Life in Ravenna's tower settled into a pleasant rhythm for the new fallen hero. Waking up at her own pace - with perhaps a little bit at times, fortable as her bed was - eating meals that ranged from light and refreshing to absolutely det, training oraining floor, studying the maps and charts (and stargazing and surveying) in the observatory, and what turned out to be Fern's favorite new pastime: reading.

  Occasionally the day called for a visit to the alchemy b or the garden as well, but every day without exception found her with her nose in one book or another. There was simply so much to learn, about so many different things - and she'd rarely had the leisure time to indulge in schorly pursuits before. So Ravenna simply added it to her schedule, and always made sure there lenty of time after dio rex before bed with a good book or two.

  It ecial kind of paradise. But even in paradise there were little pockets of uneasiness, especially at first.

  Crimson took several days to get back to her melodramatic self after the off-hours frontation in the hemo b. Her retionship with Fern was never quite the same afterwards, though to be ho, it robably for the best. The sense of being preyed upon, even if nothing had ever happened, had rattled her nerves; but with that gone, and a friendlier bond in pce (with the uanding that trespasses would quickly earn Ravenna's ire), the fallen hero learned mudeed from her vampire tutor. Primarily the sword arts that a dark mage was less adept in, but a few other fasatiras as well.

  Fern herself was a little overly watchful at times, and at first she didn't even uand the source of her stant aies - not until Ravenna poi out one day in the observatory. "We'd not seen the barest sign of anyone for a while, apart from you; and your approach was simple enough to trace." The tower's survey capacity was quite extensive, as it turned out. "If anyone was b to look for you, we'd have noticed them by now. But why would they, darling? For all they know, you're as dead as they intended you to be. Why would they risk someone just to firm the fate of someohey barely cared about to begin with?"

  Her reasoning was sound, and it put Fern's mind at ease. Mostly. There remaihe question of 'why' - why any of what had happened - but it seemed like ohat would go unanswered, at least for a while. Aually she accepted this as fact, and immersed herself in the daily rhythm; training, studying, and reading. Especially the st.

  She'd get absorbed in her books all too easily. If no one came by to poke her, or tease her with gentle jests, she'd have missed so many meals - fortunately, the maids ensured she never did. But more thatle reminders, usually the surprise visitor was simply Ravenna, sneaking up behio encircle her waist with gentle arms, or tangle her fingers in those long brown tresses and give her head soft rubs and scritches as if she was some sort of pet (which would be perfectly fine, part of her thought, but absolutely never dared to say out loud), or simply just... lean against her. And over time Fern just sort of accepted it; the closeness, the almost catlike silent affe - maybe with a little kiss here and there - simply became an admittedly pleasant part of her way of life, as odd as such a thing seemed to her in the beginning.

  Reciprocation was another question, though. Fortunately for her, the dark mage seemed perfectly tent to bide her time and not push anything on her, romantic or otherwise. Everaining sessions weren't intense enough to stress her to her limits; there were a few times where Ravenna nudged her a little bit, encing her onward, but o the point of even signifit disfort - let alone plete colpse.

  It was... very strange. She couldn't quite prehend it, when it stood in such stark opposition to everything she'd experienced prior to arriving at the tower; Lightsider 'practice' sessions that left her gasping for air, bg out, feeling like the life or maybe even her soul was leaving her body at times. It had been absolute misery.

  Like most things, it took her a while to form the question, another while t herself to ask it, and a while afterwards feeling very dumb for not just asking much earlier.

  "Why would I drive you to your very limits? Why, there's o do such a thing - nht now, at any rate." Ravenna just smiled at her inquiry, a faint note of mencholy in it. "If you found my lessons so dreadful that you no longer desired to tinue, why, that would simply be the worst thing to do to such a promising student. Learning should always be fun; it should never be a chore if you help it." Her emerald eyes sparkled with delight as she tinued. "Which is why I 't help but cozy up to you when you've got your face buried in a book, darling. That's clearly where you're happiest - and I love to share in that delight of yours. It's like basking in the sunlight."

  If that was the ahen she would accept it. And so she did; accepting things was something she retty good at. Which was fortunate for her, sihere was a lot oe to accept that she hadn't been expeg.

  After the vampiric revetions, she'd quickly gotteo Ravenna's habitual red drinks at mealtimes. The brief taste of one, when she'd been bold enough to finally ask... hadn't sat well with her stomabsp; Maybe it artially in her head, though; the taste wasn't bad per se, just somehow off. Perhaps the hemo b could do something about the taste, but she didn't think it a problem in need of solving with any urgency, especially after the dark mage expihat the 'refreshment' part eculiar to vampires (even half-vampires, like herself) who could extract a kind of aetheric sustenance from blood. "It's more like an energy boost for me though," she'd added, "not an actual meal as it is for Crimson."

