With a book laying open in her lap, Annika Ashowan rested her head on her fingertips as she stared blindly ahead of herself.

  “Alright. So. he beat off the pirates. Then the thieves. Then scared off the two men following Eli. Then the people who attacked the carriage by the docks?” Kat repeated back to Luca who nodded while gulping down some sweet milk tea. “Wow. The lucky bugger. Sounds like he’s been having a great time.”

  Luca giggled.

  “Wait. You also said you found Penelope on a boat. What happened there?” Kat leaned her forearms on the table that was ladened with food and drinks between herself and Luca.

  “Oh. Well, I got sick, and then Eli’s parents came, and they got in a fight. They wanted to take her away, and my dad said no, and then I think everyone was going to fight, but Harris came. Then more pirates came, and my dad tricked them on land while we set fire to a ship!”

  Kat gaped at the boy, then slowly lifted her goblet to take another mouthful of moonshine.

  She had started playing a drinking game with herself as she listened to everything that had been happening to her brother since leaving for Zinfera. Any time Luca said something that shocked her, she took a drink. She’d gone through three gobletfuls already, and were it not for her superior metabolism that was enhanced by her magical ability, she’d most likely be falling out of her chair drunk.

  “Who set fire to the ship?”

  “Harris. I helped though.”

  “Mhm. Mhm… Then what happened?”

  “We climbed on board the other pirate ship. That’s where we found Penelope!” Luca explained happily.

  “Right. And… When did Eli and Tam start courting?”

  At this, the little boy twisted his mouth to the side. “Um… Um. My dad said she was pretty when we first got to Zinfera. Then they were always sleeping together.”

  Having just taken a sip in light of hearing that Harris had involved a child with arson, Kat sprayed out the liquor in her mouth. Even Annika, who had entered into a brief catatonic state turned to look at Luca with wide eyes.

  “S-sleeping together? With you in the room or tent?” Kat asked incredulously.

  “Oh! Not in the way where they could make babies—my dad explained how that works. No, they just slept beside each other!”

  “There were a few nights on the ship you weren’t with them.”

  Kat jumped as Penelope appeared beside the table. She hadn’t heard the little girl approach.

  Luca smiled at her appearance. “Yeah, but how can I know what they were doing?”

  “I’m just saying.” Penelope shrugged, her gaze fixed on the food.

  Kat gingerly slid an empty plate closer to Penelope.

  Luca looked back at Kat. “Anyway. They were kissing and holding hands by the time we left Junya and were in the woods,” Luca concluded before turning to Penelope and pointing at the food on the table. “The dumplings have raspberries in them. These ones are honey cakes. They’re really good!”

  Slowly, the little girl started adding items to the plate.

  Annika watched from her spot on the chair without moving a muscle, as though trying not to frighten off a fawn in the woods.

  “Aunt Queen? I have a question.” Luca settled back into his chair while Penelope started nibbling away on the deserts.

  “Yeah?”

  “What if the bad lady comes looking for us? They had guards.”

  “Mm. Well… I’m stronger than them.”

  “The first witch is smart, though,” Penelope interjected. “Mr. Ansar used to talk about her a lot.”

  “Ah. Well, my mother is pretty smart, too. Plus, we should have other strong friends from Troivack here to help,” Kat replied while leaning back to cross an ankle over her knee.

  “Like Bong and Jeong?” Luca asked excitedly.

  Annika interjected quietly at this,“The Ryu family has to be very careful, so they can’t help us much more than they already have.”

  Penelope stiffened at the sound of the duchess’s voice, and didn’t look up from her plate. But Kat and Luca looked over at the duchess who then continued to say, “We are hoping our allies in Troivack have arrived in Zinfera and we can confer with them.”

  “Oh.” Luca’s disappointment over not getting to see the Ryu brothers in the near future was palpable.

  “Any other shocking events to tell us?” Kat asked Luca while whirling the contents of her goblet.

  The boy pondered the question seriously. “Your coven has bad people in it.”

  “Louise Godsdamn Riddel,” Kat growled, though she did so with a smile. “I knew I disliked that bitch for a reason.”

  Penelope sighed disapprovingly. “Language.”

  Kat’s head snapped round to look wryly down at the child. “Good Gods you sound exactly like my mother.”

  Penelope froze, and everyone instantly knew Kat’s careless words could have a very bad effect on the child.

  Everyone save for the little girl held their breath as Penelope slowly lifted her face to the Daxarian queen. “If you really do become my aunt, you should be a better role model in the future.”

  Kat maintained eye contact with Penelope as she slowly drained the rest of her drink in a single mouthful, then said, “You get what you get, kid. Welcome to the family.”

  The air was filled with tension.

  Penelope continued gaping at Kat, Luca kept looking back and forth between them, and Annika’s mouth had fallen open.

  Then a snort of laughter erupted from Luca, snapping everyone’s attention to him.

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  Annika stared in wonder at him, as did Kat…

  His laugh was just like the Daxarian queen’s.

  Even the duchess wasn’t immune to a smile then.“Yes… it would seem… we have a couple new additions to the family. Penelope, I must say that I am most grateful to have you as a new voice of reason to the Ashowan house.”

  ***

  Tam sat with his elbows braced on his knees, his hands loosely clasped as he stared at Eli; his expression hard.

  She finished buckling the belt of her trousers and tying back her hair into the two inch ponytail she was finally able to create.

  With this finished, she looked over her shoulder at him.

  He didn’t say anything when they locked eyes.

  It was the day before they were to leave for Gondol. Eli had successfully hit her flying milestones. Including climbing into the air with Tam and Harris on her back, and gliding around the nearby mountain peak for longer and longer intervals.

