Will told himself that he had to start stretching before engaging in any sexual activity with his slightly demonic woman. The kind of full-body muscle ache he was experiencing couldn’t be healthy or normal.

They lay in bed, sweaty and naked, blankets bunched about them. Will was panting hard, struggling to catch his breath, while Bee was still full of energy. Internally, he cursed that high Toughness of hers.

It felt good to be in an actual bed again. A thin bedroll didn’t do much to soften all the charm of sleeping on rocks and dirt. Their room had all the basics, including a wash basin with clean water for freshening up.

She lay curled up against him, illuminated by candle light, and watched the side of his face. The intensity of her gaze was a little unnerving, but he put up with it, tracing the outline of her sweat-glistening abs with one finger.

“Hey, bro,” she murmured, repeatedly flicking his earlobe.

“Yes?”

She kept flicking him. “Hey.”

“What is it?”

Flick. “Hey.” Flick. “Hey.” Flick. “Hey, bro.”

He spun to face her, smacking her hand away. “Oh my god, what?”

She grinned, the picture of innocence. “Wanna bond with me?”

He snorted. “I think we ‘bonded’ pretty hard already.”

“Hmm, I guess so. I’ll give it a six out of ten.”

“Wow. You’re a cruel woman. I tried really hard, you know.”

She stuck out her tongue at him, so he poked her on the nose to flinch her out of it.

“Do you, though?” she asked after a while. There was a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

“I do,” Will said, smiling. “You sure you want to do it right now? Don’t need more time to think about it. Like I told you before, you can’t reverse a True Bond once it’s locked in.”

“I’m sure if you’re sure.”

“Well, I’ve had a long time to think it over. So yes, I’m sure.”

“Then let’s fucking do it. Bond me, bro.”

It wasn’t a terribly complicated procedure. After Bee took a strategic nap to allocate her upgrade point, they held hands and stayed like that for ten minutes. After that they just had to speak a short phrase.

“Say after me,” Will said.

“Yes, gogogogo.”

“My heart, your chest.”

“My heart, your chest.”

“Your breath, my lungs.”

“Your breath, my lungs.”

“Our souls, as one.”

“Our souls, as one.”

That was supposed to be it.

After just a few moments, a message appeared in Will’s head.

True Bond sealed

Parties:

William Dahl

Beatrice Worthy

“It worked!” Bee said, slapping him on the arm. “We’re married now!”

Will sighed. “We’re not married. This is a completely different thing.”

“Does that mean you still owe me a proposal?”

“Maybe in a few years. If you behave.”

She scoffed. “Now who’s being cruel?”

Even after the True Bond went through, they both still felt the same.

“It might take a while to kick in,” Will speculated. “I guess we should try to sleep and see if there’s any difference in the morning.”

Bee made a mock salute. “Yessir. Ready to sleep, sir.”

Will blew out the bedside candle, plunging the room in darkness, and bundled her up against him. Despite being far stronger, she was often quite yielding with him, responsive to his touch.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“One of us will need to put two more points into True Bond so that we get the full benefit,” he murmured into the pillow. “But it’s good enough if one of us picks it, and it’ll count for both of us. So that’s something.”

Bee kicked him in the shin. “Stop scheming while I’m trying to sleep.”

“I wasn’t—”

She kicked him again.

“Fine, fine.” He gave up and closed his eyes with a heavy sigh.

*****

Bee woke up to dull, thumping pain.

It was all over her body. Her head, her eye, her stomach, even her feet.

She groaned, rubbing her face as she sat up in bed.

It took her a sleepy minute to realize that the pain wasn’t hers, but Will’s, like an odd phantom sensation superimposed on top of her own body.

He was still asleep next to her, curled up and holding a hand to his bandaged eye.

Is he always in this much pain?

She thought he would have been doing better now that he wasn’t pushing himself making potions every day. Bee didn’t feel the full edge of his sensations, only a shadow, but it was enough for her to tell that he was enduring a lot.

He was too good at being strong. She hated that about him. He never complained when it came to himself.

As the morning wore on and soaked the room in sunlight, Bee became aware of other sensations, not just physical ones. It was blurry, hard to make out, but there was a sort of mental noise in the back of her head. Impressions, events, emotions, all jumbled up.

Will’s dreams, she realized. Something about a boat.

When he woke up maybe ten minutes later, he went through a similar process of discovery, blinking rapidly.

Bee squeezed him in a tight hug. “You’re hurting,” she murmured. “My poor guy.”

He tapped her back, signaling to let him go. She reluctantly let up when she felt vicariously that he had a hard time breathing.

