It only took us two hours to make it to the boss room.

We basically never had to stop walking. There were a few bad corners where we had to backtrack a little because of a dead end, but always staying to our left against the Dungeon Wall paid off and we reached the boss room faster than Ether had estimated.

“How many did we get?” I looked at Ether while everyone took a chance to get a drink of water before we went in.

Our Tank typed on her wrist. "Twelve, counting the one at the beginning.”

“That’s so much easier!” Aelin looked at Fray. "We had to count them one by one so we knew how many each one of us got…Ugh! It was horrible!”

“You got to keep them all?” The green woman sounded surprised.

“You don’t?” I handed her my water bottle. We only had five, so someone had to share.

Ether raised an eyebrow as Fray took a long drink from it.

I pointed at her water bottle and motioned at Fray to silently ask her if she wanted to share instead. The white-haired woman shook her head.

“Thanks.” Fray handed the water bottle back to me and I put it into my crystal band.

“No.” The brunette turned to Aelin. "The Instructors keep all of them and then give us some All at the end of the day depending on how well we did.” She looked at her feet. "After Temple costs and food gets deducted, most of us are lucky if we get anything.”

“That’s horrible!” Aelin walked over and gave her a hug. "Don’t worry, you’ll get to keep everything you make while you’re with us!”

Fray looked at me. "Really?”

I nodded towards Ether. "She’s the one with all the crystals that you should be asking, but the answer is yes.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“After we get out this afternoon we’re going shopping!” Aelin jumped in the air. "And you’re coming with us!” She pulled Fray to her feet.

“But…but…” She looked at me, then Ether, then Rix for help.

I pointed at Justia. "She’s about the only one that Aelin will listen to.”

“I listen!” Aelin crossed her arms

“Only when we’re fighting something.” Ether muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I heard that!” Aelin marched over and wrapped Ether in a hug. "If you don’t take that back I’m going to lick your ear!”

“Justia!” Ether laughed. "Control your woman!”

Aelin licked Ether’s ear, making Ether laugh even more. Justia looked stunned, while Rix couldn’t keep the corners of her mouth from forming a grin.

Aelin froze without warning. "Hey, it’s okay, we were just playing around.” She untangled herself from Ether and ran over to Fray.

I turned and saw what I had missed.

Tears were flowing down Fray’s cheeks.

“No.” Fray wiped them off with the back of her hand. "You all are just so happy. It’s…” She had to wipe another round off. "So different from the barracks.”

Aelin looked up at me with puppy dog eyes.

I sighed, Aelin had already decided that we were keeping her and I didn’t know how I was going to be able to send her back now.

“Hey." I put my hand on her shoulder. "You’re with us now. So if you want to lighten up a little, it’ll be fine.”

She looked up at me. "You’re not going to send me back because I’m too weak?”

I shifted behind her so that I could put both hands on her shoulders.

Help

I mouthed the words at Ether.

“He doesn’t want to promise something he can’t do.” Rix interrupted.

Everyone looked at her.

“Trent has to approve her. Atlas only got a say on the sixth member of our team for this week.” The redhead got up and started walking towards the door. "You’re here for at least the week, after that it’s not up to him.” She motioned to the door. "Can we get this over with?”

There was stunned silence for a few more moments. I clapped Fray on the back. "Sorry, I wish I could promise more, but that’s the truth.”

The brunette sniffled, but stood up and gave me a hug. "Thanks.”

I hugged her back, then stepped away and nodded at Justia. "After you.”