Shadowborn

Chapter Forty-One: Job Interview

Not for the first time and certainly not for the last, I couldn’t help but wonder how my life had taken such a sharp turn so quickly. A month ago (or thirty years, depending on how you saw things) I would have never thought I’d be in a situation like this.

I’d gotten as far as donning pants when I grew…distracted. If watching four beautiful women pulling their clothes on wasn’t enough to grab my attention, the fact that they’d seemingly made a competition out of it was. It was difficult whether Rhallani or Tiana had been the first to notice my stare, but soon they were making quite the show of getting dressed. I never thought watching someone putting on clothes could be so arousing, yet here I was with yet another erection starting to strain my pants.

I did my best to hide it before any of them got any ideas, but if they were going to go to such great lengths then not watching would just be disrespectful. All of them wore standard traveling clothes, so I didn’t get to enjoy any of my girls in their wonderful shadow armor.

Tiana looked almost strange in an outfit that didn’t show off so much skin they hardly counted as clothes, though her tunic was definitely of a lower cut than the standard. Still, even in a standard tunic and pants, she cut a stunning figure. Not that Serena was any less striking in her tighter fitting clothes. Or Rhallani in her downright skimpy top and skirt. Or Noelle in her tight-fitting but long tunic with holes cut for her wings.

Yeah, keeping focused might be an issue in the future.

I wore a standard shirt and trousers, though I threw on a long sleeve coat to hide my still-blackened arm. Feeling had mostly returned to it, which was unfortunate. From the tips of my fingers nearly to my shoulder burned, though not with heat. It was an ice-cold burn that was constant and unrelenting. Hardly the worst pain I’d experienced, but it was consistent enough to be annoying and distracting. Worse, it seemed to have nothing to do with anything touching my flesh. No amount of positioning or wrapping seemed to have any effect on the pain.

I’d hardly noticed it last night, though whether that was because I’d actually done something to reduce the pain or I’d been distracted by the pleasure of three women, I had no idea. Either way, I hoped it healed either on its own or with Serena’s skills. Having to seek out a specialist would be yet another annoying task heaped onto the pile.

Even more unfortunate was its effect on my finer motor skills. I realized very quickly that lacing either my trousers or my boots was going to prove difficult. I’d just resolved to tie a simple square knot and cut them off later when small, nimble fingers took over. Tsuki, suddenly very close with her tail swishing behind her, tied my trousers shut with deft movements.

“Thank you,” I said simply.

She nodded curtly, her expression carefully neutral. “You seemed to be having trouble.” Her eyes flicked to my injured hand. “The spider queen did that?”

“The sword I used to kill her, actually.”

Her lips pursed, then she nodded. “Sit. I’ll take care of your boots.”

I raised a brow. “You don’t have to.”

Her golden eyes flicked up to mine, carefully concealed emotion shimmering in them. Like she was weighing each word I said individually. “I know. That’s why I’ll do it.”

I sat, and she grabbed my boots and tugged one on. While she did, I checked my status.

[Health: 194/220]

[Mana: 140/140]

[Soul Essence: 47/100]

I frowned. My health not being at full was no surprise. Until this arm had healed, full recovery wasn’t possible. Mana was full, which was good, but the Soul Essence intrigued me as much as it bothered me. That it still remained on my status sheet was odd to say the least. I’d heard of rare classes adding additional resources to your pools, but the Essence had nothing to do with my class and everything to do with the blade itself. And its recovery was also worth noting.

It had gone up, but only by four. That meant it was either a time based regeneration or action based, as some additional pools could be. The problem was that there was no way to tell without plenty of experimentation, and there was every possibility that my arm was hampering its regeneration as well. I knew much more than the average person about souls thanks to an old friend that had helped me learn a bit more about the cursed blade’s effect on me, but this was still something I’d never heard of.

“Rhallani,” I said as Tsuki finished with my second boot, “ever heard of Soul Essence?”

She frowned. “Nope. Is it some kind of potion?”

