Cecilia’s red hair swayed in front of them as she led them deeper into the tunnels. Mila examined the place. It was mostly dark and dry, with plenty of side tunnels to get lost in. They seemed to stretch endlessly beneath the city.

While Mila was still giving Isabel the cold shoulder, she had relented a little. She let her hand brush against her girlfriends, who was walking on her side. Isabel tried to grab it, but Mila nimbly moved it to the side while giving Isabel a smug smirk.

“I said I am sorry,” Isabel whined.

“And I forgave you,” Mila noted while returning to make small brushes against her girlfriend's arm.

“Did you?” Isabel did not believe Mila. “Did you really?”

Mila didn’t reply and continued to walk next to her girl. It was hard to act so cold, but Isabel had earned this.

Mortimer, with Kanna and Vatim, were trailing behind them. Ultimately, it had been agreed that the boy would sleep with Mortimer while Kanna would join them in Cecilia’s room. It had taken a while for the decision to form, but Kanna had relented at one point. With Isabel in the same room, Kanna decided she would be safe enough.

With the free space being a luxury, it did help. Mila found the girl pitiful. She had spent less than a month in that slaver place, but it had treated her terribly.

While letting her thoughts wander, Mila tried to remember the layout of the tunnel system. They had walked for about five minutes already. It was starting to become hard to do, even though there weren’t all that many turns.

Sometimes, they encountered other subordinates of Naran going about their business. Sometimes, they passed storage rooms and lounges.

Mila had expected Cecilia’s room to be here, but instead, the woman stopped at the ladders that led up.

“Here.” Cecilia started to climb. She noticed the looks she was receiving and explained. “Did you think we sleep underground? We are not moles.” She laughed.

Pretending she hadn’t done that, Mila followed Cecilia with the rest following. Soon enough, she found herself standing in a new location.

A few people stacking boxes looked at them in surprise but returned to their work when Cecilia shooed them. The place they were standing was clearly a basement of sorts. The boxes were filled with foodstuff of various kinds.

“A side business?” Mila wondered as she watched another couple of boxes being brought into the basement.

“More like insurance.” Cecilia shook her head. “Food is starting to become scarce. Most of Boss’s properties have a place stuffed with rations. He said it’s going to become worse and worse. This is just a start.”

“Indeed, that is an astute move by Mr Vakano.” Mila agreed with the man’s reasoning. She

“Well, yeah.” Cecilia watched Isabel help the rest of the group crawl into the space. “Boss grew up on the border. He knows how those Imeglenmo bastards think. Skirmishes and raids were a constant threat for him. I guess they are again.” She pushed one of the workers to the side and led them upstairs.

“I thought the fights are mostly on the shores?” Isabel walked behind Mila and put her hand on her girlfriend’s waist while climbing the stairs, not letting go even when they entered a tight corridor.

“Some cities fell in the past few days,” Cecilia explained. “Not many, but enough for the enemy to stage strikes deeper into the Kingdom.

“It too must have been Mr Vakano who told you this?” Mila was interested. She also slipped away from Isabel’s grasp, sending her girlfriend a haughty look and inviting Isabel to try again.

Isabel looked down at her empty hand regretfully before trying to catch Mila, who slipped in front of Cecilia.

The redhead looked at Mila in surprise, then glanced back at Isabel’s dissatisfied reaction. “Didn’t sound like me, right? Actually, it was Barcy who told me that.” She replied. “Are you two playing?” There was confusion in her voice.

“It helps.” Mila didn’t deny it. “A little bit of levity to not allow our thoughts wander towards our less fortunate friend.” Well, mostly Isabel’s. Although, Mila felt the urgency to get Andrew out of his predicament as well.

Isabel visibly cheered up. “So you are not angry anymore?”

“About what?” Cecilia wanted to know.

“It is rather private, but if my dear Isabel wants to, she may tell.” Mila teased while keeping Cecilia between them. “After all, it was just an innocent mistake, according to her. Nothing to make a fuss about. Isn’t that right, dear?” She tilted her head.

Mila’s words brought back Isabel’s confusion. She furrowed her brows, trying to decipher their meaning.

But instead of Isabel, it was Kanna who gathered enough courage to speak. “Y-you shouldn’t make fun of Isabel like that.”

“Is that so?” Mila turned her gaze towards Kanna, who trembled in fear but stood her ground. “You are misunderstanding our interactions if you think I am making fun of Isabel. It’s punishment.” She announced.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“So you ARE angry!” Isabel groaned. “I knew it.”

“Dissatisfied, maybe.” Mila didn’t pout. She was dissatisfied - in more ways than one.

“And don’t bully Kanna,” Isabel added.

“I am certainly not.” Mila DIDN’T pout.

“Be nice.” Isabel gently scolded.

“I am.” Mila didn’t see any issues with her previous words. Well, if Isabel felt she had been harsh, Mila could try to do better when interacting with Kanna. The poor girl deserved as much.

“To me, too?” Isabel tried to appeal.

Mila tried to resist her girl’s charms and succeeded. “Maybe.” Her mouth decided otherwise. It wasn’t the answer she wished to give, but at least it wasn’t an outright agreement.

