As Zach read, his eyes started to lose focus. The 'basic' magic book was far too advanced for him, and he was tired after a long and hectic day. He had awoken to find Riley panicking, nearly kissed her, then learned that they needed to leave Okwata immediately. After some frantic packing and an impromptu Bridge trip, he was back in New Albion, in the castle's maid living quarters. He was waiting in Riley's bedroom for her to return from her bath, trying to stay awake without dwelling on her possible answer to his question: 'What do you want our relationship to be?'

Thankfully, Riley returned before Zach could fall asleep and flip back to Denver. She opened the door as little as possible and slipped through, then closed and locked it. Her damp hair was spread out over the towel on her shoulders, protecting her white cotton nightgown from getting wet.

"Hi," she said flatly, standing by the door.

Zach turned on his chair, putting his pajama-clad legs to the side. "Welcome back. Have a good bath?"

"Yeah. You should visit the main baths some time, when they're scheduled for men's use. They're very nice."

Zach stalled for time while he tried to decide what he really wanted to say. "I browsed one of your magic books. I hope that's okay. It was a bit beyond me, though."

Riley shrugged and walked past Zach to her dresser. "That's fine. They're just library books. If you want, we can get you some beginner's books." As she spoke, she dried her hair with the towel that had been around her shoulders.

"Um, did you want to talk about… us?"

Riley stared down at her hands holding the towel. After a long pause, she shook her head. "Not just yet. I hope that's okay."

"That's fine," Zach said, echoing her previous response. "Take your time." He rose from the desk, pushed the chair in, and started for the bed. "Ready for bed?"

She pulled her damp hair back into a ponytail and secured it with a strip of leather, willing to let the dry climate finish drying it overnight, then said, "Yep."

Zach got into bed first, then offered his right hand once Riley had joined him. Even in the dark, she easily tied their hands together with her familiar silk handkerchief. Then she rolled onto her left side, facing away from him. With his nose just inches from the back of her head, he couldn't help but smell the floral scent in her hair. It smelled of lavender and something slightly sweet, like cherry blossoms.

"Your hair smells nice," he said, feeling a little foolish for saying it.

"Thanks," she replied. Then, "I'm chilly. Can I have some of your warmth?"

"Uh, how?"

"Just hold me. It's barely different than how we normally sleep."

He answered by scooting closer under the comforter and wrapping his right arm around her. "Like this?"

In a satisfied whisper, she said, "Yeah, that's nice."

He could feel the shape of her body through their nightclothes, every soft swell and curve, but it wasn't as distracting as he'd feared. Instead, the situation felt right. It felt warm and wholesome and soothing.

They both fell asleep quickly.

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

"Thank you for joining us, Zach, Riley," Alexia said. She stood by the west window in the Princess's tower bedroom, looking out over the city, the Gwendolyn Wall, and the mountains beyond that.

"Oh, no problem," Zach said, still unsure what the sudden meeting was about. Zach and Riley had been eating breakfast in the staff kitchen, pointedly avoiding a certain topic of conversation, when they'd been summoned to Princess Evelyn's quarters.

Princess Evelyn sat at her table, a dour expression on her face. Answering his unspoken question, she said, "I wanted to tell you both why we had to leave Okwata so suddenly. I never meant to leave you in the dark, but it wasn't safe to talk about outside the kingdom. Take a seat."

Zach and Riley joined her at the table, then she started to explain. "I'm sure you guessed it was some sort of royal emergency. It is, and it's related to the poison that Alexia was investigating not long ago. We had suspected that Elven assassins had infiltrated New Albion and poisoned those people, but we'd never found enough evidence to know for sure."

Evelyn took a deep breath, then added, "Now someone found that evidence, but it wasn't us. It was our Kobold allies who discovered it."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Zach said.

"It is. The Kobolds avoid political conflict at all costs. They agreed to trade with us and lend support in our battle against wild monsters, but if Elves are attacking New Albion, the Kobolds want out, and not just out of the city. There's talk of them withdrawing from their trade deals and all other diplomatic agreements."

