Adam returned back to the inn, The Black House Inn, built of stone painted black, and in the City of a Thousand Colours, such an inn stood out like a mole upon clear skin. The building was warm, and the soft scent of the noon’s meal filled the air. Though certain meals could be bought, the main meal was always whatever the house decided one should eat, not that Adam seemed to mind, the fluffy flat bread sprinkled with cheese and herbs was a delight.

“Much better than porridge, isn’t it?” Adam teased Elsie, who smiled shyly, before going back to chewing her bread. ‘We’re spending a lot of money moving about. Thankfully we sold off a bunch of weapons on the way, but maybe I should sell more to the Duchess before we go? I’d love to meet Yellow Turban before we go, too, but I probably shouldn’t be doing too much, in case I accidentally cock something up.’

Jurot remained silent as he ate his food, glancing aside to Kitool and Vonda, exchanging a look with the Iyrman. ‘I should call for Iyrmen to assist us.’

The doors of the inn opened, with a particular Iyrman, adorned in only a breastplate, stepped in the inn. She carried a basket full of bottles, and upon her lips she carried the wide smirk of mischief.

“What are you planning n-,” Adam said, before pausing, noting the heavily armoured figures behind her. “Well, well, well!”

The half dragon’s brass scales shimmered under the noonval sun. She snarled as she entered the inn. It was also obvious she was from the east, since most half dragons and drakkens from the north had white or silver scales.

“I heard you needed help,” Vasera said, approaching the group, noting the gazes upon her and her group of Oathsworn. Her brass scales continued to shimmer even as she stepped into the inn, her horns covered with bits of chain and scales made of steel. She reached out to shake Adam’s forearm, glancing aside towards Vonda, the woman nodding her head. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Vonda replied, a gentle smile on her face.

“Are you guys free for business?”

“We’re open for business, but we’re too expensive to be free.”

“What is it? A hundred gold upfront, a hundred gold monthly?”

“Can you afford it?”

“If you’re willing to receive the payment a little later, once the business has cashed in it’s…” Adam paused, furrowing his brow. ‘Didn’t I make… isn’t there a bunch of fire swords being auctioned off?’ “If you’re willing to be paid once we’re at the business, we can deal with whatever other payments you need until then.”

Vasera groaned quietly, falling into thought. “Can you pay the seven hundred gold upfront?”

Adam glanced towards Kitool, who nodded. “Seems we can. I haven’t been keeping track of the gold recently, so I’m not sure how much we have, but we should be able to do that much. If nothing else, we can speak with the Duchess and figure something out.”

“If you can pay the upfront fee, we’ll allow you to delay the rest of the payment for a short while,” Vasera said, dropping herself with the group, glancing across the large group. She nodded towards Morkarai, narrowing her eyes towards the fire giant. ‘Is he…’

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Golden Savage.”

“You too,” Vasera replied, a wild grin appearing across her face, before her eyes darted to the half dragon beside the Prince. “Whose half spawn are you?”

“I’m not a half breed,” Karza replied, grinning wider.

“You’re not a Gryn, so are you a Drunda?” Vasera asked as if she didn’t know.

Karza’s smile faded a touch, but she bowed her head. “You’re an awful way from home, aren’t you?”

“Home is where the gold is.”

The pair cackled lightly at the phrase, a joke between those of dragon blood.

“How have you guys been?” Adam asked, glancing aside towards Rook.

“We’ve been living as we have,” Rook replied, shaking his head, sighing lightly.

“That bad?”

“Vasera’s been causing trouble when she’s not hired so we’ve been taking work swiftly. We haven’t worked this month, though, since we’ve been working so hard.”

“I’m sorry to cut your holiday short.”

“We were running out of coin anyway.”

“Running out of money? You?”

Rook shrugged his shoulders, the dark skinned fellow flashing a cheeky smile. He reached up to rub his bald head. “I’ve been taking to shaving now, and the creams I buy, they are worth their weight in gold, though I pay silvers for them.”

“I was going to say, you look good bald, though that might just be because you’re a handsome devil.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Rook’s lips twitched slightly. “I do not have horns. Perhaps if I did, I wouldn’t have shaved.” He continued to rub his hand all along his smooth head, before he leaned back in his chair, glancing across towards the other patrons. “Jera.” Rook motioned with his head, and their companion, Jera, made his way to go pay for their stay.

“It’s my good luck that you guys are about. I was thinking about hiring some mercenaries to assist us on the way back.”

“I see you’ve adopted more children,” Rook said, before his eyes fell to the dark skinned Aswadian. He nodded his head to the older man, who replied back with a nod of his own head. ‘And who is this?’

“Not yet. I guess we’ve sort of adopted Elsie, but…” Adam shook his head. “We’ll see.”

“I should have expected that you needed our help because of children.”

“It feels weird when you say it that way.”

“Your queerness astounds me. If we thought you were queer in that way, we would have tried to cut you down.”

“If I was queer that way, I’d have cut myself down long ago,” Adam assured. “Anyway, are you guys planning to settle down soon, or what?”

“Not yet.” Rook chuckled, before the group found themselves talking more over the wine Jaygak had bought.

Later in the evening, while the group were all sobering up as they relaxed, they spoke over snacks.

“We should procure a wagon and a carriage,” Jaygak said, calculating the amount they’d need to spend.

“Can we afford it?”

