"Stupid boobs." I grumble and adjust my position to free the one that just got squished when I rolled over in my sleep. "You guys are fun, but a pain to sleep with."

"Correct on both counts." Amelia props herself up and leans over Apricot to kiss the poor wounded soldier.

"Nnh, not again, please." I whimper when she flicks her tongue over the little pink nub. "I don't think I can take anymore. I love it when you take charge. But, damn! You really know how to work a girl over."

"Yes she does." Apricot says in a low purr before yawning. "Mhm, good morning. And, thank you both for last night. I don't know what was hotter. You being all shy, or her bossing you around."

"You did a fair bit of bossing around yourself missy." Amelia runs her fingernails along Apricot's hip. "So, what's the plan for today? Are you still going to the desert?"

"I might go a few kilometers in to take some readings and check the sand." I kiss away the worried frown from her brows. "But, I still have to make the enchantments for that poor girl, and we never did get to explore the city."

"Can we do another girls day, please." Apricot makes puppy-dog eyes at me.

"I don't know." I quirk an eyebrow. "Are we going to get kicked out of anymore restaurants, you dirty old man?"

"Heheheh. Maybe." She only blushes a little this time, but it's still a cute look on her.

"Oh, fine." I roll my eyes. "But let's take a bath first. I am one Sore Elle." I start laughing when even Temmie groans at that one.

...

*Ding**Ding**Ding* My phone goes off in the middle of the bath.

"That's the guard I had watching Clara's father." I say after checking the number. Changing my voice to avoid confusion, I answer the call. "Is there a problem with Mr. Hudner?"

"Sir." I roll my eyes when I hear the guard salute. "He's awake and sober, sir. Mr. Hudner wishes to leave town. I tried to explain about the Siren business like you asked, but he said that he can't face his family again after what happened, and is going to return to Newlake in Cendassa to take over his parents’ farm."

"Very well." I sigh and shake my head at this whole mess. "Let him go, but make sure he has supplies for the trip. I'll pay for whatever he needs."

"Yes, Lord. It'll be as you say." He disconnects the call.

Meanwhile, I let myself slide under the water to hide the tears start welling in my eyes. "Poor fucking bastard." The words burble out of me. A thought hit me then that makes me thankful that I haven't had breakfast yet. Staying under the water, I use Magic to call Oliver.

"Sorrel." He sounds chipper. "What can I do for you?"

"Did you hear about the girl I rescued yesterday?" I ask, even though I'm sure that two new humanoid species would definitely have been reported.

"Yes, it's fascinating. I've never heard of anything like this before."

"I think you may have, and just never realized." I sincerely hope that I'm wrong, but I don't think I am. "Have you ever heard of any rumors about say the men of a village being cursed and all attacking a girl? Possibly near Beechhallow in the Northwest, or Newlake in Cendassa."

"Oh, gods." His oath is all the confirmation I need. "Just over a century ago, there was a small village near Newlake..." He trails off.

"That's what I was afraid of." My throat is so tight that if I wasn't using a spell to speak with, my voice wouldn't even be able to get past my lips. The tears I was trying to hold off spill out of me when Amelia and Apricot both dive under the water and pull me into a three-way hug. "I found it strange that they were the first of their kind, I suppose we know what happened to the rest now. I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"No, it’s alright." He says quickly. "You will be able to help the girls, though. Won't you?"

"Yes, I'm going to start on the enchantments for them in just a moment."

"I'll let you get to it then." He drops the call.

"Oh, baby." Amelia squeezes me tighter. "All those girls."

"Girls with divination." I say trying to offer her an alternative to what she's thinking of. "Look at yesterday. Riverton isn't a small city, and we weren't exactly close to Clara's home. I think it likely that us meeting wasn't just chance, and that other Sirens had similar 'coincidences'. Hells, it wouldn't surprise me if there's a local superstition that girls should stay away from men for a time after their first bleeds."

"And the Moura?" She says, not willing to let it go entirely.

"We still don't know what, if any powers Cici will develop." I counter. "But, I think that after I get the enchantments built, we should probably take a little road trip out to Newlake."

"Oh, baby." She hugs me even tighter.

