It was morning, the air wasn't too hot even for the time of the day. Calvier nervously leaned against the fence of the small but reputable chocobo stables in the Markets area. While most travelers would prefer to use a bigger one, his future - he supposed now current - employer had chosen to arrive at this one. He sounded like a person who didn't like wasting time on trivialities, this Endahren Merchell from San d'Oria.
Calvier quickly straightened up when he realized what he was doing. Said employer was standing only several ilm away, making small talk with one of the stable boys. He was a curious sight here in Bastok, a blond elvaan in a country where elvaan were rare enough. A foreigner who wanted to set up a business in this city of opportunities. Calvier supposed he should be thankful that he had been judged good enough to be brought into the position of this man's helper, thankful that a cousin of his had relations to San d'Oria. More than anything Calvier wanted a stable income now, to be seen as a respectable man by his own right. This was his big opportunity, and he wasn't going to make it disappear.
Endahren walked to him, brushing his forehead. "Quite hot in here this time of the year."
"Not particularly," Calvier responded. He wondered how much colder it was in San d'Oria. It was a late-summer morning for sure, but this was Bastok and San d'Oria was quite a way north from here. Calvier was born and raised in Bastok, even though he was an elvaan. He supposed it was uncommon, to be a Bastok-born elvaan. He didn't recall ever meeting another one, although was sure they must exist. But rather than being an oddity himself, the odd one was Endahren in Calvier's eyes, this future husband of a cousin's former student who adamantly wanted to play merchant in Bastok.
"So. I hear you have it all set up for me and waiting."
"Yes. I checked the premises myself before signing the preliminary contract, they are in good shape and the location satisfies your demands. I do think we got a good deal with that building." Endahren nodded to his response thoughtfully.
"Well, that remains to be seen. We'll check the paperwork once I've actually seen the place. From what I understand it's not too far from the markets district?"
"Yes, although like I notified you earlier there would have been chocobo stables closer to the site."
"That's of no consequence. I need to check out the Markets district right away, and I can't really do that lugging a wayward chocobo behind me. Let's start walking."
Calvier felt like sighing. This energy, this dedication wasn't something he was too used to. But this was his big chance. That's what he kept telling himself anyway.
Miss Kii Kalira,
First of all, I would like to offer my apologies to have left you waiting in uncertainty for so long. There have been some...complications, here in San d'Oria. To make the matter brief, my father Gervaine Richille died last June. To the end he was against me staying in contact with you. I don't think he ever found out Endahren was willing to help us stay in contact. I felt guilty over this, and could not continue. While he did have opinions that differ drastically from mine, he was still my father.
Endahren left for Bastok today. I think that is what made me take up the pen again. With him gone, I realized that San d'Oria will not offer me any more. I have decided. As soon as mother and Triene are settled down into this new life well, I will leave San d'Oria. I wish to see the world. Even if I've hurt you with my inconsiderate behavior, I hope you can still be happy for me. If you still wish to stay in contact with me, you can once again reach me at my home, at least until I leave.
Respectfully,
Jenare Richille
Jenare sat in front of his desk. The day had been long, and it wasn't even evening yet. His best - and quite likely only - friend had just left San d'Oria to live in Bastok for an undetermined length of time. He felt tired, a kind of a weariness in his bones that would not be easy to dissipate. He missed him already. They had not been friends for all that long - a mere five years - but had at least known of each other for most of their lives. Throughout these five years Endahren had become something irreplaceable for him, spurning him on to new achievements, broadening the horizons of his mind. He supposed he should be thankful for Endahren, but their friendship was beyond thinking in such terms.
He sighed and looked at a small box on the corner of his table. It contained several letters from Kii Kalira, a friend of his from Windurst. Ever since his father had died three months ago, he had stopped reading her letters. Endahren was right, she must be getting worried. He had tried to ignore the situation, he felt guilty over continuing his friendship with her since his father had been so strongly against it. But he had promised Endahren to write to her again.
Hesitantly he reached over to the box and opened it. Picked up the several letters it contained and looked at them. He had really been dishonorable in handling this situation, there was no way of getting around that.
There was a knock on the door. "Come in." His mother Celese entered, carrying a tray with some food and drink.
"Decided to bake you same pie. Thought you would love some right now." Jenare smiled sadly. The scent of baked apples came from the tray. His favorite pie. His mother was a true savior. She was keeping the family together right now, after her husband's death. Triene had always been closer to their father than Jenare, and he had taken his death much worse.
"Ah, letters?" Jenare looked down at them and nodded.
"From Kii Kalira. I should write to her again." His mother placed the tray on the desk gently.
