《The Island: An Elrich Saga Novel》


 Preface

    The Island is a standalone book in the Elrich Saga. However, I suggest reading Yellow Springs if you want to know more about the magic system and about the gods and goddesses.


    This is Rille''s (pronounced Rill, not Riley) story, but her story merges into Eri''s in Elrich Saga Yellow Springs book 2 (title still pending). She shows up to help Eri and the gang when Shit goes to pot in Yellow Springs. Which is just typical of her luck honestly.


    I plan to run some of Eri''s book 2 in tandem with The Island. Not all of it, but some of it. The Island is not complete but I am 20 chapters+ in. I''m hoping to have it finished soon. It''s certainly shorter than Yellow Springs as I''ve decided to cut a lot of the in-between waiting times and get directly to the point. I would like everyone''s honest opinion on if my segmentation of the story works or if I should go back and fill it in.


    For those of you who choose to skip Yellow Springs for whatever reason here''s some background.


    Elrich is a world of magic and adventure. Gods and Goddesses run amok and there''s no telling when one will pop up to make your life more difficult. There are twelve main deities and a LOT of little minor ones.


    There was a battle eons ago between the main deities and the demonic god Apep. Apep was defeated and sealed away but unleashed monsters and his demonic children upon the world.


    Adventurers along with the Guild work to subdue these monsters to keep the habitations livable. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    There are multiple races on Elrich. Most of them willing segregated into their own nations.


    This can pose a problem for some countries as some nations have inhabitants that are specialized in strength or magic. Humans are the more dominant population, but that doesn''t mean they aren''t at a disadvantage against a smaller demi-human group.


    Among humans, most of them can use magic. Only a small minority can not no matter how much they try to level up a skill.


    Erich has a skill-based system, much like a game. They kill a monster gain Exp and then they can distribute that Exp into skills they have learned. This could be a physical, mental, or magical skill.


    Rille, the heroine of our story, is magicless in a world full of magic users.


    Rille is also unlucky. So many things have a tendency to go cattywampus on her. Her own body included.


    She''s not always a she, there are days she feels distinctly male. However, societal conventions prevent Rille from becoming the person she wishes to be.


    Living in near-constant pain from swollen joints, Rille lives her life making soap and hopping from job to job because she''s always being fired.


    Her mother has a gambling addiction but is unnaturally good at it. Gambling has both bankrupted them and pulled them through some of the coldest of winters.


    Rille''s luck seems to be changing though.


    Her mother, the luckiest person Rille knows, won tickets to the all-expense-paid trip to The Island. Free health care spa and a daily allowance to be used in The Island Casino.


    Not everything is as it seems. Half of The Island is a research base but what are they researching and how will this change Rille''s life and Elrich forever?


    Cover image from the Mertailer.


    WARNING: This is a darker novel than Yellow Springs. While nothing is described in detail there are instances of rape, slavery, murder, and mass death. This book is 16+ and up. Nothing very graphic but it''s there.

 Chapter 1 I Save the Day with Dirty Dish Water

    I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bad things just happened to me. It was hardly ever my fault, but shit happens, right? For me, it happened to an alarming degree.


    Chapter 1 I Save the Day with Dirty Dish Water


    Today I was a girl. I''d been a girl for the last week. The days when I was female were easier. Those days my inside matched my outside. The days when I wasn''t a female were the hardest. Those days were darker days. I couldn''t just stop being a female. I had to really work at pretending to fit in on those days. I always felt like I was just an actor playing the role of a woman on male days.


    I braided my hair, plucked my eyebrows, and wore the dresses but I wasn''t a girl. On male days, it was difficult because I felt like a cross-dresser. I felt like I was a fraud dressing as a girl. I should be in pants and a shirt. I should have my hair cut short. Those purple boots? Gods, only a girl would be fine wearing pastel purple boots, even if they were flats and not heels. Male days were bad.


    On my female days, my good days, I loved my hair, the dresses, those boots were my prized possession. The one thing I allowed myself to splurge on were those boots. They''d been on sale and I''d coveted them instantly. They fit like heaven, and the embossed leather was so soft to the touch. I loved those boots on female days. On male days, I dreaded wearing them. Purple on purple paisley embossed leather boots just wasn''t something a guy would take pleasure in wearing, no matter how comfy or soft.


    My male side disliked wearing the dresses and braiding my hair. Manly me wanted a compromise. Perhaps cut my hair shorter, but leave it long enough so that my female side could still do fun things with it. Get rid of the skirts, but buy some pants that would compliment both my male and female side. Baggy shirts on male days, blouses on female ones.


    I couldn''t compromise though. If people had any idea just how weird I actually was, I''d be completely shunned from society. I was odd enough just as a normal girl. I didn''t need to complicate matters by letting my male side show. I had to keep up a respectable appearance in order to survive. My own internal conflicts couldn''t take priority to survival. We had to eat, have money to afford the rent, to buy essentials. I couldn''t afford to lose another job or to lose any of my clients.


    The warmth of the water helped with the cramping in my hands. Of course, it didn''t help my shoulders or the rest of my body, but since it was my hands that often hurt the most the relief was welcome. Just another odd thing about me, on some days I had the body of an 80-year-old arthritic. It limited my job prospects. My main income came from selling my palm ash soap, but it wasn''t enough to keep us financially afloat. I needed this job and I had to ignore the pains in my body to do it.


