Rise of the Runelords – d20 Table Talk (2024)

The Lord-Mayor’s dinner dragged on until midnight before Earnest, Temerity and Tim managed to extricate themselves. They swiftly learned that Aeres had had the carriage return her to the Sanna Manor before sending it back to await the others, which meant she wasn’t present for the Lord-Mayor’s final grand idea of the evening.

“Tomorrow I shall throw a parade to celebrate everything we’ve accomplished for the town!” Grobaras announced, his magistrates’ eyes widening in horror at the sudden pronouncement. “You’ll join me on my float tomorrow at 10am, I insist.”

The trio had to agree of course, but Earnest continued to grumble under his breath about it the whole carriage ride back to the Sanna Manor.

“It’s a chance to drag the Daeroris name out of the mud,” Temerity advised her brother.

“I know,” Earnest groaned. “That man is just loathsome and trying to take the credit.”

Temerity nodded in acknowledgement, “I know… But maybe there’s something we can do to ensure that he doesn’t.”

Temerity bid goodnight to her brother, and the driver went to drop Earnest back home. Aeres was already in bed by the time Temerity and Tim arrived, exhausted. They promptly fell asleep in their own chambers, being rudely awoken by a knock at the door to the suite at 7am.

Aeres was less-than-pleased by the interruption, knowing that almost no one was awake in the Sanna Manor at that time since they’d all barely gone to bed an hour ago. She took long enough to answer the suite’s door that the naked devilish valets entered carrying several boxes.

“Sign,” one of the servants held out a clipboard to Aeres.

Aeres scowled at him. “What is this?”

“For the Heroes of Magnimar,” the man stated. “From the Lord-Mayor.”

Temerity burst out of her room, hastily tying her blue robe around her waist. She snatched the quill from the valet and scrawled her signature on the paper before Aeres could tell the man to piss off. The men quickly departed, and with a shake of her head, Temerity flipped open the lid of one of the many boxes and let out a heavy sigh.

“Ugh, he didn’t mention anything about outfits last night,” she held up the horrid poofy yellow dress for Aeres to see.

“Outfits for what?” Aeres demanded, scowling.

“Our parade regalia,” Temerity sighed. “The Lord-Mayor has invited- no, demanded – that we be paraded around to celebrate the Heroes of Magnimar solving these murders.”

Aeres quickly waved her hands at the dresses and shook her head, “No.”

Temerity arched an eyebrow at the other woman, “Yes, we have to. You can practice your queen wave.”

Aeres turned on her heel and departed the room without a word.

“Aeres?!” Temerity called after her but didn’t follow, considering that she wasn’t dressed. She tutted to herself and instead started pulling all the clothing out of the boxes and determining what they had been given.

Aeres ran downstairs and sought out Hewie who claimed he was still drunk from the previous night. Aeres hastily explained the situation and that she would have to be in a parade later that day, unsure what her father would say about the matter. Uncle Hewie didn’t dissuade her from participating, reassuring her that it would be a great opportunity for Aeres to show off.

“I’ll give you little packages to throw into the crowd, don’t worry! Oh, wait, maybe not. You are hanging out with that lawkeeper now… Oooh! Maybe I’ll give you little business cards. I think we’ve got some that we’ve folded into little paper cranes and magically enchanted to fly around leftover from last year. You can toss those out. You should wear Sanna colours,” Hewie declared.

Aeres sighed and nodded, finding Temerity fretting over the state of the outfits they’d been given.

“Maybe we can alter them before the parade,” Temerity said hopefully. She tossed Tim his suit that was quite dapper looking, then continued to frown at the ladies’ dresses. “Maybe if I take off some of the bows… Get rid of the bustle…” Temerity started tugging accoutrements off the dress, but it really didn’t make it look much better.

Aeres put a hand on Temerity’s shoulder to stop her, “Sanna House has tailors, remember?”

Relief immediately flooded Temerity’s face, “Can they work miracles in a couple of hours?” She held up the dress against her body.

“We’ll see,” Aeres rang the bell and swiftly some tailors arrived to take her directions regarding what was to be done to the clothing. “Have them make it look more like me,” Aeres shrugged. “You can add a slit up the side.”

“Not mine,” Temerity said hastily, handing over her dress.

The tailors looked flabbergasted at the gaudy clothing, “… I’m not sure we can.” She looked apologetically at Aeres.

“Just get rid of this, at the very least,” Aeres tugged on some of the poofy chiffon. “More adventuress?”

“Powerful,” Temerity corrected, seeing how the devilish tailor had taken the statement.

“Oh, yes, we need to look like adventurers,” Aeres added.

“I could possibly…” one woman stroked her chin as she regarded the garments. “How long do I have?”

Temerity glanced at the clock, “Possibly two hours. Two and a half at most.”

“f*ck,” the woman shook her head in disbelief, her assistants helping with grabbing up the long garments and dragging them to her work area for a miracle.

“Can you raise the neckline too?!” Aeres called down the hall after them, realizing just how low the neckline went.

“Right… Well, that takes care of that… Hopefully, our own flare on it sends a bit of a message,” Temerity sighed, turning back to Aeres.

“I’m going to find someone to do our hair,” Aeres sighed. “Maybe someone can braid ‘f*ck you, Mayor’ into my hair.”

Temerity snorted at that.

As promised, Aeres found a couple of talented devilish servants who were able to put both Aeres and Temerity’s hair into beautiful up-dos and do their makeup. At 9:30am, Earnest was escorted through the Sanna House to the suite, sporting a dour expression as he tugged at the uncomfortable collar that matched Tim’s outfit.

“You look dashing, don’t pout about it,” Temerity said, waving a dismissive hand at her brother after catching his forlorn expression in the mirror as the servant finished her hair.

“I knew you were going to say yes to this,” Earnest grumbled, gesturing at the outfits that they were all now wearing.

“We didn’t have much of a choice,” Temerity reminded him.

“It will be good for us,” Earnest said in a mockingly deep tone that sounded like their father.

Temerity smiled at him through the mirror.

Aeres shooed away the escorts that had brought Earnest in. She then turned to the inquisitor, “They mean well, you just have a reputation of doing good.” She made a show of shuddering.

Earnest arched an eyebrow at her, plopping a grape or two into his mouth from a nearby table. “Ihave a profession. I have a profession that makes me do good.”

“You have a profession that makes you do law,” Tim argued.

“Fair point,” Temerity nodded to Tim.

Earnest scowled at Tim, “I do understand the distinction. Usually, they’re the same thing.”

“One would hope,” Tim shrugged.

The group was hustled to the Lord-Mayor’s house to a gold filigree platform that appeared to hover of its own accord. It was clear that most of the shops had been closed for the next couple of hours for the celebration. Temerity swiftly realized that the route of the parade’s path would only stick to the richer districts on top of the ridge. Upset with that, Temerity turned on her charm and approached the mayor and some of the other planners, insisting that such a celebration required a parade through ALL of the districts. After a few minutes of discussion, Temerity had managed to convince the planners to change their minds, altering the route to take them through all of the districts except for Underbridge – due to safety concerns.

The parade got underway, and the quartet hopped up onto the float alongside the Lord-Mayor. Guards and other soldiers from the Magnimarian militia marched alongside, while magistrates and a couple justices rode horses. Ganzi was also there, riding alongside the float, looking just as grumpy as Earnest about the whole situation. A band trailed along, pounding out a tune that engaged the crowds, while wizards of some repute from the local magical academies conducted minor works to entertain folks. The group played along waving to the crowd as they passed, doing their best to ignore the Lord-Mayor’s loud guffaws. They wandered through the noble districts first, and it was clear that a lot of people were unsure as to what the parade was even about. At some point, Temerity elbowed Earnest subtly, delicately pointing out a large balding man with a whiskery moustache amongst the crowd.

“That’s Sandbor…” Temerity whispered to her brother.

Earnest glanced in the direction Temerity indicated, observing that the gentleman didn’t even seem to recognize Temerity, much less appear to understand what was going on.

“Well, it helps that he doesn’t even know what you look like,” Earnest grinned back at his sister.

It was two or three minutes later further down in the rich districts when Aeres and Tim noted Earnest suddenly go rigid. Tim was fast enough to see Earnest scowl and lock eyes with a youngish man with curly brown hair and a closely trimmed beard. The man had previously been staring – no, glowering – at Temerity. Earnest quickly broke eye contact, pointedly waving out at the crowd in another direction and whispering something to Temerity to keep her attention focused elsewhere.

Tim eyed the man for a bit longer before the crowds swallowed him from view. He looked back at Earnest and Temerity, the younger half-elf obviously having picked up on her brother’s strange behaviour but unable to find the source.

TimmessagedEarnest and Temerity when the elder half-elf’s posture didn’t relax, “What was that about?”

Temerity co*cked her head to the side, a quizzical expression on her face as she glanced between her brother and Tim.

“Nothing,” Earnest replied quickly. “Nothing at all. Just an old friend…”

Their attention was quickly drawn elsewhere as the parade carried on, the atmosphere of the float taking on a more commercial air as the Lord-Mayor spoke about all the businesses and guilds in the area as they made their way down to the Dockyway and Lowcleft. Eventually, the parade came to a halt and the Lord-Mayor gave a grandiose speech about how great Magnimar was and the resilience of its people in the face of such evil. He praised Earnest for his involvement and gave due respect to the guard for their role in assisting the Heroes of Magnimar. The Heroes clapped along politely, especially when Ganzi was announced as a new justice. Ganzi groaned, sharing a look with Earnest.

They were all then invited back into the Lord-Mayor’s mansion for tea, food, and dancing. Temerity kept the group from scattering, encouraging the others to play nice, make an impression, be polite, then take their leave after a couple of dances.

When they finally escaped back into the streets, it was mid-afternoon.

“Ugh, well, now I want to do something good,” Temerity grimaced, staring back at the ridiculous opulence of the Lord-Mayor’s house. “Didn’t we have an idea to give money to the people of Underbridge? Ganzi said he would finish processing the items we took from Ironbriar tonight. We can look over all that first and figure out what we need to buy for this next leg of our journey. Perhaps tonight we can run around and drop off some coin to people who actually need it.”

“Maybe I’ll go plan Ganzi’s funeral,” Earnest said flatly, making Temerity laugh.

“He can hold his own, can’t he?” Temerity asked.

Earnest grinned and shrugged, “Oh, he’ll be fine. It’s not me. That’s the important part.”

They began walking back to the Sanna House to get changed.

Tim was not able to resist leaving well enough alone. “Who was it that you saw in the crowd that made you so startled?” he looked at Earnest expectantly.

“No one,” Earnest replied far too quickly. “Sandbor.”

“No, it was after Sandbor,” Tim shook his head. “It was a young man-”

“Terrible man,” Earnest spoke over Tim pointedly.

Tim forged on, “Stubble. Brunette.”

Temerity stopped and blinked at Tim, smiling slightly, “That sounds like a lot of people in Magnimar.”

“Yes, but he knows who I’m talking about,” Tim gestured at Earnest who was giving him a death glare. “That’s why he’s trying not to answer.”

“Was he handsome?” Aeres inquired excitedly. “Did he look our age?”

“About…” Tim agreed. “It’s hard to tell with humans.”

Temerity glanced between Tim and Earnest’s twitching jaw as he ground out, “As I said, an old friend that I recognized.”

“You have friends?” Aeres teased.

Earnest’s lip twitched, “I did. At one point… I’m only recently universally reviled,” he tried to give a joking smile to Temerity.

Temerity glanced between Earnest and Tim again, but neither of them said anything. “Right, well, we did see Sandbor. I should probably do the adult thing and make an appointment to inform him that an engagement is officially off the table.”

“It never was officially on,” Tim reminded her.

Temerity nodded at that, “Correct, but father did venture to try to make arrangements. I want to make it clear that there is no arrangement.”

“If you approach him after being paraded around, he might not want to give you up so easily,” Aeres warned her.

Temerity shook her head, “He has no ties. Nothing legally binding us.”

“Then what’s the problem? Just send a letter,” Tim advised.

Temerity snapped her fingers, “Which, my letters are being diverted somewhere, so I need to look into that as well.”

“I can send him a letter,” Aeres offered gleefully. “‘f*ck you. She’s not marrying you.’”

“We don’t know where his estate is,” Temerity reminded them.

“… I know where it is,” Earnest answered suddenly. “I can drop something off for you.”

“There you go, problem solved,” Tim indicated. “No awkward connection with the Walrus.”

Temerity shook her head, “Morbid curiosity though…”

“It didn’t even look like he knew who you were,” Earnest replied sharply.

“Right…” Temerity eyed her sibling. “Well, fine. If you want to drop off a letter then, brother?”

“Sure,” Earnest nodded numbly.

Tim snigg*red, “It would be funny if you fell head over heels for him immediately upon him speaking to you.”

Temerity scowled at Tim and shuddered, her face twisting into a grimace. “I don’t think there’s a chance of that.” They hadn’t been present for Kharis’ comments about how he didn’t know what Sandbor had decided her “role” would be. “Shall we go shopping?” Temerity asked quickly, not wanting to dwell on that awful conversation.

“Sounds like a plan,” Tim replied, watching her emotions race across her face.

They returned to the Sanna House, changed into their regular attire, then made their way through the streets, finding shops that carried the things they needed. Aeres altered her human guise a little, not wanting to draw attention to herself when she saw that the other three’s presence quickly derailed any conversation in the shop once the keeper realized they were serving the Heroes of Magnimar. Temerity was quick to jump in with polite discourse, cut conversations short where they needed to be and refocus the attention on what they needed to acquire. Shopkeepers immediately attempted to give them discounts, which Temerity scowled at and affirmed that they would pay the full price. One of their first shops was a jewellery store.

Temerity peered through the cases, looking over several diamonds and discussing the need for thousands of gold worth in diamond dust.

Temerity grumbled under her breath, “This would be so much easier if we still had working mines. I could just requisition what I needed.”

“Did you have diamond mines?” Tim asked.

Temerity nodded and replied quietly, “Some. Sometimes there was just a random vein.”

“Do they still have diamonds in them?” Tim wondered.

Temerity shrugged in frustration, “Probably not… With what father’s books said…”

“We could just go dousing in them later,” Tim suggested.

Temerity blinked at the offer, “Much later… I need to go physically see the state of each of the mines. See if there is anything left or a vein in close proximity to open up. Dousing and whatever… I need to find someone who can do that.”

“I can do that,” Tim said suddenly.

Temerity co*cked her head at him, “When? How?”

Tim shrugged, “You just take two bent sticks and think about what you want.”

“That sounds very witchy,” Aeres pointed out.

“It’s not really. It’s just about tuning the frequencies to whatever you’re seeking: diamonds, water, corpses,” Tim explained. “Those are the primary things you can douse.”

Temerity considered him for a moment, “Well, let’s stick to gems. I definitely don’t want to find corpses… That would be helpful though,” Temerity stated for the record. “If you could… To know if there was still something in the mines versus putting in all the work to find new ones.”

Temerity caught Earnest trying to sneak out of the shop while they discussed other matters.

Temerity reached out and snagged his sleeve, “Ah, ah. You need new armour.”

Earnest sighed and shook his head, “With what money?”

“The money you earned from helping take down Xanesha. A quarter of it is yours, and I will make sure that you’re properly outfitted. Come along,” Temerity finished purchasing the diamond dust and dragged her brother after her as he pouted.

“You know what I hear gets people out of a funk?” Aeres whispered to Temerity as she eyed Earnest. “Going to a brothel.”

“Then you two can go,” Temerity hissed back. She spoke aloud to the group, “I was thinking about calling in my poker win though.” She studiously ignored Aeres’ unhappy groan and forged on, “I’ve never been down to Lowcleft because Mauira wouldn’t let me go at night-”

Aeres perked up, “So, we’re going somewhere fun?”

Temerity nodded, “That’s where most of the bars and dancing halls are, and the colourful lights at night. Itisthe party district of Magnimar. But I also haven’t seen any of the golem fights at Serpent’s Run because Mauira disliked all the violence,” Temerity rolled her eyes pointedly.

“Sorry, did you say golem fights? This place actually has high-class entertainment?” Tim turned his attention to Temerity just as Earnest did the same, sceptical that the young woman would be interested in such a thing.

Temerity nodded and grinned, “Yes.”

“They call them Battle Bots or something like that,” Earnest waved a hand about. “I haven’t been there for a long time. Admission is expensive!”

Temerity looked sheepish, “Well, yes, but I’ve wanted to go for a long time. And I know it’s not spring when the big competition is on, but the students will be testing their prototypes in preparation for that. It will still be just as fun.”

“I guess the admission cost has no bearing on whatever you all do now,” Earnest rolled his eyes.

Temerity huffed at her brother and carried on, “Anyways, I can go buy a few tickets, and then we can go watch the prototypes beat each other senseless, then go for a night of drinking and food. And if you allmustgo to a brothel, you can do that after a couple of dances.”

There was a chorus of agreement.

Earnest shook his head in wonderment at Temerity, “Whoareyou?”

Temerity shrugged and smiled genuinely, “I don’t know. I get to try new things. Mauira is not here.”

Earnest eyed his sister for a long moment as she led the way to the next shops on their list, “… You’ve changed a lot in the last few months. And?”

“What?” Temerity frowned at him.

“Is this better or do you miss prancing to Mauira’s beat?” Earnest asked bluntly.

Temerity winced, “… You mean walking on eggshells?”

“Same thing, isn’t it?” Earnest asked somberly.

“No, quite different,” Temerity affirmed.

Earnest shrugged, “I learned to do one with the other with father…”

Temerity nodded slowly, biting her lip.

“Not that I prance!” Earnest said loudly for Aeres to hear.

“Prancer!” Aeres teased back.

Earnest turned his attention back to his sister, looking for some sort of reassurance, “You would say that you’re in a better place then?”

Temerity regarded him for a moment, “I honestly don’t know how to answer that… Everything is a mess! Picking up the pieces is what it feels like… But maybe we can have some fun while doing so?” she looked at him hopefully.

“Hmm,” Earnest nodded, considering her. “Well, I’m glad you are where you are then.”

“It’s certainly a lot more dangerous than I thought,” Temerity let out a nervous laugh.

“You’d be surprised…” Earnest muttered.

“Hmm?” Temerity co*cked an eyebrow at him.

“Never mind,” Earnest said quickly, making Temerity scowl at him.

She didn’t let up, “What’s more dangerous than what we just did?” She’d almost been run through by a spear and dropped 200 feet through a rickety clock tower.

Earnest snorted but then looked at her seriously, “Marriage.”

Temerity’s eyes widened slightly at the statement before she frowned at him, trying to parse his meaning.

“Magnimar is a plenty dangerous place, you’ve seen it!” Earnest said hastily. “Cults and mass murderers and things… Patriarchy and what not.”

“Luckily, I wasn’t engaged to a cultist,” Temerity rubbed the back of her neck. “I hope… I guess you never know these days.”

“You nearly were,” Aeres reminded Temerity with a smirk, happily listening in on the conversation from a few paces behind.

“A cultist?” Temerity regarded her in confusion before she gasped and turned to Earnest with a look of horror on her face. “Oh, sh*t…”

“What?” Earnest asked worriedly.

Temerity blushed and broke into raucous laughter. “Uhm, I kind of kept this part from you.” She quickly informed Earnest about the more personal stuff that had happened with Aldern, his stalking, his turning into a ghoul, and the horrid notes that he’d left her as he tried to convince her to become his undead wife. “But it’s fine. I killed him,” Temerity finished nervously.

Earnest’s mouth had fallen open and he blinked for a moment before recovering, “That’s… Wow.”

Temerity shrugged, “Just Mauira not doing her background checks.”

“I thought Sylvester was bad,” Earnest muttered.

Temerity gave him a look, “Yeah, well… I didn’t know you still spoke with him much.”

Earnest looked away from his sister hastily, “Never mind, where are we going?” They’d ended up wandering a bit and forgetting their task as they spoke.

Tim eyed Earnest’s sudden skittishness with the conversation carefully, then looked at the smaller half-elf, “Temerity, can you describe Sylvester?”

Temerity immediately and analytically described her former fiance down to the freckle, leaving out the extra descriptors she’d once lovingly used to describe his dreamy eyes.

Tim smirked slightly at Earnest, “Ah, that explains it now.”

Temerity frowned at her friend, “What?”

“We saw him in the crowd,” Tim stated.

Temerity whirled to face Earnest accusatorily.

Earnest sighed heavily, “Yes, I saw him in the crowd at the parade… I don’t really talk to him anymore.”

It took Temerity a second to find words, “Oh… I guess he hadn’t really mentioned you… Much.”

“I’m hungry. Tea? Let’s go get sandwiches,” Earnest said suddenly. “That’s not offensive, is it? Sand-witches?” he elbowed Aeres playfully.

Earnest scuttled away, leaving the trio to debate whether Earnest was trying to be offensive or make a joke.

Earnest turned away from the sandwich vendor, holding the triangles up against his ears, “Look! Pointies for pointies!”

Aeres quickly escaped into a nearby bookstore to avoid the scene, leaving Temerity and Tim to join Earnest for sandwiches.

“I don’t think you have a career in comedy, I’ll be honest with you,” Tim smirked.

“No, probably not,” Earnest agreed, handing a chunk of sandwich to Temerity.

“I’m going to go find some secondhand shops,” Tim stated, glancing about at the nearby street for options.

“And I’m going to find someone who can do fireproof armour, I think,” Temerity said slightly sceptically.

