After sharing his story, Kanin seems far more open and at ease with me. We continue to wander the Fortress and idly chat for a while longer, and Kanin even implies that he has a plan for finding more Travelers. Wisely, he doesn’t elaborate on this idea aloud; while Blair claims to want to introduce me to more Travelers, I have a feeling that she only wants this to occur at her discretion. I’m curious to hear what Kanin has in mind, and look forward to the next opportunity the two of us will have to chat privately.

  Eventually, we begin to circle back toward Blair and the others, who have moved to the meal hall. I originally gave Mirzayael a quick mental update after the chat with Kanin to let her know everything was alright, but unsurprisingly, this did little to make her feel more at ease. Her mind only seems to relax when Kanin and I are back within line of sight.

  “You didn’t murder Kanin’s partner while I was away?” I mentally tease as we can approach. Zyneth, of course, is very much alive and well, sitting next to Nek and engaged in a conversation with the felis.

  Mirzayael smiles subtly. “It was a near thing.”

  Ollie looks up from his midday meal as we approach. “HELLO, GLASS PERSON!”

  Kanin waves. “Hi, Ollie.” Then he tilts his head. “What, is that a sword?”

  I see he’s discovered Ollie’s hoard. Most of his prized possessions are stored in his room, but every day another item seems to appear at his meal cauldron as if by magic.

  “Ah, yes,” I say. “It’s part of his ‘hoard.’”

  “DO YOU LIKE IT?” Olli asks, nudging Kanin with his snout. The glass man stumbles, and my heart leaps as I imagine him crashing to the ground and shattering into a thousand pieces. He recovers his balance, however, and awkwardly pats Ollie’s nose.

  “Ah, yes, it seems… nice.”

  Ollie nods excitedly. “AND I JUST GOT THE SHIELD YESTERDAY!”

  “From where?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. He knows he’s supposed to run gifts by me first before adding them to his stash.

  Ollie’s head sinks. “I DUNNO, SOMEONE JUST GAVE IT TO ME.”

  I manage to refrain from pinching my nose. “You Checked it for any enchantments, right?”

  “OF COURSE!” Ollie says, quickly glancing back over to the pile of junk. He stares at it for a suspiciously long time, no doubt Checking them all right then. His head swings back toward me with a guilty grin. “NO ENCHANTMENTS!”

  Kanin watches the two of us with his head cocked curiously.

  “Some visitors give Ollie gifts as an offering,” I explain. “We’ve really tried to discourage it, but there’s only so much we can do.”

  “Ah, right,” Kanin says, following me as we sit down in the meal circle with the others. “Um, thanks for sharing, Ollie.”

  The dragon rumbles happily, going back to his stew. “YOU’RE WELCOME!”

  Kanin sits next to Zyneth, and the latter fusses over his partner as Kanin half-heartedly attempts to fend him off. I begin to chuckle at this when Mirzayael touches my arm, and I find myself subjected to much the same treatment.

  “What all was discussed?” she mentally asks, eyes darting over me, as if in search of injury.

  “Too much to relay now,” I think. “Answers to many of my questions—which only lead to a dozen new ones. Suffice to say, Kanin shares many of our same goals. But first…”

  “We can start by breaking bread,” I say aloud, gesturing for the others to dig into the food that’s arrayed before them.

  But Blair shakes her head. “Perhaps you all will.”

  For a moment, I think she’s referring to Kanin, and my stomach drops. He can’t eat, can he? Oh no, was taking him to lunch just for him to sit here and watch the rest of us feast terribly insensitive of me? I’d caught more hints of loss in Kanin’s thoughts when he’d been telling his story; he missed many of the human things he can no longer experience. Eating, sleeping… physical intimacy. The last of these causes heat to crawl up my neck, and I quickly turn my thoughts away.

  “However,” Blair continues, “I will need to depart shortly. My window here is closing.” She gestures to Zyneth and Kanin. “Do you require travel arrangements before I depart?”

  Kanin looks between Zyneth and me. Or at least, I think he does; his head turns, but it can be difficult to figure out which facet is the front—assuming he doesn’t simply see in all directions at once. In fact, I suspect that’s likely the case, and the physical gestures are for our benefit more than his own.

  “I want to stay,” he signs to Zyneth. Mirzayael narrows her eyes at this, but I assure her there are no state secrets being discussed. “There’s so much I still stand to learn here. Unless you don’t think we should?”

  Zyneth replies with much more stilted signs of his own. “We can stay. Good opportunity. They’re not dangerous.” He pauses. “Most of them.”

  I manage to keep a straight face at this, glancing toward Mirzayael in amusement.

  “We’ll stay,” Kanin says to Blair, switching back to using his translator. “And thank you again for this opportunity. This means… Well, you probably already know.”

