Published at 14th of November 2026 9:43 am

Chapter THREE HUNDRED FIFTEEN: What Grows Unseen V

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It had been almost a year since Stu had visited the observation station. The bottom floor was as he remembered—a place where people from every Rapport mingled, making new acquaintances or reconnecting with old ones. Teleportation alcoves were scattered throughout this level of the station, and he’d arrived in one situated below one of the displays that showed events taking place on the fields below them.

The viewing options were more artistic down here than in the rooms above where people gathered specifically to discuss the battlefield scenarios. The display over the alcove moved like soft wax. Grass, stones, and fur grew out of the white surface as it morphed to show a top-down view of a ewtwee hiding, or attempting to hide, from two approaching knights and a griveck who must be the one Alden had met.

The three votaries siting on a nearby sofa were talking about their studies instead of watching, and Stu only watched for a moment before the alcove he’d just exited stole his attention.

Should I have left Eeaner like that?

I could go back.

He’d had the same thought repeatedly on the cart ride to the summonarium and then while waiting his turn to leave the university. Alden and Emban’s squad were moving cautiously, so they’d probably be fine, and it would take them until nearly this Rapport’s dawn to get the extraction they were hoping for.

If something important should be done with Eeaner-ket, then Stu had enough time to go back and do it.

But does he want something important from me? He acts like he doesn’t. Mostly.

Stu had both hands wrapped around his box of klerms.

Klerms are because of Alden. What’s Eeaner doing collecting them? He must’ve felt ridiculous dumping them out of the plants. He’s trying to be nicer to me than I realized.

How much was he trying? Was it only a whim today? Or a more significant longterm effort that Stu had failed to appreciate?

He was angry at the thought of me treating him lightly, yet he’s always irritated when I expect serious behavior from him.

I don’t know…

He turned away from the alcove again because he couldn’t figure out what he was supposed to do if he went back right now.

I’ll contemplate it.

Usually, deciding that about a matter helped him set it aside. Now, even with his eagerness to discover what people here were saying about Alden’s actions, he still had half his mind wanting to mull as he checked with Ryada-bess to find out where she was watching from.

He crossed a floor decorated with a pattern of inlaid shells, passing more seating and more artistic displays. The dining area was on this level of the station, and it was noisy as he walked through the widely spaced tables on his way to a staircase that should take him almost directly up to where Ryada was.

“Stu!”

Jozz’s voice. Stu knew it before he looked away from the stairs and saw his brother at a table deeper within the dining room. And it wasn’t only Jozz. Two sisters, three cousins, and the woman who was beloved by Uncle Tesen’s oldest son were also at the table with him.

Jozz was the youngest and the only knight among them. They seemed to have just begun their third meal. A plate that held glazed yolk buns was being passed around, and one of the attendants was keeping an eye on them while he added stalks to the fragrance arrangement at an empty table.

Stu went to them. Their table was at the edge of one of the windows set into the floor, but there wasn’t much to see through it. Dark marshlands seemed to flow beneath them as the station repositioned to whichever field had been deemed most interesting.

Jozz smiled at Stu. He’d been smiling at Stu a lot since he’d gotten back home, but he hadn’t unsaid that Alden couldn’t be a real friend.

Stu was waiting.

“I called out to you twice before the third time caught you,” Jozz said. “What’s put worry on your face? Have a bun. Sit if you like. Aymeg Dad was going to dine with us, but he got pulled into a conversation with one of the und’h knights. It may be a lengthy matter since they took it up to one of the conference rooms.”

Stu took a yolk bun but not Aymeg’s seat.

“I’m worried about my housemate at school.” He sent an authority greeting to each of them as the rich, sweet bun filled his mouth. “I was in a hurry to get here after my classes, and I think I spoke wrongly to him.”

“I haven’t heard you say much about your housemates recently,” said Jozz.

“He still doesn’t like them much,” said one of the cousins. “It’s a bit sad, dear Stu. Don’t you want to find new ones? The students I lived with during my first year at DawnStep were with me all the way through to high graduation, and we felt close as family by then.”