  And when Eli wasn’t training? She was with Tam; helping him stay grounded as he adjusted to his surplus of magical ability. He used it sparingly so that he had plenty in store for whatever they would need to do in Gondol, but he did train separately when Eli was away so as to get a better sense of what he could and couldn’t do.

  Despite the intimate nature involved in keeping Tam anchored to the physical world, there was still unresolved tension running between the couple.

  They hadn’t brought up their fight again, and had both stubbornly refused to speak much past what was necessary every day.

  At present, Eli faced Tam, her own countenance somber.

  “We leave tomorrow before sunrise. Will you need us to do this again before we go?” she asked in a cool, business-like tone.

  Tam didn’t bat an eye. “I won’t. If you feel the need, however, just let me know.”

  Just as often as Tam had partnered with Eli in order to steady himself, she had sought him out in fits of wordless frustration and anger that they’d work out together in his void or in the woods.

  “I’m nearing my cycle soon. So it won’t be likely.”

  Tam swallowed and gave a short nod in understanding.

  A humorless half smile curled Eli’s lips before she started to turn away from her employer.

  “Do you know why I’m upset?” Tam called at her back.

  She swung back around, anger and hurt glinting in her eyes. “With me? Not particularly.”

  “Really?” Tam’s eyes searched her face skeptically.

  “Is it because I advised you to be cautious in how you use your powers?”

  Tam rose to his feet, his hands moving to his pockets. “It’s because you trusted a random dragon more than me. When you know me. Intimately.”

  “A random dragon who is hundreds of years old, magical, and knows more than we can ever fathom,” Eli reminded frostily.

  “So if Wixim said you would betray me in order to serve the first witch, I should believe him?” Tam shot back, an edge entering his voice.

  “That depends if I’ve been behaving in a way that gives you reason to think that that could happen.”

  Tam’s eyebrows shot up, his anger and hurt doubling. “I see. And when was it that I abused my abilities or took the lives of innocent people lightly?”

  Eli opened her mouth, then closed it.

  Tam clenched his teeth and looked away before speaking again. “I understand why you have trust issues. I just thought by now you would at least trust in how well you know me—even in the face of a dragon’s speculation. I guess you don’t know me as well as I thought you did.”

  Frowning, Eli looked like she wanted to say a whole hell of a lot in response to that remark, until Tam moved his gaze back to her.

  “If you weren’t sure how I’d react or behave when things escalated in Gondol? You could have asked me how I was feeling or what I was thinking of doing before jumping to assumptions about my character.” He paused, letting out a breath that made his shoulders slump forward. He could feel the anger ebb out of him. He was tired of holding onto it. “I’ll be honest, Eli. I might need some space in our relationship.”

  “You’re overreacting,” Eli retorted sharply.

  Tam’s eyes widened in disbelief. He shook his head slowly. “I don’t think so,” he said evenly.

  Eli waved her hand out and her voice jumped in volume. “Then that’s it? You’re leaving me?”

  “I just said I need space.”

  She scoffed. “We’re about to incite a rebellion, and war with divine beings. How do you propose we take this ‘space’?”

  Tam felt his expression morph as creeping discomfort made its presence known.

  “Eli, you doubted my character when I gave you no reason to. I’m telling you that you hurt me. And you’re saying I’m overreacting and being dismissive. Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Others often make misjudgments about me without talking to me, or just flat out disregard what I say. You know this. It isn’t a small matter to me.”

  “Oh, for the—I just wanted to be on the same page when we faced conflict! Battles are messy and you are protective to a fault of the children! It was worthwhile to discuss! I didn’t come out accusing you of anything!”

  “You didn’t make it a discussion. You came here and said ‘here are the rules’ because you doubted I’d act reasonably. You said I am emotional, unlike yourself. Do you not hear how demeaning that was?”

  Eli hesitated. It was the first flicker of understanding Tam had seen in her since the discussion. “Tam, we’re all tense, and there is a lot at stake. Can we shelve the discussion of space?” she said more calmly.

  Tam stared at her for a while. “We don’t have to talk about it, but maybe we should just sleep separately for a while.”

  “Seriously?” Eli’s indignation sprang back up.

  Again, Tam stared at her in surprise. Her complete disregard for his emotions and perspective alarming in more ways than one.

  “Yes. Seriously. I don’t know why you think it’s fine to talk to me condescendingly or dismiss my own feelings and thoughts, or to question my abilities. But I will say I have never and would never do that to you. If you can tell me what made you think this as an acceptable thing in a relationship with me, I’d like to hear it.”

  “Tam! I wasn’t trying to be condescending! And you have to admit the inner workings of our relationship are not our most pressing issue right now!”

  “Eli, trust is important.”

  “I do trust you! I just thought I should be clear—”

  “I don’t know that I can trust you right now,” Tam interrupted softly. He felt his heart squeezing in his chest, as he watched her anger be replaced with shock. “You doubted me the instant someone suggested you should. I’m not alright with that. So, yes. Space. And we can think and talk about these issues after the kids are back with us safely.”

  “Tam—”

  “I’m going to go start dinner. I’ll see you back at the cave.”

  Striding out of the clearing, Tam didn’t allow himself to look back over his shoulder as he felt the chaos of his emotions darken his world—Though his surroundings were also quite dark as the day had been shrouded with thick cloud cover, and the descending evening dimmed what little light remaining there was.

  What the conversation with Eli had revealed to him was that while he had thought she had come to trust him and rely on him like no other, that still didn’t mean she trusted him very much.

  And he foresaw a world of trouble with that fact.