Before Syrce and Noble could sneak away, Maelys clapped her hands.
"I think we have all earned a break for lunch, don't you?"
Syrce smiled softly. "That sounds nice, but..."
"No 'buts.' You need to stop and make sure that you are taking good care of yourself!" Lady Mae raised her voice. "We will have a small repast before continuing. You all deserve it!"
There were no complaints among the people. Other than the break for the competition, most of them had been working nonstop since sunup in some capacity or another.
After getting handfuls of dried meat and fruit, the soldiers and servants fanned out to find shade around the palace's many buildings.
Getting her portion, Noble sought out Syrce. They could still go and eat on the way. But the woman was nowhere to be found.
Noble could have used her emotional sense to find the Saint, but she already knew what she would find. Maelys had likely dragged her to some secluded spot away from prying eyes.
And away from Noble's presence. So, rather than rock the raft, Noble decided to dine in the comfortable companionship of her cohort.
The fare was meager, but Maelys had promised everyone a huge dinner with meat that had been gathered from their early morning hunt. Because of this, spirits were high.
The group felt the happiness of a well-completed labor. They had worked hard, both to guide Maelys in her unorthodox leadership and to physically transport all the supplies. So in the shade of one of the palace's structures, the cohort rested in relaxed conversation.
"Has anyone else wondered if there are regular animals here in this copy of the Sword Domain?" Helie asked as she looked down at her jerky. "Or even some of Mirage's creatures beyond the ones we brought?
"I doubt it," Flint chewed on his fruit.
"Really?" Noble raised an eyebrow at him. "I doubt Mirage would go to the trouble of making a copy if she didn't have some plans for populating it."
"Well, there don't seem to be any people at least," Aether looked in the direction of the lake. "If there were, I imagine they would have made a city around the mirror lake's edge. There are no ruins below the water to suggest anything was drowned like in True Bastion."
"I saw some Noble Creatures in my last Nightmare, but my guess is that other than that Remnant in True Bastion, they are all extinct or close to being corrupted here. Why do you ask?" Roan stroked his beard.
"No reason, only...The more people that come here, the more mouths there will be to feed. Without a steady supply of meat, these people will have difficulty sustaining life here." Helie chewed her lip.
"My last Nightmare had a fortified city in it. They had gardens inside the city walls to keep the crops safe from Nightmare Creatures. Perhaps we could suggest something like that here. It's no meat farm, but it is food." Noble suggested.
"I suppose not everyone can have a full farm in the palm of their hand like Saint Athena," Roan chewed his final bite contemplatively. "The growing number of gates will provide monster meat for the next few years here, at least until the categories get too high to manage."
"It's a balance," Helie said. "And the battle is one that we know they will inevitably lose."
"I don't plan to still be around when that happens." Flint stood. "Just like I don't plan to be around here when the work resumes. Blondie?"
Noble looked up at him with confusion. "What?"
"That meeting." Flint tilted his head. "We had better get going."
"We?" The floating woman blinked at him in surprise.
"Yes. Is that a problem?" Flint crossed his arms
Noble rubbed her neck. "Well..."
"What's this about a meeting?" Helie wiped off her hands.
"I was going to ask the same," Roan brushed the crumbs from his legs.
"It's with Syrce. She wants to show me how the mirror works." Noble knew she was not doing herself any favors by explaining.
As expected, the other Masters were all instantly interested.
"I would rather like to see that myself," Roan nodded. "If the pieces of the mirror still exist in the present day, it would be very nice to know how to use them."
"Count me in!" Helie stretched.
"I would like to come as well, if you don't mind, ma'am," Aether requested politely.
"Well, I don't know that all of you were invited…" Noble contemplated for a moment. While she would have liked a private demonstration, it made more sense to have all the cohort there. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask if you may join us."
The other Masters quickly tidied up their area and left the shadow of what would have presumably been one of the stables behind.
Taking a deep breath, Noble spread her emotional sense and felt for the mossy-haired Saint. As she anticipated, Syrce was with her sister as far as she could reasonably be from the palace gate.
With her cohort members in tow, Noble picked her way through the soldiers to reach their leaders.
Maelys was asking Syrce every question she could think of and then hanging on every word. With such a dutiful and interested audience, Syrce could not help but pour all her knowledge into the elder Saint.
"Stratos admitted to killing Father, Mae. He died at the hands of Imperial troops." Syrce's words barely came out of her mouth, but they needed to be said.
Maelys placed her hand over her mouth. "Please tell me, did you strike them down where they stood?!"
"I did. They are residents of the Shadow Realm now." The younger sister promised.
"That is good." Mae nodded. "I wouldn't want them to have the privilege of breathing the same air we do. What happened next?"
Noble furrowed her brow. That was it? Shouldn't Maelys be grieved or angry at this revelation? Shouldn't she have wanted to know every detail of how those men died gruesomely? Instead, she had glossed over it like the death meant little to her.
That was very strange.
Unwilling to continue eavesdropping, Aether politely cleared his throat.
Of course, the Saints had to have known they were there, but they were too engrossed in their interaction to give the newcomers a thought.
Viewing Noble, Syrce's face changed from grim to a smile. "There you are! Are you ready?"
"Ready?" Maelys shot the blonde Master a curious–and slightly hostile? –glance.
'No, that's just my imagination...surely...'
"I have something I need to do in the main Palace with Bel. It won't take long. You can go and make sure the supplies are stored somewhere dry until we get them all unpacked. I think there might be rain this evening." Syrce spoke so quickly and decisively that Maelys didn't argue.
"Oh, I understand." She gave the younger sister a pitiful look.
"Do not worry, Mae. I will be back soon." Syce hugged the other Saint and headed out before any more guilt could be given.
Noble followed her up the hill. When she was sure that Maelys could no longer hear her, she asked in a subdued tone.
"I do hope it is fine if Titus, Aurelia, Roan, and Aether join us."
"Of course." Syrce looked over her shoulder. A small smile came to her face. "I wouldn't want them to miss this!"