“They’re both votaries from this Rapport, though,” said Jozz. “It must be different at LeafSong.”

“I don’t dislike Eeaner-ket,” Stu said. “I dislike some things about him, but… he wants to include me in the social events he enjoys. He’s smart and among the most talented in our year.”

“Not as talented as you, I imagine,” said Jozz.

“No. He may be in his own ways.”

“Really?”

“I thought I was in good company as his housemate at first. He said things that made me believe he considered a life of service like ours. But not long after school began he stopped talking like that and revealed himself to be unserious…”

Stu looked at the box in his hands. “I thought he was being frivolous again today, but he was making an effort to be warm to me. I shouldn’t have told him I’d change my expectations of him. It upset him.”

“You told him you’d expect less of him in the future?” asked Jozz.

“I thought he wanted me to.”

“After he was warm to you?”

“He did something thoughtful for me.” He could feel the vibrations of the klerms moving in their box. “He’s been planning a party he says is for me. It may actually be for me, in his mind.”

“Really, Stu…”

“I’ll contemplate what happened at length and discuss it with him,” said Stu. “I’d like it if I could weave something happier with Eeaner.”

He found a bud of optimism within him. Maybe upsetting Eeaner had led them both to something better.

“Anyway,” he said, “I don’t dislike him. And don’t put your thoughts on my housemates at LeafSong with so much else going on. Have you all seen what my friend Alden has done? He’s with Emban’s squad so you must have! Hasn’t he acted wonderfully? It’s his first time here, and he wasn’t expecting to do something like this today. He found his way to them. He killed a demon. He saved Bithe!”

“The rest of them only arrived recently,” Jozz said gesturing around the table. “They came to watch the samefaces.”

“They have a quest together later,” said one of Stu’s sisters. “We have taken a look at Emban’s squad though. The highlights. Alden Ryeh-b’t does seem to be a highlight.”

“I’ve been watching the fields for longer,” said Jozz. “Your human has done well. I don’t know much about what a Ryeh-b’t of his species and his age should be able to do, but he’s been a help to them. He’s not fearful. He’s put in as much effort as any of them have tonight. And he told Bithe to think of himself as a k’rethkan filling, which we’re all going to remember.”

Everyone at the table chuckled.

“Yes,” said Stu, his mood lifting to new heights at the thought that they were all properly seeing Alden Thorn. Or as properly as they could with the knowledge they had at present.

“I understand why you like him so much,” said Jozz.

Stu beamed at his brother.

“And he uses his skill versatilely. The preservation talent with the requirement for another person’s participation…someone was inspired by one of the old ones maybe. How did you get Emban to invite him along with her squad, though? I hope you didn’t make her feel at fault for that disagreement they had about you. She can be hard-tongued, but she had a point from the sound of it.”

The last bite of soft bun seemed to toughen in Stu’s mouth.

Emban’s point that day was that Alden was incapable of understanding me well enough to say what he did. She was wrong.

But maybe Jozz hadn’t heard the story accurately. Or he was encouraging peace between cousins. He’d just been complimentary to Alden, and Stu had already been prickly to someone who didn’t deserve it today.

Stu swallowed his bun and his need to make his brother clarify what he thought Emban’s point was.

“I didn’t encourage Emban to do anything. Alden has been in Rapport III for a couple of days. He must have met Emban’s squad here. I think she probably wanted to apologize to him.”

“Is taking an Avowed on a training quest a good apology?” asked a cousin.

“Oh, it would be for Alden!” said Stu. “Can’t you see how he’s developing his abilities through the struggle? And he—”

“Why was Alden in Rapport III for days?” asked Jozz.

“This is his weekend,” said Stu.

Consternation sank hooks into Jozz’s eyebrows. “It’s not your weekend. You didn’t invite him to spend days in a Rapport by himself, did you? Nobody would do something like that.”