***

"Good morning Lorelai." I greet the mother of four when she answers the door. "May we come in?" I hold up a box containing the reason for our visit.

"Yes, please." She opens the door wide and gestures us inside. "Where you really able to craft them so quickly?"

"Yes, it's basically just an inverted Mana shield." More of a pattern destabilizer, really. But, I doubt she cares for the specifics, she just needs to know that it works. "I've also included a basic Barrier Rune that she can activate in emergencies, just in case her power changes or grows too strong for the enchantments." It's a bit more than basic, but again, that's just details.

"Thank you Lord... Lady. Um, why are you still like that?"

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

"Hahah. Oh, the girls decided to play dress-up with me." I take Apricot's hand, it was her idea to lighten the mood after the bath. "That, and we're going to take a trip out to Newlake, I believe that your girls may have some cousins hiding in the woods that are dealing with the same predicament."

"Really?" Clara's voice squeaks out.

"We won't know until we investigate, but there's some evidence that you may not be the first." I don't say what that evidence is, but the look on her mother's face says that she guessed correctly. "I plan to find them, if they're there, and offer them the same enchantments. I also believe that you finding me yesterday was not chance."

"I don't... Oh, the seer thing, yes?" She catches on pretty quick.

"It's all speculation at this point." I say. "But, it makes sense, and that's why we're going." I get up to leave. "We'll be back tonight, or tomorrow at the latest. And, the Baron's people will take care of you while we're away."

Lorelai follows us out while Clara is playing with her new bracelet. "Thayne?" She whispers his name.

"Said he couldn't face you anymore and left to take over his parent's farm." She lets out a relieved sigh when I tell her his plans.

"Thank you." She curtsies to me before returning to her children.

We're walking out the front door of the manor when Baron Pepi comes walking up. "Lady Amelia, Lady Apricot, Ma'am." He nods to us in passing, and it's all we can do to not break into giggles. Especially when we catch him checking out my ass.

...

Aside from having to keep us invisible as we passed the border, the trip to New lake passed without incident. Even with the threat of war looming, the border isn't closed. Though, I did note that they are taxing people heading into Larendath more than people coming out of it. Cendassa knows that the lack of trade, even this late in the year, would hurt them as much as it would Larendath. But, they aren't above making a quick buck at our expense.

"That lake doesn't look very new to me." Apricot comments on the body of water that gives the town its name.

"Neither does the town." It's clearly been here a while. "Shit." I curse softly as we step out of the carriage I made after we got off our bikes just outside town. The horses are only illusions, but look scary enough to keep anyone from getting close. "Little blonde girl on the right reads as question marks."

"Damn." Amelia offers up her own oath. "I knew your logic made sense, but I didn't think we'd find someone right after we got into town. Should we follow her?"

"I'm tracking her, and we can speak to her parents later. But, I think we should speak to the head woman first." I motion down the street to where a matronly woman is approaching, likely wondering why a fancy carriage and three richly dressed women are in her town.

"Ladies." She curtsies to us. "I am Village head Cynda Ameer, welcome to Newlake."

"Thank you, it's a lovely town." Amelia takes the lead. "I am Amelia Rumex; these are Apricot, and Elle, my wives." I can see the twinkle in her eye when she said that. "We're here on a fairly important bit of business. Is there any place we could speak in private?"

"Of course, my office is just inside." She guides us into the largest building in the square, and upstairs to a clean, if somewhat cluttered office. "Now, what can I help you with."

"Do you perhaps know of a Thayne Hudner?" Amelia asks after we seat ourselves across from her desk. "I believe his parents are farmers hereabouts."

"I know the Hudners, they live a ways outside of town, but Thayne moved away over a decade ago. Is he in some sort of trouble?" She's curious and I get the feeling that she's hoping for some juicy gossip.

"He's been living in Riverton with his now-ex-wife and four children." Amelia continues. "The eldest, Clara, turned eleven this year." Cynda's face loses all color when she says that. "Don't worry, thanks to Elle, she's fine... physically at least. Getting pawed at by her father, and then chased down the street by over a hundred men is going to leave an entirely different type of mark."

"How?" The old woman whispers. "How did you save her?"

