Blind Devotion

by dnd4evr

While on the run from a haunting past, a half-orc warlock finds himself the chance companion of a blind elf doctor. Despite her quirks, he finds great comfort in her company, and the two make fast friends...even if their enemies are never far behind. All original characters that are HIGHLY INSPIRED by the cast of Critical Role.

10. New Beginnings

It was the closest she had to dreaming. She was awake, and warm, but her eyes were still closed, and she yearned to see again. After having to use her brother's advice, she missed him terribly.

Dahlia searched her memories, drifting through her life as moments passed by her. Such a long life, and many of the memories had a dark weight to them. Some were faded, those during her dark moods, and as curious as she was, a fear gripped her. She didn't want to force herself into one of those moods again.

The further back she wandered through her memories, the more dull they became. As much as she tried to hold on to the magic of color and hue, they always faded first. She needed a strong memory. One of her brother, in his lab. One...related to his advice. She always loved his advice.

She was drawn to a particular memory, and suddenly, she stood in his lab. She could smell the acidic vinegar smell of something distilling on the counter. Strange lights of magical potions and ingredients mingled with phosphorescent moss through the shelves, almost dancing like delicate ribbons of illumination. Rust and musty water permeated the air as she held a bowl of iron soup, a concoction of water, powdered rust shavings, and just enough glowshroom starch to make it thick. She placed the bowl in front of Bitey, her brother's rust beast pet.

Bitey stumbled forward and dunked his head in the bowl, as he noisily slurped his favorite meal. Dahlia smiled as she stroked the long, feathered antennae that stretched nearly three feet over Bitey's head, and then winced as her brother took a special bronze crowbar to a chitinous plate that covered Bitey's back.

It cracked and squelched as soft, undeveloped exoskeleton was revealed across the insect's back. Dahlia looked up as her brother handed her a two foot section of the dark and cool chitin.

"Remember, scrape-"

"Scrape off the mucinous rusting compound before I put it in the kiln or it will contaminate the final product," Dahlia huffed. "I know, I know. I've done this before."

Her brother rolled his eyes but smirked as he went to work on another plate on the nearly seven-foot-long beast. "And the mucus goes in…?"

"An obsidian jar because it'll eat through anything made of metal!" she sighed. "Don't treat me like I'm ten. I'm thirty."

"You're small enough to be ten," her brother laughed. He gave a mighty heave on the crowbar and popped up the last fully developed piece. "Thanks, Bitey. Anyway, go get to work. I'll-"

"It's not my fault I'm short!" Dahlia pouted. "It's bad enough Mother thinks I'm a failure because I need a step stool just to reach my study books. Don't you have something to make me taller? You have everything."

Dahlia's consciousness tried so very hard to pause the vision, to scrutinize her brother's face. Every time, she wondered if she imagined his look of sorrow and pity, or if she added the expression to an old and tired memory.

Before she could decide, the memory moved on. Her brother took on a big smile and limped toward her. He threw an arm around her shoulders and ruffled her hair, to her obvious disapproval.

"Of all the mutations that run in our family, feel lucky you got 'short', Mini-Mite," he teased. "Now let's get to work. We have big work on the next cycle, and this chitin powder will keep us alive."

"Get off! Whatever this work is, you better be bringing me with you!" Dahlia gently shoved her brother back to a more comfortable distance, and despite the foot of height he had on her, he quickly lost his balance and stumbled into the counter. Immediately apologetic, Dahlia rushed to his side as multiple beakers and vials clattered and settled from the sudden force.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I forgot about your leg," she said, and the guilt was obvious in her voice.

Why couldn't she have been nicer to him, back when she had her family?

"It's fine," her brother smiled, and it took him less than a moment to right himself. "I've always had bad balance."

Her eyes fell. "Still, I shouldn't have shoved-"

There was a knock at the door, and a dark skinned gnome with black hair opened the door and bowed deeply. "My lady, the Molten Band have arrived, and the Madam would like your assessment on the breeding stock."

Despite herself, Dahlia grimaced. "I'll...be right there. I need to finish up a few things before I can leave."

The gnome, who never lifted his head, nodded in acknowledgement. "The Madam said, if you responded as such, that your presence would be required immediately, as it is pertinent to your studies. Please be aware of that."

The gnome left, and Dahlia felt the surge of fear and regret pulse through her past self. Her brother, ever aware of her feelings, pulled her into a gentle hug as soon as the door was closed.

"I know you don't like them, Mini-Mite," he said softly. "You have to remember they only look like us; they aren't elves, they're stock so we don't die out. Our sister is of age, and you know how little remains of us."

"But...they talk to me!" Dahlia whined into his vest. "During the assessment. I can almost understand it. It's like our language, but with an accent so thick I...I just can't make it out. Why are they less than us when they have minds like us?"

"Mini," her brother said with warning in his tone, "you know this kind of thought leads to madness. Leave it be."

"...Their insides are the same. I've done autopsies on our kin, and on them. I saw or found no difference. How are they-?"

"Shh, my sister. Hush. Work is our salvation. Let's finish quickly, and then I'll come with you to Mother. I'll be at your side."

The memory began to fade as her brother's last words rang in her ears.

I won't leave you.

As she surfaced back in that strange bed, she shuddered through a repressed sob. Something soft and warm twitched across the back of her neck, and she went stock still. She wasn't alone. Whatever the creature was, it stirred, stood up, and shivered during some sort of yawn, before stepping over Dahlia's neck. The brush of fur across her face and the particular smell of wizard magic, Jonathan's magic, helped her relax as she realized what this creature was.

Puffpaw shoved her face in between Dahlia's chin and arm, and slowly bullied her way under Dahlia's blanket and into the warm void that was next to Dahlia's stomach. Dahlia had to stifle a giggle as Puffpaw's fur barely tickled her as the cat turned circle after circle. Finally, Puffpaw settled, and began to rumble and vibrate in a surprisingly pleasing way. Shocked, but pleased, Dahlia rested her hand on Puffpaw's back, and was further pleased to learn such an action caused Puffpaw to rumble more deeply.

"I'll have to ask Jonathan what you're doing," Dahlia whispered. "It feels nice, but I don't know if he's awake yet. I don't even know what time it is. I wish I could feel the sun, and anchor myself. Then I could tell you the hour. Even the minute, if I could hear a bell."

She paused and sighed. "I barely know where I am. Someplace with a healer, of sorts. A hospital? A church? There's too many variables, and not enough evidence."

She let the silence roll over her again as she stroked Puffpaw's fur along the grain. Her fur was soft and silky smooth, and the act of petting the cat was surprisingly pleasing and calming. It was the first time, in a long time, that Dahlia didn't mind the quiet.

Besides, Puffpaw was warm. The world outside the blanket was cold, and Puffpaw was a little vibrating heater under the blanket. Dahlia giggled to herself. She could see why people liked cats, if they were like Puffpaw.

She took a moment to re-explore Puffpaw's face, gently and slowly, as she could do so without her gloves this time. Puffpaw's face was pointed, exotic, but just enough fluff to her cheeks to give herself a young, adorably round face. As Dahlia passed Puffpaw's nose, she paused for a moment as she could feel Puffpaw sniff at her fingertips. Then, she almost twitched as Puffpaw softly lapped at her fingers with her rough, comb-like tongue. Immediately afterward, Puffpaw wrapped her paws around Dahlia's wrist and pulled it toward her forehead.

"I know, I know, you want me to stroke you some more," Dahlia giggled. "I...get it. Jayce...was stroking my hair last night. That felt nice too. I...let him touch me. I haven't let anyone do that since…"

She sighed, and tried to swallow back the lump in her throat. Her emotions were fighting to choke her again. Dahlia tried to hug Puffpaw close to her stomach, as if the familiar's body could physically block her largest scar from affecting her. Puffpaw wiggled and twisted mightily to end up in a more comfortable position against Dahlia's body, but she never stopped purring. Even though Dahlia didn't know what it was, that vibration and low rumble was calming and pleasing, and her darkness was temporarily chased away.

"Since him," she whispered, as if even the thought of the man's name would call down misfortune. Flashes whipped through her mind. The smell of allspice and wood bark, leather oil and tallowed twine. The cry of a falcon, the twang of a bow, the screech of steel sliding past the copper lip of a sheath. The soft voice that recited the tenets of the Dawnfather, that sang the hymns. The pained voice that begged for trust as they grew close. Then the roar of rage and betrayal, her cries for mercy, the sickening squelch of a blade piercing flesh...and the crack of splintered wood when the force of the strike pinned her to a tree, all because she had finally decided to trust him.

Her mind began to scream as twisted memories infected her thoughts. It was all her fault. She shouldn't have told him. It was selfish of her. She knew it was too much of a risk, but she was stupid. She had practically asked for punishment. She didn't deserve a kiss, even if it was all she wanted.

He didn't like her paint. And when she took it off, he hated her. Enough to leave her for dead.

She should have run. Taking off the paint was stupid. It was always stupid. She was stupid.

But then...she lived. And as she surfaced from that whirlpool of dark and deadly thoughts, what remained in her arms was Puffpaw, purring away with added purpose. Dahlia remembered the last few weeks, the last few days, the people she had come to know. Good people. Kind people…

Just like the ones who tried to kill her.

xXxXx

Jayce had slept fitfully, not because sleeping on a pew was a far cry from comfortable, but because his brain had refused to shut up about his impromptu nap the previous night that had turned into abject horror. All night, images of tearing into Dahlia's flesh and swimming through her blood haunted him, and he continually feared he was just a bad day away from living that reality.

Damn his cursed blood.

Then there was that phrase. "Obedience begets reward." That also stuck with him, but what was it asking for? What did he need to do? What was the reward? He had heard it before, but it might as well have been in a different life; he couldn't remember the time or place he had first heard it.

Finally, he rolled over and noted the sunlight had started to illuminate the stained glass window. As usual for a temple of the Dawnfather, the pews faced east, so the faithful could watch the rising sun as they worshipped. With a yawn, Jayce sat up and stretched, and groaned as he noticed he was, again, the first one up.

Across the aisle, both Zoe and Jonathan had picked pews and were sleeping soundly, although Zoe seemed to be clenching her teeth and wincing in her sleep. In the pew in front of him, Al was completely unconscious, and Jayce didn't blame him; Al's recount of how he escaped the World Market wasn't told well, but it was still harrowing, and he had clearly been exhausted afterwards. Just in front of Al, on the floor, was Gauth, who opted to sleep on his bedroll rather than risk rolling off a comparatively thin pew. Jayce couldn't see him from his seat in the pews, but he could faintly hear the goliath grunting in his sleep.

Curious, Jayce slipped off his pew, checked his bag out of habit, and quietly stepped into the aisle to better see his friend, sleeping on the floor. He easily maneuvered to a position to watch the big man mutter and grunt in his sleep as he tossed and turned, and suddenly, a slip of lightning shot from Gauth's ear, danced down his arm and across his skin, and dissipated into nothing between his knuckles.

Jayce stared in shocked silence for nearly a full minute as he tried to convince himself he really was awake and he really did just see that.

Once the bolt was gone, Gauth calmed in his rest, and went back to breathing deeply and evenly again. Concerned, but hesitant, Jayce quietly stepped over and reached out to tap Gauth's shoulder, even though he wasn't sure what he was hoping would happen. How would he explain himself if Gauth woke up? Should he even ask about it?

Before he could come to any conclusion, a jolt of energy jumped from Gauth's skin and bit his hand with a fury. Jayce yelped in shock and pain as he stumbled backward, and he nearly bit his knuckle out of habit.

"What happened?!" Al gasped as he shot up in his pew. He already had a blade pulled and was on the verge of hyperventilating as his eyes clearly cased the room.

Zoe and Jonathan, also startled, also sat up in surprise, but they did not ready any sort of attack. That habit only came with the experience of camping on the road, and they had not yet had the pleasure.

Gauth, true to form, calmly yawned and sat up, and looked over his friends curiously. The only thing that caught him off guard was Jayce being the culprit of his rude awakening, rather than the usual suspect of Al.

"N-nothing!" Jayce stammered, and he shook out his hand to help with the pins and needles that seemed to be crawling through his fingers. "Nothin' important, anyway. Mornin'!"

"...Morning," Al grumbled. He was suspicious, but he was also hungry. "I'm going to hope you didn't just wake us all up before the fucking dawn without a plan for breakfast, because that would be damn rude."

"Don't worry about it," Jonathan said around a yawn. "The priest will handle breakfast once he comes in."

"You seem to know a lot of how this works," Al said, and he turned his suspicious look toward the wizard. "How?"

Jonathan shrugged. "I lived on the streets for a year. You pick things up, or go cold."

Just then, the priest from last night walked into the sanctuary, softly singing "The Dawn brings Blessings", a well known hymn of the Dawnfather. Once he saw the companions were already awake, he shifted his tone to project more clearly, as volume was no longer a concern.

Once he finished a pleasant rendition of an a capella solo chorus, he nodded to them all.

"Good morning to you," he smiled. "I apologize for the early morning wake up-"

"We were already awake," Al hissed under his breath.

"-but as it is Miresen, the morning service will start soon. If you wish to join us, breakfast will be served afterward." The priest continued as if he either did not hear Al, or completely ignored him. "If you would rather leave, I know the Lawbearer's service is later in the morning, and they should have food available immediately."

"Before we make a hasty decision," Jayce cut in, as soon as he saw Al about to pack up and leave, "how's our friend?"

The priest smiled. "Miss Dahlia will take part in the service this morning, as part of her Confirmation. Although...she seemed a little, eh, dark, this morning, and she did mention she wouldn't be hurt if you all decided to leave her here. I can't pretend to know the details, but she acted as if she had horribly wronged you all, and she was deep in shame."

"That fuckin'-!" Jayce hissed as his fists went tight at his sides. He locked eyes with the priest. "I know ya gotta get ready for service, but you gotta let me see her. It ain't my place to say why, and I'll stake my word my friends an' I'll be no trouble; if I take too long, they'll be at the back, and quiet."

Al could feel Jayce's glare nearly freeze his blood as that last word was clearly directed at him. He gulped and sunk in his pew, almost out of sight, and Zoe, Jonathan, and Gauth couldn't help but chuckle at the display of the cowed half-elf.

The priest matched Jayce's gaze for a moment, and, remembering his reaction last night, nodded and stood to the side for Jayce to pass. He quietly mentioned it was the same room as before, and Jayce nodded to him in thanks as he walked to the hallway.

He arrived in short order, and as the door was already open, he simply pushed it to the side. Dahlia was sitting on the bed, fully dressed, with Puffpaw on her lap and a folded white robe next to her. She was absentmindedly petting Jonathan's familiar as she slouched, her face crestfallen and tired.

"Mornin', Dahlia," Jayce said softly. She barely twitched, so he continued. "Heard you were kinda off this morning, so I thought I'd check in before the service. You okay?"

She paused before responding. How easy it would have been to lie, and how badly she wanted to, but she knew the price. She recited her vow to her god. She took a deep breath and did her best to face her friend, based on where she heard his voice. "I'm not…"

She paused. She thought of him as a friend.

She knew she should run, but why were her feet so heavy?

Jayce shifted through the room to sit on the bed next to her, on the other side of the folded robe. Even over Puffpaw's purring, Dahlia could hear the slide of soft linen as it brushed the wool blanket when he picked it up.

"I ain't surprised. Yesterday was hell for you, an' I ain't got a wink of sleep to my name," Jayce grumbled. "Part of it was I was worried sick, but, as I promised to be candid, I had another nightmare. Maybe 'cause of the worry, but truth is...I like t' think you're why they haven't been so bad. Maybe that demon of yours scared mine off for a bit, or somethin'."

Dahlia turned toward Jayce, and without the blindfold, it was obvious she was confused. That comment seemed strange and random, even though she thought she had followed the conversation to that point. Thankfully, Jayce seemed to clue in to her feelings and continued.

"The priest said you wanted to be left behind. Now I know your feelin' on swearing, so I'll give you every goddamn right to call me a greedy sunova bitch for wanting to keep you close, but here's exactly why." Jayce paused slightly in his speech, and his next words were more clear, as if he was facing her. "One, I'm a fuckin' adventurer and I need a healer keeping me from being stupid. Two, yer an absolute sweetheart, and goddamn smart, and I like talkin' to you. Three, you've got those magic hands-" Jayce chuckled and slipped in the word "literally" under his breath. "-that makes all the pain of the day just melt away. And four, and this one is the most goddamn important of them all…"

Jayce paused again, and Dahlia wondered if it was for dramatic effect, but it was hard to think with the tears rolling down her face. It was hard to breathe as she desperately fought against her own mind to believe him.

"You actually like my fuckin' awful jokes."