“I didn’t invite him at all. But it’s annoying that you think—”

No. I must not be prickly.

“I didn’t invite him,” Stu said more slowly. “Alden weaves relationships with knights who aren’t me. And they are enriched by knowing him. And they invite him places. I need to go watch him now. Maybe we could watch him together later, any of you, if there’s time after your meal?”

“Wait! You haven’t heard the good news. I’m sorry, Mmin. I should have let you tell him as soon as he came over.”

Stu knew what the good news would be, but he was still respectful of the moment. He grabbed the last bun from the plate that had just been set down and looked at Mmin-wisth. The sweater she wore tonight didn’t show her many academic accomplishments. Her green ear jewelry swung gently as she pushed her chair back from the table to show him her hands on her stomach. “A new life for the siblinghold,” she said.

“I honor you and will love that new life,” said Stu, reaching across the table to pass her a piece of yolk bun he’d just pinched off.

It would have been more pleasing to his sensibilities about what the ritual should entail to give her the whole thing. But he’d given Aunt Alis a whole awa root he’d grown and roasted himself, and that had not gone like he’d expected it to.

“Thank you. And thank you for not feeding me a root the size of my head,” said Mmin after she’d swallowed the offering.

“I’ve been told that our family is too large for pregnancy offerings that can’t be eaten in a single bite.”

“I heard you being told that.”

“Everyone in the house heard him being told that.”

Stu sighed. “I learned. Will you finally take our name when the baby is born, Mmin?”

“I’m enjoying letting your cousin persuade me,” she said.

“You’d already pinched a piece before she told you she was pregnant,” said Jozz. “Is word spreading through the family so fast?”

“I knew last week.” Stu had been visiting his husenots, and she’d come into the room. “I could sense it. I’m excited the siblinghold will be full of children soon. If you need anything from me, Mmin, I’ll help.”

He’d be one of the adults, responsible for little cousins, sisters, and brothers whenever their days intersected. He wanted to teach them what Sina had taught him. And what his father had taught him. And maybe even some of the things his mother had taught him.

“I guess you won’t be Baby Stu for much longer,” said Jozz. “Eeaner-ket was it? The housemate?”

“Yes,” said Stu. “Enjoy your meal.”

 

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Stuart could sense a whisker on a real mouse if he were trying as hard as I am right now. He could probably sense its rodentness and its cheesy mouse thoughts and however many friends it has out here.

Come on. Where are you?

Alden, Bithe, Emban, Tilliver, Seth, and Divin were climbing another hill. At this point, it was getting difficult for Alden not to think of them all as stupid hills that should be leveled for the betterment of people everywhere. Surely nobody in Rapport III actually liked them?

I recall really liking them a few hours ago. I must have been crazy.

He knew that, deep down, he must still be a hill enjoyer. But without his inhaler, his wordchains, a drive to get to his lost entruster’s side, and that fresh plane crash survivor energy, it was a different experience.

Plus the Artonans were all stumbling around listlessly in between warning whispers or whistles. Alden was beginning to think exhaustion was contagious.

Maybe I should cast the chains again.

He’d stepped in a hole and fallen onto his hands and knees a few minutes ago. That kind of thing wouldn’t happen if he had My Body Becomes My Assistant. But there was the moral quandary now. They were really close to where they thought they could get rescued, he had a lot of protection with him in the form of five surly, stumbly knights, and making some ordinary class volunteer at the Palace of Unbreaking into an S-rank klutz for hours when he didn’t really need to…

Hold on. I can still pay for chains myself if I ever want to. So if I realize I used one wastefully, it’s not like I can’t make amends.

“Should I cast my wordchain again?” he asked.

Everyone was still on a rope behind him except for Emban. She was out ahead on her own, checking for threats.

“The one that makes me graceful,” Alden said. “It’s not excessive this far into our trip, is it?”

“If you can cast it again, you should have already,” said Tilliver.