  “So be it.” Blair stands, and Aquenno begins to rise as well. She puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him, and he looks up at her questioningly. “You will remain here.”

  Aquenno’s eyebrows raise, but he obediently sits back down. “Of course, my lord.”

  “Hm,” Mirzayael thinks in distaste. “Leaving a spy among our ranks.”

  “Not a particularly subtle one,” I reply. “And I don’t think he’s a spy, exactly. If we can win over his trust, his presence here could be to our advantage.”

  Even so, I in part share Mirzayael’s wariness. We know even less about the champion than we do about Blair, and we know extremely little about Blair.

  “Good luck,” the god says, stepping out of the meal circle. “I will attempt to contact you all again as soon as I am able. In the meantime, please maintain a low profile and stay safe.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “You as well,” I say.

  “BYE, BLAIR!” Ollie adds. Blair smiles faintly, waving to the dragon as she departs. Ollie wags his tail at this. Okay, I might not know much about her, but she wins a couple points back in my book for that.

  And then the god turns a corner, and she’s simply gone. The Greater Detection spell, which I had mentally muted soon after Blair’s arrival, finally goes dormant once more.

  “Well,” I say, attempting to interrupt a silence that’s threatening to stretch in the wake of the god’s departure. “Please, help yourself to the meal. We can continue the tour this afternoon—and of course, find appropriate lodgings for all involved.” I turn to Blair’s champion. Might as well start the intel gathering operation now. “Aquenno, was it? I don’t believe we’ve met.”

  “Pleasure to meet you,” he says stiffly, yet he still offers a hand of greeting. I take it with both my hands, a gesture of respect I’ve picked up on from Fyrethians. I feel Mirzayael wrinkle her nose at this.

  The nereid has green scales with a faintly blue sheen, and while I haven’t met very many members of the species, Aquenno gives off a distinctly grumpier attitude than I’m accustomed to.

  “I hope you’ll enjoy your stay in our city,” I say to him when it seems he isn’t intent on offering any more conversation voluntarily. “Please let me know if you have any dietary restrictions. We also have a bathhouse you can help yourself to—I’ll show you where it’s located after lunch.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Aquenno says, pausing to help himself to a small portion of salad only when he sees he’s the only one with an empty plate—besides Kanin, that is. I feel a sting of sympathy for him, but if Kanin is uncomfortable attending the meal, he doesn’t show it, already introducing himself to Nek and Sora.

  “I will be shadowing Kanin during my stay,” the nereid continues, surprising me with his blunt honesty. “And I doubt he will require use of the bathhouse.”

  “Excuse you,” Kanin cuts in, raising his voice in mock protest. “I’m not some wild animal. My glass requires regular cleaning! Do you have any idea what it’s like to deal with smudges and dirt all over your vision?”

  “I do,” I say, tapping my temple in amusement. “I used to need glasses. Terribly inconvenient.”

  “Besides,” Kanin adds, still speaking in an exaggerated tone, that Aquenno seems none too amused by. “Zyneth bathes daily. Has to keep those horns of his perfectly polished, you know.”

  The cambion snorts, jostling Kanin’s shoulder with his own. His gaze lands on me. “I assure you, I require no such maintenance.”

  “Well, please let us know if you change your mind,” Mirzayael says, her voice dripping in sarcasm. “Wouldn’t want our guests’ needs to go underserved, no matter how excessive or wasteful.”

  Zyneth smiles tightly back at her. “I’m sure all your services will at least be adequate.”

  I can practically feel bolts of lightning stabbing between them.

  Aquenno watches this exchange with a look of bored disappointment. Well. So much for trying to pull him into the conversation. Though I’ll have plenty more opportunities to engage him in conversation, I’m sure.

  After lunch, I give the group a tour of the palace, as promised, (yes, even including the bathhouse, which stirs another round of passive aggressive verbal sparring between Mirzayael and Zyneth,) before finally ending at Dizzi’s lab. She hadn’t joined us for lunch, but that’s not unusual; she often forgets about mealtime when embroiled in her work.

  “Oh, wow!” the young harpy leaps to her feet the second we set foot in her door, like she’s gained an artificing sixth sense. She skips over to Kanin, staring up at his head with a wide grin. “I’ve never seen a homunculus like this! Why is it wearing clothes? How did they get the head to float?”

  And before I can even open my mouth to stop her, she abruptly grabs Kanin’s head, plucking it from his shoulders and turning it around in her hands.

  Kanin jerks back with a surprised shout, and the glass prism abruptly yanks itself from her grasp, returning to hover in place over Kanin’s shoulders. “What the fuck!”

