“I love granny’s apartment, because it’s small and cozy. But this? This feels like the way I should live, once I’ve got more than a splash of cash.” Fiona was in awe of Lucy's apartment located at the upper end of town, with one of the moons lighting the way.

They weren’t in a hurry, and Lucy had sent a relay to Fiona to let them know she was home. And a rather telling statement.

F: are you going to tell me what this is about? You haven't called. I don't blame you for your brother's utterly idiotic attempt to bully a dragon. And I don't mean Douglas.

L: Fi, I'm being obscure for a reason. I know what my brother did was beyond low, and I wanted to strangle him when I first heard. I am sorry you got mixed in this. I thought you'd blame me.

F: I'm not the only person he pissed off, Lucy. He's lucky Greg got me see reason, or I'd have burned down palace for the insult of stiffing the guild, and making our sacrifices seem meaningless.

L: Would you have?

F: Not before I evacuated the snacks. And the staff. Especially Ellie. She makes a really good cream puff treat. Your dad isn't off the hook, either.

L: Welcome to my dysfunctional family.

Dysfunctional is the right word, Fiona thought with an irritated click of her arcane relay. There wasn’t much security, except for a plain-clothes crown guard leaning in discreetly at the front door, when they knocked. “Miss Swiftheart? You and your friends are expected. Any weapons you’re carrying?”

“My hammer,” Fiona said while showing the haft of the morphic weapon to him, and offered it to him.

“I have my wand, but it's for enchanting, not harming,” Bonnie also offered.

“It’s my job to be cautious. The king has enemies, meaning his kids can get targeted,” the rugged, dark-haired man said stiffly, and placed the items away in a lockbox, along with a card for retrieval. He scanned them with a small steel wand, and looked at his relay briefly when it flashed green. “Upstairs, there’s the main door. Head on in. There’s a couple of other guys milling about, don't mind them.”

The walk up into the building with a wide stairwell, and lightly textured walls was cozy. There were paintings of some of the local flora–and one of a small, fluffy creature that looked like someone mixed a unicorn with a koala bear, with sharp horns and a slothful appearance. Arcane lights lit one side, and clear windows showed a small plaza off to the side. Fiona hesitated at the landing, while Greg raised an eyebrow.

“What if this is bad news?” she asked.

“Fiona, I don’t think she’d have you throw an egg at her brother’s face, and not have some way to shield you from it. Barry could still present problems if he has some yet-to-be-determined grudge against you.”

“He hates that I’m successful. Which puts him in the S-tier ranks of total douchebags,” she added with a growl. “Remember. Be cool! Everyone be cool, like little Fonzies!”

“What’s a Fonzie?” Darla asked, rubbing at a short horn anxiously.

“Uh, it’s a cultural thing. Point is, we're all gonna be cool!” she declared, and knocked softly. The response was instant, and the plain-clothes crown guard, a young woman with pleated black hair and green eyes, opened the door.

“Oh hello there! You must be Fiona! Are these your…employees?” she asked, as if unsure to finish the statement.

Greg took the cue on that one. “We have entered into a business partnership between the four of us, licensed under Fiona and Friends Emporium. I believe we are expected.”

“Ah, right! Come on in, Lucy’s inside, waiting for ya!” she added. Fiona admired her enthusiasm. Sitting around guarding one person must be a boring job, most of the time. The woman had a pretty chipper attitude for what should be utterly boring.

The apartment wasn’t lavish. It was, surprisingly, quite cozy. The flooring was dark hardwood with soft accent carpets by the table set in the center of the living room, and a small fireplace was going, though she spotted a steam radiator accenting the walls. The mix of tech and magic was so strange in this world. There was also a corner set side for a few bookcases that hugged a corner of the adjacent room, along with a few reading chairs. Lucy sat there on the couch and rose to greet them.

“Hi guys, thanks for coming on short notice!” she greeted them in turn, her silky hair bouncing lightly. “Oh, please, sit down. Helga, did I set down the snacks in the kitchen?”

“Coming, dear!” A voice called out from the adjacent kitchen. Fiona’s nose was going, and she could smell bacon. Or, whatever they called that sweet cured meat that came off the massive hogs that ate pretty much everything on the outskirts of the city, and were a pest upon many of the farmer’s crops.

A slightly curvy brunette with soft brown eyes, but not lacking finesse, and dressed in an apron and a simple dress shirt and pants walked in, balancing a tray of snacks, and her ears perked up. As did Bonnie's, because her nose was going.

“Bribing us with food?” Bonnie called out with a smirk, claws on her hips. “It’s like you know me and Fi’s weakness. Snack queen here can’t be left alone with anything that comes on a small plate.”