    Pushing a strand of hair out of my eyes I reached for the pot of soap by the sink. These dishes wouldn''t wash themselves and it was the beginning of the dinner rush. For a part-time job, washing dishes a few hours a night wasn''t bad. It was fairly soothing for me. I could keep to myself and take comfort in the mindless repetitive task.


    The waitresses made more money, but socializing wasn''t my thing. I disliked being around people. They always made me feel uncomfortable. I was able to recognize that most of that was self-projection. I didn''t feel comfortable with myself, so I felt wrong being around other people. Knowing that I was the issue wasn''t helpful in overcoming my socialization problems.


    Wembly came in carting another stack of dishes. She ran the bar and waitressed during off hours, the owner Mr. Juzz ran the bar when it was busy and cleaned the inn''s rooms. He was due to be down soon.


    ¡°That looks about full, let me turn it off for you,¡± she said. Placing the dishes on the counter she reached out and touched the water core then the fire core. Hot water stopped filling the sink. Then she touched the water core above the rinse sink. A slow stream began to pour out of it.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I told her. I really was thankful, without Wembly''s help I would have had to hull water from the well and heat it up by the fire. It saved me a lot of work having Wembly''s help. Though I did pay her a couple coppers out of my pay each week as compensation.


    ¡°It''s really no problem. I''m glad to help out,¡± she smiled at me and wiped her wet hands on her apron. ¡° By the way, a group came in celebrating their buddy getting married. They look like they are going to be drinking and eating a lot. So I''d keep up with the small plates and the ale mugs today.¡±


    ¡°Got it, and thanks for the heads up.¡± I was docked pay if the tavern ran out of clean dishes during my shift.


    I pulled a stack of mugs from the counter left from the afternoon and placed them in the sink.


    Wembly gave her orders to the elderly man who was hired to cook. Grunck smelled of stale pipe smoke and old sweat. He was always coming in half drunk or hungover, but he still managed to do his job on most days. We ignored each other with the exception of when he needed a certain pot or pan washed.


    Today was one of his drunk days. He was banging around the kitchen opening cupboards looking for something. Then he forgot where he''d already looked and opened the same cupboard again. Then he stumbled into the pantry to bang around in there.


    I could smell the smoke lingering in the air from a least one burnt pan. I found it left on a counter near the extra stove. I picked it up and inspected it. I''d have to boil the burnt out before I tried washing it. I filled the pan with soapy hot water using one of the mugs in the sink, then put the pan on the stove. The main stove had a fire core, but this one used old fashioned wood.


    I opened the door to see if anyone had bothered to fill the stove after it was last used. They had, which was a small miracle. I could tell that Grunck had been the one to fill it. The logs were just tossed inside without any stacking. Not that it mattered much since I wasn''t actually planning on cooking anything. I didn''t have to worry about controlling the temperature so I didn''t have to re-organize the logs.


    Taking the matches and using some fire starter, I got the stove running. Good thing was that I could use the hot water from the pot to heat up my sink when the water started to cool. Today was looking better. Things were falling into place neatly.


    I looked around for the teapot. Shit, Grunck had forgotten to put it on. Mr. Juzz would want his tea as soon as he came downstairs. We couldn''t afford to upset the scatter-witted owner, he''d be making mistakes all night without his pot of dark tea.


    I filled the teapot using the clean water coming from the rinse sink. Then I left the teapot on the extra stove to warm up. Good, now I could get back to my actual job.


    Submerging my aching hands in the water felt wonderful. I just wanted to leave them there to soak away the pain, but I had a job to do. I quickly washed all the ale mugs, rinsed them in the rinse water basin, and left them on the opposite counter to dry. The large stack of small plates was next. Scraping off any leftover food before I dumped the plates into the water kept the water cleaner longer so I didn''t have to stop Wembly for a refill.


    Large dinner plates were next. There were fewer of those since most people knew not to engage Gruncks dinner making skills. He was fine with small things like fried pickles or onions, but ask him to cook a steak... no. He did make a decent soup, but he usually started that before he began his day drinking. There were more bowls than dinner plates stacked on the counter for a good reason.


    I began my work on those next. They were messier and after I washed them I''d do pots and pans. By the time pots and pans were done the water was usually so scuzzy that I couldn''t get anything else clean. I''d have to drain the sink and catch Wembly to start over. This would repeat a few times tonight.


    The water was cooling and I took the opportunity to check on my burnt pan and the teapot. The brunt pan was clearing up nicely and the teapot was boiling away. I took it off the stove and moved it to the warmer. Mr. Juzz would be wandering in any minute looking for his tea. I was glad I''d started it.


    ¡°Have you seen Grunck?¡± I nearly jumped out of my skin. Wembly had come up behind me and scared me.


    ¡°Oh sorry, I didn''t mean to startle you,¡± she apologized.


    ¡°No, it''s ok. I last saw him going into the pantry. He was looking for something.¡±


    ¡°Probably his stash of drink,¡± Wembly humphed. ¡°He hasn''t even started the order I gave him.¡± She paused and turned her head to the side. ¡°Do you hear that?¡±


    I listened too. It was faint, but there was a whistling sound.


    ¡°What is that?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Don''t know,¡± I answered.


    She turned a full circle, but not seeing anything suspicious she shrugged.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°I need my orders, I''m going to go find that drunkard. Do you need a refill?¡±


    ¡°Not yet,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I''m just about to start the pans.¡±


    ¡°Won''t be many pans if we can''t find our cook.¡± Wembly stormed off and headed towards the door that led to the basement pantry.