  Zyneth stepped forward the second Dizzi went for Kanin’s head, and he’s now looming dangerously into her personal space. Mirzayael also tenses, as if she’s about to pounce on the cambion. Dizzi, of course, remains entirely oblivious to all of this.

  “Oh! It’s Attuned glass, isn’t it?” she continues. “Yeah that would make sense. Is that a translator? Looks similar to what Ollie’s got. But how do—”

  “Kanin is our guest,” I’m finally able to cut in, a bit mortified by Dizzi’s actions. “He’s someone like me. Just… his body is less organic.”

  Dizzi freezes, her eyes going wide as she looks between Kanin and Zyneth. “Oh stars! I’m sorry. That was rude, wasn’t it? I just get so excited when I see master craftsmanship like this. I have so many questions. Can I—” She happens to glance down, where, I now notice, Zyneth’s hand is resting on the hilt of his blade. Dizzi immediately crouches beside it. “Wow! This is amazing! That’s some beautiful etchwork. Where did you get it?”

  “I made it,” Zyneth says, sounding a bit baffled. Still, he lets go of the knife’s handle, and I feel Mirzayael relax.

  “You’re an artificer, too?” Dizzi pops back up to her feet. “Oh, this is great! Fyre, you brought the best guests! How long are you staying? We have to compare notes.”

  Dizzi attempts to drag Zyneth over to one of her artificing workbenches. He glances back at Kanin, who waves him on with a chuckle, and Zyneth allows himself to be pulled away.

  “That’s your Scientific Advisor, I take it?” Kanin asks, turning to me.

  I smile apologetically. “I don’t know how you guessed.”

  I’m about to apologize for Dizzi’s greeting before Kanin surprisingly beats me to it.

  “Sorry about how we met,” he says. It takes me a moment to realize he’s addressing Mirzayael rather than me. “Blair warned me what might happen, but I still wasn’t totally prepared.”

  The two haven’t had much opportunity to interact yet, so I stay quiet as Mirzayael stares the expressionless man down.

  Then she lets out an irritated sigh, and her posture shifts to something less confrontational. “I don’t blame you for the antics of the gods,” she says. “I am glad that it was resolved without bloodshed in the end.”

  “That’s her way of apologizing," I tease, hoping Kanin won’t judge her too harshly for her treatment of his partner. “We were all a little caught off guard.”

  Kanin tips his head. “It sounds like you’ve had your fair share of god antics.”

  Mirzayael snorts. “You could say that.”

  “Not their biggest fan?” Kanin asks. It seems like an innocent question, but I think he’s also digging for something. “Then you might enjoy the plan I’ve got in mind.”

  Mirzayael raises an eyebrow, and I can feel her opinion of him shift from mere tolerance to faint curiosity. To be fair, expressing any level of distaste for the gods is the quickest way to win her over. “I’d be interested to hear more.”

  “All in good time,” I murmur, nodding subtly toward Aquenno. The nereid has drifted away, glancing over some of Dizzi’s spell circle schematics on the other side of the room. He does truly seem interested in what’s on them, but with gods involved, I don’t know if he has some form of enhanced hearing. Luckily, both Kanin and Mirzayael drop the subject, but Mirzayael’s mood shifts after that, and the words she exchanges with Kanin, at least, become less blunt and reserved.

  She continues to treat Zyneth as if he’s a venomous snake, however, and the conduct is very much reciprocated. Still, small wins, I suppose.

  The day wanes quicker than I would have expected, and Mirzayael picks out a tactical location for our guests to stay. It’s just outside the palace, so there’s enough space for her to feel safe, but still close enough for us to keep an eye on. Wisely, she also selects Aquenno’s lodging to be several doors down from Kanin and Zyneth. Since the rooms between are already populated, the separation doesn’t feel intentional—though I wonder if the champion is at all fooled.

  As Zyneth heads into his lodgings to drop off his pack, Kanin waits with me. “Before we turn in, I’d like to send a letter, if that’s possible,” he says. “I’ve promised to update a friend about where to find me, and I’m certain she’d be delighted to learn where I’ve ended up.”

  “Of course,” I agree, my thoughts turning to Sandro. “Actually, that’s a great idea. I was going to introduce you to our Wyvern Master tomorrow, since he’s a bit stranger-shy, but completing the introductions now before you have a chance to run into each other by chance is probably for the best.”

  This isn’t entirely true. The real reason I waited was because I wanted to judge Kanin’s character (and control) before exposing him to another remnant. But after experiencing all the memories he shared with me, I believe I can trust him. And, more importantly, Ink.

  Kanin tips his head. “Why is that?”

  “Sandro’s like us,” I explain.

  “Another Traveler?” Kanin asks, surprised.

  “Yes. But more than that, he also has a remnant.”

  And if anything, this will be good practice for Sandro.

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