Haley opened her eyes and sighed, cuddling against the warm body next to her. Then the already vanishing wisps of some dream faded from her senses, and she blinked awake to find it was just a pillow. Mason and Becky still weren't home. She was alone in their bed.

The list of many tasks and problems began to filter through her brain. A few of the male players and civilians had already begun to pursue elven women, causing some hurt feelings and never-ending drama around the town's proverbial water coolers. Haley needed to get a few of the more reasonable, prominent women like Sylvie in a room and get a handle on this.

Mason's wolves were getting more and more unruly and bored. They were also leaving carcasses everywhere outside the walls. Some of the crafters suggested they could start cleaning these up and using the materials, but the wolves snarled at everyone except Rosa who came close. No one was brave enough to be out there for long, though the elves seemed able to calm them down. Haley would probably have to ask Naya for help.

Which was just super.

As well as the bride-to-be might think she was hiding it, Haley could feel the woman's jealousy and resentment oozing from her pretty, dark eyes. It wasn't exactly the first time Haley had experienced such a thing from another woman. But it was definitely the first time from an elven princess.

Did she have to worry about getting some kind of...elven curse? Or poisoned, or something?

The thought made her roll over and put her hands to her belly. She smiled as she thought of it, but there was also some kind of new, primal fear whenever she thought about the growing child. Her child. Mason's child.

She had to worry about more than just herself now in a way she'd never really understood. Mason was a 'baron'. Some kind of new royalty of the apocalypse. And for all the times she'd said (and meant) she hadn't been worried about her own status or the exact nature of her relationship with Mason, a child was something else.

Would Naya consider Haley’s child a threat? And if so, what might she do about it?

Haley didn't know anything about this woman, or about elves. Could she befriend her? It was the most obvious, desirable solution. The elf woman was also exotic and beautiful, and the thought of sharing her with Mason was already a budding fantasy…

But it was also maybe just that. She should maybe be thinking about protecting herself and her child instead, whether through system rules or...she just didn't know.

Finally she forced herself up and tossed off the covers, pulling out a system-generated outfit until she was satisfied she looked as plain as possible. She showered and cooked some bacon and eggs for Rosa and Lexi, knowing they wouldn't be up for another hour or so. She covered them with a plate and left a little note, then stepped out to face her day.

"Miss Haley."

Hank 'the fisherman' smiled as he stood from his chair. He was the one person in Nassau who was always up before Haley. 'Old habits', he'd explained, from his previous life.

‘Lots of fish only bite early,’ he'd said, when they got to talking once. ‘So you've gotta be ready when they are.’

She'd smiled and asked him a little about fishing, always careful not to ask people too much about their previous lives. Many, especially older citizens, had wives or children and grandchildren they'd probably never see again.

The 'culture' of Nassau was not to pry into the old world too much, or even into tutorials—to kind of pretend that life began when people had reached the settlement.

It was easier that way. People had often done things, or experienced things, they weren't proud of, or didn't want to think about. They'd lost things they couldn't get back.

There were exceptions, of course.

Hank turned out to be one of them. He spoke of his children with pride, always hopeful they were out there somewhere, but not in the naive kind of way some other parents were.

‘They made it or they didn't,’ he'd said once with a shrug. ‘Nothing I can do now except make sure there's a life built here if they need it.’

Haley had smiled and squeezed his hand, not wanting to talk about her own past, and he'd let that be that.

The man was also funny, and wise, and spoke a little French (and a few other languages), from traveling all over the world. Haley had an older father and lost him fairly young, and Hank reminded her of him very much. She sometimes asked for his advice, and he always gave her first choice of his river catches.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Today's what I like to call ‘Shrimpy, Ugly Halibut’," he said, holding up his bucket. "Not bad. Tastes a little like bass."

Haley grinned and came to investigate. "I would like two, please. I'm going to make a little feast for...our new guests."

Hank gave her a knowing smile, and silently took out two fish, putting them in another pail.

"She's a looker, that Naya. Seems they all are. Not that I spend much time. Looking I mean."

"Only because Linda would crack your eggs like this." Haley mimed a ball-squeezing gesture, and Hank snorted.

"She's more than enough for a man my age, thanks very much. But I'm sure you kids will...keep busy." He winked then glanced at the chieftain's hall. "No word from Mason and the others?"

Haley shook her head, and Hank pursed his lips and gave her a smile, lifting his two buckets to head towards his 'restaurant'.

