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Same as Selene, Cire had not been expecting to spend the night at Mistfall Lake. He had tried to come up with good reasons to not stay in the settlement full of naga, but he knew that skipping out wasn’t in the cards. Cire had seen the others to the great hall, but they had climbed up the ropes and left him behind hours ago.

Pulling Stout up last with one of the ropes tied around him in a harness, the group had made it out of the cavern in the early evening. Dusk blanketed the valley carrying the refreshing smell of mountain wildflowers on a cool breeze. Spring was settling in and the night was full of life.

Nic and Andre both took in deep lungfuls of fresh air. Their time underground in the musky confines was eventful, but a bit much on their noses. Nic eyed his brother.

“You’re still telling me nothing happened between you and the dozen naga women I found you with? Don’t think I didn’t notice that your tunic is missing from under your armor.”

With a dopey grin affixed in place, Andreas looked down to his chest and then shifted his hide armor. “I didn’t go and get married, if that’s what you’re asking. Some of the women were just very interested in seeing what a human male looked like, felt like. I figured I might as well let them see the half of me that most of them were showing in return.”

Maisy’s typical amusement was absent as she glared at Andre.

“Let’s hope that is truly all you got up to, dear. I don’t think you know all of the rules of the game you’re playing, nor the consequences. I don’t think you should be allowed back here until we have a better handle on the situation. Unless you want to end up as a garment?”

Andre’s grin shrank after each of Maisy’s sentences until a deep frown replaced it.

“What do you mean end up as a garment?”

Nic ran a single hand down his face as he hefted his backpack, still filled to the brim with mushroom. “You didn’t even notice, did you Andre? The naga women, not all of them, but a good number were wearing black scaled tunics and shirts. The same color of scales that the men had.”

White as dried bones, Andre shook his head. He took a large step away from the giant hole leading to the cavern, like the small amount of additional physical distance could somehow keep him away from the danger.

“What about Cire? We left him down there by himself.”

Stout and Maisy both shared a look, having a quick conversation with their eyes. Stout took the cue and went back to being his irascible self.

“We did, and you’re going to keep quiet about it. In fact, you’re both going to sleep at the tavern tonight. You know too much and too little. I’m going to bring you the rest of the way in.”

“Thank the gods for that. I didn’t know how I was going to keep his big mouth shut. You didn’t answer his question though. What makes you so sure that Cire will be alright?” Nicolas asked.

“You’ve never spent any time around territorial royalty dear. So I will explain the basics as we hike back to the hamlet.”

Maisy tied several strings along her robe, cinching the loose sleeves and fabric in place. She started walking, leading the group away from the ruins.

“They are and aren’t like leaders of a settlement. However, the bond between them and the land is much stronger. You know how when you’re in the hamlet you feel a little bit more alert? Ever notice something out of the corner of your eye that surprises you? A coin, or gem just laying on the ground out in the open? Maybe skills come to you easier since you have come here?”

Durg grumbled, “I stopped lookin’ in the mine. We have to turn over everythin’, I found a solid piece of silver ore one day just sittin’ there in the middle of all the iron. Made no sense.”

“Magic seldom makes sense entirely, too many factors to fully consider. However, that is easy to explain. My goddess brings all valuable metals their luster, improving the value of ore would be one of the more common effects. Theia’s blessing improves the perception and luck of everyone in the hamlet who is a member of the community. You don’t need to take an oath to be venerating her through your work, neither do you need to make more of an offering to receive her boon.”

Side-stepping a large rock, Maisy continued her explanation.

“Some settlements restrict the benefits they receive to select members like the ruler or just citizens. In Sunset we don’t place limitations, partially because we are a seasonal operation, with lots of people coming and going. It would be too restrictive if we made everyone take an oath of allegiance before letting them into town.”

Grouching, Stout add in, “I can still banish people or refuse to let someone into the hamlet. They can ignore the warnings at their own peril.”

Maisy frowned, but still nodded.

“If a settlement leader marks someone as banished or doesn’t give them access they will be at a significant disadvantage when in the confines of the settlement. The magic will restrict their abilities, but not render them powerless. That is particularly the case if they are the leader of a settlement or large population themselves.”

Nicolas had been following what Maisy had been saying fairly well so he interjected with an appropriate question.

“Like the gnolls we fought. They didn’t seem to be suffering too badly, it’s because they had their leader with them?”

“Somewhat, it’s also because the level of power for each settlement is limited by its population. Sunset is a hamlet, only the second level. That means the gnolls could largely overcome the disadvantages, with smaller populations they aren’t very restrictive. The bonus effects tend to help the people living on the land, not target enemies. That’s especially true for Theia’s blessing.”

