“Hello Jorn.”

  “Hello, cursed knight.” He made a show of an exaggerated bow. “Thank you for this opportunity!”

  Morgana nodded and turned to Isran. Jorn winked at Isran with his thumbs up and then skipped away. An interesting sight.

  “Walk with me?”

  Isran nodded.

  “You were gone a while. I received news your expedition was attacked.”

  Isran nodded. “Bandits.” It was nice to see Morgana again. But she wanted to know why the.. cursed knight had decided she was a promising knight.

  Morgana nodded as well. “I’m quite happy you are still alive.”

  Isran thought a bit before asking her question, slowing their pace so they stopped halfway through the hallway, closer to one of the windows.

  “I uh…I’m gd you see so much potential in me but…”

  “Do you not want to participate?”

  Isran rubbed her nape. “I’m not certain.”

  Morgana nodded. “You aren’t required to participate. And if you choose not to you can always watch the games, they are public.”

  Isran winced at that. She had no idea how well she could perform being watched by several eyes. During the expedition most of the adventurers were busy fighting off their own monsters… in a game surrounded by others? Isran was starting to dislike the proposition more and more.

  “I respect your decisions. You owe me nothing. But it would be a shame for you to not participate. I am not the best teacher and I cannot say for sure that you will win but what I can say for sure is that you will exceed other’s expectations.”

  Morgana gnced at the dwindling amount of people in the hallway and took a step closer to Isran.

  “The dungeon is fun, sure, but why do you really fight? A rush? Power? Whatever it may be, proper guidance will make it better. The prize for even st-pce participants is quite hefty. If you value my advice, participate.”

  Isran swallowed and scratched her nape.

  “A week?”

  Morgana took a step back and nodded. “A week. I’ll be delivering your letter personally. I hope you make up your mind by then. I’m not allowed to train you anymore but I have some books you should read before the games.”

  Isran nodded and they walked out of the governor’s estate with no more words spoken to each other.

  Elysi smiled when she spotted them, her droopy ears twitched as she approached.

  “Morgana.”

  Morgana nodded at Elysi and looked back at Isran. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Isran nodded and took Elysi’s hand in her own.

  “Are you okay?”

  Isran nodded. “They are hosting games for the most promising adventurers in Kestin… apparently.”

  “Apparently…?”

  Isran gnced down at her girlfriend and tilted her head.

  Elysi frowned. “Isran do you not think you deserve to participate?”

  Isran shrugged. “I’m not sure what exactly is promising about me.”

  Elysi sighed and pulled Isran to walk. “You should trust that those who believe in you know what they are talking about. Morgana is an important person and if she thinks you are meant to be there then you should also believe it.”

  Isran didn’t respond. It wasn’t strange that Elysi assumed Morgana had pyed a part in getting her into the games. That was also why Isran was uncertain if she was qualified. There was so much she wasn’t certain about when it came to the games. So much she felt were good enough reasons not to participate, but she wasn’t going to throw away the advice of her girlfriend and teacher.

  Elysi steered the conversation away from the games as they walked home, she pointed out a few pces Isran hadn’t noticed on the carriage ride over, even stopping to buy some candy. Isran appreciated it. It helped her mind rex.

  Calliope was holding a small rat when they got back. She scratched its head and sang to it, not noticing that they had returned.

  It was a bit funny to Isran. A mouse girl holding a rat. She hadn’t seen a lot of animals that weren’t horses so even seeing the rat was new.

  “Where did you find that?”

  Calliope gnced up at them and smiled. “He brought me some food… I think he’s in love.”

  Isran pced her hand over her mouth to contain her ugh. She wondered how that worked. Would a sheep try to court Elysi?

  Elysi rolled her eyes and approached the smaller woman. “Let’s not entertain him too much.”

  Calliope shook her head and held him closer to her chest. The rat snuggled into her its tail twitched a bit.

  “We are forming a connection. He was telling me about his ex-husband.”

  Not wanting to offend the very serious woman, Isran walked out of the apartment. Her shoulders shook slightly as she looked at the moon. It wasn’t even that funny, but Isran realized as she trembled, her cheeks hurting from amusement that she hadn’t ughed in a while.

  “Hey.”

  Isran had cooled down some, her cheeks felt a bit warm but she had stopped ughing, Phaedra had come home, she was holding a basket filled with books and a few food ingredients.

  Isran smiled at the blue-haired woman. “Hi. How was your day?”

  Phaedra shrugged with a smaller smile. “My feet hurt but it was fun… have you eaten yet?”

  Isran shook her head no.

  Phaedra fidgeted slightly before clearing her throat and taking a step closer. “I was wondering… if you’d help me cook?”

  Isran nodded. “Yeah… I’m not sure I’m very good at it but I’ll try my best.”

  Phaedra seemed more than pleased. With a small whispered. “Okay.” She walked past Isran into the house.

  Isran gnced at the moon one st time and sighed in contentment, then followed Phaedra inside.