Verne enjoyed peeling off the clothes she wore constantly. Because of her intent to obscure her gender, there were some things she never removed unless she was alone. Travelling in a group and camping together did not offer many opportunities. She appreciated Aalis’ discretion and the chance to change her clothing fully in the room she and Aalis shared openly and Emeri, secretly.

“I might want everyone to think I’m male…doesn’t mean I want to smell like one.” She commented to Aalis who was writing some notations on a slate. “There are some extremes even I won’t go to.” She sighed, feeling the length of her hair as she combed it, the ends reaching her shoulder blades. “It hasn’t been this long in ages…”

“No one notices its length.” Aalis reassured her. “A strong change like cutting it might engender unwarranted attention.”

“Knock, knock…”

“Come in.”

Emeri slipped inside and closed the door. “No one saw me.” She promised them then sat cross legged on the bed, watching Aalis make notes. “What are you doing?”

“Working out how much of everything I have left.” Aalis sighed. “I am running low on some supplies.”

“Can I see?” Emeri took the slate and studied it. “I know a place you can get most of these but it would take the better part of a day to go there and back.”

“It’d probably be worth it.” Verne urged Aalis.

“Could we go there the day after tomorrow?”

Emeri nodded. “That works for me. And you won’t need Judd or any of the others. There are no monsters along the path. Just us three will be able to handle it. We’ll call it a girl’s day out.”

“Just not when we are around the men.” Aalis stood. “I think I left some of my herbs in the kitchen. I will not be long.”

Aalis closed Emeri’s bedroom door behind her and went to the kitchen with her slate and piece of chalk. She paused on the threshold when she saw Judd sitting at the table, his head in his hands as he stared at the papers before him. Everyone else had repaired to their bedrooms. She hadn’t thought anyone would still be up. She didn’t know if she could face him alone after how she had jilted him for Verne. Uncertainty made her hesitate, wondering if she could sneak away without him noticing but the wretched step creaked beneath her slight weight and Judd glanced up from the parchments on the table, blinking to refocus in the dim light.

“Aalis? Something wrong?”

“No. Just…making sure I have enough herbs for tomorrow’s clinic…but I do not wish to disturb you.”

“No, no, you’re not disturbing me.” Judd rubbed his face and leaned back.

Aalis felt timid and shy, poking around the kitchen for her lost pouches.

“I thought everyone was in bed.” She said quietly.

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“I probably ought to be so but I just haven’t been able to decide on a blade for the hilt.” He sighed and put his elbows on the table, face in his hands, gazing at the designs.

Aalis was going to escape with or without the pouches but she saw the furrows in his forehead. She wanted to smooth them out but restrained herself. Instead she took the lamp from the hook on the wall and brought it to the table so that it’s glow was stronger across the designs.

“You should not work in half light.” She warned. “You will hurt your eyes.”

“It became dim without me realising it.” Judd patted his cheeks to try to wake himself up and cleared his throat. “I almost wish Suvau wasn’t as good at his work as he is. I think my problem is there are several really wonderful designs and I can’t choose.”

Aalis gazed at him kindly, her heart aching for him. She set her slate aside and sat down opposite him. “You seem to have narrowed it down.” She pointed out.

“To these three designs.” Judd nodded. “This one I like because the hilt fits into the sword sheath, making it seems like part of the design but then you pull it out.” Aalis studied the sketched hilt end fitting into the sheath. Judd jabbed the next one. “This blade is the simplest, straight and true but this one has that concave curve out to a point after the hilt then a bit of slope to the tip…” He sighed and shook his head. “I can’t decide. I’ve dreamed about my own custom sword since I was a boy…but now…”

“You are worried that your dreams might seem a little out of line with real life?”

“Well…if I asked Suvau to make me a sword like the one I made myself out of wood when I was a boy, it’d be too heavy to handle.” Judd laughed. “When it was wood I could swing it around and quite terrifyingly as well…but a metal blade…”

Aalis tilted her head, seeing sorrow on his features. “You are feeling your childhood being stripped away…one illusion at a time.” She murmured.

Judd lifted his head. “Well…yes I suppose. But not in a bad way. I mean, I am still here and I am well on my way to becoming a knight and that’s been the biggest dream…but I can see how foolish I was setting out the way I did, poorly equipped and so very ignorant.” He folded his arms. “No wonder Caste resented the Maul out of me in the beginning.”

“I do not think he does anymore.”

“No, he’s got other things to resent now.” Judd shrugged. “I thought Sir Rylan’s knighthood quest offer was one of the most generous and brilliant opportunities in all of Terramaul. But after hearing how other questers have died or failed…”

“You have not failed.” Aalis’ instinctively reached out and put her hand over arm.

“If not for you and for Caste, for Verne…even for Giordi and now Suvau…” Judd protested lightly. “I might well have become a cautionary tale for those being foolish enough to challenge the sphere in which I had been born.”

Aalis blinked. “You do not think yourself worthy…” She said softly and Judd’s eyes closed.

“Well, I’m hardly the legendary knight I thought I would be.” Judd opened his hands then rubbed them together, grimacing. “I swear I still smell of fish…”

“I like fish.” Aalis insisted.

He chuckled softly. “You always do that.”

“What?”

“You never let me feel like my past is a shameful thing. You always encourage me, seeing me as I could be, not forsaking what I was but building on what I will become.” He looked up and Aalis’ heart trembled at the warmth in his eyes which caused a bloom of heat in her cheeks. Judd swallowed. “It’s why I value our friendship, Aalis…so much. No matter what else happens…you are a dear friend.”

Aalis pressed her lips together, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes and nodded. “You are my friend also, Judd LaMogre.” She blinked rapidly, dispersing the sheen over her eyes and cleared her throat. “Do you know…the three elements you admired about the blade designs…they are not exclusive of each other.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” she waved her hand over them, “they could all exist in one sword. A blade with one straight edge, one detailed with a sheath designed to embrace the hilt…it could be a single weapon.” Judd sat up straight, eyes wide, staring at the designs. “I am not a weaponsmith so I would consult Suvau first…”

“I shall…because that could be the answer I was looking for.” He beamed at her. “Thank you, Aalis.”