  The arra between Ravenna and her maids was ahiirely. Fern finally asked Crimson directly one night during their training, when the dark mage was out of the room, just what their retionship was, since she'd never received an answer previously. "She is the Mistress of the Tower, and I am her maid," the reply came, as smoothly as ever.

  "And that's all? That's everything?" she prompted, eyes narrowing slightly.

  "art of it leaves you in doubt?"

  Fern crossed her arms. "I just find it odd that there's a vampire and a half-vampire sharing spad there's supposedly no e between them whatsoever, that's all."

  Crimson actually looked guilty for a moment. "There are... plexities to the situation that I am not at liberty to speak of," she finally expined. "Not only to you, but even to Mistress herself. But it is meant for her betterment, and she is aware of our limits - that is, both Sapphire and I are bound by the same vows. Not enforced by magicks, only by our own wills; we serve her by choiot under pulsion or threat like some aid." She paused. "To be more direct: vampires ot have children through normal means. Bloodservants, yes, but not children. And our e is nothing so intimate; I am but my Mistress's maid, no more, no less."

  She pohis for a moment. "Well... you're a lot more than a mere maid, as far as I'm ed."

  The vampire smiled, a soft fsh of teeth. "Miss Skysh, you've only seen the lowliest of maids in the past. There are many servants in the wider world that you would do well to be wary of. ... Let that be today's additional lesson."

  The very idea of some vast hierarchy of servants with varying threat levels gave Fern pause; she wasn't sure whether to ugh or sweat. So, like a lot of things, she simply filed the information away somewhere in the back of her mind.

  Eventually, however, a moment came when she had to front the reality of her situation, because she had it thrust upon her.

  "As emily fortable as you seem to be within my tower - remarkably so, in fact," Ravenna began one m, after breakfast, "I think it's about time we step outside for a while and go on a little... excursion of sorts. How does that sound to you, darling?"

  Fern wasn't sure what to say at first, gazing across the table as Sapphire transported the dishes down to the kit. The tower had everything she needed: delicious food, restorative sleep, luxurious baths (which she'd also grown to love, especially after the occasionally more taxing practice sessions), and a library full of books. The observatory had offered enough views of the outer world to keep her from feeling caged, but in actuality, she'd never even asked to go outside. She didn't feel any sort e to leave her fortable position when nothing ated it.

  "Sounds a little ing, frankly," she eventually replied. "But I guess you have some reason for it, or you wouldn't suggest the idea."

  "Perceptive as ever, that's my precious partner," Ravenna purred sweetly, eyes sparkling with delight. "And yes! I wouldn't drag you out of your fortable routine for anything insignifit, just as you suspebsp; Rather, I think you'll find it quite enlightening in many ways; we cover a lot of ground while we... cover a lot of ground."

  She quirked a brow. "I see. And where precisely is the ground iion?"

  "Ah, it would be faster to show you than tell you. But I'll be doing both, once we adjourn to the observatory."

  "Now then - have you ever visited Port Finally, darling?" Ravenna purred, unrolling a map of the pins with a flourish. "Or - how far from Pinsgate have you ventured? I'd guess 'not particurly far', based on your, mmm, insur behavior."

  "Guilty as charged, I suppose." Fern leaned over the part, what looked to be a fairly ret copy with fresh, bold lines untouched by age. "Only where missions took me." She ran her finger along the little li of the dot beled Pinsgate. "Stuck to the road, pretty much between there and Jun. Maybe a little out east-northeast past there, but apart from that, this st mission was the farthest out I've ever gone before. Definitely nowhere north."

  The dark mage nodded, eyes narrowing in thought. "I see! Then this shall be an educational journey for you. I suspeay have already noticed to some extent, but Jun is much less bound by Lightsider prejudices thay is - and Port Finally even less so. Ports of trade are such lovely pces to do business and not have questions asked; so long as you deal fairly and keep your word, it's rare for ao bother you about what sigil, if any, you're wearing."

  She blinked. "That sounds ideal. So... what's the catch?"

  "My, how suspicious you are!" Ravenna grinned. "Very good. Ports are full of all sorts of deals - some of them involving cargo that the straight-ced types ba Pinsgate, and especially Bckgss, would put your name and fa a poster for, merely for being around. Not that I care, mind you; but if you've a o return to your old surrounds for some reason, it's something to be wary of."

  Fern's forehead wrinkled. She hadn't really thought of going back to the city before now, but she did have some things in ste. Nothing particurly important, but she'd rather have her personal effects than leave them to someone else. Still - that was a matter for ter. "Depending on the route we're going," she began, a little hesitantly, "this could end up being a pretty long trip."

  "Oh yes! I'll teach you how to shorten the distanewhat, but we'll still be out of the tower for most of the month, if not all of it. There's much to be done, and we'll be bringing a good bit of cargo back with us."

  "Just a... busirip, then?"

  The dark mage fshed another brilliant grin. "Darling, any trip with me on it is never 'just business'."