“I should have asked you to strong arm the count sooner.” Casper whistles as he examines their ship in the dockyard

The vessel was incredibly impressive, approximately the same size as Captain Dumont Cantero’s from Crimson Harbor. Much larger than anything Casper would have personally selected, then again it was probably entirely necessary given the crew size they had ended up with.

“We needed the break from all the action, besides, given how these next few weeks will likely end up going it was a good idea to get in all of our rest, recovery, and shopping when we did.” Alex notes as she offers her bag to a deckhand, who loads it up the ramp for her.

Casper nods his passive agreement, and follows her up to the deck.

Casper nods his passive agreement and turns to dryad hanging in Alex’s shadow.

Or was it a nymph? It was impossible to tell, assuming there was a difference at all. Casper wasn’t very knowledgeable about the fae.

“Will she be alright aboard the ship?”

Alex looks back, watching as the peacefully quiet woman swayed with the wind like the branches of a tall tree.

“She would be a valuable healer if we think we need it, but I believe being too far from a forest will cause her some trouble.”

The fae nods her head solemnly. “I am afraid that being on the waters will likely kill me, especially salt water. I only recently joined your service but I fear I cannot join you in your next endeavor.”

“Celeste can open portals, though in order to do it over long distances she will need a great deal of time. We might not be able to reliably get to you while we are out at sea but once we dock and have a chance to establish a foothold in the Dukes holdings we can create a gateway to travel between.” Alex informs her with a smile.

“I feel rather useless simply standing here and waiting for a portal to open for me… is there anything I can do for you while I am stuck here?”

Alex turns to Casper, who thinks for a moment before finally speaking. “We will likely need healing in the Duke's holdings. Alex has diamonds but we should secure other options of healing. Can you scour the woods safely in order to acquire natural herbs or other ingredients that can be used to make balms and potions?”

“This I can do, and will do so happily for you.” The fae smiles wide as Alex nods her approval.

“I thank you for your hard work in advance.” Alex offers a bow, and watches as the beautiful woman vanishes back into the city.

“Hate to see her go.”

“She is rather beautiful isn’t she?” Alex teases.

“Having a truly dedicated healer aboard would have been incredible.”

“Oh I doubt anything will happen to warrant healing magic like hers. Nephinae and Rathiel should easily supply substantial aid.”

“I hope you’re right.” Casper sighs and follows her up to the deck. “By the way, I have a feeling you would know, is she a dryad or a nymph?”

“Is there a difference? I have been referring to her as both and she hasn’t corrected me.”

“I suppose there probably isn’t a big enough difference then, or there is and she is too polite to say anything. Should have asked her before she left.” Casper shrugs.

“We can ask her when we see her in a few weeks.”

Reaching the top of the ramp, Casper whistles as he scans the vessel, though the moment of grandeur and accomplishment aboard his very own ship was short lived.

Even docked, the passive rocking of the ship threatened to upturn his stomach.

Riffling through his pockets, Casper quickly swallows the jelly-like blue tablet the mage had sold to him.

Almost instantly he felt the sickness die down, which was quite the relief given just how much money he had to spend on a satchel of the substance.

He had bought enough for himself and Laihal, for 3 weeks each, which ended up setting them back nearly 5,000 golden marks.

Apparently, the mage enjoyed their “underhanded tactics” to acquire the ring, but didn’t like Casper very much so he upcharge them anyway.

5,000 gold marks was a small price to pay though, considering just how much more money they managed to acquire from their share of the late Lord Josson’s estate.

In fact, it was enough money to hire the single most well respected and competent crew in the city, all while barely cutting into their newly acquired loot.

“We are the last ones,” Alex confirms with the deck hand, who nods his understanding and moves to inform the captain.

“Shall we investigate our quarters?” Alex offers, moving to approach the stairs that lead to the lower decks.

“By all means, let’s” Casper stuffs his hands into his pockets and allows her to lead the way.

The interior of the vessel was shockingly spacious, Casper thought as they walked through wide hallways towards the back of the ship. It was remarkably clean as well, without so much of a hint of dirt anywhere.

“The ship is divided up into a few different sleeping quarters,” Alex explains as they walk. “To the right here, is the quarters designated for Rathiel's party, and to the right is our party.”

