“...under the bridge. I still don’t know what made Dalmoti decide to -” Senkovar stopped short when he saw Serenity enter the room. “Serenity. Welcome back; you were gone longer than I expected. How’s the project coming along?”

Senkovar’s hands were empty, but Lex held a mug. It looked like it was full of something warm. There were a lot of options for what it could be, but the fact that there was a plate with what looked like cookies on it in front of the two of them made Serenity guess it was a dessert drink of some sort, probably similar to a coffee.

Serenity snagged a cookie as he sat in one of the other chairs. “It’s fine, everything’s as it should be. Our next destination is Themrys, isn’t it?”

Serenity had thought about how to raise the topic with Senkovar, but he hadn’t come up with a good solution. The best option he could think of was to ask about the information they’d gained; it wasn’t conclusive, by any means, but it did point at a likely problem. Serenity didn’t know of any reason Berinath would be on the list and he didn’t know anything about Eitchen, but he was worried about “World Eaters” coming to Earth and that was the reason they were headed to Themrys.

Senkovar nodded. “I’m looking at the route; we may need to detour to Eitchen instead. I think the World Eaters may be shifting their course. I’d like to get there before signs are obvious and stay there for a while. We should have several months. It’s too late for Themrys; I can’t do anything for a world once it’s damaged. It has to recover on its own. I hoped it would be Dilmak instead, but there would already be signs if it were; it’s too close to Themrys. So we need to head to Eitchen in a couple months; that should get us there in plenty of time.”

Talking to Lex had clearly made Senkovar feel like talking; that was more detail than Serenity had managed to get out of him about why their travel plans were the way they were since they left Earth. At the same time, the recitation explained why Senkovar had been willing to wait on Earth for so long and again on Berinath; he thought he’d just be waiting elsewhere if he hurried.

Serenity shook his head. Personally, he’d still prefer to be there with time to spare. It rarely hurt to arrive early; if nothing else, it let you get the lay of the land. “You weren’t certain where you needed to go next? Why didn’t you try to get to Dilmak ahead of time?”

Senkovar shrugged. “You must not know Dilmak. It’s a water world, completely unsuitable for anyone who has to breathe air. Only one of the portals is above the water and it’s on a floating raft of waterweed that …” Senkovar shuddered. “I’ve been there a couple times and I can say for certain that Dilmak doesn’t agree with me. I mean the World as well as the water; Dilmak Itself will barely acknowledge my presence. I wouldn’t have learned anything by going there.”

Serenity had to admit that he didn’t know Dilmak. He’d seen other watery worlds in his previous life, but ones that were as extreme as what Senkovar described were either very uncommon or didn’t link into the portal networks he’d traveled through. He doubted water worlds that extreme would make good trade hubs; perhaps that explained it.

It didn’t really excuse Senkovar’s lack of care for the world, even if it did explain it.

“So when do you need to leave for Eitchen?” Lex looked over his mug at Senkovar. “I assume you’ll be taking Death’s Wings?”

“You told him about the ship?” Serenity probably shouldn’t be surprised by that. It hadn’t come up before Elder Jinsa’s messenger arrived, but they’d had hours to talk after he left.

“Why would we take a party barge?” Senkovar looked back and forth between Serenity and Lex before it settled on Lex. “You’re just like your grandfather, aren’t you?”

Lex chuckled. “A little less fond of pranks, I think. I’ll let Serenity explain the ship.”

Senkovar slowly turned from Lex to Serenity.

Serenity shrugged. “It’s not a party barge. It’s a transport-class vessel from Aru’tsa’lkeet with a mixed crew. It’s apparently also a birthday present.”

Rissa gave Serenity’s arm a squeeze. Serenity grinned up at her.

“A birthday present. You were given a new spaceship as a birthday present?” Senkovar didn’t sound like he knew what to think of that. “Do you know how much those cost, especially the ones from Aru’tsa’lkeet?”

Serenity grinned. He was really starting to like the expression Senkovar gave when he was completely shocked. This was the first time it had been from Serenity's wealth, but it was the same expression no matter what caused it. “I admit I don’t, but I’m sure Rissa does.”

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Rissa shrugged. “It wasn’t cheap, but it was a lot cheaper than a fast courier, even with the crew. It wasn’t even close to the price of an actual warship; I have a couple of those on order as well, but they’re going to take longer. Death’s Wings was actually designed for a prince from a planet I didn’t recognize, Ilekath or something like that, but they canceled the order when it was almost complete. Having them finish it saved quite a bit of time and some Etherium.”

Rissa always tried to save money if it didn’t cost anything else. Serenity couldn’t say he was surprised Rissa had found a way to do so even for a spaceship.

