Bero and Humerus didn't go directly back to the Stability Center the following morning. Instead, they drove past it, further into the military district. Soon after leaving the medical complex behind, they pulled into the parking area of Staves and Spoons, a restaurant on the edge of the military's residential area.

  "Ah, it looks like they're here already," Bero said, spotting a woman with silvery-blue hair sitting on a bench in front of the restaurant with two huge cats lounging on the grass nearby.

  He finished parking the carriage and walked over to where Kathia was waiting, with Humerus riding on his shoulder. The revenant had his bones out for all to see today. He was recovered enough from his injury to put on skin again, but the military district was one of the few public places where he didn't feel a need to hide what he was.

  Combat wizards regularly dealt with things like demons and criminals, so revenants didn't bother them all that much...apart from the poor few who'd been traumatized by nasty experiences with wild ones. And it was common knowledge in the Central Division that you shouldn't mess with the guy with the dragon skeleton. Picking a fight with the general's honorary nephew was an excellent way to get yourself stationed in the middle of the Zoko Desert or at a remote outpost in the northern mountains, in the best case.

  Or burned to a crisp, in the worst case.

  "Bero! Humerus! Good morning!" Kathia stood up and waved as they approached, giving them a welcoming smile.

  Bero smiled back at her. "Good morning. Have you been waiting long?"

  "We've been here around twenty minutes? But that's not because of you. We came early. The kitties wanted to sit in the sun for a while." She nodded at the two large cats, who were both in the process of standing up and stretching, showing off their powerful muscles and sharp claws.

  One of the 'kitties' was Sala, of course. The other one was Lakis, Kathia's husband's familiar. The two of them had actually first gotten to know each other because of their shared fondness for large cats.

  Lakis was a moruc, a species of magic beast that was native to the Prazu Mountains, in the northeastern part of the continent. He resembled a lion but with a more slender build and with triangular ears that had long tufts of hair on the tips. His coat was covered in black spots that were barely visible against an inky green background. And his mane and the long hair on the end of his tail were a light silver.

  "How are you feeling, Humerus?" Kathia asked, looking at the revenant with concern. "I heard about the explosion. Captain Lysien said you weren't seriously hurt, but...."

  "I'm okay. It wasn't that bad. And I got to eat some tasty wood shavings yesterday. Those helped a lot."

  Bero felt Humerus wave his bony tail a little. He'd been in an unusually good mood ever since Brel had given him those shavings from Ket'shiu. Apparently mythic beast magic was quite a treat.

  Although he had been rather annoyed when he'd woken up and found out he missed last night's dinner party. That was one of the reasons Bero had decided to arrange this get-together with Kathia today.

  "Wood shavings?" Kathia raised her eyebrows. "I didn't know you liked eating wood. Was it from a species of magic tree?"

  Bero gave an awkward laugh. "Well...yes. You could say that. It's a long story. Why don't we go inside? We can talk once we get our meal."

  Kathia was still looking at them curiously, but she and the cats agreeably followed Bero inside.

  "Welcome!" A woman standing by the reception counter greeted them with a friendly smile. She was wearing a pink and white uniform that had a crossed magic staff and spoon embroidered on the front. She paused briefly, looking at the two large familiars. "You probably want a table out in the garden?"

  "Yes, please," Bero said, nodding.

  There weren't nearly as many familiars here in the military district as there were in most wizard neighborhoods, but the combat wizards who did have them tended to have big ones, so the restaurant was designed to accommodate them. The front entrance was large enough for a gryphon to enter comfortably, as was the corridor that the waitress led them down.

  This corridor ran past the indoor dining areas, which were a bit more cramped, and opened onto the back garden, where the tables were further apart. They went to a table on the edge of the garden, where Sala and Lakis could sit off to the side without any fear of their tails accidentally getting stepped on by someone walking past.

  "I'll fetch some trays for the two bigger familiars," the waitress said, setting menus out on the table. "Is the little one going to eat here? Or would you like to order something for takeout?"

  She knew her stuff. Bero was impressed. "Takeout. I brought a stasis box."

