Fitted with fresh horses, new clothes, and bags full of food, the three women ride out of Solveigard City in much higher spirits than when they had entered. Leo had come down early to see them off, pulling his sister into a big hug, then hugging Tara too when she was too slow to get out of the way.

He had hesitated when he got to Allayria; perhaps he sensed her unease, or was intimidated by the title. Either way, he held out his hand and she took it. His other hand came quickly down over hers, holding it there, and he murmured, leaning in:

"Thank you for watching out for my sister."

She hadn't liked this, being so close to him, the intimacy of his hand over hers. She had felt boxed in, trapped, but a Paragon cannot be weak and so she had steeled herself, lifted her chin, and answered:

"Of course."

"You're always welcome here—whether you come in the front door, back door, window, or chimney," he had said, letting her hand go with surprising gentleness and stepping back as she climbed onto her horse. "If you need anything, write to me. I'll keep my ears open here and tell you and Fae if I hear anything you might be interested in."

"Likewise," she had said, and he flashed her a brilliant smile.

Yes, all-in-all the side-trip back to Solveigard went very well. Allayria briefly touches the metal bangle on her wrist now, knowing its twin is dangling off the wrist of a very grumpy thief somewhere back in the smoke-plumed city. He'll cheer up when she brings him back some Jarles treasure. Maybe a fine porter.

"How did the meeting with your 'dodgy' contact go?" Fae asks suddenly, pulling up alongside Allayria as the road widens. "Did you get what you wanted?"

"Hm? Oh, yes," Allayria answers. "He'll help."

"But was that all that you wanted?" Tara interjects, pulling up on her other side.

Allayria twists in her seat at this and stares at the Beast-caller blankly. Clearly she's missed something.

"He was a handsome man," Fae adds, a wry smile splitting on her face.

"He had a very elegant mouth," Tara continues. "A little wide, but very artful."

"And dark eyes."

"Lovely hair too."

"How—?" Allayria sputters. "Did you—?"

Fae shrugs.

"I might have forgotten to mention the hidden room behind one of the bookcases."

"When you said you were meeting with a man who 'ran in different circles than Fae' I definitely imagined someone dirtier and cruder," Tara says. "Why again was it that we couldn't meet him?"

"You—" Allayria exhales, feeling bright patches of red burning on her cheeks. "I promised him no one else had seen him. I told him I'd keep him anonymous—"

But Fae waves her aggravation away.

"We're not going to tell anyone. We're your team," she settles back onto her horse but can't help the sly smile that resurfaces on her face. "He was very handsome though."

Allayria doesn't know what to say to that, so she just looks away, out across the road. She hadn't really given the subject much thought, and she didn't want to give it any further thought either. Events had not gone well for her the last time she had consulted her heart on such things.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe not as handsome as Hiran," Tara muses and the two other women look over at her.

"What? He may be the biggest ass on this side of the sea but—"

Fae leans over in the saddle.

"I believe you meant to say," she begins and then her voice deepens and she twists her expression into a smug smirk so like the one frequently found on the Solveig man's face it's uncanny, "the finest ass on this side of the sea."

And they all burst out, their peals of laughter ringing down the long road.

"Speaking of the vainest one of them all," Allayria interjects wryly, turning back to Tara. "How is His Highness?"

Tara's head turns toward the sky, almost instinctually looking for her bird who must be up there, somewhere, keeping Hiran distant company.

"Hungry. Cold," she says in a flat tone. "And bored. Excruciatingly bored."

Allayria grins.

"Excellent."

They slink into the base like thieves in the night, trotting their horses in under the cloak of darkness. To no one's surprise Ruben and Lei are waiting in the stables when they ride in, but alongside them is Finn, who rocks up onto his tip-toes to peer under their hoods as they swing down from the horses.

"You're a lot better looking than you were the last time we saw you," he tells them all bluntly, taking in their new clothes.

"Thank you, Finn, your compliments are always so affirming," Tara says dryly. She's still got twigs in her hair and she looks longingly at the candlelit windows above.

"Go on up to your rooms," Allayria tells the other two. "I can debrief with Ruben."

"Oh, we can h-h-hel-ah-p," Fae yawns and she actually stretches out. "Are the others still awake?"

"Caj was waiting up for you when I last checked," Lei answers. "Hiran didn't bother."

"Asshole," Tara mutters, flinging her pack on her shoulder. "I bet he'll say he's still 'recuperating.' "

"Go see Caj and then get some sleep, the both of you," Allayria reiterates. She pulls her pack down and drops a few inches with it. It's a lot heavier than she remembers. "You look dead."

