Diavla checked on Eubexa as soon as they got back. The sickly elf was still eating. Right, it takes her a while to feed herself. Eubexa started to set the food aside, and Tom directly ordered her to keep eating until she felt full or finished the pot. Or so Diavla surmised from the result.

Then Tom turned. “Diavla, come with me.”

She nodded and followed Tom into his room. Tom pulled out a working rock light and set it on the table, then shut the door. He stepped towards his bed, then shifted to the chair, offering Diavla the bed. She sat down directly facing him.

Tom's gaze drifted down and lingered there, until he seemed to realize, reddened, and turned to look at the door, taking a deep breath. Diavla swallowed. He wants me. I want him. This stupid collar…

“Tom? No collar, please?”

“What?” He turned to face her and blinked. “OH! I'm sorry! Uh, I am very sorry.” He reached down and pulled his belt off. Diavla felt her face heat a bit, even though she knew perfectly well he was just fetching the slave tokens to unlock the collars.

As usual, it took him more than one try to find the right token. When it finally clicked into place and Diavla pulled the collar off, Tom seemed reluctant to let go of her neck. Diavla leaned against his hand. For a few moments, they stayed like that.

Diavla worked up her nerve, then whispered, “No collar now. We flirt, please.” Tom stared at her, emotions warring in his eyes. “Small more flirt, Tom. Please. Small more.” She reached up to keep his hand against her neck. “I like.”

She loved that he was so strong, yet sometimes let himself be moved. Other times, he was a mountain, his grip like iron bands. Even without the collar, he could have his way with me and I wouldn't be able to stop him. The thought excited her.

Slowly, not sure how much would be too much, she turned her head and pulled his hand up so that she could kiss his palm, very gently. That small motion—that he accepted it—inflamed her passion more than much greater actions by others ever had. It was so tiny, so slow, teasing at an unimaginably wonderful future, that it lent the moment a weight and power that had her holding her breath with its intensity.

Tom moved closer to her, lifting his other hand to cup her cheek. She tilted her head, welcoming him, willing him to kiss her. Then, something shifted in his eyes. She thought she saw shame, and embarrassment. He pulled back, letting go of her. She held on for a moment more, then released her grip.

Tom cleared his throat, his face red. “I am s—”

Diavla's hand shot out and pressed two fingers hard against his lips. “No. No.” She didn't miss that he had reacted to her movements, but then held back from stopping her. I could never touch this man unless he lets me. She made sure to speak Western. “You no say sorry you want me. No.” Tom took a breath, then nodded. Gently, he reached up and took her hand, and started to pull it away from his mouth.

Suddenly, Tom gripped her hand firmly. Diavla gave a little gasp and held very still. Tom bent over slowly and kissed the back of her hand, very gently. Then he straightened up, and let her go. Clearing his throat loudly, Tom stood and tried to pace, but there was hardly room for him to take more than a couple of steps before turning back.

“Diavla,” he said, a bit loudly, “you get Orvan's collar, please?”

Diavla nodded, trying to clear her head. “Yes, Tom.” She picked up the tokens and left Tom's room. After greeting the old elf, it took just a minute to remove Orvan's collar. She turned to go.

“Diavla,” Orvan called for her to wait.

She turned back, curious. “Yes?”

“Are you…happy… with Tom?”

Diavla stared at him, then found herself nodding. “Yes. I think I am. Very much.”

“That's good.” Orvan said nothing else. Diavla lingered in case he had more to say, then excused herself. I wonder what was going through his head right then. She knocked on Tom's door.

“Come in.”

Diavla stepped inside and closed the door. “Tokens.”

“Thank you, Diavla.” The human conscientiously tucked away the slave tokens and put his belt back on. Then he nodded, and took a deep breath. “Diavla, you say you want see my magic?”

“Yes, please.”

“I say yes. What I do?”