    I dumped the hot pan with it''s boiling water into my sink. Using the handle I moved the pot around a bit. I knew better than to stick my hand into the water right after I''d dumped boiling water into it. I needed to disperse the heat to the entire sink. Then I''d add the rest of the pots.


    ¡°Tea?¡± Mr. Juzz came through the door.


    ¡°The pot is on the warmer, sir,¡± I answered gathering the dirty pots.


    ¡°What''s that noise?¡±


    ¡°We don''t know, sir. Wembly and I can''t figure out where it''s coming from.¡±


    ¡°Grunck?¡±


    ¡°Wandered off looking for something, sir. Wembly went to fetch him since he hasn''t started her order.¡±


    ¡°One of those days, eh?¡± He got down a tea mug and began to make his tea. ¡°Huh, warmer than usual in here today isn''t it?¡±


    ¡°Looks like, sir.¡± Both stoves were running so the room would heat up since I had been standing there as it warmed up I hadn''t really noticed the temperature difference.


    ¡°Really now, that is getting annoying what is that noise? Leave off the dishes for a bit Rille, help me look for it.¡± He placed his tea on the counter to steep and asked me to help in the mysterious whistling hunt.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    I dumped the pots and pans into the water. They needed to soak a bit anyway.


    Helping Mr. Juzz look for the whistling was fruitless. We narrowed down the area to near the sink and stove, but couldn''t figure out where the sound was coming from.


    ¡°Could it be the drain pipe?¡± I peered down the hole of the rinse sink. Water still trickled in a slow stream from the water core that had been left on.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± Mr. Juzz touched the water core to turn it off and we both listened. The noise was steadily getting louder. Maybe that was it?


    ¡°Hum, I think I better...¡± Mr. Juzz began but was interrupted.


    Wembly came running up the stairs from the pantry.


    ¡°Rille, who filled that stove?¡± She screamed at me.


    ¡°I think it was Grunck. Why?¡± I was confused. Why was she so panicked?


    ¡°He can''t find the fire core to that stove!¡± She pointed to the main stove. No wonder he wasn''t cooking he couldn''t get the stove... Oh, Loving Gods. I could feel my face drain. Mr. Juzz was faster than me. He ripped the water core from the mounting on the sink and ran to the stove.


    He tried opening the door with his bare hand and burned himself. I grabbed a drying towel and opened it for him. Wembly had run into the dining room and was screaming for everyone to evacuate.


    The door was sticking, I couldn''t get it open. Grunck came stumbling up the steps.


    ¡°Wazzat noise,¡± he slurred.


    ¡°Here,¡± Mr. Juzz handed me the stone and took to pulling on the door. He managed to pry it open but fell backward on his rear when it gave way. The heat that flared out of the stove hit me, my left arm felt like it was on fire. I wasn''t on fire, I double checked to be certain, but I knew I was hurt.


    ¡°The core Rille,¡± Mr. Juzz screamed at me. He pried it from my burnt hand. Shit, was that my hand? Gods above it looked bad.


    ¡°Wadda you do now queer?¡± Grunck swore at me. Then kicked me out of the way.


    ¡°It wasn''t her you idiot!¡± Mr. Juzz yelled at him. He held the water core as close as he could to the body of the stove. Water was spraying out but it wasn''t going into the stove. He couldn''t get his hand close enough because of the heat.


    I got up, bracing myself with my good right hand. Pulled a large pot filled with soapy water out of the sink. Then I turned and threw the water, pot and all, at the belly of the stove.


    WHOOSH!


    Steam came pouring out. Mr. Juzz fell back again and ducked covering his head. Grunck fell into the counter and went up and over it to the other side. There was the sound of metal squealing, then a shattering noise.


    No time, I grabbed another pot from the sink and threw more water at the stove.


    There was more steam but less than before. The whistling sound was subsiding. Understanding what I was doing Mr. Juzz put the water core in the sink and left it on. Grabbing another pot he bailed water out of the sink and began to douse the stove with me.


    ¡°Gods above Rille, you may have saved us all.¡± He worked beside me dumping water on the stove. The floor was a mess of hot water and burnt ashes.


    When he deemed it cool enough Mr. Juzz took a long set of tongs and began to sift through what was left of the stove. I didn''t bother watching. I fished the still running water core out of the sink and held it in my burnt hand.


    It felt so good. Cool water running over the burn, but my entire arm was burnt. I lifted the water core above my head and let the water play down my arm. My clothes had protected most of my body. My exposed lower arm and a small portion above my elbow were red with heat. My neck and face felt tender, but I didn''t think they were as bad as my arm.


    ¡°Gods above,¡± Mr. Juzz had fished out the fire core from the remains of the stove. Using the tongs he dropped it into the partially full sink. It sizzled and fizzed, but nothing more happened. I looked into the sink We''d thrown most of the scuzzy water at the stove and the water core had been refilling the sink as we worked. The water was cloudy, but I could see the large fissure in the fire core that sat at the bottom. We''d been so close. If it had shattered we''d all be dead.


    ¡°Shit Rille, your hurt.¡± Mr. Juzz didn''t touch me, but he looked at my arm. Still dripping with the flowing water core in my hand. ¡°Hold on.¡± He left and in a second he had a towel. He used the water dripping from my elbow to wet the towel. Then he placed it on my neck and dabbed a corner against my face.


    ¡°Is it bad,¡± fear of the unknown had my gut clenching.


    ¡°Not as bad as your arm, I don''t think it will scar. We need to get you to a healer though. Don''t worry about the cost. I''ll cover it. It''s the least I can do since you saved us and my inn.¡±


    ¡°I started the fire,¡± I confessed.