“Look for a dwarf,” Tim directed, and Temerity nodded.

“And I will stand here,” Earnest tried to affirm.

Temerity scowled at him, “No, you’re going to come with me and find some armour that has actual qualities to it!”

“Fine! Fine, fine,” Earnest relented.

“And colour,” Temerity eyed her brother before dragging him after her.

Temerity eyed her brother suspiciously as she forced him to try on pieces of armour and pick out fabrics that he liked for accompanying pieces and undershirts. Earnest would avoid her gaze, but Temerity knew Earnest wouldn’t be able to hold whatever he needed to say in for long, so it was just a matter of waiting him out.

Aeres eventually realized that Delyth was no longer on her shoulder, so she began checking the immediate area for her familiar. She tried to remain as calm as possible once she realized that Delyth was not in the bookshop. She walked about down the street, spotting a little flying squirrel butt tucked inside a helm inside the shop where Earnest and Temerity were shopping.

Aeres’ breath whistled out from between her teeth, quickly offering apologies for interrupting Temerity and Earnest in their shopping.

Temerity gave her a sympathetic smile, “I hadn’t noticed her, sorry. Did you need anything from here?”

Aeres glanced about at the armour and shook her head, “Ew.”

“Do you feel it?! Do you feel the awkwardness between siblings?!! Leave me here!” Delyth begged. “I will tell you! I will tell you!”

Aeres chittered in annoyance at the squirrel, “Delyth, you can’t disappear like that! Without you, I would be f*cked!”

“I’m hiding in a helmet. I’m perfectly safe,” Delyth insisted.

Aeres sighed and looked at Temerity, “Temerity, Delyth really wants to look at armour with you. Would you mind if she stayed here?”

“Of course, that’s fine,” Temerity smiled again, glancing at the squirrel with slight concern.

“Ah, yes! Naive girl,” Delyth cackled, jumping onto Temerity’s shoulder.

Aeres cursed under her breath and offered Temerity an apologetic glance, “I am so sorry…” She beat a hasty exit back toward the bookstore.

Delyth immediately started squeaking, catching Earnest’s glance before making a bunch of gestures and swinging her hips about, which made Earnest blush and quickly go back to the armour options he was picking through.

Temerity eyed him, “… What did happen between you and Sylvester?”

“Nothing, why?” Earnest nearly jumped at the question.

Temerity scowled and put her hands on her hips, “That was way too quick an answer.”

Earnest shifted uncomfortably, his voice breaking slightly before he repeated, “But you’re happy where you are, right? You’re happy?”

Temerity glanced at the shopkeep who was busy in the backroom getting the measuring tapes and other things they’d need to properly fit armour, “I mean-”

“You’re glad that you didn’t marry him?” Earnest asked.

Temerity eyed him and the loaded question. “He was an asshole…” she muttered that quietly so as to not speak ill of the nobility to too many ears.

Earnest looked relieved, “Yes! And a gambler and a drunk, a deviant, and a whole bunch of other things,” Earnest cleared his throat. “I haven’t spoken to him since I arrested him.”

Temerity blinked at that, “You what? When?”

Earnest looked sheepish, “Slightly before your wedding… I pulled him in.”

Temerity sucked in a calming breath and cleared her throat, ensuring the shopkeed was still not in earshot as she pressed her brother for more details, “… In Lowcleft?”

Earnest looked embarrassed for them both as he stuttered out a response, “Y-yes…”

Temerity flushed angrily, squeezing the piece of leather she had in her gloved hand, “… Was he with his friends?”

“Of course,” Earnest nodded stiffly. “Never without.”

Temerity went deadly quiet, taking great pains to place the piece of leather down on the counter and smooth it out so it carried no wrinkles, “…Wheredid you arrest him?”

Earnest shifted uncomfortably at the threat in Temerity’s words, “Oh, it doesn’t matter, does it?” His voice pitched higher as he tried to placate his sister.

Temerity gave him a derisive look and sighed, “The servants kept muttering about brothel trips and otherthings…Other ladies out on the town with him… I wouldn’t be surprised ifthatwas where he was.”

Relief flooded Earnest and he found his voice more stable, jubilant that his sister hadn’t been ignorant to the things going on behind her back. “Yes… That’s where I found him. Drunk and disorderly outside the bordellos…”

Temerity nodded slowly at that, quickly stifling any pain the topic still brought her, “Well… He made it quite clear that I wasn’t what he wanted. He was going to marry me for the money, the status, or whatever… Or the lack thereof,” Temerity laughed bitterly and forced a smile. “No, I know it wouldn’t have been a happy marriage. I know that… I get that.”

Earnest could tell she’d had to repeat that to herself. A lot. “… He was boasting about the things he was going to do to you when you were married.”

“Ew,” Temerity blushed and swiftly looked away from her brother, not wanting to have this conversation with him.

“He was not a…” Earnest ground his teeth together. “I found a reason to drag him in and had him locked up for a couple of nights.”

Temerity recalled a couple emergency meetings prior to the wedding, that must’ve been one of them. “I’m sure he loved that and so did his parents loved that,” Temerity smirked slightly.

“It was fully within the law,” Earnest promised.

“Of course…” Temerity eyed him warily.

“But yeah… I definitely didn’t want you marrying him after that,” Earnest admitted.

“Lucky for you, he ended it,” Temerity harrumphed.

“He ended it,” Earnest nodded along.

Temerity nodded, “Yes, two nights before…” She tried to hide her embarrassment, but then she realized the certainty with how Earnest had said the last part, “Wait, how did you know? Actually… If you haven’t been speaking with him, how did you even know we were engaged? Or did father tell you?” She believed that they must have hadsomecontact over the years.

Earnest had the decency to look at his feet for a moment before he met Temerity’s gaze and continued, “You have to understand that most of my time working was spent also trying to figure out how you were, make sure that you weren’t the new subject of father’s beatings.” Earnest gave her a pained look. “I kept tabs… I just wasn’t allowed to see you or anything. But then when Sylvester was out and about and saying all of these things… Well, I may have tried to do some things to prevent the wedding from going through…”

Temerity stiffened and her irises paled. “… Like what?” she demanded.

Earnest had the grace to look shamefaced, “Ehm, sorry… I know this will hurt, but he didn’t know about your hands until I told him…”

There was a beat of silence as Temerity’s face dropped and her eyes blazed with light, “YOU TOLD HIM WHAT?!”

Earnest winced, and the shopkeep darted out from the backroom in concern.

Temerity gulped down air and forcibly contained the pressure of the flame and light inside her. Her eyes stung and her voice shook when she managed to look at Earnest again, “Y-you told him?!”

The look of betrayal on Temerity’s face hurt Earnest more than he’d expected, “… You couldn’t marry him. You couldn’t.” Earnest shook his head back and forth emphatically, trying to get her to see his reasoning for doing such a horrendous thing. “There was no other way that he wouldn’t go through with it… I know, I’m sorry. I’m not… I had no other power left to prevent that from happening, and I-”

“That wasn’t yours to share!” Temerity shouted, her voice quivering.

Earnest let out a breath slowly and regarded her shamefully, “I know…”

“I-I,” Temerity glanced about for something. “I can’t even look at you!” She stormed out the of armoury, fighting back tears until she could get far enough away.

Delyth squeaked and nearly fainted from the drama, beating a hasty retreat out of the shop to find Aeres and inform her of what was going down.

“Sacre blue! Tea is spilling! Tea is spilling everywhere, like a Boston Harbour!” Delyth chittered away breathlessly as Aeres picked her up. Delyth hastily explained what she had heard, overdramatizing as was required. “She smote him with a fireball!”

Aeres frowned and closed her book.

“He is a charred cinder of a man, crying. You should go rescue him,” Delyth implored.

Aeres rolled her eyes at the squirrel.

“I think he likes you,” Delyth waggled her eyebrows at Aeres. “I tried to ask him, made a bunch of sensual motions at him and waved my tail about. You could corrupt him! Corrupt the shining knight, your father would be so proud.”

“You’re not wrong about that,” Aeres said offhandedly, hurrying out of the shop back to the armoury to find Temerity, knowing the woman was probably in distress.

Aeres was relieved to see that Temerity hadn’t burnt down the place, and even caught sight of the woman hastily turning a corner. She sneered as she spotted Earnest through the window, despondently poking at a breastplate.

The bell above the door rang as Aeres stepped in and looked accusatorily at the half-elf, “The squirrel says that you f*cked up.”

Earnest made a noise, but a different expression took over, “Your squirrel has an interesting way of communicating things…”

“She also said you were hit in the face by afireball,” Aeres smirked. “So I’m pleased to see that that wasn’t the case, I guess.”

Earnest stood a bit taller and returned the smirk, “Did she mention that she was gyrating all over Temerity’s shoulder?”

Aeres blushed and immediately turned and left the armoury.

“That’s what I thought!” Earnest called after her, recovering remarkably quickly.

Aeres and Delyth quickly hunted down Temerity, finding the woman seated on the edge of a fountain, hastily wiping away tears as she pretended to be focused on admiring the beauty of the sculpture and flowing water. Aeres sighed and approached, awkwardly patting Temerity on the shoulder to the other woman’s surprise. Temerity hunched over and started bawling, knowing that Aeres was doing her best to offer comfort, and that meant the world to her.

The weight of the last couple of weeks came crashing down on Temerity, and she turned to hug Aeres, only managing to sob, “H-he didn’t have a right…”

“Right…” Aeres held her as lightly as possible, realizing that this was the first time she’d been hugged by someone outside of Matteo. She slowly hugged Temerity a bit more confidently, patting her back in an awkward rhythm. “I don’t know what to do with my hands…” Aeres pleaded with Temerity to give her direction, but the other woman was too busy crying to assist. Once Temerity’s sobs quietened, Aeres spoke, “Should I curse your brother? What would you like?”

Temerity barked a laugh and pulled away from her, wiping away her tears. “No, no…”

“I could bestow him with some misfortune,” Aeres offered.

Temerity shook her head sadly and smiled a bit, “He’s already suffered enough misfortune.”

Aeres offered to finish shopping with Temerity, but the half-elf was tired and in no mood to shop after the recent conversation with Earnest. Additionally, the armourer hadn’t had anything fireproof that worked for her. Aeres had an idea, recalling the tailors from the Sanna House.

“If you would like… The tailors at my house might be an option. You would just have to pay for material and their services. But they see me in my regular form all the time, so you wouldn’t have to worry about them judging your arms,” Aeres explained.

Temerity wiped her tears and nodded.

Aeres smiled slightly, “There, that’s one thing solved. Anything else?”

Temerity thought for a moment, then scowled, “It’s wrong what he did, right?” She looked to Aeres for confirmation that she wasn’t overreacting.

“Offer to buy her a new brother,” Delyth suggested.

“We could buy you a new brother?” Aeres offered, making Temerity laugh. “Is there something else you needed while we were out?”

“Probably a couple… Thank you for distracting me,” Temerity nodded more to herself. “Men suck!” she shouted that a bit loudly, making Aeres chuckle as they linked arms and wandered off.

The pair managed to collect themselves and tend to a few more items on their list, Temerity falling into a brooding silence. Once they were done shopping and started their return to the Sanna House, Temerity started venting.

“I know my arms are sh*tty and horrible and horrific, but that’s my secret. That’s mine to tell-”

Aeres sighed, “They’re not sh*tty and horrific.”

Temerity sneered at her slightly, “Oh, really?”

“No,” Aeres shook her head slowly. “I have seen sh*tty, and ugly, and horrific. They are fine.”

Temerity snorted in a very unladylike manner, “Was it not just over a week ago you told me I should keep them covered up so you and Tim don’t need to look at them?”

Aeres winced slightly, “I say a lot of things…”

Tem scoffed and shook her head, then sighed heavily, “That’s the one thing about any relationship… ‘Oh, by the way, I look like crispy barbeque meat!’” Temerity said mockingly of herself.

“Yeah…” Aeres said slowly. “I’ve never had a relationship, so I wouldn’t know.”

“Have any of us, actually?” Temerity snorted.

“I just don’t know how to explain a lot about my physique, if that were the case,” Aeres’ brows furrowed in thought.

Temerity blinked at that, “I guess that puts us in the same boat… Showing off your stomach to that half-orc seemed to work quite well for you, actually.”

“Ohh,” Aeres laughed. “If you want to see something horrific, you should-”

“You should show her!” Delyth chittered.

“Not here!” Aeres snapped at the squirrel.

“Maybe it will make her scream like the last person,” Delyth chuckled.

Temerity frowned slightly at their chittering but forged on, “… Does it hurt?”

“Does what hurt?” Aeres asked.

Temerity blinked and blushed slightly, “Whatever teeth… thing…?”

Aeres eyed her and considered her response, “I’ll show you when we get back to the Sanna House.”

Temerity straightened in surprise, “Okay.”

“If you want to see ugly and horrific, I’ll show you that,” Aeres sighed. “Then we’ll be on an even keel. Then maybe we can help each other figure out how we would explain our deformities to a significant other or suitor. I feel like your hands would be easier to explain.”

Temerity raised a skeptical eyebrow, “Really?”

“Yeah, but her hands limit possibilities, and your mouth opens them,” Delyth teased.

Aeres smacked Delyth hard enough that the squirrel had to cling to her robes to not go flying.

“What did she say?!” Temerity asked, startled.

“Oh, nothing,” Aeres waved her away, shuddering.

Temerity blinked and could only fathom what Delyth had said. “… So, it’s not forthat?”

“I never thought about it…” Aeres replied honestly.

Temerity made a strangled noise, “Right… Well, at least you still have your hands, and-”

“You’ll see,” Aeres cut her off hastily. “It will be fine.”

The girls hastily made their way into the Sanna House. Temerity handed off some designs and had a quick conversation with the tailor before the ladies made their way up to the suite to further their earlier discussion. Aeres returned to her demon form.

“Now, don’t scream,” Aeres pleaded, lifting her shirt to Temerity to reveal a vertical mouth that stretched from Aeres’ sternum to the top of her pubic bone. The long teeth interlocked like a zipper, and there were no lips, but there was a tongue that flicked out intermittently. Temerity was more surprised and intrigued than horrified, her knowledge of anatomy immediately making her wonder how Aeres’ organs functioned with such a thing.

“Do you mind if I ask more academic questions? That is where my brain goes…” Temerity admitted sheepishly.

“It does eat, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Aeres nodded, still holding up her shirt. “I can eat through it, but I choose not to because it’s inconvenient.”

“But then it connects to your stomach, or do you have two stomachs? How does that work?” Temerity asked.

“It connects to my one stomach,” Aeres informed her. “So, hideous, right?” She fed her stomach a piece of cake, the mouth extending and opening to grab it before chewing the cake thoroughly.

Temerity opened her mouth to respond, but she couldn’t think of anything to say. She wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted someone to say to her when they saw her arms… “Interesting,” is what Temerity settled on. “I guess we just need men with hardy stomachs, eh?” Temerity joked.

Aeres snorted, “Where are we going to find those? It’s just a bunch of babies around… Anyway, that’s my stomach. Hideous. We can be hideous together, Temerity.”

Temerity couldn’t help but smile at the ridiculous camaraderie of it all and discovering that someone else could relate on a personal level. Temerity found herself opening up a bit more to Aeres, telling her about how Sylvester had managed to see her hands that fateful day. She admitted that she and Sylvester had been left alone for the first time in their entire four-year courtship two days before their wedding. They’d sat down for tea, only to start getting more comfortable on the couch.

“… He asked me to…touch…him,” Temerity emphasized, begging Aeres to not make her go into the explicit detail. “I refused… He became angry…” Temerity sucked in a breath. “He grabbed my wrist and ripped off my glove, revealing the ugly truth…” Temerity simmered for a second, “But now I know Earnest told him what to look for… So…” Her lip curled angrily.

“Betrayal,” Aeres nodded in understanding. Aeres sucked in a breath, “Earnest did a sh*tty thing, and he’s a sh*tty person for doing that sh*tty thing. However… If that is how Sylvester felt about the whole situation, he would’ve found out eventually.”

“No, of course,” Temerity deflated, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She’d had a plan for the wedding night…

“So, it’s good that it happened prior to there being official paperwork involved. It’s probably for the best,” Aeres said gently. “I can bite his dick off, if you want,” Aeres offered, pointing at her stomach.

Temerity blanched, blushed, then burst out laughing. “No! I wouldn’t wish that on Earnest.”

Aeres’ eyes widened, “No! Not Earnest! Sylvester!”

Temerity cackled at the misconception, “No. No…” She shook her head rapidly.

“Earnest seems nice enough,” Aeres shrugged.

“He is,” Temerity groaned, massaging the bridge of her nose. “His heart was in the right place…”

“He just lacks the tact. He had an Aeres moment,” Aeres smirked.

Temerity grinned, “Yes, he is rather blunt.” Temerity nodded to herself glumly, “I know it would’ve been a miserable marriage, but yeah…” She might even have been locked in a room the entire marriage. “Yeah…” Temerity sighed heavily and leaned back against the couch, “I feel like I need a drink.”

Aeres nodded and stepped toward the bells, starting to reach for the one that would summon clothed beings.

Temerity sat up straight and stopped her, her cheeks heating slightly, “You could pull on the non-clothed bell, seeing as how that’s probably the closest we’re going to get to a naked man.”

Aeres beamed, “Excellent!”

“Just to bring in the wine,” Temerity corrected. “Not to touch…”

Soon enough, a group of naked men paraded in carafes of wine and other alcohol, taking a moment to pose in the corner and flex, holding the delicate glass bottles in front of their nether regions.

“I won’t ever get to actually touch anything like that…” Temerity grumbled bitterly, watching the muscles in their asses flex.

Aeres regarded her seriously, “You could if you wanted.”

Temerity quickly shook her head, “You know how much that would probably cost?” She waggled her gloved hands emphatically. “They’ll charge extra formeto touchthem.”

Aeres and Temerity sipped their wine, quickly becoming more giggly as the men adopted even more ridiculous poses to get their attention. The one holding the white wine kept waggling his eyebrows at Temerity, making her blush more.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Aeres said after several minutes, dismissing them once she and Temerity had poured their third glasses of wine.

The wine was going down far too easily, and the girls’ laughter echoed down the hallway as the men took their time leaving.

“Am I interrupting something?” Timendra asked, easing into the room and taking in the tipsy state of the ladies.

Temerity blushed, hoping the naked men had disappeared from the room long before Tim had shown up, but she’d lost track of time.

Delyth began squeaking fervently at Tim, making it clear that she wanted Kenapsu to give her pony rides again.

Tim sighed at her, “I’m not letting you play with Kenapsu; he’s still on timeout.”

“Why,” Aeres whined drunkenly. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like that my hand wanders on its own,” Tim grumped.

“He can stay in the room,” Aeres pointed out.

“I don’t think he can,” Tim shook his head.

“Please? Delyth just wants to play with him. She’s been a brat all day,” Aeres groaned, remembering all the things she’d said to her about Earnest. “It will tucker her out.”

Tim heaved a sigh, “Fine, go ahead.” Tim pulled Kenapsu off his wrist, and his hand scuttled down the couch to scoop up Delyth and gallivant across the room.

“Whiskey?” Aeres held out a carafe to Tim.

“No, thank you. I’m alright,” Tim replied, sitting on one of the plush chairs.

Temerity let out a tipsy giggle, raising her umpteenth wine glass, “So are we!”

Tim eyed her, then emptied out his bag onto the floor, pulling out the new weapons and items he’d acquired.

“Oooh, what did you find?” Temerity leaned over the arm of the couch interestedly. “Am I just drunk, or…” she pointed at Tim’s feet which appeared to be flickering in and out of existence.

“Ah, they’re getting used to me still,” Tim replied as if that answered everything.

Temerity blinked at him uncomprehendingly, “Okay… That doesn’t make sense still. You’re going to have to explain it.”

Tim gave her a small smile, “Has anything I ever did made sense when I first explain it?”

Temerity bristled, raising herself up on the arm of the sofa to scowl at him, “No, so perhaps if you took the time to break it down and thoroughly explain it?”

Delyth suddenly ran across the room and jumped on the bell that would summon the nude men back. Aeres sighed and walked over, pulling Delyth off the bell, then removing the clapper so it would no longer make such an annoying sound.

Temerity barked a laugh, raising a glass to Delyth, “Ah, yes! More! How lovely.”

A gaggle of 20 naked people showed up shortly thereafter. Aeres had to disperse the crowd, explaining that a perverted hand and a squirrel had thought it would be a fun joke. Temerity simply giggled the entire time until the people left.

Tim glanced between the ladies, “So… Have you two had a very good day or a bad one? With that amount of alcohol…”

Aeres and Temerity exchanged a look, Temerity laughing, while Aeres made a weird squeaking noise.

“Wallowing in self-pity,” Temerity stated plainly for Tim, unable to withhold another giggle.

“We have bonded over mutual disgust!” Aeres pronounced to the room, twirling and landing back on the couch with a fresh glass of alcohol.

“Of ourselves!” Temerity raised her wine glass to the air, cackling.

Tim opened his mouth, then shut it. “… I am certain that’s not healthy, but I’m not going to pry.”

Temerity smirked at him, raising an eyebrow as she slowly sipped her white wine.

“It is healthy,” Aeres reassured him.

“Is it?” Tim frowned at her.

“We have a mutual understanding,” Aeres clinked her glass with Temerity’s.

“You said mutual self-disgust… I don’t think that’s a good emotion to have,” Tim said teasingly.