I shook my head. “Actually, it’s a resource pool, apparently. One that helped me kill the queen.” Her eyes widened, then she turned into a Rhallani colored blur and raced over to me. She latched onto my good arm with glowing irises and I quickly described how I thought the Soul Essence worked. “It was similar to mana, but the skills it powered were much stronger.”

Then, to save time, I told them everything I could remember from my time in the sword and the moments after. The twins listened with wide, disbelieving eyes, but Rhallani made sure to write down my every word.
She was scribbling furiously in her book with her tongue between her teeth by the time I was done. The others had all finished and were looking at us expectantly. “I’ll look around for anything relating to souls while I’m out, then,” she said quickly. “Should I use my question on it?”

I shook my head. “No, go back to what it was before. I want to know who’s hunting me.”

She nodded. “Right, of course. Done. Check the pool regularly and note down exactly when it ticks up again and what you were doing just before, alright?”

“Will do.” I ruffled her hair. “And in return, maybe you could tell me about that second class you’ve been keeping under wraps.”

She grinned, then she opened her hand and a book bound in dark leather with runes on the cover appeared in her hands. There was a soft flash, then a small sliver dragon appeared on her shoulders, wrapped around the back of her neck. It was maybe four feet long, though a third of its length came from its tail. It had two wings tucked against its back, and its neck was half as long as its body. It lifted its head and regarded me with soft golden eyes. “Greetings, mate of my summoner,” it said in a surprisingly deep voice.

I returned her grin. “So you’re a summoner, then?”

Rhallani threw herself at me, causing the dragon to take flight with an indignant squawk. “Yes! You’re amazing!”

I wrapped my good arm around her, letting the relief sink in. Her first levels would come quickly, which meant it wouldn’t be long before she could protect herself. Her arms wrapped around my chest with as much strength as she could muster, and the dragon landed heavily on my own shoulders. It sniffed at me, then said, “I have your scent now, sire,” it said. “Should the need arise, I will be able to seek you out within a reasonable radius.”

Everyone crowded around, trying to get a better look at him. To my surprise, it was Tiana who let out a squeal of delight and scooped the dragon up, squishing him into her chest. “He’s so cute! What’s his name?”

“Festus,” Rhallani said happily, still clinging to me.

“Let the record reflect that I was given no chance to voice an opinion on the matter,” Festus said dryly.
I chuckled, then ruffled Rhallani’s hair. “The golem worked out, then.”

She beamed up at me. “I can still use her though, right?”

“Her?”

“Well it feels wrong to keep calling her an ‘it’ with how many times she’s saved our lives, so yes. Her. It feels right.”

I shook my head with amusement. “Yes, you can still keep her close in battle, though she’s in rough shape after the spiders.”

That didn’t deter her in the slightest. “I want to find some books on constructs and see if I can learn to repair her. If that’s alright.”

It was more than alright. That kind of research could have a more than positive affect on her upcoming class evolution. “Of course.” Then, to Festus, I said, “what sort of skillset to you have?”

Festus had given up escaping Tiana’s clutches and puffed smoke unhappily. “Reconnaissance is my main strength as my summoner can see through my eyes at the expense of her mana. I suppose carrying messages is something I can do as well. I have very minor combat capabilities, but not so much that I should be relied upon as anything more than a last minute distraction during an emergency.”

Being long winded, it seemed, was another skill of his. I stood. “Good. Watch over her well, Festus.”
I’d never seen a dragon look offended until now. “I am her summon. That is quite literally my purpose.”

“And your other skill? The one for hitting Scholar level twenty?”

“A copy skill,” she said proudly. “I can copy with greater accuracy, which will help with this.” She held up the book she’d summoned. “My grimoire will hold my summons, and it seems like I can change their shape as long as I know the creature well.” Her eyes sparkled. “A good thing someone has had me researching beasts.”
“A good thing indeed. A standard core skill then, one that allows you to summon a basic familiar?”

