Skyvenom: Chapters 40-41

Here are your chapters for this week.

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Chapter 40

When Fiyu heard that the next event was to be the final one, in some sense, she experienced a deep sense of dread. She had known that the first armistice was about to end, she simply hadn't evaluated what that meant. Deuxan was already violent enough given the current limitations; it would become even worse when Enemy Esaire and the others could attack with impunity.

Was she prepared? Fiyu felt that she had been soulcrafting and training diligently, yet she had not changed enough to deal with the new threats. She had finished polishing the walls for her third pair of rooms, which meant her Authority tier was nearly fully built, yet she felt extraordinarily far from touching Stronghold. There were so many polishing tasks remaining, and so many secondary materials still lacking. Worst of all, her lightstorm enhancement remained unfinished despite that being her strategy for incremental improvement.

Friend Theo had tried to offer her more gemstones from Betrayer Senka's hoard, but they were not sufficient. Fiyu could already produce a potent lightstorm and adding a little more cantae would not produce a qualitative improvement. She needed both power and control, and despite her best efforts, she had yet to find an appropriate material.

Perhaps she could have done differently, perhaps not. But the unfortunate fact was that she was out of time, and the next event would be the last. She could only hope she would survive.

"It's a dance?" Friend Nauda stared at the messenger in confusion. "Why?"

"That's the tradition," the steward said. "Before an armistice ends, both sides meet without violence, as one last attempt to resolve things peacefully."

"Does that ever actually happen?"

"Well... not really. But it would be a grave insult if you didn't attend."

As the steward left, Fiyu tracked his progress with equal confusion. What was she meant to think of this development? Perhaps a dance was less deadly than what she had been imagining, but she was also less equipped to deal with such a trial. There was little she could do, other than attempt to appear composed and leave the politicking to Friend Theo and Friend Nauda.

Before they needed to leave, Fiyu changed into her Deuxan dress. She remained less than completely comfortable in it, but it was worth the discomfort to feel Friend Nauda's heart rate rise when she saw her. Her allies had also changed into formal clothes, and even Associate Krikree was tugging at a Deuxan dress.

Perhaps this would be the last time she wore such a thing, one way or another.

Their invitation took them to a large chamber atop the central mountain, a circular ballroom with a vaulted ceiling of burnished silver. Instead of paving, the floor was open to the mountain itself, which had been polished to a surface so completely flat that Fiyu admired its perfection. It emitted a glow stronger than the rest of the mountain, which reflected from the ceiling above and left the entire room suffused with a surreal glow.

"Thank you all for coming." Unknown Tabrien greeted everyone from a position atop the balcony that ran around the edge of the room. "This is the last night before the convocation's armistice is formally revoked. All sides have come together in this last chance for peace. Can we not clasp hands and work together for the good of Deuxan?"

Enemy Esaire and his allies glowered from the opposite side of the room. They did not seem likely to clasp hands or work for the good of Deuxan.

"Hours remain to make your decision," Unknown Tabrien continued as if this was no surprise. "But until then, whatever happens, please enjoy yourselves tonight."

That did not seem likely, not for Fiyu. She remained in one corner of the room, resisting the urge to hide within her stealth technique, as an alarming amount of physical and social contact commenced.

Dancing had never been her forte for obvious reasons, and this was nothing like the respectful dances she remembered where the partners wheeled around one another in a twisting line of relatives. Instead it was overwhelmingly men and women clasping one another and circling around the chamber. Such a thing was appropriate for lifemates, perhaps, but here it seemed to be another social game.

Overwhelmingly the offers were between men and women, which she supposed was not a great surprise. Friend Theo was invited onto the dance floor almost immediately by Associate Nourise, and though he placed his hand on her waist, there was something cool about their movements, the polar opposite of intimacy. After they finished, Friend Theo invited Adversary Lalye, as if to make a pointed statement about alliances.

Associate Nourise and Adversary Sartozi even danced with one another, despite the fact that they were enemies. They approached from opposite sides of the balcony, using their cantae to dance in the air, dominating the upper level as they curled around one another with as much hostility as any battle.

During this time, Friend Nauda refused to dance with several Deuxans who asked her. It was no surprise that she would be asked, because she was the most beautiful woman present, but strange that she would refuse, because she could play such social games.

Perhaps she was waiting.