  Revenants had to leave their vessels in order to eat, which made them temporarily vulnerable. So many of them, Humerus included, preferred not to have meals in public.

  There was also the fact that he was still digesting those wood shavings. Mythic beast magic apparently took some time to process. But Bero wasn't planning to tell a random waitress about that, no matter how impressed he was with her.

  The woman left to get the trays and a pitcher of water. Kathia picked up her menu and started looking through it. Bero glanced briefly at his before passing it to Humerus, who had floated off his shoulder and was now sitting on the edge of the table. Bero had been coming to this restaurant ever since he was a small boy, so he was already well-acquainted with what kinds of food they served.

  Humerus lifted the menu into the air with magic, turned to the section of spiced foods, and started happily considering his options.

  "You can get what will fit in the stasis box," Bero reminded him. "Don't go crazy."

  That was always the rule when they went to a restaurant, so Humerus knew it well by now. But that never stopped him from trying to push the limit.

  Bero turned back to Kathia. "It's too bad Denayo couldn't make it. But I'm sure he's busy with work after everything that's been going on."

  "'Busy' is an understatement. He hasn't even been home since before the raid started. We went over to the administration building a couple of times yesterday to make sure he was at least eating something besides health juice. You know how he is once he gets focused on something...." Kathia rolled her eyes.

  Bero chuckled. "I know. He's lucky he has you to look after him."

  Denayo, Kathia's husband, had been a battlemage up until about ten years ago, when a serious injury had forced him to retire from active duty and switch to an administrative position. He seemed to enjoy it for the most part, though wading through the mountains of paperwork that something like an emergency raid generated probably made him miss his combat days.

  "Poor Lakis has been feeling a little neglected," Kathia went on, reaching over to rub the moruc's head affectionately. "I'm grateful you invited us out this morning, so he doesn't have to spend another day bored at home."

  Bero shook his head. "I'm the one who should be grateful, after everything you did to look after Ariom and help rescue Focilo and Thenio. Taking you and the cats out for breakfast is the least I could do. And make sure you get something for Denayo from the bakery counter before we leave, all right?"

  "If you insist," Kathia said with a grin. "I don't mind taking advantage of your generosity a little...especially since I know you have ulterior motives."

  "Calling them 'ulterior motives' is a bit much...." Bero made an awkward expression. "But...well, I did want to talk to you about what happened during the raid. Ariom keeps trying to avoid the subject."

  "I'm not surprised." Kathia sighed. "It's fine. I have a few things I'd like to ask you about, too. Like what exactly is going on with that boy? Thenio, wasn't it? I understand he's a military charge, but why is Ariom the one taking care of him, of all people?"

  "It's...complicated." Bero glanced in the direction of the restaurant building and saw the waitress pushing a cart in their direction. "Some parts I can't even tell you, and the parts that I can should wait until after our food comes so we don't have anyone listening in."

  Kathia raised an eyebrow. "That bad, huh?"

  "You have no idea...."

  She stared at him for a moment. Then she, too, glanced at the approaching waitress before turning to the cats. "Do you two want your usual meat platters?"

  They both nodded.

  "And milk," Sala added.

  "All right. What about you, Lakis?"

  "Chicken broth."

  The waitress arrived at their table about that time, and the group watched quietly while she set out two large trays with folding legs for Sala and Lakis to eat from. They also got ceramic bowls and a jug of plain water, while the two humans got glasses and a pitcher of ice water with lemon slices floating in it.

  "There we go," the woman said, setting napkin-wrapped bundles of silverware down in front of Bero and Kathia. "Are you ready to order now, or do you need a few more minutes?"

  They gave her their orders, which she wrote down in a thin notebook. Being a grandmaster enchanter's uncle, Bero was aware that this was actually a much simpler version of a message book, which would send the order directly to a display board in the kitchen.

  Maybe because of his good mood, Humerus managed to control himself better than usual and only asked for three things: meat dumplings, a fruit salad, and a set of tiny cakes—all made with magic ingredients.