She nodded. “I could change his shape if I wanted, but why would I need anything other than a dragon? How freaking awesome is that?”

As she spoke, Serena managed to wrestle poor Festus from Tiana’s embrace and give him her own hug. The dragon had seemingly accepted his fate, though he shot an accusatory glare towards me. “I’d get some other options in the grimoire just in case. Never know when we might need something more inconspicuous like a crow or a cat or something to scout populated areas.”

Her eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought of that. I’ll get right on it.”

“Good.” I leaned down and she captured my lips greedily. When I pulled away there was heat in her eyes, but she just called, “Festus.” There was a flash and her dragon was back across her shoulders. She scratched him under the chin with a wide grin on her face.

I held my good arm—well, the less fucked up arm, at least—out to Noelle. She took it immediately and pulled herself close. “Well, time to get on with the day, I suppose.”

Not long after, we were finally out of the room and heading towards our destinations. Rhallani was practically bouncing while an amused Tiana and Serena led her and the twins in the opposite direction from me and Noelle.

The two of us headed for the restaurant Cynthia had mentioned in her note. I couldn’t help but watch Noelle while we walked. She kept her hand firmly wrapped around mine, and her eyes were brighter than I’d ever seen. She was still the same height as always, but I thought she carried herself taller than normal. It felt like her movements were more animated, too. Her expression was as neutral as always, though when she caught me looking I saw the corners of her mouth curl upwards slightly. Now that we’d taken things to the next level, I could acknowledge how adorable she looked without feeling guilty.

It helped that she was recovering from her past in more ways than one. Whether it was the wellness potions, her shift in class, her race, Serena’s healing, or a combination of them all, she hardly resembled the skinny, beaten down girl I’d first met. Her hair, though still short, had started to shine. Her wings were now at least an inch longer than before I’d cut them away to save her from the pain of the Penitence Cut, and small black feathers were already starting to grow on the stumps.

Her body was filling out, too. Her thighs now touched when she stood straight, her arms were growing definition, her stomach was no longer concave, and her tunic looked to be tighter in the chest than it had been before we’d descended into the sewers.

But there was something on her mind. She kept sneaking glances at me, sucking in a breath as if to say something then deciding not to, and squeezing my hand at random intervals. She remained silent while we made our way through the town to the restaurant, and it wasn’t until we’d sat in the private booth in the back that Cynthia had reserved for us that she finally spoke.

She sat next to me, but with enough space between us that we weren’t quite touching her hands were clasped firmly in her lap, and one of her sharp canines dug into her lower lip. “Zaren?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes?”

“I—” She cut off again and squirmed. “You’ve done so much for me. More than I could have ever dreamed. You’ve made things better when I thought they never would be, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

I took her hand and she jumped. “You don’t have to repay me for anything. I did it at first because it was the right thing to do, and then because I cared about you. I do care about you.”

Her grip tightened and I felt the bones of my hand crushing together. “I care about you, too,” she said in a whisper. “And I want…” she trailed off.

Without letting go of her hand, I looped my arm over her and pulled her in close. “Tell me what you want, Noelle. You’re a part of my family now, which means your wants are my wants.”

She melted into me and inhaled deeply. “I want three things.”

“Name them.”

“I want to help the others,” she said finally.

In spite of myself, my stomach did a backflip. “The others? Like Ryoko and Tsuki?”

She shook her head, still pressed into my side. “The others from before. The ones who wore collars like me. They’re still out there, and I want to help them. I don’t know how, though, but I thought you might. It feels…bad that I’m free and they aren’t.”

I hugged her tight while I ran my other hand through her hair. “Consider it done. I already intended to, so that’s no problem. We’ll find the rest, destroy their collars, and make sure they’re taken care of.”

She turned her big crimson eyes up to me. “Will you take them in like you took me in?”

I cupped her cheek. “If you want me to, and they’re willing, then yes. I will. I’ll help anyone who asks it of me.”