    ¡°You did?¡± Mr. Juzz asked confused.


    ¡°I didn''t know that he left the fire core in there. I looked to see he''d stacked wood but I didn''t know it was there.¡± I wasn''t thinking, blaming myself in the aftermath of the panic seemed reasonable.


    ¡°No Rille, you don''t even have magic. None of this is on you. It''s my fault for allowing that idiot to keep his job even though I knew he was a drunk.¡±


    ¡°You''re both wrong,¡± Wembly peeked around the corner from the dining room. Determining that all was safe she walked in. ¡°It''s that blasted fools fault. He told me in the pantry that he lost the core after trying to light the stove. The stove wouldn''t light so he wanted to add the fire core to make it work. He was looking for where he''d placed the core so he could do exactly that.¡± She waved at the burnt and broken stove. ¡°He didn''t realize that he''d already put the core inside.¡±


    ¡°That''s insane,¡± I whispered. Everyone knew that a fire core couldn''t be around other sources of heat. It had to be the only source. Putting a fire core in a wood oven was asking for a core explosion. It was only a level two fire core, thank the gods, but the damage would have killed us and taken out the entire kitchen.


    ¡°I see,¡± Mr. Juzz muttered looking over the counter where Grunck had passed out on the floor.


    ¡°The guard are probably on their way,¡± Wembly told him.


    ¡°Good, there isn''t anything I will be able to do to save him,¡± Mr. Juzz muttered.


    ¡°You''re too kindhearted,¡± Wembly took out a mop from a closet and began to push the water towards the drain in the floor under the sink. ¡°She needs to get to a healer. We''ll deal with this mess and the guard. Tell them to charge the inn for all your expenses, Rille.¡±


    Wembly was a very practical sort of person. Mr. Juzz was scatterbrained and didn''t really have a head for business. They made a good team. They''d be married in the spring.


    ¡°Right, here.¡± He reached into his pocket and handed me a silver coin. ¡°That should be enough to cover your living expenses until you''re healed up enough to get back to work.¡±


    ¡°I''m not fired?¡± It wouldn''t be the first time I''d been fired for something not my fault.


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Wembly huffed. She was just a waitress, but everyone knew she was the one really running the place.


    ¡°Right, we will probably have to close for a few days to get this cleaned up, hire a new cook, and order a new stove. Take that time to...¡± There was a loud cracking sound and plaster rained down from the ceiling.


    We all looked. The wall behind the stove had a giant crack in it.


    ¡°Isn''t that a load bearing wall?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I don''t know,¡± Mr. Juzz dusted plaster off his shoulders.


    ¡°It is,¡± Wembly sighed. ¡°It''s going to take weeks to fix that. Give her another coin Juzz, none of us are going to be working in this kitchen for at least a month.¡±


    Mr. Juzz dutifully handed me a second silver coin. It was the most money I''d had on me since I''d bought my boots.


    ¡°Get going, if the guard needs to talk to you I''ll send them to the temple. Which one are you going to?


    ¡°Selphie or Erasmus I would think,¡± added Mr. Juzz.


    ¡°Erasmus'' temple does better with burns. I''ll go there. Thank you.¡± I nodded my head at them both.


    ¡°Don''t worry about us here, you just stay home and heal.¡± Wembly waved me off.


    I passed the guards going out the door. One of them tried to stop me but seeing my arm let me pass. He did make sure that he knew where I was going and where I lived just in case he needed to question me.


    I made my way several blocks to the coast near where the docks were. Erasmus'' Temple had an ocean front view. Lucky for me I didn''t have to wait behind a line of dockmen hoping to get their Mushroom Rot cured.

 Chapter 2 I Get Robbed for a Vacation

    Chapter 2 I Get Robbed for a Vacation


    ¡°Your joints are inflamed, is this normal for you, dear?¡± The healer was using water magic to help heal my burned arm, neck, and face. I''d been lucky that the burn wasn''t as bad as it seemed and I wouldn''t need too much recovery time, but once again my chronic condition came up.


    ¡°Yes, they swell and sometimes I can''t even get out of bed, but it''s something I''ve lived with all my life. I manage.¡±


    ¡°The pain must be terrible. Do you use Seaweed Balm to help?¡±


    Of course I used Seaweed Balm, I practically stank of the stuff. I lived my life smelling like an old person.


    ¡°Yes, and I take aspirin and Vallerian as needed.¡±


    ¡°So you have some Vallerian at home?¡±


    ¡°Some, I don''t keep a lot of it. I don''t want people to be tempted to rob me.¡±


    ¡°Smart, we have a real drug problem in town right now. The junkies will do anything to get their fix. I''ll write you a prescription for some more, you can turn it in at the desk. They''ll keep a record of it so that you don''t have to take more than a few days supply with you at a time.¡±


    ¡°Alright, anything for the burn?¡±


    ¡°Don''t use the Seaweed Balm on burned areas. Use aloe gel. You can get some at the desk, you don''t need a prescription for that. Apply it liberally, and I mean liberally, on the burns every four hours. Cold baths will help. Other than that, I''ve fixed most of the problem. You won''t scar and should be healed up completely in a few days. Stay out of the ocean until your skin starts flaking and your new skin comes up, Ok?¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± I thanked the healer and turned in my paperwork to the desk. I picked up my pots of aloe and only one packet of pain killer. That I tucked into my underwear. The pharmacist gave me an understanding nod. He''d probably seen all sorts of things.