Fiyu gathered her courage and decided that this was acceptable. A dance was a formal step closer together, with comprehensible rules and limits. It felt shockingly forward to do such a thing, but Fiyu made herself cross the room toward Friend Nauda. If they were to be lifemates, this was necessary. Friend Nauda did so much to accommodate her, she could do this for a dear companion.

"Nauda..." Fiyu caught her breath when Friend Nauda looked at her, but forced herself to continue. "Would you like to dance?"

"Of course I would," she answered. "But do you?"

"If it's with you."

Friend Nauda's body had been quivering with restrained desire and now she took a step forward. When her hand touched Fiyu's waist she gasped, but then placed her hand over the other woman's to keep it there. She smiled and leaned in to embrace Nauda. It was much more than she would have done normally, but this was a dance and the rules managed to contain the emotions exploding inside her.

Slowly they spun around one another as they moved onto the dance floor. At first Fiyu felt clumsy, not knowing the steps, but she and Friend Nauda had fought together so many times, it was easy to coordinate. As they circled Fiyu felt increasingly comfortable, as if Friend Nauda's hands belonged in their present places.

If only there were not so many people watching them... Fiyu felt intensely self-conscious, even though she realized that they were not receiving the majority of the attention. No one else knew how much this mattered to her... and perhaps that was for the best. It was a sort of invisibility that meant this dance was just for the two of them.

As one dance ended and a faster one began, Friend Nauda shifted closer to her, an arm around her back. "Can we fly?" she asked, her lips nearly brushing Fiyu's ear.

"I... I would like that."

They lifted into the air, at first flying independently and then joining together as their cantae merged. Even though it would have been easy to barely touch, wheeling around one another like satellites, Fiyu leaned in, using her own power to press close to Friend Nauda. The other woman's heartbeat sped up again and Fiyu felt her own mirror it, shocked that she would do something so daring.

And yet despite the danger and everyone watching, Fiyu felt safe, wrapped in Friend Nauda's strong arms. She held her even closer and they spun more rapidly, spiraling around the chamber until the walls became a glowing blur and the world became only the two of them.

~ ~ ~

Theo hovered at the edge of the ballroom, frowning at Deuxans in range. He had taken to hovering at all times, not with cantae but neutralizing his mass and momentum with gravity, as a subtle display of power. That was enough to ward off anyone who approached for any reason other than politics.

The dancing made him feel older and more irritable than he had expected. Everyone else was enjoying the night, the atmosphere resonating with something inside them that in him had dried up and blown away long ago. He saw Esaire dancing with a young woman and he seemed to be enjoying it, not as a serious relationship but just the excitement of youth. Theo felt absolutely none of that, as if the capacity didn't exist in him anymore.

When he saw Nauda and Fiyu spin past again his frown softened, just a little. Good for them, but it felt wrong to intrude by observing.

Given all the mystery surrounding Brigana's family, he couldn't help but think of her. His relationship then felt so adolescent compared to Mary, and he bitterly wondered if that was because he was more naive. He didn't feel any sense of longing for those days, only loss.

After the next dance, Theo saw someone appear from the corner of his eye. He started to glower, then hesitated when he saw that it was Esaire. For just a moment, he thought the Deuxan was going to ask him to dance and wondered what the rules were for that.

"I see you haven't been able to overcome the skyvenom," Esaire said, his smile covering malice.

"Neither have you," Theo said. "I'm surprised your Demon Court handlers haven't rushed you to Stronghold already."

"I told you before, we're going to settle this. We've both had months to soulcraft and prepare for one another. We've competed one way or another, but when we meet on the battlefield, we'll see who's better." Esaire thrust out a hand. "May the best man win."

Theo glanced at his hand, then shook it. To his surprise, as soon as he touched the other man's hands, his feet dropped to the ground.

Power flowed from Esaire's body, canceling out Theo's gravity. From the very beginning, Esaire had been good at soulcrafting counters to neutralize powers, and he had clearly learned his lesson after Nlukoko. He was using highly polished Authority-tier abilities, and based on the previous look at his soulhome, he had more counters prepared.

"It will be an interesting fight," Theo said with a restrained smile. He resisted the urge to squeeze back or make any kind of demonstration, just locked eyes with Esaire until the other man finally left.

When he stepped back to the edge of the room, Senka made a face at him. "Poor Theo, no one to dance with except your bitter rival. Aren't the wages of hate so terrible? Cut off from love, cut off from passion, with nothing but cold-"

"Shut up, Senka," Theo said cheerfully. She grinned back at him, her teeth very sharp.