  Even that 'conservative' amount was still enough for several meals, but Bero didn't really mind. Revenants were always happiest when they knew they had plenty of food. And he'd eat it all eventually.

  After the waitress had finished taking their orders and headed back to the building, Kathia took a sip of her lemon water and then looked at Bero. "All right. Let's start with my part. The thing that happened on the raid that Ariom doesn't want to talk about. Plenty of people saw it, so it's not exactly a secret. And you've probably already guessed it had something to do with Riomel."

  Bero frowned. "I did wonder.... But I thought Hydra and Claybear would have enough sense to keep the two of them apart."

  "They did. Mostly. Riomel was assigned to Claybear's team, on the other side of the base from us. But Ariom told you he was going with us in order to help deal with barriers, didn't he?"

  "Yes."

  "Well, he showed his worth right from the get-go. That base had a pretty nasty perimeter barrier. It probably would have taken us a few hours to force our way through it. But the Order clearly wasn't expecting somebody like Ariom to turn up. He took that barrier down with one shot." Kathia smiled wistfully. "Amara would have been so proud...."

  "And Riomel was watching?"

  "More than watching. Ariom was supposed to temporarily knock the barrier down, then one of our aerial units was supposed to attack the power supply in the middle of the base to permanently disable it. And...well...striking a target in the middle of an enemy base is the sort of thing the Denifor Hawk style is made for, isn't it?"

  "You're saying that the two of them took down the barrier...together?" Bero asked, his eyes widening a little.

  "You think Riomel would have let anyone else do it? Once he knew Ariom was going to be the one shooting down the barrier, using trusty old Ashenstar?" Kathia's expression darkened. "Though he really should have been using Nightstar...."

  "Kat...." Bero began.

  "I know," she snapped. "I understand. But that doesn't mean I'm happy. She wanted Ariom to have it!"

  "I know that. And Riomel knows that. It's just...." Bero trailed off.

  "I know."

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

  They both sighed in unison.

  "But just because we understand doesn't mean Ariom does," Kathia went on. "Namyis said he was telling her before we left the Royal Guard headquarters that there was no way his father would show up for the raid, once he knew that Ariom was participating. He seemed pretty shocked to not only see Riomel there but to unintentionally work together with him."

  "So that's what happened.... No wonder he didn't want to talk about it." Bero sighed again as he leaned back in his chair. "Really...that kid.... He still doesn't understand his father at all, does he?"

  "Can you blame him? Riomel's never been particularly good at making himself understood...."

  "Have you talked to him since the raid?"

  "No. I tried, but he wouldn't respond to my messages, and he didn't seem to be home when we stopped by his apartment. I heard he went to the command tent to see Hydra as soon as his team got off duty. But he apparently went into hiding after that."

  "Hmm. He's probably at Kalion's house, then."

  "Probably. He wouldn't be able to run away by asking for an out-of-town assignment right now, since all the raid participants are on mandatory rest for a few days."

  "I should try to go see him later today. Though he might not be willing to talk to me. He'll probably blame me for not stopping Ariom...."

  "Then you should kindly point out the fact that he could have stopped Ariom himself if he'd actually interact with the poor kid once in a while."

  "I will," Bero said with a wry smile. "And he knows I will. That's why I don't expect him to want to talk to me."

  "That's typical. Him getting angry about something but refusing to actually do anything to deal with it," Sala said with a growl in her voice. "I don't know how you two can be so patient with him. Sometimes I really want to just bite his grumpy face off...."

  She backed up the threat by curling her lip to show her gleaming white teeth.

  Bero gave an awkward laugh. "I know what you mean. He's more than a little aggravating sometimes. But...well...he's still my big brother, you know? Somehow he's never been quite aggravating enough to make me forget that."

  Sala gave a doubtful snort and looked away.

  As she said, she often lost her patience with Riomel's behavior...though it wasn't actually to the point of attacking him. It was difficult for magic beasts to fully understand the complexity of human emotions. But Sala had known Riomel as long as Kathia had—more than fifty years now. She more or less understood why he acted the way he did, even if it annoyed her.