    I felt like all eyes were on me when I left the private area for medicine pick up. Junkies were lined up on benches. They gave me the once over looking for the telltale packet. Seeing only the jars of aloe most of them lost interest. One woman stood and followed me to the door.


    ¡°Bad burn you got,¡± she rubbed her arms up and down.


    ¡°Yep,¡± I left it at that and tried to open the door. She held her hand against it preventing me from opening it.


    ¡°Bad burn like that would mean you have some V. I''ll buy it off you. 80 coppers for a full packet.¡± Her eyes were glazed over and she began to rub my good arm. She was attracting the attention of the other junkies. Two more stood up from the bench and came our way.


    ¡°I''ll give you an entire silver,¡± one guy said.


    ¡°Split it with you half half,¡± said another who elbowed the first guy out of the way.


    ¡°I''m sorry, but I didn''t get pain killers just aloe.¡± I held up my jars in their bag. Then I went to open the door again. The half half man slammed it shut again.


    ¡°Listen here Missy, I know you got the goods. Give it up.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me, are you Miss Rille of Juzz''s tavern?¡± An older guard had been waiting near the benches and came up to me. He scared off the junkies and they fled to go back to their position in line.


    ¡°Thanks for the save,¡± I muttered.


    ¡°No problem, the healer would have been out here soon to threaten them. They won''t risk their next fix by pissing of a healer in their own temple.¡±


    ¡°That''s true enough,¡± I went to open the door again.


    ¡°Mind if I walk with you, I''d like to ask what happened at Juzz''s.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine, but I''m sure you got the gist of it from Juzz and Wembly.¡± I stepped out into the sunshine and waited for my eyes to adjust to the brightness.


    ¡°That''s true, but what happened can be considered a capital offense if it was done intentionally. Do you think it was on purpose?¡± He acted like a gentleman and took my bag and held my elbow as I stepped down the stairs. Not going to lie I was grateful for the help. Stepping out of a dark temple into the bright daylight left me a little blind.


    ¡°I couldn''t say. I''m the one that actually started the fire,¡± I glanced at the guard. ¡°I didn''t know that he''d put the fire core in there. I needed to clean a burnt pot and boiling water in it is how you get them clean.¡±


    ¡°But would you say that he intended to start a fire?¡±


    ¡°I really couldn''t say. Wembly is the one who talked to him in the basement pantry.¡±


    ¡°That''s fine, can you tell me all the things you did up until you discovered the fire core in the stove.¡±


    I told him about the day''s events. Grunck searching for something, my needing to clean the pan, my getting water for the tea I listed it all.


    ¡°But you weren''t there to see him put the wood in the stove?¡±


    ¡°No, I don''t know when that happened. I''d just gone on shift for the dinner rush.¡± We stopped in front of the small apartment I shared with my mother.


    ¡°But you would say that he was intoxicated, I want to make that clear.¡±


    ¡°He often comes in half sober or hungover. Today was a half sober day. I don''t know how much he drank, but he keeps hiding small bottles of liquor in the pantry and in the cupboards. Wembly finds them and takes them for the bar. She keeps telling Mr. Juzz to fire him, but Grunck always gives Mr. Juzz a story. Mr. Juzz believes him every time.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°I see, thank you Miss Rille. There shouldn''t be anything else. Thank you for your time. Will you be able to come to the offices tomorrow to write down your account? I don''t think this will go to trial, but if you have to leave town we need a written statement.¡±


    ¡°I''m not going to leave town, but I''ll stop by tomorrow,¡± I promised.


    ¡°Rille! The most exciting news! I WON!¡± My mother pushed open the door to our apartment with her walker and nearly ran over the poor guard in her excitement.


    ¡°I WON, Rille,¡± she waved a thick piece of golden paper under my nose.


    ¡°Won what?¡± I said at the same time the guard said, ¡°Oh, Congratulations! My sister got hers today too!¡±


    ¡°Oh! Are you going with her?¡± My mom turned and excitedly waved the paper at the guard.


    ¡°No ma''am, she''s taking my niece with her. They promised souvenirs,¡± he laughed. ¡°Are you taking this young lady?¡± He asked my mother.


    ¡°Of course!¡± My mother laughed and did a happy little wiggle not letting go of her walker.


    ¡°What is going on?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I''ll let her explain, but remember to come to the office first thing tomorrow if you''re going on the trip or if you have some time later tonight. Congratulations to both of you.¡± He waved and left.


    ¡°RILLE! What happened to you!¡± My mother gripped my burnt arm and tugged it near her so she could focus her bad eyes on it. Pain shot up my arm into my back and made me feel dizzy.


    ¡°Mom. Let go that hurts.¡± She let go of me and once again waved the paper in the air.


    ¡°This is great!¡± Mom enthused happily. ¡°You''ve been fired again. Now we don''t have to worry about you not being able to get time off.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± Why on earth would she be glad at the prospect of my being fired? Had she lost her mind?


    ¡°You can''t go on a three-week trip if you have to show up for work can you?¡±


    ¡°Three-week trip? Mom slow down. I wasn''t fired.¡± I opened the door and went inside. The oil lamps were already lit and I could see the chaos that had hit our tiny two-room apartment. ¡°Were we robbed?¡± I picked up a pair of my underwear from the floor.