"Well. Better go deal with these. Billy and I may head out again this evening. So if you're hoping for something else, I might be able to..."

"These are fine, thank you Hank. And say hi to Billy for me."

"Oh I'd best not," Hank laughed, the sound hoarse and loud and infectious. "That boy might faint if you looked at him too long. Even with all those other young things buzzing around."

Haley smiled and waved, then put away her fish, poured some coffee into plastic containers, and went off to make her daily rounds.

She always brought drinks to the players on guard duty, getting a series of thanks and smiles, which she returned. She checked on the training hall and the crafters, finding Peni and Darlene up early and working, making sure they saw she'd noticed.

She met with Sylvie and talked elf drama, and (as it turned out) civilian drama, because Tommaso had yet again broken the number rule (which was less important) and likely the 'permission' rule (which was a hell of a lot more important), because the civilian in question had already been seeing another crafter.

Sylvie didn't take either of these things very seriously, especially when it was just the civilians. But Haley was getting angry.

"It's not a joke, Sylvie. I'm going to have to tell Mason. He made a rule and it was broken. I promise you he's not going to laugh."

Sylvie rolled her eyes. "Haley, if we count the elves, there's something like four or five women for every man now. I know Tommaso’s done this a couple times, but it takes two to tango, and there's always more fish in the sea, so I really don't..."

"What would Carl do if it was you, Sylvie?"

The previous 'patron' of Sanctuary sighed and started to answer but Haley cut her off.

"No, let me tell you. He might just kill him. And if he didn't then maybe a month from now he'd let him die in a fight. That's how Mason will see this. He made the rules for a reason and I know it seems silly, but he wasn't joking. I don't know what he'll do. So you talk to your girls. I'll talk to Tommaso. OK?"

"OK, OK." Sylvie raised her hands in defeat. Then she slid across the civilian duties she'd made for her people for the next few days.

There was always cooking and cleaning, gardening and gathering to be done. They'd divided things up as best they could.

"Oh. It's hard to believe,” the woman added with a shrug, “but we have some food going to waste. Mostly fresh produce from the temple. We can't exactly freeze it, and some things are more popular than others. Maybe it's fine but I thought I'd mention it."

Haley blew some air, amazed how fast things changed. Most people were growing gardens now outside their houses, with Seul-ki's huge version tended by the group as well. The temple had a surprising amount of things, most of which were already (impossibly) producing.

In fact, everything they put in the ground here seemed to grow at incredible speed. Even their veteran gardeners and farmers were struggling to keep up and understand, with almost nothing they planted ever truly failing. And this despite the increasingly cold weather in the forest!

"It even survives the frosts," Rosa had said in wonder after a night that had gotten down to at least -3 celcius. "The temple is warm so that's not shocking. But our little gardens even. It's like the plants could just...take it."

Haley had shrugged and grinned, thinking maybe the winter wouldn't be as bad as they all feared.

But she didn't get too optimistic. They had no idea what the climate might be like in this new world. Were there four distinct 'seasons' as they'd had in Canada? Or would a winter come that lasted half the year? Would the river freeze solid for months?

She knew Mason would largely be the one so tell them what to do, how to solve these things. But he just had so much in his plate already.

Haley was committed to solving as much as she could without him, to have everything in the hall and in Nassau taken care of so when he came home so he could just be with them and rest.

She finished her rounds and went back to the hall, fighting a slight wave of nausea with some deep breaths. She put on a smile and walked in, greeting Rosa and Lexi and making conversation to make them feel comfortable and at home. She cooked and started planning her meeting with Naya, not sure yet how that would go.

But she was going to sort them all out. That was her mission.

The civilians, the players, the elves. She was Mason's assistant, his lover, the mother of his child. And she didn't care what 'roboGod' or anyone else called it, she was his, and he was hers, and they were going to beat this world together.

"We're going to have some company tonight," she told the girls, tying on an apron. "I need to cook for an elven princess. And she may not like any of us very much. Do you want to help me, or do you want to escape?"

The girls looked a bit stunned. Finally Rosa clucked her tongue and gave her friend a glance, and both girls nodded and stood, reaching for some aprons.

Rosa in particular was a very good cook and would be a big help. Haley missed Mason and Becky, but she was reminded she wasn't alone. She put a hand on her stomach and took a breath, looking at her kitchen.

"OK.” She smiled. “Here we go."