Opening the door to the right, Casper and Alex enter the spacious room. Circular windows allow the last traces of sunset in and across the several beds that have been placed along the far wall. Curtain like dividers have been set up, though it wouldn’t do much for sound, they appeared to be good enough for the likes of changing or sleeping in relative privacy.

“On the deck below this one, are the quarters designated for the ex-slaves you freed, and then opposite them are the ships crew quarters.” Alex explains, pointing through the floor to where those areas would be on the lower decks.

“We are one bed short here, I take it you get the captain's quarters then?” Casper asks with a teasing smile.

“Me? Gods no, I was going to offer it to you.” Alex quickly raises her hands defensively “I would never presume to be in charge.”

“It was your efforts who got us this ship.” Casper notes.

“Surely that isn’t relevant to the hierarchy of our group…”

“Surely you'd know I don’t care for the hierarchy by now.”

“Then, who should get the captain's quarters?” Alex asks.

“Maybe we can take turns sharing.” Casper winks.

Alex blushes slightly. “How perverse…”

“I said nothing about sharing it with anyone.”

Alex gets even more red then, realizing she'd been caught.

“We will have to see how the trip goes.” Casper chuckles to diffuse the brief moment of tension, which Alex seems a little frustrated by.

Casper knew things would only be getting a little more tense from here on out. The cat was out of the bag in terms of how people felt about him, and how he felt about others. So much tension could only build for so long before it all boiled over and he would be kidding himself if he tried to make any further excuses about power dynamics.

He was however surprised that it was Alex who had been making the strongest effort, then again, it’s not as though he had much time alone with the others other than Laihal, and that was its own bag of worms.

“Where is everyone now?”

Alex clears her throat and adjusts the collar of her shirt slightly, trying to air out the lingering fantasies. “They are all down in the mess, the crew has cooked up a wonderful meal to celebrate our voyage.”

Casper’s stomach grumbles slightly at the mention of food, reminding him just how hungry he was. “Well, let’s not keep them all waiting.”

With a smile, Alex leads Casper across the hall nearer the front of the ship, where the smell of fresh meats and vegetables wafts from.

Entering the mess, Casper is greeted to quite the sight of diverse company. Of course it was expected to see them all here, but in contrast to every other establishment he has ever been inside it was clear that the people gathered here were far from normal.

Rathiel and his party sat on the far left side, mingling with the ex-slaves in the center, who in turn were conversing with Casper's party on the right hand side.

Laughter and energetic conversation fills the air, as if everyone here were long time friends reconnecting after years apart. Casper figured it likely had something to do with the alcohol that was generously portioned around the table, or the fact that it was good food.

“Casper~!” An already half drunk Annabelle motions to sit in the spot next to her as she breaks her attention away from a story Peter was telling.

With a chuckle, Casper joins the spot to her right, followed by Alex positioning herself to his right on their section of the long table.

Before he even knew it, a plate of perfectly cooked honeyed ham with a side of roasted vegetables was placed in front of him, and even more impressive, was a massive mug of mead.

“Just how much did we spend on this crew?” Casper asks, turning to Alex who has already begun digging in.

“Not enough for this kind of service.” Alex says between mouthfuls.

With a shrug, Casper too begins to eat and drink and tune in to the story Peter was telling.

“The waters was the worst I had ever seen. Waves as tall as the masts of this ship, and coming down like a wrathful god.” Peter continues, moving his hands dramatically to imitate the movement of the ocean.

“Maxwell had already been long since lost, and Ivesk was holding on with nothing but his one good arm. We thought we were going over for sure.” He positions one hand to be the “boat.” showing how it was almost entirely sideways in the water.

“Then, we were up on a massive wave, which must have been hundreds of feet high. Lightning struck just behind it, illuminating what i can only say was the biggest fuckin’ hunter I had ever seen in my life…”

Casper scowls slightly, hoping what he had tuned into was siding more on folklore than a real account of real events.

“And we only ever saw the part that was rising in the wave, it must have been hundreds of hundreds of feet long, five times as wide as our little ship and it was gone before we could even say anything.” Peter finishes by showing an approximate size with his hands, using a piece of vegetable as scale for the ship.

“But, but that won’t come for us right? Hunters only come after marked…” Elisayra starts, her entire body shivering slightly. It looked as though she was ready to melt away into the floor, were it not for Nephinae petting the half elf's head to calm her.