  "Thenio actually reminds me a little of Riomel when he was young," Bero said thoughtfully. "An awkward, insecure boy. Terrified of his own, out-of-control magic but trying not to show it. Always worried about accidentally hurting someone. He apparently gave his younger brother some nasty magic burns once and has probably felt guilty about it ever since. I know Riomel has never forgiven himself for all the times he burned me.... Fortunately Thenio isn't nearly as withdrawn as Riomel was at his age. But there are definitely some similarities between the two of them."

  "Poor boy...." Kathia's expression was sympathetic. "So Ariom is taking care of him because he's able to keep Thenio's magic under control?"

  "That's a big part of it, yes."

  "Just like Amara used to keep Riomel's magic under control, huh? Interesting.... I see what you mean about there being similarities." Kathia frowned. "But Ariom really has changed since he got Iggy, hasn't he? Even more than I realized. I couldn't have imagined him taking in a boy like that a few years ago."

  "Iggy's actually the one who convinced him to do it. He likes Thenio a lot." Bero glanced at the two large cats. "I think Sala and Lakis would like him, too. His magic seems quite attractive to magic beasts. Sort of like a life affinity. You should come over sometime soon so you can meet him properly."

  Kathia nodded. "That's a good idea. He was pretty out of it when we saw him at the Order base. And it wasn't exactly a good setting to have a conversation anyway. Besides, it's been a while since we went over to play at Ariom's house."

  Bero was about to suggest that they come over for dinner once Denayo's work schedule was back to normal. But he was distracted by Humerus, who suddenly raised his skull to stare at something overhead. The cats' ears pricked up, and they also looked at the sky.

  "Thieving monkey incoming," Humerus said flatly.

  Bero blinked. Then he, too, looked up.

  He was just in time to see a small, dark shape with bat-like wings glide down from the sky. It slowed up as it neared them, wings flapping. Then it landed on the table with a small thud, making the silverware clatter.

  "Oh. Good morning, Tamon," Kathia said with a pleasant smile. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

  "Morning," the imp replied, glancing at her. Then he looked around the table and at the other familiars, who were all staring at him. Finally, he turned to Bero. "Hey. I'm hungry. Buy me some food."

  Humerus huffed irritably. "Who invited you? Stop trying to mooch off Bero, you greedy monkey."

  "You're one to talk," Tamon scoffed. "Kalion buys you things all the time. Selfish little skeleton."

  The two of them glared at each other. Tamon bared his teeth, and Humerus' eye flames sparked threateningly.

  Everyone else simply watched them calmly. They'd all known the two magic eaters for years and were used to their strange playacting.

  ...apart from the waitress, who unfortunately arrived back at their table with a cart full of food just then.

  "Uh...is there a problem here?" she asked, looking worriedly between the imp and the revenant.

  Bero sighed. "No. The two of them are just messing around. Tamon here is a good friend of ours. He was apparently flying by and noticed we were here, so he decided to join us." He gave the imp a pointed look. "And I'll order something for him...if he can ask nicely...."

  Tamon stopped glaring at Humerus and stared blankly at Bero for a few seconds. Then he looked down at the table.

  "Will you please get me something to eat?" he asked in a rather sulky tone.

  "Very good." Bero patted the imp's furry head. "Do you want macarons?"

  Tamon's expression immediately brightened, and he nodded eagerly.

  "All right." Bero turned back to the waitress. "Can we add an order of a dozen macarons?"

  "Ah...of course." The waitress was still looking a little nonplussed, but she recovered quickly and pulled out her order notebook. "What flavor would you like?"

  "The fruit assortment, please. Unspiced."

  Tamon looked a little disappointed at that last word, but he didn't complain. As a magic parasite, he obviously preferred spiced foods. But he wasn't so shameless that he would fuss over free treats. Especially since he should know it wouldn't do any good.

  Like Humerus, Tamon needed to be careful not to consume too much magic. And despite claiming to be hungry, he'd probably already eaten breakfast that morning. It wasn't a good idea to give him extra magic for an unplanned snack. Tamon knew that. And he knew that Bero knew it, too.

