Fanli walked out of that room forever changed. There was a sadness to standing there after hearing the worst words ever spoken to her. Having no treasure felt cold. But something else came over her.

Freedom.

It wasn't like she was shocked.

The suspicions had been there in the back of her mind for ages and she'd never let it surface. Now that it was here, there was no reason to let it fester in the dark.

She was what she was, and he was what he was, and now she needed nothing from him.

Nothing worried her. She'd start over. First, she needed to get a hold of herself. She expected a tear but none fell. Not even one.

It was done. And it was for the best. Hell was on the horizon for Pest, and it wasn't her doing.

She'd given everything she could. Now, she didn't even need to free him of his proposal. His betrayal had done that just fine.

A numbness came over her, but it held no melancholy. Only acceptance.

So, as she walked to the room filled with people, she intended to step right out.

There was nothing to fear from the dragons now—she had no treasure and nothing they wanted. She wasn't even transformed.

Something caught her hand before she reached for the door.

Despite the strong grip, she followed the length of Ved's arm to see the gentle expression.

"Are you all right?"

Fanli stared at him. A day ago—a minute a go—she would have been flattered by any sort of genuine concern. Now, she knew better.

Her cave called.

Ved stepped closer. "What he did—"

"He did what all humans would do," Fanli fired back, more annoyed than appreciative of the pity. "Excuse me."

"You're wrong about that. Not all humans."

His words confused her, and she would have puzzled over them if not for one word.

"Ruined?" Wen's father sat at the table across from the three dragons in human form. The woman in the middle kept her eyes on the table and he entreated her, "Tell me. How does a creature that is so attuned to magic as a dragon not realize she's sleeping with a fairy?"

Desperation shimmered in the woman's eyes, but it was the man on her right, the biggest of the three who sat stoic, who answered Wyrn. "Her—her ability to sense magic is—is rather limited. It is a plight from childhood. We are not concerned with the fairy, but rather the slight that he committed. We'd rather seek out compensation."

"But Mace—"

"Soliar," the man said, "you are a princess. Carry yourself like one. We came here because of you to engage the Jaffo, did we not?"

The woman, Soliar, didn't dare focus on anyone. Instead, she conceded defeat and told Wyrn, "I understand your reluctance to negotiate. And I apologize for not having recognized you were the Jaffo leader upon first arriving. But you are...not what I'd expected." She sat up both arms on the table as she continued, "My wedding is days away, and due to strict politics, we must pledge something of immense power. We came in search of it. We didn't succeed—"

"You didn't succeed," Mace corrected. "Because of your weakness to simple appetites."

After a brief pause, Soliar lowered her head and muttered to Mace, "Brother, this is not the time nor place. I think my sacrifice is more than adequate."

"Without the weapon," Mace said through gritted teeth, "or the ogre treasure, the journey here was for naught. And we had at least one of those in our midst!"

Soliar took the chide in stride by turning to Wyrn once more. "The dragons of my father's court hid a weapon in your care. You do not dispute this, correct?"

Wyrn stared her down without answering.

"Hear me, Jaffo," Soliar said, "I do not know what you are, but I do know whatever it is had my father and my mother collectively terrified. My first impressions with you weren't tactful. But you can hardly blame me. You—you appear—"

"You come into my land, my valley, my home. Who are you to make demands on me?" Wyrn asked. At their silence, he observed, "You do not come to bow your head in respect or with an offering. Where exactly is the respect of which you speak?"

Mace scoffed. When he sat back with his arms folded, Soliar soldiered on with her negotiations.

"I am trying to explain, exalted Jaffo. We had treasure. Ogre treasure of the highest order. And if you'd only bid me permission to track him and kill him, we can retrieve it."

Wyrn watched her, unmoved.

She cleared her throat and carried on. "Then we will make a trade. This treasure was potent. Something tampered with magic for years—"

"Enough." Mace turned his head to face her so slowly that he appeared otherworldly. "You are changing the terms again. You chose this course, sister, and you will suffer the consequences." Mace said to Wyrn. "We do not care about the fairy. But my sister speaks the truth—she had not known him to be a fairy. And though he knew her to be a dragon, he did not announce it when he bedded her. Now, she's to be married but suffer through all encounters with her new husband. That is a slight—a massive slight, and one committed on a princess. And committed on your very land, Jaffo. That will not go unanswered."

Like Mace, Wyrn folded his arms. "That is what you say, but allow me to tell you what I hear. You came into my valley and stole treasure from a defenseless female. And you did so with the hopes she'd come and try and take it back. And you would have let her win, knowing the treasures value would grow. Then, after killing that ogre, you planned to present that treasure to me in exchange for this weapon you seek."