    ¡°No, honey we WON! I borrowed a pack from nice Miss Gee next door. I was trying to pack, but I don''t think one bag will be enough, do you? After all, it''s going to be three weeks for both of us. Do you think Fronz has a bag we can borrow?¡±


    ¡°MOM!¡± I tossed my panties on the table. ¡°I nearly died today, I''ve got a burn going up my arm and face, and I come home to you doing this. What the hell is going on?¡±


    ¡°Oh! You''re fine I''m sure,¡± she waved her hair out of her face and smiled. ¡°Tell me what happened later, right now we need to prepare. The boat leaves tomorrow afternoon.¡±


    ¡°WHAT BOAT!¡± I finally exploded. My mom had been known to be more than a little self-absorbed but this was crazy.


    ¡°Don''t you know?¡± Mom looked at me like I was the one who was nuts. ¡°The lottery, the kingdom wide one, for The Island ?¡± I gave her a blank look. ¡°I''ve got the flier somewhere,¡± she muttered scooting her walker across the floor scattering more clothes in her passing.


    She pulled a folded piece of paper out of our junk drawer. I took it from her and read.


    *FREE ALL EXPENSES PAID TRIP


    Kingdom wide lottery for all citizens for the maiden tour of The Island. You and one guest will enjoy a trip to the Amber Kingdom''s own resort, casino, and relaxing medical spa. Every guest is guaranteed a 50 copper daily allowance for the duration of the trip and another 2 silvers for the completion of the end of the trip survey. Guests will enjoy free range of our open facilities, be housed in our secluded villas or our deluxe casino hotel. Meals will be provided at our own casino buffet and bar. Adults only. Participation is limited to Amber Kingdom citizens only, Those with criminal records are prohibited from entry.


    Participation is mandatory for those who enter. Employment opportunities are available. To enter or apply take your ID to your local guard offices.*


    I looked at the chaos of clothes my mom had made. She''d been packing to go on this trip? She''d entered this lottery and won? A trip to a casino...fuck no.


    ¡°We aren''t going Mom,¡± I said firmly.


    ¡°But baby we have to go, once you sign up and win participation is mandatory.¡±


    ¡°It''s a casino, Mom. You promised me.¡± I sighed, ¡°why would you even sign up for something like this?¡±


    ¡°You get a 50 copper allowance a day. It doesn''t say what you have to spend it on. Plus, you get an extra 2 silvers after. That means we''d come home with at least 4 silvers. That would be enough to pay rent for three months. Really, we can''t afford not to go.¡±


    ¡°Mom,¡± I began.


    ¡°I know I promised after last time, but you know that I win more often than I lose.¡±


    She had me there. Contrary to my own luck, my mother''s was legendary. She''d managed to raise me most of my childhood from gambling her widow''s pension. Legendary indeed. I glanced at the paper she still held in her hand. Out of all the people who most likely signed up for this, my mother won.


    ¡°I know I was bad last time, baby, but this time I''ll have you with me. You can stop me if I get too involved.¡± She touched my arm, her eyes begging me to consider.


    ¡°You won''t have a chance to get too involved, we aren''t going. I''ll go talk to the guard, there should be some way of getting out of this.¡± I turned to walk out the door.


    ¡°There''s a spa, with a hot spring, massages, and mud baths. They even have a healer on call at all hours. I asked, I wanted to be sure you''d have fun too, baby.¡±


    Hot springs? My muscles twinged just thinking about it. Being able to soak in warm water all day. Mud baths might be good for my burns. It would be good for me, but was it worth the risk of having her fall off the wagon?


    ¡°We need this Rille. When was the last time we took time for ourselves without having to worry about bills and debt?¡±


    ¡°This won''t make the bills go away.¡±


    ¡°No, but it will be good to go and forget about them for a while. It will be good for both of us. Please, consider it.¡± She gave me the all-knowing motherly look.


    I sighed, this would be good for us if she didn''t lose her reason.¡°You will get the 50 coppers a day and that''s it. I won''t give you mine and you have to give everything you have at the end of the day to me. If you win you are not to spend no more than ten percent of the winnings. No more than 50 coppers a day, do you understand?¡±


    My mom practically squealed with glee she hugged me close.


    ¡°Oh baby, you won''t regret this I promise. This is going to be a changing point for us, you''ll see, I can feel it.¡±


    ¡°Well, I need to go to the guard offices and give them my statement. On the way back I''ll borrow a bag from Fronz. You clean this up. Put my clothes in a pile on the table and your clothes in a pile on the counter. I''ll sort it out when I get back.¡±


    ¡°Yes dear. Oh, I''m so excited I could dance.¡± She shuffled around with her walker some more.


    ¡°Right, I''ll talk to you later.¡±


    ¡°We need to cook all our food,¡± I left my mother mumbling to herself. We didn''t have a lot in the house so I wasn''t worried about coming home to a feast.


    A spa, with a hot spring. I couldn''t help but feel a bit of excitement too. First I needed to tell Juzz and Wembly, talk to the guards, borrow a bag, make sure that at least part of next month''s rent was paid... I had a lot to do on so little notice. Why hadn''t they given people more notice?

 Chapter 3 I Buy a Swimsuit

    Chapter 3 I Buy a Swimsuit


    Mr. Juzz and Wembly were more than happy to give me the time off for vacation. They''d told me not to come in anyway, but hearing about the trip made them both so excited. They both seemed genuinely happy for me. They''d be able to keep the inn open, but food service was cut off until they got the wall fixed. So they really didn''t need me.