“Right, right. Didn’t mean to scare you.” Peter offers her a kind smile, one that doesn’t alleviate any anxiety as Elisayra remembers that the nameless girl is in fact marked.

“Even if one does appear, we have it all handled.” Rathiel calls out from the other end of the table, making a show of his point by conjuring a small golden flame of pure radiance.

Micha narrows his eyes at that, though Rathiel doesn’t appear to mind much.

“How have you all been getting along?” Casper ends up asking Annabelle after the topic switches.

“Well, all things considered. The dark elf girl gives me a bad feeling, Micha isn’t a fan of Rathiel, and I'm fairly certain Laihal is trying to seduce everyone, but other than that there are no issues.”

“Really? You’re still not trying to kill Engee?” Casper tests, trying to gauge a true reaction from her mostly red, drunken expression.

Annabelle scowls slightly, but it only lasts for a moment before she waves a hand to dismiss the notion. “No, I still don’t like…him, but there isn’t much I can do about it now. No point in losing sleep over it.”

“I'm glad to hear it.” Casper chuckles, watching her expression continue to contort slightly as she works through the emotions.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“And you are getting along with everyone?” Annabelle asks in turn.

“I think so, I don’t have any issues with anyone here.”

“Maybe it isn’t an issue, but…” Annabelle starts, and then trails off.

“But?”

“Never mind.” Annabelle quickly tries to dismiss as she takes in a big gulp from her recently refilled mug.

“You can’t lead with that and then say never mind, somethings bothering you.” Casper pushes playfully, nudging his elbow into her side, forcing her to laugh a little.

“I’d rather you not think of me differently by saying it out loud. I think I will allow it to fester.” Annabelle nods sagely.

Casper rolls his eyes at that, “we just left the city that could heal things like that, id suggest not.”

“You may not have a problem with anyone, but you and Alex are looking awfully close as of late.” She notes casually.

That wasn’t nearly as painful as he feared it would be, Casper thought to himself with a sigh. He had truthfully expected the back and forth to continue ad infinitum, but then again Annabelle was never much for games, especially when she was drinking.

“We… are, yes.” Casper confirms, moving into a more conspiratorial distance as to not have to shout his business to everyone.

“Mmmmm” Annabelle makes some unintelligible noise in time with a nod of her head, matching Casper at that distance.

“Is that a problem for you?” Casper asks, trying to figure out just what was going through the warrior woman's head.

“Possibly.” She admits with a shrug.

“Possibly?”

“That’s what I said. Possibly.” Annabelle retorts with a coy smile.

“Care to elaborate?”

“Well, I decided that today was a good day to try and make more of an effort. It's a shame to see it all go to waste.”

Confused, Casper finds himself scanning her, trying to deduce what it was she meant by that, though didn’t have to wonder longer, as she shifted her shoulders and chest, and in one quick motion parted her shirt to reveal her ample cleavage.

Visible now, was the harness she had worn the night at the tap house. The sight of the leather straps around her body, visible only to him at this moment made his heart race, only to be made worse as she grabbed his hand, and guided it to her thighs, where the harness continues to hug around her lower body.

“Your effort doesn’t have to go to waste…” Casper tries, only to find himself being pulled away by another force, a very Alex shaped force, that guides him upright and instead closer to her.

“Annabelle, are you trying to hog Casper all to yourself?” Alex tests, offering the now frustrated woman a wink.

“You’ve had him to yourself more than a few times now. I would think your time in our ranks would teach you to share.” Annabelle protests, resting a hand on Casper's thigh and leaning in to face off with the smaller woman.

“I know how to share, you just have to ask nicely.” Alex retorts with no small amount of sass, placing her hand on Casper's other thigh, and leaning in to nearly but heads with Annabelle directly in front of Casper's face.

“Please, we can all get along, can’t we?” Laihal muses from across them, shocking Casper as he feels a pressure on his crotch.

Using the two women as a distraction, Laihal had managed to work her foot up to rest gently on Casper's bulge from under the table.

Casper shoots an accusatory glace Laihal's direction, who responds only by shrugging innocently, and rubbing her foot along his length.

“I think I’ll grab some fresh air.” Casper interrupts the three women by quickly sliding out from his seat, and making his way out of the mess and back through the halls.

