When she got home, she was chagrin to discover that somehow the Hillsdale Guild knew about her Handle. She complained bitterly to Mariel, who unsympathetically pointed out that if she’d behaved herself it would have never happened. And anyway, what was she doing taking Requests during her vacation with her husband?

When Thio was mentioned, her mood would go very dark. Her crankiness was not lost on her fellow Guild mates. They all knew something must have gone wrong, but when they tried to ask she just got snippy and told them to mind their own business. Even Mariel could not weasel any information out of her. After she cracked a table in two, angry at the pestering, everyone came to a tactful agreement not to bring the subject up again.

She did not write a letter to Thio that month.

———

“Dear Caroline,

I have written you twice before, and now I am sending this letter expedited with confirmation and return delivery as well. I am seriously worried over here. Did you make it home safely? Please respond to this letter as soon as you receive it.

Worried,

Thio”

Caroline sighed. She’d left the first two letters unopened and stuffed in a bag on the wall. Her guilt and fear had only compounded over time, preventing her from even seeing what he’d had to say.

The current letter she was reading had been forced on her by the mail deliver boy. He had said he had to witness it read with his own two eyes before he could count it as “confirmed”.

She sat at the small desk, a blank piece of paper in front of her. After hemming and haying, she finally managed to write:

“Acanthio,

I have arrived safely at Hillsdale.

My sincerest apologies about not getting back to you in a timely manner. When I arrived home, I ended up much busier than I anticipated.

I’m also sorry we did not get to meet while I was in the Capital. I was doing Guild work there, you see, and was busy most of the time. When I tried to get to the Division’s Headquarters, I got lost. For such a giant building, it’s certain difficult to find. That or I’ve got a horrible head for directions.”

Caroline paused, twirling her pen in her hand and biting her lip. Should she ask, or shouldn’t she? After debating for a bit, she finally jotted down:

“While I was in town, I heard there was a Princess from some place called Oreland visiting as well. Apparently she’s very well known, as people in the city were talking about her. Have you heard of her?

Regards,

Caroline”

She writhed about whether to send the letter as written. The first half came off overly polite, to the point of coldness, and the last half was completely nonsensical. In the end, she determined to wait until tomorrow to make her decision.

To her surprise, the delivery boy was back the next day, bright and early. He informed her that he would keep on knocking on her door every day until she got a letter sent out. Return delivery turned out to be a form of mail delivery harassment!

Annoyed and the guilt weighing heavily on her, she stuffed the already written letter into the delivery boy’s hands. When he gave her a starry eyed star, she was forced to tip him as well.

A few days later, Thio responded:

“Caroline,

Have I offended you in some way?

Truly,

Thio

PS: There was a Princess. I was charged with escorting her.”

Naturally, Caroline dithered over the letter and it took a week before she could think of a decent response.

“Dear Thio,

No, I’m not offended. I’m sorry if I sounded short in my last letter. Everything is well. I’ve just been busy since returning home.

Sincerely,

Caroline

PS: Do Mages usually escort Princesses?”

It was a lame lie and she wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t believe it. His reply came back seven days later, to her surprise. He was spending a lot of money on a speedy delivery…

“Dear Caroline,

I hope you really are being sincere about not being offended. There are no relationships in the world where people do not offend each other, at least on occasion. However, if a person is offended, but doesn’t tell the offender what they did wrong so they can repair the damage, that would be very cruel. Don’t you think?

As to the Division’s Headquarters being tricky to find… I do understand. It’s not near any government buildings and on the other side of town from the Army and Navy Divisions. I was lucky that the dorms I stayed in the first few months were located across the street. Otherwise I would have gotten lost too.

Mages don’t usually escort Princesses. Apparently this Princess didn’t want to be followed around by a bunch of “sweaty, burly guards” (her words, not mine). It was decided a strong Mage would be a good alternative. The Senior Mages then drew lots to see who would be forced to babysit her, and I drew the short end.

By the time I was done, my face was sore from forced smiling. Evans jokingly told me that I was scowling twice as darkly to make up for being forced to smile all day.

Evans was the man you met at Division Headquarters. He’s a friend of mine.

Truly,

Thio”

If she’d felt guilty before, she was choking on the guilt after reading that. It’s obvious she’d upset him, and for her own selfish reasons too. But now she was trapped in her own lies. She needed a way to apologize without actually apologizing and thus exposing herself.

The solution came by way of Mariel. She had sown a new shirt for her husband and was spending her spare time at work embroidering the shirt with family designs. Caroline had discovered that it was customary for families to have something like a crest, which they embroider on their clothes and bedding and pretty much anything made of cloth. Everyone woman participated, even the Empress.

What was interesting about this tradition is that it was started by women and women persisted in it’s value. It was considered THE way to show love, honor, and loyalty to one’s husband, father, or family. The more magnificent the embroidery job, the bigger the impact of that proclamation. There was a unspoken contest between all women of all ages to one up each other with their embroidery skills because of that.

However, this put men without mother, aunt, wife, or daughter in very awkward positions. They didn’t dare make elaborate designs on their shirts (turning the entire female population against them) but on the other hand no design at all was a shameful embarrassment. They compromised with very simple, non-threatening designs.

Thio was still embroidering his own shirts in those simple patterns. While he wore his uniform, no one would know. But the moment he was in his regular clothes, she suspected he got a lot of startled looks. People would start to wonder if he’d suffered a tragedy or if something was wrong with him. The gossip must be really annoying to deal with…

While Caroline was a rough and tumble gal, Mariel had forced her to practice her sewing and embroidery.

Mariel’s logic being: “A married woman who can’t sew and can’t embroider is a shame to the entire family. And since the Guild and Church is taking care of you in place of your family, it’s a shame to the entire community. I won’t allow it. So sit down, shut up, and learn.”

Caroline couldn’t really argue with that logic, so she’d done as Mariel commanded. That woman could be scary when she wanted to be. Now, two years later, she’d greatly improved her domestic skills. She could now embroider with the best of them!

Going to the general goods store, Caroline bought some of the best fabric they had, and several beautiful shades of green yarn (which reminded her of Thio’s eyes). She put together a sturdy shirt, long sleeved since the Capital had harsher winters, and began embroidering like she was possessed.

Now that she’d seen many different types of crests, she understood that Thio’s family crest was mountains and stars. She built upon the simple design she remembered seeing two years ago and incorporated styles she remembered from her own world, layering the colors into a green rainbow.

She worked on it for one week straight, even skipping out on Guild Requests and meals to make time for it. Once it was done, she very carefully wrapped it up, deep circles under her bloodshot eyes, and attached a simple note: “Mariel has pounded embroidery into my head for almost 2 years now. I thought it was time to repay you for that shirt you made me so long ago. If anyone asks, say family made it for you. It’s true after all! - Caroline”