There was a long silence, then Senkovar sighed. “I assumed you had no idea how much it costs when you offered to buy us passage, but if you have your own ship that does change things. We need to talk to Lord Cymryn.”

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Valkyrie Ann stepped through the portal to Eadsyt with her shrunken retinue. They were nearly useless, but not as useless as that Vala who couldn’t even predict that they were about to be targeted and evicted from Earth!

Ann conveniently ignored the fact that she’d told Morgan to stop looking into that sort of future after the third time Morgan told them to move. The Vala was clearly overcautious; there was nothing to separate the Valkyrie and her servants from the stupid natives.

Well, that might be true of the servants; they were clearly stupid. Half of them had managed to die trying to earn the Etherium needed to travel all the way to Eadsyt! That was completely unacceptable! It was a good thing she was here now and could get new servants. Maybe she’d replace all of them.

The scene that met Ann on the Eadsyt side of the portal was depressing, nothing more than an overgrown field with a Portal Node. There was a trampled path that led from the Node to a nearby dirt path, but no one was nearby.

It was nothing like the elegant pavilion the Valkyrie had used to step through the Invasion Portal to Earth. It was certainly nothing like the crowd of well-wishers that saw her off that day. Well, that was to be expected; she wasn’t supposed to be returning through the ordinary Portal system. Valkyries didn’t, as a rule; few left Eadsyt. That was why it was such an honor to be chosen as a spearhead for a new world!

Ann grumbled to herself as she set off down the road. Hopefully she’d find civilization soon. It couldn’t be too far away.

She ignored the injured group that followed her. They deserved it. If they were any good at all, they’d have gotten through without injuries and made enough Etherium to travel in comfort. That was why they were there, after all. Sure, they were supposed to be paying for living expenses rather than Portal costs, but who cared? They were there to deal with making Etherium.

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“What do you mean, stop lying. I’m a Valkyrie and you WILL give me a room!” Ann shouted at the stupid innkeeper.

“Look, lady, Valkyries don’t come here. We’re way too far out. I get that you’ve just come from offworld and maybe they believed you there, but that don’t cut you any slack here. It don’t cost that much, just pay the Etherium; I’ll even let one cover the lot of you, two rooms, a meal, and a bath each.”

The hayseed in front of Ann was obstinate and had ticked her off. Ann was close to doing something with her sword it wasn’t made for and actually hitting him with it. She wasn’t supposed to use it outside the Timestream; she wasn’t even supposed to draw it outside the Timestream. It was tempting, but she pushed down the temptation. “I’m not lying, I’m a Valkyrie and you’re supposed to provide rooms for us!”

The only thing Ann had on her that would prove she was a Valkyrie was her sword, and it would probably not be very convincing to anyone who didn’t know what a Valkyrie’s sword looked like. She wasn’t sure how to prove her status; why couldn’t he just accept the truth?

She didn’t have a spare Etherium. They’d come through as soon as they could afford the portal fee. Maybe she should have left a few of her guard behind, but that would barely have saved anything. The real cost was in opening the portal at all.

“Ye got a voucher?” The innkeeper took a long look at them, then shook his head slightly. “I didn’t think so. Get out, there’s no reason for you to be here if you ain’t paying and it sure sounds like you ain’t.”

A clatter of coins hit the table in front of Ann. She turned to see an old man standing where her guard should have been.

Her dead guard; Johynn hadn’t made it out of one of the early dungeons alive. For a moment, Ann felt regret. She’d always liked Johynn even if she hadn’t shown it. She hadn’t minded if he skipped -

No, that was a bad thought. Johynn should have survived; it was no one’s fault but his own that he hadn’t. It certainly wasn’t because she’d allowed him to skimp on his training.

“‘At’ll cover ‘em for the night,” the old man standing where Johynn should have been told the clerk. “Best they have a place to sleep tonight, they can move on in the morning. Right, miss Valky?”

Ann gaped at the old man. She didn’t even know where to stand. Who carried change that was enough to almost equal an Etherium but didn’t carry Etherium? Also, who would call a Valkyrie Valky? That was just insulting.

“Yeah, thought so. You boys have a good sleep an’ take care of the miss. Iffen ye need a healer, head outside an’ turn right; the sunflower yellow door is the healer’s. Best to get there sooner if ye need help; she don’t like people who wait til late and wake her up in the night.” The old man turned and headed to the door he’d indicated.

Ann knew that wasn’t where he’d come from since she hadn’t heard the door earlier, but she wasn’t certain if he’d come from the stairs or the hallway that led around the lobby; they both seemed to lead to rooms in the inn.