“Whatisa good emotion to have?” Temerity asked Tim pointedly, her eyes flashing slightly before settling into the regular blue of her irises again.

“Is there something about yourself that you find loathsome?” Aeres wondered.

“No,” Tim replied, his face a blank mask.

Aeres rolled her eyes at him and whispered to Temerity conspiratorially, “Ugh, he’s a man. He wouldn’t understand.”

Probably his left hand,Kenapsu signed.

Aeres smirked, “No, Kenapsu, you are great.”

Tim simply raised an eyebrow at Aeres’ remarks and waited for her to fill the silence.

“Earnest was being a twat,” Aeres declared eventually.

“Ah, I was wondering where he was,” Tim said, pointedly looking about the room. “I imagined that he would come back with one of you.”

“No,” Temerity said way too quickly. “He’s not allowed near here.” She sipped her wine, extremely grateful for that fact at the moment.

“Escorted, sure,” Tim reminded them.

“He won’t be escorted anymore,” Temerity said glumly.

Tim eyed them both with concern, “What’s happened?”

Temerity sat up straight and peered at Tim, “Apparently, Earnest told Sylvester two days- No, wait… Sometime before the wedding –MYwedding – about my hands!” Temerity slurred drunkenly through her anger. “He told him about my hands! That’s why,” Temerity snarled.

Tim blinked in surprise, “I thought you’d already- I thought he’d already known?”

“No,” Temerity shook her head back and forth, pain settling on her features as her forehead creased. One of the lines from her favourite book came to mind ‘For who could ever love a beast?‘

“That’s what prompted the knowing,” Aeres filled in. “Earnest meant it out of a place of love, but it was done on an Aeres-level. Poor tact.”

“No, I was being sold as disguised, damaged chattel, and Earnest brought that to light,” Temerity nearly spat each word. “Ruined. Destroyed. Property. Of course father needed to hide the goods.”

Aeres nodded and looked back at Tim, “So that led to a discussion about what Temerity hates about her body, she referred to it as ‘disgusting’, so I showed her my disgusting parts, and now we’re fine.”

Tim carefully guarded his expression, “… Do I want an elaboration?”

“Do you promise not to scream?” Aeres asked him.

Temerity tucked her legs under herself excitedly and pointed at Tim, “He didn’t scream at my arms. He just made a face.”

“I think we agreed that mine is more gross,” Aeres looked at Temerity.

Temerity hummed and sipped her wine, “Debatable. At least yours has a use…”

Tim started to get up, looking incredibly uncomfortable, “Should I- Is this the sort of information that a man should be privy to?”

“Oh, yes,” Aeres stated, giving him no further chance to act or respond before she pulled up her shirt and revealed her tummy mouth to him.

Tim made a couple of curious expressions as he stared at the vertical mouth, “I see… And where does it go?”

Aeres explained its functioning and fed the mouth another piece of cake to demonstrate its usability.

“Interesting…” Tim said, finding the same word that Temerity had used. “I don’t really have anything else to say on the matter.” He met Temerity’s gaze who was watching his reaction closely as she sipped her wine.

“See? Now we’ve bonded. Now we all know more,” Aeres grinned, pulling her shirt back down to cover her stomach.

Tim nodded primly to placate her, “Certainly.”

“We still need to know more about you,” Temerity stated to Tim. Her gut said there had to be more.

Tim blinked at her, “What do you-”

“Do you have a tummy mouth, Tim?” Aeres inquired.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Tim acknowledged.

“Aw, f*ck,” Aeres plopped back down on the couch beside Temerity, making the white wine in her glass nearly leap over the edge.

“Also, I believe I’ve had my shirt off in front of both of you, so…” Tim trailed off and cleared his throat.

“Mhmm,” Temerity hummed disapprovingly, sipping her wine pointedly as she arched an eyebrow at him. He’d known exactly what he was doing at the time, and there was no way anyone could defend that as proper.

Kenapsu suddenly landed on the table and made a gesture with his thumb and index finger nearly touching, implying that Tim had a small penis. The girls immediately began cackling.

“Says the bitch with no penis!” Tim called after his errant hand.

Kenapsu simply wiggled his fingers in a pointed reply; he had other tools that could expertly get the job done.

Temerity beamed after the hand, “Apparently, he knows how to use them…”

Tim rolled his eyes and sighed, “How complicated could it possibly be?”

Temerity blinked at Tim in a mix of surprise and pity before she and Aeres exchanged a look, “Oh… Oh…” Temerity bit her knuckle to stifle a laugh.

“You’d be surprised,” Aeres advised him gently.

Virgin house, Kenapsu signed quickly before continuing to carry Delyth around the room.

“So, we need to go to a brothel then?” Aeres glanced around at them both. “This is what I am hearing.”

Tim shook his head quickly, “I don’t think so. There’s nothing that I need to do there.”

“Need?” Temerity emphasized, raising an eyebrow at him.

Delyth began squeaking, which Aeres translated, “Delyth thinks we should visit Mauira because then she can tell us.”

Temerity winced and shook her head quickly, “I do not need to hearthatfrom her again.”

“I’d be more comfortable asking my father, to be honest,” Aeres nodded in agreement.

“He’ll be there,” Delyth chittered, making Aeres squirm.

“I would much rather ask Hewie, actually,” Aeres replied eventually.

“You should ask Earnest, I think he knows,” Delyth grinned up at her master.

Aeres sighed, shaking her head at the squirrel, which then prompted her to explain everything the squirrel had said about Earnest that day.

Temerity became more thoughtful as Aeres recounted, “… He has been rather flirty with you.”

“Has he?” Aeres asked, frowning slightly.

Temerity nodded, “He has, yes.”

Aeres made a sound.

“You can deny it all you want, but you’re only really fooling yourself at this point,” Tim said. “Aeres… Aeres, he’s terrible at lying. If he had ulterior motives, any one of us would’ve picked up on it at this point. He can’t even look into a crowd subtly.”

“Right… If that comes to light, I’ll deal with it. If not, then I am perfectly content to read my books,” Aeres asserted.

“Deal with it?” Tim scoffed.

Temerity eyed him for assistance, then looked back to Aeres, “That’s not really…”

“The phrasing you would like to see,” Tim nodded as he finished her sentence. “It’s not typically something ‘dealt with’ so much as ‘indulged in’.”

Aeres blinked, “Oh, okay…”

“Unless, of course, you don’t feel the same way. In which case, yes, it is ‘dealt with’,” Tim allowed.

“Uhm… He’s not theworstgentleman that I have encountered…” Aeres stuttered.

Temerity grinned and barked a laugh, “Please hurt his ego with that one! Please! Please!” Temerity begged.

“I just- I don’t-” Aeres grumbled and started to drink whiskey.

“That bar is below sea level…” Tim pointed out to Aeres.

“Excuse you,” Aeres rounded on him. “The Sanna House is the most respected in the Hells, and you will not besmirch its name!”

“I think that, frankly, the besmirching has been done for me,” Tim smirked.

“I don’t know why you hate my father,” Aeres growled at him.

“I don’t hate him. I just don’t trust him,” Tim stated.

Delyth started chittering again, which Aeres chose to translate, “Delyth wants to take Tim to a brothel.”

Tim sniffed primly, “I politely decline. I do not feel the need to go to a brothel with a squirrel.”

Aeres huffed and sat back on the couch with Temerity, sipping the whiskey, “I’ll just keep drinking with you. Maybe later I’ll venture back downstairs.”

“… More show-and-tell?” Temerity asked, trying to keep the worry out of her voice.

Aeres nodded and hummed, glaring at Tim.

Tim jumped suddenly, “Your squirrel bit me. If I get rabies…”

Temerity waved a hand about lazily, “We can remove it. We can restore anything.”

“The only reason you’re not a smear on the floor is because I respect Aeres,” Tim shouted after the scampering Delyth.

“You respect me?” Aeres blinked uncomprehendingly at that.

“Awwwww,” Temerity grinned at the pair of them.

“Okay, now I really need to leave,” Aeres got up, taking her drink with her to conduct her nightly ritual of showing off her teeth, wings, and other bits.

Temerity curled up on the couch, nursing another glass of wine as she watched Tim try on the new breastplate he’d bought, adjusting the straps and replacing broken ones before admiring himself in the mirror on the wall.

“That looks good,” Temerity found herself blurting. “Uh, what’s it made out of?”

“Mithral,” Tim showed her proudly. “Everything is secondhand. You would not believe who wore this beforehand.”

Temerity chuckled at that, “Who?”

“He’s dead now, but-” Tim cleared his throat, tracing a finger across a long patched scar across the metal. “He was also an occultist… Someone else figured out how to get my sort of magic to work… I’ll just have to have better luck.”

Temerity sat up at that, “But it’s patched? It’ll protect you? You’re good to go then for whatever is next…?”

“What’s next?” Tim raised an eyebrow at her, “Do you mean Turtleback Ferry or tomorrow afternoon?”

Temerity had to think really hard about that, “Turtleback Ferry.”

Tim nodded, “I got everything that I need. How about you two? Did you finish your shopping?”

“Aeres did,” Temerity traced the embroidery of the couch. “I need to wait for something to be custom made.”

“How long is that going to take?” Tim asked, slightly wary.

“A couple days,” Temerity said. “They’re melding fireproof material and metal together.”

“That’s good,” Tim said, a small smile crawling across his face. “Probably more dignified than dragging you home in your skivvies.”

Temerity grinned and laughed, “No, those burnt up too! No, this will work much better. We can avoid all that awkwardness…”

“Speaking of awkwardness,” Tim tread as delicately as he could muster. “Is Earnest going to be accompanying us?”

Temerity’s eyes hardened for a second, then immediately softened, “I don’t know… That’s a good question.”

“You don’t know because you haven’t decided, or because you don’t know if he wants to anymore?” Tim jumped right to the core of the issue.

Temerity met his gaze and blinked, then looked at her gloved hands as she started fidgeting again, “Both? … I’m sure I’ll forgive him faster than normal.”

“What’s normal?” Tim asked. “You still hate Mauira, and you killed Foxglove.”

Temerity’s eyes flicked up and met Tim’s gaze pointedly for a second before dropping back to the seam she was picking at on her glove.

Tim cleared his throat. “Temerity is spiteful. Must be the elven side,” he teased.

“Chelaxian too,” Temerity chuckled.

“You know what they say, no one carries a grudge quite like an elf,” Tim finished. “That’s why they have a god dedicated to it.” He watched Temerity pick at her glove for a while, “You could tar and feather him.”

The suggestion drew Temerity out of her head, and she leaned back against the couch, glove forgotten, “I don’t need to further embarrass him. He’s had enough of that. He’s been dragged through enough sh*t.”

Tim arched an eyebrow at her language, “Has he? Such as?”

Temerity glowered at Tim, “With what father did to him? Beating him. Being banished to the streets and essentially rendered an orphan. Ruining his credibility in Magnimarian noble circles. Forcing him to live in a Shelynite temple for years.” Temerity sniffed pointedly, “I don’t need to make that worse.”

“You would make an awful Calistrian by the way,” Tim observed.

“Why?” Temerity challenged warily.

“The revenge end of it? Doesn’t seem to be your thing,” Tim shrugged.

Temerity shrugged uncaringly, “That’s not how mother raised us.” She frowned at Tim slightly though, wondering if he’d meant to invoke Callistria’s other tenet too – lust.

Tim suddenly changed the topic excitedly, “Are we actually going to the golem fights tomorrow?”

Temerity nodded, “I bought tickets today. We’ll go tomorrow evening. We’ll make a night of it.”

Tim wondered if Pug’s clockwork golems might be involved in the fights, hoping to clean up on any bets based on the shoddiness of some of the equipment. Temerity shrugged, unsure as it was usually just students from the Golem Works that competed.

The trio awoke the next morning to a drizzle of rain brought on by the winter weather. Aeres expected that they had not much to worry about as they moved inland toward Turtleback Ferry, knowing that the terrain would mean the weather should dry out. However, they would be going into a wooded area, so they would need to invest in some warmer travelling clothes to ensure they didn’t freeze. They set out in the morning to do just that, procuring what they needed from a few shops and trading in their tent for a group one that Tim could easily carry. They had to argue with the shopkeep as to whether or not a ‘windproof tent’ would be worth the extra cost, eventually telling the man off.

They also decided that they would catch the ferry from Magnimar to Turtleback Ferry, saving a return trip to Sandpoint to deal with the lich house another time.

“I guess we don’t need to hire Shalelu if we’re taking a boat,” Temerity fretted.

“No, we don’t. We can find our own way with a map. I don’t like Shalelu, and we don’t need her,” Tim snapped suddenly.

Temerity frowned at him, “So, areyouhunting for food then? Or are we going to have to pack a ton of rations. Rations suck,” Temerity grumbled.

“Rations are practical and easy enough for us to carry,” Tim asserted.

Temerity rolled her eyes but capitulated, “Fiiine. We don’tneedShalelu.” She peered down at her to-do list, suddenly looking at Tim with a frown, “We don’t have time to try and find the Runeguards, do we?”

“No,” Tim shook his head. “We’ll have to do that another time.”

Temerity pursed her lips, “But with all the murders happening… If their deal is to protect artefacts or Thassilonian secrets… Surely they might have popped up to look into things? Surely?”

“Perhaps,” Tim mused. “But we saw what the upper echelons of society were up to. If they did raise concerns, perhaps they were shut down, or silenced.”

“Or it’s outside their sphere…” Temerity shook her head back and forth. “I don’t know enough about them… I don’t know how to even go about starting to contact them.”

“We could always ask Ganzi to keep an ear out,” Tim offered. “Then when we come back, I’m sure he might be likely to hear something as Chief Justice.”

“Perhaps… I suppose getting attention here might help us too… Someone might just see…” Temerity hoped.

“Alternatively, we have Ganzi drop a few rumours here and there, and perhaps they’ll seek us out,” Tim shrugged. “Unfortunately, we might know more about thing than they do…”

Temerity hoped that wasn’t true, “But they might know more about other things, which would be exciting… Like the artefact.” Temerity sighed, “I guess we should chat with Justice Ganzi.”

“I’m sure he’s going to love being called that,” Tim smirked.

Temerity led her friends along her errand route, starting with the post office. Her diplomatic nature turned threatening against the postmaster once she learned that her father had bribed the staff to hold anything addressed to or from herself and Earnest. Kharis had then apparently looked through the mail before allowing certain things to carry on to his son, while fully diverting Temerity’s letters from Earnest. Her anger flared again as she determined with absolute certainty that it had been Kharis writing her annual letters and pretending to be a disinterested Earnest. She didn’t comprehend why her father hadn’t simply stopped sending her letters from him entirely. Temerity sadly learned that all the original letters had been destroyed, so there was nothing for her to salvage. She ordered the staff to stop the diversion of their mail, then reclaimed the mail that had been sitting about since Kharis’ death. Temerity peered at the two letters she’d addressed to Earnest, recalling the first letter’s contents with some regret. She decided that Earnest had been caught up to their contents and did not need to see what she’d written, tearing them apart and disposing of them. Another letter was addressed to her father, which she opened to find correspondence from the slavers attempting to extort him for more money. She glowered at that, then tore it to pieces, knowing that her missives to close the mines for the time being and free the slaves had already been dispatched. She then looked at two letters addressed to Earnest; one from the temple of Shelyn, and another from Korvosa. Both appeared to have been addressed by a dainty hand. Her curiosity was piqued, but she knew that she didn’t have the right to open Earnest’s mail.

Temerity then led the other two in search of Earnest. She wasn’t entirely sure how her brother might have taken her outburst and anger, but she bet he wouldn’t have wandered far from his work. They stopped at the Pediment first, making a quick appointment with Ganzi.

“I haven’t seen the kid all day, not since yesterday. Which is a pain in the ass since I could use help with this job,” Ganzi grumbled to them. “Dumping this job on me, you asses,” the old man teased him.

Temerity and the others returned Ganzi’s grin, only feeling slightly sorry for him since she knew he would be so much better for the town.

Temerity sighed, “Alright, so where would he go… He might be at the Temple of Shelyn.”

“Probably, if he’s destitute and depressed,” Tim stated bluntly.

Temerity couldn’t withhold a snort, shaking her head at Tim, “You have-”

“A way with words?” Tim finished for her and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

They made their way to the temple, and Temerity quickly peered inside and spotted her brother praying at a pew.

She turned back to her friends, “Okay, we’ll go in.” She indicated her and Tim, knowing that Aeres would need to sit outside.

Tim frowned at Temerity, “We? I’ll give you the privacy to discuss the matters with your brother.”

Temerity rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed groan, “Fiiiine.”

“I don’t need to puke everywhere,” Aeres grumbled, sitting on the step.

Tim’s attention was suddenly drawn to the half-devil as he whispered quietly, “So, does the other one also puke?”

“I’m not going to answer that,” Aeres shook her head.

“But I’m really curious,” Tim said, sitting next to her.

Aeres sighed, “It only pukes if I’ve eaten with it recently, which I have… I don’t typically…They’re the same stomach, different sphincter… It usually goes up.”

“Fascinating,” Tim admired.

“Does that one spit acid too?” Temerity hunkered down nearby.

Aeres blinked at them both, “I don’t know! I don’t typically try to have it out. These are things we can experiment with later.”

“Right,” Temerity sighed.

“If your brother isn’t terrified by it…” Aeres muttered.

Temerity grinned and chuckled darkly at the idea, turning back toward the front doors of the temple as Aeres explained to Tim that Delyth thought he should wear a chainmail bikini.

Temerity entered the temple reverently, bowing her head to the beautiful priestesses as they glided throughout the room. She quietly made her way over to the pew where Earnest was praying, settling down next to him without a sound.

Earnest cracked open an eye and noted her presence, but he didn’t get up from his kneeling pose. “Sorry,” he muttered to her.

There was nothing Temerity hated more than an apology without the detail of what was being apologized for attached to it. It made the apology sound insincere.

She smiled pleasantly at her brother and feigned innocence, “You’re sorry for praying, or what?”

Earnest rolled his eyes and sat back on the bench beside her.

“Use your words, as mother would say,” Temerity teased him quietly, eyeing the beautiful priestesses as they moved about the room.

Earnest let out a heavy sigh, “I’m sorry for taking away your autonomy by taking something that was yours – not mine – to share.”

“Yes…” Temerity clasped her gloved hands in her lap.

Earnest glanced at them, “To be blunt… I don’t know if Iamsorry. That’s what I’m here praying for.”

Temerity nodded stiffly, focusing on the songbird decorations about the room, “I can understand why you did it, but I’m upset that you did do it.”

“I know,” Earnest sighed. “Thatis what I’m sorry about. I’m sorry for hurting you in a way that I knew would hurt you as well. I’m not sorry for keeping you out of the clutches ofthatman… I didn’t know of another way that I could do it. He was-”

“Obstinate at best?” Temerity suggested.

“Rapey at worst,” Earnest ground out, making Temerity flinch.

She sucked in a breath and sat straight, “Well, it’s over and done with now. We can’t go back in time, nor would I want you to.” She reached out and patted Earnest’s hand. She then reached into her bag and pulled out the two letters, “Here are your letters. They won’t be diverted anymore, if I send you anything.”

Earnest took them, his eyebrows shooting up as he realized who they were from, “You didn’t read them, did you?” Temerity watched him hastily shove the letters inside his breast pocket.

Temerity scowled at him for insinuating that she would read his mail, “No… But now I’m deadly curious as to who they’re from. Who are you corresponding with in Korvosa? Oooh,” Temerity teased. “A Magnimarian talking with a Korvosan, what a scandal!”

Earnest pursed his lips at his sister, “Well, she lived here originally…”

“And…?” Temerity urged her brother to continue.

Earnest shrugged, “She moved, and we keep in touch. That’s all.” Earnest tried to keep an innocent expression on his face, but Temerity saw right through it.

“Mhmm, and she visits regularly? Or…?” Temerity wouldn’t be so easily deterred.

Earnest breathed out heavily and gave his sister a pointed look, “We’re in a temple, Temerity. We’re talking aboutthisin a temple…”

Temerity grinned, “Doesn’t Shelyn care about love and all that sort of stuff?”

Earnest rolled his eyes at her, “I know, it was a joke.” He shook his head and waved a hand about vaguely, “She’s a person…”

“Wow, very descriptive,” Temerity observed.

“Thank you,” Earnest nodded sagely.

Temerity continued to tease him, “And the other letter written in another delicate script from someone-”

“Another person,” Earnest interjected quickly, starting to shift uncomfortably in his seat under his sister’s scrutiny. “That one’s probably a poem, actually…”

Temerity raised an eyebrow at her brother as she ascertained whether he was hiding the truth or not, “Is it?”

“Mhmm,” Earnest nodded quickly. “I will read it later by myself. Not with you.”

“Mhmm,” Temerity smirked at her brother.

“Just saying,” Earnest shrugged. “People from my past, Temerity. Nothing more…”

Temerity co*cked her head at him, “And are they going to carry on into your future or be part of that future? Especially if you want to be a lord again…” She didn’t want it to be a threat, but it was something he’d need to consider if he wanted his noble status reinstated.

Earnest looked distant for a moment, “Not as much as I think anyway…” He sighed at himself and pulled the letters out, gesturing at the letter from the Shelynite, “Let’s call this one an inspiring muse.” He then pulled the letter out from the Korvosan, “And let’s call that one an old flame.”

Temerity watched his expression for a moment, her own growing sad, “Must be fun.”

“What?” Earnest frowned at her.