"What about you, Krikree?" Senka glanced down toward the Slescan, who was crouched not far away, watching the dance skeptically. "What do you think of all this strange, bizarre movement?"

"Krikree understand dancing," she said. "Queens and princes perform mating dance, sometimes for mating, sometimes for alliances."

"Hmm, I suppose you do. But how does the poor scout feel? Do you crouch there, yearning for someone to approach and make you his queen? Do y-"

"Not!" Krikree began cleaning off her antennae. "Krikree is sister, not want dance. But Senka not anyone's mate, just stupid food thing."

Senka blinked. "I'm food, am I? How do you figure that?"

"Useless little bug, only eats. Fatten up, eat later. Senka-food!"

"You really think you can call me a bug, you obnoxious little insect?"

"Krikree literally insect, not insult. Senka-food dumb!"

Theo looked back and forth between the two of them, wondering when Senka and Krikree had started getting along. Their antics were drawing a few stares, but Theo didn't really care. For one, he was intentionally playing the bizarre outsider who didn't abide by Deuxan rules. For another, somehow he was actually enjoying their squabbling.

He still felt no desire to dance, but Theo found himself having to suppress the urge to smile in order to maintain his frown. This wasn't a path he could ever have imagined himself taking, but perhaps he wasn't all bitterness after all.

~ ~ ~

Flush with passion, Nauda felt as though she could have danced for days. Her body sang with the joy of their movement together and her soulhome resonated in time, as if to make sure not even the slightest fatigue could interrupt their time together.

It was incredible having Fiyu relaxed in her arms, actually touching her shoulder, moving along with her so smoothly. At first Nauda had been confused and wondered if Fiyu was pushing herself too far, but now she understood: the dance provided a set of boundaries for the Ichili woman to understand, lines that she could step up to and not cross. The promise of it, the feelings quivering in her body, were more than enough to satisfy Nauda.

Physically they could have danced for an entire week, but their breath was coming shorter now. Fiyu was gazing up at her and Nauda wished she could pull aside the Deuxan veil and Ichili mask to see her eyes... but no. One day she knew Fiyu would lower them herself.

They returned to the floor at the end of the dance and retreated from the ballroom, walking out to an unoccupied balcony. Instantly the cold night air felt bracing against Nauda's flushed skin, but the balcony was still dream-like, with the mountain's light glowing underneath them and the lights of the city twinkling on hills all around them.

Fiyu pulled away and Nauda reluctantly let her go, but the Ichili woman stayed close and held her arm. For some time now Fiyu had been comfortable holding hands, and now she also kept their wrists wrapped around one another. In a strange way, despite the limited contact, it felt like the natural continuation of their dance.

For a time they just stood on the balcony, enjoying the night air and one another's presence. After a time, Fiyu spoke quietly.

"Nauda... this may not make sense to you, but it is important to me. May I use my senses on you fully?"

"You're right, I don't understand." Nauda tried to turn to her without loosening her grip. "Aren't you sensing me constantly? You seem to be able to feel every detail."

"Of course I feel you, that is no different than walking into a room and looking at someone." Fiyu's head turned away, hiding her face with her hair. Her braid had come partially loose, producing a curtain of dark hair that Nauda yearned to stroke back. "But there are still limits, both to be polite and to be reasonable. If I applied my senses fully, you would feel it."

Even though she still wasn't sure she understood, Nauda smiled at Fiyu and squeezed her hand. "If it's important to you, of course you can."

"Just now, I mean. Not all the time. I want to know you fully, but there is no need for..."

"I said it was okay, Fiyu."

The Ichili woman nodded, took a deep breath, and then something expanded from her. Nauda felt it like a rising aura, or perhaps a cool flame licking against her skin. At first it was just a wind rustling her clothing, then it pressed inward, like some force was pressing into her flesh.

Nauda's lips parted in surprise as she realized that she had felt a whisper of this before, merely a presentiment of the senses she now felt. This was the edge of Fiyu's world, enfolding her and then sliding deeper. It was as intimate as a touch, or perhaps even more so as Fiyu's senses pierced her entire body and then passed through.

"Thank you." Fiyu smiled and then leaned against her, their bodies barely touching. "For this, and for being patient with me. I want to spend forever with you, Nauda, but I want to take one step at a time."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Nauda hesitantly reached up to touch Fiyu's back and hold her, marveling that the other woman didn't flinch.