Coughing slightly, as if that would help his racing heart, Casper finds his way to the deck of the ship just in time to see the final sliver of sunlight disappear beyond the horizon.

The cold salty air helps to calm him, as the mark threatens to overtake his mind and make some poor decisions.

The crew call out to one another as the sails are lowered, and the boat begins to move away from the docks and out towards the wide open sea.

Casper takes a few deep breaths, hoping he wasn’t too rude at that moment. He would have normally liked that experience, however given how much of the mark he had been using, and how little relief he had been able to provide himself, the mark nearly had him taking all three of them on the table in front of everyone, which would have been particularly suboptimal.

A part of him knew he could, if he wanted to, sleep with Engee or Alex or Laihal, they had made it clear they were interested and wanted to, but a part of him still felt wrong for doing it. That other part, the part that didn’t feel right about it, was so deeply ingrained into his inner morality that it at this point, transcended any rational or logical thought. Ultimately it was a feeling, a feeling of something being wrong in that potential engagement and on that feeling alone he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

The sound of footsteps came behind him, quiet, almost impossibly so.

“Don’t worry Eli, I’m alright…” Casper starts, only to find himself inches away from Zesstra instead.

Almost instantly his mark began to burn its way through his body, as a primal, deep fear claws its way through him.

The dark elves' mess of black hair flutters in the wind, her hard eyes staring daggers into his own.

Not wanting to show fear to her, though he didn’t know why, Casper straightens his shoulders and clears his throat to speak. “Can I help you with something?”

“Those three, the half fiend, the woman pretending to be a man, and the bandit. They were touching you.” she speaks, her voice sounding younger than she looked, though it had a sharp edge to it, as if blades were attached to her tongue.

“They…were, yes.” Casper confirms cautiously.

“Would you like me to kill them for you?” She asks genuinely.

Casper takes a moment's pause at that. He didn’t quite know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that.

“No…” Casper responds confidently, though he finds himself trailing off slightly. “How old are you?”

“I am 12 years old.” the dark elf responds proudly.

“By the fates…” Casper's runs his hands through his hair.

He had no idea how to approach this, but he figured it was best to do it cautiously.

“How many people have you killed?”

“More than I know how to count. Mother taught me how, I have been doing it since I could hold a knife.” She smiles, radiating pride.

“Impressive… for now, I will say you are not permitted to kill anyone for any reason…” Her face drops then, though Casper quickly continues. “I will change this later, I just need to ensure that I am giving you good orders.” He tries.

Her expression returns to normal then, seemingly contended with that response.

“One is approaching you now, shall I stay by your side for more orders?”

“That won't be necessary, I defer you to Peter until such time that I give you new orders.” Casper rattles off.

“I understand, thank you.” the small dark elf bows and disappears back into the lower decks.

Casper shakes his head a few times, as if potentially shaking free some explanation for what the hell that interaction was about, though nothing easily came to mind.

The best he could figure was that this was once again some cultural thing he didn’t know about, and now found himself with a tiny assassin looking to kill people on his behalf.

He would most certainly have to have a few conversations about this before he decided his next steps. In part he felt bad for offloading the burden to Peter, though given that Peter was the de facto leader of the ex-slaves he was probably at the very least more equipped to handle something like that than Casper was.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get so aggressive with you.” Annabelle calls out as she makes her presence visible on the deck of the ship as she half walks, half stumbles towards Casper.

Chuckling, Casper shakes his hand and slaps the railing next to him. “Truth be told Annabelle, I'm quite the fan of aggressive.” He winks, instantly easing any lingering tension she was holding onto.

“Really? Rare for a man to enjoy the company of dominant women.” Annabelle teases.

“I was raised to be a leader, a commander, to be the one in control. Safe to say I enjoy relinquishing that control from time to time.”

“I see. I was always told what to do, when and how to do it. I find I like being able to take charge in my off time.” Annabelle leans against the railing and looks out over the darkening waters with Casper.

“Come all the way up here to talk about whether you like to be on top or bottom?” Casper teases her back.

“In a sense.” She smiles.

“Really?” Casper turns to look at her, his eyes inadvertently working their way down to her still partially open shirt.

“Regarding Alex, I didn’t mean anything more than teasing by what I had said.” She starts.

Casper quickly waves his hands. “I am aware, my response was also to tease you.”