"I won't be bothering you for longer, then. Take care now." Saying that, she left the room, closing the door behind her. Jenare opened the earliest of the letters and started reading. He would have to apologize for waiting so long before responding. He hoped he hadn't made her too angry.
Jenare woke up. The house smelled of freshly baked apple pie. He smiled. Ever since yesterday evening, he had been in a kind of a haze of happiness.
Everything looked somehow bright. When he got up from his bed and looked out the window, he could see that the sun was shining radiantly, with hardly a cloud in the sky. The window was slightly frosted over in the corners. It was the day after Valentione's day, and Jenare was happy.
Last night, he had been introduced to a girl, the younger sister of Endahren's future brother. His older sister was engaged and it had so ended up that Endahren had promised to look after her for the night. He was glad that had happened, for it had given him the opportunity to meet Vera. She was a good traditional Elvaan girl, blonde of hair and brown of eye, her voice soft like a summer's breeze. He was even more greatful to Endahren for his usual wild ways and leaving early in the evening and telling him to look after Vera for the night. He felt slightly guilty for that last part, but couldn't suppress the feeling. It was never good to slight your responsibilities, but if it brought him so much happiness, could it really be wrong? Jenare sighed happily and got up. He would need to practice his sword this morning, and continue reading a biography of an interesting person. An adventurer, who had been all the way to Windurst and back. By foot. Jenare smiled wistfully at the thought. Maybe one day, if Altana smiled, he would have the opportunity to travel freely too. But the thought that brought him the most pleasure this morning was his promised meeting with Vera in the afternoon.
He went downstairs for breakfast. It was looking to be a good day indeed.
There were no new books in the shop's selection. All the books in the selection now he had not yet read were the kind that always went a bit beyond him if he tried reading them. Jenare sighed. It wasn't like he hadn't known that even before he'd looked through them, he would have noticed if Richille's Wares had received a new shipment. It was too early for the Starlight Celebration rush, though. Maybe in a week or two, but not yet.
The door to the shop opened, bringing in cool air from the street. A cheery voice greeted him. "Hullo! Oh, you're Triene's brother, right? Is he home?" Jenare turned around, finding a blond Elvaan youth walking in. He was maybe several years older than he was, and suddenly Jenare felt a lack of words. He had seen this boy around his brother at times, they seemed to be good friends.
Sometimes, his brother would bring home sweets, saying they were from this cheerful apparition.
"Yes, he is home. Should I go fetch him?" He felt a bit simple, asking for that. It was polite, but why would someone ask for a person and not want to see them afterwards?
"Nah, it's alright. I'll go grab 'im myself." With that, the boy rushed past him towards the door at the back of the room. It lead to the family's living quarters.
"Ah..." He wasn't supposed to let people behind the counter, and the door was there. But he didn't quite dare to say it, and when he had gathered up his courage the boy was already gone, on his way to find Triene. Jenare sighed dejectedly. He supposed this was one of the reasons why his father did not want him to help too much with the store, when Triene was helping out all the time. He made a decision for what seemed to be the hundredth time, to be more daring.
He was still brooding over it when the boy returned with Triene, scaring him out of his thoughts. "There you are. Don't mope around alone like that, nothing good ever comes out of such a thing." The boy stared at him frankly, and red flooded Jenare's cheeks. He had never thought his well-doer who always sent him sweets had a personality quite like this. Weren't well-doers supposed to be polite? Was he completely wrong? "You know what, you should come with us today. We're going over to the port."
"Oh, I couldn't. Father asked me to watch the store until he comes back."
"That's quite alright, Jenare, you can go now." It was his father, who had just walked in. "I won't be needing you for the rest of the day. Although Triene, you should come back by early afternoon, I have work for you."
"Yes, father."
"That's such a shame! We need to hurry, then. Come on, you two." The blond boy hurried out. Jenare and Triene followed, the latter glaring murderously at his brother. Triene, while largely resigned to his position as the heir to the store, still wasn't quite docile enough to forgive his brother for going free when he had to work, not to mention interfering his time with his friends.
"You were Jenare, right? Triene's mentioned you a couple times. I'm Endahren, nice to meetcha!" Jenare nodded and confirmed his name. This was looking to be a long day, and although in truth he had a previous engagement with his friends for today, he was still somehow looking forward to this. He would of course have to apologize later. He continued walking after Endahren, vaguely hoping that they might meet his friends somewhere along the way so he would not have to apologize.
"Hi, guys. Missed me?" Endahren Merchell's cheery voice cut through the general hubbub in the port. It was a busy festival day. The people were cheery due to the Harvest Festival celebrations, but some work still needed to be done. Workmen were loading cargo below at the dock, and behind them came the sounds of celebration from the close-by popular pub Rusty Anchor.