“Hey, I work for it! I eat healthy, well, kinda!” she pushed back, as Helga set down the tray of bacon-wrapped scallops. “Hey, the sea is hundreds of miles away. How’d you get scallops?” she questioned.

Lucy took one in hand and sounded quite content when she tried it. “There’s some freshwater scallops in the lake, strangely. Dad made a big effort a few years ago to ensure people didn’t overfish the area, so there are seasons where they’re allowed to regrow. Anyway, I’m sorry, this is my assistant, Hilda, she lives with me here at the apartment. Sort of a home away from home, I get tired of dealing with the palace intrigue,” she sighed.

Fiona took the initiative to sit down with a small plate of the tasty little treats and had to admit, the savory flavor of the bacon complimented the soft, sweet, lightly salted flavor of the scallops quite well. “Darling, anyone who makes food this well, you should marry them,” she said with a teasing laugh. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but she thought Lucy gave off that vibe, in a way. Judging by that shy smile that she returned, and the way she fidgeted with her hair, that number might go up in the future. “Anyway, thanks for the invite. We had a pretty fun day at the festival. So, laying it out there, you get the situation I’m in, right?”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“You mean how my idiot brother hosed you? Yeah, when I got word on that, Dad got an earful, and he was not happy, and your call a few days was followed by a very loud, very profane call from my dad to Barry. And now, Dad is pissed off at Barry, and keeping a keen eye on him with every pair of eyes he’s got in the palace,” Lucy explained, and glanced curiously at Darla. “So Darla, how’d you join this crew?”

“I saw an opportunity, and people I like. Still testing the waters on it, but, it looks like business acumen paid off,” Darla replied while twirling her hair around her finger, and examining Lucy with a sharper smile than usual. “Guessing that you called us here for a reason?”

“As did we all,” Greg said pointedly, and Bonnie nodded along. “So, Princess Lucy–”

“Just Lucy here, oh my goodness, the honorifics, they get old so fast!” she groaned and made a gesture of exasperation. “So, I wanted to thank you guys, you made an impact on the boardwalk over by the lakeside! I heard a lot of people like your shop.”

“We’re just selling the easier-to-move items. Big items are going to be tougher,” Fiona said with a motion for settling down. “But, we are lining up a working relationship with the adventurers guild. There are senior members there who stand to be well-equipped with some of the items we recovered from Douglas. And there’s some intriguing items we keep in the back, too.”

“You mean the ones that all the young kids stare at, and then get smacked by their parents, despite the cordon?” Greg asked dryly, with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s art, Greg. Though, I question why Doug had it. I guess different species, same favored flavors,” she added with a shrug. Bonnie was trying not to laugh, and Darla twirled her tail tip around her finger, looking amused. Greg gave her the stern look again, like he had to be the guy to keep them on track, and she relented. “Alright Lucy, lay it on us. I loved watching Barry squirm when his little side bet failed, but that guy was alright. He wasn’t in on it, either, but he knew your brother was trying to fix a bet.”

“Yes, my brother, being the idiot he is, placed a huge bet on that man to win. And then paid other people to lose,” she added with a huff. Fiona raised an eyebrow at this. “I hear things. My brother might run the place, but he’s not the favored kid there. And that blonde tramp has got him wrapped around her finger. That woman will be the queen. And she’s up to nasty things.”

“Bonnie, you mentioned she was unsavory,” Fiona asked with a snap of her fingers. “Care to elaborate?”

“Her class is one of…a subterfuge nature,” she said hesitantly. “She’s an intelligence gatherer. Not a spy, but an investigator. And I think that trade deal that Barry wanted you to go negotiate before you told him to pound sand, had something to do with it.”

“She’s…of the nation, isn’t she?” Fiona asked uneasily.

“She is, but she’s got loftier ambitions than being a court mage, or Beardless’s puppet,” Bonnie added with a roll of her eyes. “Lucy, be real with us, how worried are you?”

“Worried enough that I think she has already influenced my father. She's been in that palace for a few months, in and out, right after she left the academy under rather suspicious circumstances. Also, she made fun of my sister and was mean to her, which means she’s totally dead to me,” Lucy said with a spark of fire in her eyes. “Fiona, look, you were like one of the few cool people to come into the palace, and you didn’t treat me like a porcelain doll. And I know Jacob spoke highly of you.”

“I sense there’s going to be a pretty big ask here,” Greg sighed. “Which means, you wouldn’t ask if you did not think it was necessary.”

