrite considering one of her circle is in a polygamous gay relationship."

Kyuala then asks, "Have you asked her?"

"Believe me, I tried. Any time that I brought it up, all I got was 'I don't need to explain myself to you.' I even asked the others to try, but they got shut down as well. I wish she would just fucking tell me, so we could either sort it out, or agree to never see each other again. Of course, I don't want the latter to happen, but I won't subject my wife to Kova being an absolute cunt, not after what Kova said about her when I went back the first time."

"Maybe Gilla can pry the reason out of her?" John jokes.

"If anyone could, it would be her." Sydna responds, seemingly getting an idea.

In the carriage behind the cart, Kova sits there with one of the female guards that she trusts. Kova seems to be incredibly deep in thought, looking out of the carriage window. The guard is intrigued by Kova's thinking, and so she asks, "If I may ask Miss Kova, what's on your mind? You seem troubled."

Kova sighs before answering. "I'm being forced to visit the home of my sister and her idiotic wife for a fortnight, of course I'm troubled. Not only that, but I've been hearing rumours of a new bandit group running around. Then there's the fear of being kidnapped like Terra was, and you can understand just how uneasy I am currently feeling."

"That I do, miss. However, we are highly trained soldiers. A group of bandits aren't going to get anywhere close to you. Plus, we also have the Heroes of Reduna'z Gaze ahead of us, and they won't let some scum get their grubby hands on you."

Kova chuffs. "You certainly know how to quell fears. However, it's still the visit that's worrying me the most."

"Why does that worry you?" The guard asks.

Kova looks back out of the window as she seemingly thinks about the answer to the guards question. The memories flash by in an instant before Kova quickly answers. "I have my reasons."

The guard simply accepts the answer, not wanting to press any further.

Kova continues to stare out the window as the hills pass her gaze. Those same memories that flashed by just a moment ago begin to play in full.

A FEW HOURS LATER:

The carts and carriage have come to a stop for a moment as they're having lunch. The lunch itself isn't much, just some salted meats, soup and bread rolls.

A gentle breeze moves throughout the afternoon air as a few bright white clouds litter the purple sky with the sun shining down.

The guards and group are chatter amongst themselves as they refuel for the rest of the day's journey. However, Synda is a little bit away from the group, and John becomes curious as to why she's not with the rest of them. He then heads over with his cup of soup in hand and asks, "Copper for your thoughts?"

Synda snaps out of her own world before responding, "Oh, uhh, I'm just thinking about Gilla."

John becomes concerned as he then sits down before asking, "Are you worried about her?"

"No, no. Gilla is woman enough to handle herself in all matter of problems. I'm more worried about how she'll react to Kova coming to stay for a bit."

"Does Gilla not like Kova?" John asks.

"Not necessarily. However, it's mostly in response to how Kova treats her. That's simply the type of person Gilla is. If you give her respect, she will give it back. On the other hand, if you decide to act like the ass end of a horse, then Gilla will absolutely deck you without hesitation." The duo chuckle, but Synda more so before continuing. "Now, as much as Kova deserves a good right hook, I don't really want our Mother and Father to hear about how my wife viscously attacked our sweet and innocent Kova."

John quickly comments. "Pretty sure they would know the real story regardless."

"Oh, they definitely would, but I still don't wish for it to happen. At least not in front of other people that can testify."

The two laugh once more before looking at the trees ahead. As they look ahead, John asks, "So, how long is the journey to Nillork?"

"Oh, it's around a week at our current pace. It would've been less than a week if all the carriage and other cart were automatic, but the horses do need to rest. Luckily for us, there's quite a few inns between here and Nillork. It's a decently common route, so finding accommodation won't be an issue."

John hears 'a week' of travelling, and is a little annoyed, but is starting to get used to it as he really has no choice. Sydna still sees the look on his face and asks, "What's wrong? Scared of a little travel?"

"Nah, it's just that back home, you can get across the world in a few hours. So, going from that to a few days just to get to another town is a little more annoying to get used to."

