The air tasted musty.. Bitter days spent in toil. Sweetened by the good company. Softened by time.

The noble smelt of dried sweat. She couldn’t taste anything else.

Two felt her gaze.

Without fear. Judgment without anger. She didn’t know what to do.

“Why,” Deadra muttered, her tone too empty to be cold.

“Why, what,”

They gaped, her expression twisted. Moments away from a scream. It shattered like glass. Into still apathy. She tasted nothing, “Why are you doing this,”

Two struggled to order her thoughts. She wasn’t used to conversations without motive. She kept her gaze impassive. Yet tired hope slipped into her voice “To be free,”

They laughed. Low hollow yet trunking as it filled the room. “So you take mine, help your mother throw me whatever fate she has planned.”

Two wanted to explain her struggles. The half-formed father in her dream. How she was so close. That she’d thought this was a simple ransom. Despite mounting complications. Daisy was not her mother, but…

The defeated woman was limp. Her head limpid. Eyes distant. What was the point?

She marshaled her control. “Yes,”

Tears bead in their tired eyes. “From what,” she rasped.

“My mother, the world at large,”

They rolled down her cheeks. “Is that supposed to make it right, to justify it?” her voice broke. Her eyes begged Two,, for the faintest scrap of reason.

Two saw their difference then. She smiled, her concerns grew distant. Deadra thought the world was fair. That bad things happened for good reasons.

She wished she could see it. The city through her big blue eyes. Fill her with such conviction that she could cry. While shackled with enchanted cuffs. It must be beautiful.

Two, couldn’t see it. She never had. “No, it doesn’t. But if the price for my future is someone else’s happiness. So be it.” Two walked closer to the cage. Deadra’s tears glimmered in the gloom.

A plan coalesced.

“I don’t hate you Deadra. I’m not out to rub this in. I don’t even know who you are.” She sighed. And shook her head.

“Then why,”

“Because it was a job. It was supposed to be my out.” She let heat slip in. “My mother,” the word burned. “Kept it a secret and I suspect I’m in very deep shit.“ She slumped her shoulder and gave Deadra a wan smile. “Could you help me?”

Life flickered in her eyes. “Why should I?”

Tow sighed, with a touch of Daisy’s drama. “Drop the games, you have Two options. I have a few more. But we’re each other’s best chance.” She held the noble’s stare. Two was aware of the seconds ticking by.

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Deadra’s gaze was contemplative. “There’s something wrong with you.” The familiar words broke her stride.

She smiled broad and confident. Showed teeth, “I’m tainted. And we don’t have much time. Make me an offer or we’re done. I’m sure you’ll live no one would go through all this effort just to kill you.”

They flinched. “I, I just need a moment.” She wiped her tears. When she lifted her gaze, all that remained was grim determination. Tarnished, brittle. But present. Two removed Butch’s expression. “I am Deadra Salen heir to the matriarch.”

It took everything she had not to shake. Her mind ground to a halt. “As in the Duchess.”

***

What was Daisy thinking? What was she doing? People died for less. Families were killed for less.

She had a duchy’s heir in a cage. She drank a shuddering breath. She discarded everything that didn’t apply to here and now.

Daisy wasn’t stupid greedy but not stupid. Combined with the shackles. Another duchy was involved or someone very ballsy.

She took a steadying breath. That made things more complicated. “Okay, and.”

“And,” Deadra looked confused. Two contemplated resisting the sight. Then changed her mind.

“There are probably people looking for you, For good or bad. The boss might be here in a couple of minutes. This whole place might be warded.“ She gathered her calm, “I am not a cultivator. Any of those people could kill me by accident. So at minimum, I’m going to need a plan and promises”

She felt sick but kept her face determined. At least they were naive. She hoped that included honesty.

Deadra nodded to herself. “I have a plan, what do you want?”

“A pardon from your family. Something to hide my taint. Enough money to spend the rest of my life.” She paused in thought, “For ‘my mother’ and Terry to not die.”

Deadra managed to glare.

“I don’t like her but she’s my mother,” the words were uncomfortably true. “and the butterfly’s been kind to me.”

“Butterfly?”

“Progeni,” she managed not to roll her eyes.

“I, I can manage that, though I can’t promise they’ll be treated well.”

“Ok,” she steeled herself. ”What do I do.”

“There’s a pen in my pocket. I need you to stab me with it.”

***

They trundled through the tall stone gate. It was like a different world. From tamed nature to a wild crowd.

People filled the square. Pressed onto balconies and roofs. Stared through crowded windows.

At them. Igni wondered what they were looking for.

Guards ambled through crowds and Cordoned the carriage off.

Their auras bled into the air. Singing unfamiliar notes. What were they feeling?

Questions mounted in his thoughts.

He smiled and let his gaze wander. A note ran through the crowd. Another question raised. He felt like a hatchling again. Each turn of his head promised a new discovery.

He found a grin on Lu’s face. He found he had one too.

Their carriage stopped. A very fluffy man opened their door. Did they make cloth using their wool? He’d have to ask someone later.

The brothers exchanged a glance. Lu exited, paying a mile. To the attendant who seemed caught between calm and utter anxiety.

“Thank you,” Igni said as he descended. The words pushed them into greater flux. Another curiosity.

Three figures waited for their approach. From amidst a circle of guards. That soon enveloped them “Emissaries welcome to Spes Nova.” The central figure boomed. Her voice echoed over the crowd.

She wasn’t talking solely for them, he mused. Thankfully he didn’t need to say anything.

“Thank you for your city’s warm reception. It’s a beautiful place.” Lu said smiling one of his easy smiles. That without effort. Led and followed every word.

Igni nodded. Protector Curio stood behind them. Obscured in his grey robe. Neither added anything. The latter because he was here to fulfill his namesake. The former because he wasn’t very good at politicking. Or an incident in the making as Quiet liked to say.

“Where are my manners,” Lu continued. “I am Lux Claritas, this fellow,” Lu patted his nudged him with his wing. “Is Igni Perdita, and our Protector is Curiosa Somnia Historiae,”

The woman smiled, “I am Terra Lancet, this fine city’s Mayor.” he focused his wandering attention on her. Deep blue scales lined her neck and disappeared beneath her bright yellow puffy robe or dress. It was difficult for him to tell the difference. Shorthorns poked through her hair. “To my right is Lady Leandra Salen, and to my right is lord Aubert Eberwith. Representatives from their houses.”

The former was a woman, with black hair and feathers on her head. Her eyes were fixed on Lux’s wings. The latter was a tall antlered man in pale leathers.

“Now that introductions are over. Would you like to tour?”

Lu’s smile brightened. “That, would be delightful.”