Trouble. I looked at Vessa and Arilyn. Was there some tension here? I just wasn’t sure. Nor did I know what Vessa meant by calling Arilyn bright lady. “Vessa, this is Arilyn. She’s going to join our party. She’s a…scholar or performer? Arilyn, what exactly is your class?”

  She smiled. “I’m what’s known as a Veiled Cantor,” Arilyn explained. “It’s like a Cleric, but with aspects of a Bard, specific to the Goddess I follow.”

  It was confusing, but I didn’t know all the classes or how they worked. I nodded slowly, though I barely understood how mine worked. “Uh, Goddess?” I asked. It had me a little worried, as I still wasn’t sure about the Gods around here. “I take it you’re talking about Missana?”

  Arilyn’s laugh was filled with delight. “No, not at all! She doesn’t do that. The Goddess of Knowledge, however, does. Or is doing? Honestly, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one.”

  “Gotcha, I think. Maybe you can explain it further at dinner?” I asked, moving toward the horses. I counted them and noticed that we were one short. “Hey, don’t you have a horse, Arilyn?”

  Her cheeks colored. “I don’t, but maybe I could ride with you?” she asked with a slight smile.

  “Of course. But we’ll have to find you a horse tomorrow before we leave,” I replied.

  Arilyn’s smile widened, and she latched onto my arm as we made our way to my mount. Vessa hopped onto Rocks when I put my foot in the stirrup and stretched out on the neck of the horse with a mostly satisfied chirp.

  “Don’t forget to introduce me to her. I feel like you shouldn’t just stop introductions like that.”

  “Oh, right!” I said out loud. Reaching down with my right hand, I helped Arilyn up behind me. A warm feeling flooded me when she wrapped her arms around me. “Arilyn, I’d like to introduce you to Vessa, my ward.”

  The young woman leaned around me. “Nice to meet you, Vessa,” she said to the stretched-out shape in front of me. She resettled and pulled herself tight against my back. “Where are we headed first?”

  Harper settled into her saddle next to us. “We are going to an inn for food and drink,” she answered. “Arilyn, right? We’ll have to talk about whether you should come with us.”

  Harper led us to the last inn we had stayed at in Alsiger, the one Juan had liked. The owner had been reduced nearly to tears at hearing of the old Ranger’s death and demanded we have a drink with him immediately. He fetched a bottle from the back that was so coated in dust that, even if the label hadn’t been faded beyond recognition, the letters would have been invisible. However, the whiskey in the bottle looked and smelled like ambrosia.

  He looked around the bar and dining area and cleared his throat. “Everyone must drink,” he said loudly enough to get everyone’s attention. Quickly, he poured small glasses of the amber liquid, and the wait staff took them around to the various tables.

  Once everyone there had a glass — there were at least twelve other people at the time — he poured more for the staff before raising his glass. “The great general Juan Santino Venegas, one of the last great heroes, has fallen. May he never be forgotten!” the man said before drinking. Everyone echoed his words and drank.

  After finishing the last of the bottle, the owner ushered us to a table. “Juan was a good friend to my family, always. He saved my mother and aunt from a group of bandits known as the Sovereigns,” he told us while we sat. “Your food and drinks are on me tonight. And if you drink or eat too much, I’ll carry you all to your rooms myself!”

  Before we could thank him, he moved to the center of the room. “In fact, everyone drinks on me tonight, in honor of Juan!” he exclaimed. Everyone raised a glass solemnly.

  While we waited for our dinner, Harper apparently decided it was the perfect time to grill the newest addition to the team. “So, Arilyn. I can see you are into Finn here… but is that a good enough reason to join us in going into extreme danger?” she asked.

  Arilyn paused, her wineglass touching her lips. Her lips set, she set it down and looked over at Harper. “I understand what you are getting at, and having some inexperienced, love-sick girl along would put everyone at risk,” she replied. “But I have several useful skills, including a slew of healing spells and skills, as well as a deep understanding of history.”

  “Oh, so you’re some kind of Cleric?” Harper asked, her eyebrow raised. “I hope you understand we are not the religious type. I personally won’t like it if you start preaching, or trying to convert me.”

  The young cleric broke into laughter, rocking back and forth in mirth.

  “What’s so funny?” Harper asked, frowning, a dangerous edge to her voice.

  My shoulders became tense, and I wondered how in hell I was going to handle this. Though my social skills had been getting a decent workout in the past several months, they were still rusty enough that they were already failing me.

  “Are they going to fight? I’ve never watched a fight between two women before!” Vessa asked excitedly through our bond. She was sitting on her haunches at the edge of the table to my right, nibbling on a slice of roasted meat like a chipmunk, her gaze flitting between the still laughing Arilyn and the fuming Harper. “If I had money, I’d put it on Harper. Wait, can I borrow some money, Finn? Just for this bet?”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Before I could answer the question, Arilyn raised a finger while putting a hand to her chest. “No… It’s just…” she said, catching her breath. “My Goddess is—whew—she’s the Goddess of Knowledge, and doesn’t want worshippers. So for me to sermonize, well, it would offend her significantly!”

  Harper blinked, and she chuckled. “Really? Is that why she has no temples, no priesthood?”

  “Yes!” Arilyn replied enthusiastically. “Though I guess you could consider libraries to be her temples.”

  “Would that mean reading would be like worship, Arilyn?” I asked, relaxing. Crisis averted.

  “Why, I never even thought about that,” she replied, her face brightening. She put her hand on mine. “That is an excellent way of looking at it, Finn. Honestly, although my Goddess always has a lot of work for me, she wants me to go with you on your quest and help in any way I can.”