“I won’t pretend I’m not,” he said. “But it’s really not so bad. it’s better than usual.”

“Your eye is still bothering you.”

“Yeah. I don’t heal like you.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

He sat up, smiling that faint, subdued smile of his while he regarded her. “Not a thing. You don’t need to worry about me, Bee. Maybe I can’t explode a guy’s head like you can, but I can take a hit. Pain never bothered me much.”

“I know that,” she said in a low voice. “Still…”

“You want to keep me safe? Likewise, but we don’t always get what we want. Don’t treat me like I’m made of glass. I happen to find that offensive.”

She couldn’t help but pout a little. “Okay. I understand.”

“Good.” Will stood up off the bed and hopped one-legged over to the water basin, where he began washing his face.

“It’s working for you too, right?” Bee asked. “What do you feel from me?”

Will stopped in thought, gripping each side of the wooden vessel while water dripped from his nose and chin. “You’re worried. And hungry. And happy. And I think you wish you could sleep in a bit longer.”

Now that he said it, that sounded about right.

“Maybe mostly hungry,” he added.

Also true.

Will let Bee have a go at the basin, then used the water to shave, shearing off the long, prickly stubble he had grown over the past week. He went from rugged, road-weary Will back to regular, pale-faced cancer patient Will.

“Boo,” Bee said. “That was a good look, you know.”

“Quit whining. I want to make the most of my little dose of civilization while I’ve got it.”

*****

After a hot bath downstairs, they got dressed and met with the others for a breakfast of bread, eggs, cheese, and milk.

Gug was positively beaming, showing off a stack of five books he had procured for himself. He had also bought a large notebook with a cover of supple goatskin, along with a case of graphite pencils.

“I’m gonna be a genius author,” he announced, tugging on his suit lapels with a look of obvious pride. “I’m gonna write a book that everyone will read.”

“That sounds lovely, Gug,” Will said with a polite smile. “I’m sure you’ll hit it big, with a natural talent like yours.”

The troll soaked in the praise with gleeful pride.

Will neglected to mention the fact that the literacy rate was only 15%, somewhat digging into his potential readership. It was good that the troll had picked up writing, so he didn’t want the precious idiot to get discouraged. Because, if nothing else, he would probably level up a few times if he stuck with it.

Mongrel was in a significantly darker mood, drooping across the table with his shaggy hair covering all his face. He had ignored Will’s advice and drunk himself silly, and was paying for it now. Nix wore an evil grin while she prodded at him both physically and verbally, suggesting that she likely had a part in instigating him in the first place.

“Well, we’ve got an announcement too,” Bee said, throwing an arm over the back of Will’s neck. “We officially got hitched!”

That got Mongrel to raise his head just a hair. “You kids finally went and did it, huh?” He ended his statement with a long groan. Nix put a mug of water in front of him, and he drank greedily.

Finally?

Will did not bother correcting them. They were going to make their jokes either way.

After breakfast it was about time to pack up and leave. No one was particularly excited to get back on the road, but it couldn’t be helped.

The festival was still going when they hit the streets, some passed out in alleys or propped up against buildings while others fought on with sluggish movements to keep the party alive through the morning.

Many of the market stalls had closed down due to the festivities, but after a bit of hunting they tracked down an outfitter where they could replenish their travel supplies. They also got four pairs of wool socks for Pigeon.

The last thing he did before they left Timbryhall was write out a letter to her, explaining that they had now passed the town without issue and were continuing to the rendezvous in Talltop. He sent it off to Joe Crag using Message, watching the letter flutter into the sky and take off like a bird, heading unerringly for its destination. Given the roundabout route, she wouldn’t receive it for several days, but it was better than nothing.

Assuming the letter didn’t meet some unfortunate fate along the way, like getting stuck in a tree or some such. That happened sometimes, and in such cases the magic would eventually dissipate from the letter, leaving it lost forever.

They left the merrymaking town behind, passing through its northern gate. The road between Timbryhall and Talltop was narrow and partially overgrown, but was more traversable thanks to receiving fewer travelers.

The lifers stupid enough to venture inland usually gave up on the notion by the time they reached Timbryhall, if indeed they made it that far at all.

Another perk was that they’d be seeing far fewer bandits from here on out. There was no point in them posting up this far inland, with more danger and less easy prey.

The downside was that they’d be seeing more monsters in the place of bandits. As a general rule, the further into the Bushland you got, the more of Shalahai’s precious children you would find.

It was going to get interesting, for sure. He didn’t have to imagine Bee’s smugness at that—he felt it for himself.

Insufferable woman, he thought.

But he smiled at the same time.