Within the hour, as promised, Ysevel, Mom, Bernar, and I were ready to go.
The portal Syldir prepared for us swirled and glowed with pure white mana, but instead of the pathways, I could clearly see Caegwen on the other side. As I approached, the warm spring air filled with the scents of the first flowers wafted toward us, prompting us all to breathe it in deeply.
"Ah, I've missed that smell," Ysevel said with a sigh of relief, though Bernar raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you… Ah, right. It's been over a decade for you two, hasn't it?" he nodded, getting another in return from the two of us.
"I'd be willing to bet Maikell is tending to the flowers by his shop already," Mom said, rubbing a finger across her nose with a grin. "What do you mean by that?" I asked, then suddenly felt the intent behind her statement. "Nooooo, you don't think that…?" I stopped myself when my mom burst out laughing. "Oh, yes! I definitely think that," she said, leaving Bernar the most confused out of all of us.
"Dare I even ask?" he leaned in and muttered to me. "She thinks Maikell might have a thing for Kalia," I replied with a shrug, causing his eyes to widen in surprise.
"No shit? Huh, I don't think I could have seen that coming," he chuckled and shook his head. "I don't think anyone could have, but whether she accepts his feelings is another story entirely," Ysevel said with a hint of worry in her tone that caused me to look at her curiously.
"Maikell's a sweet man under all the soot, and I'd really hate to see him hurt again," she said pensively. I quickly took her hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry. We'll play matchmaker for them, but we'll probably have to leave Athar out of it. You know how he is with secrets," I chuckled, getting one from her, too.
"No, we can't do that. He's the only one who lacks any sort of shame. If anything, we need him for it to work," she said with a grin, which I couldn't help but respond to with one of my own. "Fair enough," I chuckled before turning my attention to Syldir, who was waving at us.
"Do you have everything you need?" she asked when we were a dozen meters away. "Yes, thank you. Although I will say that I wasn't expecting to get a new set of robes. I feel like I'd be overdressed even in my own room," I said lightly as I bowed. "And the rest of you?" she asked. "We're all set. I've made sure of it," Mom said with a nod.
At that, Syldir gestured for the two guardsmen to stand aside. They were at least a head taller than Thorsen, but they greeted us with the same level of respect as Syldir before we stepped through the portal.
I felt my body lurch much like it did whenever I used the odoruki technique before my feet touched the soft, mossy ground. Ysevel, did you feel that? I asked her, getting a nod in response. I noticed it when Ryfon brought us to Polarion. It really does seem like there are many more similarities between Meridian and Wraith mana than we realized, she replied.
Once my mind settled on that thought, I noticed Syldir had ordered the portal to be spawned in Myrdin's training yard. "I figured you'd want to say hello to your friends before we headed off," she said with a wry smile, gesturing to those a short distance from us. "Thank you," I muttered, dipping my head a little.
"Thoma! Ysevel!" I heard Athar's voice call out, breaking me out of my moment of distraction. He was a bit closer to us than the others, wearing Caegweni training attire that I guessed Aurae must have given him. Either that, or he'd found some way to swindle them out of Maikell.
Whatever the case, it suited him nicely.
"Glad to see you're alive. I'd heard you left here looking like a bag of smashed assholes," his alternate voice took over, getting a surprised look from Syldir in response. His eyes met hers, and while I didn't need to read his thoughts, it was clear what he was about to say, given the look on his face. "Ah, shit," he muttered a heartbeat later, prompting him to give her a swift bow.
I admit that I was a little nervous about their first encounter, but when Syldir laughed at his quick response, any anxiety I had immediately faded away. "I see that Ryfon wasn't joking when he said you had interesting friends," she covered her mouth while her eyes gave me a knowing look. "That we do," Ysevel said with a chuckle.
"You may rise, Athar Truls. My name is Syldir, and it's a pleasure to meet you, as I've heard quite a bit about you from the others and have been wanting to see you for myself," she said with a gesture. "You wanted to see me?" Athar asked as he rose from his bow with a confused look that quickly faded when the sound of the others' voices grew louder.
"Commander!" Vyra said with a wave that interrupted Syldir, followed closely behind by the rest of Mom's team and a handful of others. "Hello, Vyra. I hope you've all been well," Mom said with a bright smile. "We have, but it's not like you didn't give us any cause for concern, you know? Especially you," Eirenne answered as she moved forward to wrap me in a tight hug.
What's going on? I asked Ysevel, though she was hardly containing her laughter. "Kalia told us all about the battle and the state you were in when Lord Ryfon took you to his home. We're all glad to see you're fully healed," Vyra added, giving me a warm smile.
"Oh, I see. Well, you can thank her for that," I said as I pulled away from Eirenne and gestured to Syldir, who stood there with little more than a warm smile on her face. "A pleasure to meet you all," she said, offering them a Caegweni greeting with her eyes closed.
The moment she lifted her head and reopened her eyes, everyone who hadn't known who she was immediately dropped to a knee. "Is this going to happen every time?" she muttered to Mom. "Might as well get used to it," Mom replied with a nonchalant shrug. "If I have to, I will make it a decree across all of Kavrass that it's not necessary," Syldir sighed and shook her head.
I was grateful to see that everyone else had heard what she said.