“It’s the fourth month, we can afford it, the auctions have passed,” Jaygak replied, estimating the amount they could access within their bank. “Are you sure you don’t wish to know.”

“Do we have enough to return with no worries?”

“Yes.”

“That’s all I need to know.” Adam let out a long sigh.

“We should take the path through Eagle Wing,” Jurot said.

“Eagle Wing? Alright.”

“Can we visit Life River first?” Vonda asked.

“Sure.” Adam smiled, reaching out to squeeze her hand gently. “So how many wagons and stuff should we buy?”

“We should buy enough so that none of us need to walk. We will be able to move quicker since we have hired the Golden Savages.”

“Why is…” Adam blinked. ‘Oh yeah.’ “I’ll leave you and Jurot to do that, since Jurot knows about wood.”

“Yes,” Jurot replied, nodding his head, glad his brother could be wise in times like this.

A few days later, the group left the city. Adam sat at the front of the carriage, pulled along by Zeus, while Vonda and Mara remained within the carriage’s walls. Bilal sat with Kitool and Jaygak, along with the seven children in their own wagon, pulled along by the steed Jurot summoned with his statue. Jurot himself sat within the cart, which had replaced their previous cart, and allowed Morkarai to keep other items within his ring. The other wagons held the rest of the people, save for Vasera and Rook, who rode at the front and the back of the caravan respectively upon their magical steeds.

‘Let’s hope nothing bad happens,’ Adam thought, only just realising how many hydras he had come across from his path to and from Life River previously.

The forest around them covered much of their journey forward. Adam sometimes froze in place as he displaced himself into his familiar, Hades, who flew around above them and circled the air, keeping an eye for any threats.

The evening sun fell upon the town. Built around a large river, surrounded by miles upon miles of farms, and rather than the high, dull grey stone he was used to, the wooden fences around the town rippled from the river like waves.

The wooden buildings were of a myriad of sizes, made of all manner of wood, and in all manner of styles, though none dared to grow too tall, for hope that the large stone fortress, which made its home upon the island in the centre of the river, could overlook their homes with its warmth. The large river, which split the river in two, was connected only by a bridge, which circled around the fortress.

The fortress was the largest structure within the town, at least five stories high. The island itself was large, a village of its own, and the only bridge of the town wound its way around the island, not quite connecting the island to the bridge. Even now, thousands of people travelled across the bridge.

The guards at the front were a pair of young men, one in his early twenties, the other in his early thirties. They both wielded a staff in hand, while carrying smaller clubs at their side, the pair wearing scale tunics which were slightly too large for them. Their cloaks were pinned together by a token the size of one’s palm, the engraved rose within the token providing more protection than even their scale.

“Hah! Now that’s a large caravan!” The younger guard’s eyes beamed brightly. “What is it that you trade?”

“Magical weapons,” Adam replied, nodding his head towards the guard.

“That purple armour…” The older guard glanced between Adam and the rest. ‘Why do I recognise the armour?’

“I’d love to chat, but we’ve some business with the Order of Life’s Rose,” Adam said, reaching down for the gate fee. It was one gold per adult, a silver per child, and a gold per animal and cart, from what he recalled.

“Is this your first time in Life River?” The older guard eyed up the entire caravan, before his eyes returned back to the young man in purple armour who was dealing with his coins. “We’ve no gate fee.”

“I know, but I like paying anyway, it’s the least I could do,” Adam said, handing over a flat twenty gold. “It’s not enough, but hopefully it’ll be enough.”

“What business do you have with Life’s Rose?”

“The Ray wishes to return.”

“What?”

“Ray Vonda,” Adam said, motioning his hand to the carriage. “She wished to return to Life’s Rose.”

The guard narrowed his eyes, glancing towards the carriage. “There’s a Ray in the carriage.”

Adam hopped off the carriage, before knocking on the door. It opened, with Mara peeking out towards the half elf, before she pulled away to allow Vonda to step out. She wore her full habit, covering her almost head to toe, and the pair of holy symbols rested against her chest.

“Ray Vonda,” the guard said, tipping his helmet, the other quickly doing the same upon seeing Vonda’s face. “We didn’t know you were coming.”

“I apologise, I should have sent word ahead.”

“It’s no bother at all. I’ll send along word, shall I?”

“There is no need, the Order is expecting me,” Vonda assured.

The guard wasn’t sure if this was proper protocol, but even if Vonda wasn’t who she said she was, this was far above his station. “As you say, Ray.”

As the carriage passed through, the guards glanced between one another, and they informed their higher ups of the situation.

“It’s most likely the real Ray,” the Captain replied, glancing over towards the caravan. “The man in puthral is her husband.”

“Her husband?”

“The Seventh Hope came back from the wedding earlier this year.”

“I didn’t know he was her husband,” the guard admitted, hoping he hadn’t offended the fellow.

“I’ll follow them to make sure they’ve made it just fine.” The Captain, a woman in her thirties, donned her cloak of white, and stepped out, carrying her wooden blade at her side as she trekked through the town, following behind. She caught Rook’s eyes, the mercenary bowing his head, and the Captain bowed her head in return.

“I should have asked the Ray to pray for me.”

“She looked a little sick,” the younger guard replied.

“Don’t be silly, Ray’s don’t get sick.”

“Suppose you’re right. Musta been the light.”

“Yeah,” the older guard replied, glad he wasn’t the only one who had realised the Ray had looked a little off. ‘Musta been the light…’