Josh excused himself politely and went back to their room once he finished his meal with the lord of the village. A candle on the window sill provided flickering illumination against the sky-blue kimono hanging nearby. Nadia slept on her side with a heavy blanket covering her from her neck to her ankles. Josh brushed past her tote bag as he reached for the candle snuffer, but Nadia sat up and grabbed his ankle. Her grasp caught him by surprise.

“Not so fast, you’re not off the hook that easy. What about your trip out to shore? You never told me anything about it.”

“You don’t have to tell me off. I can explain.”

“I don’t want an excuse. I almost lost the ability to seal the incubus. What if it would have gotten out of my control and came to the surface? It’s no small effort to control when you’re this close, but I can’t contain the incubus forever if you get too far away. People could’ve been killed, including yourself!”

“I was prepared to drown myself. There would’ve been no big loss.”

“That’s not funny! You’re my friend. If something happened to you, I would have never been able to forgive myself.”

“Isn’t that funny, I tried to kill you, and your family becomes the first people to treat me like my life matters. Is that supposed to be funny?”

Nadia fell back against the mat, her head smacked the pillow, and she sighed. Josh knelt beside her.

“You okay?”

“If you hadn’t drained me so badly, I would’ve knocked some sense into you, the hard way. Please don’t do something like that again.”

“I’m sorry. You really strained yourself tonight and it’s my fault. I’m a jerk.”

“That goes without saying.”

“Hey, you don’t have to agree with me!”

“I was almost killed this morning.”

“Come on now, I already feel bad enough.”

“Not by you, stupid. Some monster grabbed me in the bath. Dew found a broken shell. It could’ve been in the bath salts Bradox gave me.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go confront the creep.”

“For one, we don’t know for sure. Second, how am I supposed to confront him when my powers are drained from your stunt? I barely have the strength to move. Sorry, but I’m going to wait until I’m ready.”

“When do you think that will be?”

“I should have my strength back by tomorrow night,” Nadia yawned, “but I don’t know for sure when I’ll be able to use the pendant again, so stay out of trouble.”

“Will do. Go ahead and get some sleep. You look like you need it.”

Josh didn’t need to tell her; she slumped her head against the pillow, pulled up her blanket, and breathed heavily into a sound sleep.

----------------------------------------

Early next morning, Nadia found herself with free time. Darrell faithfully applied himself to the many chores she had passed to him. Balmy weather enticed her to take a walk around the village. She wore her brown kimono, pinning the bottom hem above her ankles so it wouldn’t get dirty; she would have preferred jeans and a shirt, but her regular clothes would attract unwanted attention. Even so, she refused leave behind her sneakers.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

At the village market many people, mostly the local seafood vendors, recognized her from the inn. They weren’t afraid to wave, or call to her. She said hello, nodded, or smiled pleasantly in response. The old merchant whom she met on her arrival provided rations to the same young woman who had been pregnant, only now her child was newly born, bundled and strapped safely to her back.

“Good afternoon, Lady Mavenslick,” the old merchant called. Having the word lady in front of her family name made Nadia shiver, “How goes your quest?”

“Then you know about it?” she approached.

"Know about it! Everyone knows about it. Who wouldn’t? Most think it’s suicide, but I admire any explorer willing to tread across forbidding lands. You know, I was a bit of an explorer myself once, in the days of my youth. I’ve been up and down the Delva coast hundreds of times. Have you ever been to the Foxlord’s Republic in the northwest? What I wouldn’t do for a cart load of Foxlord wheat. It’s easy to mill and makes the finest bread with a golden hue when baked. Wheat grown on the Delva coasts doesn’t compare.”

“I’ve never been there,” Nadia admitted.

“Really, a renown explorer like yourself. Well, I must say you’re missing out. You go north to the Twin Cities. Then you go west until the people in the villages have bushy ears and long tails. Be careful if you see a fox at night though. It might be more human than you reckon! Now if you keep going, you’ll come to their capital, Forume. It’s a big deal, lots of people live there, humans too. Might rival the twin cities east of the mountains.”

“That’s incredible.”

“Well. You’re from the west I take it, nay Lothalos? Have you visited any of the eight islands of the teeth? I’ve sailed to them all. The shallow bay has some interesting fish and many of the islanders are pearl divers.”

Nadia nodded politely as he continued.

“Now if you go to the bottom of the peninsula a few hundred kilometers to the north east of here, you can see the beaches where the turtles hatch their eggs. The eggs are worth about nay-”

“Well!” she interrupted, “I would have never known you were an explorer just by looking at you. Sorry, but can I have a fresh cut of halibut?”

A soft push of warmth enveloped Nadia’s upper arm. She hadn’t even sensed the attack. Before she could push away, a cute girl in a brown traveling kimono nuzzled Nadia like a lost kitten. There was no escape now. Long black hair shimmered in the sun to match Nadia. The merchant blinked at the sudden display. Awlena looked up at Nadia and blinked twice while Nadia turned sun ripe red.

“What are you doing here!?”

The grip on Nadia’s arm became tighter against Awlena's chest.

“I couldn’t stay back in the village with everyone chasing you! Did you really think everyone was just going to let you go alone after what you did for us? Do you expect me to just let my stupid brother monopolize you? Well, I won’t have it. You’re just as much mine as you are his.”

Nadia felt dizzy again, but it wasn’t Josh’s fault. Though she didn’t try to pull away from the embrace. It took a bit of effort to keep her hand in neutral.

“Umm, Halibut? How many pounds?” the merchant asked upon spotting other customers

“Just two. I promised someone I would make a purchase today.”

“Oh, who did you promise?”

“I promised Darrell I would cook for him if he did my chores. But the thing is, I’m actually not that good yet.

The merchant wrapped the fish in paper and tied it with thin twine as Awlena pulled at Nadia’s arm with her cheeks puffed out. Nadia pulled some marked leather tethers out of her side pocket to pay.

“I have an idea, let me bake them for you! I love baked halibut! It doesn’t matter who cooks them as long as he gets his payment, right?”

After a short walk, Nadia became conscious of onlookers and slowly pulled away from the affectionate hold on her arm. Nadia couldn’t even manage to fake being angry.

“You really followed me all this way without using magic?”

“Hey, I can use a little magic. And I can fight too. I’ve been training really hard. See?”

Awlena flexed her arm while sliding back the sleeve of her kimono. The once scrawny girl did define her slender arms slightly, just slightly. Nadia began to giggle as she held the wrapped fish under one arm and her stomach with the other.

“Don’t laugh! I refuse to live in the shadow of my brother. I’m just as good if not better and I’ll prove it someday.”

“I’m sorry, I just found you too cute.”

“Really!?”

Awlena found herself unable to say anything else, or even look at her without brightening up, so they walked quietly as the breeze cooled them. Nadia whistled softly as she looked toward the trees and the little thatched cottages. The sun made her squint as worn sneakers shuffled over the sandy path.