General mumblings to the negative came from the four boys gathered in the alley. It didn't mean that they hadn't felt the lack of Endahren's presence, it merely meant that they did not like admitting it to his face. Triene felt like shaking his head. Sometimes, he wondered why he hung around this crowd. Although Endahren was nice enough when he didn't try too much, he supposed. Not to mention...
"I have stuff for you!" He waved around two bags that obviously included some goodies. The Merchells were by no means poor, and had a habit of supplying their children's friends with some goodies at festival times. Not too many of course, just enough to remind the children where they could get more, and pay for them this time. That's how father put it anyway, and Triene supposed it could be true. Nevertheless, he would never turn down good candy, that would be a complete waste.
"What have you for us?" It was Gell - or Gellenneu, father always said he was too familiar with people who would one day be his potential customers.
"Bubble chocolate!" was Endahren's cheery answer. Everything about him seemed cheery today. And true enough, when Triene looked at the bags more carefully he saw they did not quite appear to be bound by gravity, but floated more this way or that according to Endahren's movements. They weren't in any danger of floating away since the fabric of the bags weighed them down enough, but if left alone a piece of bubble chocolate was quite liable to float away in the next breeze. "A lot of it! Mom said to ask you to take some home, too, for the little ones. I suppose we could eat all of it by ourselves, too, but she would hear about it...so no eating too much, alright?"
Several protests came from the boys, but they promised not to eat more than their share. Sometimes Triene thought that if Endy told them to run in the way of a freaked out chocobo, they'd do it too. Nevertheless, he agreed with the other boy's words. The bags seemed big enough, and Jenare might leave him alone for the evening if he brought home candy. Sometimes, having a younger brother could be so tiring.
Endahren,
Greetings from back home. I hope the letter finds you well, and the store still profitable. How is the situation in Bastok? Any success in your attempt to teach San d'Orian customs to Calvier? I have been doing well for myself, no major troubles.
Since my last letter, I have finally started moving somewhere in my life. I now life in a mog house by myself, accompanied by a moogle who keeps calling me 'Master'. I thought that last bit might prove amusing to you.
Mother was sad to see me go, I think. She did not say anything, but this is the feeling I have. In truth, moving out provided me with surprising experiences. I didn't think I would feel quite so free afterwards. I am still in the city after all, but perhaps the sense of adventure in this is enough by itself for now. I'm looking forward to leaving San d'Oria eventually, and seeing the world with my own eyes. Perhaps I will even visit you one day. Bastok isn't too far from San d'Oria after all.
I have been practicing my fighting skills more than ever. I've discovered that they are much needed if you wish to venture deeper even into such an area as the forests of Ronfaure. I never knew before just how many orcs lurk those woods, ready to prey on a careless traveler. Even though I haven't yet had time to do much, the experiences I've had have opened my eyes to many new things.
Best regards,
Jenare
Miss Kii Kalira,
I hope my letter finds you in good health. There have been some troubles here in San d'Oria. If you'll excuse me for being so abrupt, I'll explain it straight away. While I am not too eager to bring up the issue, you are aware of my father's thoughts of the other races of the Goddess, are you not? This brings him several minor difficulties in his trade, but it appears to bring me more grief than it does him. He managed to get his hands on your latest letter and read it, naturally discovering who you are and where you are from. As a result, he is now determined to never let me communicate with you again.
Please do not be alarmed, I have no intention of conforming to his wishes this time. I have explained the situation to my friend Endahren, and for now you can address your letters to him instead. He will deliver them forward to me. He truly is a real friend!
I will respond to your letter shortly, I must hurry in sending this note so it will reach you in time.
Please take care,
Jenare Richille
"He has no right..!"
"Of course he doesn't."
"It's my life! I can damn well do what I please!"
"Mm-hmm..." Endahren looked in fascination as his long-time friend paced the length of his room and glowered at the walls. What a rare sight. Something had actually worked up the ever-patient Jenare. "Can we go again over the part where you've been writing with a hot mithra chick?"
Jenare whirled around. "I have not been writing with a...!"
"A hot mithra chick? So, what would you call it then?"
Jenare sighed in frustration. "Just...don't refer to Kii Kalira as...that." He sat down on the room's other chair. "Why did he have to..I was doing nothing wrong. She's a friend, of course I'd want to stay in touch with her."
"A friend. Sure. That's why you've been hiding it."
"I have not been hiding it! I...merely haven't mentioned it. And now it's all finished, anyway. Father will confiscate all her letters."
"Jenare, dear friend... you need to get out more. One hurdle on the way and you're already giving up? We'll get you your girl, I promise."
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