“So, what does this all have to do with Cire being safe alone in a snake nest?” Andre had been following along too, but he was still sour from earlier.

“It’s simple, the naga of Mistfall Lake did make an oath of fealty to him. That fealty is bound by their deity, in this case, Hera. Theia’s divine will is not weak, but she is not a member of the Olympic pantheon. For one of the lantern naga to attack Cire they would have to renounce their goddess and their tribe. That may eventually happen, they do seem rather violent, but it is very unlikely to happen tonight.”

Selene’s mind had been preoccupied during the walk, but she had kept track. She didn’t wait before peeling off from the group, heading south to her homestead.

“I’m going to my farm for the night. Nic, he isn’t alone, he is with Kalani. If Cire doesn’t come back by tomorrow night I’ll go get him. I was going to wait until the next caravan arrived before heading home, but I don’t think we should wait.”

They dropped Durg off at Cire’s cabin and unloaded all of the mushroom pieces from their packs. The rest made their way to the tavern. It was later than they had expected to be back. A crowd of frustrated, but curious, onlookers waited for Stout to open the door. Maisy hustled Nic and Andre up to her room following the hoots and jeers of the thirsty patrons.

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“How much did you two pay her?”

“You better get your money’s worth!”

“We always knew you two brothers were close, but you must really love each other.”

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Cire knew that a naga had followed him to see the others off, but he hadn’t seen her until he came back to the cave. She stood to one side of the tunnel entrance waiting for him. Gray hair neatly hung to her shoulders and brushed against her faded rose red tinged scales. She wore no clothes except a pair of artfully carved scrimshaw earrings. She bowed her head and lowered her body.

“My lord, I am Aanya, a fanglessss one. I will gladly essscort you back to the lake and to the Queen’sss resssidensse.”

“Aanya, you witnessed the bonding right? I could be wrong, it’s been pretty hard to keep track of everything,” Cire remarked.

“I did my lord.”

“What is a fangless one exactly? I can see you don’t have fangs, but I don’t know what that means.”

Aanya’s smooth curving motion stopped and started for a measure. Her fingertips brushed over her lips as she reminisced. Her bulb flickered and danced. Then she ducked her head in a signal of deference.

“My apologiesss, Lord. Fanglessss onesss are the remnants of previous Queens.”

A puzzled expression crossed Cire’s face.

“What do you mean? Didn’t the previous queens get killed and eaten before they grew old?”

Raising an accusing eyebrow, Aanya schooled her expression to politeness and dipped her head again.

“Indeed, my lord. We are sisters and daughters of deposed queens. All of the females besides us are daughters of the previous queen, Leilani. She was queen for many yearsss. When Leilani took power she left very few of her sisters alive to serve her. Other queen’s were more generous with offspring.”

Cire’s eyebrows had been creeping up his forehead after each of Aanya’s declarations. He knew it was a high likelihood that the majority of the naga were related, but all of the young females were sisters. He was starting to wrap his head around how the environmental pressures affected their culture. A dearth of food, for the naga at least, was evident. Durg was as happy as a hog in mud eating mushrooms. However, only a sparse amount of vegetation had been placed on the stone table for the feast, none of it fungus. The males didn’t seem to be eating either. They had served the food and intermingled with the females, but he hadn’t seen any of them with plates.

Fish and insects. It’s a healthy diet, but not high in calories. I didn’t see a single overweight naga either. No wonder they are so motivated to get out. They are putting forward a strong front, but it isn’t any surprise their society is as ruthless as their home.

Aanya lead Cire back to the lake and then out to the central island. Then she held her hand out to the water and a gentle blue glow enveloped her skin. As the elf watched, water began to stream up into the air forming a bubble that sat in Aanya’s open palm.

“My lord, thisss will allow you to breath asss I take you to the queen’sss quartersss. I can take your Sssword and armor with usss, but it would be hard for you to Ssswim with them.”

Disarming himself felt wrong, but he knew that building his relationship with the naga required consecutive shows of trust. Besides, his vampiric abilities never left him truly unarmed. Cire unstrapped his sword belt and stripped off his armor, which had started to smell rather ripe. The armor was tanned yeti fur, originally it had been white, but with all of the dried goop it was stained a mottled brown. Nose wrinkling he placed it on the stone and gave his sword to Aanya.

“Any chance I could clean my armor somewhere first? It could really use a good wash.”

Aanya made a series of chortling hisses and her bulb flared bright.

“Leave it there my lord and I will take care of it.”

Cire nodded and then he looked at the bubble in her hand quizzically.