  Unlike revenants, though, imps could also eat normal food. And fruit macarons were Tamon's favorite. So even the unspiced version was enough to make him reasonably happy.

  "All right." The waitress finished writing in her notebook and tucked it back into her apron pocket. "I'll go pick those up after I set these things out."

  She began distributing the dishes on the cart. Sala and Lakis got two large platters of assorted meats, along with bowls of milk and chicken broth. Kathia and Bero got a pitcher of warm, spiced fruit juice and a basketful of scones to share, along with a plate of butter and several small pots of jam. Kathia also received an omelette with cheese and sausage, while Bero had a plate of ham and fried potatoes.

  Since he had a rather large flock of chickens at home, Bero already got plenty of eggs in his diet and rarely ordered them when he ate out....

  Humerus' food came neatly packed in disposable containers. Bero opened each one to let the revenant inspect them before he put them into the portable stasis box. He left the box sitting on the table to remind Humerus that he had his own food and didn't need to feel left out when everyone else was eating.

  He noticed Tamon giving the box a jealous look.

  Perhaps the waitress noticed as well because she gave a slightly strained smile and announced, a bit more loudly than was necessary, "I'll be right back with those macarons." Then she hurried off with the empty cart.

  Well. There weren't exactly a lot of fire imps living in the military district. She probably knew whose familiar she was dealing with and didn't want to risk upsetting him.

  Some of the restaurant's other patrons also seemed to recognize Tamon. Bero noticed quite a few curious looks in their direction.

  The imp himself had stuck his little pug nose in the air and was sniffing around for some reason. After a moment, he stopped and stared at Humerus. "You smell strange."

  "What do you mean, I smell strange?" Humerus gave an annoyed sniff. "You smell strange. Stinky monkey."

  "No, really." Tamon ignored the provocation, his expression unusually serious. "You smell different than usual. There's a strange magic scent. Did you eat something weird?"

  Humerus' eye flames narrowed. "It wasn't weird. It was very tasty, I'll have you know. But you can't have any. Monkeys can't eat wood."

  "Wood?" Tamon blinked and tilted his head. "Was it wood that Focilo gave you?"

  Bero raised an eyebrow. Just how much did Tamon know? It was one thing if Kalion knew that Focilo and Relisa were mythic agents and never said anything. But if even the cheeky little imp knew....

  Humerus shook his head. "No. A Forest Person named Brel gave it to me. And he's really good at carving wood, so he made me a new puppet, too! He's a super knife guy!"

  Tamon's eyes widened a little when he heard the name. "Brel? The Brel? Was he in Kamari?"

  "Brel?" Kathia echoed, looking between Tamon and Humerus. "You're talking about that Brel...right?"

  "How many Brels are there?" Humerus asked, looking annoyed.

  Bero frowned. "Do you two know him?"

  Tamon shifted uncomfortably. "Well...sort of. I've mostly heard stories about him. But I met him once. I probably shouldn't talk about it.... But he was kind of scary. He was...uh...sort of mad at...someone. Not Kalion! We just happened to be there. But it was scary...."

  "I've just heard rumors," Kathia said. "He's Ket'shiu's oldest agent, isn't he? I've heard he's mostly in charge of training the Shiu'tanas. But he's really strong, so sometimes Ket'shiu sends him out to deal with political issues. To threaten human leaders into behaving themselves, basically. That's probably where Tamon—"

  She suddenly broke off and stared at Humerus, a strange expression on her face.

  "What?" Humerus asked defensively.

  "Wait. Hold on a minute..." Kathia said slowly. "Didn't you say you'd eaten some wood from a magic tree? Wood that Brel gave you? Brel, who works for Ket'shiu...who happens to be a giant tree...?"

  Humerus looked at Bero, clearly asking whether it was all right to answer or not.

  Bero glanced around. The waitress hadn't reappeared yet, and the people at the tables closest to them had stopped looking at Tamon and gone back to their own food and conversations.

