“Alyssa?” Even though he hadn’t meant to speak, the name slipped out of Callan’s mouth involuntarily. In response, the naked woman on the bed smirked at him from where she lay swathed in blankets.

“I did warn you avatar. Any red-blooded yeth man would have me undressed and into their bed before I had a chance to sit down.”

She gestured to where her yellow dress lay pooled on the floor. Falchion turned back to her, glowering for a moment, before returning his attention to Callan.

“Avatar, I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t mention this to anyone. My difficult relationship with my wife is well known to the village, but if it came out that I’d taken a lover—”

“Oh, save your blustering, Fal. I know for a fact that Callan isn’t the sort to speak of such things. Isn’t that right?” Alyssa rose from the bed. She held a sheet to her chest, but the material wasn’t exactly thick, and Callan could definitely see the outline of her—

No, no, no, don’t think about it! Focus on something else. Anything else! His eyes drifted back to Falchion—too low, dammit!

He turned his gaze up to the ceiling. Inside his head, Xeph’s laughter was the low rumble of an approaching storm in his ears.

What are you so embarrassed about, mortal? You only intruded upon two yeths’ most intimate moment, unannounced and uninvited. Surely you’re not uncomfortable over such a little social blunder, are you?

“Not helping, Xeph,” Callan muttered. He could still feel his cheeks burning with embarrassment. Dangit, when he’d first heard noises coming from the bedroom, he’d assumed it was someone like Belinda in there. Her daughter, though? Alyssa was definitely younger than Millica, and he’d already thought the age difference between her and her husband was extreme. But this...

Wait. He was letting his shock from this whole situation overrule the bigger issue here. Forcing his eyes back to Alyssa’s face—just her face, dangit!—and said, “Did I misunderstand Belinda the other night? I thought Falchion was your uncle.”

“He is,” Alyssa tilted her head and looked at Callan curiously, while Falchion’s frown deepened. Neither seemed at all embarrassed by admission.

“Okay, right. I should, ah, I should go.” Callan took a step backwards, feeling for the stairway with his foot.

“What were you doing upstairs in my house, anyway?” Falchion asked. Callan’s foot froze.

“I actually came to...” In a spur of the moment decision, he decided to abandon his previous lie. It didn’t feel quite so believable under the current circumstances. “...To browse the store downstairs. When I heard noises upstairs, I was worried maybe there was trouble.”

He glanced away, and didn’t need to fake the heat that returned to his cheeks. “In hindsight, that was a dumb decision.”

“Ah. Well, in that case, allow me to get dressed and I will be happy to show you my wares. It is... the least I can do.”

Callan nodded, then without looking at the man, rushed back down to the main floor. He considered continuing on and just fleeing into the night, but decided that it might be better to not arouse any suspicion in the couple upstairs. At least not until he understood the situation better.

“So what in the ding-dong Alabama hell was that about?” he asked as soon as he thought they were out of earshot.

Mortal?

“Alyssa and her uncle. Is that... normal here?”

Are you seriously asking me? I have no idea what sort of cultural quirks the yeth have developed in the last dozen centuries. Though I doubt infidelity is limited simply to familial relationships, yeth or otherwise.

“That’s not—I mean, she’s his niece! That’s kind of the bigger issue here. Isn’t that a bit, I don’t know, incestuous?”

Oh, is that the cause of your consternation? After all this time without trueborn humans in the overworld, I had forgotten about that particular little taboo your kind holds.

Callan frowned. “It’s a bit more than a taboo, Xeph.”

The god continued on like he hadn’t spoken. For the elevated races, incest hasn’t been a problem in millennia. After all, if we were going to improve our human stock, why would we leave such an obvious defect in your design? It makes more sense to remove it. Breeding programs are much easier to develop that way.

“Xeph, I swear to you, if I hear the word ‘breeding program’ from your mouth again, I’m gonna—”

“Oh, is today one of those that’s worse than others?” Alyssa asked as she and Falchion entered the room. The yeth woman still wore the same smirk from upstairs.