Both of the vocal dragons lost their boldness. Now, they resembled the meek one who hadn't said a thing throughout the entire ordeal.

Mace cleared his throat then admitted, "You speak truth. But, a proper hunt is a proper hunt and we did the customary service of leaving a scale with our scent in order for the ogre to follow. Instead, she sent a fairy, who...ruined my sister."

"Who you let ruin your sister," Wyrn countered, "thinking you could use the slight as an excuse for the weapon, but not before stealing that treasure back on your way out of town at top speed."

Wyrn looked between them, waiting. No words came.

"And I refuse."

Closing his eyes, Mace let out a slow breath then sat up. "My foolish sister may be easily misled, but I know the laws of magic—and fairy laws of magic will be on our side. We need not kill the fairy if he's dear to you."

Soliar gasped. "What? But—"

"You can keep him alive just fine. I will swear to his safety forever more."

"Wait." The woman turned to him. "Brother, please reconsider—"

"In return for the weapon."

His words had a finality to it that made Soliar's voice quiver when she begged, "Without that fairy dead, brother—"

"You won't be making your way through your harem upon returning home. Yes. I'm very well aware of that." He turned to face her finally. "And I do not care." At her flinch, he glanced past her to the man by her side. "It's sickening. You are so primal that you even travel with a pet. Well, rest assured, Princess, if not for your use of him so frequently, you would not have known right away of the fairy's influence because I would not have said a word. I would have allowed you to return home, marry, and weep in misery and pain night after night at trying to answer your unquenchable lust to no avail."

His words shamed Solair enough that she sat back in her chair, meek and defeated.

"And yes," Mace said, turning his attention back to Wyrn, "we sought out the treasure, but a forest of enchantment hid it from us. But however you want to dispute our methods, you cannot deny that you had a fairy on the loose, one in human form, one you did not post any sort of warning about, who ruined a dragon princess in her prime—mere days from her wedding. And how will you compensate us?"

Wyrn's look of defiance remained unchanged. "I do not have to compensate you in any way. You will leave here without what you've come for."

"Then we will kill him," Mace attested. "And if we cannot find him, we will go to the fairies who will find him on our behalf and allow that kill."

For a brief moment, Wyrn's stone-cold expression wavered.

"You may be surprised to find the fairies...unaccommodating."

"We won't be unaccommodating," Pest's father said from the other side of the room. He stood beside his wife who watched the floor with him. "The dragons are right." When his gaze settled on Wyrn, he tried to smile but nothing came of it. "And I won't ask you to sacrifice for us. It's not the fairy way."

Wood scraped wood when the chair moved back and Wyrn stood.

"Matax—"

"It's all right, Jaffo. Give the human child to him. Do not bring suffering upon your family."

Fanli's heart stopped.

There was a sincerity, if not sadness, to Pest's father's voice. Fanli wasn't sure what to make of it. Over the years, she'd rescued Pest more than once. The instances of love and affection shared with Pest's family was few and far between. Once or twice, Fanli'd seen them in passing and witnessed the ghost of a happy family thanks to Pest's mother's cheer. Both her son and her husband loved seeing her joy. It wasn't often.

Pest always insisted his father wanted him dead, but Fanli felt differently. It should have come as no surprise now, but she was stunned.

But nothing prepared Fanli for Pest's father's hesitation. "Perhaps I—"

And when Pest's mother held her husband's shoulder, Fanli's shock was total.

The woman said, "Leave it, Matax. We've done all we can. And you've suffered these near eighteen years for my whim." Her voice softened when she said, "But it's enough now. If not them, then one of the villagers will try. Doing this will cure all the other women, too." She looked past him to the dragons and said, "We are not allowed to ask even for a swift end, but I hope you'll consider it."

A tear fell from her eye before she vanished. Her clothes fluttered to the floor and a golden fairy instead of red rose up and landed on the windowsill. It was no bigger than a carrot and she watched Matax unabashed.

Matax took longer to look up from the ground. Unlike his wife, he shed not a tear, but he told Wyrn, "I hadn't wanted his end to be this way. Tell him to—tell him—" After a long pause, he let out a sigh and shook his head. "Nothing. You need not tell him anything." His clothes fell to the floor next, leaving behind a jet-black night Fae to rise up. The less-than-unsteady fairy bobbed to join the other. They held hands, took a fleeting glance back, then flew away.

The moment they left, an explosion rocked the very valley.

Wen and her mother hurried to the window but a sense of familiarity and dread filled Fanli and she knew, with everything inside her, someone had used her treasure.