Dahlia sputtered and nearly folded over as she choked through an ugly combination of laughter and sobs into her hands. Meanwhile, Puffpaw, annoyed at the lack of attention, slipped off Dahlia's lap to the floor, and flounced her way out of the room to return to her master.

Jayce watched Dahlia pour her heart into her hands in a mixture of incredibly unladylike, but real, emotion that had been bottled up for far too long. His hand hovered over her shoulder, a battle of his own playing across his eyes, which was unseen by his companion.

His desire won out over his reason, and he placed his hand on her arm. She immediately twitched and threw out her arm, but as it was defensive and pulled close, he was never actually struck. He recoiled anyway.

"Don't," Dahlia hiccuped. "Please, just...don't."

"Sorry, Dahlia," Jayce mumbled, ashamed. "Never figured how much people touched each other until I couldn't, ya know?"

"It's...fine," she whispered as she sniffled. "I know you mean well. Just...kind of feels like needles scraping my skin, that's all."

"Fuck, seriously?" Jayce asked, honestly shocked.

Dahlia nodded and hesitated twice before rubbing the tears off her face with the heel of her hand. "I have to know it's coming or it literally hurts."

"Melora's mercy… That's gonna make it easier to remember," Jayce puffed. He shook off the shock and recovered quickly. "Movin' on, today's a big day for you, right? You're gettin'...ordained, or something?"

Dahlia briefly smirked as she continued to try and settle her emotions. "Confirmed, Jayce. I already took the oath, and my power is proof enough. I'm just...getting official recognition, that's all."

"But that's good!" Jayce beamed, and he managed to catch himself before he nearly patted her arm again. "Bet it comes with perks, right? Officially part of the church and all that?"

Dahlia nodded. "I get a holy symbol, so I don't have to use this borrowed one anymore…" She paused and rested a hand over her breast, and her fingers traced a circle under her leather armor. "And the robe you're holding, for service and holy days."

"Oh come on, that can't be it," Jayce huffed. "There's gotta be a better reason to be confirmed."

She shrugged. "I also gain access to the entire network of Dawnfather churches, and I can officially work on their behalf. That's something."

"I'm...still not seein' the appeal, but if it's what you want, I'm with you," Jayce said. "Let's get you ready to go. You want us at the service?"

"Y-you don't have to, if you don't want to," Dahlia mumbled. She gripped her arms and tried to steady herself. She knew what he would do, but she still hoped he would prove her wrong. "I know church isn't for everyone."

Deep in his gut, Jayce had a fleeting feeling something bad would happen if he skipped the service, but he still played casual. "Gotta agree with you there, Dahlia. Church ain't really my scene. Can't say the others'll stay, but… I'll be in the back. Someone's gotta be there to help ya get around and find the others, after all."

Like a coiled spring that finally found release, Dahlia slumped forward, the relief visible on her face. "Thank you. I...wasn't sure how I'd leave the service. Thank you."

"Anytime, Dahlia," Jayce smiled. "How bad could it be?"

xXxXx

Jayce was bored out of his skull.

The small sanctuary was barely populated with, at most, twelve people scattered among the pews, not including him. The welcoming hymn was at least eleven verses, after which he lost count, and then there was a call and response litany that was chanted to some tune he could barely make sense of, even after the correct page in the hymnal had been pointed out by his "helpful" pewmate. Then came the offering, and said pewmate glared at him until he pointedly dropped in a silver piece. He noted with private vitriol that the old hag next to him made no such judgements of Jonathan, who had also been forcefully subjected to the service by Zoe, who made it clear she didn't want him on the streets that morning.

Zoe neglected to say why, but promised to explain once she returned with Gauth and Al, once they had found breakfast.

Then came the sermon, and as the priest from last night took his place in front of his flock to speak, Jayce knew he was going to nod off if he didn't busy himself with something. He glanced over to Jonathan, who seemed to actually be invested in whatever the priest was saying, so he quickly surmised he'd get no help there. A quick mental checklist gave him two options; read his book, or work on mending his coat sleeve so it wouldn't fall apart in a stiff wind.

He pulled out his knapsack from between his feet, and dug through it for the Black Wings at Dawn. Thankfully, it was right on top, but the second it left his bag, the old woman next to him not-so-subtly cleared her throat and, again, glared at him. With a sigh, he dropped it back into the bag and pulled out his sewing kit. With a half-sarcastic look at the old woman to request permission, she seemed pleased that he recognised her authority, and nodded her approval. It took almost every ounce of will he had not to visibly roll his eyes as he shrugged off his coat and began to tease the holding stitch out of the leather with a stitch hook. He was actually surprised it had held so long, given what they had been up to since that attack on the plains by Kymal.

Jayce allowed his mind to wander while he used a slip stitch to seal the tear. He would have to find someone to mend it at some point, to make it rain proof again, but in the meanwhile, it would hold out the wind. The priest continued to drone on as Jayce began to completely tune him out, and he used the rhythm of the sewing to lull himself into a state of relaxation. It had been a long while since he had a chance to slow down like that. It was nice. He could almost see the appeal of church.

Then he felt the eyes of judgement boring into him again, and he glanced over at the old woman. She seemed genuinely shocked at his skill, to the point that she seemed to be offended. Jayce tried to give her a look that implied he would very much like to be left alone, but it was clear the look was interpreted to be something much more vulgar, and the woman huffed and puffed as she ruffled herself like some offended bird.

Jayce subtly leaned over to Jonathan and whispered, "Mind if we switch seats?"

Jonathan cocked an eyebrow and gave Jayce an amused look. "May I ask why?"

"I got an audience who seems mighty keen on givin' me the third degree," Jayce grumbled. He didn't even bother indicating the woman to his right, as he thought her disapproval was palpable.

Then, as if on cue, the woman cleared her throat and glared at them both, clearly annoyed with their conversation. Jonathan gave a slow nod of realization and motioned for them to switch seats.

Once they had swapped, the woman seemed momentarily defeated in her one-sided campaign to power trip over Jayce, and she turned her attention back to the sermon. Jonathan took the moment of respite to watch Jayce deftly repair the sleeve of his coat, and the fascination was clear on his face. Again, Jayce noticed the pointed look, and sighed as he dropped his hands into his lap.

"Wanna say somethin'?" he whispered.

"No! Just, uh, surprised you can sew," Jonathan meekly responded. "Aren't you a sailor? I thought they were more rough and tumble than, you know, a tailor, or similar craftsman."

Jayce shrugged. "Ain't a lot of options at sea if ya tear a shirt or somethin'. More or less taught myself, even made some coin repairin' the other blokes' threads. That's all."

Jonathan was impressed. "Wow. You're full of surprises."

Jayce snapped an angry and disappointed look at Jonathan. "Because I was a sailor, or because I'm fuckin' green?"

The old woman gasped with such shock and horror that several nearby worshipers turned to see the commotion, and Jonathan ducked down his head in shame. Jayce, in an attempt to avoid suspicion, went back to his sewing as if he was completely uninvolved. His ruse was successful, and he allowed himself a smirk; It was surprisingly pleasing that all glares of annoyance and disapproval were pointed at someone else for once.

The sermon chugged on without pause, despite the disruption, and as Jayce finished knotting the thread, the priest wrapped up his message for the day. Despite everyone grabbing the hymnals and turning to some predetermined page, the priest called for them all to hold a moment.

"Today, it is my pleasure to induct a new cleric to the fold," he announced to the sanctuary.

The energy in the room immediately took on an excited, nearly electric tone. Those seated with family or friends immediately began to whisper between themselves, trying to guess the inductee. In a congregation that was slowly dying of old age, new blood was always welcome!

Then Dahlia stepped out from the side hallway, dressed in the white robe with a gold collar and silver rays that fell across her chest and arms like sunlight, illuminated by the hues of the stained glass window that caught the light of dawn. She looked regal, as if called to this place by a higher power, made ever more clear by the care she had put into her normally messy hair to make every strand lay in its proper place. There was no fanfare, no swell of music, but the light was a symphony of its own as she took her place before the altar.

The disappointment of the congregation was audible as they grumbled amongst themselves. They had hoped the new cleric would be one of their own, of course, but a stranger was passable. The two men in the pew just ahead of Jayce and Jonathan began muttering that this new woman would obviously be running off into the wilds at the first chance she got. Jayce was somewhat rough in replacing his sewing kit in his bag as he started to feel angry on Dahlia's behalf.

However, it was when he heard Jonathan gasp and call her beautiful that the rage in his cursed blood truly began to boil. It took far more effort than he wanted to admit to calm himself down and pay attention to the service.

"-I vow to be ever vigilant for the evils that grow in the souls of others," Dahlia said clearly and confidently, and Jayce grimaced when he noticed he had missed a part of her speech. "I vow to help relieve the suffering of the innocent, wherever it exists. I vow to deliver the light of the Dawnfather where darkness dwells, with kindness, compassion, and mercy. As Pelor, Dawnfather, commands of us, thus shall I commit my life to his work."

There was a brief uncomfortable silence, but then an orb of light began to materialize and grow in front of Dahlia's chest. It slowly began to flatten, which revealed it was gently spinning in the air, as Dahlia lifted her hands to gently cup the drop of sunlight. Her movements were measured and calm, as if practiced, despite how she stared forward, clearly unable to see. With an inaudible pop, a medallion of silver emblazoned with a golden sun dropped from the congealed light as the light disappeared, and Dahlia only barely managed to grab it before it slipped out of her fingers.

The priest nearly twitched, as if he was about to dive for the medallion himself, but he relaxed and looked relieved. "I present to you the newest cleric of the Dawnfather, Dahlia the Blind."

When the resulting applause was anemic at best, Jayce and Jonathan stepped up their efforts to more clearly be heard and drown out the less enthused. Jayce had to grit his teeth through a smile as a couple in the pew ahead of him clearly grumbled about how the church even let "invalids" represent them now.

The only thing that saved it was when Dahlia clearly looked in their direction and gave them both a heartfelt, grateful smile. Like a patch of blue sky on a dark and dreary day, there was a sanguine joy in pleasing her.

The rest of the service went quickly, for which Jayce actually gave a prayer of thanks to the Dawnfather. Even though Dahlia was asked to stand with the priest at the sanctuary door for the congregation to greet and congratulate her, there were few people to deal with, and the line quickly passed. Jayce, ever sensitive to the more subtle grievances of people, noted several grumblers spoke with a practiced heartfelt earnestness when they wished her luck on her travels. He didn't believe the sentiments for a second.

Finally, the congregation had moved to the street, and the priest stepped away to talk to some of his flock. Jayce and Jonathan moved up to talk to Dahlia, but she was intercepted by Puffpaw, who once again reached up to paw at Dahlia's hip. With a giggle, the newly confirmed cleric scooped up the feline and held Puffpaw to her chest like a small child, to which Puffpaw responded by gently bonking Dahlia's chin with her forehead.

"I'm so glad you stayed!" Dahlia beamed, before they could even speak. Neither was surprised. "I- I said it before, to Jayce, that I know church isn't for everyone, but it really did mean a lot to me that you stayed."

"It was no trouble," Jonathan smiled. "I'm always curious how the different religions align; convergent cultures, and all that. Then there was the built-in entertainment."

Dahlia tilted her head to the side as Puffpaw began to audibly purr. "Entertainment?"

Jayce sighed and dropped his head in a hand after he crossed his arms. He was almost convinced Jonathan was going to mention the old biddy in the pew who had a staring match with him.

"Nothing disruptive," Jonathan snickered. "Just all the subtle jokes in the sermon. Quite a few of them were aimed at the Lawbearer, which is likely because his followers are the strongest religion in Westruun."

"I...actually missed that," Dahlia said, clearly surprised. "You'll have to tell me more about it when we find our friends."

"Ain't gonna be hard," Jayce cut in. "They ran off to find breakfast, and said they'd meet us here. We just gotta hang around until they get back, that's all."

"Shouldn't be long," Jonathan added. "With the length of the service, they've had plenty of time to look for food-" Jonathan perked up as he noticed something down the street, but the pause caused Dahlia to look briefly confused. "And there they are!"

Zoe raced over and nearly took out her brother with an overly enthusiastic hug. After a quick squeeze that nearly forced the air right out of Jonathan's lungs, she held him at arm's length and put on a more laissez-faire expression. "So, bro, how was service? Was it as mind-numbing as they made it out to be?"

"N-nice to see you too," Jonathan coughed. "It was fine, informative, lightly entertaining. Honestly, I'd rather get food before we talk. What'd you find?"

"First thing's first," Al said with just enough force to interrupt the siblings. "Dahlia, are you officially a cleric now?"

Dahlia put on a big smile, with Puffpaw still cuddled to her chest. "Yes. Pelor gifted me with my own holy symbol, and I've been recognised by the church. It's official."

"Wow! You seriously get a holy symbol from your god? That's how it works?" Zoe said, awe evident in her voice. "I thought you get them from a box or something."

Dahlia shook her head. "I can't say how it is for every religion, but my holy symbol is a conduit between my faith and my god's divine power. I've been...using a borrowed one for a while, so my power wasn't exactly full strength, but now I shouldn't have any issues using my magic to help you all."

Before anyone else could ask, Al immediately spouted, "Who'd you borrow it from?"

Dahlia's face fell, and Puffpaw shifted to wrap her paws around Dahlia's neck in the closest approximation of a hug a cat could manage. She opened her mouth to respond, but was startled into a pause when Jayce tapped her arm, just above the elbow.

"Ain't sure about the rest of you, but I'm damn hungry, and I'd rather talk over food," Jayce said with a disarming smile. "What'd y'all find?"

"The Blessed Bread," Gauth snickered. "They serve lots of food, but the bread they serve has the Lawbearer's symbol baked into the top."

"We would have grabbed food and returned, but someone sent us off without any of the team allowance," Al grumbled. "Even just a coin or two-"

With the sudden stop to his speech, everyone turned to look at Al, who seemed to be staring at Jayce's belt. Jayce immediately felt self conscious as everyone followed Al's gaze, but his demeanor instantly switched as soon as he looked down at his hip.

His sword was gone.

Jayce scrambled to grab and unhook the empty sheath on his hip, but even when he could more clearly see it in front of him, the lack of sword never changed. Without a word, he raced back into the small church of the Dawnfather, and right up to the priest who was putting away the holy books by the pulpit.

"Sir!" Jayce called out, and the panic was clear in his voice. "I have no fuckin' clue how this happened-"

And the priest's face immediately went sour. Jayce instantly knew he made a mistake, but even so, he had to soldier on.

"-but my weapon disappeared sometime between now and last night, when we arrived." Jayce held out the empty sheath as proof. "Have you seen it? Can I check the room my friend used?"

The priest looked down at the sheath and cocked an eyebrow. "Just the blade is gone?"

Jayce nodded and made an effort to avoid his habitual swearing. "I'm a sellsword; I literally make my livin' by that blade. I...really need it back."

The priest's face softened as he realized Jayce's panic was genuine. "You may go check the room. I'll check the sanctuary."

With a nod of thanks, Jayce raced off to the small room Dahlia had borrowed the night before. Without even a second thought, he scrambled through the meager trappings as he checked under the bed, the mattress, the blankets, behind the bed frame and chair… He quickly exhausted all options, and found nothing.

Where could his sword have gone?

A wave of panic and shame crashed over him as he collapsed against the doorframe and barely caught himself. He had lost his captain's sword. He instinctively knew it was somehow tied up to his powers, and as such it was obviously a clue to what plagued him, but somehow, it was gone.

Did someone take it? His mind raced through a list of potential suspects. Dahlia's blindness and gentle heart immediately precluded her from consideration, but the others were all possible. Neither Zoe or Jonathan seemed particularly interested in blades, or weapons in general, but both Al and Gauth would likely have reason. It was no secret that Gauth collected weapons, and Al had noticeably sticky fingers. It had to be one of them. No one else came into the church. It had to be them.

His rage flashed through his blood. How dare they violate his trust like that? Nearly blind with the fury, he charged back into the sanctuary, where the priest was ducking into the pews to look under them. The priest immediately looked up from the rather palpable shift in the energy of the room, despite there only being the two of them.

The priest paled at the sight of Jayce, his right arm wreathed in blue flame and carrying an angry blade, charging at him with a look of manic bloodlust, but he mustered his courage and brought up what he thought was the obvious.

"Oh! You found it!"

Jayce's feet came to a leadened stop in shock. "I...found…?" He glanced down at his hand. He hadn't even noticed the weight of the blade that was clearly in his palm. The handle was soot black, continuously licked by that oily blue flame, and the blade now sported strange, vein-like burns that almost seemed to swim in front of his eyes. Almost as if they were pulsing.