She pressed into me, holding my gaze. “The second thing…I want to stay. I want to be a part of this family forever. Whatever happens.”

I trailed my thumb over her cheek and smiled. “Easier than the first one. “I’ll have you so long as you’ll have me.”

She smiled this time. It was soft and hesitant, as if she still wasn’t quite sure how, but it was a smile nonetheless. “The third thing is foolish. Impossible, even.”

“If I had a copper for every time I heard that…”

This time she did look away. She buried her face in the crook of my arm, then said in a rush, “I want to find my mother.” Her voice trembled, and she clutched me tightly as if afraid of my reaction.

“That might be difficult,” I admitted, “but I’d never call it foolish. You remember her?”

A slow, fearful nod. “Not much, but I do. She loved me, even when others didn’t. Because of how I looked. We were poor, but she took care of me. Made me feel warm and happy.” Her grip tightened more and she sunk into me. “Like you. I remember her crying when they took me. If she’s alive, I want to see her again.”

Before answering, I scooped up her tiny form and pulled her into my lap. She didn’t hesitate before pressing her face into the crook of my neck and curling up against me. “I can’t promise you that we’ll find her, but I can promise that I’ll try.”

A tremble passed through her. “Thank you.”

We stayed like that until a serving girl came by to take our orders. I said we’d wait, but got us some drinks. After she left, pointedly not looking at the girl in my lap, Noelle climbed back down onto the booth seat. She stayed pressed against me, though.

“Malachai,” she said softly.

I frowned. “Come again?”

“My race.” My heart skipped a beat. “I know you’ve been wondering, and you’ve been kind enough not to pry, but you deserve to know. It’s the least I could do.” She fell silent again while the serving girl set drinks on our table, then left. “On my status sheet, that’s what it says. Malachai.”

I ran a hand along her back. “That’s good to know, thank you.”

She nodded once. “I am yours.” She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. “As long as you’ll have me.”
I chuckled and placed a kiss to the top of her head. She hummed happily, leaning into me with one hand resting on my thigh. Then she sat up and sniffed. “Elisa.”

Sure enough, less than a minute later, the thick curtains to the booth parted and Elisa and Cynthia both stuck their heads in. Elisa looked leagues better than she had yesterday, if still a little tired, and Cynthia carried a black case likely full of papers. Cynthia gave us a curt yet professional greeting while Elisa slid in long enough to give Noelle a hug before retreating to sit across from us with Cynthia. I noted with a smile that the two of them sat as close to one another as Noelle and I did.

“First things first,” Cynthia said, pulling out a stack of papers and sliding them to me, “you’ll be glad to know things went well. The money from the queen should reach the injured guards and the families of the deceased by the end of the week. The rest has been split among the four humans in the group. It will take them a few days to tally the reward for the rest of the spiders in the caverns, but a mission is already underway to make sure there are no more captives held down below.”

I inclined my head in thanks. “You do good work, it seems.”

Her expression remained all business, though I thought I saw a flicker of color in her cheeks. “You were serious about hiring me? About hiring us?”

Cutting straight to the chase, then. I leaned back with an arm around Noelle. The serving girl picked that moment to return and we ordered some food, then once she’d retreated I said, “I was. Still am, though we should probably talk things through first. What I’d expect and what you’d expect.”

She nodded curtly. “Do I have your permission to be blunt?”

A half-smirk pulled at my lips. “I think I’d prefer it.”

She crossed one leg over the other, one finger tapping on the table. Elisa looked between us with some worry, but she remained quiet. At a guess, they’d decided Cynthia would do most of the talking. Finally, just as I’d taken a sip of the ale the serving girl brought, Cynthia asked, “do you intend to take advantage of us? Sexually or otherwise.”

Elisa looked at her lap while I sprayed ale onto the table. “What?” I choked. “No, of course not! What the fuck is with this world?” I worked to clear my airways while Noelle used a napkin to clean some of the ale off the table. “Trust me when I say I’ve got my hands full on that front.” I patted my own shirt dry. “Why?”