“The freedom to dothat,” she gestured at the letters from what had obviously been lovers, probably two of many.

Earnest opened his mouth to reply but stopped himself a few times before gesturing at himself, “Not a noble.” He shook his head slowly, “… How much do you know about Shelyn’s tenets?” He stood abruptly and waved his hand, not actually wanting an answer to that question, “Anyways, let’s go get sandwiches. Or tea.”

Temerity stood and followed after him, stopping him, “And the whole flirting with Aeres thing?”

“What?” Earnest feigned innocence. “Sandwiches sound great.”

Temerity scowled up at her brother, waiting for him to answer her question.

“Please be mad at me instead of this,” Earnest begged her desperately.

Temerity’s grin slowly spread, “I don’t think I will now.”

Earnest gave Temerity a pained look as he exhaled, “I’m only pushing her buttons because she’s pushing my buttons.”

“Are they the right buttons though?” Temerity blurted boldly.

Earnest blinked at her in surprise, “I have no idea, is it?”

Temerity shrugged.

“It’s funny,” Earnest finished. “There’s something very special about flustering an unflusterable person. She seems unflusterable.”

Temerity scowled up at her brother, “Right, so it’s a game for you?”

“Well,” Earnest hesitated. “A bit, I guess… Which part?”

“Pushing buttons and possibly leading someone on,” Temerity stated.

Earnest hesitated, “I would assume that I shouldn’t lead anyone on that is your friend, so I won’t now… Is that the understanding? I can clear that up, if you would like?”

It was Temerity’s turn to hesitate.

“It was my understanding that she was flirting,” Earnest smirked. “More than I was even… I was just paying her back. I’ll stop. I’m sorry.”

Temerity shook her head, unsure what Aeres even wanted or if she knew what she was doing, or if she would want something like that if she knew it was an option. Temerity let out a hiss before replying, “Just don’t hurt any feelings, that’s all… Especially if you’re stringing along others…” she muttered that last little bit under her breath.

“Have you met her squirrel?” Earnest asked with a smirk.

“Yes,” Temerity sighed, although she wasn’t sure how much one influenced the other.

“Right,” Earnest arched an eyebrow at her.

Temerity let out a breath through her gritted teeth and asked quite bluntly, “Are you coming along with us or not?”

Earnest looked surprised by her tone and frowned slightly.

“Ticket. Golem… Battle Bots,” Temerity pulled the four tickets out of her pocket and waved them about. It hadn’t been what she actually meant, but it was a start.

“Oh, sure,” Earnest smiled slightly.

Then Temerity sighed, “And to buy the rest of your gear for travel…”

Earnest eyed Temerity and her hesitancy to extend the invitation again, “… Do you want me to come with you?”

“We did work well as a team,” Temerity pointed out.

“I do have a job here,” Earnest reminded her.

Temerity accepted that as an easy out for him, “Yes, of course.”

Earnest smirked at her slightly, “I might be flogged by the new Justice. Maybe I should skip town.”

Temerity pretended to look horrified, “Ganzi’s into that?!”

Earnest’s eyebrows raised in surprise before he managed to recover, realizing that Temerity was teasing him, “See? That! Is this a game to you, Temerity? Do you enjoy pushing buttons?” he parroted her words from earlier.

Temerity grinned devilishly, deciding not to inform him where she’d seen that activity occurring, “Just yours, especially now that I’ve seen the letters you’re getting.”

“I should hope not! Did you read them?” Earnest asked again worriedly.

“I said no,” Temerity smirked mischievously.

Earnest frowned at her and inspected the seal, quickly realizing that Temerity was lying. He grumbled something about magic under his breath and hoped – for her sake – that she hadn’t read them.

“Let’s go to Battle Bots,” he ushered Temerity out of the temple.

The group made their way to the Serpent’s Run just in time to grab a few snacks and take their seats as the four bouts of stone golem battles began. The crowds were extremely into the event, bets taking place on which student’s golem would reign supreme. Pamphlets describing the stats of the golems were distributed, and Temerity and Tim studied them closely, interested in how the percent content of Irespan stone would correlate to the performance of the golems. They cheered along their favourites, watching the weaker golems get chipped and smashed before their controllers capitulated prior to total annihilation of the constructs. Tim even forgot to maintain his composure after the first round, clearly enjoying the event with a level of excitement Aeres and Temerity had never seen from him before. Aeres even managed to win a little money betting on some of the underdogs.

After a couple hours of entertainment, Temerity urged them all to make their way to Lowcleft as the sun started to set.

As they began making their way to one of the dancing halls, Temerity couldn’t help but notice Earnest sigh. “Oh, c’mon. Isn’t dancing one of your arts?” Temerity asked him.

“Of course, I just don’t want to show you up,” Earnest goaded.

Temerity met his challenge with a grin.

“I don’t know how to dance, so this will be interesting,” Aeres agreed, hooking her arm through the crook of Temerity’s gently as the pair walked toward the hall.

“You can find a fine young gentleman to teach you,” Temerity suggested with a chuckle, glancing pointedly at Earnest.

Earnest rolled his eyes at his sister, then looked at Tim, “Doyoudance?”

“Only if I have to,” Tim shrugged.

Earnest smirked at him, “Well, you have to. Let’s go.”

“As I said, whenever you get bored, you can leave and go to the taverns and brothels, if you so choose,” Temerity shook her head at Aeres, giving her a jokingly disparaging look.

“There are quite a few down there,” Earnest agreed. “I’ve been to most of them down there, if you need to know where they are.”

“Bars, brothels, or dance halls?” Temerity clarified without missing a beat.

“All of them,” Earnest nodded before noting his sister’s pointed smirk. “To inspect them, I mean! It was for work. That’s what I meant to say…”

Temerity raised an eyebrow at her brother, shaking her head in mock disappointment as she determined from his tone that he had likely inspected and ‘inspected’ them.

They grabbed a quick bite to eat at one of the taverns, then made their way to a dancing hall. Aeres was prompt to order a whiskey, determined to be drunk while she attempted to learn the various dances. She was, however, secretly pleased to see Temerity relaxing and doing something fun for herself for once, and that made the whole experience much more enjoyable. Aeres was surprised when Temerity even joined her for a whiskey, throwing it back before dragging Aeres into one of the line dances and teaching her the steps. The ladies teased Tim, wondering if he would invite in a spirit that could help his dance moves rival Earnest’s. Tim, however, was not inclined to bother the dead simply to get better dance moves. As the night wore on, Tim, Temerity and Earnest were eventually recognized as the Heroes of Magnimar, and the crowds began to buy them drink after drink. Aeres avoided the attention, having adopted a redheaded human guise that people didn’t recognize. Temerity greeted each person with a smile, accepting every dance invitation she was offered. She even accepted all of the drinks, though she and Aeres quickly developed a system where she would take Temerity’s every third drink or so, replacing it with water, and allowing the half-devil to sip on a free drink. Tim was unable to turn down a drink due to his devotion to Cayden Cailean, and Earnest was likewise disinclined to turn away free alcohol. They drank, danced, and made merry all night, though Temerity was swiftly reminded that she still needed to be wary of her hands, pain jolting through them whenever someone accidentally bumped into her or grabbed her too harshly as they swung about the dance floor. The alcohol certainly helped numb the pain. Earnest couldn’t help a little joke of his own, presenting a pinkish alcohol to Temerity that the bartender had called a ‘Damsel in Distress’. Temerity raised a toast to her brother sardonically as she pointedly downed the wine and pomegranate juice.

During one of the particularly spinny dances, Aeres intercepted Temerity’s rather grippy partner, giving the girl some reprieve before tossing her at Tim with a devilish smile. Temerity took his hands and led him through the steps, grateful that he didn’t hold onto her too tightly. With a job done, Aeres attempted to slip out of the dance, but Earnest swooped her in, gently chiding her for trying to leave mid-dance. As the pair made their way through the movements to the partner switch, Earnest ended up swinging along with Tim as Temerity found herself with Aeres again. The mixed up combination made some of the crowd laugh before partners traded again, and Earnest and Temerity fluidly finished the dance with a dramatic flare, leaving Aeres and Tim to stumble over each other.

By the end of the night, Aeres emerged on top only slightly tipsy, while Earnest and Tim were stumbling over each other, supporting each other’s weight as they attempted to stumble out of the bar. Temerity was quite drunk, loudly chatting with anyone who spoke with her, slurring her words and having trouble walking in a straight line. Aeres promptly realized that they would need help getting back to the Sanna House, and being the most responsible at the moment, she sent a messenger to dispatch their carriage.

“It’sh completely fine!” Tim slurred and hiccuped. “Cayden will guide us.”

Earnest let him droop onto the stoop outside the dance hall.

The group’s drunken state and new status drew the attention of a pickpocket. Luckily, Delyth and Kenapsu intervened, Kenapsu choking out the man and grabbing back Temerity’s ring before they piled into the carriage. Temerity held her stomach, trying to fight back vomit as the carriage bounced over every cobblestone. It was the drunkest she’d ever been, but Earnest and Tim appeared to be practiced pros. Tim even struck up a few Cayden drinking songs to regale them with as they were wheeled back to the Sanna House. Earnest was allowed to sleep over in the suite, all of them barely making it to their rooms before they passed out for the night.

Aeres awoke with the barest of hangovers, taking on the responsibility of ordering a greasy breakfast to be brought up to the suite. The smell of potatoes and bacon roused the other three from their slumber, robes and last night’s disheveled clothing barely holding them together as they slumped into their seats at the table.

“Can they turn the house down?” Temerity asked, her hands grasping her pounding head amidst the wild tangle of blonde hair at her nape. “It’s so loud.”

Aeres frowned, believing the house music to be no louder than normal, and still fairly quiet considering the soundproofing on the suite. She reached out and patted Temerity’s head, “No.” She snickered, “You could spend the night with Hewie, if you felt like it.”

Temerity snapped to attention and frowned, not believing what she’d heard, “What?”

“What?” Aeres grinned, feigning innocence.

Temerity spluttered, only managing to blink and repeat “What?” over and over before she groaned and collapsed back on the table.

Tim shook his head slowly and winced, “Aeres, here’s 5 gold. Can you take it and see if someone can bring us some alchemist’s kindness?” He gestured at Earnest who was still passed out face first in the pile of pillows at the centre of the room, cursing and groaning in obvious pain.

Aeres left to fetch a few bottles from the closed she knew was specifically dedicated to hangover cures. She returned and carefully fed one to Earnest who blinked slowly, taking in his surroundings with a measure of confusion.

“Oh gods, I’m here again?” Earnest muttered and staggered to his feet.

Aeres turned to glower at him as she proffered a bottle to Temerity and Tim, “Do you have a problem with my home?”

“No, but your home has a problem with me,” Earnest grumbled, plonking himself down at the table.

“At least we belong with the crowd downstairs now,” Temerity giggled to herself.

Tim frowned at his hand, realizing that Kenapsu was on backwards.

Temerity sipped on the hangover cure, her headache nearly disappearing after a few minutes. “I still feel terrible though,” she massaged her temple. “Oh, right! That’s because of that terrible snake woman.”

She got up and rummaged through her bag, picking out the diamond dust before sitting down and attempting to cast arestorationspell on herself. The rest of the dull headache disappeared, and Temerity was all smiles, pleased with herself. She then tended to Aeres, promising Tim that she’d be able to finalize the stitching of his soul back to his body in a couple more days.

The group then dug into their breakfast, eagerly chomping down on the food.

“That was fun,” Tim commented on the previous night, looking at the ladies who seem much more relaxed.

“I know, Temerity was drunk!” Aeres grinned.

Temerity rolled her eyes and smiled, adopting a mockingly prim tone, “I know, it’ssounladylike.”

They made plans for the day to finish their shopping, put Temerity’s house on the market, and get Temerity to the Temple of Sarenrae.

“Then tonight, how about we drop that extra coin around Underbridge?” Temerity suggested as the others nodded along in agreement.

“So, outside of use being the most knowledgeable on the topic… Why are we going to Turtleback Ferry?” Tim asked, tamping down any nervousness in his voice as he broached the subject. “Pursuing this…”

“Thing that’s probably dangerous as all of Hell?” Temerity finished for him. “No offence,” she glanced quickly at Aeres.

“Mild offence taken,” Aeres nodded, cutting into another sausage. “Presumably, they had some equipped people at that fort…”

Temerity shrugged, “We met all the guards here… I don’t think there is anyone else more equipped than us. Everyone who was more knowledgeable is dead now because they were part of the whole thing,” Temerity surmised. “There might be a few academically inclined wizards, but trying to catch them up on the whole situation would be time consuming, and they’re certainly not equipped to conduct battle on their own.”

“Truly, there must be more skilled heroes in the area…?” Tim wondered. “We’re not slouches by any stretch.”

“I think it’s also for the optics of it,” Aeres pointed out.

“I don’t care what the mayor thinks,” Tim snorted.

“I know. I don’t either, but Temerity does,” Aeres gestured at the other woman.

“I don’t think Temerity cares what the man thinks,” Tim smirked. “I think she just cares that her family has its foot back in the door.”

“Bingo,” Aeres said, Temerity nodding along without having to add anything further. “So I think that’s why we’re going.”

“Did you see how that man ate a tomato?” Tim asked with a mix of glee and disgust. “It was horrifying.”

“How he ate everything was horrifying,” Temerity shuddered.

Tim sighed and picked at a potato on his plate as he returned to the original topic, “I suppose what I’m saying is that it’s likely to get more dangerous…”

“Fun,” Aeres replied instantly.

Tim frowned slightly, then smiled and shook his head, “I suppose that answers the next question: Is anyone going to tap out? It would make sense…”

“Do you want to tap out?” Aeres asked him.

“I do want to…” Tim admitted. “Because I’ve already died once and it’s only going to get more dangerous.”

Temerity winced.

“We won’t let that happen to you,” Aeres promised.

“I’m not going to,” Tim finished.

“We won’t let you stay dead, if that’s your concern,” Aeres allayed his fears nonchalantly.

“I’m hoping to not go to that point again until I’m older at this stage,” Tim nodded.

“I will not cry again though,” Aeres promised herself.

“What I’m saying is that it’s only getting more dangerous. I know you’re fine with it because it sounds amusing,” Tim met Temerity’s gaze, but the other half-elf was trying to discern how much he was hiding of his true feelings about the matter.

“Who’s Out?” Earnest asked suddenly.

Aeres shook her head at Earnest, believing the hangover curative was taking a little longer to affect him, “Tim wants to tap out because it’s dangerous.”

Earnest grinned mischievously, “I know. That’s why I’m asking who ‘Out’ is.”

Aeres snorted, “Maybe it was that gnome at the dance hall who was flirting with him. Tim, why didn’t you go home with that gnome?”

“Because it was really difficult to say their name,” Tim sighed.

“That’s why you shorten it to ‘sweetie’ or ‘darling’ or something,” Temerity smirked and stretched.

“If you use a diminutive on a diminutive, is it even smaller?” Earnest asked academically.

Tim rolled his eyes at their derailing of the conversation, “What I’m saying is…” He looked across the table at Temerity, “Temerity, areyoustill okay doing all of this?”

“If you two are still putting yourselves in danger, then of course I will come along,” Temerity nodded resolutely.

“But you’re a noblewoman. You have your responsibilities here and things to put in order, re-establishing your name…” Tim counted off the things that Temerity was already painfully aware of. “You’re sure you want to do this?”

“I’m re-establishing our name no matter what I do,” Temerity said. “This all seems attached to it… And you two need my skills. I would still like more answers. Again, these people are responsible for killing my father. I want to know everything about the why.”

Aeres elbowed Tim teasingly, “Were you worried about Temerity?”

Tim sighed, “I was worried about both of you being dragged into something you didn’t necessarily want to be part of any longer.”

“Have you seen my house?” Aeres gestured about.

“Yes,” Tim stated. “And for its eccentricities, it’s not – to my knowledge – lethal.”

Aeres simply smirked, making Tim make a face, “I don’t like that smirk.”

Temerity simply shook her head slowly, “For her…”

Earnest’s gaze hardened as he scrutinized Tim, “Aren’t you just a little researchy boy? What are you doing in all of this then?”

“I’m an active field researcher,” Tim said, not rising to Earnest’s bait.

“So?” Earnest pressed.

Tim shrugged, “So? You get your hands dirty.”

“You’re a book nerd,” Earnest gestured at the other man. “As much as this isn’ttheirfight, it’s notyourseither. Nor is it mine.”

Aeres leaned in toward Temerity, “Your brother is a douche sometimes, isn’t he?”

Temerity nodded very slightly, openly scowling at her brother.

Tim continued, meeting Earnest’s gaze head on, “No, but I know that I want to be here. I want answers. I could do without the danger, but it seems that they are coming hand in hand.”

“Yeah,that,” Temerity grumbled, leaning back against her chair.

“And you’re coming?” Tim clarified with Earnest.

“Apparently,” Earnest replied, looking at Temerity pointedly.

“Apparently?” Tim didn’t appreciate the non-committal answer.

“Are you going?” Earnest asked Temerity, incredulity colouring his tone.

“Yes,” she nodded stiffly, waiting for him to try and convince her otherwise.

Earnest sighed and looked back at Tim, “Then yes.”

Temerity sat up and peered at Earnest with a smirk, “What happened to ‘I have responsibilities here and a profession’?”

“I do,” Earnest acknowledged. “But I have responsibilities to you first.”

Temerity nodded, giving her brother a slightly skeptical look.

“Neither of these two seem to say ‘no’ when you’re going to do something silly, so I have to come along and be the adult,” Earnest added as an excuse.

“You aremucholder,” Temerity teased him.

“Ancient, really,” Aeres agreed with a chuckle.

“Look, grey!” Earnest plucked at a strand of hair that he must’ve known was turning shades.

Temerity barked a laugh, “And are those crow’s feet?” She cackled along with Aeres as Earnest tried not to let his ego take a hit.

“Tim, you look bothered,” Aeres pointed out as the other half-elf shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

“You have RBF – Resting Bothered Face,” Earnest agreed.

“No,” Tim replied hastily. “And I prefer the term ‘pensive’.”

“And what are you pensive about?” Temerity pressed him.

“Just that there is a lot going on here that we don’t understand still,” Tim said eventually.

“That’s half the fun,” Aeres nudged him.

“I do have that ciphered book to finish translating to see if it gives us any other clues,” Temerity acknowledged. “I can finish that on our trip there.”

“Well, are you all comfortable travelling with me and having me tag along?” Earnest asked, knowing he was the odd-man out.

“Why wouldn’t we be?” Aeres inquired of him.

“Because I’m shifty,” he waggled his eyebrows at her.

“Have you met Aeres?” Tim scoffed.

“She’s the one that said I’m shifty,” Earnest reminded them with a snort.

“Like knows like, and all that,” Aeres waved a hand lazily through the air.

“I’ve never seen Aeres lie in my life,” Tim smirked.

“I’m sure she sleeps,” Earnest chortled.

Aeres sighed heavily, “Right, I’m going to go downstairs.”

“And are you okay with me tagging along?” Earnest looked to Temerity. “Ruining your trip with family obligation and that sort of thing?”

Temerity rolled her eyes at him and smirked, “I don’t think you were the one giving me family obligations, consideringIhave the title…”

“Well, you’ll have to protect me, of course,” Earnest teased her. “Your bumbling older brother.”

“I will,” Temerity promised seriously. “I have the healing skills…”

With the matter settled, the group turned to discussing their remaining obligations.

“We could possibly find a Vildein priest willing to go cleanse the Vorel mansion for us,” Tim suggested. “Throw their life away in the process like a bunch of idiots.”

“And what arewepossibly doing?” Temerity challenged him.

“Avoiding throwing our lives away like a bunch of idiots,” Tim snickered.

Temerity fidgeted, “I’m not sure we really avoided it…”

“Well, I misstepped,” Tim allowed. “I’ll just do it less. I know not to do it this time.”

“And how are your acting skills at playing dead?” Temerity asked pointedly though she tried to make it sound like a bit more of a joke.

“Ouch, insensitive,” Tim made a show of wincing. “That said…” Tim suddenly disappeared, and another few seconds later, a badly rendered copy of his corpse appeared on the floor.

“What the f*ck is that?!” Temerity exclaimed, jumping up from her seat.

“Illusions,” Tim said, reappearing elsewhere. “Next time someone wants me dead, I just play dead.”

“Mhm,” Temerity nodded stiffly. “That works… Yes.”

“I purposefully made it less realistic,” Tim stated, watching Temerity suck in a shuddering breath to recenter herself. “I’ve got a lot more tricks up my sleeve this time. I’m not going to underestimate someone again just because they’ve been a ponce previously.”

Temerity snorted, agreeing that his vanishing act would prove useful.

Tim then went on to demonstrate that his boots would help him disappear as he ran about an opponent, lessening the chance that he would be hit.

“I’ve also read about bracelets that can be enchanted to allow healing from a distance,” Temerity informed him. “But they’re rather expensive, and I’ve run out of money…”

“I think we’ve got everything we need for this moment,” Tim reassured her.