“You…meditate.” Diavla winced, aware that Tom didn't know that word in Elvish. This might have to wait for Eubexa, but we can try. “Like…you think slow. Your soul is slow, like sleep. Maybe your gods?”

“You want me to (something),” he guessed, then nodded. “I will do.”

“I will do, too. I will see you.”

To her surprise, Tom got down on one knee, facing the chair, not her. He bowed his head and clasped his hands together, fingers interlaced. He looked as if he were going to meditate, just as he had in the Temple.

Diavla took a cleansing breath, and tried to focus her soul on meditation. Seeing Tom in that odd position helped to cool her blood, and because she had been practicing, it was easier than she expected to reach a proper meditative state. From there, she centered her soul, calmed herself fully, and listened for the spirits.

There weren't a great many spirits in this part of the city, and their rooms were far from the City Temple and its strange leveling effect on spirit populations. Diavla cast her soul about, trying to sense anything unusual in the neighborhood, before focusing on Tom. She stared at him with her spirit-sense, and tried to understand what she was seeing.

There were a few spirits showing interest in Tom, but only a few. Diavla concentrated, trying to identify the types. There were none of Fire, and very few of Healing. She sensed spirits of Justice the most, then Passion, Curiosity, Protection, and War. It still felt odd to find herself with an Affinity for Passion, and even now some of those spirits were hovering around her as well. I suppose we just stirred them up a bit, she conceded.

Tom's magic clearly was not strong, but it was present. Perhaps Justice gives him his dreams, along with Curiosity. Diavla wasn't sure what exactly made a dream-talker, as she hadn't gotten that far in her lessons at Temple.

Shall I make a call? What would we most need? Diavla felt the urge to call upon Passion, but suppressed it. I don't know what that will do to me, or to Tom. It also wasn't time yet to call upon Protection. I want to understand Tom better. What word to use…? She considered, then made the call to spirits of Curiosity.

MAGIC?

Her call spread out like a wave. A moment later, Diavla's spirit-sense was almost overwhelmed by the sheer brightness of Eubexa's collar, right through two closed doors. That really is an artifact. The spirits almost stampeded towards the sickly elf. Diavla did her best to narrow her focus to Tom. She asked further, What is Tom's magic?

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Most of the spirits had descended on Eubexa, she could tell, but some spirits of Curiosity gathered around Tom. They played around him, frolicked over and around his body, gathering near his head. With her regular vision, she saw Tom's forehead crease slightly. Does he know? Can he feel their presence?

Many of the spirits dove into Tom's head and almost seemed to take up residence, but they were still moving back and forth. Tom wobbled, and she saw him try to stifle a yawn. Are the spirits trying to put him to sleep?

Diavla kept watching, but didn't get any further insights. I'm just not powerful enough. I should have asked spirits of Passion to tell me Tom's greatest desire.

Eventually, Tom stirred from his meditation. “I need to go to the Temple tomorrow,” he muttered. Diavla blinked as she saw the spirits scatter away from Tom again, swirling through the room a bit before departing. “Diavla, you see?” he asked her.

She nodded. “We need Eubexa.”

Tom grunted in acknowledgment. “Tomorrow. Eubexa eat, read, sleep. Eubexa no pain… Eubexa sick.”

“ ‘But’,” Diavla supplied absently. “Eubexa is not in pain, but Eubexa is still sick.”

Tom sighed. “Tomorrow is very big day. I sleep, small now…what was the word…? I sleep loon.”

Diavla tried not to smile. “ ‘Soon’.”

“Like I said,” Tom answered wryly. “Diavla, you take Varga token, Kervan token?”

“Yes, Tom.”

He got out their tokens and handed them to her. “I very want sleep, now.”

“You are ‘tired’.”

“I am tired. I am sorry. Good night, Diavla.”

I'm not sure what the spirits did to him, but I won't interfere. If he needs sleep, he needs sleep. “Good night, Tom.” She stood up from his bed. As she was about to pass him, she made her intention obvious, then kissed him on the cheek. “Good night.”