Her finger kept tapping. “You’re a lord. A powerful one from what little I saw while I had control over your finances. And according to Elisa, you’re plenty strong when it comes to fighting, as well. A man like you could have his pick of the academies. It’s a little hard to believe you’d want a couple of nobodies like us.”

I shook my head. “Well, you certainly weren’t lying about bluntness. Elisa is easy. I’ve seen her creations, and I’m interested in what else she can do. I’ve already got some ideas on how to apply her Spitter Spheres to my own fighting style that would be more than beneficial.”

Cynthia inclined her head, but her face showed about as much emotion as Noelle usually did. “And me? I’m nothing more than the seventh daughter of a cart driver with no money or acclaim to my name. I have no connections or skills other than a penchant for numbers you could easily find anywhere else. If something is too good to be true, then it usually is.”

I raised a brow. “You weren’t this hesitant back at the guild.”

“I was riding the high of seeing the girl I love alive and well.” Elisa tensed, her face going crimson, but Cynthia barreled on. “And then I saw just what I was working with. Got an idea of just how much land you own. I mean no offense, but nobody gains that much land without stepping on others. It made me…rethink things.”

If only you knew. Still, I could understand her reservations, even if I felt like she was blowing it just a tad out of proportion. I didn’t own that much land, after all. “It was inherited. I can tell you the full story if you decide to take the job.”

She remained unconvinced. “What’s the catch? There’s always one, and I’d rather you be up front about it. If you’re just offering me the job to stay in Elisa’s good graces, then that’s fine. Preferable compared to most of the alternatives, and I think I’d rather know if that was the case. Whatever the other shoe is, I think I’d rather let it drop now than later.”

I chuckled. I was beginning to like Cynthia more and more. She was my kind of paranoid. “You aren’t wrong, there will be one drawback.” She opened her mouth and I raised a finger to silence her. “One that I intended to inform you of before we left this table.” She sat back, her eyes narrowed.

“If I don’t already, I’m going to have quite a target on my back. I’ll do what I can to protect you, but I’d be lying if I said the job was going to be completely without danger.”

Elisa gulped, but Cynthia hardly missed a beat. “And you’re collecting enemies because…?”

Well, there was no reward without a little risk. “Because, for a number of reasons, I plan to get rid of the Accords.” They both sat straight up, their backs ramrod straight. Then, almost as if in after thought, I threw out, “I’d also like to completely reform the adventurer’s guild while I’m at it.”

Elisa looked to her friend with some alarm while Cynthia gaped. “You can’t be serious.”

“As a heart attack,” I confirmed.

Cynthia’s facade had finally cracked. “That’s insane! Do you have any idea how many powerful people benefit from those systems? People who will do literally anything to make sure you don’t take their power away from them? You’d be fighting the mother of all uphill battles!”

“Hence the danger.”

Cynthia took a moment to collect herself, and Elisa leaned forward and asked, “Do you at least have a plan on how to do that?”

“I do, actually.” My time with Sandrel hadn’t been for naught, after all. “The broad strokes, at least. I’ll need someone with know-how and familiarity of the system to take care of the finer details, though.”

“The adventuring guild aside—” Cynthia began.

“Actually,” I interrupted, “the guild might prove to be the easier of the two.”

She blinked, then forged on. “Many have tried to oppose the Accords. It’s become too integral a part of the system to even try dismantling. You’d be laughed out of the room anytime you suggested it.”

“Which is why we won’t be opposing it. Not openly, at least.” Her mouth hung open for a moment, then she sat back to wait for explanation. “We don’t fight the system, we take advantage of it. Use it to protect demi-humans instead of exploiting them, at the cost of the system itself if we can manage it. Expose its weaknesses in such a way that others take notice and do the same. Force them to change it.”

“And if they make things worse for the demi-humans?” she demanded.

