OK, first things first... I realized at some point while writing this chapter that I've been spelling Trunswick as Turnswick. oops. sorry. Second thing; I realized that this is technically supposed to be January—therefore WINTER. I'm not rewriting the chapters, so lets just assume that its been a warm winter in Erdas like it has been this year. For those of you reading on FFN, there will be a total of 20 chapters that I have planned.

I do not know when the next chapter will be up, sorry.

-owl

Rollan and Tarik entered the house of Isilla a little before the sun set properly. Isilla was waiting at the dining table, a full spread of food in front of her. Three spots were set with plates and glasses. Tarik and Rollan took the two empty table settings, smiling in thanks at Isilla. She smiled back and they all ate together.

When they were done eating, Isilla showed them to her two spare rooms. Tarik nodded a goodnight to both of them before closing his door.

"He seems troubled," Isilla commented as she and Rollan continued down the hall. "I wonder why."

Rollan shrugged. "The earl, I think, was quite rude to him, and pushed their meeting out until tomorrow."

Isilla nodded, stopping next to a door. "That makes quite a bit of sense. Earl Trunswick is a nasty piece of work. Anyway, this will be your room. Sleep well."

"Thank you," Rollan called to Isilla's retreating back as she made her way to her own room.

Inside the room he had been given was a simple single bed and nightstand framed by the window. On one wall was a desk and the other had a chest. He set down his traveling pack on top of the chest and laid his cloak on top of that. The next thing he did was open the window, so Essix could come in whenever she chose to.

Essix must have been outside, waiting, while Rollan was changing because as soon as he was wearing his sleep pants, she swooped into the room. Perching on the back of the chair at the desk, she tucked her head under her wing and seemed to go to sleep. Once in bed, Rollan fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Rollan woke up to a knock on his door. Sunlight streamed into the room through the window, making pretty patterns across the bed and desk. The knock came again, louder this time.

"Rollan," Tarik's voice filtered through the door. "We need to return to the manor."

Rollan rolled out of his bed and walked over to open the door. "Do I have to come with you?" he asked. "I'm not even going to be allowed in the meeting anyway."

With the door open, Rollan could see what Tarik was wearing: a nice pair of trousers and shirt. His green cloak had been, not washed but rather dusted off, making it a stronger green than it had been the previous day.

"I guess you could stay here and help Isilla with whatever she might need to do," he said after giving Rollan a long, measuring, look. "I'm not sure when I'll be back, hopefully by noon. I am hoping to leave tomorrow morning."

"Ok."

Tarik gave Rollan a nod before walking back down the hallway.

Twenty minutes later Rollan was dressed and wearing his gray cloak. He meandered out of his room and towards the modest kitchen in the house. Isilla was already there, dressed for the day and cooking what looked like scrambled eggs for breakfast. She looked up with a smile when she heard Rollan enter the room.

"Good morning," she greeted cheerily, her goldfinch tweeting what was more than likely an echo of her bonded's greeting.

Rollan returned her smile easily, as well as the greeting. Essix then swooped in through the open window, perching on his shoulder, in an odd sort of mockery of Isilla and her goldfinch. "How did you sleep?" Rollan asked, taking a seat at the table where two places were set. "And I'm sorry I didn't ask before, but what's the name of your goldfinch?"

Isilla placed the pan of cooked eggs on the table in between the two plates and took the other chair. While serving Rollan, she answered his questions. "I slept both better and worse. It's nice to have guests, it breaks up the monotony of living alone. The flip side of that is of course, that I'm not used to it and hearing you snore throughout the night was not what I'm used to." She paused for a minute, reaching up her hand to carefully stroke the goldfinch, perched on her water glass, with a single finger. "Her name is Sunndach, which means cheerful in the village where I was raised."

At the sound of her name, Sunndach trilled a high note into the room.

Essix cocked her head and let out her own trilling note. Her notes, though loudly powerful, were nowhere near as harmonious as Sunndach's. Soon enough the two birds left the room and continued their singing battle in the open air above the city.

Rollan and Isilla laughed at the birds as they ate their breakfast.

"It's been so long since I've heard Sunndach singing like this," Isilla said a few minutes later.

Rollan nodded. "That's good that she seems to be making friends with Essix." he shoveled another bit of eggs into his mouth before continuing. "What are our plans for today? Tatrik said I'd be helping you with whatever you need."

"I need to go to the market and get more groceries," Isilla answered, taking the last bit of her eggs and getting up to wash her plate.

Rollan also got up, bringing his plate also to wash it.

Once the plates were clean and Isilla had found her 'market basket,' the pair left the house and made their way to the market. It was still early enough in the day that there weren't many people in the streets. For the most part it was just small children, playing with fake swords or daggers. Occasionally there would be a slightly older kid with them, more often that not with the really little kids, though.

They made it to the market and were able to get all their shopping done quickly. Rollan had quite a bit of fun shopping with real money rather than stealing from the stalls like he had at home in Concorba. Isilla seemed content to let him run about, only occasionally steering him in the correct direction when he got them turned around completely.

Throughout their time in the market, Rollan had a feeling from Essix that she was watching over him from above. Every once in a while he would hear a screech or a sudden gust of air would make his hair wave to and fro. She seemed to be happy enough.

Once the basket was full they returned through the streets to Isilla's house. Now, of course, there were many more people in the street, and Rollan had to focus more to not get separated from Isilla. They had already returned to Isilla's home and were putting everything away when Tarik returned. He looked annoyed and worn out, but he offered both of them a smile.

"That bad?" Isilla asked.

Tarik nodded. "That bad," he repeated in agreement.

Isilla chuckled softly. "Why do you think I'm the one stationed here? Olvan hasn't found anyone else who can put up with him yet, and so here I stay, for the Nectar ceremonies."

"Is the earl really—" Rollan started to ask, but was interrupted.

"Yes." Isilla and Tarik spoke in unison, both in a loud, no nonsense, tone.

"I wouldn't have minded 'retiring' and returning to Greenhaven to help with new recruits five years ago," Isilla commented. "But, Olvan has yet to find my replacement for Trunswick's Nectar ceremonies, and it's the biggest town in the area, so the outlying villages all come here for their ceremonies, so it's not like we can abandon this post. It would be detrimental to all the children in the area."

Rollan nodded. "That makes sense."

"Anyway, Rollan," Tarik said, turning to the boy, "we can explore the town together for a while, or you can find something else to do. But make sure that your things are all together so we can leave tomorrow morning."

Rollan nodded again. "Ok. I'm gonna go see what I can find!" Then, with a hasty wave, Rollan left the house for the second time that day. He knew exactly what, or rather who, he was going to try to find.