"If we look dead, you look like grave worm food," Tara snarks back and then she blanches as she realizes what she's said.

"I'm not yet," Allayria answers with a snort. She waves a hand around in a vague gesture, too tired to put much effort into assuring Tara that offense was not taken. "Put me alone in a room with Hiran though and I might be."

"He'll get over it," Fae says shortly, and then she turns and pokes Finn. "Let's go find Caj. Lead the way, Beast boy."

As they trudge out Ruben steps forward, and suddenly he's pulling Allayria into a hug.

"I am glad you are back," he says, and she shies away from his gaze. It's too comforting, this easy concern—it slides too easily into the heart and roots too deep, where she knows that tearing it out will become a pain beyond bearing.

Not again.

"It all went fairly smoothly," she answers, chin lifting and a cool smile on her face. It's harder when she's so exhausted but she pushes through all the same. She glances over at Lei. "I assume everything went well on your end too?"

He grunts.

"Hiran returned a few days ago," Ruben tells her. "He delivered the package to me, as you asked."

"And where is it now?" Allayria asks.

Surprisingly, Ruben glances around.

"A conversation for another time," he says lightly, but his eyes are anything but carefree. "When you aren't half-asleep on your feet."

"And what about the other delivery?" she asks, and her eyes dart over to Lei. "Is everything taken care of?"

"For the most part," Ruben returns, and he places a warm hand on her back. "Now: bed. I insist. You've got a lot of meetings in the morning and you shouldn't yawn your way through them. You're still up in your old rooms with me."

Allayria groans. That's at least five staircases to climb.

Turns out it is seven, and when she gets through her door she spares only enough time to pull off the truly gritty clothing before she collapses in a heap on her bed. Everything is soft and yielding, blankets and pillows that are vague puffs of fluff that cushion and cradle, and she sinks into them, sighing.

She sleeps like a rock, or at least that's what it feels like when Ruben shakes her awake the next morning. Her limbs are deadened, and she wonders if this is what the aftermath of a stampede feels like.

"Breakfast," Ruben orders, standing over her with fists on either side of his hips. "Freshly-made muffins, ripe cranberries, whipped cream... coffee."

Her groan, which started out in bleary ecstasy spirals into depression at the last temptation.

"You don't have to drink it if you don't like," he mutters somewhere above her head. "It's a ridiculous notion, breakfast without coffee, but if you insist—"

"Can't I just eat sleep?" she grouses, burying her face deeper into her pillow.

"No. And if you don't get up, I'm sending Lei in here to yank you out instead."

She throws him a murderous look and he's decent enough not to laugh.

When she has somewhat returned to the world of the conscious and communicative, she joins Ruben in his room, and the platter of food laid out across the table is just as he described.

"Where is my more irritating shadow this morning?" Allayria asks grumpily between bites of what is a truly excellent chocolate muffin.

"I told him to have a lie-in and meet us later in the training room."

Allayria highly doubts Lei has ever "had a lie-in" in his life and doesn't see him starting now.

"So he's in the training room right now?"

Ruben sighs into his cup, the sound of defeat.

"Yes, I think so."

Allayria cleans off the last of the baked deliciousness and, popping a cranberry in her mouth, asks: "So what's on the schedule today?"

"Your debriefing, a medical review, armor fitting, and I think it would be best if you met with your team as well." He pauses, taking a sip from the black monstrosity stewing inside his cup. "We were expecting you a few days later, so the council meeting won't be for another week at least. Still, it is good time to keep your lessons up and prepare further."

Allayria grunts. She chews on a few more berries before she asks: "And the thing you said you wanted to talk about when I came back? When will we discuss that?"

His gaze is sharp when it darts over to her and he pauses.

"I was thinking perhaps this evening. This base was made for very practical reasons, but a rather whimsical result of the flat roof access andits lack of outdoor lighting is that one has a most excellent view of the stars."

Allayria nods.

"It is rather windy up there too, isn't it?"

"Oh yes," Ruben says innocently, dripping a bit of his muffin into the coffee. "Just a little bit."

A/N: We're a day early because I just realized I'm going to be laptop-less tomorrow night and when I promise a weekly chapter, I deliver!*

(*Sooner or later.)

I know I keep saying this about every new one, but I'm really excited for the next story arc. We're getting the Lethinor story over the next three or so chapters, plus a few other things I've been hiding in my back pocket...

I'm not cackling, I'm just laughing maniacally. You'll be fine.