They got dressed up for the last dinner. Ratface had the surreal moment of seeing her friends, which she had so far only seen in adventurer gear, in full formal outfits.

  “Where did you even get these?” Ratface asked.

  “Remember when you went on your own to save those people from being kidnapped?” Tiffany asked.

  “You were shopping?” asked an incredulous Ratface. Tiffany shrugged.

  She’d chosen a dark green dress that went up to her colour and had a small cloak draped across the back. Ratface could see tiny pockets had been sewin into the cloak. The quality was so different that Ratface suspected Tiffany had sewn them herself.

  “Just another lesson to not go out on your own,” said Albert with a grin. He was wearing something similar to his armour, a dark suit that was cut sharp. He had a few fancy knives strapped into his belt and smaller ones on his wrists that looked like cuff links.

  The three of them were standing in the corner of the restaurant. It had been changed from how it was earlier to have a buffet in the middle while the rest of the room was open to everyone. Ratface and her two sharply dressed friends were hovered over a table sipping at water.

  Ratface was eyeing the buffet that had more exciting drinks. Halmir had dragged Kryssa over and was looking through the different foods. He’d already ingratiated himself with Mathilde who seemed to share his love. The two were deep in discussion about one type of food and she was showing him how to eat it. It looked pretty tasty so Ratface went over to join them.

  “Now typically you just dunk it in the cheese like this,” said Mathilde. She took what was a small piece of crust bread and stuck it onto a skewer before slipping it under the cheese. “Traditionally you’d just eat it like this but I’ve found a little bit of spice adds to it.” She grabbed some ref flakes and littered it over the bread before plopping it into her mouth with a pleased smile. Fulgora was standing on the other side of the buffet and watching it with a horrified expression. She’d been standing next to her sister and Abigail who were having an animated conversation about crafting.

  The orc noticed Ratface and flashed a grin.

  “Your friend is a true glutton,” she said in appreciation. She’d dressed in a flowing dress that swished across the ground but had no straps. It showed off her strong shoulders and Ratface was again reminded that this woman had wrestled a serpent to the floor. Her hair was done up in a complicated braid putting the whole thing into a daring, but cultured look.

  “We met in a junkyard so she knows I’m not picky,” said Halmir. Ratface blinked as the small rat boy shot her a grin. She was reminded then that a lot of their relationship had begun with him being a frustrating little rat. Mathilde looked at the two of them consideringly.

  “This is true?” she asked.

  “Well, we did out best to move up in the world, but I’ll always miss the meals.”

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  “What meals?” Mathilde asked.

  “Exactly,” said Ratface and Halmir. They giggled in unison. It may have had a hysterical edge as they both remembered that gnawing hunger.

  “You still look like you belong in a junkyard,” Kryssa said looking at Ratface’s outfit. “Did you really wear armour to this occasion?”

  “To be fair, so did Abigail,” said Halmir. The glamour gave him an unimpressed look.

  She’d ‘dressed’ in a shifting outfit that was going through the different seasons. At the moment it was flitting through winter. It was part aesthetic and part training. It paused if she ever got too distracted.

  “To my knowledge, the traitor can’t get out of the armour,” said Anna. She’d come to eat the cheese but apparently couldn’t help herself some venom. Ratface didn’t want to hate the girl, but she wasn’t going to just let an insult to Abigail stand. She did a sharp hiss that made the squire jump.

  “She’d be stupid to get out of her armour when you two are pointing daggers are here pointing at her back,” she said. The two stepped towards each other before a hand clamped on both of their shoulders. They looked up to see Mathilde offering them a pleasant smile. A smile that was given away by how hard she held their shoulders.

  “Perhaps a different conversation girls,” said Mathilde. She held them both until her point was made then let them go. She nodded to Anna.

  “Tell me, you are the squire to the Lady’s Champion. What will our final trial look like?”

  Anna shrugged and looked away.

  “She hasn’t told me, it’s against the rules.”

  “She does seem shackles by rules,” Ratface muttered. Anna gave her a sharp look.

  “By that logic, has your traitor told you?” she snapped.

  Ratface shrugged.

  “Maybe,” she said.

  “I did not,” said Abigail standing behind her. She frowned at Ratface. Fulgora had come with her and came and joined the rest.

  “Perhaps you will give us some clue?” she asked.

  Abigail’s eyes flittered between them, a look of concern in her eyes.

  “I can’t tell you because there’s nothing to say,” she said eventually.

  “The traitor is right,” said Lily. She’d moved closer when it was clear her squire was outnumbered.

  “The last trial is not selected by us, but by the Lady herself. We can only tell you the location; the inner city.” A few of the others sucked in a breath at that but Ratface had no context.

  “What’s so bad about that?”

  “It’s a place of great mana, a place not quite of this world. To go into it is to be change,” said Abigail. The worry hadn’t ever left he. “I’d hoped you would have all recognised it was a poor place to send squires.”

  “It’s not our choice but the Lady’s,” said Lily.

  “In my time, she would listen to suggestions-” Abigail began but Lily cut her off.

  “Well maybe you shouldn’t have left,” she snapped. Her golden eyes flashed as she glowered at Abigail. “I will see you all tomorrow,” she said, “though you will all go to danger I can at least take solace in that I won’t have to look upon this traitor much longer.” She stormed away from them. Anna gave them all a glare then hurried after her.

  The short argument had effectively ruined everyone’s jovial mood, and the others began to file away. Ratface stayed close because she still wanted to try the cheese.

  She bit into it and found Abigail frowning at her.

  “You shouldn’t goad Lily’s squire,” she said.

  Ratface finished chewing and swallowed.

  “I’ll reach out a hand, but I won’t let her insult you,” she said.

  “She’s just a child, her anger for me is just a learned behaviour.”

  “So I should let her just be rude then?”

  Abigail shook her head.

  “No, I wont limit you. Yet you should know that goading her only puts a target on your back.”

  The hair on Ratface’s neck pringled as an intuition fell into place.

  “And why is that a problem?”

  “Because the next trial is taken by the Lady, and she isn’t concerned if only one of you makes it to her.”

  Ratface grimaced as her suspicions were proven right and silently berated herself.

  It should have come as no surprise that the humans Lady was so harsh. Afterall, she’d met her champion.