"Across the world in a few hours? How in the hells does that even work?" Sydna asks.

The next ten or so minutes go by as John tries to explain the logistics of planes and how they fly, which is admittedly the most barebones explanation you could expect to hear about said subject. However, Sydna is enthralled by the prospect of flight without the use of magic and wishes she could see the phenomenon in person.

John then follows up his explanation by asking, "Do they really not have anything like that here? Surely there's some sort of magic thing that's close to it?"

"Not that I know of. If there is, it'll be in Dirhamsworth. The amount of wealth thrown around there on a daily basis makes the Tarron fortune look like pocket change."

"Man, I really need to visit that place someday." John comments, earning a laugh from Sydna.

"Hey! We're getting ready to go soon! Get your asses on the cart before you get left behind!" Kyuala shouts over to the two, causing them to stand up.

As the two start heading back over to the carts, Synda says, "Thanks for coming over. I needed someone to take my mind off everything."

"No problem. We're gonna be travelling buddies for the next couple days, so if you want to talk again, I'm just a seat away."

Synda smirks as John heads over to Kyuala before quickly pressing his lips onto hers. She then climbs up onto the cart and finds her seat. Virra then climbs onto the drivers bench before asking her sister, "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I am." Sydna says with a smile on her face.

LATER THAT NIGHT:

The group plus the guards and sisters have all found accommodation in a very large inn that easily has a hundred rooms.

Everyone decides that doubling up is the safest course of action. So, the guards begin to double up on rooms, as do the group. The only problem with the doubling, is that Sydna and Kova are the only one's left without a room partner.

"I'm not rooming with her!" Kova adamantly says.

"Kova, it's just for one night. Don't be such a brat!" Sydna scolds, wanting to just get some sleep.

"No! Virra or Terra can share a room with you, but I'm not! It's bad enough I have to stay at your home for two weeks, never mind having to bunk with you!"

The guards and the others all just collectively sigh as the sisters continue to argue back-and-forth. Eventually, Terra has enough of the bickering, and so she grabs Kova and pulls her into the remaining room. "Sydna, go with Amilia. I'll room with Kova to stop this petty squabbling."

Terra then pushes Kova into the room before walking in and closes the door behind her. A few moments later, the others all start to retire to their rooms with the final door to close being Amilia, and now, Sydna's room.

Inside said room, Amilia flops onto her bed and immediately spreads out while Sydna is a little slower to lie on hers. As the latter puts her head on the pillow, all of the frustration from just a few moments prior begins to build within her, making her want to scream.

Amilia quickly provides a distraction as she says, "So... your sister's quite the bitch, huh?"

"Oh believe me, I know." Sydna replies as the anger bubbles within her.

"Maybe she's got something stuck up her ass sideways. That'd make me an annoying cunt all day every day as well."

Synda just laughs at Amilia's nonchalant joke, finally feeling something that isn't festering hatred for someone who is supposedly her twin.

"She never used to be like that, y'know. She actually used to be fun to be around. Every day we'd run around, stealing tarts from the kitchen, talk about the gossip going around school til the sun came up, and generally just did everything together. It was just after I went to Nillork for the first time that she became a huge arsehole. I just thought it was because I went without her, but she went too fucking far the night I got back. Kova's lucky that Erya shouted, because if she didn't, I would've ripped her eye out."

Amilia laughs. "Man, I should've come to this place sooner. The drama around here is fucking great." Amilia then starts to laugh again which causes Synda to chuckle for a few moments as well.

After Amilia's laughter begins dying down, she then turns to Synda. "Listen, doll. Back when we were getting a tour of your folks' place, we got the rundown about what happened between you and Kova from the old guy. Uhh, shit, what's his name again? Rimmer?"

"Remar." Synda answers.