Completely caught off guard, Jayce faltered as he fought to regain his composure. "Yeah, I-I found it...in the room. Sorry for, uh, taking-"

His knees went weak as his body reeled from the sudden lack of adrenaline coursing through him. Jayce pitched sideways and he barely stopped himself from collapsing into the front pew. Rather than hit the floor, he twisted and awkwardly sat down as he tried to center himself.

The priest rushed over, concern clearly written over his face. "Sir! Are you alright?"

Jayce's heart was pounding in his ears, and he watched as the sword puffed away in a tongue of blue flame as he let it drop out of his hand. The priest recoiled from the display and turned to Jayce in shock and fear, and Jayce met his look with a pained and pleading gaze.

"Sir," Jayce wheezed, his accent long gone, "there's something very wrong with me."

xXxXx

"So...any idea what happened there?"

Gauth shrugged and motioned to the church. "Maybe it fell out of his sheath while he was sleeping."

Al shook his head. "I doubt it. He nearly barrelled me over in the library the other day, just trying to get it back. He wouldn't be that careless." He rubbed his chin in thought. "I wonder why it's so important to him…"

Gauth mimicked the contemplative look and inwardly wondered if stroking one's chin actually stimulated thought. "We know it's a magical blade, and coin people want a lot of coin for magic things. That may be why."

Al sputtered a laugh from the shock and looked up at his friend. "Coin people? Where the hell did that come from?"

Gauth waved out his arm to indicate the early morning crowds as if it was obvious. "These people. You people. You are all crazy about coin. Why not trade for what you need, or supply it because it is needed? Instead you ask for coin, which only takes up space in your pockets."

Al rolled his eyes but snickered anyway. "You and me need to sit down at some point and have a long, long conversation about currency."

Gauth scoffed at the idea, but was interrupted before he could voice his complaints. Jayce had returned, walking with a casual swagger as he descended the few front steps of the Dawnfather's chapel.

"I take it you found it," Jonathan called to him. He and Zoe had been canvassing the nearby street, asking the remaining congregation members if they had seen the sword, and as such were a few yards away from the door.

"Indeed," Jayce responded with a slightly embarrassed, but casual, smile. "Ain't a secret my weapon's magical; turns out I finally...uh, fuck what's the word… Linked with it, I guess. Check this out."

Jayce snapped out his hand and the sword materialized out of thin air in a flash of blue flame. While everyone twitched in surprise, Dahlia let out a small squeak of shock.

Puffpaw jumped out of her arms as she gripped them. "What was that?! I felt a flash of heat on my arm!"

Jayce chuckled and turned to her. "Apologies, Dahlia. Just wanted to surprise the folks, that's all. Turns out I can summon my sword now, rather'n carry it. I ain't gotta worry about a weapon bein' out of arm's reach now."

Dahlia reached out and tapped Jayce's arm, and then lightly punched it. Gauth couldn't help but smirk at the little fire she would occasionally show on her good days.

"A little warning would be nice, you jerk! I just got this robe, and I don't want it singed before I get a chance to use it!"

Jayce flinched away and laughed, and the sword puffed out of existence from whence it came in a similar blue flame.

"Speaking of!" Zoe cut in as she leaned unnecessarily on her brother's shoulder. "Dahlia, you look nice today. The robe looks good."

"Oh! Um, thank you," Dahlia said, and with the way her cheeks went pink, she was obviously flustered. Zoe shot her brother a playful smirk and he replied by shoving her arm off his shoulder and gave her a, Gauth thought, rather childish glare.

"Gods above, are they both in love with her?" Al gagged under his breath. It took a mighty effort for Gauth not to snicker out loud at that comment.

"All children like sweets," Gauth whispered sagely. Al rolled his eyes and then physically put himself in the middle of the other conversation to complain about breakfast. Gauth couldn't help but laugh to himself. Al would never change, and he liked that thought.

Finally, the group started down the street toward the Blessed Bread, and Gauth trailed behind as usual. It was easier to keep an eye on everyone that way, especially since he was a head and shoulder taller than literally everyone else he could see on the street. The only ones who came close to his height were the three orc attendants at the meager shrine to Gruumsh, the One-Eyed Ruiner, and patron betrayer god of the orcs and their kind. One of the attendants was scrubbing at one of the supports, which was stained with whitewash, while a second argued with a Shield of the Plains about their protected status in the Temple Ward. The third was in the back of the shrine, next to a clay bust of their one-eyed god, glaring at those who passed by on the street. Gauth shot the man-creature a look of warning, although he was pretty sure he was ignored, so he kept walking.

"-sir, you owe me a duel!"

"Wait, what?!"

Gauth returned to listening to his friends at Dahlia's shock, and Al floundered to distract the companions from the incoming battle of puns. Gauth, excited for the jokes, jogged to catch up to the group of them.

"What duel?! What happened while I was out?!" Dahlia squeaked, clearly in a panic as she grabbed Jayce's arm.

Jayce put on an air of righteous indignation and threw his chin into the air. "This scruffy cur challenged my ability to entertain the people of this city with-"

"Oh come on just get on with it!" Al whined, with a face of pitiful resignation. "Get it over with so we can eat already!"

Zoe was already on the verge of laughter as Dahlia continued to look confused. "Wait, is this a...verbal duel?"

"One and the same," Jonathan smiled. "Jayce and I decided-"

"Eh, no, good sir, you challenged me," Jayce grinned. "Even though this may've been yer idea, you ain't walkin' away with a win!"

"Then have at me, you swine! I'll allow you the first strike!" Jonathan laughed.

Jayce practically danced in front of the group, and struck a pose. "If you insist. Just the other day, I fell down a well!"

"Wait, are you serious?" Jonathan asked, visibly confused.

"Oh, don't you worry, my friend," Jayce snickered and patted Jonathan on the arm. "It was a day well spent!"

Despite the barely restrained laughter of his friends, Jonathan barely smirked. He was concentrating on his turn of the duel, and he needed to be quick. "Good sir, what do you call a pile of cats?"

"A purr-oblem?" Jayce responded with a cocky smirk.

"A meow-tain, actually," John huffed. He didn't want to admit it, but Jayce's answer was pretty good. However, if Jayce wasn't going to play fair, he wouldn't either.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Zoe cut in, and it was clear she was already trying hard to keep her laughter under control. "Ground rules: One at a time, set up and punchline, and the one with the funniest jokes is the winner. No cheap shots, Jayce."

"Fair, fair," Jayce smiled with his hands up in surrender. "Just t' be a good sport, you get the next bout. Lay it on me, John."

John nodded with determination. "Why can't you trust a ladder? Because it's always up to something!"

Their friends burst into giggles in their loose circle around the two of them, and Jonathan allowed himself a smirk. At least, he started that way, because Jayce started making strange motions and symbols with his hands, and Jonathan continuously became more and more confused.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Ah, sorry," Jayce beamed. "I know a joke in sign language. I guarantee ya ain't heard it."

At this, Dahlia couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing, especially when Gauth went "But what is the joke?" right over her shoulder.

Jonathan felt his resolve beginning to falter. "Well, did you hear the rumor about butter?"

Jayce cooly crossed his arms and continued with that smug smile. "No, John, what's the rumor about butter?"

"Well, if you don't know it, I'm not going to spread it. That's rude!" Jonathan replied, and he struck a pose of being offended while Zoe absolutely lost all decorum. As this was a joke that Gauth, with his more limited knowledge of the common tongue of Tal'Dorei, understood, his laughter boomed along with his friends and caught the attention of several people passing by. The scene was made even more entertaining as Al was clearly embarrassed beyond reason, and was hiding his face in Gauth's side.

Jayce was not about to back down. With a dramatic flair, he recounted the grief of a young man who had lost his grandmother, and gone to bury her.

"Then, the day after, the guard came to his door. He had buried his grandmother in the wrong plot! Horrified, he admitted, 'Good sirs, I have made a grave mistake!'"

The gathering crowd added their laughter to that of the friends as Jonathan and Jayce continued to square off in a battle of puns. Jonathan, having determined he needed to add a story or some sort of dramatic flair, quickly spun a brief narrative of two almonds running from the guards, and the guards called out, "Stop! Imma cashew!"

The narrative made little sense, but the gathering crowd was entertained, and smatterings of laughter rippled through them. Jayce nodded in recognition of Jonathan's skill, as raw as it clearly was, and took in a deep breath to pull out his secret weapon. However, before Jayce could begin or react, Jonathan snapped his fingers and spat a quick word in the arcane tongue.

Jayce's nose was immediately filled with an abhorrently foul odorous combination of sulfur and rot, and his eyes started to water from the stench. As the magical attack had happened during a breath in, the rank fumes were already deep in his lungs, and it took a mighty effort to keep from hacking and coughing right in Jonathan's face.

Zoe immediately clued in to what was going on and shoved her brother. "John! What the hell?!"

Jonathan huffed and crossed his arms. "You never said magic was not allowed, so-"

"That doesn't matter! That was fucking unfair and you know it!"

"It's an added challenge!"

"Only for people with magic!"

"And he has magic!"

"Both of you, quiet!"

The voice was thunderously loud, and boomed through their ears. The nearby crowd immediately scattered, as the ensuing drama clearly took a bad turn. It actually took them all a moment to realize it was Dahlia's voice, and she took the moment of their surprise to shove herself into Jonathan's personal space and thrust an accusatory finger in his face.

"Dispel that cantrip, now, so that Jayce can breathe. I declare you the loser of the duel, as the whole point of that was to make people laugh, and your underhanded act revealed you to be both a sore loser and a coward!"

Gauth, proud of his teacher, crossed his arms and glared down Jonathan as the man flinched away from Dahlia. Cowed, but frustrated and angry anyway, Jonathan waved his hand with a snap of his fingers and Jayce took in a deep and sweet breath of clear air.

"That-!" Jayce cut himself off with a hacking fit as he vacated his lungs of the rank fumes left from the spell. "That was quite the-" Jayce cleared his throat and tried again. "Quite the clever use, John. No harm done, provided you keep that trick in your back pocket for the next asshole who pisses you off."

"Even if that's you?" Jonathan grumbled.

Dahlia shot him a glare of warning, and Jonathan resigned himself to defeat. He had imagined himself gloating over Jayce's obviously poor constitution, and winning the duel by forfeit, but Zoe's interruption prevented that from actually happening. He probably would have gotten away with it if he could cast spells silently, but as of yet he hadn't figured out how to do such a thing.

"Now that that is over with," Al said, obviously fighting to keep the disgust from his voice, "can we please go get food? It's been literally hours and we haven't eaten yet."

"Absolutely," Zoe huffed as she shot her brother a glare. "It's right around the corner anyway."

In that moment, a brisk breeze picked up, wafting the smell of fresh bread and spiced food past them. Al nudged Zoe, obviously impressed with her timing, and then led the way to the Blessed Bread and, finally, breakfast.

xXxXx

"I can't believe you remembered some offhand comment from three days ago," Al snickered.

"Well, I did promise," Dahlia said with an awkward smile. She held out two nearly identical buns for him to inspect. "Give each one a sniff and see if you can tell me which one's barley, and which one's wheat."

The rest of the team watched in curiosity and fascination as Al bent over to sniff both buns in her hands. He gave the discovered aromas some dedicated thought, and even took the buns to more thoroughly sniff them, before he suddenly exclaimed, "You're right! It does smell sweeter!" with a surprising amount of glee. "The right one is barley, right?"

Dahlia nodded with a proud smile. "Exactly! Even if they work in similar ways, every ingredient smells different; I use that every time I work with my herbs."

"Oh! Speaking of," Al said around a mouthful of barley bun, "how many potions have you made so far?"

"Hang on, potions?" Jonathan asked. "She makes potions? What kind?"

Al winked with a perky smile. "Health potions. Oh and hangover cures."

"That's handy!" Zoe beamed. She hopped down from the streetside wall they had been using as a bench, as the Blessed Bread had no open seats after they ordered. "Can you make any kind of health potion? What about invisibility potions? Actually, is any spell fair game?"

In her excitement, she stepped just within Dahlia's no-comfort zone, and Jayce let off a short whistle of warning. Zoe hopped back a step, and Dahlia seemed to relax in direct relation to the distance between them. Jayce nodded his approval and returned to his sandwich.

"I-I can make a plethora of potions, based on the materials I have on hand," Dahlia stammered, a little flustered from the extra attention. Al just rolled his eyes at the repeat information. "At the moment, I've been concentrating on healing potions, and I've gone through half of my supplies. I can make two more before I need more ingredients."

Al perked up. "You already made two? Can I have them?"

Jonathan chuffed and shot a look at Al. "Why? So you can squirrel them away or pawn them off?"

"No, because he's squishy," Gauth snickered. The comment got Zoe to sputter through a barely restrained laugh and it was clear her brother shared the sentiment.

"Ha ha," Al said, clearly annoyed. "Not everyone can shrug off repeated stabs to the chest like they just got kicked in the shin."

"I think you are mad you're not me," Gauth laughed.

"It would have it's perks," Al grumbled.

"But then you wouldn't be able to climb or run as effectively," Dahlia added sagely. "Everything's a trade off."

"Yeah yeah, pros and cons and all that. So, potions; can I have them?" Al said again.

Dahlia gave it some quick thought. "Actually, it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to have at least one. You were in rough shape yesterday."

"Exactly! Think how that could have been avoided with a potion?" Al beamed. Despite his comments, they were unneeded, as Dahlia was already digging through her bag for the completed potions. "I think I should have both."

"Don't be greedy," Dahlia chided him. "Both you and Zoe don't have a lot of armor to rely on, and your skills tend to put you directly in harm's way; I think you each should have one."

She pulled out the two vials of red liquid that shimmered from the agitation, as if a pearlescent powder had been mixed into the viscous contents at some point during their brewing. Al and Zoe each gratefully took one and secured it somewhere convenient on their person.

"How long does it take to make one of these, anyway?" Zoe asked, after a third check that the potion was solidly in place.

"About two hours per potion," Dahlia said nonchalantly.

"You've got to be kidding!" Zoe gasped. "That's freaking long for a swallowful of potion!"

Dahlia shook her head. "It could be longer. The more intricate the recipe, the more rare the ingredients, the more sensitive the brewing… There are some alchemical formulae that are intrinsically tied to the positions of the moons, or the seasons. I think...tincture of regeneration, similar to a healing potion, is brewed best in spring, so while I might be able to make a passable one right here and now, I'd have much better luck in Wildemount, as they're currently in their spring season."

"Speaking of," Al said around another mouthful of bread bun, "have you ever been? Across the sea, that is."

Dahlia shook her head. "I've traveled a lot, but mainly it was between Emon, Kymal, and Westruun. I haven't been anywhere else. Not like you, Jayce," she said, turning toward him. "You have so many stories, it's like you've been all over the world."

Jayce regretfully paused the consumption of his sandwich to swallow before he replied. "Yeah, well, been around, but most of that's been at sea. I've seen a lot of coasts, and while that's one way t' see the world 'n all, it's like describin' a puzzle with only the edge pieces. It definitely ain't the full picture."

Zoe, already antsy from sitting still for too long, began to warm up her arms, fingers, and legs with some basic stretches. The team watched her for a moment, as Dahlia reset her bag, and it was clear they were impressed when she easily flipped over to a handstand and started doing push ups.

"What are you doing?" Al asked.

"Just, I don't know, working out a bit," Zoe grumbled. "Can't sit still. Anyone else feeling weird about the whole World Market thing last night? I mean, why haven't we heard anything? Shouldn't the criers be yelling about it by now?"

"Why does she sound like she's lying on the ground?" Dahlia whispered to Jayce. He successfully suppressed a snicker and explained what Zoe was doing, and Dahlia nodded in thanks and clarity.

"True, I would have expected to hear something by now," Jonathan said thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin. "If nothing else, I would have expected to hear about the three of you, as you weren't quiet about your exit of the Market."

"Apparently you weren't paying attention," Dahlia sighed. "There were several patrons at the Blessed Bread talking about...me, and...I'm sorry."

"Hey," Jayce said softly, and he rested a hand on her arm, right above her elbow, "nothin' to be sorry about. We lived, we're okay, and you even got ordained. We-"

Dahlia sputtered a laugh and covered her mouth to be polite. "Confirmed, Jayce. I'm not a priest, just a cleric."

"Okay, yeah, confirmed." Jayce rolled his eyes but smiled anyway. "Silver linings and all that. So what were they sayin' at the Blessed Bread?"

Dahlia shrugged and gripped her arms. "A lot of it seemed random. A break in, an assassination attempt, apparently I died, and was carried out screaming, and was a ghost haunting the new item, and there was a demon involved… It was really hard to follow."

"Oof. Sounds like it," Jonathan huffed. "What was the new item?"