She left his room and closed the door, then heard him lock it behind her. We grow closer, but so slowly. With a sigh, she went to see how Eubexa was doing.

∘ ⛥ ⛯ ⛥ ∘

Diavla spent a while meditating and refilling a few of the amulets as Tom had requested. After that, she pored over the maps to pass the time. She was sitting in the room she shared with Varga, trying to give Eubexa space, when Kervan returned in a foul mood.

Before Diavla could even greet him, he said tersely, “I don't want to talk about it.” He tugged at his slave collar, paused, then sighed. “Is Tom awake?”

“No, but he left me the tokens. Come here and I'll get it off of you.”

“Thank you.”

Respecting his wishes, Diavla reined in her curiosity. Once the collar was removed, Kervan headed straight to his room and closed the door. Well, that was interesting.

Eventually, she rejoined Eubexa. “I don't mean to disturb you—”

“Not at all, Head Slave. What do you wish?”

“I wish you wouldn't call me Head Slave, for one thing. My name is Diavla.”

There was a silent pause. Finally, the sick elf sighed. “As you wish, Diavla. How may I serve?”

“I want to check on the magic in your necklace, to see if it needs refilling. If so, I would like to work on that.”

“Of course.”

“If I do need to refill it, you can keep reading, or lie down to sleep, just so long as you hold still so that I can keep in continuous contact with the collar.”

“As you wish, Diavla.”

Diavla moved the chair next to the bed so that she could reach Eubexa's neck easily, if needed. “This will take me a few minutes.”

At first, she could barely concentrate as her mind flitted between several topics, including Tom, Varga, Tom, the maps, Tom, the demon threat, and Tom. Finally, she managed to focus long enough to slip into meditation. Given how hard that had been, she disciplined herself to deepen her trance for several minutes more. Only then did she reach out with her spirit-sense, opening herself up to magic.

The necklace was immediately blinding at close range. Diavla aimed her vision elsewhere for a bit while she adapted. Once she had adjusted her perception, she tried to get a sense of how large and how filled the necklace's pool of magic was. The answers, briefly, were ‘enormous’ and ‘half full’, so Diavla decided that she didn't need to worry about refilling it any time soon. She pulled herself back out of trance and reported as much to Eubexa.

“Do you know how quickly it is draining?” the sick elf asked.

“No, but I will check it again tomorrow. If I can see any difference, then I will know that I need to spend time refilling it every day.” Diavla shook her head in amazement. “If it had been created for a noble purpose, an object that powerful would be worth a thousand gold or more. It may be the only one of its kind.”

“Master is a gifted negotiator. He has been poor his whole life, you said, and now he is rich.”

“Well, he has spent much of his gold, now.”

“Diavla, half of being rich is being seen to be rich. Master is walking around town, with about sixty golds' worth of elven slaves. People will assume that a man who has all that also has a lot more gold, especially if he spends a single gold here and there to reinforce the image. Master is an elf-made man.”

It took some effort for Eubexa to explain the pun in Western. After that, Diavla nodded appreciatively. “I'm sure Tom will find a way to make us richer as we travel. Who knows? Perhaps we'll load up a caravan of goods ourselves, at some point.”

“It would be an effective way to make our wealth harder to steal.”

Diavla tilted her head, considering. “You know, that's an excellent point. I'm pretty sure Tom has been worried about robbers, both in the city and on the road. You should mention it to him tomorrow.”

“It was your idea,” Eubexa protested.

“It was an idle comment, and you saw the merit in it. Besides, I know you feel insecure about your place with us. Use this to make Tom pleased with you.”

Eubexa said nothing, as she absorbed this. Finally, she cleared her throat. “Thank you,” she murmured.

∘ ⛥ ⛯ ⛥ ∘

“HI, DEE!”