“Thank you, that’s appreciated. So, how do I use that?”

More hissing chuckles followed his question. The elder naga reached up and pressed the bubble against his face. In a serpentine manner the water flowed over over him and cocooned around his head. It felt weightless and the water didn’t get him wet, but it was still cool and wicked away the warmth from his skin.

Slipping her free hand into Cire’s Aanya pulled him into the water. They didn’t splash, the liquid received them like a giant pillow. The fangless one didn’t so much as swim through the water as much as propel herself with the water. Cire had a difficult time seeing anything in the inky black depths, even with his abundant gifts of vision. He let himself be pulled along for what felt like minutes. However, lost in the void and without landmarks he wouldn’t trust his judgment of time or equilibrium.

Ahead a dim orange light shone through the darkness, then one after another he could see dozens. When they got closer he could see a small honeycomb of amber light, like snow covered windows. They banked and angled towards the largest one, set in the middle.

With an odd popping sound the water pulled them through doorway sized hole, suddenly he was on his feet standing in a spacious carved room. He looked back to see the water retreating, like an octopus tentacle, through the hole in the ground. Aanya released his hand. Then she touched a single finger to the bubble of water swirling around his head and it slid around her hand before dissipating.

The room was square, about the size of single family home, but without any walls. There were two doorways, hung with beaded curtains, on either side of the spacious room. Along the rim of the ceiling were carved swirling patterns set into the rock. Covering the floor, a soft carpet of moss squished underfoot. The gentle glow of mushroom light shone over Kalani as she lay languidly flipping through the pages of a thick tome.

“My queen, I have guided your husssband to you as requesssted. Do you require anything elssse before I depart?”

“No Aanya, thank you. Make sure all of the fanglessss ones are prepared for my meeting with them tomorrow,” She raised up and placed the book back into shelves set into the stone. It joined a plethora of its brothers and sisters.

Turning and diving back into the water, Aanya took her leave. Laying on the floor, half sunken into the moss, Cire’s sword was left in place. In the absence of any furniture Cire plopped down onto the cushioned floor across from Kalani. Putting his hands back into the moss, he leaned in relaxed posture.

“So, everything since this afternoon feels a little unbelievable. On my way out I made sure that the others left the ropes in place, but I’m not sure how you would climb up them. I asked Nicolas and Andreas, the two humans with me, to make a wooden platform that can be lowered down and pulled back up. I know that there is a lot for both of us to focus on moving forward. We both have plenty we need to accomplish.” He stopped and smiled warmly as Kalani’s tail slid around his legs and backside so he was leaning against it.

“But I think it would be good for us to spend some time talking about the past. I would like to know more about you and your people. I don’t know that much about naga in general. What was it like growing up here at the lake? Are there any rules I should know about before I accidentally insult someone?”

Kalani tasted the air and caught herself before she laughed. Patting his thigh with the tip of her tail and then coiling it around his waist, she pulled them both closer together. He certainly loved to hear the sound of his own voice. She would have to learn how to manage his verbose conversations. A sultry and playful tone answered Cire.

“No others besssidesss me have any right to punisssh your transssgresssionsss, you are my mate. You have already broken many of our tribesss customsss, husssband. But that isss to be expected during a period of change. How about a trade? I will tell you about myssself and you tell me about your passst.”

Together they spent the rest of the evening conversing. Cire had always been an over sharer and nervous energy from managing the challenges of the day exacerbated this trait. Their similar circumstances, at least as Cire saw it, made it easier to share the more outlandish details of his arrival in Elysium. He knew that once Kalani left the caverns, her and her people would be in a world they hardly understood.

Describing earth and his previous life before his rebirth was a bit of a challenge. Not because Kalani hadn’t readily accepted beings from another world dropping into hers, but because so many of the things he had done couldn’t be contextualized. The naga had no paper, nor offices. They had a rudimentary understanding of mathematics, but the idea of a career based around crunching numbers and sitting at a desk was as alien to Kalani as her appearance was to him.

Cire did skirt around the edges of one very particular topic of conversation until he could physically feel the stress building in his chest. He knew that the longer he put it off the more difficult it would get. With a hesitancy that was uncharacteristic given his loquacious nature, Cire asked a single question.

“Kalani, you know many things about the world above the great hall. Do you know what a vampire is?”

The beaming smile that graced Kalani’s lips would have given most creatures nightmares. She had suspected he was the vampire she had witnessed carving a swath of gore through the odd looking dwarves ever since she had seen his eyes. Those miss-matched orbs were extremely memorable to her. A shiver of pleasure rippled down her body causing her tail to shudder against Cire.

“Indeed, Cssire, I do.”