When Mythene stepped through the front door, she had a plan. Her plan was immediately interrupted by the sight of her father and Daras sitting at the kitchen table. Daras had his classic stupid smile as soon as he saw her, and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"Mythene, how nice of you to finally join us," Caserion sniffed, pausing to eat a spoonful of soup, "Have a seat."

"I'm not really hungry," Mythene shrugged, going to pass to the archway.

But Caserion reached out and grabbed her arm, brow furrowed.

"Have a seat," He repeated, and it became clear that it was an order, not an offer.

Mythene restrained a sigh and approached the table, taking a seat across from the other two.

"Now then," Caserion nodded, "Let's begin discussing the terms of this courtship. I hope you don't expect me to give away my daughter so freely, Daras."

"Of course not, sir," Daras nodded back, as Mythene's face went pale.

"Wait, courtship?" She blinked incredulously, "What are you talking ab-"

"Don't be nervous now, Mythene," Caserion perked an eyebrow at her, "You already agreed to this."

"When?"

"Last night. Don't you remember? Or had you perhaps drunk a little too much ginger wine at the festival?"

"I only had one glass, an'da," Mythene frowned, crossing her arms.

She glanced aside, realizing that she must've agreed to this whole courtship situation when she hadn't been paying attention.

"Yes, well, that doesn't change that fact you-"

"An'da," Mythene cut him off, standing up slowly, "Thank you for going through all this trouble, but I've changed my mind."

"You what?" Caserion perked an eyebrow.

"I do not wish to be mated with Daras," She said firmly, as she pushed in her chair.

"But, Mythene-"

"Please respect my wishes, an'da," Mythene frowned at him.

Caserion sighed, sitting back in his seat. Daras furrowed his brow, quickly looking between the both of them in dismay.

"Very well," He grumbled, crossing his arms, "But I'm disappointed to see how fickle you've become, Mythene."

"Yes, an'da," Mythene nodded and turned to leave once more.

Again, she was stopped in her path when her arm was grabbed.

"An'da, please…" Mythene sighed, turning back, "I don't-hm?"

Mythene stopped mid-sentence, blinking in surprise. It was Daras who had grabbed her, not Caserion, as he was still busy sulking with his arms crossed. But Daras had risen to his feet and was leaning after her.

"Mythene, can't we discuss this?" Daras asked desperately.

"There is nothing to discuss," Mythene said as she tried to remove his grip from her arm.

"Please, let's just talk about this," Daras pleaded, his grip only tightening.

"Daras, let go," Mythene furrowed her brow.

"Don't go. Please. Not until you hear me."

"Please let go, my arm is beginning to hurt," Mythene said quietly as she pulled on her arm, to no avail.

"Mythene, I have loved you since we were children. All these centuries," Daras continued on, as if he didn't even hear her, "Please, don't dismiss me so easily."

"Daras, let go," Mythene tried again, "You're hurting me."

But still he didn't let go.

"What are you doing, boy?" Caserion furrowed his brow, "Didn't you hear her? Let her go."

Daras looked between Mythene and Caserion and lowered his head, releasing his grip on her arm. Mythene quickly pulled her arm back, examining the bruises forming on her forearm with a frown.

"It's time for you to leave," Caserion said sternly, to which Daras' shoulders slumped.

"I'm sorry," He mumbled, "I just… I'm sorry, Mythene."

Mythene didn't say anything, just looking at him warily. Her caution was well-placed, as Daras decided to make his desperate last stand. He reached forward, grabbing Mythene by her vest pocket, and forcefully pulled her into a kiss. When she went to push him away, he wrapped his arms around her back, keeping her locked against him.

Caserion stood up swiftly at this. Mythene, meanwhile, punched at Daras' chest enough that he backed away for just a moment, breaking the kiss. As soon as he did, a wooden bowl of soup suddenly overturned on his head. Daras yelped as the hot soup poured down his face, and in his distraction, released Mythene.

Mythene backed away, looking over at her father, who was already preemptively picking up the second bowl. Daras wiped the soup away from his face with his sleeve and backed into the bookshelf, eyes flicking between the two of them. In response, Caserion held up the other bowl of soup.

"Get out of my house," He growled, gaze fixated on Daras.

Daras' expression of shameful defeat quickly turned to one of bitter defiance. In a flash, he reached behind his back, drawing his bow. As he nocked an arrow, Caserion made good on his warning and threw the second bowl of soup. Daras managed to duck out of the way just in time, causing the bowl to shatter the window beside him.

"Ugh, what're you guys doing out there?"

All three of them flinched as Zami appeared in the archway, rubbing his eye tiredly.

"Why is it every time I fall asleep, something has to happen?" He sighed, lowering his hand.

He apparently hadn't anticipated such a scale of conflict, however, as his eye widened upon taking in the scene. He looked at Mythene, who was in the middle of reaching for her staff, and Caserion, who had already grabbed the final bowl of soup from the table and was holding it back like a grenade. Then he looked over at Daras, who was holding his bowstring taut, and his brow sunk low.

Mythene didn't like the way Daras' gaze became more fixated on Zami, and was about to speak when suddenly everything changed.

Zami's hand quickly moved down to his dagger. In response, Daras fired the arrow. Zami jumped aside, leading the arrow to get stuck into the wall behind him. Then he drew his dagger, as Daras drew another arrow. Zami moved towards Daras, holding his dagger at the ready. But just before his blade made contact, Daras loosed his arrow.

The arrow plunged deeply and directly into Zami's chest, causing him to stagger backwards into the bookshelf behind him. He grunted, reaching up to break the arrow off, but paused as soon as he touched it. Mythene's eyes went wide as she realized as well.

It wasn't just piercing his chest. It was piercing his heart.

Zami began to cough and breathe raggedly, blood beginning to pour from his chest and his mouth.

If Mythene had been angry before, then something inside of her truly snapped in that moment. She spun to face Daras, who was busy trying to nock another arrow to finish the job. Mythene clenched her jaw fiercely, knowing only one thing.

That she would never let that arrow fly.

In the blink of an eye, she leapt at Daras. He was startled by the sudden attack and dropped the arrow as a result. But that wasn't good enough. Without pausing to think about it, Mythene leaned her head forward and ground her teeth into his arm. Daras howled in pain, dropping the bow to the floor too.

But that wasn't good enough, either.

Her fury coming unbound, she removed her teeth from his arm and made way for his throat. But just before she made contact, she felt the wind knocked out of her as someone pulled her back by the stomach. She writhed and squirmed, eyes still locked on the flesh of Daras' throat.

"Mythene! Stop!" Caserion shouted, holding her tighter, "You mustn't kill him!"

Mythene still struggled against her father's grip, digging her fingernails deeply into his arms and legs. But still he didn't let go.

Suddenly, in the midst of the chaos, the front door suddenly opened. Everyone froze where they were, glancing up towards one very bewildered goblin.