“Oh, they undoubtedly will. They’ve been walking a line so far. Oppression, but none so bad that it invokes open revolt. The Accords never should have existed in the first place, so all we have to do is poke at its foundation until it collapses or becomes horrible enough that those who have been looking the other way all this time won’t have a choice any longer. I’ll need someone extremely clever for that, though.” I gave her a pointed look, and her finger resumed tapping.

“Many will get caught in the crossfire.”

“I’ll do what I can to minimize collateral damage, but if we’re smart about it the ones who will suffer the most will be those who benefit now.”

“And the guild?”

“Like I said, that’ll be the easier of the two. In that instance, we work within the structure of the guild to offer an alternative, slowly gaining power until we’re large enough that they can’t simply cut us off. If we do it right, we can raise an entire generation of powerful adventurers capable of handling the tougher jobs and giving those that abuse the system enough competition that they’re forced to change and adapt as well.”

Her expression became thoughtful. “You sound like you’ve done this kind of thing before.”

On a smaller scale, I had. I’d helped Sandrel take apart a number of small governments and systems spread across Grimsbane’s empire. I understood the basics, but I needed someone with a mind like Cynthia’s to have a chance. “You navigated guild rules to get money to those families. Of all the people I asked, you were the only one to even try. It’ll be dangerous, but if we succeed it will make life a lot better for a lot of people.”

Elisa reached for Cynthia’s hand and gave it a squeeze, then shot her a meaningful look. Cynthia returned it, then sighed and nodded. Elisa beamed, then placed a chaste kiss on Cynthia’s cheek. Blushing slightly, Cynthia started pulling out more stacks of papers and a pen.

“Right,” she said, her voice slightly higher than it had been a moment ago. “I wanted to be prepared, so I took the liberty of drafting up some preliminary contracts. This one is for Elisa. It will officially put her under your employ and ensure she not only gets a cut of any profits from her creations, but it will make sure those inventions stay in her name. You’ll still have to pay for the materials that go into any commissions for yourself, but she’ll get a weekly stipend.”

She slid the sheet across for me to read it. “I used the average for metalworkers since her profession is unique. It will also allow her to take commissions from those outside of your household, though in that case you would receive a cut of the profits. The amounts can be negotiated, but I think this is a fair starting—”

I cut her off by signing Elisa’s contract. “Fine by me. We’ll see how she does for a month or two and decide if I should pay her more or not.”

Cynthia gaped. “You don’t want to get a scribe to look it over?” she demanded.
“I’m good.” With a delighted cry, Elisa wrapped her arms around Cynthia, tears in her eyes. The serving girl appeared with food and we all paused long enough to let her set it down. I took a bite of my cut of lamb and pointed my fork at Cynthia while Noelle chowed down next to me one handed, the other never leaving my lap.

“Now, onto yours.”

She blinked several times, then slid two more stacks over. “Right. I figured we had two basic options. The first is for me to simply be your accountant and handling your finances.” She tapped one stack. “The other sounds like more of what you’re envisioning, but it would give me more power and cost you more money.” She tapped the other stack.

“Door number two sounds enticing. What’s behind it?”

She cleared her throat. “Well, I’d be your general bookkeeper. I’d handle your finances, but I’d also handle properties and acquisitions. Obtaining and managing servants would fall under my purview as well. Any other official appointments would be something I could handle, though you could take care of that just as easily.” She chewed on something for a moment, then added, “if you wished, you could decide what role you wanted someone to have and I could translate that into official jargon to make the appointment a matter of law.”

I signed the second stack without even bothering to look at the money. Her eyes bulged. “Well, if I’d have known you were so eager I’d have asked for more,” she said.

I laughed. “Impress me and you’ll get it. Now, currently I’ve got four demi-humans. Noelle will be more of a physical protector, and Rhallani will have a role more akin to a researcher, though her new class will surely have combat potential. They’ll both be powerful.”

She nodded, then pulled out a bound booklet and began writing. “The other two?”

“Ryoko and Tsuki. Ryoko is an alchemist, we haven’t found a role for Tsuki just yet.”

