“Course not,” Priscilla said casually, tucking her right hand out of sight by leaning back on it, hiding it behind Sulaiman’s thigh. She didn’t know why Jeroinin looked at Asha, but Priscilla now recalled it was Jeroinin who had identified Azurin’s coat as magical, so maybe locating magical artifacts was one of Jeroinin’s special skills. No matter how the woman knew about Asha, Priscilla didn’t want Asha’s existence to be broadcasted to everyone, least of all Sulaiman who would want an answer to how she got a hold of Asha and that would be a long conversation.

  Jeroinin tracked the movement and when the half-elf met Priscilla’s eyes again, Priscilla kept her smile affixed to her face to hide the sudden nerves that went through her.

  “I can start at the beginning if you’d like,” Priscilla said, trying to be helpful and not at all suspicious, “or you can start with questions.”

  “How did you know… that was not Frean?” Kavil asked before anyone else spoke, breaking the silence with a small voice. Kavil was staring into Priscilla’s eyes, squeezing his lips together in a way that said he knew he wouldn’t like the answer but he needed to hear it anyway.

  Priscilla softened, feeling slightly guilty that she had been so frivolous earlier. Frean was Kavil’s mentor and Kavil had just been laughing with the imposter who slaughtered him. Priscilla let the smile slip off her face and sighed softly.

  “Sulaiman and I passed by a house in the hills on our journey here,” Priscilla said, not projecting her words but her voice still floated across the silent plaza. “The energy around the house was… strange, so we took a look around to try and see what was going on.”

  Priscilla took a deep breath and glanced over the crowd solemnly, gaze skittering past Jeroinin quickly before looking back at Kavil, whose expression grew graver with each word she said.

  “I’m so, so sorry,” Priscilla said, “but we found a body that we believe to be Frean Hoffsteader.”

  Kavil’s expression crumpled at that and he leaned back like the words were a physical blow. Priscilla wanted to comfort him, shifting her weight towards him because he looked like he needed a hug.

  “And you do not know who the corpse was for certain?” Jeroinin asked, her raspy voice cutting through the air before Priscilla could actually touch Kavil. Priscilla held back a sigh and looked back to the half-elf, settling for just patting Kavil’s knee.

  “There weren't any other options for who it could be, Miss Jeroinin,” Priscilla said as gently as she could. “The fields hadn’t been harvested for quite a while, and the way he had been killed was… cruel. There was a letter nearby addressed to Frean and we think the person who sent it killed him.”

  “I have the letter we found in my pack,” Sulaiman said, sliding in with a clinical tone, “if you think that might help you decide yourself. But based on what we’ve just seen, this Kopica’a sent it and killed Frean to assume his identity to get access to your village.”

  An emotion too quick to recognize flickered over Jeroinin’s face and the woman’s shoulders sagged, and she rubbed between her eyebrows.

  “No, I believe you,” Jeroinin said, sounding tired. “I just hoped it wasn’t true.”

  “We buried him next to his garden,” Priscilla said, hoping that fact might assuage some of her grief, “though Sulaiman did most of the hard work. I just–”

  Kavil lurched forward, leaning over her to drag her and Sulaiman into a sudden hug.

  “Thank you,” Kavil murmured, voice shaking even as his grip tightened. “That’s what–what he would have wanted.”

  Priscilla could just barely see Sulaiman’s startled profile over Kavil’s hair, his eyes wide and his body going stiff. At this point in his life, Sulaiman wasn’t used to physical affection and that thought saddened Priscilla. Though her left arm was still sore, Priscilla wrapped it around Kavil and put the other around Sulaiman, drawing the man in closer.

  “We’re sorry for your loss,” Priscilla said as Sulaiman sent her a panicked look. She tilted her head towards the crying Kavil and raised an eyebrow. The panic faded slightly before determination took over. Sulaiman awkwardly hugged Kavil back and hesitated for just a moment before hugging Priscilla as well.

  Jeroinin began to walk closer, the half-elf woman was staring at them with a conflicted expression. When Priscilla met Jeroinin’s eyes over Kavil’s shoulder, the woman smiled sadly and mouthed, “thank you.”

  Priscilla debated mouthing something back but decided to just nod in acknowledgement.

  “I’m sorry we could not do more,” Sulaiman said.

  Kavil let out a wet laugh devoid of levity, laying his head on where Priscilla and Sulaiman’s shoulders touched.

  “What more could you have done?” Kavil whispered. “You returned him to the earth and attempted to bring his killer to justice.”

  Sulaiman shot another panicked look at Priscilla but he was spared from answering as Kavil pulled back and gave the pair of them a watery smile.

  “Thank you,” Kavil said, giving them both a gentle squeeze and leaning back, giving Priscilla back her lap. The tears had slowed, gathering on his long lashes like dew.

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  “Kavil,” Jeroinin said, and Kavil jumped, spinning around to look up at her.

  “Auntie?” Kavil said, sounding confused and Priscilla’s perception of everything that happened in the last few minutes was recontextualized with this new tidbit of information. She had never known the name of Kavil’s aunt, as it pained him too much to say it aloud in the story.

  “We had planned on a feast tonight to celebrate last night’s victory,” Jeroinin said gently, “but that can be postponed…”

  “No,” Kavil said firmly. He wiped away the last of his tears and straightened his back. “Frean would hate it if we stopped ourselves from feeling joy just because he… he died.”

  Jeroinin looked over Kavil for another moment longer, before she reached out a hand and helped Kavil to his feet. He was taller than Jeroinin by a good foot but shrank down as Jeroinin reached up to cup his cheek.