The group dispersed after breakfast to tend to their individual business. Aeres eagerly disappeared into a library to research the geography of the area, while Temerity discussed the matter of selling the Daeroris estate with Earnest. Neither of them were interested in living there ever again, so they took one last trip to the house to bring the remaining portraits to the Temple of Abadar for safekeeping. Temerity then arranged the sale of the house with a clerk, the sale of which would allow her to pay off the debt held against it. However, the finality of it made Temerity realize that she was now officially homeless. Tim rested and was prepping his gear when Temerity and Earnest returned. Temerity worked on breaking the cipher, realizing that the cipher was a bit more complicated and she had gone about breaking it in the wrong manner. With a sigh, Temerity admitted it would take her a bit longer to decipher; however, they had plenty of time ahead of them during the boat ride. When Aeres returned to the room, she and Tim decided that they would teach the other Draconic and Infernal respectively.

In the early evening, Temerity made her way to the Temple of Sarenrae to finally ask about Sarenrae’s tenets and what the priests might understand of her oracular abilities. Unfortunately, the priests were just about as clueless regarding oracles as Temerity was, but they welcomed her into Sarenrae’s folds, thanked a Hero of Magnimar for doing the Lady’s work, then taught her all she needed to know about Sarenrae’s tenets.

“If the Lady’s light shines upon you, it must shine upon you for a reason,” the head priest said.

“I was hoping you could provide more illumination on that,” Temerity said, making the priest laugh at her pun.

“Well, what brings you joy? Redeeming the unfaithful? Consecrating the unholy? Destroying those that dwell in the dark?” the priest asked, watching Temerity frown slightly at each one.

“I mean… I don’t enjoy when those things survive after we encounter them, but do I want to seek them out my entire life…?” Temerity shrugged slightly. She certainly wasn’t equipped to be a paladin.

The head priest was obstinate about meeting each of Temerity’s questions about her role with something like, “What do you think it means? The answers are within you, child. The light inside will bring light to the darkness of your questionings.” The majority of the usefulness of the priest’s lessons came from the explanation of the tenets, which Temerity found she resonated with fairly well. She was provided a copy of The Birth of Truth and Light and studied its pages for a while before returning back to the Sanna House. Temerity was struck by the realization that Sarenrae could be interpreted as adhering to many of the Virtues, and the righteous wrath that Gil’Thalius had spoke of several days ago. It bore more study, and Temerity found herself pondering Sarenrae’s anathemata, specifically that of lying.

Temerity returned to the suite where everyone was organizing the copper and silver coins they’d found at the Shadow Clock into little leather bags. They all grabbed dozens of bags and put them into their backpacks, then made their way to Underbridge. Earnest turned them all invisible, then the group ran through, flew, or climbed their way through the streets as fast as they could, depositing coins into barrels or tucked into alleys where people would eventually find them. When their spells wore off, the group met back up and made their way safely back to the Summit and the Sanna House to rest. Earnest returned to the Pediment to speak with Ganzi and request a sabbatical so that he could accompany his sister on her dangerous expedition to Turtleback Ferry.

Aeres and Tim spent more of the evening teaching each other their languages.

“Does it speak?” Tim suddenly asked her.

Aeres shook her head slowly, wrinkling her nose slightly, “No, it doesn’t have vocal chords or anything.”

Tim nodded, turning his attention back to the Infernal grammatical lesson that Aeres was trying to get through.

The group awoke the next morning, packing their bags and preparing for their trip deeper into Varisia. Aeres informed Uncle Hewie of their departure, requesting that her suite be kept available for their use. They also wrote a letter and dispatched it to Sandpoint, informing Gandethus of what had happened in Magnimar and that the next leg of their journey would be taking them to Turtleback Ferry and Fort Rannick. Aeres also sent a letter to her father to keep him up to date of her travels. As she sent off the raven, it occurred to her that she might be able to play with its magical enchantments enough to get it to function as a propersilver raven.Temerity had managed to send Sandbor a letter at some point during the week after reading the draft letter that Earnest had been planning to send and deciding it was too rude. She received a reply from Sandbor that morning, succinctly expressing his sadness at the marriage not moving forward, but Temerity did not detect any animosity or strong attachment, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief and move on from the ill-suited match.

The group then made their way down to the docks, meeting up with Earnest and paying their fees for the two ferries that would take them to Turtleback Ferry. The S.S. Moyie was to depart within an hour, leaving them a bit of time to determine if there was anything left they desperately needed to attend to before leaving Magnimar.

“Did you send that letter to your sister?” Temerity asked Tim.

Tim hesitated, “Uh, no. I changed my mind.”

Temerity resisted frowning and asked him gently, “Why?”

“I realized it would likely take upwards of a year to get there,” Tim replied matter-of-factly.

Earnest frowned at him, “Just use magic.”

“I don’t have any that will get a letter there,” Tim explained.

Temerity reached into her bag and drew the wand ofsendingand pointedly held it out to Tim.

“I would need to send more than 25 words,” Tim said dismissively, Temerity nodding along as she restashed the wand.

Earnest gestured back up the hill toward the richer districts, “We have magical academies. Pay them to send a letter for you. It costs like 5 gold.”

“I’ll be alright,” Tim said, keeping as straight a mask as he could as he felt the three of them scrutinize his every twitch.

“You’re lying about something,” Aeres muttered, pulling out thesilver ravenand peering at its magical signatures.

“Did you f*ck up with your sister too?” Earnest asked glumly, eyeing Temerity who scoffed.

“What? No,” Tim shook his head quickly. “If anything, I admire your restraint.”

Earnest frowned, “What?”

“If someone had done something like that to my sister, I would’ve done worse than just tell them off,” Tim rumbled. “They would’ve had to drag themselves out of the arena…”

Earnest shifted uncomfortably, knowing they didn’t know that he’d almost killed Sylvester one night.

“Are you going to tell us what the problem is?” Aeres asked Tim bluntly. “We all know that you’re f*cking with us.”

Temerity pursed her lips as she watched for any crack in Tim’s expression, “You’d been pretty adamant about sending her something just after-”

“We have a week on this ferry,” Aeres reminded Tim.

“We don’t know what we’re going into…” Temerity whispered worriedly.

Tim sucked in a breath, “I haven’t found a way to word it that I find acceptable.”

Everyone waited a beat for Tim to explain further, but he didn’t.

“Acceptable how?” Temerity pressed gently.

“Well…” Tim hesitated.

“What level of thing are you trying to word?” Earnest asked, frowning at Tim’s hesitancy.

“How do you telly our sister that you died?” Tim informed him.

“Oh.” Earnest pursed his lips and attempted a casual shrug, “You’re not dead now.”

Temerity rolled her eyes at her brother. “Again, the nonchalance with which we treat that!” she snapped at him.

“I don’t think it would go over well,” Tim said finally.

“Like she would want you back?” Aeres asked carefully.

“Yes… And she would likely involve Grandmother to do so,” Tim admitted.

“Gotcha,” Aeres nodded. “Just leave that part out then.”

“That’s the only thing I really needed to say to her…” Tim said.

“Isn’t she your twin?” Earnest clarified. “Write it in twin code or something.”

“We don’t have a twin code. We speak proper languages like adults,” Tim sniffed.

“Adult twins sometimes have twin codes,” Earnest grumbled under his breath.

“Why don’t you write it in a cipher or something?” Temerity suggested.

“Who do you think taught me to write in ciphers?” Tim asked her. “Grandmother.”

“You have a week to figure it out, it’s okay,” Aeres reassured him, trying to prevent the Daeroris siblings from ganging up on Tim.

Temerity eyed Tim suspiciously, “Or are you just going to shove it down and not think about it again?”

“I’m going to figure out what the bed situation is like,” Aeres sighed, turning and walking up the gangplank.

“I’ll figure something out. I always do,” Tim reassured Temerity before following Aeres’ lead.

“Welcome aboard the S.S. Moyie!” Captain Jaq Morgan greeted the group as they arrived on the deck.

There were about 10 other people on this voyage with the quartet. They learned that each room bunked two, but there were a couple high-class suites that could be purchased for a higher price. No one was willing to pay anymore than they already had for the expensive trip, so it was decided that Aeres and Temerity would bunk together, leaving Earnest and Tim to share a room.

“A boys’ room,” Earnest appraised as they all dropped off their belongings in neighbouring rooms. “Fun…” The rooms were at least clean and dry, and there didn’t appear to be any rat or co*ckroach infestations.

“Yes, have pillow fights and see whatever happens,” Temerity teased him.

“Ooh, and we’ll paint each other’s nails,” Aeres smirked at Temerity.

Temerity rolled her eyes, “You already know I don’t have nails.”

“Stuck together on a boat for a week, what could go wrong?” Earnest’s eyes glinted mischievously.

They made their way back up to the deck to watch the ferry pull out of the harbour. Temerity had never been on a boat before, and she almost immediately started to feel seasick. Aeres kindly made up a concoction to help soothe Temerity’s stomach and get her through the journey.

Captain Jaq emerged from the bridge once they were well on their way to welcome her guests, and inform them of the safety measures and wildlife threats they might encounter on the voyage.

Temerity eyed the generous deck space, strapped down cargo, and stage that took up the top deck. She leaned into Tim, “Do you think there’s enough area to practice swordplay again?” The Sarenites had informed her that the goddess appreciated that her worshippers knew how to wield a sword and defend themselves, and Temerity had enjoyed the practice.

“I don’t see why not,” Tim replied, glancing around at the few spaces that would work well for practice.

The ship made its way east, the group admiring the farmland to the north, and the Mushfens to the south as they made their way by. The group settled into some lounging chairs for the evening. Temerity began reworking the cipher from Ironbriar’s book, while Tim and Aeres continued to teach each other Infernal and Draconic. Earnest worked on his own poetry, encouraging Temerity to practice swordplay with him at some point as well so she could train against a person using a reach weapon.

As early evening arrived, Temerity let out a triumphant noise as she managed to crack Ironbriar’s cipher. She quickly began pouring through the journal, the words now making themselves apparent to her. Ironbriar wrote about “the lovely Xanesha” who had stolen his heart and had provided him with a new method of murder. There wasn’t much else about Xanesha, but Ironbriar’s writings did point to the Shadow Clock as the location where he visited her. The journal clearly demonstrated that Ironbriar had actually been a devout priest of Norgorber, which promptly placed a crease in Temerity’s forehead as she absorbed that information. She had to keep down bile as Ironbriar’s writings detailed horrific murders over the span of 200 years. Horrifically, she also learned that Ironbriar had received a payment from the Red Mantis for the delivery of something called Vorel’s Legacy.

After Temerity had picked out the highlights, she darted over to the others breathlessly and informed them of her discovery.

“Would this help close some cold cases?” Temerity asked her brother.

“It might,” Earnest said hopefully. “You could send it to the new Justice. He would want to know about this and get to work on it right away.”

“You could write out a key to the cipher, or fully translate it, and send it off,” Tim suggested, eyeing the thickness of the journal and how much work that would take.

Temerity nodded, enthralled with the art of deciphering, “Yes, okay. I’ll get started on that.” She turned and started to head back to her seat.

Tim reached out to her, “Are you sure? I could do it.”

“Uh…” Temerity’s eyes flicked to Aeres, then back to Tim. “Did you finish learning Infernal?”

Aeres sighed and nodded, “He did. He’s a quick study.”

Temerity pursed her lips slightly, “I guess I’m fine with that…”

Tim nodded happily, “It’s fine. I’ll take care of it.”

“Okay…” Temerity clutched the journal to her chest, eyeing Tim suspiciously again. The relief in Tim’s eyes that was quickly staunched made Temerity straighten. “… You’re not using this as a way to defer writing that letter, are you?”

“No,” Tim replied far too hastily.

Temerity arched an eyebrow at him slowly, “Mhm?”

Tim grimaced and sighed, “I’ve got plenty of time to write the letter. This is more important.”

There was a slight bite to Tim’s words, so Temerity continued pressing, “Is it?”

Tim rolled his eyes at her, “That book details murders dating back centuries!”

“Yes, but I can continue translating it,” Temerity insisted, holding the book tighter. She had cracked the cipher after all.

“You need to learn how to move in your new armour,” Tim flicked a hand to indicate Temerity’s new painted white dragonscale bodysuit and mithral breastplate.

Temerity had been quite pleased with the outfit when Aeres’ tailors had presented it to her. The bodysuit fit her form perfectly, and the red scales had been painted with a heat-resistant white and gold paint that added a beautiful flare to the outfit.

Temerity swivelled slightly, feeling the brush of the cloak attached at her shoulders rustling around her hips. She looked at Tim, knowing that the armour wasn’t the thing she needed to adjust to; it fit like a glove and she barely noticed it on.

“I can adjust to the armour and continue translating,” Temerity said challengingly. “Icannotwrite a letter to your sister.”

Tim sucked in a breath and held out a hand for the journal, “I can take care of the translating. You can take care of other things.” He knew she must have something else to be doing in relation to her family’s mines and the mountain of disorganized paperwork her father had left behind.

Temerity stood tall, “Or, I can continue translating, andyoucan go do other things.”

“I’ve got the time to manage this,” Tim said, his teeth starting to clench together at her obstinance.

Temerity eyed him, “And you’re saying thatIdon’t?” She started to turn away from him.

“It’sfine, Temerity,” Tim insisted, stopping her.

Temerity wheeled to face him, “Is itfine?”

Aeres glanced between the pair of them, the argument starting to make her uncomfortable. She stood and promptly put her book back in her bag, hoping to slip away from the scene the pair of them were creating.

Tim relented, “Look… I’m not going to go out of my way and worry her.”

Temerity softened at that, “No… But you could at least talk to her and tell her about everything that has happened… Or, I don’t know, how you’re processing it or whatever. You certainly don’t talk to us about it,” she said that last a little harshly.

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” Tim insisted.

“It’s notfine!” Temerity snapped at him desperately.

Heat finally coloured Tim’s cheeks and unbridled anger flashed in his eyes as his control snapped and he roared at Temerity, “YES, IT IS!”

Shock and hurt flashed across Temerity’s face, and she took a hesitant step back at his anger before a stubborn resolve settled in and she drew herself taller.

“Oh, sh*t,” Aeres blinked at Tim’s outburst in surprise, quickly gesturing for Earnest to scuttle away to the other side of the deck to give the pair some space.

Tim closed his eyes, tempered his emotions, then met Temerity’s gaze, “I-I apologize…” He saw Temerity’s calculating gaze quickly determine the sincerity of the apology. “I’m fine…” His eyes flicked to her feet with slight embarrassment, “Emotional outbursts such as this are unbecoming of a noble such as myself, and I need to maintain…” His voice caught in his throat and he quickly cleared it and met Temerity’s gaze again, “I need to maintain my composure.”

Temerity rolled her eyes at him, “Because that’s a healthy way to deal with everything we’ve been through.”

“It’s the way that it needs to be dealt with!” Tim snapped at her again.

Temerity scowled derisively, “Right, so I’m the only one that gets to fall apart at every little thing that’s happened?”

“You don’t lose your home if you’re not perfect!” Tim cried.

Temerity was taken aback for a moment, but rallied quickly, “I’velostmy home because I wasn’t perfect!” She wasn’t sure how Tim could think otherwise.

Tim shook his head and sighed, glancing out at the marsh before looking back at Temerity, “Do you know where they put half-elves in Kyonin?” Temerity shook her head. “They don’t,” Tim continued. “Everything that I have – my family, my life, everything – hinges on me maintaining the status of a proper elf,” he made air quotes around the last two words. “If word got out that I failed so badly that I died because of it, then it’s not only me that’s going to get kicked out. It’s Salendra as well.”

Temerity scowled, but it wasn’t at Tim this time, “… They’d kick you out for dying?”

“Yes,” Tim pleaded with her to understand.

“That makes no sense,” Temerity shook her head. “You’re back! You’re here! Look at the things you’ve uncovered and researched!”

“It doesn’t matter!” Tim cried.

“But dying does?” Temerity frowned.

“We’re already working on a thread,” Tim explained. “I have to live up to what an elf’s assumed standard is. If I can’t, then I’m obviously unfit to remain in Kyonin and I must take the shortest route to Greengold.”

“So if you’d been an elf, Aldern wouldn’t have slit your throat?” Temerity raised an eyebrow at him, crossing her arms.

“If I’d been an elf, I probably wouldn’t have been there,” Tim divulged. “I wouldn’t have had to come here and prove that I can discover an entirely new avenue of magic to live up to the expectations for myself.”

“Then why do you want to go back if it’ssosh*tty?!” Temerity demanded.

“Because I care about my family,” Tim stated the obvious.

“Then bring Salendra here or somewhere else, or go wherever the f*ck you want!” Temerity suggested aggressively.

“She’s managing just fine there,” Tim admitted brokenly. “I’m not… She can do proper magic. She lives up to the expectations. She’s doing as well as Grandmother and Grandfather when they were younger. I couldn’t even muster up a cantrip…”

Temerity gave him a sympathetic look, “You have different ones. You don’t even have to mutter the words for a spell.”

Tim shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. It’s notrealmagic.”

Temerity blinked, then got angry, “It sure as Hell is!”

“Tell them that,” Tim sighed.

Temerity opened her arms wide, “Bring them here.” She’d set the idiots straight.

“They won’t come,” Tim said sadly.

Temerity blinked and frowned, “I thought you said they were going to come pick you up at some point?”

“Once I contact them and say that I’ve accomplished something, yes,” Tim explained. “I haven’t accomplished anything. I failed.”

“You didn’t fail,” Temerity sighed.

“I died,” he reminded her.

“You’re still here!” Temerity indicated his being. “What we’ve managed to solve still has a legacy. Without you, none of that would’ve happened.”

“It doesn’t matter! The elves in Kyonin hold themselves above everyone. Even Shalelu! Back when we travelled with her, she said that I couldn’t have been raised by my elven parents because I was not acting like an elf,” Tim recalled harshly.

Temerity winced at that, “To be fair, you had sh*tty behaviour, and that hinged on your lie. Which, if you want to talk about something being unbecoming of a noble…”

Tim sighed heavily, “It would’ve been different if I had something to show for it… What I have to show for it is that I f*cked up so badly that I got myself killed by a random crazed ghoul in a basem*nt. If I don’t get exiled, I’ll be a laughing stock for my whole life.”

Temerity snorted, “Join the club.”

“I can’t do this if it’s going to cause Salendra the same punishment… We’re an experiment as far as the Council is concerned. A test to see if a half-elf can live up to the expectations. We’re held to an elven standard: 150 years of experience as an adult at the age of 20.” He watched Temerity suck in a breath as she digested that and tried to find something comforting to say. “It’s different… I understand that it’s similar to your experience, but it’s different.”

Temerity found her tongue, “Well, screw them. So many elves have left Kyonin because of the environment, look at my mother. You’re learning more outside their country than you would’ve learned in it.”

“I am, but it doesn’t change the fact that I can’t do that to Salendra. She’s doing fine, she’s thriving there! She can handle everything around her better than I can,” Tim lamented.

“But would they really tie your fates together if-” Temerity started to ask.

“Of course they would! We’re twins! If one of us isn’t good enough, then so too the other one must not be,” Tim explained. “There is not a good way out of this unless I have something to show for it.”

“You do!” Temerity exclaimed.

“I don’t as far as they’re concerned,” Tim shook his head emphatically. “I have a handful of parlour tricks…”

Temerity frowned, “So what? We fought Malfeshnekor! We discovered that whole thing! We-”

“So what?! It’s a barghest in a basem*nt as far as the Council is concerned!” Tim emphasized as Temerity tried not to let the diminishment of the accomplishment show on her face. “I could kill Treerazer and would barely get a thumbs up.”

“So… then you can’t do anything that will impress them, so why keep trying to impress them?” Temerity demanded.

“And do what? Throw everything I know away?” Tim asked.

Temerity barked a laugh and shook her head at him, “Uh, yeah!”

Tim shook his head at her in disbelief, “What would happen to mother?”

“She seems pretty well protected by your grandparents,” Temerity pointed out bitterly.

“Until she finds out and spends the rest of who knows how long in a fit,” Tim fretted.

Temerity pursed her lips, recalling Tim questioning her on her devotion to her father. “Yeah… Didn’t you say that she was an adult and needs to deal with the consequences of her own actions?”

“Yes, but at the same time, I don’t want to cause harm,” Tim deflated.

Temerity gave him a sympathetic smile, identifying with his statement a lot. “Well… It seems her decisions made her own bed,” Temerity winced at her own words, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to think. “I get it, I do… I get it.”

Tim nodded slightly, “There isn’t a way out here. I need something really amazing to show for this. Not a death and a handful of old notes – as amazing as they might be to us. They aren’t going to care about what happened to a human civilization years ago if I don’t have something to show for it.”

Earnest watched Temerity and Tim’s impassioned argument from across the deck. He leaned into Aeres, “Do you think they know that everyone can hear them?”

Aeres shook her head in disbelief, “Maybe… I… I’m just going to-”

“The mosquitoes here are lovely,” Earnest slapped at the bugs buzzing around his neck.

“Right, yeah… I’m going to look at the marsh,” Aeres said, swivelling slightly to look south of the river.

Earnest followed suit, “Yes, that is a nice marsh.” Earnest’s ears pricked up as he heard Tim speak again.

“I’ll figure something out. I always do,” Tim insisted to Temerity.

Earnest frowned and looked down at Aeres, “Is he always that insufferable?”

“No, he’s quite charming,” Aeres shrugged.

Temerity’s piqued voice drifted over to them, “It feels hypocritical for you to tell me that I need to forge my own path when you’re going to return to something misery-making when you go back.”

Tim regarded her hopelessly, “How is it hypocritical for you to do what I would like and for me to tell others to take the chance?”

Temerity ground her teeth, resisting arguing thatthatwas the exact definition of being hypocritical. “You’re here! You’re free! You’re out of their clutches already!”