Al felt a shiver up his spine. Based on the look Jonathan was giving him, that wizard had something on him. He knew to trust his gut, but should he play his hand and tell them what he knew? Could he risk getting them involved in the Clasp, or would they disown him the second they learned he had connections to the largest crime syndicate in Tal'Dorei?

"Weren't you in the back rooms?" Jayce asked him. "Did you hear anythin' about a new item back there?"

Al shrugged. "I did hear a few workers talking about an item literally added the day before, but not much else." Technically, that was true. Mostly. "It was a high ticket item though, I can tell you that much. Magical locks and wards and all that."

Al caught Jonathan's look of suspicion, which did not waver from him as Puffpaw interrupted Zoe's pushups enough to cause the monk to try the one handed version. When she successfully did so, it was clear Gauth and Jayce were impressed she could pet the cat while upside down and without falling over. Jonathan's glare finally moved on when Zoe playfully challenged everyone else to try it, and it was clear he didn't want to miss Gauth's attempt on the offer.

Gauth had never done a handstand before in his life, but Zoe made it look absolutely effortless, so there seemed to be no harm in trying. Just to be nice, Zoe walked through the steps with him, and corrected his stance, before he dipped forward and kicked his dominant foot into the air, per her instructions. With his incredible strength, he had no trouble flipping to the handstand position, but his lack of practice clearly showed when he visibly struggled to straighten his legs upward without falling over.

"Nice! You sure you haven't done this before?" Zoe beamed as she clapped. "Most newbies would be flat on their back by now!"

"I might...be there in a moment!" Gauth huffed. His core muscles were starting to ache from repeatedly overcorrecting to fix his balance, as he tried to find his center of gravity. Despite his efforts, he began to tip.

"No, Gauth, no, towards me!" Zoe yelped, and she dove for his knees as he clearly went past a point of no return. With an audible whump, Gauth landed hard on his back, with Zoe awkwardly hugging nothing in the air just above him. Embarrassed, she stepped away, pretending to stretch as Jayce and Jonathan snickered into their food and Al rolled his eyes.

Dahlia could guess what happened well enough, and searched her bag for her astringent again, just in case there was a scraped limb or something similar. Even with the others chattering around her, she still heard the huffing and puffing of someone jogging toward them. She wondered where this person was going in such a hurry, and if his or her destination was close, as they sounded very tired and desperate to rest.

"But I did do a handstand!" Gauth said proudly to the other's approval, as a man in a brown tabard with the crest of Westruun exhaustedly jogged up behind him.

"S-sir!" the man wheezed, and everyone turned to this new arrival with curiosity. Their pause was his gain as he leaned on his knees and gasped for air for a few moments, and even when Al tried to prod the man for information, Jayce's elbow made it clear the man needed to breathe a bit before he could talk. Al rubbed his side and shot Jayce a glare that also made it clear he didn't appreciate the bruise.

"S-sir…!" The man huffed and swallowed before he tried to stand up straight as if everything was completely normal and he did not, in fact, just run a marathon. "May I see...your arm, sir?"

Gauth looked at his companions, and then at the man, and then realized the man was, in fact, talking to him, and not any of the more typically local-looking people behind him. "My arm? Why?"

"I-I need to see scars, sir," the man said, clearly uncomfortable. "I was never given a name, but I was told to look for a goliath with a specific pattern of scars on his arm. Can I see, please?"

Unsure of which one to present, Gauth rolled both his shoulders forward to present his arms. While both arms did have scars, his left had the more obvious pattern, left over from the attack of the insane goblins by the Bramblewood. The man in the tabard compared the pattern to a small slip of parchment he produced from a messenger bag on his hip.

After a few tense seconds, the man nodded, satisfied. "Good sir, I am a courier of Margrave Zimmerset, and I have a message for your employers, Lord Hamath Mesalt of Emon, and Lady Arieris. Do you know where I may find them?"

There was an awkward pause before Jayce remembered he had used those names the day before at the Market. "Oh! Sir, yer in luck; we're on our way to see them now. Our big friend here ain't the only sellsword in their employ, ya see."

The courier looked nervous and clutched the reference paper closer to his chest. "Sir, my apologies, but I have doubts that someone of your ilk has been hired by any illustrious nobility from Emon. My instructions were to hand the message directly to them."

Nearly everyone turned to look at Jayce, who fought hard to keep the comment from getting on his nerves. He slipped off his seat on the street wall and stood to his full height, taking on the stature of someone well respected, despite present company.

"Good sir, I ain't the typical idea of 'respected' 'round these parts, that's true, but I assure you, I ain't a bloodthirsty maniac out to run ya out of house and home. I'm here t' make coin, ply my trade, and make a decent livin' with the cards dealt to me. Need proof? That paper you've got has descriptions, right? Lord Hamath Mesalt was wearin' black robes, edged with green an' gold, thin face, smartly trimmed beard and thin dark eyes. His companion was an elf woman, dressed in a black cloak, and I can tell you she's bedridden, thanks to takin' the blade meant for the Margrave himself. We're takin' time to ourselves while his usual contingent of bodyguards keeps an eye on their lodging, closer to Market Ward, provided we find somethin' to help with that fuckin' poison that laid her low while we're out here. Make sense?"

The courier clearly fought with himself as he checked the reference parchment and looked over the rest of the group. Dahlia busied herself with her bag, inwardly terrified her face would be described on that sheet and recognizable.

"I, uh, well, suppose...that makes sense." The courier gulped down his trepidation and tried his best to match the gaze of Jayce's yellow, slitted eyes. "I don't suppose you'll tell me where they're staying?"

Jayce crossed his arms and looked offended. "Oh hell no. Ya even think about how that asshole assassin might want to finish her off? I ain't fond of her boss, but Lady Arieris' a damn sweetheart and I ain't putting her in harm's way without good reason."

The courier fidgeted through a mental battle of obligation and a supposedly unacceptable change of plan. One the one hand, he was told explicitly to only hand the letter directly to the lord and lady themselves, but on the other, the half-orc did make a good argument. Clearly uncomfortable, he once again tried, and failed, to match the eyes of the man speaking to him.

"And, uh, sir, I have your word you'll take this letter directly to them?" There was a whine of fear in his voice, and Jayce softened his demeanor a bit in pity.

He held out his hand for the letter. "You got my word that it'll be in their hands before you get back to the Margrave. May the Lawbearer strike me down if I'm wrong," Jayce said and smiled in, he hoped, a friendly way to help assuage the man's fears.

The courier nodded, practically slapped the letter in Jayce's hand, and ran off. Jayce couldn't tell if the situation, or his green skin, was what caused the man to bolt.

"Jayce, you could talk a bird out of it's own fucking feathers," Zoe whistled in awe. "That was insane!"

"Yes, that was impressive, but what was with those names?" Jonathan asked. "You couldn't have picked something easier to remember?"

Jayce boosted himself back up on the wall and shook his head. "They're characters from a book I'm reading; husband an' wife or somethin'. Easy enough for me to remember, and they sound fuckin' pretentious as it is. Easier to pass for a noble and all that."

"Right, cool, fun, now what does the letter say?" Al cut in as he climbed behind Jayce to look over his shoulder. "Why would the Margrave seek you guys out after that whole clusterfuck last night?"

"Oh! Are we going to get paid? A reward for saving that pit-stain's life?" Zoe asked, far overplaying a childlike enthusiasm to be taken seriously. She quickly returned to a more sour attitude. "Fuck that asshat. Just burn the letter and let's move on to paying work. Preferably in a different city."

"What is up with you?" Jonathan mumbled. Puffpaw jumped into his lap as he curiously watched his sister.

Jayce rolled his eyes at Zoe's antics and broke the wax seal on the letter. Inside, a beautifully written letter was addressed directly to "Lord Hamath Mesalt of Emon," so he read it out loud.

"Dear sir, I hope this letter finds you in good spirits, as it is my hope your assistant has survived and recovered her endeavour from the night before. I am under no illusions that your actions saved my life, and as such I would like to personally reward you. This letter will act as passage for yourself, your companion (provided she is sufficiently recovered), and a guard of your choosing to my home, the Margrave's Keep, in the Opal Ward, at your earliest convenience. If possible, please select a guard that is not the goliath from last night; as I have his comfort in mind, I regret to inform you I have no accommodations of his size. Regards, Margrave Brandon Zimmerset of Westruun."

"Holy fuck he does actually want to reward you," Zoe breathed in unbelieving awe. "What do you wanna bet he wouldn't have bothered if we tried to save him as peasants?"

"Seein' as none of us are actual diviners," Jayce huffed as he shoved the letter back into the envelope, "can't say in the slightest. That said, we takin' this bloke up on his offer?"

"Anyone else put off by the fact that he doesn't want the obvious bruiser going in with you all?" Al asked, pointing a thumb at Gauth. "It kind of sounds like he wants to stack the cards in his favor."

"Pfft. I can go," Zoe huffed and crossed her arms. "I could knock over anyone who comes within three feet of you all."

"Zoe," Al said, and everyone took note when his voice took on an uncharacteristically soft tone, "they'll be as bad, or worse, than what your father could do. I don't think you're a good fit for this."

Jonathan jumped in the conversation before anyone else could continue. "Can we please talk about what happened at my house?! You've been avoiding me since that day and, dammit Zoe, I'm worried!"

"John, no! Just, just don't ask!" Zoe clapped her hands over her ears and turned away from them all, her shoulders hiked up high and her feet planted as if she was ready to run. "Just...no. You're- It's not the right time!"

Puffpaw jumped down from the wall and pressed her body into Zoe's shin, complete with her tail wrapped around the calf and a meow of concern. Desperate for relief, Zoe scooped up the familiar and, once again, buried her face in the cat's soft, silky fur.

"Zoe," Jonathan said softly, "we will need to talk about this."

"And we will! Just far, far away from Westruun. Where he can't find you," Zoe mumbled into Puffpaw's fur. She wasn't sure anyone heard her.

"Um, okay," Jayce puffed. That was awkward. "So, while I see Al's point, and knowin' Zoe ain't the Margrave's biggest fan, she's also clearly a monk of the Cobalt Soul, and that's a pretty damn big badge of honor if I got it right. John ain't got the threads to be taken seriously, and Al, you still look shifty as fuck. I vote me 'n Zoe head in, and Dahlia, if you wanna pass, you ain't gotta come along. No one's gonna force ya."

Dahlia swallowed and resettled her bag. "As much as I'd like to sit this one out, I do have information on the assailant. It's not much, but it may be helpful to the investigation; It's better if I come along."

"I still don't like the idea of keeping the bucket of rage and pain outside," Al mumbled.

Gauth burst out laughing at the comparison. "Bucket?! I'm clearly a barrel! Or a brewing keg!"

"Definitely a brewing keg," Zoe giggled. "Those things are huge!"

"Brewing keg of rage and pain," Gauth giggled to himself. "Better than some other names I've had."

"I can only imagine," Jayce said with a pained smile. While he could imagine, he really didn't want to. "So, any objections to the party?"

"Just one," Al said. "What're the rest of us going to do while you're gone? Want us to case the place? And are you going now?"

Jayce pulled out the letter again and scanned it over. "The gentleman pretty much implied he wanted us there as soon as possible. Might not go amiss to go for a lunch outing."

"I'm always up for free food," Al smiled.

"But you won't be there," Jonathan said with a rather strange tension to his voice. Al avoided his hard gaze and instead turned to Jayce.

"Any chance we'll get some party funds for a snack while you're slumming it with the Margrave?" Al asked.

"Snacks come out of your own coin," Jayce said with a smirk as he patted Al's arm. Then he stuffed the letter into a pocket inside his coat and grabbed his sandwich. "Shall we go?"

"Might as well get it over with," Jonathan sighed. He nodded to Puffpaw, and she leapt onto his shoulders and draped herself across his neck. "Margrave's Keep, right? That's practically a block from my old house-"

"Oh bro you should definitely go shopping for me!" Zoe suddenly cut in. Before anyone could object or comment, she grabbed a handful of gold coins and shoved them into her brother's palm. "I'll give you some money and, uh, you should buy herbs! For Dahlia to make more potions! After all, I'm probably gonna need that stuff, right? Probably stuff for balms and bandages too. Those come in kits, right? And while you're at it, I'm definitely going to need a quarterstaff, totally useful during traveling. I'm actually trained in using a bo, so I'd rather get one of those if you can find it-"

"Zoe! What the hell is going on with you?!" Jonathan tried to grab his sister's arm, and to her shock he actually managed to grab her elbow before she could pull away from his reach. "What are you hiding from me?!"

Zoe gritted her teeth and jammed her thumb between his palm and her arm, and then twisted both in opposite directions. Jonathan had no chance to keep his grip and she pulled away, her face steeled and cold.

"We need to handle this business with the Margrave and get the hell out of Westruun, and once we're on the road, I'll tell you." Jonathan opened his mouth, but stopped when Zoe threw up a tense hand and turned her face away, as if she was either expecting a strike, or, for whatever reason, just couldn't look him in the eye as she continued. "Just...trust me, okay? I know I'm an asshole some days, and a crazy bitch on others, but you've got to trust me on this."

Jonathan was clearly seething with restrained anger. His sister, who promised to trust and help him, as he promised to her, was keeping something important from him. He didn't know what, but he did know he was worth more than this. She was treating him like a child.

"Trust you? This obviously has to do with my family, my home, and you won't even tell me anything! What did Father say to you? What did he do? I thought you hated him, and here you are, treating me just like he does!"

Something seemed to snap behind Zoe's eyes as her jaw and fists went as tight as a steel cord stretched to its limit. She glared at her brother and hissed every word. "You take that back."

Jonathan matched her glare with one of his own and crossed his arms in defiance. "I don't see why I should."

Puffpaw's back arched, a throaty growl escaping her and her fur on end, as she clearly prepared to defend her master. The air between the siblings was nearly electric as they tensed and clearly intended the other harm...provided the other moved first.

Zoe caught movement out of the corner of her eye and took that as the signal to strike. Her back foot launched her forward with surprising power, her fist up to strike, when she realized the movement had been Dahlia, who was suddenly in her path.

It was all she could do to prevent the blow from landing, and Zoe crashed into Dahlia with a clumsy stop. Dahlia shuddered from the contact, but helped Zoe stand back up and even brushed her face with a kind and gentle hand.

"Zoe, I know you're angry. I'll talk to you and hear your story, I promise." Dahlia gave Zoe an encouraging smile. "Please step away so I can talk to Jonathan now."

Zoe huffed and threw her hand at Jonathan, over her shoulder. "But he-!"

"Zoe, please," Dahlia said softly, her hand still on Zoe's cheek. "You both were being awful to each other, but even I could tell he crossed a line. I'll talk to him. I promise you'll be heard."

Flustered and her heart pounding, Zoe stomped away from the group and found a tree to climb. It was an old relic of the city, and while it had survived the blight of dragons five decades prior, it had clearly seen better days and had already lost most of its leaves in the autumn chill. She plucked a leaf as she sulked, and she was completely at a loss as to why her heart was thumping so loudly; was it the adrenaline, or Dahlia's touch? She couldn't tell anymore.

Meanwhile, Dahlia turned to Jonathan. "Are you okay?"

Baffled, Jonathan looked between Dahlia and where Zoe had jumped into a nearby tree. "You just said I crossed a line, and you want to know if I'm okay?"

"This is also the second time in an hour I've had to intercede because you 'crossed a line'. I know I haven't known you long, but this feels...off to me." Dahlia paused and pulled at her fingers. "Please talk to me."

Jonathan hesitated, even after Puffpaw leaned her head over to give him a loving bonk to his temple. He glanced over at Al, Gauth, and Jayce, over by the wall.

"Uh, do they...have to be part of this?" Jonathan meekly asked. All the fire from his tantrum was long gone, after seeing Dahlia's soft demeanor in comparison to his own.

Dahlia nodded in understanding and turned to the men on the short stone wall. "All of you, this isn't a play for your entertainment. Go check on Zoe or at the very least give us some space."

They all stepped away toward the tree, even though Gauth had to physically drag Al along, due to his reluctance to leave the drama. Jonathan watched them walk away until he could hear Jayce ask Zoe if she was alright, and then sighed deeply. His head was starting to ache and he pressed the heel of his hand into his temple.

"Jonathan," Dahlia said gently, and she placed a hand on his cheek, "what's going on?"

Jonathan's face went warm under her touch, and she nearly flinched away. She forgot, again, that she wasn't wearing her gloves. Even so, she felt his face move at first in shock, and then soften in embarrassment and shame. Jonathan leaned his head into her hand, and then placed his own over hers.

Her skin prickled painfully but she gritted her teeth and pushed through. She needed to be there for her friend, and being able to tell his expression would help her speak to him.