"Yeah, that's it, Rimmer. Anyway, while he was telling us about it, I remembered about similar situation from a few years back with Ky. See, I was feeling like she was leaving my ass in the dust. She had a guy she really liked, and the Kauldron started pulling in some good money. Me, on the other hand, I was getting drunk before nightfall and screwing every dick that was half-decent for some coins. Ky didn't need me any more, and I knew it. So, because of that, I became jealous as fuck. I ended up screwing Ky's guy just to spite her, and in the process, lost literally everything I had. All of that happened because I got in my own head about Ky leaving me behind. So, maybe... that's what's happening with your sister."

Sydna's mind is blown by Amilia's story with the explanation actually making sense. Sydna then thinks back to Kova's whole outburst the night that Sydna returned from her original excursion to Nillork. The whole 'you ruined everything' outburst really echoes in her mind after hearing Amilia's story. However, the second part of that outburst also remains quite loud in her mind. 'Your betrothal is disgusting! She's just a broken-in whore that was passed on by all the other nobles!' It all just simultaneously confuses and enrages Synda more and more.

Eventually, Amilia distracts Sydna from her thoughts as the cat says, "Well, I'm gonna hit the hay, hope you don't mind me sleeping naked."

Amilia then does as she said she would, and begins to strip down. Sydna quickly averts her eyes, but is amused at Amilia's carefree attitude.

As Amilia then gets into her bed, Sydna then begins to strip down to her underwear, dumping her clothes onto her backpack before lying back on the bed.

Six more days of travelling lay ahead of the group. Which means two weeks and six more days of Sydna having to deal with Kova. Sydna just sighs, seeing just how much of a pain Kova is going for the entire duration of the trip not that long ago.

Sydna's eyes then feel heavy, and after what already felt like a long day, drifts off to sleep.

SIX DAYS LATER:

Bitching, moaning, complaining and even more of all three can be used to describe how the current day has been going for the group. However, it's not just today that's been an issue. Every day since departing has been a nightmare with Kova complaining about literally everything she can fucking think of. She's complained about hunger, thirst, bumpy roads or that it was too hot or too cold. She even complained about it smelling like manure when they started passing by the farmland.
Eventually, everyone would finally get a break from her complaining as they got onto the final road towards Central Nillork.

John looks around and begins to feel a little déjà vu from his arrival in Reduna'z Gaze, minus the trekking in barefoot. He looks around, seeing that the buildings are more similar to Mulvenscroll, but the architecture itself is vastly different. The bricks themselves are much bigger than Mulvenscroll's buildings making these buildings much thicker.

"Appreciating the dwarven architecture, I see." Sydna says.

John quickly replies, "Oh, yeah. I was just shocked at how different the buildings here look. Back home, once you've seen one building, it feels like you've seen them all, minus a few exceptions."

Sydna laughs. "Well, just wait until you see the interiors. Elves are unmatched when it comes to woodwork. You'd think you were living in a hollowed-out tree, for the most part anyway. The newer buildings aren't as polished as the originals, but they're still much better than your average building in any other town."

"Fun fact about dwarven architecture." Lani quickly chimes in. "They use thicker bricks because their homeland of Kravk has a lot of volcanos, which in turn, causes a lot of earthquakes. So, centuries ago, they made the buildings thicker to circumvent the quaking so the buildings wouldn't crumble."

"Also, elves began hollowing out and living in trees because they believed that building houses was unnatural. So, they decided to just use older trees to continue the circle of life, so to speak." Terra adds.

"Where's the elven homeland?" John asks.

"Difficult to really say." Terra quickly answers. "Some claim that the Ancient Forest of Elhdahn were the origin point of all elven kind, but others debate the Faded Plains of Rhuon was the birth point."

"What do you think?"

Terra then thinks about John's question for just a moment. "I don't really think it matters much. I was born in Mulvenscroll, and thus, that's where I'm from."

"Even if one of them were the birth place, it wouldn't matter much now." Lani starts. "The Ancient Forest was apparently scorched during a war that happened not long after people started recording history. It's called the War of Scales and Light. Some don't believe it actually happened, but there's no way we could truly know." Lani then gets an idea. "Actually, maybe you could ask your friends the next time you see them!"