“Am I?” Tim raised a sceptical eyebrow at her.

Temerity gestured at themselves, “You’re here and they haven’t checked on you inhowlong?” She didn’t ask if they would even remember to check in on him. Her mother had always said elves were aloof. They tended to forget about that social contact that humans tended to prefer.

Aeres smirked and whispered to Earnest, “It’s kind of funny… Temerity is giving the same arguments I used to give her about her family.”

Earnest laughed, “That makes sense.”

Tim sucked in a breath, “Temerity, they’re letting me stay out here on an elven timeline. If I took a decade, they’d check in by then.”

“Right, so?” Temerity pressed.

“So if I don’t have something important to show them after a relatively short timeline…” Tim gulped.

Earnest turned to Aeres, “Pardon the pun, but over the last couple of months, were you the devil on her shoulder telling her to get out of her hidey-hole?” The Temerity having a heated argument was not the one he caught glimpses of over the past 15 years.

Aeres shook her head, “No, if anything, Temerity was the one gettingmeout of my hidey-hole. I was more than happy to spend my days at the academy reading books.”

“Oh,” Earnest was genuinely surprised by that. “… So was it Tim encouraging her to step out of her shell and go on all of these dangerous expeditions?”

Aeres barked a laugh, “No, it was Temerity encouraging us. She got us to deal with things.”

“I thought you might have been instrumental in getting her out of her shell a bit,” Earnest observed.

“Why’s that?” Aeres scoffed.

“Because… You’re more confident,” Earnest observed.

Aeres laughed mockingly at herself.

“I wanted to say thank you, but I guess there’s nothing to say thank you for,” Earnest shrugged, giving her a small smirk.

Aeres grimaced and shook her head, “Sorry, no. Lies don’t mean much to me.”

“What lie?” Earnest frowned at her.

“I’m not confident,” Aeres muttered, leaning on the railing.

Earnest regarded her for a moment, “Well, if that’s not how you see yourself, that’s fine. But it’s not a lie. I’m shifty, not a liar.”

“Right, shifty,” Aeres eyed him. “That’s the word I’ll use… No, Temerity is the one who got us out and about. If it weren’t for Temerity, I would still be in the academy reading books and Tim would still be bumbling around pretending to be an idiot.”

“Pretending to be an idiot rather than just being one?” Earnest asked, an amused glint to his eye.

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it,” Aeres snorted.

Earnest leaned on the railing next to her, “You don’t seem like the type of person that likes to tell stories, but would you regale me?”

Aeres told him about how they’d met Tim at the Swallowtail Festival and how they’d watched him eat mud. Then how Aeres had felt so bad about Tim getting taken advantage of that she started carrying his money for him so he didn’t get swindled any longer.

“That’s very kind of you,” Earnest observed.

Aeres grimaced, “I just felt bad for him. I don’t like when people get taken advantage of.”

“But you didn’t take any of his money,” Earnest observed. “So that was quite selfless of you.”

Aeres made a face.

“That seems like a pain in the ass,” Earnest encouraged her to speak more.

“Yes, well…” Aeres shrugged. “I was trying to figure out how humans work. I thought it was something that humans would do.”

“Alright… None of us are humans,” Earnest pointed out, grinning slightly.

“More human that I am,” Aeres reminded him.

“Define human,” Earnest co*cked his head at her, turning around to lean on the railing.

“See, that’s part of my issue. I don’t know how,” Aeres explained.

“You’re human,” Earnest nodded at her.

Aeres made a loud, near-shrieking noise as she denied his statement.

“Other than that noise, you’re more human than not,” Earnest chuckled. “What makes a human a human? Conversation?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Aeres sighed.

Earnest continued, “Tact?”

Aeres snorted, “I have none of that.”

“Apparently, neither do I,” Earnest sighed, glancing back at Temerity to make sure she was still holding her own against Tim.

“True… No, I grew up in a swamp,” Aeres pointed in a general direction north toward Sandpoint. “I grew up with – not my real mother, but my mother figure – there. And… I was brought to the Hell sometimes, or brought to the Sanna House sometimes, or brought to my father’s many houses sometimes to… have me teeth looked at…”

“So you didn’t have a regular family upbringing then either,” Earnest observed. “The fates are really strange.”

“Sure,” Aeres shrugged. “But both of my parents are very lovely.”

“I’m happy for you then,” Earnest said with a sad sincerity.

Aeres nodded at that, “But I didn’t have much of a chance to make friends. I asked to go to Sandpoint to figure out how humans live together.”

“And now you’re stuck on a boat with a dozen of them,” Earnest chuckled.

“Funny how that happens,” Aeres sighed, turning back to watch Temerity and thinking about the number of times she’d talked her out of going to the library to read. Temerity seemed to be figuring out her purpose in life, whereas Aeres was grappling with the fact that she had no idea what her purpose in life was… She knew Mama Baba needed her help with something eventually, but she didn’t know what that entailed either. “Do you think we’re going to have to bunk with each other?” Aeres suddenly blurted to Earnest. “Do you think they’re going to have to hash this out all night?”

Earnest blinked at her rapidly in confusion, “W-what?” Aeres didn’t fill in the silence, so Earnest decided to take his chance, “About that… Temerity said that I might be giving the impression that I was leading you on and I just wanted to ask… That’s not my intent, unless that’s something- I wasn’t sure what your intent was.”

Aeres’ eyes went wide and she turned on her heel and started to walk away.

Earnest reached out and stopped her, “No, see this is something that needs to be discussed. Just-”

Aeres pulled away from him and hustled toward Tim and Temerity.

“What about the bunking?!” Earnest called after her, shaking his head before trotting to keep up.

Aeres rushed up to Temerity accusatorily, “What the f*ck did you say to Earnest?!”

Temerity and Tim looked over to her in surprise at the interruption as Earnest caught up and tried to direct Aeres’ attention toward him.

“About what?” Tim frowned at her.

“About the bunking. This conversation needs to happen, obviously,” Earnest sighed.

“I thought I was bunking with you?” Tim looked at the other man in confusion.

“Well, I wasn’t sure if you two were going to argue all night,” Aeres said to Temerity.

“We weren’t done arguing, but now you’ve interrupted,” Temerity snapped.

“But then Aeres said that you two might be bunking,” Earnest gestured at his sister and Tim. “And that we might be bunking,” he indicated himself and Aeres. “I wanted to just make sure- Temerity had said that there was the possibility that I might be leading someone on, so I just wanted to make sure that that was set straight and made apparent.”

Temerity blinked and waved for her brother to stop talking, “Wait, make it apparent that youwereleading someone on?”

“No, that I wasn’t!” Earnest corrected quickly, glancing at Aeres. “I was just reciprocating the things that I thought she was saying, so I wanted to clear that up, but then you walked away-” He turned to Aeres. “-because it was awkward, and you turned a more interesting shade of pink than usual. This is all very confusing.”

“I’m so confused,” Aeres whispered, trying to look anywhere but at Earnest.

Earnest nodded at that and turned to Tim, “So, I’m bunking with you.”

“Yes, that is correct,” Tim answered quickly.

“And you’re bunking with you,” Earnest smiled and pointed at Temerity, then Aeres.

“Yes,” Aeres nodded hastily. “And you’re going to stop your argument at some point so that I can go to sleep?” her eyes pleaded with Temerity.

“Yes,” Temerity reassured her gently, Tim nodding in agreement.

“And have you been flirting with me?” Earnest asked Aeres directly, and Temerity couldn’t help but admire the boldness with which he did it.

Aeres looked flabbergasted, “Not intentionally!”

“Okay, so unintentionally then,” Earnest nodded at that. “I thought it was an intentional thing, so I was reciprocating.”

“I don’t know what intentional flirting looks like!” Aeres exclaimed in slight horror.

“You could ask Kenapsu,” Tim said suddenly.

“I’m not going to ask Kenapsu,” Aeres ground out to her friend.

“As far as I understood, he’s not flirting, just horny,” Earnest observed.

“I don’t know,” Tim shrugged.

Earnest frowned at him, “Do you not know the difference?”

“I do,” Tim corrected him. “I just don’t know how it might be different for a hand.”

“Anyways,” Earnest sighed and turned toward his sister. “I’m sorry that we interrupted your conversation.”

Temerity scowled at him, “Oh, no you’re not!” She could see his cheeky grin warring with the slight hit to his ego.

Earnest grinned fully at her words and chortled, “No, I’m not, actually. It was a very loud conversation.” He turned to Aeres more genuinely and clasped his hands together, “I’m sorry, I won’t do it anymore. I am going to have some tea, if anyone would care to join me. That is an open invitation to anybody, just so you all know. Except Delyth.”

“Why not Delyth?” Aeres asked with a frown.

“Because she likes to spy on things, and it’s not that kind of tea,” Earnest smirked. “As you were, I suppose,” he swept them a mocking bow and sauntered away. “We can hear you!” he warned Temerity over his shoulder.

Temerity scowled after her brother, “I’m not sure if I can count the number of feet he just put in his mouth.”

“It’s impressive, even by my standard,” Tim agreed with a small smile. He then looked at the stunned Aeres, “Are you alright?”

“I’m so confused,” Aeres shuddered. “What did you say to him?” she implored Temerity.

Temerity sighed, “I told him that if he was trying to flirt with you that he better be clear and make sure that his intentions were known. I also learned that he was flirting with other women, so I just wanted him to make it clear because you- we don’t have any experience,” Temerity finished. “I also thought you were flirting with him. Some of the things you said to him were rather full of innuendo.”

“Everything I say is innuendo,” Aeres grumbled. “I say innuendous things to you all the time.”

“I know,” Temerity acknowledged. “So to him-” she pointed at Earnest’s retreating back, “-that’s a whole other language.”

Aeres looked stricken, “Oh, f*ck… You have been in my house! You know how everyone talks!”

“Exactly!” Temerity cried.

“I don’t see that as flirting…” Aeres mumbled, her cheeks turning beet red, immediately turning on her heel and disappearing below decks.

“Aeres!” Temerity called after her sympathetically, shaking her head and silently cursing her brother.

Tim regarded Temerity, “Do you think she’s going to be alright?”

“Probably after I speak with her it seems,” Temerity sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair distractedly.

“… A lot of that going around it seems,” Tim observed.

Temerity screwed her eyes shut for a second as she tried to focus back on Tim as his issues, “No… You- I don’t know how to help you, or how you want to be helped,” she said that frustratedly.

“I will figure that out,” Tim promised her. “I apologize that it’s…” he trailed off.

Temerity shook her head back and forth slowly, “You can’t keep- You talked me through breathing exercises and how to calm down and channel things, but you’re not doing that. You’re bottling them up!” Temerity clenched a gloved hand for emphasis. “At some point that’s just going to explode.”

“I will figure something out,” Tim repeated. “I haven’t been unsuccessful so far in determining a solution…”

“Butwe’rehere! We’re willing to help you!” Temerity pleaded with him.

“I don’t know how anyone can help in this matter… It’s a lot of xenophobia and cultural nonsense that can’t be overcome,” Tim explained.

“Except by leaving,” Temerity prodded.

Tim shook his head, “And I can’t.”

Temerity grimaced at the impossible situation before him, “Do you know Salendra- Do you know for a fact that she doesn’t feel the same way? She wants to stay?”

“Yes, we’ve spoken on the matter all the time,” Tim informed her.

“Except you haven’t spoken to her for over a year and a half,” Temerity pointed out. “What if things have changed since you left?”What if they don’t care that you’re gone?Temerity wanted to say.

“I’m sure she would’ve contacted me in some way,” Tim stated.

“How? Where? You’ve been in Riddleport, Sandpoint, Magnimar, and now here?” Temerity grew more flustered.

“She knows how tosend,” Tim reassured her.

About the thing that you don’t want to talk about, so she likely doesn’t want to talk about it?Kenapsu finally piped in.

Temerity gestured at Tim’s signing hand, “Yeah, that. What if you’ve both got such good masks that she thinks you’re off enjoying yourself, more than happy to return?”

“The thing is that hers isn’t a mask. She’s an enchantress by speciality. She likes people and dealing with people. The intricacies of elven society are her bread and butter. She loves going through it and weaving through the system,” Tim explained.

Temerity’s mind raced, “But have you ever been frank with her about how you feel in the system?”

“I didn’t know that I felt this way until I left,” Tim admitted.

Temerity frowned at that, “Didn’t you say that you knew before? You had to prove yourself.”

“I can’t- Like I said, I can’t do proper magic,” Tim deflated again.

Temerity wanted to scream. “It is proper!”

“It’s not. Divine and arcane magics are the only proper magics as far as they are concerned. My magic is a trick.”

“With the same results! Tangible results!” Temerity argued, clenching a hand at the air emphatically.

“I know that. You know that, but you try and get a 500 years old elven person who’s been drinking the same tea every day to try something different,” he watched Temerity as she started to pace. “You think dwarves are stubborn, try an elf at that age.”

Temerity stopped pacing and just sucked in a calming breath with an exasperated sigh.

“I need proper results to legitimise my practice,” Tim finished.

“Fine,” Temerity grumbled. “And then you’re going to go back and be miserable?”

“I don’t know…” Tim hesitated.

Probably, Kenapsu signed.

“I just need something magnificent to show them, and I’m sure I could convince enough of the Council to understand,” Tim had talked himself through this process a thousand times.

“But what if nothing is good enough?” Temerity asked worriedly. “That’s the whole standard we’ve been told to measure ourselves against our whole lives? What if we’ll never be magnificent?”

Then he’ll die alone and broken like I did, Temerity flinched at Kenapsu’s words.

Tim let out a breath as he considered, “I’m not going to baulk at the impossible. If it turns out to be that, then so be it. But I’m going to find an answer, and I’m going to find a way to do this my way. I’m going to show them that it works, that I am worth my family.”

“Youareworth your family!” Temerity impressed upon him sadly. She was beginning to think that his family was not worth him.

“I know that,” Tim choked out.

“Do you?” Temerity peered at him closely, doubting his words.

“Yes!”

He doesn’t,Kenapsu added.

“Ineedto be good enough,” Tim implored her to understand.

Temerity shook her head at him sadly, already guessing how this story would end. “You’ve seen how that works,” she gestured at herself; the girl who had tied herself in knots to please her father only to realize that he hadn’t cared an ounce for her.

“All I have to show is a failure,” Tim muttered.

“It’s not,” Temerity reassured him gently. “All your books. All your research. Everything that you’ve put together so far does not add up to a failure.”

“It’s not a success either. It’s in progress. There’s more to do. There’s got to be something at the end of this,” determination creeping into Tim’s voice.

“That’s why we’re still looking,” Temerity nodded along.

Death, Kenapsu added, making Temerity flinch nervously at that.Regret.You know what the worst part of being a hand is? I get to look back and see the things that I couldn’t do because I wanted to focus on other things. Then I get to remember that I could’ve done them if I’d only realized that people are fine.

Temerity nodded along, meeting Tim’s gaze, “And some people are sh*t, and maybe we should cut them out.”

“My family is not the problem. It’s other people who are the problem,” Tim explained. “Grandmother is overbearing, sure, but she means well. Grandfather is Grandfather, there’s not much else to say unless you’ve met the man.”

“So why not live outside of that society and send research back?” Temerity suggested.

“There is no way to go and visit if I do that,” Tim informed her. “If I exile myself, then it’s exile. I can’t change Kyonin society myself with what I’ve currently got. If I want them to make an exception, then I must be exceptional.”

“But you already are!” Temerity ground out.

“From our point of view,” Tim eyed her. “I’m skilled at what I do, but it’s not enough. I need something more… Something that can really replicate what they would call proper magic. I can’t do it! I can do a handful of things by pulling a little bit extra out of something. I can’t stare at a book for an hour and grant wishes. I have results, but not enough… I need more, something real.”

Temerity sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, considering his words but still arguing with herself internally about how stupid it all was.

“I know it makes things strange… I understand that it is paralleling what everyone is telling you, but the circ*mstances are different. Not black and white, but different shades of grey,” Tim finished.

Temerity snorted and slowly shook her head; there was much more overlap in this Venn diagram than not. “… How are we supposed to help you if you won’t open up?”

“I’ve seen what my emotions can do,” Tim said. “Magic… I’ve been practicing this for a while, but I don’t know what this will do if I let everything out. What if it starts a resonance cascade with unforeseen consequences? What if it unleashes magics that I don’t comprehend or that I don’t know are dangerous?”

Temerity saw the real fear in his eyes but couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that he didn’t remember her raging against a similar fear with her own magic. She dropped the cipher book with a thud on the deck and allowed the fiery magic within her to take over her body, turning her into the silhouette made of light and flame. She met Tim’s gaze, willing him to understand.

Unfortunately, that was derailed as Captain Jaq lost her sh*t over the sudden gout of flame on the deck. Temerity glared at the captain, trying to shout over her to quieten down and relax, but she was forced to return to her human form to allay the woman’s fear that her ship was going to go up in flames.

Captain Jaq stormed over to Temerity, glowering at the smaller woman and checking the nearby planks to make sure there was no scorch marks, “What thef*ckwas that?!”

“Apparently less fire than I thought, but light,” Temerity explained.

Jaq poked Temerity in the chest emphatically with each word, “Don’t. Burn. My. Boat.”

“I won’t,” Temerity said, putting on a pleasant smile until the captain had turned her back and stomped far enough away. “At the moment…” She rolled her eyes and turned back to Tim after all the hullabaloo, which only further proved her point. “I kept this locked down!” she gestured at herself.

Tim nodded at her point, “… I’ll try. It’s not something I’m good at…”

“Talking?” Temerity asked.

“Letting my emotions out more than a trickle,” Tim sighed.

“Really?” Temerity raised an eyebrow at him sardonically.

“Noble society, you must keep you wits about you. You must be composed,” Tim said.

“Noble society anywhere,” Temerity sighed.

“That’s what I mean. You understand. The degree of scrutiny I was under… I never practiced,” Tim admitted.

Temerity approached him, “But you’re safe. You’re here!”

“You say that!” Tim said, getting distracted as Kenapsu gave him flac for mansplaining again. “That’s why I said she understands what I mean. We’re both under that scrutiny. I just don’t know how to do it differently…”

“Just talk. Let us help,” Temerity begged him. “Then we can actually get to know you, the real Timendra.” She poked him in the chest gently.

“How?” Tim asked.

Temerity shrugged slightly, “Same thing that you had me do. What are your emotions? How are you feeling? Label your emotions. Put words to them instead of saying that you’re fine when you’re completely not fine! You f*cking died!” Emotion crept back into Temerity’s voice.

Tim pursed his lips, “I’m terrified of what’s about to happen.” His voice trembled with the admission.

“Me too,” Temerity agreed softly.

“And if I’m afraid, I can’t use my magic. If I can’t use my magic, then the best outcome is that I am the only one that gets themselves killed… If I lose control and it leads to the death of any of you, I don’t know what I would do…” Tim admitted gravely.

Temerity blinked, the gravitas of the admission resonating with her. She went silent for a moment and buried her head in her hands before giggling hysterically, “Pull a diamond ring out of your back pocket, run back to town, and find a healer?”

“I still don’t know how you managed that,” Tim smiled at her slightly as Temerity looked at him again and laughed.

“Barely,” she grinned darkly.

“I can’t do that,” Tim said, his tone making it clear that he thought Temerity and Aeres had pulled off a miracle.

“We couldn’t either,” Temerity shook her head at him; he’d find a way if he needed to. “There weren’t any healers powerful enough… We almost stole for you,” she broke out into hysterical laughter again.

“Was that Aeres’ idea?” Tim asked.

“Yes.”

“Knew it,” Tim muttered.

“We spent all night in a seedy bar trying to find black market contacts.” Temerity left out the part about how much further Aeres might have been willing to go. “We would have done it if that was the only way…”

“I have no problem stealing for the right cause,” Tim agreed.

Temerity nodded slightly but didn’t say anything. “Turned out that diplomacy worked eventually with the Deverins…”

Tim nodded and silence descended between them for a time, “… I still don’t think I can send this letter.”

“Fine, that’s fine,” Temerity reassured him gently. “But maybe practice writing it will help with the expressing, managing, and dealing with emotions.”

Tim nodded slowly at that, letting out a shuddering breath after a while before meeting Temerity’s gaze, “I’m sorry.”

Temerity couldn’t help her eyebrow inching up slightly when no further detail was given, “For what?”

“For… All the various degrees of stress I put you through. The lying… The- Everything,” Tim suddenly said.

Temerity clasped her hands behind her back as she considered his words, but the lying was the only concrete thing in the list. She met his gaze evenly, “I appreciate that. Greatly. And I forgive you.”

“Thank you,” Tim inclined his head in acknowledgement. “So… What now? Days on a boat after that are going to be uncomfortable, I’m sure.”

Temerity’s gaze had started to wander and she looked back at Tim with a slight frown, “Hmm? You mean Aeres and Earnest?”

“And this conversation… Typically once you’ve aired all the emotions it takes a few days to settle,” Tim shifted uncomfortably.

Temerity shrugged, “Strive on.” Everything was water under the bridge now in her eyes. “That’s what practice is for.”

“Fair,” Tim acknowledged. “I have a lot to think on… I’m going to go to my…” he gestured in the direction of the stairs descending below decks. “I guess it’s ‘our’ room.”

“Tired,” Temerity nodded, providing an excuse. She realized that she hadn’t found the conversation nearly as taxing or awkward as he might have. Challenging and aggravating, yes, but all you could do was move forward.