"I just...hate being shut out. After being disowned, the only person I had left, the only one I could talk to, was Zoe...and now she won't talk to me." Jonathan nearly choked at the thought. "She's never done this before, and I don't understand why."

Dahlia thought over the conversations she had been privy to, and the state Zoe had been in yesterday when she returned from the Riddle Estate. She couldn't tell for sure, especially without talking to Zoe first, but Dahlia felt she had a good guess as to why Jonathan's sister had been so deflective.

"John, she wants to tell you, but she's afraid your loyalty to your family is stronger than your shared friendship." Dahlia paused as she studied the movements of Jonathan's face. He had lifted his gaze toward hers, and his visage seemed to be more neutral. He was listening. "You feel like an outsider now, but Zoe has likely always felt that way in your family. I think she's afraid that if she tells you what she knows, you'll strike out and destroy the one thing she truly cherishes."

Jonathan felt absolutely slimy for how he had treated his sister. He should have just trusted her. Despite the desire for her tender touch to continue, Jonathan gently lifted Dahlia's hand from his face and turned away.

"I...need a minute, Dahlia. Thank you, for your words," Jonathan said, barely audible as exhaustion clearly slumped his shoulders and caused Puffpaw to suddenly reposition herself. "Please tell Zoe I'm sorry, and I'll tell her myself when you all get back from the Margrave's Keep."

Dahlia offered a kind smile and promised to do just that before she turned to find Zoe. From the sound of things, she was still in that nearby tree, as Jayce was clearly calling up to her.

"So, ya gonna come down?" Jayce smirked, his arms crossed.

"You gonna catch me?" Zoe taunted.

"I thought you made it pretty clear you could land on a pin," Jayce teased.

Zoe smirked. "With all of you right below me, landing on a pinhead will be no problem!"

"I don't know if I should be mad or impressed," Al huffed.

"That's enough," Dahlia chided, but she couldn't keep the smile out of her voice. "Zoe, please come down. It's your turn."

Zoe immediately tensed and looked away. "What if I don't want to? This tree is comfy."

Dahlia sighed. "Zoe, I promised I'd hear your side of the story. I want to fulfill that promise. Please come down."

Zoe suddenly thought of something and swung over the branch, so she was hanging upside down by her knees. To Dahlia's immense surprise, the monk was now just a few inches from her face.

"Before I do, why'd you talk to John first? He started it!" Zoe huffed. "Shouldn't the wronged party get first say in this stuff?"

Dahlia backed up a step with a nervous smile. "There's several reasons, actually. You just admitted you can't sit still, so giving you space seemed the better option for letting you calm down; I had a good idea of your standpoint, but not of Jonathan's; and I didn't want to accidentally tell him anything, in case you let it slip while we talked."

Zoe was surprised and her face flushed in embarrassment. "Oh. I, uh, thought you were playing favorites."

Dahlia giggled. "Zoe, we met a couple days ago. I don't think that's long enough to establish favorites."

"You'd be surprised…" Zoe grunted as she curled herself back up to the branch before hopping down safely. She dusted herself off as she stood up straight. "So, uh, mind if we walk while we talk? Give the boys time to regroup and stuff?"

"That...should be fine," Dahlia nodded, although she did hesitate. "I apologize in advance if I misinterpret your tone of voice."

"Uh, okay?" Zoe said, clearly confused. "Why is that?"

Dahlia scratched at her arm, just below her wrist, and quickly corrected to pull at her fingertips. "Well, I'm blind. I can't see your facial expressions. Normally, it's not a problem, but for, um, more intense conversations, I prefer having a hand on the side of your face so I can feel your face move, just to avoid accidental assumptions."

"So that's what that was for!" Zoe beamed, impressed. "I thought it was weird that you just suddenly touched my face. Well, I'll make sure my tone is really obvious then. That way there won't be any mistakes."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Dahlia smiled. "You're one of the more vocally expressive people I know. Can I have your arm? That will take out the guesswork of walking."

The arm was gladly offered, and the two women began a short jaunt up the street as Jonathan stepped over to rejoin the group that remained.

Al crossed his arms and sighed as he watched them leave. "I don't get her."

Jayce smirked and wiped crumbs from his recently finished sandwich off his chin. "Which one?"

Al lightly smacked Jayce's arm in frustration. "Dahlia, obviously. Zoe's easy enough to read, but Dahlia is just...strange."

Gauth cleared his throat in warning.

"That! See? That!" Al said forcefully while indicating Gauth. "We know barely anything about her, and she's got us wrapped around her fingers. All because she's got some curse that causes tantrums-" Jayce, Gauth, and Jonathan all tensed, ready to cut in, but Al continued. "-and I'm complicit! Does she have some magical hold on us? What's her last name? Who's her family? Where does she come from? Who-"

"Al!" Jayce snapped, clearly at the end of his patience. "You got answers for any of that for us?" He motioned between himself, Jonathan, and Gauth. "Why's it that big a deal?"

Al turned to Jayce with a suspicious look. "Because it's a sign of trust, and yes, except for you."

The tone of the conversation immediately shifted as Jonathan and Gauth joined Al in scrutinizing Jayce. Jayce instantly felt his stomach drop and shifted onto his back foot, in case he needed to make a break for it, and he began reciting the steps he had been taught for surviving a public accusation. Adrenaline surged through his veins as his heart started pounding in his ears.

Despite this, he put on a smile. With his empty hands open and held up defensively, he fought hard to speak evenly and calmly.

"Look, I know I ain't been forthright in sharin' my past, but let's change that now." He motioned to the three of them. "I'll answer any question ya got. To borrow from Zoe, I'm an open book."

Al was surprised. He didn't expect Jayce to cave that quickly. He was so excited to ask questions that he completely missed Jonathan's look of concern.

"Okay, so, where are you from? And don't say 'the sea'." Al huffed. "I mean where were you born?"

Jayce, still completely tense, managed to give the impression that he was relieved. "Can't honestly say. Earliest memory I got is in Stilben, or near it, anyway. Lagoon Sanctuary for Wayward Children, north, up the coast from the town."

Al nodded. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me at all."

Jayce's face twitched in a growl, but again, he gave the outward demeanor of a friendly and calm individual. "Only way I was wayward was due to bein' abandoned by whatever creature happened to sire me. The den mother made it damn clear I was a bundle of rags on the doorstep before I ever had a name."

"But...why?" Gauth said softly, his eyes wide in shock and disbelief. "Every child is precious; why would anyone abandon a child?"

Al pinched the bridge of his nose. "Gauth, not everyone lives in a small band of people who are practically all family. Sometimes, mistakes happen, and those mistakes can occasionally be kids."

Jayce wanted to believe he didn't care about the idea of being a "mistake", as it was all far in a past he actively tried to forget. Even so, Al's comments struck him deeply, and he was still wound up from all his friends turning on him. While Al and Gauth's conversation distracted those present, he turned on his heel and walked away, down the street toward a public well. He needed to disengage from the seemingly hostile situation, and refilling his canteen would be a good excuse anyway.

Evidently, Gauth's confusion caused delays, because Jayce managed to retrieve the well bucket and dunk in his canteen before he checked on them. They had just started looking for him, and apparently they assumed he had followed Dahlia and Zoe up the street. He shook his head in annoyance. Al could be such an irksome person.

"Hi, mister!"

Jayce looked at a small child, clearly less than a decade old, with a bit of a pudge and powder blue eyes staring back at him. Sun-bleached, nearly silver hair framed a cherubic face and an enthusiastic, slightly off-putting smile as this little boy literally looked up to him.

Jayce quickly checked around him for another adult that may claim the child, or perhaps be the one who gained his attention. There was no such target in sight. Tense and suspicious, Jayce looked at the child.

"Uh, yeah? You need somethin'?"

The little boy beamed brightly and pointed to the bucket. "Can I have da bucket? I wanna drinka water."

Surprised, Jayce almost fumbled as he grabbed the bucket for the kid. "Oh! Yeah, uh, sure. Here." He held it out for the boy to dip in his hands, rather than tip it for the kid to drink. The boy excitedly did just that, multiple times, to drink his fill of the chilly, crisp well water.

The boy looked up at Jayce again. "Thank you, mister! You're really kind!"

Jayce shrugged and dropped the bucket and chain back into the well. "Ain't a problem. Not like it was outta my way or-"

"Momma says the Margrave hates you."

Jayce went stiff and looked at the little boy in shock. That smile, childish and innocent, began to look more duplicitous than was natural for even the most mischievous of children.

The boy giggled and pointed at Jayce's face. "Momma says he hates all greenskins! Especially with yellow eyes! Daddy says you're all gonna die!"

Jayce almost recoiled in shock. How could that boy smile through all of that? Did he think it was funny? "What the hell, kid?! I'm a person! I ain't some beast to be put down like, uh, a rabid dog!"

The boy beamed and even tilted his head to the side, his hands clasped behind him like he was asking for a cookie before dinner. "I know. Momma and Daddy don't like greenskins, but Unca Buddy does. He told me not to tell Momma and Daddy that the Margrave is evil, like a bad guy, and he cheats a lot. No one can prove it though. Like the boogeyman!" The boy giggled. "The Margrave is a boogeyman! I bet if they could prove it, they'd chase him away!"

Jayce stammered and stumbled over a jumble of several thoughts that fought for precedence. Before he could make sense of any of it, the little boy chirped, "Bye, mister!" with a strange giggle to his voice, and then ducked into the smattering of people behind him. Despite Jayce's best efforts to track him and possibly spot the parents, the boy immediately disappeared in the confusion of the light Miresen morning crowd.

Dumbfounded, Jayce was still staring at the spot where he lost the boy when Al, Gauth, and Jonathan finally caught up to him.

"Jayce! Why'd you walk off? I wasn't done asking you questions!" Al yelled, obviously upset. He opened his mouth to speak but Jayce shot him a glare that clearly lacked any patience and Al found himself suddenly mute.

Then he paused. Jayce's look softened, and his eyes fell. Talking back was bad. Very bad. He wasn't safe yet.

"Just wasn't expecting to drag up my past, Al. Don't take it to heart. Needed to refill this thing anyway," Jayce said weakly, holding up the canteen. "Then had some little brat tell me his folks were gonna put me down like some fuckin' dog, just for bein' in town. Real spot of sunshine."

"Wow. He literally said that to your face?" Jonathan asked. Puffpaw lept off Jonathan's shoulder and jogged over to Jayce to rub her body against his shin. She wasn't a dog, but Jayce scooped her up anyway for the comfort of her purrs.

Jayce nodded as he turned to Jonathan. "Ain't the worst thing a tyke's said to me. Kids say the damnedest things, ya know?"

Gauth nodded, but still looked upset on Jayce's behalf. "That does not excuse bad parent raising. What does this boy look like? I can speak with his parents."

Jayce shook his head. "That'd be worse. He was just parroting his folks; practically told me as much. Ain't the kid's fault he's bein' raised by putrid assholes."

There was a pause as the others all looked at Jayce. Jonathan cleared his throat and looked confused and a little embarrassed, but he asked anyway.

"Jayce, what's 'parroting'?"

Jayce sighed. At least explaining would pass the time.

xXxXx

By the time Dahlia and Zoe had returned, tempers had cooled, and the siblings exchanged heartfelt apologies. As much as Jonathan disliked being kept in the dark, he had decided to trust Zoe, and so made no fuss when he was asked, again, to go shopping with Al and Gauth in the nearby Tradesmeet Square. Rather than shop for a weapon, Gauth handed Zoe the collapsible quarterstaff from his collection, both as a reward for cooling her temper and as a promise that he would keep her brother safe. During that conversation, Dahlia and Al once again swapped her coat for his cloak, which completed her disguise. Dahlia was reluctant to take off her official robe, but she understood the need, and made no comment.

As they walked to the Opal Ward, Zoe, Dahlia, and Jayce took a moment to duck into an alley, so Jayce could apply the visage of "Lord Hamath Mesalt" with his spell. Dahlia instinctively started counting the minutes, and even though it was the work of a literal second, Zoe had pulled out the quarterstaff and yanked the pieces apart, so the inside spring would snap them into a single staff, rather than three loosely attached rods.

"This thing is so fucking cool," Zoe giggled. "It's practically two weapons in one!"

Jayce nodded in agreement. "Gotta admit, I didn't figure he was serious when he first mentioned that thing. Now that I see it, I ain't surprised he wanted to keep it."

Dahlia twitched. "Jayce, now that you're disguised, it would be better to adopt your false speech. We don't know who might be listening."

Jayce nodded out of habit and instantly shifted his accent. "That is more than fair, Lady Dahlia. Will you take my arm as we go?"

"That includes using my false name…" Dahlia sighed.

Zoe giggled. "For someone who can lie through his teeth, that was a pretty simple mistake."

"I simply prefer her real name to a false one," Jayce huffed. He was a little sad Dahlia didn't take his arm, but he understood she wanted to stay under the cloak. Once again, her hand was on the back of his upper arm as they began to walk.

"Suit yourself," Zoe said with a childish smile. She spun the quarterstaff with expert precision to test its weight and give. "You know, considering this comes apart, I'm surprised it feels so solid."

Jayce barely suppressed a smirk. "And are you going to collapse it, when we arrive at the Margrave's Keep?"

Zoe stopped dead in her tracks. "...I never asked Gauth how to do that."

Dahlia spat a restrained laugh into her fist as she turned into Jayce's shoulder to hide her smile. Jayce finally allowed himself a smug grin as they continued to walk through the Opal Ward.

The rest of their walking included Jayce describing the local landmarks to Dahlia, and Zoe grunting with frustration as she tried again and again to pull the conjoined pieces of the quarterstaff apart. As they turned the corner to the large square that housed the Black King, Zoe finally breathed a sigh of relief as she had finally found the release switch on the center segment.

The Black King was a formidable figure that seemed impossibly tall, even despite its distance. The onyx statue of Palest Westruun, brandishing a spear of black glass and astride a steed that sparkled like the midnight heavens, seemed untouched by time. As Jayce's eyes became drawn to the statue's face, he felt a chill up his spine, as if the statue was indeed threatening him, should he even dare to harm those who called Westruun home.

"Hey-" Jayce cleared his throat and got back into character. "Madam Zoe, tell me; when you look upon the statue of your founder, does nothing strike you?"

Zoe glanced over at the statue. "Uh, it's pretty? Why?"

Jayce shrugged. "You had mentioned it was potentially enchanted, and I was curious."

"I could probably smell if it is," Dahlia said quietly.

"Wait, what?" Zoe smirked. "You can smell magic?"

Dahlia's eyes fell to the floor, as if she was flustered. "It's...not exact, and I have to be really close, but magic interacts with all the different planes of existence, and so they bring a little scent of that with them when they're used. Like, um, Jonathan's magic." She had considered mentioning Jayce, but she had also remembered how he wanted to keep his demon problems between them. "It's musky, like a mix of peat moss and vinegar, with something spicy like black pepper on the end of it. It reminds me of a lab. I also once knew someone with druidic magic, and his magic smelled like dark earth and pine sap, with a hint of bruised grass."

"That's...honestly amazing!" Zoe gasped. "How close do you have to be?"

"I have to practically bury my face in it," Dahlia mumbled, clearly embarrassed. "It's not really that useful."

"But, just...wow. I never thought magic could smell!" Zoe beamed. "Beyond John's spell, anyway." She immediately grimaced. "I hate that cantrip so much."

"I understand your position in a far too personal way," Jayce sighed. "So, where is the Margrave's Keep?"

Zoe gestured limply off to the left. "There, right across from the Black King, with the big dumb fence and the building that look like it came out of a bread mold."

Jayce fought the urge to laugh and followed her lead. The building was, indeed, quite plain compared to the impressive mansions of the nobility on that street, as it had forgone decoration and embellishments for straight, orderly brick walls and vertical bars of wrought iron for a fence, although it seemed to be more of a palisade. Even the roof, on top of the second story of the squared off building, was made of simple wooden planks, rather than the clay shingles that seemed popular with the elite. Surprisingly, there was a sizable front courtyard, but rather than the typical decorations of gardens or fountains, several platoons of Shields of the Plains were practicing field maneuvers under the watchful eyes of their commanders.

Upon reaching the gate, Jayce identified himself to a well decorated Shield, and the three of them were immediately escorted past the guards in training to the simple stone steps of the Keep. They were handed off to a second guard, who, while clearly decorated for valor and acts of service by his medals, was not armored, and instead wore a crisp and clean officer's suit. Zoe took the moment of passing through the nearly bare-bones halls to try and memorize the building's layout, as she knew this was an opportunity that may serve her well. Jayce, on the other hand, felt as if he had walked right into a lion's den, with the suspicion he may be on the next meal's menu.

Dahlia was listening.