“Though if I can ask more seriously. What is your intent with all of us? With her? I’ve met many men in my travels, worked with many men, heard stories from and about many men, and I am very confused by you.” Annabelle admits.

Casper smiles. “I had this conversation with Alex, so it’s only fair I have it with you as well.” Casper sits up from the railing and rolls out his neck.

“It’s no secret that I find you attractive, in fact, it’s no secret that I find everyone in our little party attractive.” He admits, and watches as Annabelle nods along in perfect agreement. “And to keep things short, I feel it is immoral for me to act on any of my feelings, because of the debts owed and the power dynamic between us all. I feel wrong, and cannot in good conscience engage with any of you because of that.”

“But?”

“But, Alex convinced me that wasn’t the case, not any more. It may have started that way but I want to be able to consider you all friends, allies, and companions. I was dismayed by the notion that I should feel poorly, and should instead be more comfortable to act on my emotions in this way.”

Annabelle smiles, and rests her elbows on the railing, a movement that pushes out her chest even further.

“I'm glad she convinced you of that, the only issue I have with it is that it wasn’t me.” She admits.

“Really?”

“Really.” She confirms. “I haven’t done well to show you how much you excite me Casper, but it’s true. From the moment we met in fact. I have just been, truthfully, a little too shy to move on my own feelings. Now however I find myself in competition with a myriad of other beautiful women and can no longer afford to be idle.” She admits with a shrug.

“Really, it isn’t a competition…” Casper tries to diffuse, but Annabelle shakes her head.

“Oh but it is, I know you come from a town far away from any culture I've ever heard of, but it is most assuredly a competition.” Annabelle offers a devilish smile, the same kind of smile she gives moments before a fight is about to happen. “Whoever ends up with you first will have the most say in the relationship. I’m sure Elisayra wouldn’t mind being under one of us, but between myself, Alex, and Laihal? Second place simply isn’t an option.”

Casper's mind floods with a cocktail of emotions then, each one more confusing than the last.

“Wait wait, what do you mean by first and second? When did I ever say…”

Annabelle raises an accusatory eyebrow at him, which causes the next string of words to die on his tongue.

“Casper, I understand that where you come from, it may not be customary to take multiple women, but here in the kingdom it is expected of powerful men. Besides that however, you are a very fine catch. To be even a second, third, fourth or fifth partner would be incredibly lucky.”

“Why does it feel like I am not getting a say in this?” Casper laughs.

“Do you not want any of us?” Annabelle tests.

“I… don’t think it would be fair to say that.”

“Then why deny it?”

“Because it feels weird, it’s so far outside of anything my family ever did…”

“Which makes whoever ends up your first all that more special,” Annabelle winks. “Casper, I’ll ask you to trust me, and listen to me right now. This is a very rare, very beneficial circumstance we have all found ourselves in. Let me ask you this, you wish to continue your family bloodline? You are an only son, and your father cannot bear any more heirs because of his passing?”

“Right, that's correct.”

“Then what better way to continue your bloodline? You would need to find someone to make an heir with eventually, and now you find yourself surrounded by quite the collection of beautiful women, women who wish to continue their own family lines, but beside that, women who likely have longed for a partner their entire lives, women who had likely previously resigned themselves to being with someone they don't find attractive, someone who isn’t kind, someone who would use them or dismiss them or treat them as every other woman in this kingdom is treated. Instead, they have you.” She offers. Pointing a finger to Casper.

“I hadn’t ever considered it like that.” Casper admits.

“And that is fine, but now you know. In my case, I had assumed I would die alone on the battlefield, never having known the touch of a man who saw me as an equal. I thought that my family line would end with me, and the only thing I would offer to this world was dead men. You, Casper, as I am sure you are aware, are the perfect man in my eyes. Strong, yet gentle, firm but kind. You are confident without being egotistical, you are, to me, everything a man should be.” She admits, her face turning red.

“Are you sure that isn’t just the alcohol talking?”

“I am, it’s the conclusion I came to the day you saved my life.” Annabelle confirms confidently. “And again, I cannot speak for the others, but Elisayra likely would have never expected anyone to care for her. Even if you do not see her the same way you see me, to be with her would be to prove to her she is worthy of love. Alex I'm sure has her own reasons, reasons she’d better explain to you herself, though the same could be said for all of the others.”