“All of us making it back to safety without any serious injuries or worse is worth much more than the cost of a wordchain, Alden,” said Bithe. “Once we ended up here instead of where we thought we were going, using everything we can use became necessary.”

“That’s what I meant,” said Tilliver. “He says it better. Ignore whatever I told you earlier about saving weapons and armor for others, too. We’re in the wrong place, and we’ve done more than enough fighting. Nobody’s going to accuse us of wasting anything.”

“You’re right. That’s all obvious. I’ve gotten a little tired, so I wasn’t thinking as clearly as I should. We’ll pause while I cast it.”

His hands still moved easily for him. They looked more impressive when the rest of him was sluggish and heavy.

He remembered how swiftly Jel-nor’s hands had moved with her auriad.

A well-trained wizards’s hands. I like mine better.

“We’re almost to Demon Goat Valley,” said Divin.

Alden had called it that in English. Now everyone called it that in English. It probably had some elegant Artonan name that they were repeatedly insulting.

“I could eat a demon goat,” Divin said.

“I developed a taste for some of the plants that mutated in Worli Ro-den’s laboratory,” said Alden, starting his climb again with more certain steps. “Only two people alive have eaten Thunder Lettuce. And it was good. Now I’m thinking, what if Thunder Lettuce was actually stabilizing the lab a little? What if it was somehow Thegund’s version of the treat we were supposed to find tonight? What if planting a whole field of it could have saved the moon and the universe?”

“I feel less inferior now that you’re making it so obvious you need rest,” said Seth. “You’ve half carried us all this way, and you seemed immune to fatigue. But now you’re imagining you ate a thundering plant that held the solution to chaos.”

“It’s not sounding that far-fetched to me tonight.”

“I assure you it is beyond far-fetched, Alden Thorn.”

“The lab did belong to a Distinguished Master known for his chaos research.”

None of them said anything to that.

“About the small animal I saw earlier—it was on this hill on the other side. But it could be on this side now. If any of you see something that might be it.”

“It was probably only an animal, Alden,” said Bithe.

“But, you know, a griveck came through here. So you’d think normal animals would be too scared to move a muscle until next summer.” Alden thought this was a very reasonable point. “That tiny creature was running around right in front of me. What if it was a hazard mimic giving me a clue?”

“We will say if we see anything,” Tilliver said. “As we have every time we saw something.”

“Okay.”

He could tell they still weren’t interested in his mouse, though. Their eyes, even disbelieving, probably stood a better chance than his nascent sensing abilities, but he kept working on it.

There they all are behind me. There’s the ground beneath my feet.

Reaching out with his authority in an active way couldn’t happen in this company, so he just tried to be receptive.

Stuart says I can be good at this kind of thing with enough practice. He’d be disappointed if I didn’t try.

Being able to disappoint someone was underrated, he decided. You could only disappoint another person if that person had taken a look at you and developed expectations for you.

Stuart’s expectations had to be as Intensity 99.9 as the rest of him.

I don’t mind, thought Alden. It used to scare me, but now I think I like it a lot.

 

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“They all look so tired!” Ryada said, not even a shadow of weariness in her own voice as she and Stu sat under a soft heated blanket together on the deck where he’d found her.

He’d suggested going in to listen to commentary about the squad wherever they could find it, but she’d wanted to stay out here. And now that they’d been together for a while Stu couldn’t imagine anything better was happening indoors.

Her interface and his eyerings showed them the exact same scene. Nobody else ever walked by on this part of the deck. The blanket and her body heat were very comfortable, and except for her not keeping her share of the crumbs from the k’rethkan they’d ordered brushed away, she was near perfection as a companion for this activity.

“What is Thunder Lettuce?” she asked. “I know you must have heard about it before.”

“It’s not the solution for chaos I hope,” said Stu. “Since it all would have died in the explosion. He says it made their breath smell terrible. Maybe it’s like lisnit?”

“We need to know,” said Ryada.

“He makes an alternative out of Earth foods with similar flavors.”

“He must bring us some,” Ryada declared.