  My neck felt hot, and I struggled to focus on the discussion. “I… I think having someone with healing magic would be useful,” I stammered. “Harper?”

  Harper just looked at the two of us and shook her head. “Alright, as long as she pulls her weight,” she replied sternly before looking to Arilyn. “What do you say, Heals?”

  “My name’s not Heals, it’s Ar—” she protested.

  “Uh uh,” Harper interjected, waggling a finger. “Your name is Heals until I’m sure you’re not going to die on us. Got it?”

  Harper’s tone was a little harsher than usual. All things considered, I almost expected her to say And not a demon. With or without the last, this was just her way. Harper had suffered so much loss, and that was something I could understand. Especially when the loss was so poignant, so fresh.

  Sorry, Vessa, I thought. No fights this evening, at least not in our group. The little dragon let out a sad meep and looked dejected, her wings drooping. But then she picked up another slice of her roast and started happily munching on the juicy meat.

  “Okay, but Finn, why does Heals keep touching you? Does it have something to do with those loud thoughts you have about her?” Vessa asked.

  My face immediately flushed as I knew what thoughts she was talking about. Um, sort of? We… like each other. A lot. And do you have to call her that nickname, Vessa? There was no way I was going to call her anything that ridiculous. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever met in this world or on Earth. It wasn’t just the way she looked, but the way she smiled at me. That smile… I wanted to be a better person because of that smile.

  “Hey! I don’t need all that, ew! So mushy and gross,” Vessa protested, glaring at me over her food. “I’m trying to eat over here!”

  Fine, then teach me a way to keep such thoughts private, I thought back at her.

  Through the bond, I could feel Vessa furiously thinking, yet I couldn’t understand any of it, not in the way she could understand my thoughts. I puzzled over this while waiting for her to have an answer. Before she had, I noticed the conversation had continued without me.

  “…And then that pretty meathead tumbled off his horse into the fruit stall!” Arilyn told a laughing Harper.

  “Really? After all that talk about how graceful and accomplished a horseman and warrior he was? Just flopped right off the horse?”

  Arilyn nodded, also laughing. “Yes! I have never seen cosmic justice happen so quickly. And that is why I never trust a man better dressed, or better smelling, than a lady at court!”

  The two of them were hitting it off, laughing uproariously, further reducing the tension I had felt earlier. Harper had visibly relaxed, more than she had done in the weeks since leaving Mining Camp. The food and the wine had helped, I was sure.

  “So… what are the sleeping arrangements tonight?” Harper asked. “We have a suite for the night, and access to three bedrooms, or should it be two bedrooms?”

  Next to me, Arilyn stiffened. “Um, I think we should do three tonight.” She said, her face red with embarrassment. “I’m willing to bet we all need our sleep before leaving tomorrow.”

  “You’re right, Heals,” Harper said with a grin at our discomfort. “I will defer to your judgement.”

  Without prompting, the staff had drawn baths for us in our rooms. The extra level of service was welcome, and I got into the tub as Vessa curled up on the end of the bed.

  “Ahhhh,” I sighed as I settled into the water and closed my eyes. “I tell you, this feels amazing. Are you sure you don’t want a bath, little one?”

  “But I don’t need a bath! I’m okay, no baths for me,” she assured me hurriedly. “But, um, I think I figured out how you can block your thoughts from me. If you want to.”

  I opened one eye and looked at her in her makeshift nest of pushed-together blankets. “Oh? How do I go about that? Do I have to think in a different language or chant an ancient spell?”

  “No, silly. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t work. I learned how to speak from you, and any language you know, I know too,” she chided me. “The best thing for you to focus on is building a wall between you and me with a gate. And close the gate. It’s that easy!”

  My first thought was that there was no way it could be that easy. That thought gained me a reproachful chirp from my ward. “Fine, I’ll try it,” I growled and closed my eyes. I envisioned my mind as a comfortable library, borrowing from my memories of the reading oases of the first floor of the Royal Library. I imagined sitting in one of the comfortable chairs, looking at the bundle of thoughts and feelings that was Vessa. There, I imagined I saw her curled up on a bed, watching me closely.

  “So far, so good,” I muttered. “Now for a wall.”

  Vessa snorted, almost breaking my concentration.

  I didn’t know much about what went into building a wall, so I thought about a brick wall, and a wrought-iron gate. Slowly, as I concentrated, the wall took form. It was like it was forming from mist, before solidifying into a brick-and-mortar wall that rose to around eight feet in height. The gate swung open, and I could see Vessa watching me through the opening, alert and with approval flowing off her in waves.

  “That’s a magnificent wall, Finn! We should test it,” she said in my mind. I could almost hear her little girl’s voice in that imagined space.

  Focusing, I closed the gate until it clicked shut. How’s that? Can you hear my thoughts? I thought to her. When she didn’t answer, I repeated the question out loud.

  All I received was a pleased chirp.

  I opened my eyes and looked at Vessa. “So you can’t hear my thoughts?” At her enthusiastic nodding, I smiled. “And opening the gate will allow us to communicate again?”

  She nodded and chirped.

  “Well then. I guess this—”

  There was a knock at the door and Arilyn’s semi-muffled voice came through the door. “Hey Finn, can we talk?”

  “Sure, I just need—” I started, sitting up in the water.

  The door swung open smoothly.

  “Oh!”

  Goddess! And why hasn't she told him that yet!?!?!?

  It's got me so annoyed I'm overusing question marks and exclamation points!!!

  Thank you for reading!