Diavla startled, and blinked rapidly, stumbling backwards. Where am I? It was dark. She was standing up somewhere, and she realized that she was nearly naked. What?

A wobbling light resolved into a tiny lantern swinging from Varga's hand. It lit up enough to show that they were in the fourth-floor hallway. Yet, she felt as if she had just woken up. Belatedly, her soul gripped the scene. “Varga?”

“HI!”

“Quiet!” Diavla hissed, her head hurting. “It's late, everybody's asleep!”

Varga stopped, and waved the little lantern up and down. “Zada zada, Dee…”

“Come in.” Diavla turned and walked back to the door to their room, painfully aware that she had been standing in front of Tom's door when Varga startled her. I was dream-walking again. And heading to climb into bed with Tom, again. She felt her face heat.

“Wow, that was fun!”

“Keep it down! You're drunk.”

“No, Diavla, my tolanor, you are inc—incorrect. I am actually very drunk.”

Diavla rolled her eyes as she climbed back into bed, shivering. “Any dead bodies to worry about?”

“Pffffft. No.”

“Good.”

“Lily Rose is wonderful.”

“Oh, really… Shut the door.”

With exaggerated care, Varga closed the door, then turned triumphantly to Diavla, clearly proud of her achievement.

Diavla stared at her friend, then wrinkled her nose. “You stink of human. Wash before you get into bed.”

“Yes, Miss Clean.” Varga started fumbling out of her clothes. Diavla sighed, then got back out of bed and helped her friend.

“All right, what happened? Briefly, please.”

“Oh, it wasn't brief. It wasn't brief at all…”

“Congratulations. I thought you were going to the gaming tables.”

“I did! And I won! A lot!”

Diavla paused, thinking hard. “Did the humans get mad?”

“I'm not an idddddddiot, Dee. I made sure to lose a good chunk at the end. An' I gave most of my windy…my windy…”

“Winnings.”

“That, too. I gave them to Miranda. Miranda's really sexy, did you know that? She's like me, but better.”

“Your human twin,” Diavla said, humoring her.

“Yeah, but she got all the tits. She stole my tits, Dee! It's no fair.”

“Not fair at all.”

“She doesn't need tits that big. Although they are really nice…” Varga fell into bed as soon as Diavla had gotten the green dress off of her. “Dee, ask the spirits of Big Tits to visit me.”

“I'll bring it up in our next conversation.” Dee cleaned her friend off before she could roll over and stink up the bed.

“Tha's what you always say.”

“Where is Lily Rose now?”

“She walked me home. She walked me home after, isn't that sweet? She said she can handle herself. She's fun to handle.”

“I'll bet she is.”

“You would win, Dee. You would win.”

“That's nice.”

“Humans…aren't all bad…” Varga trailed off and started snoring immediately.

Diavla put down the washcloth and scowled. I hate it when she snores. She covered Varga so that she wouldn't get sick from chill, then hugged herself, considering.

Saa. Spirits help me… Shivering, she dug out her white shirt and put it on. She glared at her friend, then stamped her foot, decision made. She took her room key, left their room and locked the door, marched up to Tom's door, and knocked firmly. While waiting, she clung to her annoyance with Varga for courage. She was about to knock again when Tom opened his door, dressed in a towel.

“Varga is here. Varga snore.” She ducked under Tom's arm and stepped into his room. “I sleep here.”

“…What?”

“I am cold, Tom. Come bed.” She climbed into Tom's bed and pressed herself up against the wall, facing it. She could hear Tom sigh.

“Well, at least you're awake this time. I (something) I (something) well…” Diavla heard the towel drop onto a chair, then Tom climbed into the bed and pulled the covers up over them both. He started to wrap an arm around her, then thought better of it and squirmed away a little. She could hear him turn to face the other direction, so that they were back to back.

“Good night, Diavla.”

Diavla smiled to herself in victory. “Good night, Tom.” She thought about turning over to hug him, but fell asleep before completing the thought.