The officer brought them to an office at the back of the building, and announced Lord Hamath Mesalt of Emon and his companion, Lady Arieris, to the contents of the room. Jayce appreciated the reminder of his cover, as he had been somewhat rattled by the sheer number of guards in the front yard as they entered. However, trouble began when Zoe was barred from entering the office.

"Oh come on! I'm their guard!" Zoe yelled. "Let me in!"

"Ma'am, I assure you, there is no safer place in Westruun," the officer said calmly. His black hair and dark eyes made it difficult to follow his gaze, and it sent a chill up Jayce's spine. "Only the lord and lady are permitted to enter at this time."

"No offense, sir," Zoe hissed with all the venom she could muster, "but the last time my lady was in the company of your guard, she nearly died. I'm going in!"

Jayce nodded and took a step toward her. "She is correct, sir. I have employed her abilities as it was requested that I leave behind my giant, and I am concerned for our safety while in this city. It is clear there are machinations at play that do not appreciate our attempt to meddle."

The officer paused for a moment, and with a clear grimace on his face, turned to the open door and announced, "And escort," before bowing and gesturing for them to enter the room.

With the look of the vindicated, Zoe shot the officer a smirk as she passed and placed herself solidly behind the well stuffed chairs offered for Jayce and Dahlia. The quarterstaff, collapsed, was stuffed into the back of her hip sash, and it was a strange enough sight that no one asked her to remove the rods before entering. She felt justified in keeping it on her person now.

The room had large windows on the back wall that looked over the training grounds behind the Margrave's Keep, where it was clear the more intense training was being held. Equestrian skills, archery, and the mastery of polearms were all visible from their seats, despite being interrupted by a large table, which was covered with papers, quills, and a very detailed map of both Westruun and the Underwalk Ward, and the Margrave himself, who was practically illuminated by the mid-morning light behind him. Now that the little mishap at the door had been handled, he nodded to three other officers in the room, who tidied the papers on the table and then took a measured step back, so he could speak directly to the guests.

"Lord Hamath Mesalt, Lady Arieris, welcome," Margrave Zimmerset said with a dry and lifeless smile. "I trust your companion is feeling better?"

Jayce nodded and put on his most trustworthy face. "Indeed she is, good sir. I had sent some hired hands for an antidote this morning, but it proved unnecessary, as one of my personal guard was able to find a cleric with the talents required to save her life."

"What say you, Lady Arieris? Are you well?" Margrave Zimmerset asked, as he slowly stepped around the table. Dahlia instantly felt the hairs on her neck stand up. She could tell the margrave was suspicious of them.

Dahlia nodded. "Yes, sir. It was truly a miracle we were able to find a cleric so quickly. I am alive because of him. Due to his efforts, I have made a complete recovery."

The margrave paused halfway down the table and brushed his hand against the undercity map, which caused it to shift slightly. Dahlia could hear the parchment slide across the wooden table, and she had a rough idea of the map's dimensions.

"Last night, at the auction, the two of you came to my aide. I am grateful for that. Obviously, I have some questions pertaining to the investigation that is to follow." Again, the margrave paused, and locked eyes with Jayce, as Dahlia could not match his gaze. Now that he had a good chance to look the man over, Jayce was surprised a man who was likely in his eighties looked to be about fifty, and barely had any visible grey hair.

"I remember you had said 'I can't lie.' I find this curious, my lady. Explain this to me."

Jayce and Zoe immediately went tense. If Margrave Zimmerset directed all his questions to Dahlia, their cover could easily be blown.

"Sir, I do not see the relevance of that to your investigation," Jayce cut in, his hands open and non threatening. "She-"

"Will answer me, 'Lord Hamath'." The margrave shot Jayce a dangerous look, but then turned his eyes back to Dahlia. "I will decide what is pertinent to my investigation of my own attempted assassination. Lady Arieris, explain."

Dahlia gulped back her nervousness. "I...have made a vow. One of the conditions is I speak no lie."

The margrave looked curious. "One of the conditions? What is the benefit?"

"Divine protection, Margrave Zimmerset," Dahlia answered, although her face fell in a tired expression. "Your assassin is not the first enemy I have gained."

"Perhaps your divine protection was truly at play last night," the margrave said quietly. Dahlia wasn't sure he believed her. "Now, it was clear you were aware of the assassin. How."

It was obviously a command to speak. Jayce wanted to interrupt, but it was easy to tell they were already on thin ice. As much as he wanted to speak for her, he had to sit back and trust her.

"I could smell him, or her, sir," Dahlia replied. "They were wearing a floral scent, but the mixture was closer to medicinal herbs than decorative ones. There was bee balm, lavender, catmint...I believe there was also willow, and arrowroot… I know the scent was more complex than that, but the stink of the poison was too strong to identify anything else with clarity."

There was an uncomfortable pause in the room as the three officers all exchanged a look of awe and disbelief. The margrave looked frustrated and advanced on Dahlia.

"That means nothing to me! You've described the scent of someone who took a nap in an overgrown gutter!" he spat. He slammed his fist down on the table and glared at her. "Give me something I can use!"

"I have," Dahlia said calmly. She stood up and turned toward him. "The scent I described to you was clear, despite the acrid smell of the purple worm mucus clearly meant for you. Because it was so clear, I am inclined to believe the assassin was in regular proximity to the herbs I described, and in fresh supply, as the scent of flowering herbs, such as bee balm and lavender, are less pronounced once dried. As such, the assassin works regularly with such herbs, likely in a garden nursery, and clearly has access to black market poisons. Considering both these points, it would be far more likely the assassin works in an educational capacity, than just a random for-hire from the city's underbelly, as even black market poisons are occasionally obtained for study, and they were reluctant to use up their current supply."

The room went deathly quiet as those present watched a blind woman stare down the Margrave of Westruun. Zoe tried very hard to keep her glee to herself, and thankfully no one seemed to notice.

The margrave looked between Dahlia and Jayce, clearly trying to discern something from their faces alone. His eyes went dangerously dark as he looked them over.

"You expect me to believe the word of a few random people underneath a magical guise?" he hissed. Again, he advanced a few steps toward Dahlia, and this time stood only a foot from her. Jayce instinctively jumped to his feet to get between them, but Dahlia lifted a hand to stop him.

"Of course not, sir. We are commoners, and were concerned you would not listen to us if we approached you as we were. I am Dahlia the Blind, and my companion is Jayce. Our escort is truly a monk of the Cobalt Soul, who is known as Zoe. It was clear you suspected as much as soon as we entered the room," Dahlia said simply. "Jayce, if you would please drop your disguise; It's outlived its usefulness at this point."

Dahlia pulled back the hood of the cloak and uncliped the broach, but rather than let it fall, she gathered and quickly folded it. Jayce, on the other hand, immediately thought back to that strange little boy at the well, and thought quickly. With a pat of his hand to his chest, he did not drop his spell, but instead cast another Mask of Many Faces to simply change his skin to the color of toasted coconut, and his eyes to a human blue.

"She's bein' honest, sir," Jayce said as earnestly as he could. "Just gettin' into the World Market was a stretch for us; we couldn't risk you passin' us off for dressing like this."

The margrave didn't seem to be listening. He was looking rather intently at Dahlia, who could not return his gaze. Even though Dahlia could not see his eyes roving over her, her skin prickled from the general aura the margrave seemed to put off. She felt as if she was in danger, but could not accurately say why, and so held her tongue.

After another moment of uncomfortable silence, the margrave waved his hand and turned away. "Pay them fifty gold for the information."

"Yes sir," an officer to his left said quickly.

"Pfft. Seriously? Is your life worth so little?" Zoe hissed under her breath. Jayce quickly shot her a desperate look that begged her to keep her mouth shut until they were safely outside, and Zoe responded with an annoyed eye roll. She did, however, keep her mouth shut until they were handed the money and escorted back out to the streets.

After they left and the room was emptied, the margrave stood at the window and watched the more elite of his troops practice their skills. The dark haired officer from before, called forth by a previous spoken agreement between them, stood behind the margrave and to his right, as protocol demanded.

The officer bowed with a hand to his chest. "You were right, sir; they were not nobility from Emon. How did you know?"

"Too many big words," Margrave Zimmerset hissed. "Only pretenders try to sound so pretentious. Speak with Captain Easchert for the meeting transcript; he will have her entire description of the assassin. If the culprit truly was from the Academy, then those damned protesters are escalating again, and we can't afford that with the Ravagers pounding at the city gates."

"As you say, sir," the officer replied with another bow. He paused, as he had not been dismissed, and watched the margrave clasp his hands behind his back and breathe in deeply, as if the window was open to the chill air of autumn.

"And follow them."

The officer's eyebrow peeked in curiosity. "Sir? You said it yourself; they were common riff raff."

"Yes, but my preferred vintage is getting low, and that woman is of interest to me." The margrave seemed to sigh, as if he regretted his words before they were even said. "Find out where they are staying tonight, and bring the blind one here. I'd like to have a more private conversation with her."

"With all due respect, Margrave Zimmerset," the officer said cautiously, "this seems too soon."

"I am well aware, Colonel Petersen," the margrave said heavily, his shoulders slumped. "Unfortunately, time waits for no man."

The magrave pulled off one of his gloves and looked at the liverspots that peppered the back of his wrinkled hand. "Even if you find a way to cheat."

xXxXx

"This is bullshit! We got more money looking down a damn hole in a fucking field!"

Zoe kicked a nearby wad of trash into the thick of the Tradesmeet crowd, which was not appreciated by the passerby it happened to hit. Zoe flicked him off and turned back to Jayce, who was bracing Dahlia, who had gone paler than usual.

Zoe continued to seeth. "He's an asshole and a prick and a, a-"

"Rough-hewn pusilianimous wretch birthed from an unprincipled goat's anus?" Jayce huffed. He just wanted Zoe to stop talking.

The effect was, unfortunately, the opposite. Zoe turned to him with the star-gleaming eyes of the awed. "That. Was. Brilliant! Teach me your ways, oh master!"

Jayce dragged a hand down his face and looked back at Dahlia, who was panting and shaking. She looked terrified, and he couldn't blame her. Somehow, she had kept her decorum in the room of a man who could have easily killed them and then successfully blamed it on the weather.

"Just one of many curses you pick up as a sailor," Jayce grumbled. "Speaking of, Zoe, yer a monk; you got some sort of meditation thing to calm her down? I'm worried her curse is gonna kick in."

"Oh! Shit, good point!" Zoe hopped over and planted herself in front of Dahlia. "We can't have that, not when you put that fucker in his place and you really need to exercise those bragging rights!" She added a wink, which only got Jayce to smirk. "Dahlia, I want you to breathe with me, okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Dahlia shivered. "I just...need to breathe, and I'll...I'll be okay-"

"Yep, and I'm gonna help you do that," Zoe smiled. "I'm going to do the counting, and you're going to do the breathing. Just do what I say, and trust me, it really is that easy. In, one, two, three, four, hold, two, three, four…"

With an uncharacteristic amount of patience, Zoe talked Dahlia through several rounds of box breathing, in which she breathed in, held, breathed out, and held her breath again for four counts each. After the third round, Dahlia felt her heartbeat begin to calm, and she could once again breathe without shuddering.

"Thank you," Dahlia gasped in relief. "I felt like...my chest was in a vice."

"It shouldn't be," Zoe said with an obvious smile in her tone. "You were amazing! I would have killed to be able to shut down the margrave like that! I'm honored I even got to sit in!"

"Well, I do have a low tolerance for stupid," Dahlia mumbled, albeit with a smile of her own.

Zoe burst out laughing. "That makes it even better!"

Jayce finally allowed himself to relax, just for a moment, but then looked over his shoulder. Something wasn't sitting right with him, but it was nothing more than a gut feeling. Was he just imagining things, being paranoid because of who he was? His simplified disguise was still up, so it couldn't have been the usual stares of people passing by, but he couldn't deny he was still on edge.

Maybe it was just a habit and he should ignore it.

"And Jayce, that's still just fucking weird."

Jayce snapped back to his two companions, of which Zoe looked put off and Dahlia looked confused.

"What?" Dahlia asked.

"Oh, right, blind," Zoe said, flustered. "Uh, Jayce changed his skin color, rather than just drop the disguise. It's weird."

"Just...had a hunch the margrave wouldn't appreciate the usual hue," Jayce sighed. He tapped a hand to his chest and dismissed the spell. "Better?"

Zoe nodded with a smile. "Much. So, um, where are we meeting the others again?" She hopped up on a nearby barrel and started looking over the crowd to hopefully spot someone she knew among them. With his height, Gauth would easily stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd of humans and the occasional group of gnomes.

"Right here," Jayce said as he motioned to the nearby market square. "Unless this ain't the Dale Mews Market?"

"Oh! Right, yeah, this is that," Zoe laughed nervously, clearly hoping to breeze right by her own blunder. "It's kind of big though. I mean, what we did took an hour, right?"

Jayce looked at Dahlia expectantly and was not disappointed when she spouted their endeavour took approximately one hour and thirty-two minutes.

Zoe sat hard on the barrel and looked at Dahlia in shock. "It's still damn crazy that you can do that."

"Habit," Dahlia mumbled shyly as she turned away.

"So we've been out and about for an hour and a half, ish," Jayce said with a proud smile, "so yer right, that's plenty of time for yer brother an' the others to get here. If they ain't here now, they will be soon, so we just gotta wait."

"Ugh, I thought adventuring was supposed to be exciting!" Zoe whined. "I did plenty of waiting at the Soul."

"You also got to sit in on my dressing down of the margrave," Dahlia said sagely. "It's a trade off."

"Yeah, fine, fair," Zoe grumbled. She scanned the crowd again, but then stood up and shaded her eyes from the nearly peaked sun. "Wait...ah! There they are! J-!" She slapped a hand over her mouth and glanced at Dahlia and Jayce, who both gave her a look that they had clearly noticed the slip up. She winced but turned back to the crowd and started waving her arms. "Gauth! Gauth! We're over here!"

Their goliath friend, who was an obvious head and shoulders over the crowd, clearly noticed Zoe's display and talked to the other, unseen companions before he made his way over. As was typical for someone of his stature, only the truly oblivious did not dodge out of his path as he walked through them.

Zoe hopped down from the barrel and practically leaped at her brother, who, this time, was prepared and returned the hug as well as he could, even though he barely kept his footing.

"How did the meeting with the margrave go?" Jonathan asked before Zoe could even open her mouth. She responded by excitedly chattering about the epic take down of the margrave, painted in a way to make the margrave seem like a simpering idiot at the mercy of Dahlia's wrath. It was a little too facetious to be taken seriously, but the companions enjoyed it.

"Oh come on. Jayce, tell us what really happened," Al snickered. "I have a hard time believing our little mouse talked down a lion."

"Actually, that part was completely true," Jayce smirked. "He called her useless, she bit off his ass with a damn impressive display of her memory and talents. Now, he ain't whimperin' in a corner, but I'd bet my life he's workin' on her lead as we speak."

"You know how she's got a low tolerance for stupid," Zoe giggled as she nudged her brother with her elbow. Jonathan rolled his eyes, but he was still very impressed.

Al turned toward Dahlia with disbelief. "Are they pulling my leg?"

"Actually, no," Dahlia said with a weak smile as she gripped at her arm. "And before you ask anything else, can I please have my coat back? It's cold."

With obvious relief from the two of them, Al and Dahlia switched outerwear, and Dahlia shrunk into her coat like it was a security blanket. Gauth would have commented, but Al was doing something incredibly similar and he thought the comparison was amusing.

"Now that that's done, how was shopping?" Jayce asked and casually crossed his arms. With the rest of the team back, he finally felt safe again.

"Not too great," Jonathan sighed. "We only found a single health potion, but we got the components for two more. That took up…" He did some quick mental math. "Seventy-five gold."

"Poor guy nearly had a heart attack," Al snickered.

"Excuse me! I spent a whole year without-"

"Yeah yeah, we got it," Jayce cut in, clearly more to pacify the fighting than because he was annoyed. He shot Al a glare, just to make it extra clear. "You want that in gold, right?"

"Huh?" Jonathan was surprised. He hadn't expected that.

"Potions come out of the party funds," Jayce said with a shrug. "So, you want gold? Pretty sure that's all I got in that amount…" He checked the Pouch of Infinite Wealth on his hip under his coat, but due to the magic on it, the pouch looked completely empty when he opened it. He had to physically stop himself from panicking as he remembered the rules of the enchantment.

"Uh, yeah, gold's fine," Jonathan said weakly, clearly dazed. He quickly recovered and shoved the money in a pouch of his own the second it was in his hands.

"Speaking of money, how much was the margrave's reward?" Al asked.

"Fifty gold," Zoe growled with a clear venom in her voice.