For several blissful moments, the two of them were alone in the world. Then a Deuxan noble opened the door to the balcony and stumbled, perhaps half-drunk. Nauda frowned at him, and whatever Fiyu's expression was, it made him babble an apology and flee back to the ballroom.

The interruption didn't ruin everything, much less the steps they'd taken toward one another, so they remained there. It did remind Nauda that the rest of the world existed, and that they were about to face mortal danger yet again.

Their enemy wouldn't attack immediately, and of course they would both fight for more of these moments, but how long did they have?

Chapter 41

It seemed that after the dance, Friend Nauda never wanted to leave, but eventually she had to go. In a strange way, Fiyu was glad for it. Their evening together had been so wonderful that she needed time to process all of the emotions that churned within her.

Besides, they needed to fight to protect themselves, and that meant preparations. They had first soulcrafted together for several days, on high alert in case Enemy Esaire decided to attack them immediately after the armistice. Eventually Friend Theo decided that they couldn't remain paralyzed by threats, so he and Friend Nauda had departed to the southern regions to advance their plans there.

For her part, Fiyu remained along with Associate Krikree and Betrayer Senka, meeting with remaining Deuxan officials who might want to make a deal. Between those meetings she soulcrafted, so that when Friend Nauda returned, she would be ready.

~ ~ ~

Normally Theo would have been glad to give them time together, but with the armistice broken, they needed to conserve their time even more carefully. He guessed that Esaire wouldn't attack immediately, so he needed to coax him into attacking at a beneficial location. That might be Western Ostic, depending on how everything fell out.

First, however, he and Nauda visited Occoire to do some shopping. He'd hoped to find speed materials for her, but there was nothing up to her level. Instead they purchased various supplies for the next step of their plan - the ordinary materials were just a few hundred Silver Crowns, practically a rounding error compared to the amounts they needed. That didn't stop him from haggling.

When he stepped out, he discovered Nauda standing beside one of the metallic pools. She raised her hands beside the coursing metal, feeling the radiating cool, just as he had when he arrived.

"Nice, isn't it?"

"I can't believe how much more comfortable this stuff makes the city," Nauda agreed. "I know we can't stay formally, but I saw an inn where the metal is set up in a waterfall. Much more shaded than the other places, too. Once this is over, I should take Fiyu there."

"Is there anything you won't think about related to her?" Theo smiled when she looked back at him and Nauda smiled too.

"Can you blame me? I just... want to give her a place where she'd feel more comfortable. Now that it feels like it can actually work out..." She trailed off, eyes growing distant.

"Hey." Theo stepped up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "In my experience, most relationships fall apart because people get together before they really know each other. That's not going to be a problem for the two of you."

"I suppose not." Nauda's wistful smile vanished and she turned to him sharply. "Enough about that. What did you buy?"

"Low tier sublime metals, purchased in bulk." Theo hefted the packages before tossing half to Nauda and putting the rest in his soulhome. "These should absolutely revolutionize what their soulcrafters are capable of putting together."

Since that was their last errand, they both lifted into the air and flew to a more secure distance. He didn't think anyone was likely to be spying on them, but without Fiyu, it was prudent to get away from the ground. In the air at flight speeds it would be very difficult for anyone to overhear.

"I guess I should be less self-absorbed and ask what you're trying to do in Western Ostic," Nauda said. "It sounds to me like playing both sides is just making a conflict there inevitable."

"Yeah, that's the problem. Manipulating both courts only works until it doesn't and they actually start fighting. At minimum it would cause a lot of trouble for the people there, and depending on when it happens we might get pulled in too."

"You're not cold enough to just let a bunch of poor soulcrafters suffer for your advancement." Nauda gestured vaguely at her stomach, toward the supplies they'd purchased. "But none of this is going to be enough to turn them into a fighting force, based on what you said. Even if they all soulcrafted these materials perfectly, it won't make them formidable, much less capable of standing up to a Stronghold."

"I don't want them to fight, they'd all get killed." Unfortunately, Theo didn't have a full answer for Nauda because he didn't have a full answer for himself. "What I want is to help them enough that they can have standing in the convocation system instead of just being a piece manipulated by everyone else."

"Even if we got them an Authority, wouldn't they still be subservient to the bigger courts?"

"Yes, but they might be able to muddy the waters, because both sides would have to send more than a single Authority to control the region." Theo started to use his weirkey, then stopped and instead tossed it to Nauda. "You want to try?"

"I might as well." She shrugged, flew a bit closer to him, and then twisted them between worlds. Her control was still a bit rough, though much improved from when she had first become an Authority.

