No sooner had the thought left her subconscious, than an enormous eagle swooped down and landed gracefully on Shiloh's carriage. She reached out to the bird's mind and asked if it would deliver the message to her parents. It nodded its head. She thanked it and after watching the bird fly away went to sit back down.

When she felt cool hands come over her eyes, she pretended to be shocked. There was a low laugh and a velvety smooth voice asked if she had ever been intimate in a fairly inclosed space. Turning her head, she looked at Shiloh with desire.

Shiloh grinned like the cat who got the cream. Endermon could only be taken by the hand, and led into the back of the carriage. The red satin in the coffin shined briefly until Shiloh shut and locked the door, then her mouth was on hers. Shiloh guided Endermon into the coffin.

As they unwound, the others kept themselves busy. They either didn't notice their sudden disappearance, or were blissfully ignoring it. It was evening when they came out of the carriage. Someone had made dinner and set up the table.

They all gathered and sat around the table eating and laughing. Dresden said with his mouth full that Endermon was a lot more fun since she'd been getting laid. Rutus smacked him on the shoulder telling him to behave. He did not look sorry in the slightest as he insincerely apologized.

Endermon said it was okay as he wasn't a total asshole. Everyone laughed again and had a good time overall. Eventually it came time to go to bed. And for the first time since they had known each other, Shiloh was nervous.

Endermon said if it helped they could just lie there and cuddle. Shiloh liked this idea, and they snuggled in together just lying there. Eventually they drifted off to sleep. In the morning when Endermon woke up, Shiloh's arms were loosely wrapped around her waist, holding her protectively.

Endermon wanted to get up but Shiloh's arms tightened, giving her a kiss on the temple, Shiloh's eyes opened. They were still sleepy, so Endermon told her to go back to sleep. Then she got up and started breakfast. It wasn't much, just some meats with coffee. But it gave her time to think.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

She was interrupted by a scroll falling from the sky. She glanced up and thanked the bird that dropped it then she opened the scroll. It said that her parents were glad she was doing well, but the only things they gave her were the presents and the pendants.

It was in her mother's handwriting, so she knew there was significantly less chance that she'd be lying. Her mother didn't seem at all surprised about Endermon's choice of love interest, but did go into the parent thing of wanting what was best for her child. She did seem surprised that she met up with mermaids and supposedly got information out of them.

Apparently they were notorious for being unhelpful. Endermon rolled her eyes. If anything, the mermaid she talked to seemed to hold back information. Not because she was being deliberately unhelpful, but because of attraction, and would patiently wait til Endermon was ready. Or at least that's what it felt like for Endermon.

But as soon as she mentioned Shiloh, the mermaid backed off. Going back to the scroll, her mother said she'd like to see the map for herself to make sure Endermon hadn't been tricked. Endermon made a mental note to save it for later, and her mother signed off saying she couldn't wait to see her to hear about all her adventures first hand. And with a stamp and a flourishing signature, that was it.

Shiloh's voice asked her if she thought her mother would like her, and Endermon said it would depend on her mother's mood. If her father had been up to his old tricks, she could get a little surly, but other than that she figured her mother just wanted her to be happy.

Together they sat in companionable silence until they heard the sounds of the others waking up for the day. Shiloh, who didn't need breakfast went about cleaning up her and Endermon's part of the campsite.

By the time everyone had eaten, the campsite was packed up in the cart, with the exception of the table and chairs. And soon enough, those were put away as well. They put on their armor and started the day riding towards the lake.