“Yes he must,” Stu agreed.

“He’s quite curious about that animal he keeps mentioning.” She found another k’rethkan in the basket they’d put under the blanket with them. She bit it in half. “They should look for it even if they think it’s nothing. Of course it’s probably nothing, but if something is bothering one member of the squad, then dealing with that is part of what we should do. Everyone moves better together if they feel like their ideas are being heard. And he’s put himself through much trouble for them.”

“You’re very considerate,” said Stu.

He didn’t dare comment on the animal because Alden had a particular look of concentration that Stu thought he recognized. What if he knew the animal was something out of place in nature?

“Where they are now is actually where some of your brother Jozz’s friends were supposed to have their quest tomorrow. Maybe they still will. All of the assignments are being mixed up now because so much has changed.”

She bit the half a k’rethkan in half again. “Jozz missed seeing Alden’s run through Demon Goat Valley—” she quick-laughed—“when it was happening. I thought half the people in that room must have seen it, but then I realized I was the only one watching. So I came out here. There was only one other on this part of the deck, and he was better company. Not as much fun as you, however.”

“Watching with you is a deep and wide improvement over trying to catch up on everything I missed between classes.”

“We’ll go meet them when they finish,” said Ryada. “With k’rethkan. What filling do you think best represents Bithe?”

“Do we hear two people stirring a cauldron to trouble a newling knight?”

Ryada and Stu both startled at the question. Esh-erdi had appeared on the staircase that led up to where they sat. Lind-otta was behind him.

“Lind, I do think they’re plotting against this unfortunate Bithe. Isn’t that great?”

“Esh-erdi,” said Stu. “Hello. Alden served wevvi from your house to everyone.”

“Did he? I missed that. I’ve been focused on the more active moments since I found out what he’s doing. Did you send him to the training fields?”

Stu shook his head. “When I left him earlier he wasn’t thinking of doing anything like this at all.”

Esh-erdi smiled. “He’s carving deeper and faster than I thought he would.”

“May we enjoy your company for a while?” Lind-otta asked.

“Of course,” said Ryada. “I’m Ryada-bess.”

“Excuse me,” said Stu. “A message has just come.”

It was from Aymeg.

[Stu, we’ve heard you’re on the observation station. Please come speak to me and Veln. We want to discuss something with you.]

“Is it a message from one of your enemies?” asked Ryada. “You’re frowning.”

“No. It’s my parents. Veln and Aymeg are here, and they want to talk to me about something.” They were loved ones, not enemies, but what dreadful timing. “I’ll try to hurry back. Watching the end of it with all of you would be close to perfection. Truly. I’ll be right back.”

He untucked himself from the warm blanket and strode to the stairs.

There and back quickly. Lift number four up to the conference room they’re in looks like the fastest way. Is it too much to hope that they just want to congratulate me on my wise choice of friends?

Probably.

It’s more likely something about Emban.

If they’d discovered the missing demon hide, they’d have wanted to talk to him at home with all of his parents. Not here and suddenly.

He headed in, and soon found himself going back through the dining area, glancing over to see if his family was still at third meal.

Only a couple of them were lingering.

If Stu got a moment alone with Veln Dad he’d show him what Alden was doing and explain just a few…

Stu’s feet stopped.

What did I just see? Only a couple of family members lingering at that table?

No. That was…

He turned. Slowly. And saw Jozz, posture relaxed after a good meal, talking to Eeaner-ket, who sat so stiffly in his chair and with such a frozen smile on his face that Stu couldn’t be entirely sure his brother hadn’t made him drink a potion that caused immobility.

Jozz wouldn’t do something like that. But he also wouldn’t invite someone Stu had just told him about to Rapport III and then talk to him about Stu without telling Stu…which was what seemed to be happening.

Maybe, they are talking about something else.

…such as what?

They are talking about me.

No.

This isn’t right. I don’t understand what he’s trying to do, but I know it’s not right.

He was on his way to the table in the next instant.

 

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