The Butterfly Effect

{-Demery-}

The town was only a couple of hours away from where they’d camped. He could tell it must’ve been one of the largest towns in the area; even in the relatively-early morning it was bustling. It was probably one of the closest, too, between any of the desert’s cities and the plains largely taken up by the Andrea Province. Aither, whether he realized it or not, went in a position so that he was practically guarded by the other four.

“I don’t know exactly where we’ll find her, so we’ll need to ask around,” he mumbled after a couple of minutes wandering the streets.

“Are you sure she’ll even be here?” Demery asked. “You didn’t make it sound like she lived around here. If she doesn’t live here, then there’s not a lot of reason why she would come here regularly.”

Aither gave his answer as if he was reciting memorized facts. “Her master lives an hour away from this town on a secluded patch of land. They’re technically residents of the town but Tandi is really the only one that’s sent out. She often writes to her family, but her master doesn’t actually own any birds to spell, so she comes here. She also handles buying most of the things her master needs…”

“I don’t see how that guarantees that she’ll be here today,” Evelina pointed out.

“Well, to be honest, I don’t exactly know either. Asking around is going to be our only way to know for certain.” He gave it some thought before continuing, “Let’s all stick together, I don’t want someone to find something that everyone needs to be there for. I don’t know how to navigate this town any better than you do, but I don’t think it’ll take us long to get the answers that we’re looking for.”

Koyana didn’t seem to require any more instruction. She walked up to the closest person and said, “Good morning! We’re looking for someone but we don’t know where she is. Have you seen someone named Tandi around here before?”

They looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. “She usually visits my shop while she’s out in town. She’s a kind woman, but never buys anything. I’m about to go open the shop for the day, I’d offer for you to come with me and wait for her, but… she hasn’t come by lately.” They pointed to one of the nearby buildings, where songbirds were flying in and out of the second floor windows. “I honestly can’t tell you why, but the people over there might. Tandi always sends a letter if she’s in town. Ask if she’s come by and you’ll know if she’s been in town recently and has just been too busy to visit me.”

Koyana gave them a bright smile and waved goodbye. “Thank you, have a good day!”

They smiled back and walked away.

“I’m getting the same feelings about Tandi here that I did about the two of you in your hometown,” Olle commented. “Their mood improved a lot after you mentioned her, and they got sad when they said she hadn’t visited recently…”

“She’s been around town a lot for over thirty years,” Aither muttered, “I’m not surprised.”

Demery didn’t even take assurance in the fact that it might mean she was friendly. It didn’t change the fact that she was a stranger, one that had to have been related to their parents. Though, considering that, he couldn’t quite say whether or not he was judging her for that fact alone.

The building, it seemed, had a lot less room inside of it as it had appeared from the outside. The five of them together nearly took up the whole room, aside from a single path leading up to the counter. Birdsong was almost overwhelming here and he couldn’t help but wonder how the attendant could understand the person at the counter. Still, she didn’t seem to have any trouble, having a wide smile as she took the letter and turned to spell a bird. The other person, probably realizing the others gathered there, gave his thanks before placing some coins down and leaving.

The attendant turned back around, collected the coins, and glanced at each of them. “Are you all together?”

Demery walked up first. “We wanted to know if Tandi’s sent any letters recently.”

“Unfortunately, we can’t tell you that kind of stuff. Only me and the customer are allowed to know who sends a letter and who it was for. I can’t exactly tell you if she’s come by without good reason, either, since there’s not much else you could do here.”

“We need to find her for something important,” Aither tried. “We heard that you’ll be able to tell us if she’s been in town recently.”

She just looked confused now. “If it’s really important, then wouldn’t it be easier to visit the Tyrus estate? Tandi’s usually only here for a few hours, and since she came by earlier today, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already gone back…”

“So you have seen her today,” Demery remarked.

“I—oh, alright, you’ve got me,” she sighed. “Yes, she came by about an hour ago. She’s stopped by here practically every day for years. But she looked more nervous the past few times. I tried asking her why but she’s never really given an answer.” She looked around as if there was anyone else in the room who might overhear them. “I think her master’s doing something. She said he’s well and we’d all know if he was ill. Only the priest has seen him in decades. From what little I remember of the guy, I never got a good impression from him…”

“If Tandi was still in town, would you know where we might find her?” Aither asked.

“She had a few fancy dresses with her, probably her lady’s. She might’ve just been getting rid of them, but if she was going to get them fixed, she’d probably still be at the tailor’s. It’s right across the street, you can’t miss it.”

When everyone else turned to leave, Koyana said, “Thank you for helping, have a good day!”

“You too,” the attendant returned as they all left.

“Seriously, you know it’s rude to just walk away when a conversation’s over, right?” Koyana asked, but no one was particularly listening to her.

Demery waited until they were a bit further into the street before mumbling, “The Tyrus estate?”

Aither nodded. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably right. Tandi works for your parents.”

“They must be rather influential in the area, then,” Evelina remarked absently. “It’s technically in a different region than us, but it’s still not far—I’m surprised this is the first time we’re hearing anything about them.”

“The attendant mentioned that no one’s seen Tandi’s master in a while,” Olle pointed out. “There isn’t much reason to talk about someone if he hasn’t been seen anywhere.”

“That actually sounds like the perfect reason to talk about someone,” Demery muttered. “There’d be rumors if he was dead, or if there was something they were trying to hide.”

“They’re not as influential as they are wealthy,” Aither explained after a moment. “They give money to the church, support the local businesses, and let some people work directly under them for pay. To most people, that’s just what the average noble house in Qizar is like. Anyone from the outside can’t see anything more significant about them.”

Koyana casually wandered ahead of them, though thankfully didn’t stray far enough that Demery had to keep too close of an eye on her. “What do you think Tandi’s been worried about, if her master—wait, should I be saying our dad?—is doing fine?”

“Your grandparents were supposed to watch over you for a reason,” Aither said quietly, barely loud enough for the four of them to hear. “They probably told him that you’d both left with me and the blood of Feldr.”

“So they know we’re here? Are we going to be meeting them soon?”

Demery couldn’t stop himself from replying, “I don’t think it’s going to be as fun and happy of a reunion as you’re imagining it.”

“Not with that attitude it isn’t!”

“Either way, meeting your parents isn’t the priority right now,” Aither remarked. “Our goal right now is just to find and talk to Tandi.”

They were just about to enter the tailor’s when a woman rushed out, mumbling her thanks to the tailor and apologizing to them with the same breath.

Aither blinked. “Actually, I think that was her.”

Demery couldn’t stop Koyana from quickly getting in the woman’s way and asking, “Hi! Are you Tandi?”

The woman stopped, glanced at all of them, and immediately paled. “Oh, gods, it’s them… it can’t be them, not here, not now…” She mustered a thin veil of casualness and forced a small smile. “Yes, I am, but unfortunately, I have a lot of other things to take care of—“

“Please, we just need a minute,” Aither said. “I know what it looks like and I know what he told you. But I promise, everything’s fine. We just need to ask a couple of questions and then you can go.”

She gave a nervous glance at them and where she’d been heading. “Are you sure? Wait, no, I shouldn’t. He said not to. In fact I’m sure he’ll be upset just knowing that I spent this much time with you…”

“If it changes your mind any, I’m here by Danai’s request. It’s time we start talking about the truth behind all these lies.”

“I—“ Perhaps she gave it one more thought, because she stopped, and ultimately sighed. “Alright, but we shouldn’t talk here. I know a quiet place where no one will bother us. I’ll show you.”