Zach raised a hand. "Um, pardon my ignorance, but what deals do we have with them? I've never even seen a Kobold around, but I did see their statues in the big fountain downstairs."

Alexia walked over from the window. She said, "Kobolds mostly keep to themselves, but they provide most of New Albion's steel, which we use to outfit the Guard with weapons and armor. They also make the special alloyed wands that combat mages need to channel enough mana for large-scale spells. And of course, they allow New Albion to mine gold in their territory, in exchange for any exotic metals found."

Evelyn sighed. "If word gets out that our allies are abandoning us, Okwata might want out as well."

Riley glanced from Evelyn to Alexia and back. "So, were you able to do something? Did you talk them out of leaving?"

Evelyn said, "The best I could do was convince them to leave one diplomat behind and to hold off on any official decisions for now. The rest of their visiting diplomats packed up and left the city last night."

Riley frowned. "Oh."

"Yeah…" Evelyn said dejectedly. "The diplomat's name is Fern. I'll be spending a lot of time talking to her for the next few weeks. I'll let you two know if I need your help with anything." Then she turned and addressed Zach specifically, "Did you get a living situation worked out?"

"Uh, um," Zach stuttered, his face growing hot.

"He's staying with me," Riley said simply. "So it would be nice if we can get official permission for him to be in the women's quarters after hours."

"Done," Alexia said. "I'll go brief the guards now."

"Oh, one more thing," the Princess said. "Please don't tell anyone else any of this Kobold stuff, or speak of it outside the warded walls of the castle. It needs to stay between us, Eloise, and my father. And Fern of course, though I'd prefer if you leave her to me."

"You got it," Zach and Riley said in unison. Evelyn raised an eyebrow at their synchronicity but said nothing.

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A few hours later, Zach and Riley were eating lunch in the staff kitchen with Beebee and Bethany. With the topics of the Kobolds and his and Riley's relationship status off limits, Zach was worried they wouldn't have much to talk about, but he was wrong.

Beebee leaned forward, her brown eyes wide. "Ooh, you had link sickness? I'm so jealous. I bet you could be a Bridge someday and make so much money."

Zach frowned. "It was far from pleasant, you know. I was unconscious for hours and a worthless blob the rest of the day."

Bethany brushed a lock of her strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear and said, "But it might be worth looking into becoming a Bridge. You could be a very effective trader that way, and that's what you want, right?"

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Zach took a moment to finish chewing a bite of sandwich, then answered, "Hmm, maybe. I feel like I could do more for the world as something other than a traveling merchant, doing something more. But money is power, so maybe I should get wealthy first."

Even though Beebee had been the one to bring up Bridges and money, she'd already bored of the topic. She asked, "How about the shows in Okwata? Were they as good as people say?"

Zach thought, Wow, Beebee's talking about Okwata without getting depressed. That's good, I guess. Then he said, "They were great. Most of them were tragedies, but there was this one comedy that was hilarious. It was about three prostit— I mean companions who kept meeting the strangest clients." He turned to Riley. "What was it called? 'Three Berries'?"

"'We Three Cherries', actually," she answered with a smile. "And I never thought I'd live to see the day: Alexia actually laughed."

"Really?" Zach said. "I was too busy dying of laughter to notice."

Beebee and Bethany were even more incredulous. Bethany narrowed her eyes and said, "Are you sure she wasn't just acting?"

Riley grinned from ear to ear. "If she'd been acting, I'm sure she would have chosen a more restrained laugh. Nope, that was genuine amusement."

"Huh, alright then. The thought of Alexia laughing will be stuck in my head all afternoon," Bethany said. Then she gathered her lunch dishes and stood up. "Sorry, Beebee and I have work to do, but I'd like to hear more about your trip later."

Beebee hopped to her feet. "Yep! I want to hear more about Okwata. Bye!"

As the two maids left with their dirty dishes, Zach turned to Riley. "So, do you have work to do? I feel weird, monopolizing all your time."

"Not really. My job is to watch over you at night and be on call for maid work during the day, but I get the feeling Bethany is tasking me only as a last resort. We could go wander the city if you want, as long as we aren't gone too long."