"You're fucking kidding. That little?!" Al gasped. "Please tell me that's per person!"

"Nope. Total," Zoe hissed.

The group was quiet in shock or contemplation for a moment, until Gauth tapped Al on the shoulder and asked, "That's bad, right?"

"Of course it's bad!" Al yelled. "That's fucking cheap, considering what we went through! Hells, that wasn't even worth half our time!"

"Jayce had a rather inspired name for the margrave," Zoe giggled. "What was it again?"

"It's bad enough I said that once around sensitive ears," Jayce huffed, his arms crossed to state the finality of his decision. "I ain't doin' that again."

"Oof. That bad, huh?" Al asked. "I bet Dahlia could quote it verbatim. So, Dahlia, what was it?"

Dahlia turned red and spun away, instinctively pulling her hood over her head. "I can't repeat it! It's vulgar!"

"She was the sensitive ears, you idiot!" Jayce yelled with a smack to Al's arm.

"I just want to know what you said!" Al huffed, clearly insulted. How could they be mad? He was just curious.

"Wait wait! Shut up! All of you!" Dahlia yelped, her hand shooting out for Jayce's arm as she yanked down the hood. Shocked, they all held their tongues and watched her curiously as she clearly listened to the world around her.

She turned to them with a look of panic. "Someone's screaming for help, down the street! I can barely hear them, but they sound desperate!"

"Point the way," Jayce said simply as he grabbed her elbow with clear determination. She pointed down the street and Jayce immediately began rushing through the crowd, closely followed by the rest of the team. It took them nearly a full minute of shoving their way through to finally hear a male voice begging for assistance, but not for himself. He was begging for his wife.

Dahlia recognized the voice before they were even close enough to see the commotion.

"It's Sir Karmeros!"

Jayce turned the corner to an alleyway and came to a sudden stop. Caril Karmeros, in nothing but a simple tunic and loose-fitting pants, was screaming for help as two Shields of the Plains restrained him away from the city street.

"You're disturbing the peace!" one of the guards yelled as he fought to hold on to Caril's arms behind him and drag him farther into the alley.

Jayce had to stop this and didn't hesitate. "Hey!"

The guards didn't even pause as the second one slammed the hilt of his sword into Caril's stomach. His demon half did him no favors, as Caril folded across the strike and gasped in pain.

"You will stop!"

The roared command finally caught the attention of the guards, who looked up to see Jayce, framed in oily blue flame and a wicked blade at his side, who was clearly displeased by their actions and flanked by enough bodies to easily outnumber the Shields who were present. Jayce lifted the blade and pointed at the two men in armor.

"You will stop," he hissed, the flames hungrily licking the blade, "you will release him, and you will walk away. Do anything less, and I'll sheathe my blade in your bowels."

Both Shields had a look of defiance, but it was clear the numbers were against them. One spat in their direction, but then both took their leave, deeper into the alleyway.

Dahlia immediately rushed forward and scrambled to find Caril, who had collapsed to the floor.

"Sir! Sir, are you alright? You sounded hurt-"

Caril snapped up and grabbed Dahlia's arms, his face contorted in desperation. "Please! You have to help my wife! She can't breathe! I could lose her! I could lose them both! Please!"

Dahlia's face immediately hardened into that of the medical professional. "Is she still at the Illustrious Artiste?"

"Yes! Please! No one else will help me!" Caril begged.

Dahlia nodded and turned to Gauth. "Gauth, lead the way. Zoe, help him walk if he needs it. Jayce, please lead me."

"You got it," Zoe chirped, a little overwhelmed. Who was this guy and why were they randomly helping some tiefling? Even so, she rushed to his side, as Dahlia's demeanor made it clear this was an emergency.

Gauth led the way with vigor, and the people ahead rushed out of the way like the parting of a mighty sea. The rest of them followed with haste, and in quick time, they arrived at Caril's shop. In just a moment, Caril and Dahlia disappeared upstairs, and the others were left behind in the store's showroom.

"So… um," Zoe huffed, clearly uncomfortable as she glanced around the shop. "Why are we here…?"

Jayce sighed as there was finally a moment to catch their breath. "The owner here is that man, Caril Karmeros. His wife...fuck can't remember her name… She's pregnant with their first, and last time we were in, she was complainin' of chest pain. Asked Dahlia for an opinion." Jayce glanced at the doorway to the stairs. "She suggested goin' to their midwife, but I guess that didn't work out."

"Well, considering Dahlia knows what she's doing," Al smiled as he rubbed his hands together, "she'll probably be thorough, and that'll take a while. Should we shop-?"

Gauth dropped a heavy hand on Al's shoulder. "No. That man may lose his wife and child. You will not add to his grief."

"Point taken," Al said shakily as he tried, and failed, to remove Gauth's hand. "That said, how long are we going to wait here?"

"Until she's done," Jayce sighed. He leaned against the wall next to the doorway. "Sir Karmeros is one of the good ones. Even if there's no pay, we're stayin'."

"Are you serious? We already got stiffed once today!" Zoe yelled.

"Hey hey hey!" Jonathan cut in. "He's also obviously the owner of a shop of enchanted objects. Perhaps instead of pay, we'll get a magical artifact?"

Zoe grumbled under her breath before she held out her hands. "Just give me the damn cat."

"Excuse you, she's a lady," Jonathan said with a smirk, but he did hand over Puffpaw. Zoe immediately buried her face in the cat's soft fur and glowered at her brother, who clearly took it in stride.

"Actually," Al said suddenly in the quiet, "this shop should be about as private as they get. Last time I was here, we literally couldn't hear anything inside while standing on the street. We think the door itself might be enchanted. Zoe, do you and Jonathan want to chat?"

Suddenly put on the spot, Zoe froze up, her eyes darting wildly between the backstabbing rogue and her brother. As most of her face was buried in Puffpaw's fur, the look was surprisingly comical.

"Even if Al's talking crap again-" Al took offense to that comment, but Gauth nudged him hard enough to allow Jonathan to keep talking, "-I really need you to talk to me, Zoe. I promise, what we have between us won't change. You are my sister, blood or not. Please."

Zoe gripped Puffpaw uncomfortably hard to her chest. "John, you have to promise you won't call me a liar. Or a bitch. Or, or...just, just fucking believe me, okay?! That's all I ask. Just...believe me."

The shop fell into an uncomfortable silence as Jonathan took a moment to truly digest what his sister just said. "I… Uh, should we ask the others to-"

"We'll be outside," Jayce said with an awkward laugh, already moving toward the front door. To everyone's surprise, Zoe stepped in his way.

"No. If...we're going to stay on with you all, you need to know this too. John," Zoe said, a choke barely suppressed in her voice, "our father...your father...wants you dead."

The silence in the room was suffocating until Jonathan started to laugh. There was no joy in that laugh, and that was clear in the way he was badly holding back his frustration.

"Very funny, you asshole. Gods above, you wouldn't go that far unless it was serious-"

"I am serious, John. He said he'd kill you if I didn't go back to the Soul. He literally said 'that waste of flesh you call my son'!" Zoe yelled. Puffpaw began to squirm desperately in her arms and quietly yowl as Zoe gripped her ever tighter. "You promised you'd believe me!"

"How?! How could I believe you?!" Jonathan yelled back. "He is my father! What parent would ever wish harm on their child, let alone-"

"She's telling the truth."

Both siblings stopped mid rant and turned to Al, who looked both uncomfortable and full of regret for having started this conversation. "I heard him say that. He called Zoe his 'investment'. It was pretty damn clear he doesn't see you as children; he sees you as business assets, and you're an investment he doesn't want to keep."

Jonathan reeled backward, suddenly dizzy in light of this new revelation. Jayce almost had to dive to catch him before he tipped far enough to collapse to the floor.

"You fucking promised you'd believe me," Zoe hissed, her rage-filled eyes barely softened by stubborn tears. "You know I wouldn't joke about this, you asshole! You fucking liar!"

"Zoe! That's enough!" Gauth yelled as he pulled her away from Jonathan. "Your brother was afraid it was true, so he tried to believe a lie. You can't blame him for fear!"

An arcane ringing filled the shop as Jayce was blasted a foot back from Jonathan's form, which was suddenly wrapped in a barely visible glowing shell. It was almost the shape of an egg as he stood, but shrunk to an appropriately sized sphere as Jonathan slowly sunk to the floor and hugged his knees to his chest, his eyes wide in denial and terror. Zoe dashed over and began banging on the glowing barrier, begging her brother to let her in, and it suddenly collapsed. Zoe wrapped her arms around Jonathan tightly, as Puffpaw did her best to get in Jonathan's lap, while the rest of them looked on. Whether the magical shield had collapsed because of Zoe's insistence or her brother's acceptance, no one could tell, and that worried them.

"We sure picked up a real great pair, didn't we?" Al muttered.

"Al," Jayce sighed as he dropped his face into his palm, "for once, just shut yer damn trap."

xXxXx

The upstairs rooms had gone quiet, a welcome moment of peace in the chaos that had plagued them previously. Lyne, Caril's wife, laid on the bed, panting and bare, with a precious newborn asleep on her chest. She had finally surfaced from a delirium caused by an illness Dahlia had identified as pre-eclampsia, and while Dahlia could not identify the exact type, it was clear the worst had passed with the surgical delivery of the baby.

Caril laid next to her, nearly in tears from relief and joy. He held his wife close as she shuddered, both from the cold and shock, as Dahlia stretched a clean quilt across the new family.

"Thank you," Caril said softly to Dahlia, his voice choked with tears. "The midwife...she didn't believe me, and my kind aren't...welcome, in the Temple Ward-"

"Hush, my love," Lyne said weakly as she leaned her head into her husband's. "We're all safe. We're alive, we have a baby girl, and...oh gods above… I'm a mother."

Caril's relief was palpable as he sputtered a laugh into his wife's shoulder. "You're just getting that idea now? After everything we've been through?"

"I-I thought I'd have-" Lyne fought to catch her breath. "-another month!"

"Lady Karmeros, please do your best to stay calm for the next few days," Dahlia said gently. "Your body was quite ill, and you will need time to recover. If it helps, I can't think of a single reason why a midwife would ignore you now, and I strongly recommend finding a new one who will actually listen to you."

"I can't believe that scum thought I was exaggerating," Caril hissed under his breath. "If I had listened, I would have lost you both."

"Then I hope she's as stubborn as you," Lyne smiled.

"As do I," Dahlia said quietly as she organized and cleaned her tools. The baby was just over four pounds and oddly proportioned, as she was missing the baby fat that typically accumulated in the last month of pregnancy. Being only half the weight of a typical newborn, her chance of survival was not significant, but Dahlia offered a prayer, and hoped her father's heritage that resulted in the baby's own horn nubs and miniature tail would help bolster her constitution. Dahlia stepped back over to the family and rested a hand on the baby's back, and she could clearly feel breathing and a heartbeat. Definitely a good start.

"Do you have a name for her?" she asked. "I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to brag to my friends about this baby when I go downstairs."

"We have names," Caril sighed. "We couldn't decide on a single one."

Lyne shifted slightly to glance at her sleeping baby. "Well, she's more pink than red… I honestly expected a red baby, knowing you," she giggled.

"I did warn you," Caril mumbled into her shoulder.

"But...love, look here, on her cheek," Lyne said softly as she stroked the newborn's face. "It reminds me of that rose gold you worked with. Remember?"

"Gods, that was years ago," Caril said. "That order was absolute hell-"

Dahlia cleared her throat to more politely interrupt. "Actually, Lady Karmeros, jaundice is quite common in newborns. It usually passes after a few days, especially if you allow the child plenty of exposure to sunlight. The temple where I formally trained called it the Dawnfather's Kiss."

"Jaundice?" Caril asked.

"That yellowish hue," Dahlia explained. "It's more of a problem when it happens in adults, of course, but with newborns, it's typically natural."

Caril sighed again and stroked his wife's hair, as he still felt too nervous to touch the baby. "It's not even noon, and today is already the craziest day of my life."

"Then focus on her name," Dahlia smiled. "I'll be waiting for your answer downstairs. Again, I recommend calling a midwife as soon as you are able; with her size, she will be difficult to feed and care for, and I'm unqualified to help you."

Dahlia shouldered her bag and stepped toward the bedroom door before she was stopped by Lyne's voice.

"Wait! Could we name her after you? She wouldn't be here if not for you."

Dahlia's grip went tight on her bag's strap, her face wincing from a dark and invisible pain. It took her a moment to answer, which the family clearly noticed.

"I...would rather you didn't. It's just a common flower, and the name is...barely mine, anyway." Dahlia caught her breath and fought hard to keep dark memories from haunting her as she spoke. "Name her something unique, something you will cherish. Gods willing, she'll keep it for the rest of her life."

Dahlia left while the family was too stunned to reply, counting steps until she was back at the stairs. She paused as her toes brushed past the edge, and she shifted her foot forward to tap her heel on the inside of the stair. Even though she had already been up the steps, she had been in a hurry, and she no longer had an escort. It made more sense to take her time, especially since a fall down the stairs would be far worse than a fall into the stairs.

She hesitated again at the bottom of the steps, her hand limply rested against the handle of the door. On the other side was her companions, and they were expecting news of her work. If she walked out as she was, clearly haunted by shadows in her mind, they would understandably assume the worst. Dahlia needed to calm herself down, and think about that little baby she had just delivered. The memory caused herself to chuckle. That was only the second baby she had ever assisted with, and thankfully it was for a similar situation; she doubted she would have known what to do if that hadn't been the case. The last she heard, that little boy was growing quickly, and should be five years old. The thought of all the antics that kid may have gotten into helped her smile, and she finally felt ready to open the door.

The door creaked as it swung on its hinge, and the room was oddly quiet. Dahlia had expected some light chatter amongst her friends, but before she could ask, Gauth spoke up.

"How are the mother and child?" he asked. There was clear concern in his voice.

Dahlia easily adopted a broad, but tired, smile. "Alive and well. I had to use all my power, and nearly every charge in my ring, but they both made it. They have a little girl."

"Wait, the baby was born?" Al asked. "I thought the lady was just sick or something."

Dahlia shook her head and stepped inside the room to close the door. "Sick isn't the...exact way I'd put it. Her body was starting to react against the baby, and the only way for her to survive was to deliver the baby. Thankfully, the baby seems well developed and strong, so if fortune favors them, and the baby makes it to her first year, she should be just as likely to live as any other child."

"This...this kid have a name?" Zoe said softly. Even though Dahlia could not see her, she could hear an immense pain and guilt in her voice. What happened while she was gone?

"Not yet, but they're discussing it now," Dahlia said softly. From the direction, Zoe sounded like she was standing by the front door. Why was she so close to the exit? "Sir Karmeros should be down soon to announce his daughter's name."

Dahlia took another step into the room, and almost twitched when her foot came into contact with the decorative carpet. Thankfully it wasn't all that plush, but it was still a change in texture that she hadn't expected in her distraction.

"Where…? You're all so quiet. I can't place you all. Where's Jayce and Jonathan?" Dahlia stretched out her hands as if she was expecting to bump into something as she talked. There was a slight pause as her teammates all looked at each other before Jayce spoke up from the corner by the front door.

"We're here, Dahlia," he said hesitantly, but he had to continue. "I know you just did your healin' and...everything upstairs, but John's laid low."

"It's one of his headaches," Zoe hissed through her teeth, but without the venom of anger. She sounded as if she was wracked with guilt, and she spoke quietly. "Should've figured he was due for one, and I went ahead and triggered it. What a fucking great sister, am I right?"

Dahlia sighed and made her way slowly over to Jayce's corner. "I'm sure, if he was due, that it couldn't be helped, Zoe. I may not have any magic left, but I still have a few things that may ease his condition. Jayce, can you help me find him?"

Jayce made a sound of affirmation as his gentle hand found hers. She was drawn to the ground, where Jonathan was laying on his side, mostly limp, save for his arms, which were wrapped around his head. Dahlia could feel him wince and hear him groan as she gently tapped her fingers across his shoulder to find his hooded head.

"Tell me how it hurts," she asked softly.

"...My head...feels like...it's throbbing, in my skull," Jonathan grunted, his jaw clearly tight from his tone. "Everything hurts."

"He'll be like this for at least a day," Zoe added, her guilt pervasive in her voice.

Dahlia nodded knowingly. "How did it start?"

"He couldn't see anything to his left," Zoe cut in, to spare her brother from talking. "Granted, this hit him faster than usual, but the blindness is pretty typical."

Dahlia started digging through her bag for a small box of little bottles. "Did covering his left or right eye make any difference?"

When it became clear Zoe couldn't answer, Jonathan spoke up with a groan. "No. It never does."