“Alright. Straight to the point. Everyone in this room is sworn to secrecy, until I tell you to break it, alright?” Lucy insisted, and pressed her hands together gently. “My brother is going to get married to that bitch in about nine months. He has kept this very close to the chest, and only a few staff who keep tight lips know about this one. And me,” she added slyly. “Fiona, I want you to take him up on his offer to negotiate this trade deal. And find out why he's so secretive about it, that only a handful of people know.”

The silence in the room was deafening, and her first reaction was an overwhelming hell no. Even for Lucy, someone who she liked as a hot flirt, the price of admission on this one was too high.

“Like hell, I’m not bailing out your brother, Lucy. He can go eat a–no, Greg, don't do the displeased look. And work on your smile flexes, you're still too stiff-looking!” She grumbled. Greg was, very much, not happy about this either.

“The treasury is low. Trade seems slow to return to Fiefdala. Repair efforts are lagging. Fiona, the city, and the nation-state are showing worrying signs. I, too, want to know what is up.”

“No, Greg, our worry is the shop, and Barry already screwed us once! You think he won't do it again?” She fumed. “This guy has been taking two moves for every one we make! Lucy, your brother is on his own for this one–”

“Fiona. I think my brother knows something. I think the reason he wants this deal, is because he needs this deal.” Lucy's words, somber expression, and down-turned eyes, were the same feeling she was getting about the whole situation. Something worrying was going on below the surface of this cheery city.

Barry was a giant bag of manure. But Fiefdala? It was a home for her, Bonnie, Greg, and everyone in this room. Anything that threatened that was a threat that she’d take care of–either with her smarts or a giant hammer.

“You want me to help him. The jackass who is watching me with a microscope and threatening to put me in jail for lack of paying taxes? When your dad gets back, and see what Barry’s done, he’s–”

“He’s not doing anything.” Lucy’s strained expression spoke volumes. “I think at best, he's letting off pressure. But I think he wants Barry to learn, or take a giant loss.”

Fiona was at a loss, and wanted to swear profusely. “You’re a princess! Don’t princesses get veto power?! I mean they should because kings and princes always do dumb, hotheaded things–”

“If I was in a position to undo this, I’d do it in a heartbeat for you guys, Fi. But this presents an opportunity to deal with a more worrying problem: Glados Hannalore.”

“Again, future royal pain in my ass is not my concern. I need to make money, Lucy,” Fiona argued.

“Fiona real talk? That bitch is trouble. I want that blonde tramp out of our palace, and no longer being in a position to be a nefarious little snake. I also want dad back on the throne, until Edward relents and comes to his senses,” Lucy stated, and put her hands on her hips. “Simple, really. Barry isn’t cut out for leadership, and I worry Glados is working with someone to be a destabilizing influence. Douglas the Red is just one symptom of things trying to put this kingdom down lately.”

“Not to point out the obvious, but the small council of guilds has significant power, too. The King doesn’t rule absolutely,” Greg countered before pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Greg does not need glasses to look cool when he does his sound bits, Fiona thought silently before she weighed her response. “Lucy, this is a tall order, and quite frankly, this is beyond our means to influence. Look, we’re friends, but this is way out of my hands.”

“I concur. You cannot ask us to risk our reputation, and invoke serious repercussions on Miss Swiftheart, who has already earned your brother’s ire–”

“Thank you, Greg, I can speak for myself,” Fiona interrupted, and gave him a stern look right back, before turning to Lucy. “Look, Lucy, I know you think we can do this, but, c’mon. I just opened the shop. I like running the place. It’s not the path I thought I was going to take around here, but it's something that’s grown to be special to me. Don’t make me risk that.”

“Fiona, I get it. You got dealt a bad hand. You’ve been making headway on your own power, with the help of a few really good friends. But this is bigger than just me. This is about making sure that Fiefdala’s future stays bright and cheery. Because I worry about who Glados is working with. So, anything I can do to ensure that my brother proves without a doubt he can’t lead, and needs to go back to doing relatively mundane things, is something I will do for the sake of its people,” Lucy stated solemnly.

“Lucy, look, are you sure that Barry’s simply not inept? Never attribute to malice, that which can be attributed to incompetence. Said by someone dead and famous,” Fiona countered with a smirk. But, this hottie with the jet-black hair wasn’t having it today, and sighed.

“Fiona, look, I get it. You don’t want to make waves. Unlike a lot of the other summons. But this is important.” Fiona’s eyes widened at that truth-bomb that Lucy dropped in the room, and knew this was trouble. So didn’t everyone else who had a marked reaction.

Oh, Fiddlesticks.