"I'm sorry, this account has been liquidated." The teller--a young pixie wearing a peppy glamour--eyes the banknote in Den's hand warily. "Miss Nrial's guardian was in yesterday."

Guardian? Den frowns. Yemia was over six hundred years old--by no means a minor. She didn't have a guardian. Which means...

He reaches for a pad of paper on the desk and the pen on a chain nearby. His script is neat and elegant as he writes, 'What about her will?'

The teller reads the paper and shrugs. "I don't think she had one. At least, there isn't one on file."

Den knows she had a will. He co-signed it as a witness. When he writes as much, the teller shakes her head.

"You must be mistaken. I'm sorry, son, but the files don't lie."

'And her savings? Her guardian has them?'

The teller nods. "That's right. According to municipal law, everything went to Miss Nrial's guardian since she didn't have a will."

Den's insides clench, but outwardly he simply smiles, writes a quick thank you and apology for wasting her time, and leaves the bank.

His hands are fists in his pockets as he strolls down the main street.

Iralaae. Of course Iralaae got her hands on Yemia's will and confiscated everything. 

Which means what Yemia did... her final request...

It isn't the money that matters to Den. He didn't want her money, and he can free himself.

But she died protecting that note and the message it carried. She was tortured.

And Den didn't save her. Den didn't know it was happening... because he'd been hired for an hour by a client who wanted his ears. Because Iralaae filled his schedule so much that he couldn't...

Iralaae, who got to the bank the day after Yemia's death and took everything she had. Iralaae, who wasn't supposed to know about Yemia's settlement.

Who wasn't supposed to know about Yemia's will.

Something deep and endlessly empty yawns in Den's chest. It doesn't go away no matter what he tries.

In fact, it keeps growing, all through the day.

As he attends a luncheon, as he goes to a party on the arm of a wealthy noblewoman, as he tends to her bed that night.

Inside him, there is a void filled with nothing at all, and it's slowly pulling away at everything Den is.

~~~

They don't even give Yemia a proper funeral. Iralaae says it would have to come out of her expense, and Yemia owed her so much money that it will never be paid back.

Den doesn't even find out until a day after they've buried her. He only learns the location of her grave because he seduces a magistrate's wife for the information.

Four days after she died, Den stands above the tilled soil and stares at the little iron marker. It says 'Dryad'.

That's all.

He stands there for a very, very long time.