They missed their target by a fair amount, ending up in the sky out of sight of Western Ostic. There wasn't much in the wasteland, but Theo recognized the herd movements clearly enough now to point them toward the city. Having a flight there wasn't bad, because it gave them more time to talk and let Nauda get a good look at the region.

"This is a miserable place to try to soulcraft," she said eventually. "It's the polar opposite of Tatian, where early materials literally grow on trees. Normally I'd hope they have more higher tier materials to compensate, but..."

"As far as I can tell, they have almost no natural resources, but that's inspired some brilliant compensations. I'm telling you, there's an Archcrafter who-"

"Yes, you talked about Victon before. Are we going to meet him?"

"Not yet." Theo thought back to his meeting with Janne and shook his head. "I didn't realize the armistice was going to end this early when I sent him off, so we'd have to go hunting for him now. If nobody restarts the war for another week or so, you'll see him then."

They reached the desert city and glided down toward it, Nauda shaking her head along the way as she saw the poverty. Once they got within range, however, her pity disappeared and she was all smiles. She got some strange looks as yet another surprising foreigner, but by now the peasants just shrugged at whatever Theo did.

What he was doing that day was delivering the sublime materials for the local guard. It couldn't really be called an army, not when they'd struggle against an average group of Farmguards. But only some of them were mediocre, Theo judged, and he thought the rest would be able to make good use of the materials. Soon Western Ostic would have a decent number of Archcrafters, at least.

"When are we going to have to pay for this?" the old noblewoman said when they dropped off her portion. "I know you said no Crowns, but there's always a price."

"Just keep reporting what I said to Central Ostic," Theo told her. "And you probably have spies from Occoire Court too, right? Stay quiet about where you got all this and keep walking the line between both sides."

"If you insist." She sniffed and pulled back, but of course she wouldn't refuse.

Once they stepped outside, Nauda cast him a knowing glance. "Ah, you're bribing the locals. That's how you're pulling off this double-cross."

"That's an unfair way to frame my extraordinary generosity," Theo said with an unapologetic grin. "No, you're right, I'm essentially bullying them into participating in my scheme. But it keeps both sides happy and not starting a war here."

"And how long will that last? What happens when it all comes crashing down?"

"If the Strongholds are unhappy, we could have a problem, but if we maintain the deception long enough, it won't matter. The more time passes and the stronger Western Ostic becomes, the costlier a war here becomes. If both sides get through this and profit, and we've ascended by then, they'll either decide not to pay attention to the details or find forgiveness in their hearts."

"But if they find out early and turn on us..."

"Then we'll have a problem, as I said. But Esaire has the Demon Court Strongholds on his side, plus he's probably bribed the Treasurer and maybe even others. Unless we try something drastic, we'll lose the convocation and it won't even be a war, just a slaughter."

Nauda couldn't disagree with that and kept working with him. At first they visited Accilonia every day, just to make sure that nothing had gone awry, but it seemed that Esaire was engaged in negotiations with other Strongholds. Technically he couldn't call everyone to a convocation of souls yet, but he was clearly planning to have an overwhelming number of Strongholds behind him.

Unless it was all a feint, which was still possible. Theo had been hoping that Esaire might chase after him in Western Ostic, but apparently he hadn't put out enough bait yet.

As days passed and they worked and soulcrafted, Theo finally finished digging out his last underground room: he finally had a full basement. Of course, he still needed to finish the walls to perfect his cantae retention, and actually filling the chambers would be the work of months. He'd only finished the bricks for his central chamber, which continued to resonate more and more with the gravitational energy above.

What could that chamber eventually become? At first he'd hoped that it could build up singularity energy and he could throw one into combat instantly, but it seemed that basements couldn't break the rules: he still needed to build up the singularity outside his soulhome. Still, having that extra cantae wouldn't hurt, and he could always draw it up into the rest of his soulhome if he was running low.

Nothing went wrong before the planned date, so they both headed back to Anguedan to see how Victon was faring. As soon as Theo saw him, he knew the young man had ascended to Ruler, even without checking his soulhome. Victon saw Nauda and wasn't surprised anymore, instead he bowed and clasped her wrist.

"You must be Nauda. Thank you so much for letting me soulcraft in your world."

"And you must be Victon." Nauda smiled and gripped his arm. "We have more than enough, so how can we not share?"

"I'm afraid such ideas are entirely alien to me. Both sharing and having enough."