  He leaned forward and lowered his voice a little. "It's like you're thinking. Brel came to the Stability Center yesterday. He found out Humerus was injured and gave him a little bit of Ket'shiu's wood to help him heal up faster."

  Kathia's eyes widened. "You're serious? He ate part of a mythic beast's body? Is that...I mean...is that really allowed?"

  Bero shrugged. "Brel said it was fine. And Humerus really did feel better afterwards. It's taking him a while to finish digesting all the magic, but otherwise there haven't been any negative effects so far."

  "And it was really, really tasty!" Humerus said happily.

  "That's wild." Kathia stared at the revenant silently for a moment. Then she shook her head. "I knew Focilo trained in Ket'qe and had friends among the Shiu'tanas, but I had no idea he was so well connected that Ket'shiu himself would step in to help him out. And his strongest agent showing up to check on him afterwards? They must value him quite a lot."

  "Yeah...I guess they must...."

  There was a moment of silence. Bero poured himself a glass of fruit juice and took a long drink of it, hoping the action would hide any awkward expression he might be making.

  It seemed to work because when he lowered his glass, Kathia was taking a bite of her omelette, and Sala and Lakis had both started on their meat.

  Tamon, however, was staring at Humerus with obvious jealousy. "I want to try mythic beast magic," he muttered sulkily. "That's so unfair...."

  Bero reached out and stroked the imp's head soothingly. "Maybe you'll be able to someday. Humerus is right, though—you can't eat wood. It'll make your stomach hurt." He looked toward the restaurant building and was relieved to see the waitress heading toward them, carrying a tray. "Look, your macarons are almost here. Just enjoy those for now, all right?"

  Tamon turned to look and brightened a little when he saw the plate full of colorful cookies. He watched eagerly as the waitress approached the table and set the plate down in front of him.

  "There you go," she said, giving Tamon a warm smile. "Enjoy."

  The imp immediately picked up an orange macaron and started munching on it, scattering crumbs around.

  "Can I get you anything else?" the waitress asked, looking between Bero and Kathia.

  "No, I think we're fine for now," Bero said. "Thank you."

  After she'd left again, they spent a few minutes digging into their meal. Humerus shot Tamon an envious glance or two, probably wishing he had a tongue and stomach so he could enjoy some non-magical treats, too. But he seemed to be trying to console himself by looking at his stasis box full of food and thinking about the tasty meal he would have later.

  Remember that you can eat things that Tamon can't, Bero told him telepathically, stroking his bony head.

  I know, Humerus replied, a little grumpily. I just wish I could eat everything....

  Don't be so greedy. Do you want to go through another rampage?

  "Hmph." Humerus looked away, clearly not wanting to be reminded about that.

  But he stopped glancing at Tamon's macarons.

  Shortly after that exchange, Bero was distracted from the scone he was buttering by the sound of raised voices coming from near the restaurant building. They seemed surprised and happy, not upset.

  Looking in that direction, he saw some of the restaurant patrons getting to their feet. A few were saluting.

  Kathia also looked toward the building. "Ah...is that...?"

  Bero glanced at Tamon. The imp had just bitten into a bright green macaron and was chewing happily, completely ignoring the nearby commotion.

  Looking back up, Bero saw a tall man with copper-tinted skin and white hair walking toward them while waving and exchanging greetings with the people who were saluting and calling out to him. He was closely followed by an inconspicuous man with dark hair.

  General Kalion Obarin, the Central Division's top celebrity, arrived at their table and looked down at his familiar, one eyebrow slightly raised.

  Tamon finally seemed to notice he was there. He lifted his head and stared up at Kalion, with half a green macaron in his mouth and multicolored crumbs all over his face and paws.

  "It looks like a certain little fire imp has been rudely imposing on people...." Kalion's voice and expression were stern. But his cheek twitched a little, like he was trying not to laugh, and there was a twinkle in his flame-colored eyes as he looked around at Bero and the others. "But I guess I'm doing a little imposing myself. Is it all right if we join you? I'd like to chat for a bit."