    Grunck had been arrested for arson. There was some debate on if it had been intentional or not. Either way, he''d be forced to sell off what little he had in order to attempt to pay back Mr. Juzz for blowing up his kitchen. He''d probably be sent to the docks or to the salt mines for forced labor to pay off the rest of the debt. He''d sober up though. It might actually be good for him in the long run. If he''d killed someone it would have been an automatic death sentence.


    The guards had me write down my statement. They assured me they would keep an eye on our apartment. I was informed that our rent would be paid for by the kingdom during our trip.


    ¡°Why would they do that?¡±


    ¡°They are using you first lot to work out all the kinks in the system, so to speak. They made it mandatory and because of that, they are stepping in. They believe that paying your bills and giving you all the extra money at the end will be enough to compensate for having been torn from your lives and your jobs to be test subjects for their holiday experience.¡±


    ¡°But it is a vacation,¡± I clarified.


    ¡°Mostly, but you will have to sit down with team members frequently to talk about your experiences and how you think things can be improved on. You will be working for it, it''s not all free.¡±


    ¡°I guess so,¡± I muttered as I signed documents. I guess Mom didn''t know about that part of the deal. She was supposed to have gone to the guard offices after she received her letter so that she could take care of this. I was just lucky that I''d been heading in this direction anyway.


    They had me give them our landlady''s address and how much we paid her monthly in rent. They would send her a voucher for the rent when it was due. We didn''t have any child or animal boarding fees and we didn''t qualify for a business voucher. Even though I made soap, I was the only employee and I didn''t have to rent out space for business. The kingdom was really going all out for this.


    I was given our free complimentary packs, they had our lottery number attached to them with a tag. We were only allowed the one bag each since space on the boat would be limited. We each got a pot of suncream and a choice of a wide-brimmed straw hat or a colorful bandanna. I chose the hats. I was told I should pack warm weather clothing, but rain gear would be provided for on the Island. Swimwear was suggested but could be bought at the Island gift shop if I didn''t have any.


    The guard waved me off with the suggestion I go to his cousin''s store on Guild Street, to pick up a swimsuit just in case. I''d just been given an extra two silvers, I could afford to spend a little of it on a new swimsuit. After all, I''d outgrown my old one. Should I get one for Mom as well? I didn''t really have time to go back home and fetch her before the shop closed. She had an old suit she could still wear, so if I didn''t see anything I thought she''d like we''d pack that. If she wanted something new she might find one at the gift shop she liked.


    The store had three other customers when I walked in. The shop girl looked a little overwhelmed and so I signaled to her that I''d just look around a bit. She nodded and continued to help the woman fit her young son with a pair of bathing briefs.


    All the suits were made of a stretchy material that mimicked Spider Silk but wasn''t actually as durable as Spider Silk. Surprisingly, they had a section dedicated just to pure Spider Silk. One look at the price though and I turned right around and browsed the discounted area.


    I found what I needed fairly quickly. It wasn''t too showy or showed off a lot of skin. Simple, and I liked it. It was a two piece with snug bathing shorts and a shirt, that was somewhere in between being a t-shirt and a tank top, in an ugly pale grey color. I could see why it had been discounted. The colors of the threads weren''t uniform. In some areas, the color was lighter than others and very blotchy. Someone had done a crappy job dyeing it. I could fix that though, I still had dye left over from when I had taken in laundry.


    I tried it on. I loved the way it fit. I think my male side would appreciate it too. I didn''t know which I''d be tomorrow and since I was going on vacation I could compromise a little bit by not buying something pink and frilly.


    I also found something simple for Mom. A navy blue bathing dress with a white stripe across the bodice. It was in her size and would hide all her insecure areas. It was also on sale, but more pricey than my own two-piece. This was our chance to relax. To have fun. I decided to buy the suit.


    ¡°Oh, we''ve had this one around awhile. It''s discounted nearly 80% at this point. Not many people can wear this style.¡± The sales girl laughed and glanced at my lacking chest. I knew I didn''t have boobs for days, but there were times I appreciated that. I smiled back as if I hadn''t understood her barb.


    ¡°It''s real Spider Silk you know, I''d been thinking of buying it to wear under my armor if it was discounted any further. Are you in the Guild? I just joined, I''m already in a party, but we only do Goblin Crab extermination at this point.¡± The girl just babbled on. I hadn''t been aware it was real Spider Silk. Talk about a bonus for the day. It would be tougher to dye than I thought though. Maybe that was why the store hadn''t bothered? You needed concentrated lye water to dye Spider Silk. Lucky for me I had a soap business.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°No, I''m not in the Guild. I''m going on vacation and need a new suit,¡± I smiled at her.


    ¡°And you picked this one? I can understand if you were to hide it under armor, but to actually wear it?¡± She placed the suit on the counter and leaned in. ¡°I know we are closing soon but if you want to take a little more time to look around, I don''t mind staying over. My sister won that lottery, but since she''s pregnant and due any day she can''t go. So I''m not going to be here for a while, I don''t mind staying over.¡±


    ¡°No, it''s really fine. It fits me well and I can dye it. My Mom won that lottery too, that''s where I''m going.¡± I began to hand over the coins so I could end the transaction and leave.