Casper nods along to her words, working through all of the reasoning's he hadn’t ever considered before, slowly building a deeper understanding of the reasons behind the infatuation he always felt was there for them.

“Besides all of that, and perhaps you may find this notion strange, so forgive me if I undo all I have done by saying this. But the situation we all find ourselves in is very rare, and very lucky, because I have at least found myself, even if it is just in passing, enjoying the more intimate company of our companions.”

Casper blinks a few times. “You mean?”

“Yes, I mean that at least I believe it's possible, I am also attracted to some of the others… Now! Perhaps this is because it’s been so long since I've been with another, or perhaps it's the alcohol, or some other factors I am not considering because I know that feeling is wrong, but… I understand that Alex likely feels much the same way, and Laihal does as well… this is incredibly unheard of, but…”

“I might need a minute to take that in…” Casper admits, his mind even more of a mess now.

“I understand, and please, don’t think less of me for having spoken that truth to you. I know you know Alex has similar feelings, and I know you don’t treat her any differently for them but please understand for us this is very taboo, punishable even. Much like you will need time to understand what I have said regarding having many partners, it would take us time to understand these other feelings..”

“I understand, I do.” Casper cuts Annabelle off as it looks as though she is about to continue her flustered explanation.

“You do?”

“I do, trust me, I… very much do. Consider that I found Alex attractive before I knew she was a woman. That was very confusing for me. Not to say they are the same, but I will respect your feelings on this, and recognize that it will take all of us a lot of time to unpack everything we are feeling.”

“We can unpack it all a little faster if you’d like.” Annabelle quickly moves towards Casper, the sudden change in tone giving him whiplash.

Before he knows it, Annabelle's body is pressed against his, her arms around him, her face close, breath hot on his own.

“Perhaps a little too quick?” Casper tests, placing a hand on the larger woman to create some separation.

“I…”

“You are incredibly intoxicated, and I am not comfortable taking this any further than talking with you in this state.” Casper explains with a smile.

“You are very kind…” Annabelle admits, stepping away slightly.

“If you consider that kindness, then we have a lot more talking to do.” Casper notes.

“It’s a good thing we will be at sea for a while then.” Annabelle smiles.

“Indeed it is.”

“Perhaps I can convince you to allow me to sleep in the captain's quarters some time.”

“You’re welcome to them tonight if you'd like, though I won’t be joining you.”

Annabelle clicks her tongue.

“You went from very shy to very direct rather quickly, didn’t you. I didn’t expect you, Annabelle, to be trying to get me into bed so out of nowhere.”

“Shit, did I really come on too strong?” She asks, worried.

“A little stronger than I expected, yes. It feels almost a little out of character for you.”

“I am very drunk.” She admits, though there seems to be a little something more to it.

“And?”

“And, Laihal has been making me have these very…specific dreams, followed by sharing a room with so many women I haven’t had any time to take care of myself.” She admits, then quickly goes several more shades into the red as she realizes what she’s admitted.

“Then you really should use the captain's quarters tonight.” Casper laughs, which only makes Annabelle more embarrassed.

“I’ve made quite the fool of myself tonight haven’t I? Do you think you can drink enough to forget this happened?”

“No, I don't think I can.”

“Damnit…”

“Don’t worry, trust me I am the most likely person to understand what being pent up can do to the mind, that on top of the strongest truth potion in the whole kingdom, I couldn’t blame you for anything you might have said tonight.” Casper winks.

“Remember the important bits, enough so that when we wake in the morning I am still a sexy mystery to you, and I can fight my way to your bedroom by being my more “hard to get” self.” She offers.

“I can try and work with that.”

“Good, good.” Annabelle snickers and walks back across the deck, stumbling along the way to the captain's quarters.

“Enjoy yourself!”

Annabelle hides her face with one hand and opens the door to vanish into the captain's quarters.

This was going to be a very very interesting few weeks, Casper thought, as he made his way down from the deck of the ship back towards the mess, where the others still eat and drink.

“Is everything alright?” Nephinae asks as Casper sits back down.

“Quite alright.” He smiles at her and tosses back a mouthful of mead.

“Really?” Laihal's foot once more finds its way to the space between his legs. “I'm glad to hear you are doing well Master.”

Casper sighs and takes in another large mouthful of the alcohol.

Perhaps interesting wasn’t the right word for it…