A few days later, Idun left the room she had been given, nodding awkwardly to the guards on her way out. The steward had arranged the guarded room, along with escorts who followed discreetly every time she left it to walk the city streets, once she had been disappointed to hear that Idun was not immediately leaving the city to “be someone else’s problem”. 

But the Steward had also not locked her up nor restricted her movement in any way. And she had also apparently left Idun a ornate basket of fruits the first day, as some kind of Threeneer gift custom. She took one as her break fast, eating quickly as she idly mused on such gifts and kindnesses. The last time she had known such had been….well, it had been many years ago. Back before Gelicost’s old king and queen had died, along with all but two of the entire family.

But the past was best left in the past. Today, she had fruit to eat, and some new acquaintances to meet.

Scales skipped along quayside wall, eagerly searching with her eyes the field of masts and flags of dozens of ships, ranging in size from small fishing dinghies to fat and long merchant vessels than towered over their docks. “So Blue, where’s your ship? I bet it one of the ones over there, right?” Scales asked as she waved at the crew on one of the largest ships, a massive long-sailer with four masts, designed to cross the vast oceans to distant countries for trade and travel.

“That’s why you asked to meet on the docks today?” Idun rubbed her neck, now realising that they’ve walked all the way across this city for no reason. “Ah. Well. I don’t have a ship.”
“What!? How did you get here the first time?”

“I rode here on the back of a giant eagle, of course.”

“C’mon Blue, what’s that supposed to mean? I haven’t seen any kind of giant birds around, and I’ve known you for over half a week now!” 

    “What’s this about giant eagles?” Teach caught to meet them again, having stopped aways back earlier at one of the many shops open today. He folded a long blue overshirt (apparently identical to the six blue overshirts he already owned) neatly into his bag, then turning to Idun and asking, “ Summoning oversized birds is your Talent, then? Why didn’t you use it before now? Would’ve been useful in finding your way around an unfamiliar city, certainly.”

Idun sighed away an old insecurity. “No, my talent’s useless. My former companion, Lance, he was the one with the bird Talent-- of shape-shifting, not summoning. But I can only assume he’s abandoned me, as I haven’t seen him since...since…”

    Idun stops dead as she looks further up the pier, where fish stalls had left their  unwanted fishbits in a untidy pile next to a pier. Teach shades his eyes to see what brought her up short.

Along the quay some distance is a group of perhaps two dozen gulls fighting over the fishheads and other leavings.  There is also one very large brown and gold eagle, over four feet tall from beak to talons (thought decidedly not big enough to carry a person) fighting over some discarded fishheads with the other shorebirds, easily dwarfing them in size as he vainly attempts to keep the other birds away from his scavenger’s meal.

“on Hell’s shore, I think that’s him over there.”

Idun strides over to the comically oversized eagle. “Hey Lance! What the bells are you doing?”

“Idun!? You’re alive!” The eagle gasps, then looks away guiltily. It shuffles behind one of the gulls in a vain attempt to be inconspicuous. 

“...Arwkk?” it squawks, hopefully.

“Lance! Stop messing around and get over here! We’ve got to get back to Gelicost!”

    The eagle cranes his neck awkwardly to look up at Idun as she strides over to him. “You’re not...going to cut me down for betraying you and Gelicost?” he asks, clacking his beak from nerves.

    Idun looked down at Lance, who at this size barely reached her chest. “Kill you, merely for running to avoid capture yourself? Do you think so little of me?”

The eagle’s eyes widened. Then, in a flurry of golden brown feathers, a tall, long-haired man with eagle-golden eyes stood in its place. Lance, finely embroidered coat dirtied and ripped at the hem,  met Idun’s gaze. Then he pulled the startled woman in for a hug, hands shaking from stress, or perhaps relief.

    “I thought you were killed, and you’d left me all alone!” he said, still tightly embracing a startled stiff Idun. “I can’t do something this big by myself! And I knew that I couldn’t go home empty-handed-- but I didn’t know what to do, so I’ve been hiding in bird-form around this city, for months. I don’t know how Her Highness expected just two of us to be accomplish this, no matter how much she praised our skill at the outset.”