“Right. I’ll have her as a general servant for now.”

“That’s fine. Oh, and there are two humans you should find a place for. Tiana and Serena.”

Elisa gasped. “Tiana’s coming? Yes!”

I thought Cynthia might have blushed slightly, but I ignored it. “Yes, she is. For now, she’ll be my party member until we reach the capital. Serena as well, though eventually we might have to officially make her my priestess.”

Cynthia choked. “I’m sorry, priestess?”

“Ah, apologies. I got ahead of myself. Now that you’re a part of the household, you should probably know that I made a deal with the goddess Allura, and Serena is her priestess. The goals I told you of are in relation to that deal.”

Her face pale, Cynthia eyed the stacks of signed papers. “I realize now I should have asked this before, but you aren’t insane, are you?”

I shrugged. “Might be, in all honesty. Doesn’t change what I have to do, though. I assume you worked in some clever emergency exit clauses to those contracts?” she paled further. “Good. Hopefully you won’t need them, but I feel better knowing you’ve got a way out if you decide you don’t want to be a part of this.”

“R-right. I’ll see what I can do,” Cynthia said uncertainly. “Anything else?”

I nodded. “By the time we reach Amesseria, I’d like for you to be an expert in both the Accords and the workings of the guild. I figure you’ve already got the latter taken care of, but I’ll need you to start brainstorming some ideas to get the ball rolling. Oh, and I’ll also need you to familiarize yourself with my holdings, properties, and finances. Any knowledge I have of it is about thirty years old, after all.”

Cynthia steepled her fingers. “I see. And, just out of curiosity, should I assume your knowledge of anything relating to the capital, its government, and its laws to be of the same age?”

“Other than what I’ve learned in the past…” I did a quick mental count, “three weeks or so. And while you have access to my funds, take a chunk out for the two of you. Consider it a hiring bonus and use it to make sure you’re well equipped for the ride south.”

She let out a long breath. “I see you plan to put me to work.”

I grinned. “Yep. You’ll keep busy, but if it’s too much let me know and I’ll bump your pay accordingly. Once we get to the capital, we’ll see about getting you any help you might need.”

Her finger tapped away, but at a slower pace. “You aren’t worried I’ll take advantage of you? Take all your money and run?”

“You owe me for saving Elisa,” I pointed out. “And you strike me as someone who cares very much about that kind of thing. And if you’re half as smart as I think you are, you’ll recognize this as an opportunity to make some money and not piss off someone like me.”

Her lip quirked upward. “Elisa tells me you have a relationship with two of them?”

Noelle’s hand twitched on my thigh. I cleared my throat. “Actually, four.” Cynthia’s brows rose. “I was in a full relationship with Rhallani and Serena both before we went down, and since then we’ve included Noelle and Tiana in our…harem.” I still felt more than a little ridiculous saying the word, but it was what it was.

Elisa’s jaw dropped, and even Cynthia was taken aback. Both of them looked to Noelle as if just now realizing how close to me she sat. Cynthia recovered first. “R-right. Well, demi-humans might propose an issue and draw a little too much attention to you, so perhaps keep those relations behind closed doors. That’s my advice as your manager of household, at least. I take it that means we can expect to be working closely with other demi-humans in the future?”

I inclined my head. “Giving demi-humans a chance to prove themselves will be a cornerstone of our strategy. Finding others who treat their servants well will be important once we reach the capital.”

She nodded. “Very well. I’ll do all you ask to the best of my ability under one condition.”

I raised a brow. “Name it.”

“Elisa stays safe,” she said firmly. “No forcing her on any more dangerous missions, and if she’s ever in danger you protect her as if she were a member of your harem.”

“Cynthia!” Elisa exclaimed.

“Easy enough,” I told her. “I take care of my own.”

Cynthia seemed to sag with relief, then nodded. “Alright, go ahead.”