Zach blinked. Where'd she get that idea? I said I didn't want to take all her time, so she suggests going somewhere together? Despite his internal confusion, he found himself nodding in agreement. It did sound nice. "Oh, sure. We can do that. Let me get my backpack."

They returned their dirty dishes to the kitchen for the dedicated kitchen staff to clean, then started the trek to Riley's room. The more familiar Zach became with the layout of the castle, the larger it seemed. There were servant hallways connecting every major section of the castle, in addition to the glamorous formal halls, and he'd learned there were massive spaces below ground, used as storage, emergency shelters, and even dungeons.

"Hey," Riley started, interrupting Zach's thoughts of the castle, "Did Bethany seem unusually pleasant to you back there?"

Zach shook his head. "No, she's always been like that around me. She's the one who met me at the door the first few times I visited the castle on my own. Bethany and I bonded over complaining about Alexia's attitude."

"Huh, alright…" Riley said, suspicion in her voice. Then she suddenly straightened up and looked straight ahead. She elbowed Zach in the side and he looked forward.

He saw a woman approaching down the hallway, but she definitely wasn't human. She had light brown hair in a short A-line cut and perky triangular ears sticking up out of it. Her nose was dog-like, her mouth was more like a muzzle, and she had short brown fur covering all her skin, but her figure was very much humanoid. In fact, she had an amazing figure, with wide hips, a slim stomach, and large breasts contained in a fitted leather top.

She had to be a Kobold, which meant she had to be Fern, the diplomat that Princess Evelyn had convinced to stay. Zach was already conflicted by his attraction to her usual beauty, especially due to his maybe-relationship with Riley, but this woman also happened to be someone special and important to the kingdom. He quickly decided to keep interactions with her professional and platonic.

Riley bowed her head and stepped out of the way for the woman to pass. Zach did the same, happy for a reason to look away and stop staring. When she passed by, he noticed that below the beaded hem of her skirt, her feet were shoeless and paw-like, and she was walking on her tiptoes.

Then the feet stopped, and turned. She was looking right at Zach.

"Odd. I smell something unusual about you, mister," Fern said in a curious and excited tone. "And I've only smelled it once before."

Zach and Riley cautiously raised their eyes. Zach found himself face to face with a genuine non-human. He'd met a part-Jotun, the expedition leader Stal, but he had just looked like a large human man and not supernatural at all. This woman looked like a canine-human hybrid, not far from some depictions of werewolves in Zach's world.

It seemed rude to not reply, so he said, "Oh? May I ask where?"

Fern squinted and said, "Not a where. A who. The Princess. I need to talk to her."

Zach glanced at Riley, then said, "I'm sure she can accommodate a meeting for you."

Fern nodded and said, "You're coming too. Let's go!" With that, she grabbed Zach by the wrist and started pulling.

As he was dragged away at a brisk pace, Zach looked back at Riley with a very worried expression. He knew how important Fern was to the kingdom, so he didn't want to cause trouble, but the current situation didn't seem great either. "Uh, a little help?" he asked.

Riley leapt into action. She jogged to catch up with the fast-moving Fern and said, "As Zach said, the Princess will be happy to meet with you. Shall I lead the way?"

Fern smiled. "No need. I know the way. Kobolds have excellent sense of direction, especially around this much stone," she said as she waved a hand at the stone walls of the servant hallway. The fur on the back of her hands was short and dense, almost as if she was wearing gloves, and her fingernails were thick and sharp like claws.

"O-of course." Riley didn't seem to have any better handle on the situation than Zach did. At least Fern seemed friendly, if a bit too excitable. Still nearly running to keep up, she said, "I'll accompany you, then. I'm Riley, and I'm one of Princess Evelyn's personal maids."

When they reached the Princess's door, Zach and Riley were panting from jogging up so many stairs, but Fern wasn't winded at all. Riley knocked on the door and said, "Princess? Miss Fern is here to speak with you, urgently."

"Riley?" came a reply. "Uh, sure, come in."