John is immediately confused about the friends line, but he quickly realizes that she's talking about the angels. Sydna however, doesn't know anything about that as she asks, "Do you have ancient friends or something, John?" Sydna then chuckles at her own question, but the chuckle just makes John nervous.

The carts and carriage eventually get into town, and the difference from Mulvenscroll is even more evident, but the similarities with Reduna'z Gaze continue. The streets are littered with carts peddling what John assumes are fresh fruits and vegetables, at least, he hopes that's what some they are. He then recognizes just a few from his time in the Tarron Manor, so he feels a little more confident about that. There's also some carts that look to be selling meat that are currently sitting in what look to be ice boxes.

As John looks around, he catches a glimpse at Sydna's face and sees that she's as happy as can be. The sight of Central Nillork seems to brought back a gleam in her eye that used to be a murderous one whenever Kova complained about something or other.

Everyone else is decently impressed with the town as well, even Kyuala is seeing the similarities between Reduna'z Gaze and Nillork.

"All these carts, is it always like this, Sydna?" Lani asks.

"Oh gods, yes, but if you think this is a lot, you should see the market. Not a day goes by where that place isn't completely filled with shoppers. You can find literally everything you could need there."

"This place really is beautiful. It's a lot more homey than Mulvenscroll." Terra starts. "Everything there feels so... business orientated, whereas here, it feels less cold-hearted if that makes any sense."

Synda then responds, "That's exactly how Gilla wants it to remain. She wants this town to remain intact as is, instead of just becoming another industrialized concrete jungle. Owen on the other hand, would sell the soul of this place just for a single copper."

"Speaking of, where's this house of yours? As much as I like to ride, my ass has got more splinters than fur at this point." Amilia asks with an somewhat irritated tone.

"It's not too far now. Once we get past the end of the street, you'll see it." Synda answers.

Not long after answering Amilia, happy shouts and cheers are heard as people see Sydna on the cart. People begin offering greetings, waves and even some offer some food from their carts, rushing up to Synda to give her some of their produce. Synda happily accepts the warm welcome, waving back to all the happy children, greeting the townsfolk she's grown attached to over the years, and graciously accepts the items given to her, all with a genuine smile on her face.

A small child then runs up to the cart. "Miss Synda! Welcome back! Are you coming to the theatre tonight?"

"Maybe tomorrow, Chaile. I'm going to spend today at home. I've been travelling for a week now, and I wish to rest in my own bed for a bit."

"Okay! I'll see you tomorrow!" Chaile says as he begins to jog away. "I'm playing the wizard!"

Sydna smiles. "I can't wait to see it. Have a good day!"

As the boy runs away, Sydna's smile is almost shining as bright as the Sun. Terra sees the smile and can't help but feel happy for her sister, seeing her feel so at home was heart-warming, and Terra is glad that she finally got the chance to see it.

The cart gets to the end of the road and turns to the right, and that's when they see the Markana House. It's obviously a lot smaller than the Tarron Manor, but the Markana House is definitely the jewel of Central Nillork.

At the front of the house is a small roundabout which the carts and carriage goes around before stopping in front of the gates before the group disembark from their transportation.

The gates soon open, seemingly by themselves which actually surprise the group, minus Synda who knows about the gatekeeper who controls the gate. Immediately beyond the gate is a large fountain that shares a resemblance with a dolphin-like creature that shoots water out of its mouth.

As they pass the fountain, they all gawk at the very neatly trimmed bushes, some trimmed in unique ways that look like replacements for statues. The group aren't quite sure what they're supposed to look like, but they look nice, so that's really what matters in the end.

They continue walking up the path, heading towards the large red double doors that stand ahead. As they get around fifteen or so feet away from the entrance, the doors almost swing open and a lone figure stands there, immediately eyeing the group.

Most of group are confused, but Sydna, Virra and Kova know exactly who said person is.

"Honey! You're finally home!"