I wasn’t sure what she meant until Elisa practically exploded with questions. “Will you fund more Spitter Spheres? Do you want me to make more of the lanterns, too? What kinds of commissions did you have in mind? Am I gonna get my own workshop? Are we walking all the way to the capital? Have you really talked to a goddess? Are you a Chosen? Can I meet your alchemist? Do you think—”

Cynthia slapped a hand over her mouth, which only turned her rapidfire questions into muffled ones. “Easy, girl. One at a time.”

I chuckled. “Yes, yes, not sure yet, definitely, we’ll have wagons, yes, definitely not, and yes.”

She gasped, then threw her arms around Cynthia. “Did you hear? My own workshop!”

Even Cynthia couldn’t suppress the smile then. “Do you have someone to drive the wagon?” she asked.

“I know enough to teach one of mine to take care of it.”

“I’ll do it. My dad made sure we all knew how in case we needed to take over the family business, but I was always better with numbers.”

“Very well.”

Elisa shifted in her seat, and her excitement reminded me so much of Rhallani that I couldn’t help but smile.

“When can I meet your alchemist? I have so many ideas that need an alchemist.”

“As soon as you’d like.”

She bit her lip. “Cynthia will have her nose buried in a book all day now, can I meet her today?”

“I was planning to head to them after this, so sure.”

Elisa turned pleading eyes towards Cynthia, who just sighed and said with a smile, “of course you can. I’ll see you tonight?”

Elisa dashed in to kiss her on the cheek. “You know it.”

By then, we’d all more or less finished our food. Noelle had picked her plate clean minus the peas that had been shoved in the corner untouched. I filed that information away for later. “That works doubly well. I’ll talk to Korey—the head of our caravan—and find out exactly when he wants to leave. I’ll let Elisa know so she can let you know.”

Cynthia inclined her head. “Very well. I’ll make sure we’re ready to leave by morning since I doubt you’ll be headed out this late in the afternoon.” She tapped Elisa, who slid out of the booth first. Cynthia followed while Noelle and I filed out, then she turned and held out her hand. “Thank you for saving my girlfriend.” Elisa made a small squeak, but Cynthia paid her no mind. “And thank you for this opportunity, sir.”

I took the hand. “Just Zaren is fine.” I got the feeling they wanted a moment to themselves, so Noelle and I went out front to wait for them.

A familiar face was waiting for us outside. Sola, Fel’s ranger, leaned on the wall of the establishment with her arms crossed. “Ren,” she said when she saw us, “a word.”

Noelle took a step closer to me with a soft growl, but I put a hand on her shoulder. I gestured to a spot out of the way and she nodded curtly. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” I asked her in as civil a tone as I could manage.

She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Rastra said you agreed to help her?”

“I did.”

Her jaw clenched and unclenched a few times. “That was kind of you.”

“It was the least I could do.”

That seemed to make her features tighten more. “Look, if anyone asks, we never had this conversation. What you did, Fel took personally. He doesn’t take losing well.”

“I’m shocked,” I said dryly.

She shot a glare at me. “This isn’t a joke. Fel has money, and the rumors around his family…Look, Rastra is a good person. I just don’t want her getting caught in the crossfire, alright?”

“Better men than Fel have tried to put me in the ground,” I told her. Then, when she went to snarl something else at me, I held up a hand. “But I’ll be on the lookout.”

Sola glared at me for a few more seconds to drive her point home, then turned on her heel and stalked off. Before she was out of sight, I said, “I owe you for the head’s up. When Fel inevitably throws you aside like the bastard he is, don’t hesitate to collect.”

She paused, the muscles in her back tight as a bowstring, then kept walking without another word. Noelle made another growling sound in her throat. “I do not like Fel,” she said.

I patted her shoulder. “Neither do I.”

Elisa and Cynthia picked that moment to walk out. They said a final goodbye, and Elisa walked up to us. “So, where to?”

I smiled at her despite the growing worry in my gut. “Now I’ll take you to meet our alchemist. But we’ll need to make a stop along the way, first.”