“Huh?” Then Callan remembered their conversation from the other night. “Oh, right, him. Naw, he’s just being his usual arrogant self.”

Human!

Alyssa turned to Falchion. “Now, about what we agreed upon.”

“Yes, yes.” The old man reached up onto a shelf, removing a small white package wrapped with twine. “Here, it’s all I was able to bring in. Shipments should be improving now with Zavastu gone, but until word spreads—”

“This should be sufficient,” Alyssa said, hefting the package. Tucking it under her arm she started towards the door. As she passed Callan, she reached out and gave his arm a squeeze.

“I do hope you won’t think less of me for this, Avatar. As I told you, I have my own agenda, and there’s nothing I won’t do to see it accomplished.” She cast a glance back at her uncle. “Nothing.”

With that, she pulled the door open and slipped out into the night.

Callan shook his head, then turned his attention back to Falchion. The old man was watching him, expression unreadable. Was he still worried Callan might talk, or simply eager for a potential customer?

Probably a bit of both, if Callan had to guess.

“So, what can I interest you in?” the yeth asked at last. Callan considered what to say.

“When my high priestess visited before, she purchased a piece of art—a statue. Do you have anything more like that?”

Falchion blinked in surprise, but only for a second before a knowing smile spread across his face. “Ah, looking to buy something to please your lud pet, are you?”

“She’s not my ‘pet’,” Callan said with a frown. The yeth man didn’t appear to notice.

“I don’t have any more of those particular oddities, but I do have something else a lilish trader brought in a few months back. Not much use to anyone in the village, but perhaps a lud would have an interest in such a thing.”

Reaching into a cabinet, he came back with a small necklace of golden chain, with a red gem set at the bottom. Callan’s eyebrows rose appreciably.

“That’s a nice ruby necklace, alright.”

Ruby??? Xeph half-coughed, half-spat the word out. That’s a spinel, mortal. Can’t your eyes tell the difference?

“Uh, Obviously not, Xeph. I’m not the freaking god of gemstones.” Callan turned back to Falchion. “I’ll take it.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Wonderful, Avatar! Will you be paying with talons?”

Callan had no idea what those were but guessed some local currency. “Nope.”

“I see. Alliance iron, then? I have a bit I can use to make change.”

A grin began to spread across Callan’s face. “Nope again.”

“With... scrip?” Falchion frowned. “How much exactly is Radavan paying you, anyway?”

“He isn’t.”

“Then... what do you expect to pay with?”

Callan leaned close, until his nose was just inches away from Falchion’s. “With my silence.”

“Ah.” The yeth swallowed visibly. “Of course. But I thought Alyssa said you wouldn’t—”

“Falchion, you incipient oaf, you left the door ajar again and—” Millica cut off at the sight her husband and Callan staring at each other. “Oh, Avatar! I didn’t expect you to still be here.”

“Just on my way out.” Callan snatched the necklace from the old yeth’s hands. “Thanks for the trade, Falchion, I’ll get out of your hair now. I’m sure you’d like to enjoy some quiet time with your wife. Millica, good to see you again.”

“And you as well.” The woman stared at him in confusion as he walked past her and out the door. Callan shut it behind himself, the light inside cutting off with the finality of a tomb, leaving him in pitch blackness.

Was it really necessary to treat one of our followers in such a manner? Xeph asked as they walked back to the guesthouse. The question only partly registered, as Callan was too busy idly wondering if he should have demanded some sort of payment from Radavan for working his fields. After all, their original agreement with the village hadn’t included him sweating in the sun all day long.

Then again, even he acknowledged he wasn’t contributing much to the overall harvest, so maybe better not to poke that particular bear.

Turning his attention back to Xeph’s question, he said. “I was originally planning to haggle, but then he went and called Kivi a ‘pet’, and I figured, fuck him.”

Please do not. I think the yeth has had enough fucking for one day without adding you to the mix as well.

