An Owl's Rise

'It's bigger on the inside!'

Evelyn rapidly turned her head from side to side as she examined the interior of the carriage with wide eyes.

Without any doubt she was certain that the outside dimensions of this carriage were far smaller than what she had just walked into.

Inside the carriage was a large living room with two luxurious couches and four high quality chairs sitting atop a beautiful rug and set up around a large table that was set low to the ground.

Glancing about Evelyn could see that there were several wardrobes and chests lined against the walls, and in one corner stood a small kitchen area.

Along with this main room, she could see three doors along the walls leading to presumably other rooms.

'This isn't a carriage. It's a luxury apartment on wheels!'

It had been a while since Evelyn had been this surprised by the magic in this world, but having her expectations be so far off the mark had left her more stunned than she normally would have been. She was reacting like most characters did when they walked into a certain blue box for the first time in a popular show on Earth.

"I understand that it is a little cramped and lackluster, but it was the best that could be arraigned on short notice. It's at the very least contains all of the basic essentials and is comfortable enough." Maeve said, a slightly apologetic look on her face.

"Um, no, its perfectly fine. I suppose it beats camping outside." Evelyn responded politely.

Honestly, she would rather be camping outside with her companions than in here, but she could not tell her employer that. While it was only temporary, she needed to keep up the act of a model mercenary and first-class citizen of the Usturg Federation.

'Just keep calm and remember the acting skills Lucia drilled into us before coming here. Everything I do here is to get closer to my goal.'

Once she had reaffirmed her motivation, Evelyn followed Maeve's direction and sat across for the young woman that had gained the animosity of her family for being the current patriarch's favorite to succeed the house.

Evelyn watched Maeve carefully and could see that she was putting up a strong front. Undoubtably the shook of her uncle's attempted assassination and his admission of killing her father had rocked her to her core.

"Young mistress, please enjoy. "

One of her maidservants placed a cup of tea in front of Maeve while the other gave one to Evelyn. Even though she was technically hired as a guard, it seemed that while inside this carriage she would be treated more like a guest.

"Ah yes, allow me to introduce you. These are my two closest servants, Amelia and Josephine. If you need anything, please feel free to ask them." Maeve said before picking up her cup of tea and taking a long sip.

As she did her hands trembled and Evelyn wondered if she was about to have a breakdown. And if Evelyn was not there, she certainly would have.

Instead, Maeve quickly brought up a topic to distract herself from the storm of thought and emotions in her head.

"Now, Evelyn, I'm interested in your work as a mercenary. I know it is not uncommon for even first-class citizens like ourselves to join the association, but what led you and your group to do so? It is easy to tell that the five of you are not your average practitioners of magic."

There was an exited glint in Maeve's eyes as she waited for Evelyn's response. Being part of the Usturg Federation, she had heard many romanticized stories about famous mercenaries and expected Evelyn to have many of her own.

'I guess it's time to break out the backstory that Lucia came up with for us. Along with that I can probably throw in some of the experiences I had while still with the Roost. All I need to do is omit anything about my being an owl. As they say, the best lies have a hint of truth to them.'

Knowing that she was not going to be able to get away with refusing to answer, Evelyn went all out with her retelling of certain events.

To start with she gave the fake background that Lucia had invented for them. They were all a group of friends from prominent but small houses in the south of the Usturg Federation. Each of them had been far removed from succeeding their houses and stuck out together, with Lucia being the leader since she was the oldest and most experienced.

Naturally each of the families Lucia had chosen for them to pretend to be a part of did exist at one point but had fallen at least a decade ago. If anyone did a very thorough investigation, they would likely find that Evelyn and her companions were not who they said that they were, but that would be a difficult and lengthy undertaking.

After that, Evelyn regaled Maeve with some of the battles she had fought, starting with the destruction wyvern she had encountered in the Velinis Desert.

She did take some liberties with the retelling, making sure to cast them all as humans, and inserting Lucia into the lead role despite her not having been around at the time.

This went on for hours, and it became clear that Maeve had no desire to sleep tonight nor be alone. Most likely she was willing to do anything to distract herself from the harsh reality she had recently learned.

Evelyn, for her part, was far kinder to Maeve than she would have expected. After all that had happened to her, she had an aversion that bordered on abhorrence for all humans.

However, perhaps she saw a bit of her past self in Maeve. The look of sadness and fear that occasionally appeared in the young woman's eyes reminded her of what she was like back on Earth. It wasn't the same, but it was similar enough. Both of them had been betrayed by members of the family that they trusted.

For Evelyn it was her father when he became a violent drunk, and for Maeve it was her uncle that had attempted to take her life.