“Does your brother snore?” Tim asked her.

“I have no idea,” Temerity sighed.

“Well, let’s find out, I guess. And maybe check on Aeres?” Tim confirmed. “I don’t think she understands that she’s embarrassed and that’s what that feeling is.”

Temerity smiled slightly at that and nodded.

“She went to her room, and I can still hear you two,” Earnest said, nonchalantly leaning against a nearby mast.

Temerity jumped in surprise, then rounded on her brother, “Are you constantly going to spy on me?”

“I’m not spying!” Earnest cried. “I’m on the other side of the boat. I’mtryingnot to listen, but… And I don’t snore,” he turned to Tim. “Unless you want- Unless that’s something,” he shrugged and smirked with a wink.

“Can I ask what circ*mstances someone would ask you to snore?” Tim frowned at the other man.

“If you want to be annoyed, I guess,” Earnest shrugged.

“I think I’ll be fine. I have a left hand for that,” Tim replied, making Temerity clear her throat pointedly while Earnest co*cked his head as he attempted to parse Tim’s strange phrasing.

“… So it feels like someone else is annoying you?” Earnest asked with a cheeky grin.

“It’s just someone else who annoys me,” Tim stared at Earnest for a second as he tried to determine his meaning. “The way you said that… Was that innuendo?”

Earnest sighed, “You and Aeres should get together and write a book on innuendo. It could be calledTriple Innuendo.”

“Icouldwrite a book on innuendo…” Tim thought about it.

“And get Aeres to help you,” Earnest teased, covering up some of his own butthurt.

“Right, anyways, I feel like I’m missing something,” Tim put that aside and looked back at Temerity. “I’m going to go reflect on this conversation.”

“Have fun with your left hand,” Earnest waved at him.

“No, he can stay out here and get eaten by a carp or something,” Tim said, turning away.

“There are gar in the rivers, and alligators. Also marsh giants,” Earnest rattled off, grinning broadly as Temerity glared daggers at him and slowly shook her head disappointedly.

“Sleep well, both of you,” Temerity sighed at them both, heading down to her and Aeres’ room.

Temerity quietly opened the door to their room to find Aeres lying facedown on her pillow, attempting to block out the world.

Temerity gently sat on the bed next to her, “Are you alright?”

“I’m so confused,” Aeres moaned.

“About?” Temerity coaxed her.

“Everything,” Aeres grumbled.

“What in particular?” Temerity asked patiently.

Aeres lifted up from her pillows finally and sat facing Temerity, “I’ve been going over every single interaction I’ve had with your brother trying to figure out what brought that up.”

Temerity hummed for a moment as she chose her words, “I mean, he’s naturally flirtatious.”

“And I was raised by my dad…” Aeres nodded along, thinking about the lustful devil’s antics.

“Right…” Temerity watched Aeres’ expression carefully. “So that my be where some of the language kind of seems to give a certain idea… ‘More bang for your buck,’ you know? Which is fine!” Temerity rushed to reassure Aeres as her expression became even more confused and slightly mortified.

“I’m confused… Even more so…” Aeres mumbled. “Because normally when I say things like that no one takes any stock in it, nor does it go anywhere. That’s a weird feeling.”

“Well, you’re usually in a devil house, right?” Temerity clarified. “So you’re using that language all the time. Then in noble circles, heavy innuendo is used to flirt before you can disappear behind a curtain to make out or something…” Temerity cleared her throat awkwardly. “And Earnest is also a Shelynite poet, so playing with words is literally his thing…”

“Right… So I shouldn’t talk around your brother, is what I’m hearing,” Aeres shifted uncomfortably.

“No,” Temerity shook her head. “Just that if you’re not interested, you’re not interested.”

“I don’t know what it means ‘to be interested’,” Aeres admitted. “Other than Tim and Gandethus, that’s the only male interaction I’ve had. And prior to Tim it was just Gandethus, and he’s more like a grandfather.”

Temerity giggled at that.

“All my interactions beside you and TIm have been with my father and his circle, my mother, Gandethus, and goblins,” Aeres counted out on her fingers.

“That isn’t a lot of practice on the flirtation front, I see…” Temerity observed.

“No, so I don’t even know what it would be like to be interested. Like, yes, your brother is cute, but I-” Aeres just shook her head back and forth.

“Warm butterflies fluttering in the stomach is usually what it’s equated to,” Temerity described for her.

Aeres frowned sceptically at that, “Right…” All she could picture was a goblin roasting a butterfly over a hastily made fire. “I will just have to reflect on this further… I did come to Sandpoint to try to understand human behaviour more.”

“This is certainly part of it,” Temerity nodded along with a smile.

“This is just not one I thought I would face… My father would certainly be pleased,” Aeres frowned, then laughed.

“You are attractive, Aeres.” Temerity reassured her.

“Ugh, only because I can make myself that way,” Aeres grimaced.

Temerity sighed and shook her head at the other woman, “You’re attractive in your regular form too.”

“Thank you,” Aeres said sincerely before adopting a cheeky look. “Tummy mouth and all?”

Temerity smirked at her and nodded, making the half-devil chuckle.

Aeres rolled over her conversations with Earnest in her mind. Devils spoke with double-meaning all the time, but she hadn’t really considered that humans would take that in a different light.

“If I’ve embarrassed your brother, I apologize,” Aeres said finally.

Temerity snorted as she shuffled through her backpack and started pulling out clothing. “Oh, I don’t think you have to worry about that. I think he’s embarrassment proof.”

Aeres smirked and nodded, eyeing the pensive half-elf, “… And how did your talk with Tim go?”

Temerity stopped unfolding her nightgown and pursed her lips, “Loud.” She sighed and turned to Aeres, “Angry.”

Temerity sucked in a breath and told Aeres about what Tim had admitted he was afraid of after she had disappeared below deck. Aeres fetched them some tea to sip as they discussed the intricacies of the conversation, Temerity trying to sort out how best she and Aeres could support their friend through his struggles.

Earnest entered his and Tim’s room later that night, finding the other man staring up at the ceiling.

Tim swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up as Earnest entered, “So what exactly were you speaking with Aeres about?”

Earnest’s eyebrow twitched at him slightly, “What do you mean?”

“She looked rather embarrassed,” Tim stated.

“Oh, well…” Earnest trailed off and shrugged, moving toward the empty bed and settling down on it gracefully.

Tim arched an eyebrow at the other half-elf, “Is there any more to that sentence?”

“No. I thought she was flirting,” Earnest sighed.

“It’s not that she wasn’t, she just might not have realized,” Tim said.

“Then she didn’t mean it,” Earnest said, slightly abashed.

“I just don’t think she knew…” Tim repeated.

“Well, I was flirting because she was flirting,” Earnest said hastily. “But if she didn’t mean it, then I obviously shouldn’t have been flirting. So I just put it out there, addressed it, and now it’s done.”

“Right…” Tim eyed the other man closely. “And how do you feel about that?”

“Fine?” Earnest frowned at him. “How should I feel about that?”

Tim shrugged, “I don’t know. You tell me. It’s your feelings.”

Earnest smirked, “Which you don’t have.”

“I have several. I use them all the time,” Tim protested primly.

“Buried deep,” Earnest snorted. “Shoved right down there in the basem*nt next to the socks.”

“I don’t understand the metaphor… I keep my socks on top of the rest of the clothing in my bag. They typically need to be swapped out more often than other clothing,” Tim stated factually.

“Right… You didn’t have a basem*nt growing up?” Earnest asked curiously.

“I had several,” Tim corrected.

“Ah, well, there you go,” Earnest cleared his throat, settling back on the bed. He noted Tim still watching him, “… Should I be worried about anything?”

“I don’t think so,” Tim shook his head.

Earnest eyed him, “… Shouldyoube worried about anything?”

Tim stilled, “Probably?”

“That’s the right answer,” Earnest nodded with a smirk.

“Now I’m more confused,” Tim massaged his temple.

“I’m kidding, you seem fine,” Earnest waved a hand through the air.

Tim frowned, “What? In terms of what?”

Earnest shrugged conspiratorially, “You seem fine. You’re a fine person.”

“Alright…” Tim said suspiciously. “It’s an unusual thing to bring up unprompted… Is there a reason you were concerned that I wasn’t a fine person?”

Earnest slowly turned to look at Tim, a darked expression taking over, “You’re travelling with my sister. If you weren’t a fine person, I would slit your throat and toss you overboard.” Earnest immediately lightened and shrugged, giving Tim a much friendlier smirk, “Just FYI.”

“Are you going to talk to the rest of the people on the boat then?” Tim asked with a frown.

“No.”

“We’re with several other people,” Tim reminded the other man.

“They’re nottravellingwith my sister,” Earnest emphasized. “They’re on a boat with her for five days. You’ve been with her for nearly two months now.”

“Your sister is perfectly capable of defending herself. I don’t know what your concern is, really…” Tim scowled.

Earnest kept a straight face, “Against anaverageperson, sure.You’renot an average person.”

“Neither is Aeres or you,” Tim pointed out.

Earnest let out a small sigh, “Right…”

“Who knows what the average person really looks like?” Tim asked rhetorically.

Earnest got a little defensive, “I do.”

Tim nodded at that, “I guess that makes sense…”

“And none of us are in an average situation anymore,” Earnest carried on. “She needs people who can look out forher, even though she doesn’t think she needs people to look out for her.”

“Honestly, she’s been doing most of the looking out,” Tim admitted.

“I know,” Earnest nodded sincerely. “That’s who she is. But… She’s not the strongest. She can’t cast many spells. She doesn’t wear heavy armour. She can’t really defend herself.”

“You should really watch her spar tomorrow,” Tim interjected, speaking in Temerity’s defence. “I think you will be extremely surprised.”

“I’ve seen how she moves,” Earnest acknowledged. “What I’m saying is that if I didn’t trustyouafter you’ve been travelling with her for two months, and after all the things you’ve been through – ghouls, ghasts, lich houses, rats, and whatever else-”

“Goblins,” Tim reminded him.

Earnest nodded at the inclusion, “These aren’t things that the average person has to deal with.”

“Correct, but it’s also not a very Shelynite thing to slit someone’s throat in their sleep,” Tim pointed out.

Earnest shrugged at that, settling down on the bed and saying nothing.

“Your head priest is going to be very peeved at you,” Tim smirked. “Should it ever come to that…”

Earnest turned extremely serious, “Have you ever met a paladin before?”

“Once or twice,” Tim shrugged. “Insufferable lot.”

“So you know that if they go against their god’s tenets, they fall and lose all their powers?” Earnest said.

Tim nodded.

“… Then it must be a really good reason to do that, wouldn’t it?” Earnest asked rhetorically, deadly serious. His expression lightened almost immediately, “Just saying…” He fluffed his pillow and leaned back into it.

“Threat acknowledged,” Tim stated.

“I didn’t threaten anything…” Earnest smirked to himself. “You seem fine.”

Tim shrugged, “… And you’re also a fairly bad liar, by the way.”

“I know.”

“You should just stop trying,” Tim chuckled to himself.

“So should you,” Earnest regarded the other man for a moment pointedly.

“Probably,” Tim agreed.

“Good night,” Earnest said, abruptly ending the conversation and rolling over to face the wall.

The evening passed uneventfully after that, allowing the group to rest and recuperate as the S.S. Moyie sailed down the Yondabakari River. Morning brought the group out of their rooms for a decent breakfast made by the galley’s personnel. They carried on with reading and other solitary activities until the afternoon when a disturbance at the aft of the boat had the group wandering over to peer at what had drawn the attention of the captain and some of the crew. Peering out into the water, they spotted what appeared to be a chunk of vegetation and mud swimming upriver in the wake of the boat. Aeres astutely identified the mass of detritus as a shambling mound that appeared to be tracking the ship.

Some of the crew fired arrows at the creature, but they weren’t the best marksmen and they did little to dissuade the beast. Temerity and Aeres then took turns casting long distance spells at the creature. Temerity pointed out toward the creature, directing afireballto explode over its back. As she did so, she admired the handiwork of the devils who had made her bodysuit. The suit channelled her magic through the armour around her arms in a way that appeared as if molten fire were threading through the scales on her forearms. As the spell departed her hand, the molten fire within the armour faded slowly. The back of the shambling mound smoked, but it was clear that Temerity’s fire spells were not enough to deter the creature from following them. However, anice stormfrom Aeres had the shambling mound reeling and thinking better of its intended meal as the shards pierced its body.

Captain Morgan let out a sigh of relief and nodded to the group gratefully, “Now there’s only a chance we might encounter a hydra. If we do run into one, please go below decks. We’ll drive them off with pikes.”

Temerity blanched at that.

“I’m not going below decks… I haven’t seen a hydra in real life,” Tim stated almost excitedly.

Temerity shook her head at him, “How about some sword practice?”

“That sounds excellent,” Earnest interjected, drawing Temerity away to the relatively open space on the deck.

Earnest was quite interested in testing his sister’s abilities and her ability to defend herself against a reach weapon. Temerity urged Gil’Thalius from his sheath, introducing the sword to her brother with far less excitement than when the weapon had met Tim. Temerity wasn’t surprised when Gil’Thalius wouldn’t let her attack Earnest first, but she quickly settled into the similar rhythm of battle, dancing out of the way of Earnest’s strikes as Gil’Thalius defended her.

Tim continued teaching Aeres Draconic, watching the sword practice until it was his turn to tap in.

“You should work on that letter, and I’m going to hide from Earnest,” Aeres sighed once she was done with the language lesson for the day.

Tim shook his head slowly, “I’m not writing that letter… And you really shouldn’t hide from Earnest. It’s a really small boat, so you’re not going to manage it.”

Aeres winced.

“What exactly has upset you about all of this?” Tim asked her kindly.

Aeres tried to hide behind her own hands, “I don’t understand.”

“Do you find him handsome?” Tim asked directly.

“Yes,” Aeres replied.

“Then flirt with him I guess,” Tim shrugged. “I think that’s just about how it works; if you think someone’s attractive, you flirt with them.”

“Is that why you flirt with Temerity?” Aeres clapped back.

“Am I flirting with Temerity?” Tim frowned. “I’m not sure I’d take your word for it because you don’t seem to know,” he gave her a teasing smile.

Aeres sighed heavily and shrugged, “I don’t know… I don’t know anything.”

“You’ll figure it out, I’m sure,” Tim reassured her, watching her wince. “Why do you doubt yourself?”

“Why are we talking about this?” Aeres asked, suddenly slapping her hands on the table.

“I’m in your proximity and I’m not sparring yet,” Tim gestured toward Earnest and Temerity.

“Ah, well, do you want to spar?” Aeres offered hastily.

“With you?” Tim raised an eyebrow at her slightly. “To deflect from this conversation?”

Aeres reddened slightly, “No.”

“Both you and Earnest are terrible liars,” Tim chuckled.

Delyth suddenly chittered, and Aeres translated, “Delyth wants to know if ‘sparring’ is an innuendo.”

“Delyth wants to know a lot of things that I’m not going to deign to answer,” Tim informed her, glaring slightly at the squirrel. “But no.” Tim went on to say that Delyth might be a bad influence on Aeres who might confound the whole flirting/innuendo issue. “You could get a stone familiar. Get her likeness carved on something,” Tim suggested.

Aeres scowled at that, “I don’t want a stone Delyth. Look at her! She’s so cute! Look at this face!” She squeezed the little squirrel’s fluffy cheeks. “Besides, Delyth has already eaten enough gross paste. I couldn’t get rid of her.” Aeres stood, “Anyways, I’ll go grab my spear and we can spar.”

“Yes, I’ll spar with you, while you spar with your emotions. There’s a lot of that going around, I guess,” Tim chuckled to himself.

“What an emotion?” Aeres called back jokingly.

“It’s a thing that appears to inconvenience you at every opportunity,” Tim grinned, moving his way to the more open spot of the deck.

Temerity looked up from her sparring, realizing that their activities had drawn a crowd of a handful of people. Earnest enjoyed the performance, whipping around his glaive slightly excessively as Temerity urged Gil’Thalius to bat the weapon away before the would step in and pretend to hit him with a spell or something else. When Aeres and Tim began sparring alongside them, they drew an even larger crowd. They eventually swapped partners, Earnest learning more about how Tim and Aeres fought one on one. With a smirk, Earnest lashed the butt of his glaive around, tripping up Tim before he grew wise to the manoeuvre and took to the air to continue the practice fight.

Captain Morgan even walked by, making it clear she was watching Temerity to make sure that the young woman didn’t light her boat aflame. Temerity couldn’t hide a smirk from the captain, approaching the woman to explain her strange form and that she would be using it to fight and needed to learn how it works. Jaq wasn’t happy about it, but once Temerity reassured her that she could put out any fire with conjured water, she relented. Temerity returned to her friends and took to her energy body once more, insisting that the others help her test its limits and abilities.

By the next evening, the ship pulled into Wartle, a frontier town midway down the river. It appeared to be a hardy town, but there were a dozen people aligned on the dock waving colourful scarves as they shouted welcoming slogans. It was quite clear that the people were all prostitutes offering their wares.

“Come on down to the Lean-To! Come get a drink! You’ll be here a couple hours, if you know what I mean!” One of the ladies shrieked and winked.

“It takes a couple hours to get a drink?” Tim asked.

Aeres shook her head and rolled her eyes, “They don’t want you to get a drink… They want to f*ck you, Tim.”

“Very aptly put,” Earnest snorted.

Tim quickly shook his head, “No, thank you…”

The boat began resupplying, unloading passengers, and loading on new ones. Temerity encouraged the others to join her in a walk through the town, considering that this was one of the few opportunities she’d had to travel. Temerity had overheard that the town mostly exported peat, fungus, and furs, which explained the strong smell as barrels of things were loaded on board. The others all joined Temerity in her walk, and the group quickly learned that the villagers mostly consisted of self-sufficient fishers, hunters, and trappers. Aeres was reminded of her own swampy childhood, and she found the people ruggedly charming.

The group ended up making their way to the Lean-To which they’d heard was famous for something called ‘Bog Grog’. The sat down at one of the tables in the tavern, taking in the sights and sounds as Aeres continued to play with thesilver raven. As they awaited their drinks, Aeres let out a triumphant cry as she managed to rework the magic, allowing it to send messages as a normalsilver raven.The barmaids bringing around the drinks flirted heavily, trying to convince Tim or Earnest to have their way with them.

“No sampling of the sausages today?” one woman pouted, batting her eyelids quickly. “What can I do for you? Or who can I do you for?” She traced a finger across Tim’s broad shoulder.

“I think you’re barking up the wrong tree,” Tim informed her.

“One gold? 5 silver pieces?” the woman tried to find his price.

“I’m worth more than that,” Tim frowned at her.

“I’m not,” the woman replied honestly.

“You should have higher self-esteem,” Tim advised the woman.

“5 silver pieces is just the tip!” the woman grinned down at him, making Earnest snort a laugh. “For the ale, that’s what I meant.”

“Right, we’re all travelling together and we’re perfectly fine with that,” Aeres barked at the lady.

She held up her hands in innocence, backing off from the group with a wink that made Temerity grumble.

“What?” Aeres asked her.

“You gave her the wrong impression about the group…” Temerity pointed out.

Aeres glanced over at the woman, then shrugged, “Perhaps, but she shut up, didn’t she?”

The Bog Grog was soon delivered, resulting in a greenish liquid that smelled of peat sloshed with a heavy sediment at its bottom. Temerity immediately made a face at the liquid, glad she hadn’t ordered one. Aeres and Tim had been more than eager to imbibe though, while Earnest sipped on something

“Well, Cayden guide me,” Tim said, picking up his tankard. “Bottoms up!” He knocked it back along with Aeres, smacking his lips as he tried to discern the flavour. “You know, it’s not bad. It’s not good, but it’s not bad,” Tim said appreciatively, already feeling the effects of the strong alcohol.

Aeres didn’t down hers, but she offered Temerity a sip once Tim had deemed it non-life threatening.

A burly barkeep swaggered toward the table, “If you think that’s not bad, you should try it straight from the bottle, it’s better!” The man grinned and held out a dark coloured glass bottle.

“No, I’m alright, thank you,” Tim declined politely.

“Are you sure?” the barkeep grinned. “It’s one of our delicacies. Only the stoutest are able to handle it.”

Aeres grinned and reached out to take the bottle, Earnest eyeing her but not saying anything as he realized the whole bar suddenly went quiet as they watched this exchange. Aeres swung the bottle back, gulping down the thick substance within and quickly learned that its contents were the dregs of everyone’s Bog Grog drinks. It was basically just sand and alcohol. Temerity’s stomach churned just watching Aeres chew on the drink. Aeres put the bottle back down to the cheers and groans of the crowd who’d been hoping she would vomit, but she held strong.

They finished up their drinks and made their way back to the ship in time for its departure. Another two days on the ship were passed pleasantly with training, studying, and writing. The level of discussion had dropped off between the quartet, making it clear that Aeres was still avoiding Earnest despite Temerity and Tim’s best efforts to convince her otherwise. Earnest, however, wasn’t deterred from still attempting kind gestures. He’d bought a cask of whiskey and set it down amongst the group one evening, offering them each a glass, unable to help a disbelieving smirk when Temerity also helped herself to a drink.

“The last time I poured you a drink was chocolate milk,” Earnest chuckled, clinking glasses with his sister.

After loosening up with a couple drinks, Temerity took to the stage on the top deck, treating the passengers to a song that transitioned seamlessly from Common to Elven.