Callan froze midstep. “Did you just... Was that a...?”

Silence hung for several heartbeats, and then—He wasn’t sure who snorted first, him or Xeph, but the next moment they were both laughing, the sound rolling down the empty street. Lights appeared in windows around him as villagers peeked out in curiosity. Callan waved at them with one hand while wiping tears away with the other.

Let them think the new yeth in town was absolutely crazy. It wouldn’t matter in another few days, and he’d needed the cheering up.

“C’mon, let’s go get some sleep.” He set off for the guest house again.

Oh, and mortal?

“Yes, Xeph?”

Both the old yeth and his young lover still maintain their faith to us. Whoever this potential traitor is, it isn’t one of them.

“Good to know.”

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

“Callan.”

He glanced up, blade halfway through sawing into another pod, and saw Kivi waving to him from the edge of the field. Making sure no one was watching—only Lisson was working this particular field with him, with Rym once again sitting in a stupor near the road—he jogged over to join the high priestess.

“Kivi. What can I do for you?”

“I brought you some lunch.” She held a small wooden box up to him, similar to the ones he’d been receiving from Alyssa.

As if reading his mind, Kivi said, “I spoke with Belinda and her daughter this morning, and she asked me to deliver this to you. Apparently she forgot to bring it over last night, but work at the forge is keeping her busy.”

Right. Callan had returned home to find his dinner waiting for him, but no sign of the one who delivered it. He took the box from Kivi’s hands. “You sure she isn’t just trying to avoid me?”

“No? I do not think so.” Kivi tilted her head and gave him a curious look.

“Ah, never mind.” Most likely Alyssa hadn’t given the events of last night a second thought. Only Callan himself was still dwelling on them. He switched subjects. “Hey, do you mind if I drop by later tonight? I’ve got a little gift for you.”

“You honor me, Callan, but I am but a humble Etruscian trader. I need no gifts. Besides, what sort of gift would a yeth—”

“Enough with the act, High Priestess. There’s no one around to hear us, anyway.”

Kivi glanced over to where Rym sat, not twenty feet from them. Callan shook his head. “Yeah, that one is dead to the world, trust me. And Lisson is cool.”

He waved at the yeth boy, who waved back before returning to work.

When Callan turned back, he found Kivi studying him curiously. “What?”

“Oh, nothing. You do have a habit of making interesting friends, don’t you?”

“I don’t know about a habit,” Callan said. Inside his head, Xeph snorted. “Quiet, you.”

“Hmm. In any case, I do not think we will have much opportunity to speak tonight. But just in case, I will await your appearance.” The lud girl smiled at him before setting off back towards town. Callan watched her go. His stomach let out a growl.

“Well, nothing like impeccable timing.” He moved over and sat down next to Rym. “Guess it’s lunchtime.”

Lifting the lid from the wooden lunchbox, he encountered an unexpected surprise. Nestled between several vegetables was a rolled-up piece of paper. He set down the box and unfurled it.

Avatar, this is Belinda. I have made a list of several individuals who warrant further investigation. Ask my son for the locations of their homes and see what you can observe. Do not forget, Veritas returns tomorrow at noon.

After that was a list of six individuals. Callan glowered down at the names.

“Does she expect me to go on some sort of stakeout tonight? And on all six? How is that supposed to even work?”

Perhaps we could enlist our priests to assist as well, Xeph noted. It would not cover all the individuals, but it is at least a start.

“Oh joy, so instead of just me, Kivi and the others can spend the night outside watching nothing happen.” He sighed, almost crumpled the note in frustration, then thought better of it. Slipping it into a pocket, he headed back into the field. Lisson glanced up at his approach.

“Done with your... lunch already?” He spoke the word like it didn’t fit right on his tongue.

“Lost my appetite, actually. Hey, Lisson, you said you wanted to help Xeph and me, right?”

The boy nodded eagerly, so Callan showed him the note. “Know where any of these people live?”