While the two of them spoke, Theo went to stand with Janne. "How was it?" he asked.

"He's efficient, I'll give him that." Janne shook her head slowly. "I thought that the sublime materials in Tatian might give him trouble, but just working with Deuxan materials was apparently so unfamiliar that another world wasn't much different."

"That's good. You're planning on staying here still?"

"For a little while longer." Janne's eyes flickered to him curiously. "Do you think you'll need me?"

"I'm not sure yet. We're not likely to call you for a fight, but there are a lot of variables in play."

"I have one more for you!" The deep voice wasn't Janne - Theo realized that Nanjuma was behind him only a second before the man grabbed him in a bear hug. "Ahh, it's been too long. Glad to see that you haven't gotten yourselves killed while I was fumbling around."

"Glad to see you too, Nanjuma." Theo pulled himself free and gripped the man's arms. "I thought you might have gotten lost or started focusing on your own soulcrafting. That would have been fine."

"No, I made a lot of mistakes, but I have something better for you."

They caught up and Nanjuma explained how he'd journeyed south and discovered another major region, ruled by Brinnato Court. It was too far south to be mentioned often in Accilonia, but Theo remembered it from the map. Somehow Nanjuma had used Tatian materials to broker an agreement with the Stronghold who ruled over the region to support them.

"But only once," Nanjuma said, "and I don't think he'll actually fight. Do you think this will come down to a vote, or a war?"

"No doubt there will be some fighting at the Authority level, but if the Strongholds go to war, we've failed." Theo couldn't help but smile and clasped the old Tatian man's wrist again. "You might have saved us, Nanjuma. I've been doing what I can, but we're up against high odds."

"So I've heard. You want me to come back with you?"

"No, stay here. There's always the chance Esaire will return home and try some plan based from Anguedan. Don't separate too much from now on, just in case he tries to pick us off."

Their group, now including Victon, returned to Western Ostic. Victon seemed eager to return to work with his wubbos, which had apparently grown strong and fat from their new feed. Theo's plan had been to talk to him about using a heavenspear and taking care of the region as an Authority, but he needed to go back to Accilonia. Besides, even geniuses needed a lot of time at Ruler.

Meanwhile, his normal plans were thrown off by the work necessary in Accilonia. They used a communication mirror to contact the Stronghold in Brinnato, and then in a stroke Theo had another force on their side. It was apparently even kept secret from Esaire, though Theo expected that secret to fall to Deuxan politics eventually.

So long as it kept him distracted and not attacking. There had been no attempt on Fiyu or the others, and in fact Fiyu had collected almost ten thousand Silver Crowns from factions trying to buy their favor. Most believed Esaire was still the likely victor, but apparently he wasn't confident in that. Meanwhile the families of Accilonia continued to watch the struggle and try to end up on the winning side.

Nauda clearly wanted to linger, but went back with him when they returned to Western Ostic. Once back, he glanced over at her curiously. "Not staying with Fiyu?"

"Wanted to, but she needs time to think." Nauda shrugged. "Besides, I'm not going to abandon the people here. I was thinking of trying to teach some of them sublime agriculture. Their physical soil is dead, but their foundations might be able to grow sublime food."

"That's a good idea, but there must be obstacles or someone local would have figured it out already."

"Maybe, but they didn't have the resources we do now."

That wouldn't be enough to save Western Ostic, but the region's chances were improving and Nanjuma had just massively increased their chances. For the first time since they had returned to Deuxan, Theo felt like things might be under control.

~ ~ ~

Being given sums of money was not something Fiyu ever adjusted to, even though it was technically a good thing. She simply didn't trust these Deuxans, with all their schemes and plans. They would want something from her in the future, not the steady give and take of comrades but something more insidious.

As she left the suite with her associates, to meet another noble family, Fiyu was thinking almost exclusively of Friend Nauda. It had been so lovely to see her again, and despite only being apart for a couple weeks, Fiyu had missed her dearly. Her secret hope was that she could keep earning or saving money until she had enough to purchase an important material for her future lifemate.

Then a hint of danger pierced through Fiyu's happiness. She had vetted the nobles who wanted to meet her, but they were standing too stiffly, something was wrong with their bodies... suddenly the flesh tore away and she realized that it had been a fleshmasker.

Enemy Esaire descended behind her, Fiyu realized that the disturbed ground obscured anti-weirkey stones, and the others closed in. All her happiness had led her directly into a trap without her companions.