Isabel let out a small cheer, which almost made Mila smile. She tightened her expression and turned around. “Lead on.” She demanded.

“What was that?” Cecilia resumed walking, pulling the party along.

“Whatever do you mean?” Mila pretended to not understand.

“You sounded like newlyweds.” Cecilia laughed, clearly meaning it as a joke.

This quip possessed its own set of problems. Mila could almost hear Isabel's blood rushing to her head and frying her girlfriend’s brain. She looked back and caught Isabel stumbling while blushing furiously.

Mila herself felt quite satisfied. It was a better comparison from Cecilia than the earlier one where she had compared Mila to a Mom. “Did we, now?” She let her imagination wander for a bit.

Isabel would look amazing in a wedding dress. It didn’t have to be white, maybe yellow or bright green? But definitely one which left the shoulders bare. Would frills be better or a simple design? Perhaps a dress that showed a bit of leg? How about the decollete? Maybe a low cut to emphasise Isabel’s breasts. But that would be rather distracting. Mila knew she would find her eyes wandering. That wouldn’t do.

“Definitely!” Cecilia continued to giggle, happy her joke was received so well. “You two are a lot of fun. Anyway!” She led them up another set of stairs. “There are plenty of people staying here currently.” She greeted a sleepy-looking woman who peeked out of a room. “They won’t bother you. They are mostly here to sleep.”

They kept climbing up. From time to time, they passed a window from which more multi-storey buildings were visible. The sun was still high up in the sky and burned the city.

The building itself was clean, but the floor creaked, and the walls and ceiling asked for a new coat of paint. They passed room after room. Most of them had the doors shut. Sometimes, a drowsy inhabitant trudged towards the toilet or to do their tasks.

Cecilia stopped in front of one of the rooms and knocked. A moment later, a middle-aged man opened the doors. “What is it?” He asked grumpily.

“I need you to bring a bed to my room,” Cecilia told him. “Boss’s orders. The girls are staying in my room, the boys in the one next to mine.”

The man glanced at Mortimer and Vatim. “Orin won’t like it. He fought hard to keep his room free. He deserves cohabitants after he pushed Lim on me. The dude farts all night. It’s hard to sleep.” There was an offended protest from the room.

Cecilia shrugged. “If Orin has problems, he can bring them to Boss.”

There was more grumbling, but the man soon left with the Farting Lim in tow, and Cecilia led them further down the corridor.

“They should be back soon.” Cecilia stopped in front of a room much like the others and unlocked it. Inside, there was clutter.

It quickly became apparent why Cecilia could offer them her room to stay in. The room certainly only had one person living in it.

That is to say, the room had suffered an explosion of a clothing bomb. Various dresses, skirts, shirts, sweaters, robes, tunics and more were thrown about, covering the furniture. It was to such a degree it was hard to tell what was underneath the colourful blanket of fabric.

“Don’t mind that.” Cecilia was unashamed. “I had a date planned in a few days and was looking for something to wear. Most of it is not mine, anyway. Here.” She threw a key to Mortimer. Settle in. Orin is out peddling our wares.”

“Which is?” Isabel stood behind Mila and peered inside the messy room. She critically scrutinised some of the pieces she saw, trying to decide if they were interesting enough for her.

“Protection.” Cecilia entered the room and started to stuff the mess into a box that she found underneath a dark one-piece dress.

While Mortimer led Vatim inside their room, Mila tip-toed inside Cecilia’s. She picked up one of the silk pieces and hurried to throw it away.

“Sorry. That one IS mine.” Cecilia grabbed the underwear. “Cost me an arm.” She looked at them, expecting a reaction. “Nothing? You know, an arm? Because Boss doesn’t have one? Whatever.”

“Do you need help?” Isabel offered as she pushed inside.

“That would be great.” Cecilia thanked and offered another box to Isabel. “We just have to put them inside. Boys will take them away to the storage.”

Kanna entered the room right after but was quickly sat down on the bed by Isabel. The girl was still unsteady, and the walk had tired her out even more.

It took them the better part of half an hour to sort out the mess. And while some pieces were of interest to Mila, most were much too big. Isabel did try out some but quickly tossed them aside, finding them not quite to her taste. It did give Mila a nice show, however.

And by that time, the help brought them a partly disassembled bunk bed. They grumbled and swore but did take the newly filled boxes to free the space for the new piece of furniture.

After setting everything up, Mila claimed the upper bunk, explaining Kanna would be better suited for the lower one as it didn’t involve climbing in her weakened state.

It would be a tight fit. Mila spread the bed sheet. She looked at Isabel, who was looking at the size of the sleeping space with fascination and horror.

“We need to clean up.” Isabel finally announced with some desperation in her voice. “I stink.” She rambled. “We can’t sleep like that. Not in clean sheets! I definitely need a bath!”

These words made Mila pause. She looked down at her garb. All of their stuff had been left at the old lady’s place when they had left. Naran had sent someone to get it and to deal with the thugs, but for now, she had no change. And she stunk.

“We need a bath.” Mila resolutely agreed with Isabel. She planned to have a rest before the night, and she planned to ask Isabel to join. A little cuddling before the obligations sounded incredibly delightful. “And our stuff.”

Mila needed to at least wash and change her underwear before inviting Isabel for together time.