“Of course.” The boy pointed towards a distant house set a little apart from the rest of town.

“Joshu lives there, and as for the others—”

“Great. Think I can impose on you a little further? Run this note to Kivi at the guesthouse after work and ask her and the others to keep an eye on them? I’ll watch Joshu tonight.”

“It would be my honor,” Lisson said earnestly. He slipped the note inside his pocket, then resumed work. Picking up his own bag and knife, Callan joined him.

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

When work ended for the day, Callan dropped off his gear and left without further fanfare. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Dosoti watching him warily, but he just ignored the man and headed for home.

Once there, he ate the meal he found waiting for him, then napped until the sun fully set. It wouldn’t do to be observed by a half-dozen nosy yeth sneaking up on Joshu’s property.

“So what’s the plan if we can’t manage to find a priest to kidnap by tomorrow?” he asked, tearing off a piece of bread. The stuff reminded him of the sprouted grain his dad liked to buy from Whole Foods. Decent, but could have been vastly improved by a little butter.

The same as before. We still attempt to negotiate with Veritas, and threaten consequences if they don’t agree to a duel. Keep it vague. If they believe we intend to kidnap their priests, they may take action against us before the duel commences. Otherwise, there is little recourse remaining to us.

“I really don’t like being on the reactive end to a situation,” Callan grumbled. “This smacks too much of Kivi’s village all over again. If push comes to shove, I’m not going to remain idle this time, even if the alternative is fighting a much more powerful avatar.”

And I will not attempt to stop you. Which is why we must gain as much leverage as possible to ensure we are the ones in the position of power during negotiations.

“Yeah, yeah. Guess I’d better get on that. Time for more cloak and dagger shit.”

You Earthlings and your strange sayings.

Callan eased the door to the guest house open, then peeked out into the dark street. All appeared quiet outside, so he slipped out the door and made his way through the village. While he wouldn’t have said it was easy, he felt like he was getting better at stumbling around Aos in the dark.

“What I wouldn’t give for some night vision goggles right about now,” he muttered to himself. Of course, muttering to himself wasn’t quite the same experience it had once been.

Had you taken Dveorgeye when it was offered, this would not be a problem.

“Wait, really?” In spite of the need for quiet, Callan couldn’t help raising his voice. “I thought that orison only detected gems or something.”

It does many things. It also heightens your sight distance, allowing far away objects to appear much closer than they are.

“Well, damn. If I’d known all that, I might have just picked that ability after all.” Then again, it certainly wouldn’t have been much help back during the battle for Tok. Curse the conditions that forced him to make short-term decisions rather than fully evaluate his choices for future needs.

Oh well. He still liked Wurmchain, for all that he was regretting the choice in this specific moment.

They reached the edge of town, and began skirting the houses, moving steadily towards the one Lisson had indicated earlier. At this distance, it was little more than a lump in the dark.

“What does Belinda expect us to learn, really?” he grumbled. “All the shutters are closed, and this Joshu is probably asleep. Or I’m going to end up camped below a window to an unoccupied room. Just you wait and see—”

He cut off his complaints as the door to the distant house swung open, light shining out. Without thinking, Callan dove into the nearest field, the adle crunching as he landed it, his view cutting off.

You were saying? Xeph asked.

“Shh.” Callan slowly lifted his head.

It’s not as if they can hear me... Xeph muttered. But he did indeed lower his voice inside Callan’s head.

A figure stood outlined in the doorway. As Callan watched, they scanned in all directions, then pulled the door closed behind them. The light cut off, leaving only a faint imprint of the yeth visible. They set off trudging towards the fields.

“Joshu, you think?” Callan asked.

Most likely. Why are they heading away from the village? There are no houses in that direction.

It was true. Only Radavan’s fields lay that way, plus several others, but beyond that there was nothing but forest. It was definitely odd.

“Guess we got our first lead.” Rising to his feet, Callan set off after the figure, who was only just visible under the feeble light of the stars.