"She's a Nature Mage, and a rather skilled enchanter." At her prompt I produce an enchanted bracelet. "This can block the Siren's powers, and hopefully the Moura's as well. Clara's little sister is still a baby, so we don't know for sure. Those are the names The Book of Knowledge gives to their species." She add after seeing Cynda's confused look.

"We call them the Sighted and the Sleepers... but, mostly we just call them the Cursed." She slumps into her chair and looks like every year of her long life is weighing on her. "Does this really work? How many can you make, we separate the girls when they get to puberty, but there's always the risk of an accident happening. We don't have much, but every family in town will give you everything we can."

"We don't need your money." I finally speak up. "We just want to help. But, I have to know just what have you been doing with the Cursed, as you call them, and why haven't you asked the mages for help?"

"They have a protector deep in the woods, she... doesn't like mages." The head woman seems reluctant to say any more.

"Not even ones that can help the girls?"

"...I need to call in some of the townswomen. We can send a rider with a message, if you're really willing to help them, and for free no less, I can't see her denying you."

Cynda's about to stand when Amelia projects an image of the little girl we saw on the street. "If you're contacting people, you should probably talk to her parents as well."

"Little Denna? No, there hasn't been one in her family for generations."

"Yes. Little Denna." Amelia says softly. "Elle's Evaluate isn't high enough to tell them apart, but she can see who's not plain human."

"Here." I pass over the bracelet and a diagram for its enchantment. "Talk to your people, and send this along with the message. I don't know if their protector knows much about Runes, but she should easily be able to decipher the Magic."

"..." Cynda pauses for a moment and looks at me like she's trying to puzzle out if I know that there's a bloody dragon in the woods. "Alright, it'll take a while to get word to her and back."

"We'll get a room at the Inn." Amelia says and we all stand to leave.

"Thank you." Cynda nods to her. "I swear we'll be as fast as possible."

We head downstairs and watch as the town quickly comes alive with excitement. Cynda told one woman who started running around telling others, and they in turn told more. And soon, everyone knew and were talking about it while casting hopeful looks at us.

"So, we're all agreed that there's a dragon in the woods, right?" Apricot says as we walk to the inn.

"Oh, definitely." Amelia nods.

"Yup." I agree. "Why do you think I didn't just barge in there. I'm stupid, but I ain't that stupid."

"What in all the hells is a dragon doing in Cendassa of all places, though?"

"Taking care of her grandkids apparently." I snort as Apricot swats me on the shoulder.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, they are nearly as magic as the Fae, and should be nowhere near the Deadlands. Just finding one on Varecia is surprising, almost as surprising as the fact that she's looking after a bunch of girls. From what I read, they're filial creatures, but are less... caring in their approach to child rearing. 'If the hatchling cannot survive on its own, then it's not meant to.'" I quote from one of the books on magical creatures that I read when we had to deal with the worm.

"That's a bit harsh." Apricot takes Mittens from my chest and strokes him to soothe herself.

"Well, clearly this one is different." Amelia wraps her arms around her from behind. "And, don't worry, we're going to take the best care of our kids... when we have them."

"You'll come around sooner or later." Apricot smiles at the thought of having children, and Amelia's silly reluctance. "Too bad Elle can't get knocked up too." She looks down at my taut belly.

"I can't produce egg cells, but I am able to produce an otherwise perfectly working womb." Both of their eyes go wide when I toss out that tidbit. "If you really want me to, I should be able to harvest an egg from your or Amelia and fertilize it inside myself."

"Both!" Apricot demands instantly. "I want to see you carrying twins."

"Hahahahah." Amelia laughs so hard that she startles Mittens. "That's what you get for posing as a pregnant me."

"Eh, I'll just go around as a guy, and it'll just look like I've got a big 'ol beer belly." I project an illusion of just that.

"No fair, that's cheating." Apricot waves the image away. "I want to see this you be pregnant."

"Sweetie, this is fun and all... especially last night, but I already miss being a boy, and don't know if I could go a whole nine months as a woman." I say seriously.

"Once a week then, at least." She counters.

"I can probably manage that." I lean in and kiss her, careful not to squish mittens between our breasts.

***