As soon as Riley opened the door, Fern pulled Zach inside. Riley stepped through and closed the door, while Zach turned to the Princess to try to read her mood. She looked perplexed, but not entirely surprised. He also noticed that Alexia was in the room, watching intently.

Evelyn smiled and said, "Welcome back, Fern. What would you like to speak about?"

"This," Fern said as she pulled Zach forward and finally let go of his wrist. While he rubbed the sore skin, Fern continued, "I demand an explanation." Even though her wording was strong, her tone of voice was cheerful and friendly.

Evelyn blinked several times, looked to Zach for clues and found none, then said, "This man is my financial advisor, Zach. I apologize, but I don't understand exactly what you want me to explain."

Fern's ears perked up and she said, "Oh, silly me. You humans can't smell mana."

The four humans in the room just nodded. Even Riley, the mage in training, had never even considered that mana could have a scent.

"Zach's mana smells the same as the Princess's," Fern said. "I've traveled most of the continent and met thousands of people, and I've never smelled anything anything else like it. When it was just the Princess, I thought it was strange, but now it's two of you."

Zach had an idea what Fern's nose might be telling her, but he wasn't about to reveal the fact that he and Evelyn had both traveled to another world.

Evelyn was keeping their connection secret too. She said, "Well, we both got link sickness the first time we took a bridge. Maybe it's that? Maybe you're smelling our aptitude for connection magic?"

Fern stepped closer to the Princess. "Incorrect! I've smelled a dozen Bridges who had link sickness in their youth. This is different." She paused for a second and sniffed the air. "But not too different. It's related. Slightly."

Evelyn glanced away, trying to think of something else it could be.

Fern stepped closer, until she was almost nose-to-nose with the Princess. At a low tone, she said, "If you're not going to be honest with me on this, I won't be able to trust you, and I won't be able to save our treaties. Please."

As soon as Fern got so close, Alexia darted to the Princess's side, but she didn't take any action yet. Despite the Kobold's lack of personal boundaries, she clearly meant no harm.

Evelyn glanced to Alexia in wordless communication, and Alexia nodded back. Then Evelyn said, "Alright, because the Kobold people are treasured allies, I'll trust you with this secret, but it must remain a secret. It's still unknown to all but us, the King, and my closest maids."

Fern showed her teeth, but it was her eyes that revealed the expression to be a smile and not a snarl. "Thank you, Princess."

"Take a seat, everyone," Evelyn said as she sat down at the small round table in the center of the room. "This may take a while."

Fern pulled a chair out from the table, flipped her tail out from under herself, and sat down. It was actually the first time Zach had noticed that she had a two-foot-long tail sticking through a window in the back of her skirt. It was the same light brown as the rest of her fur, and it looked very soft and fluffy. A tiny part of his mind wanted to reach out and touch it, but the rest of him was sure that would be a terrible idea.

Zach and Riley awkwardly took the other two seats at the table, while Alexia sat on a plush chair nearby. Then Evelyn explained her and Zach's connection to other world. She avoided any specific details of that world's technology, but what she did reveal was enough to get Fern incredibly curious.

After nearly an hour of explaining what they knew about 'flipping' and the timeline of events so far, Evelyn said, "So, do you trust me?"

Fern nodded happily. "Fully. You didn't lie at all, and while I can tell you know more about that place, we can talk more later. We can, right?"

Evelyn said, "Sure. Zach knows a bit more about that world, but we're both available to talk, if it will help our countries' relationship."

"Of course, of course." Then Fern looked straight at Zach. "Also, I wouldn't ask you to make the journey for me alone, but when the occasion arises I'd love to see this 'flip' happen." She pointed to her black dog-like nose. "I might be able to sense something important about the phenomenon that could help you understand it more."

Zach felt the gazes of four women on him, all waiting for his answer. "Uh, sure. I was thinking of flipping again in about two weeks, for one day. If that's alright."

Fern grabbed both his hands. "Wonderful! I will eagerly await the night."

To Zach's right, Riley's jaw tightened. She was pretty sure Fern's interest in Zach wasn't romantic in the least, but that didn't stop Riley's feelings of jealousy. Maybe it was time to stop putting off that conversation about their relationship.