  Priscilla looked away, unsettled by a scene of familial intimacy and wanting to give them some privacy as they spoke. Sulaiman seemed to have the same thoughts and they ended up looking at each other awkwardly.

  Sulaiman glanced around before leaning close, his lips nearly brushing her ears.

  “Did you somehow gain an ability to detect lies since we last spoke of your capabilities?” he whispered.

  Priscilla did her best to not shiver at his voice as she whispered back, “I was bluffing my ass off, but I’m glad it seems like a super power to you.”

  Sulaiman tilted his head forward to give her a light glare and Priscilla gave a half-shrug. She had no good way of explaining how she knew Kopica’a was lying so spouting bullshit would be her best way to not cough up blood.

  “Now, I know you two want to speak to our prisoners,” Jeroinin said, drawing their attention back to her, “but I also hear you need some lunch.”

  Right on cue, Priscilla’s stomach growled.

  Priscilla didn’t mind the embarrassment too much when it made Kavil smile. His eyes were red rimmed but whatever Jeroinin had said to him seemed to help.

  “I’m ready to sample some local delicacies,” Priscilla said as she ambled to her feet.

  “Which will happen right after you get your arm in a sling,” Sulaiman said, ever the spoilsport.

  Priscilla groaned but it was mostly for show as Kavil’s eyes gained the fire of a medic on a warpath, copper eyes bright in the warm sunlight. That expression was so much better than one that had gone muted with grief.

  After tracking down her shoes, Priscilla was shuffled back to Jeroinin’s house.

  The red sling was as restrictive as she feared and clashed with her hair, but she resigned herself to her new normal when both Kavil and Sulaiman stared her down – Sulaiman’s eyes narrowing in displeasure and Kavil’s wide and earnest. Combined, it was too much to even think about resisting.

  Unfortunately, after eating a light lunch of roasted fish, the prisoners didn’t have any new information to add. The only thing they learned was that Azurin had heard about the treasure, apparently overhearing a conversation between some higher ups about something special hiding in this village.

  Priscilla exchanged a glance with Sulaiman at that.

  They exited the storage building, lingering near the door rather joining the villagers that were busy preparing for the night’s festivities.

  “That Kopica’a fellow, you thought they were involved with that organization that tried to recruit you, right?” Sulaiman asked in a low tone.

  Priscilla nodded, though her neck stiffened annoyingly. Sulaiman hummed, face deep in thought as he crossed his arms.

  “They were speaking with Kavil before I, uh, stepped in,” Priscilla pointed out, her mind racing as she connected the dots herself and she realized that the cult had unwittingly ruined their own plans by not keeping their pawns on a tight leash. “Kopica’a didn’t answer my question about that even when I was threatening their life.”

  Sulaiman looked at her sharply.

  “Do you think Kavil’s the–”

  “I’m what?”

  Priscilla jumped at Kavil’s sudden interjection, letting out a surprised squeak that was incredibly embarrassing. Sulaiman and Kavil stared at her, Sulaiman looking amused and Kavil blinking in surprise.

  But Kavil got over that and turned to Sulaiman, saying, “Didn’t mean to eavesdrop on you two, but when I heard my name, I admit I got kinda curious.”

  “Ah…” Sulaiman glanced at Priscilla and she shook her head.

  Kavil had a lot thrown at him in the past twenty-four hours. He didn’t need to hear their theories that he was probably the reason Frean was killed and his village was attacked. Priscilla didn’t want to send Kavil to lose his smile now that he had regained it.

  “You’re a formidable healer,” Sulaiman said, pivoting smoothly. “You healed every injury from last night without rest.”

  Kavil scratched the back of his neck, looking at the ground.

  “It’s nothing special,” Kavil said, though his voice betrayed how pleased the compliment made him.

  “It certainly is, savior,” Priscilla teased, smiling and bumping him with her good shoulder. “You should take pride in your skills, healers as good as you are rare in this world.”

  Kavil flushed, saying, “Th-thank you.”

  Then Kavil shook his head as if they had distracted him and he needed to refocus.

  “I wanted to give you guys a tour of our village,” Kavil said, “since you’ll be here for a few days. It doesn’t hurt to get you familiar with everything.”

  “We don’t have any other plans,” Priscilla said and Kavil brightened. Sulaiman raised his eyebrows at her words but didn’t say anything when Kavil smiled at him.

  “Great!” Kavil said, grabbing one of each of their hands and pulling along with him.

  “So you know about the butcher shop of course,” Kavil babbled as they began to walk, letting go of their hands as Priscilla settled in on his left and Sulaiman on his right, “and over here is where our seamstress lives, and if you follow that smell, you’ll find the bakery…”

  .

  .

  .

  (elsewhere, the ripples of change continues to travel, leaving none it passes the same as they were yesterday)

  (on the road, a silver haired girl has what she thinks is a stroke of luck. she smiles, pleased with how well she follows her sister’s advice, unknowing she heads down a path of pain)

  (traveling swiftly through the air, a doppelganger commits the face of a meddlesome girl to their memory. they dislike reporting of their failures, but they smile as they imagine the punishment the girl will receive)

  (a tall woman looks up sharply towards the sun, squinting in confusion. she pushes away her sweaty hair and smiles viciously, changing her course westward as she figures out just what caught her attention)

  (a man fresh from battle drops into a throne-like chair heavily, checking over the map splayed before him. he frowns when one of the figures on the map doesn’t light up and he angrily calls out for a white haired servant)

  (in a land forgotten by time and space, a being that gave up their right to existence feels the ripple pass over them. the being smiles, content, and doesn’t mind the noose tightening around their neck)