“If I lose, lose myself
If I lose, lose myself
Entre l’ombre et la lumière
Je me sens perdue, y a rien de clair
Just give me a sign
Je fais de mon mieux, je fais tout ce que je peux
Mais tu sais bien, c’est un travail à deux
And you still leave me behind
And I don’t feel like trying anymore
But I don’t feel like losing this war
Moi, je ne veux pas te perdre
Mais je sens que je vais me perdre
And if I lose someone it can’t be myself
J’ai fini de m’oublier
Tu ne vas plus m’effacer
If I lose, lose myself
If I lose, lose myself
Épuisée de faire tout pour te plaire
Je t’ai tout donné et tu t’en fous c’est clair
But do you think that I’m blind?
I’ve had enough, moi, j’en peux plus
Toi, tu joues des jeux et moi, j’ai perdu
But I dare you to roll the dice
Je n’ai plus rien à donner comme tu vois
Je dois me mettre en premier et c’est comme ça
If I lose someone it can’t be myself
J’ai fini de m’oublier
Tu ne vas plus m’effacer
Si je m’écoute alors, il faut que ce soit moi
Je veux pas perdre ma voix
Mon cœur en premier cette fois
If I lose, lose myself
If I lose, lose myself
If I lose myself, I’ll lose it all
You gave me all the signs
Et moi, je les ignore
I’m done being blind
J’ai fini de me faire du tort
Pour quelqu’un qui ne sait pas ce qu’il veut
But if you can’t decide, moi, je le peux
So stop wasting my time
C’est fini nous deux
Entre l’ombre et la lumière
Je me sens perdue, y a rien de clair
Just give me a sign~”

Aeres swayed to the song, losing herself in the music with her glass of whiskey.

The song went over so well that Captain Morgan emerged from the bridge, dragging along some extra chairs and requesting Temerity to sing a full set. Temerity obliged with a broad smile, feeling much more confident in her singing performance for large crowds since the Swallowtail Festival. However, with the larger crowd, she swapped to more popular tunes and sea shanties, getting them involved with boot stomping and cheering. The crowd’s engagement spurred on Temerity’s performance, treating those gathered to one of the best shows they’d ever seen in their life.

The gnomes on the voyage began to get excited as evening drew near, a strange keening noise making everyone else on the boat stop in their tracks. The noise was extremely off-putting, but the gnomes hastily explained that the noise was coming from the town of Whistledown. As they pulled into the dock in the moonlight, it became clear that the small white-washed homes had primarily been built for gnomes on the edge of Lake Syrantuda. Whistledown was apparently known for making wind chimes, the noise from the wind whistling through it creating the haunting noise that echoed through the village.

The group disembarked to overnight in town as the ship resupplied again.

“I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sleep tonight,” Temerity said, flinching as the howling noise picked up alongside the wind as they made their way through the streets.

“I have some wax you can use,” Tim offered.

Temerity nodded appreciatively, “I might take you up on that, if I want any hope of sleeping.”

Luckily, the inn that they were staying at advertised its soundproofing, and the group was grateful for some extra time to relax, bathe, and sleep in a proper bed before their departure the next morning. The food in the attached tavern was wild gnomish food based on the fish that were caught from the lake, which provided interesting entertainment for the evening. Despite running low on money, Temerity thought it was worthwhile to pay a hefty price for a unique experience.

Rain picked up in the night and continued throughout the next day of travel. Earnest was keen to conduct sword practice on wet footing, urging Temerity to join him for the extra difficulty. The day passed quickly in such a way, the ship docking in Illsurian that night. The town was a little larger than the previous ones due to the amount of shipping that went through it, and Temerity made notes about the nearby mountain ranges as well for when she had the time to devote to finding new mine sites. Their said their goodbyes to Captain Morgan and Temerity hired the captain to return her sealed translation of Ironbriar’s journal to Justice Ganzi when she made her return journey.

The group then wandered about Illsurian, Aeres stopping by a bookshop to grab some new material. They eventually settled on a mid-range inn to stay at for the night, bunking in pairs once again.

“So, are you ever going to speak to Earnest again?” Temerity asked Aeres once they were alone.

“We will, I’m still processing,” Aeres replied quickly.

“Fair enough,” Temerity allowed. “… Anything you want to go over?” Temerity asked quietly.

“No?” Aeres replied, unsure.

“Okay, I thought I was just offer,” Temerity smiled.

“It’s more that I’m just trying to understand how human feelings work,” Aeres explained.

“Well, there’s sexuality, and then there’s feelings,” Temerity clarified.

“Yes, that’s what I’m trying to parse out,” Aeres said quickly.

“Gotcha,” Temerity snickered.

“I love my father, but I understand that a large part of his being revolves around seducing and impregnating people,” Aeres said, making Temerity flinch slightly. “And therefore… my full understanding of all of that is a little skewed.”

“This is fair,” Temerity laughed.

“I joke about it, but I’ve never actually done that,” Aeres repeated, going quiet for a moment.

“What will happen to Mauira?” Temerity finally blurted.

“She will carry and have his child, and he will probably leave,” Aeres shrugged.

Temerity pursed her lips, “At what point will he leave? Before or after the birth?”

“Probably after,” Aeres admitted. “I don’t really have full visibility to all that. My conception and birth was very different to how all the others have gone, so I don’t really have firsthand experience with all of that.”

“Right,” Temerity nodded along. “But you’ve been following along with him and seen him with other women?”

“Yes, but I’ve never really paid attention to the timeline,” Aeres said, providing examples of how flighty her father. “Sometimes he introduces me to new siblings, sometimes he just tells me that they exist, and sometimes he doesn’t tell me about them at all. All I know is that I’m the most unique amongst the children he has sired, which is probably why he still speaks with me… I know he doesn’t speak with most of my siblings. I’m not the eldest either. There were many more before me and many after me. Like I said, my conception was very different from all of them; my father had never had a woman approach him with a deal.”

Temerity thought for a moment, “… So is that perhaps why you turned out so unique?”

Aeres simply shrugged, but if Matteo had figured it out, he’d still been doing a lot of searching. “I’m fine with it… It certainly skews my concept of how people relate to one another though.”

“Yes, I guess you would be more familiar with the physical part minus the feelings,” Temerity observed. “Whereas…”

“Yes, the human part of me certainly realizes that there are feelings and they exist, but that’s hard to understand. I don’t have feelings,” Aeres asserted.

Temerity frowned at her, “It’s okay to have feelings.”

Aeres made a noise of disagreement.

“Why wouldn’t it?” Temerity pressed her.

“I don’t know…” Aeres shrugged, looking away.

“You and Tim,” Temerity rolled her eyes, then stopped herself. “All of us, really.” She shook her head, “You two talk a big game and then…”

Aeres grinned and chuckled, “You were telling Tim all the same things I was telling you months ago!”

“I know,” Temerity sighed heavily.

“It was quite funny to hear coming from your mouth,” Aeres cackled.

“Right?” Temerity grinned back.

Aeres waved a hand through the air, bringing the conversation back to the previous topic, “I’ll talk to Earnest eventually. I just need to figure things out. He’s also your brother, so I don’t want it to be weird.”

Temerity shrugged, “He’s also much older and does his own thing.” She wasn’t entirely certain she’d be able to convince Earnest to come back into the folds of the nobility after he’d tasted the freedom that comes with being a commoner.

The next morning was extremely gloomy, the rain continuing to pour unseasonably. They caught their next ship north up the Skull River. The barge was much smaller and its only purpose was to travel between Illsurian and Turtleback Ferry. The rooms were cramped with bunks, making it slightly more uncomfortable for travel, especially with the extra damp and drafts. Aeres studiously ignored the others, reading her new book and refusing to leave the room much. There was not much room to do anything else except read or watch the terrain pass on either side of the river. Temerity couldn’t help but cast a glance at Tim as they did so at the same time; the half-elf appeared to have something on his mind, but otherwise seemed his usual self.

After two full days on the boat, the group disembarked in Turtleback Ferry as night fell. It was a quiet hamlet of only about 400 people. Some of the buildings had stone foundations, but most appeared to be made of wood, and fishing seemed like a main means of sustenance.

“So we think Xanesha’s sister is here?” Temerity whispered to her companions as they took it in for the first time.

“Or at least nearby,” Tim agreed.

As they moved down the docks, the largest building appeared to be the inn – The Turtle’s Parlour. The building next door sported a sign with two inverted tankards, a tavern called Bottoms Up. A temple to Erastil dominated the main square, its roof made of a turtle shell that had been ground down to a thin layer for an effect similar to stained glass.

The ground made sucking noises under their feet, indicating that it had been raining for several days, which Temerity knew was highly unusual for the area. Looking up at the sky, nothing oddly discernable made itself known.

“Maybe they angered a druid?” Tim suggested.

Temerity shook her head, and the group continued on to the inn.

“Who are you?” the innkeep looked up from his desk abruptly, peering at the newcomers. “Ah, ferry-folk. Welcome, I guess.”

Temerity stifled a frown, “Thank you.” She stepped in to exchange pleasantries, though the man wasn’t much for them. “We’ll need rooms for a couple days likely, though we’re not entirely sure. We’re headed to Fort Rannick.”

“Why the Hells are you going to Fort Rannick? You don’t look like a Black Arrow, unless they’ve changed their standards quite a bit,” he flicked his eyes up and down Temerity’s spotless white bodysuit derisively.

Temerity couldn’t help but bristle, “What does that mean?”

“You’re a woman,” the man scowled at her. “They don’t have many of those in the Black Arrows.”

“Well, we’re visiting on the order of the Lord-Mayor from Magnimar,” Temerity informed him.

The man was gruff with Temerity, Tim stepping in to assist. The cost of the inn was steep even for just a night, and it was clear that the man was trying to extort them a bit. Temerity decided to opt for the tactic of killing with kindness despite the innkeeper’s particularly foul mood. She slowly reached for her coin purse, referring to the unseasonal weather and how that might be slowing travellers these days. It was clear that her pedantic counting was annoying the man, but her polite friendliness encouraged the man to relax and open up a little.

“Yeah, the weather has been complete sh*t. Pardon my tongue… It’s sh*t. Why are you going to the Fort, again? The Lord-Mayor doesn’t give a sh*t about us,” the innkeeper snapped.

“Well, we do,” Temerity said tersely.

The man rolled his eyes, “Sure you do, adventurers.”

“We give more of a sh*t than the Lord-Mayor does,” Tim ground out.

The innkeep begrudgingly lowered his price for the rooms, making it clear that didn’t think much of their group but would take their reason for being in the area at face value.

“The Black Arrows would normally stay here,” the innkeep grumbled. “We haven’t seen them for a while.”

“How long?” Temerity pounced on that tidbit of information a little too eagerly when the innkeeper shot her a scowl. “Please? It’s rather important.”

The innkeeper sighed and pulled out a book, saying that the Black Arrows hadn’t shown up for four weeks, and the rain had been non-stop for 12 days. “Just don’t be spouting off about the Black Arrows,” he warned. “Everyone’s on edge. They’re really the only line of defence we have from the north.”

“Has anything else strange happened in or around town recently?” Temerity pressed the man.

“Listen, honey,” the innkeeper leaned on the desk and addressed the small half-elf, making her cheeks flush indignantly at the treatment. “It’s a small town. Not a lot of things happen here, but when they do, it’s usually a big issue. The Black Arrows not being around has got everyone up in arms.”

Temerity clucked her tongue and checked her irritation before asking if anyone new or strange had been hanging around town as of late.

“What do you mean…?” the innkeeper frowned.

“We know that there have been less than savoury folk moving about,” Aeres said smoothly.

“Even the Black Arrows start as criminals, so you’re going to have to be a bit more specific than that,” the innkeep grumbled.

“Anyone who has caused an increase in crime or murder?” Temerity snapped bluntly.

The man sighed, “A ‘tragedy’ struck town a little while ago… There was a lady who was running a pleasure barge out on the lake, drawing in customers there. Good riddance, she’s gone. The whole thing sank.”

“This barge was frequented by rather wealthy people though?” Temerity asked, intrigued.

“No, the barge was frequented by everybody,” the innkeeper growled. “A stain on the morals of the town. People traipsing out there to gamble and do whatever the Hells else. Music into the wee hours of the morning. Whole thing caught fire and sank. Everybody knew someone who died on the thing.”

“That’s terrible,” Temerity added sympathetically.

“I don’t remember what the woman’s name was. I called her Ginger Bitch; she had bright red hair. Hottie c*nt,” the innkeeper continued his tirade as Temerity tried not to flinch. “She came in here once or twice to get supplies and things. She wanted nothing to do with us. It looked like her nose stuck up higher each time I saw her. Who has heels that high on their shoes? Out here? In the wilderness? Bah! She sank with the boat, good riddance.”

“Any other tragedies like this?” Temerity asked gently.

The innkeeper scoffed, “‘Other tragedies’. Real delicate, thanks. No. Other than Old Tom’s burst hemorrhoid, we’ve been good here.”

Temerity sucked in a breath.

“Every once in a while a child wanders off into the woods and gets lost or eaten by wolves. That’s a tragedy. Every thing’s a tragedy here. Is that what you want to know?”

“Possibly,” Temerity said more gently.

“We’re hardened folks. We know where not to go. We know to stay on the roads, so stay on the road if you’re going up to Fort Rannick. I mean it, stay on the road,” the man glared at her. “And no offence, but you don’t look like you should be going up there,” he flicked a hand at Temerity’s being.

Temerity gave him a slightly nasty smile, “Oh, I know.”

“I know your type, adventurers,” the innkeeper said dourly.

Aeres snickered darkly, and Temerity promptly handed over the money for the night’s stay.

“If you want food, go see Yads and Berthandi next door. Just watch out for your ankles, they’re halflings,” the innkeeper snorted. “And watch out for your paper-like ankles when you trod through the puddles,” he called after Temerity. “See you tonight.”

The group turned and made their way outside, barely managing to shut the door behind them before several cusses escaped their throats about the man’s demeanour.

The tavern only had a few other people seated inside, one man passed out near his cups. A halfling standing behind the bar eagerly welcomed them into the Bottoms Up, his friendly demeanour catching Temerity off guard after the innkeep’s frosty reception.

“I’ll take you to a booth that isn’t taken up by Will,” the halfling scowled at the man passed out in the corner.

“Did he at least pay his tab first?” Tim inquired.

“If he ever wakes up, we’ll see if he can go about payin’. f*ckin’ Will,” the halfling shook his head in annoyance. “Come along, this way! Berthandi, get the oven going!” He sat the group down, then stood on one of the chairs and leaned on their table, “So, what can I get for you? Food or drink?”

“Both,” Temerity said, glancing around at the others. “What would you suggest?”

“Well, do you like pie?”

“Yes,” Teemrity said.

“Soup?”

“Yes,” Temerity said again more cautiously.

“Stew?”

“Yes,” Temerity replied with a slight frown, waiting for him to provide more details.

“Ah, you’re easy then,” the halfling grinned, only to immediately recount his statement when he saw Temerity blush in embarrassment. “That’s not what I meant! I’m so sorry!”

“YADS, DID I JUST HEAR WHAT I THINK YOU SAID??!!!” Berthandi screamed from the kitchen, adding to the chaos as everyone else erupted into laughter at the table. “ARE YOU CALLING THE CUSTOMERS EASY AGAIN?”

“I’VE ALREADY CLEARED IT UP, BERTHANDI! SHUT UP!” Yads shouted back at his wife.

“She’s definitely not easy,” Aeres smirked, elbowing Temerity who only went a deeper shade of red.

“I didn’t mean to say that she was! She definitely doesn’t look-” Yads cut himself off and cleared his throat, running through the menu items instead to avoid any further embarrassment.

Everyone placed their orders for drinks and food, Temerity having to correct Yads a couple times to make sure that everyone actually got what they wanted.

“You can dry your feet in front of the hearth as long as they don’t stink too bad!” Yads offered, running back to the kitchen to fetch them fresh bread sticks.

Tim made a comment about the excitable nature of the halfling before they heard the couple erupt into another argument as Yads made the critical mistake of commenting on Berthandi’s cooking. Metal pots clattered about as they were thrown before Yads scampered out of the kitchen with the group’s drinks, placing them on the table with a smile.

“So, what are you folk doing in Turtleback Ferry? We don’t often see your types around here,” Yads peered at the group in a friendly manner.

“… What do you mean ‘your types’?” Aeres asked dangerously.

Yads immediately realized he’d possibly offended the group again, falling over himself to apologize and explain that they were obviously not native Turtlebackians. Once they’d mollified the man, Temerity informed him that they’d come to town to visit the Black Arrows, which prompted a strange reaction from the halfling. Eventually, they managed to get Yads calm enough to chat, informing them about the same things the innkeeper had earlier. Yads did know that the barge had been called Paradise, and had robbed the town of all its usual patronage. Aeres wondered if people who went there had been marked in any way, but Yads seemed confused by the question. He did tell them that Paradise had been operating for about 6 years. Lucrecia had apparently been the name of the redheaded woman running it.

A hunter walked in then, handing over some rabbits in exchange for some coin from Yads, distracting the halfling for a while. The group paid attention to the man as he went to sit with his friends, laughing along as they made some sort of joke. Temerity got up to go speak with them, Aeres encouraging her to use her assets to aid the discussion. Temerity shook her head stiffly at the other woman as she tried to engage the men in conversation, attempting to glean any information about the surrounding woods and the creatures in it. Unfortunately, Temerity also found these men to be rather rude and condescending.

“Listen, you’re with your friends over there. Go back over there, sit down, have your meal, and do whatever you’re doing,” the man said, pointedly turning his back on Temerity who clenched her fists as she stared at the back of his head.

“They seem like dicks!” Aeres called out loudly, having heard the whole exchange as Tim and Earnest worked their jaws.

The man spun around to glare at Aeres, “Listen lady, you’re in our town.”

“You should be more hospitable then,” Aeres snapped.

“That’s his job,” the hunter jabbed a thumb in the direction of Yads. “I’m a hunter.”

“And I’m a c*nt,” Aeres grinned boldly, making the man heave a sigh as he tried to figure out how to take that.

Tim interjected, “Were you up north hunting today by chance?”
“No, east,” the hunter growled.

“Not the direction we’re headed then,” Tim said dismissively.

“You’re going up north?” the hunter scoffed.

“What’s so funny about north other than a couple of ogres?” Tim asked pointedly.

“That,” the hunter replied.

“Well, why don’t we see if we can fix a couple of your problems for you,” Tim arched an eyebrow for him.

The man was less than thrilled about city folk coming to solve country folk problems, and he refused to come along and aid the group when they offered him the opportunity. The man further disparaged the women, saying the steep hills would be a challenge in addition to the ogres. Temerity and Aeres gave up on the conversation, watching with a measure of surprise as Tim managed to salvage the conversation and learn that there had been giant sightings in the area a couple months ago, which had further discouraged the hunters from going north ever since. Now with the Black Arrows gone, everyone was extremely concerned about the chance of giant or ogre attacks. The hunter even warned Tim about a family of inbred ogres that lived in the area with extra arms and strange heads. The hunter eventually apologized for his behaviour, but he was still grouchy.

“Do you guys at least have someone who knows what they’re doing in the wilderness? Because that’s the only way you’re going to survive out there. Your armour’s too clean to look like you know what you’re doing,” he eyed Temerity again who glowered in return.

Unfortunately, they were quickly informed that the Black Arrows had been the best trackers in the area, so they were out of luck as none of the hunters were willing to act as a guide.

Aeres and Temerity still bristled at their comments, but Aeres couldn’t hold her tongue, insulting the man in Goblin at his insinuation that they were all city folk who had no clue what they were doing. Temerity tried to soothe the issue, thanking the hunter for his cautions and leaving the men to their drinks. They did then overhear the group talking about strange lights coming from the Shimmerglens as of late.

The quartet then turned their attention to tactics if they were to be fighting giants and ogres, going over the abilities of some of their new magical items that would help them move about during battle.

“I hope Todd and his friends weren’t giving you too hard of a time,” Yads interrupted politely as he slid their deliciously smelling food onto the table. “Have you heard of Pink Eye?”

“Yeees?” Temerity said tightly and frowned at the halfling.

“Not the disease, the gar,” Yads clarified. He informed them about some sport fishers that had come down to hunt the beast in the lake, only for them to get eaten after spouting how no one had seen fishermen like them before. “They all just wind up dead. It’s not meant to offend any of you. Good isn’t good enough out here. Then there’s the mud floods,” Yads recalled, yelling over his shoulder back into the kitchen. “BERTHANDI, WHEN WAS THE LAST FLOOD?”

“ABOUT 40 YEARS AGO!” the woman shrieked back.

“Your wife sounds lovely,” Tim said with a slight upturn to his lip.

“Oh, she’s the love of my life. Apple of my eye. Thorn in my heel,” the halfing sighed.

“Sounds like true love,” Temerity said slightly sarcastically.

“Oh, it was,” Yads grinned. “But yes, the recent rains have flooded out all the fields. Going to make things difficult moving around here.”

“So love and affection means annoyance too?” Aeres asked, leaning in to Temerity.

Temerity shrugged slightly and whispered back, “Sometimes. It shouldn’t be a constant thing, but you can never always get along. It’s all in how you resolve it.”

They eventually settled the bill, Temerity sheepishly stating that she was down to her last few coins. Tim offered to give her some extra pocket money, but Temerity waved him away pointing out that they’d be heading into the woods right away and they wouldn’t need coin there.