Dahlia huffed as she thought about a diagnosis. Headaches could be caused by multiple different things, including withdrawal and damage, but a pervasive blindness that was unchanged by covering one eye over the other definitely led her to believe the problem was more deep seated than a strike to the skull. She would need more time to learn exactly what was happening to Jonathan.

She opened the small box to reveal two rows of meticulously organized small bottles, barely more than a quarter of an ounce each. Dahlia drifted her fingertips across them until she selected two, and as she opened them, even Zoe, over five feet away, could smell something floral and something minty.

Dahlia dabbed the strong smelling substances on her fingertips and she began massaging the mixture into Jonathan's temples, before moving on to the base of his skull and the crown of his forehead. Whatever it was, it seemed to work, as Jonathan sighed deeply with content as his body finally relaxed.

"That...feels nice…" Jonathan mumbled, clearly unable to keep his eyes open. Dahlia smiled and continued her work quietly, even to the point of shifting Jonathan's head into her lap. Jayce, unable to watch, got up and headed over to the counter to have something to do.

As soon as he passed it, the door to the upstairs apartment suddenly opened, and Jayce nearly jumped at the noise. Jayce managed to compose himself before anyone noticed, except Al, who snickered.

Caril stepped out into the shop, finally dressed for the day in a jerkin and more presentable pants. His smile was broad and thankful, and he looked across the room to make sure everyone was present before he spoke.

"I'd like to thank you all for helping me on my daughter's birthday," he said proudly. "We've named her Agatha Rose, and because of you, she is alive and well. As is my wife, who is resting upstairs and regrets that she isn't here to thank you herself."

"Tell your wife not to fret about it," Al said with a smile. "It's a beautiful name for your daughter, by the way."

"Thank you," Caril said with a genuine smile. He glanced over at Dahlia, who was still caring for Jonathan in the corner while Puffpaw paced around them. "Oh. She...never stops, does she?"

"Not without one of us physically holdin' her back," Jayce said with a grin. "Now, you probably want t' spend time with yer new little'un, so we'll be headin' out."

"Wait! Before you go!" Caril called out as he dashed past Jayce and disappeared into the back of his shop. "It's completely untested, of course, but you were the one who inspired it, and I've had some sleepless nights recently, so-"

A clatter and crash rang out from the back room, and the unmistakable sound of a newborn in duress could be heard by them all through the ceiling above. Wincing, Caril returned, holding a small package about the size of a dinner plate.

"I'll have to extend the enchantment through the floor," Caril mumbled to himself. He turned to Jayce. "This, sir, is something you asked for when we first met." He set the package on the counter and unwrapped it, revealing a wooden disk inset with a smaller, silver disk that was chiseled and filled with some sort of ivory material to make it look like the face of a clock, although it was one with ten hours, not twelve. Matched up to the silver disk's 1 was a dot of mother-of-pearl on the wood, and in the very center was a magical circle glyph that contained the symbol of the school of Evocation, although Jayce didn't recognize it.

"That's…" Jayce cleared his throat awkwardly as he looked over the intricate design. "First, that's some mighty fine craftsmanship for a 'few sleepless nights'. Second, yer gonna have to remind me, sir. I can't remember what I asked for."

"The portable campfire," Caril beamed. "Just turn the inner disk to the number of hours you desire, and it should burn that long. It's a magical fire, so it requires no fuel, and it should burn even in rain, snow, or fog, but as I said earlier, it's untested, so I can't say for sure."

Jayce was almost speechless. "Sir, I'm floored. This can't've been easy to throw together."

Caril waved off Jayce's concern with a smile. "The enchantment is based on a cantrip, and I have my notes and plans. Please, take the prototype, with my thanks."

"I'd be honored," Jayce said as he took the prototype from Caril's hands. "We'll take good care of this, you got my word."

"Good. Now, if there's nothing else, Agatha's still crying, and I'm sure my wife would appreciate some help," Caril said nervously. He began to step around the counter when Jayce stopped him.

"Actually, you got any recommendations on a place to stay?" Jayce asked. "Ain't gotta be fancy, just comfortable."

Caril barely had to think about it. "Try the Sleeping Sage on Candle Close. It's an hour from here, by foot, but I helped the proprietor in the past, so mentioning my name should get you favorable treatment." With that, he gave them more exact directions from his shop, and they wished him luck and good health as the team stepped out onto the street. Zoe, out of either a sense of duty or sympathy, insisted she be the one to brace her brother as they walked down the street, with Puffpaw obediently following at their heels.

The Sleeping Sage, nestled deep in the streets by the edge of the Residential Ward, welcomed its visitors with a bright sign of a wizened wizard asleep under a mighty oak. The whitewashed stones of the facade under the sign were bordered by darkly stained hardwood, which were bent into a graceful arch over the double door entryway. Barely visible to those who walked beneath the arch was a series of runic symbols, inscribed into the wood with gold. The doorway was tall enough that Gauth did not even need to duck to enter, and he managed to see the runes briefly flash as they all passed through.

Immediately, they were all washed over with a sense of coming home, although Jonathan seemed particularly calm as they stepped inside.

Dahlia perked up as something tickled her nose. "Magic! I bet we just walked through a ward!"

"Really?" Al asked.

Dahlia nodded with a smile, and then brought up her left hand to take in a deep breath of her silver and gold banded ring. "Actually...yes! It smells just like Sir Karmeros' magic. He probably enchanted the doorway. That's probably how he helped the owner some time ago."

"I wonder what he enchanted it with…" Zoe asked absentmindedly as she looked up at the door frame. To answer, Jayce cleared his throat and motioned to Jonathan, who, despite being exhausted and in obvious pain, had a goofy smile on his face.

Zoe almost did a double take. "The fuck? John? You okay?"

"I like this place very much…" Jonathan giggled.

"Did everyone else feel a sense of coming home?" Dahlia said with a smile.

"Uh, yeah?" Al said, as he watched almost everyone nod in response. "Yeah. We did."

"Then it's likely enchanted with a calming spell," Dahlia replied. "If the proprietor had that much forethought, this will likely be a restful evening."

"Good," Zoe cut in. "Let's grab a room and get John bunked down. He'll need some time to recover, away from noise and light, if he's gonna get over this quickly."

They walked deeper into the well lit Sleeping Sage, a place with clean flagstone floors and the occasional carpet, as well as round tables and individual chairs for patrons. A large fireplace was built at an angle to the rest of the room, which helped spread the warmth of the fire and the smell of well spiced meat as it roasted over the flames. Those scents mingled with the smell of herbs and spiced apples, from bouquets of dried leafy sprigs that were laced with desiccated apple rings that hung from the exposed rafters. Those seated, enjoying lunch, were human, although they were surprised to see a halfling woman standing on one of the tables, extolling the virtues of some sort of bottled drink she was peddling to the occupants. Occasionally, this halfling would glance at the barkeep, and once she obtained a nod of approval, would continue with her sales or move on to the next set of seats.

The barkeep was a fair human woman with long, straight blond hair and pale eyes, and a dusting of freckles across her cheekbones, nose, and exposed shoulders. Although she looked young, she smiled with the wisdom and empathy of someone far older, and did not even flinch when she saw Jayce's heritage.

"Good afternoon," she said brightly, as she was already pulling out the register. "Will you be staying for a meal, or would you like a room? If your friend needs a place to lie down, I can bring out a quilt to set up by the fire."

"Thank you kindly," Jayce said with an equally kind smile, "but we'll take yer offer on the rooms. How many beds ya got per room?"

The woman thought it over for a moment. "Most of our rooms are two beds, although I have a few with a single, bigger bed for families, couples, or...the larger of you," she said, as she gave Gauth a wink. "Those rooms come with a trundle, should you need a second sleeping space."

"I already like this place," Gauth beamed.

Jayce glanced over the party and did a quick count, but then thought of something. "We'll need at least three rooms, ma'am, but-"

"Benne Loydaye, sir," the woman said, her hand held out for a shake. "And you are?"

Zoe saw her opportunity and jumped at it. "The Guides of-!"

Al, however, slapped a hand over her mouth. "Tired. Do you need all our names?"

Benne shrugged, but giggled as Zoe somehow fought off Al's hand without dropping her brother. "When you rent the rooms, at least. Three?"

"We'll start there," Jayce said quickly.

"Okay then. Six silver," she smiled. "And your names in the register."

"Now, I ain't usually the type to go fishin' for favors, but we came recommended by Sir Karmeros-"

Benne went stiff, her eyes wide and her face barely restrained from a smile.

Jayce immediately noticed. "I take it you're a close family friend?" he grinned as he leaned on the counter.

"Well, Lyne was my best friend back at the Academy," Benne said awkwardly, as she had noticed she was caught in her excitement. "They're going to have a baby next month! I can't wait!"

Jayce stood up straight and put on a proud smile. "Believe it or not, we just came from there, and you were highly recommended. My friend, Dahlia here, delivered their baby barely an hour ago."

"You're pulling my leg!" Benne laughed. "They're not due for a month yet, and I doubt they'd put something so precious in the hands of a stranger."

Jayce placed a hand over his heart. "Serious as the grave, ma'am. Poor Lyne fell ill, and my friend here's a doctor, and a cleric. We were a desperate option, I'll give ya that, but I ain't lyin' when I say that little bundle of joy's the newest citizen of Westruun."

Benne's eyes went wide. "Lawbearer's might, you're serious. Oh my gods you're serious!" She dug through her apron and produced three keys, and practically threw them at Jayce, who scrambled to catch them. "You can pay me when I get back! Bera! Watch the bar!"

The halfling woman snapped to attention and offered a salute as Benne literally vaulted the bar and raced out into the noon streets of Westruun. Jayce had to suppress a laugh at the woman's obvious joy and excitement.

"Now that is how people should react to children," Gauth said with a serious nod.

"Heya!"

Everyone turned back to the bar, where the halfling woman had twirled to pose dramatically in front of them. With a flourish and a bow, she glanced up to wink specifically at Gauth before she stood up straight and braced her hands on her hips. Gauth found himself surprisingly flustered at this tiny dark-skinned being.

"Welcome to the Sleeping Sage!" she practically sang with pride. "I am Bera Galpsi Brewpack, assistant keeper of the premises. Since you're taking three rooms, I'll take that six silver."

Bera held out her hand, and Jayce briefly considered claiming he had already paid. However, he glanced over to Dahlia, and thought better of it. After all, they just brought good news; it would be terrible if they were to follow that with betrayal.

Jayce put down the keys on the counter and dug into the pouch at his hip. When he pulled out his hand, he only had a single silver coin and he cursed under his breath.

"If it's too expensive, we do have options to work for your stay," Bera said with a smile.

"Nah, just didn't have exact change," Jayce mumbled. He replaced the silver coin and called forth a gold one instead. "Here."

Bera winked playfully, her brown curls bouncing around a head cloth as she hopped down from the counter. Jayce was briefly amused that this young woman was barely as tall as the bar, which likely explained why she preferred being on it instead of behind it.

"Brewpack… Are you related to the bakers on Hill Rise?" Dahlia suddenly asked.

Bera, behind the bar, went perfectly stiff, as if someone had raked a cold spike up her spine. "Name only, ma'am. We're not...family in the usual sense." Seemingly undeterred, Bera hopped back up to the counter and handed off four silver coins. "Your change, sir. Will you like a room with a big bed, or just the regular rooms? I can see Benne was a little careless with the keys she gave you," she giggled.

"That'd be a blessing, thank you kindly," Jayce said sincerely. He held out the keys for her to inspect, and soon one had been replaced with the requested room.

"Numbers are on the keys. If you want an extra room, let us know as soon as you can because we tend to fill up as the evening gets on," Bera said with a smile. She then turned to Gauth with a more suggestive grin. "Oh, and big guy, if you're looking for company, I can arrange something."

It was obvious enough that Jayce, Zoe, and Al all turned to Gauth with an amused look, but Gauth looked a little confused instead.

"I...will have a roommate, right? Isn't that company?" Gauth asked, clearly failing to understand Bera's intentions. Al, barely able to stand it, sputtered through a laugh into Gauth's side as the rest of them giggled.

"Your friends will explain," Bera giggled. "What can I say? His type is popular around here."

"He also ain't a master of the language yet," Jayce explained with a giggle of his own. "I'll set 'im right once we get the rooms. Upstairs?"

Bera nodded. "Yep. Just match the numbers on the keys and you're good to go. Curfew's at two after midnight, so don't expect any quiet until then."

Jayce nodded. "Fair. Thank ya kindly, Ms Brewpack."

"Oh!" Bera nearly jumped from an excitement that clearly came from a sudden thought. "If you all are interested in the 'house special', it's only three gold a bottle. Far cheaper than wine, and much more delicious too. Of course, we have ale, a rather flat mead, and...ugh, beer, so, beyond the wine, we have options."

"Color me intrigued," Jayce said, more to stop Al or Zoe from jumping at the offer, "but we'll get settled in first. Then we'll come down for a meal."

"Suit yourself," Bera grinned, and then smugly crossed her arms. "Just a fair warning, you'll be hooked as soon as you have a sip. But go ahead and get settled in; kitchen is still open for a round face yet before we close to prep for dinner."

With another thanks, the group stepped away from the bar to discuss roommates. Dahlia, deep in thought, missed a small spat between Zoe and Al about the latter preventing the former from introducing them with the team name, and the ensuing peacekeeping by Jayce which split them up in the previous inn's arrangement. Gauth, of course, went to the room with the larger bed and the trundle, and she barely caught Zoe calling out that she was taking her brother upstairs immediately, because Jonathan needed rest as soon as possible.

"That sound fine?"

She jumped out of her thoughts. Bera had used a rather unique phrase, just like the bakers, and so she thought it was more likely that Bera was directly related, rather than distantly as she claimed. That kind of phrase would typically be passed through consistent company, rather than distant relations or acquaintances, and it was incredibly distracting. Why did she deny her family ties?

"I-I'm sorry," Dahlia said, and she scratched at her wrist just enough to realize she still wasn't wearing her gloves. She pulled at her fingers instead. "I wasn't paying attention. What did you say?"

Jayce's voice responded. She was instantly relieved it was him. "I asked if ya minded sharin' a room with me. I'll treat it like the Downy Dream if I gotta, but if you ain't interested, I can still buy a fourth room. Just...ain't fond of spendin' the extra coin."

"Right! Yes, that's fair," Dahlia said with an awkward smile. "Um, I should warn you I'm probably a terrible roommate. I don't sleep much most of the time and when I wake up early, I work on my compounds. Especially since I have enough to make four health potions, there will be plenty to do, and I can't promise it'll be quiet."

There was a short pause as Jayce cocked an eyebrow. She could hear how amused he was when he spoke. "That ain't a yes or a no, Dahlia."

"It's just-! No-no one's asked me before!" Dahlia stammered, still fidgeting. "I either had to fight for a room or I got forced to share! I mean, if I'm going to share with anyone, I'd rather it be you-!"

A hand rested on her arm, just above her elbow. She immediately went tense, but logically, only Jayce was close enough to touch her, so she relaxed.

"You will never be forced to do anything you don't want to do, not when I can help it," Jayce said softly. "It's bad enough we're fighting demons; won't do to fight each other, too."

Dahlia tried hard to force her smile to stay off her face, but it was a losing battle. She turned away, but she knew she was already caught.

"We...can share a room tonight. Thank you, for being patient with me," she said softly. She would have to remember to listen for his breathing, and turn off the ring for a few hours after he had fallen asleep. It had already been active for nearly two days straight, and she couldn't rely on it to stay that way without time to recharge. Normally, she wouldn't risk something like this, but with Jayce, she felt safe somehow.

Dahlia could hear the tension leaving Jayce's body as he breathed a sigh of relief. She hid a giggle behind her fist.

"Yer a saint, Dahlia. It'll be a fuckin' blessing to have my own bunk and no weird creeper starin' at me while I sleep."

"And you're far less likely to be locked out of the room," Dahlia giggled.

"That fucker owes me," Jayce snickered. "That room was damn expensive."

With a shared laugh, Jayce led her upstairs and got her situated in the room, as she wanted to start work on the potions right away. He briefly checked in on the others, and with the exception of Jonathan, they followed him downstairs for a meal. A large roast of deer and cottage cheese was shared between them, as well as the "flat" mead that was, while uninspired, still pleasant. After fluffy dinner rolls finally came to the table, Jayce assembled a plate for Dahlia and headed upstairs to deliver her dinner.

Once at the door, he called for her, but she didn't respond. Curious, he knocked, and his blood went cold when the door gently swung open from the meager force. Jayce shoved the door open the rest of the way to find the room untouched, her bag still on the bed, and a small collection of herbs and vials scattered on the little desk under the window. Even as the scent of peppermint practically slapped him across the face, the truth of the situation became painfully clear.

Dahlia was gone.