    ¡°You can dye Spider Silk? Really?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I have the stuff for it at home.¡±


    ¡°Are you any good at it?¡±


    ¡°I had to do it sometimes when I took in laundry. I never had complaints.¡±


    ¡°Can you give me your information? If we had had someone able to dye this suit we would have been able to sell it ages ago and for more of a profit. We''d have to see your work of course, but if you can actually do it, we may be able to give you some extra work.¡±


    ¡°Well, we are both going on the same trip. You''ll probably see me in this suit at some point, but other than this I don''t have any other Spider Silk to show you.¡±


    ¡°It''s exciting isn''t it?¡± The girl leaned forward with a smile. There was a slight gap in her teeth but it was more a charming addition than a blemish. ¡°My name is Annie, I run this store with my sister.¡±


    ¡°Rille,¡± I introduced myself. ¡°I make soap, and work part-time at Juzz''s tavern.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you Rille.¡± Annie reached out and took my hand. Her hands were blistered in a way that made me suspicious that she''d been doing a lot of new archery practice. ¡°I''ll talk to my sister tonight. She''s going to be unable to do much after the baby. I''ll have her go through our inventory to find odd pieces she thinks we could sell if dyed. When we get back we can check your work. Sound good?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good, I could always use a little extra income.¡±


    ¡°Couldn''t we all,¡± Annie laughed and handed me my change. ¡°See ya on the boat tomorrow!¡± She called and waved.


    ¡°See ya,¡± I waved back. She''d been rude at first, but she gradually warmed up. I had a new job prospect all I needed to do was dye this swimsuit. I had the Cleaning skill. I''d also had my Dyeing skill but it was still passive. I''d never bothered to activate it at the temple and instead focused on my soap making.


    Did I have enough Exp to activate Dyeing? If I activated the skill before I started then the swimsuit would probably turn out better. Vulcena''s Temple was right around the corner. Perhaps it would be worth it? After all, I could get a paying job if I pulled this off. I decided to take a detour and visit the temple priest in charge of Exp allocation.


    The temple wasn''t busy, thank the gods. I was able to see the priest without a wait. He examined my stats and activated my Dyeing skill. It used up most of my saved Exp, but let''s hope it would be worth it. I paid the man and went home.


    Name- Rille


    HP 2145


    MP 0


    Level- 13


    Age- 18


    Race/Species- Human


    Gender- Female


    Occupation- Freelancer


    Exp- 28


    Physical Power- 75


    Stamina- 43


    Defense- 23


    Agility- 34


    Intelligence- 123


    Magic Power- 0


    Skills


    Knife Work Lv 1


    Dual Wielding Lv 1


    Swimming Lv 2


    Fishing Lv 2


    Net Lv 1


    Rod Lv 1


    Pain Tolerance Lv 5


    Deception Lv 2


    Etiquette Lv 1


    Appraisal Lv 1


    Harvesting Lv 1


    Cooking Lv 1


    Cleaning Lv 2


    Sewing Lv 1


    Knitting Lv 1


    Dyeing Lv 1


    Soap Making Lv 3


    Extraction Lv 2


    Dancing


    Singing


    Leatherwork


    Shearing


    Spinning


    Weaving


    Pottery


    Painting


    Titles- Dedicated Cleaner


    Enemy of Sheep


    Lover of Baths

 Chapter 4 Preparations

    Dyeing the Spider Silk was easier than I remembered it being. Perhaps that was due to the newly activated skill. I decided on a blue-green color for the suit. It would be dark enough to cover the splotchy gray, but not so dark as to be gloomy. It was going to be a nice ocean color, hopefully. The suit had another hour to soak before I began rinsing out the dye.


    Mom loved her new suit and made a big production of taking the old one out of her packed bag. She''d packed her clothes in the borrowed bag. I had to take everything out and repack it in the new Island tagged bag. I sorted through what she chose as I did. I got rid of things like her heavy sweater but made sure she had a light cardigan. She''d packed too many skirts and not enough tops. She didn''t need her winter boots or her hat. She did take her knitting, which wasn''t a bad idea.


    I sorted out her bags and packed my own. My clothes were easier to pack. Most of my stuff matched anyway, shades of browns, purples, and blues. It was just a matter of figuring out how many of each item I could fit into the bag.


    The pots of aloe, Seaweed Balm, and the Vallerian all made it into my pack. I''d have to go to the temple in the morning to pick up the rest of my prescription. It was dangerous carrying around that much V, but I couldn''t rely on if the Island had a supply or not. That was partially why I decided to pack my knives. I had another reason other than robbery prevention.


    You never knew when you''d run into a Goblin Crab on the beach. They strapped onto my wrists when I was out gathering palm fronds on the beach, but they could be attached to a belt just as easily. We were going to be on an island that, up until last year, had been uninhabited. Better safe than sorry, who knew if the beaches were crab infested or not?


    I was nearly finished with the summer shawl I''d been working on, I''d finish it on the trip. As I debated which project I should start next, I found out I didn''t have enough yarn for anything other than another summer shawl. So that''s what I''d do. One shawl in heather blue, the other in heather purple. I didn''t even have to pack extra needles.


    The Spider Silk had turned out lovely. I rinsed it until the water ran clear and hung it out to dry. As long as I didn''t forget to grab it in the morning I''d be fine. I hadn''t told Mom it was real Spider Silk. If for some reason she got herself in trouble, I didn''t want her pawning it off like she did some of my other stuff. It was never pawned long, just until she won back her losses. Still, I didn''t want to give her the temptation. Now that it had been dyed a nice color it was worth a lot more than what I paid for it. Annie had been right about that.


    Mom had cooked Ring Rabbit stew. It really did look like she had tossed everything we had in the kitchen in that pot. Was that lettuce? I poked at the stew with the spoon. I took a bite. Yup, lettuce. I discreetly spat it out in my napkin when Mom wasn''t looking. It didn''t taste bad, but the texture was too much. I don''t think anyone really liked soggy hot lettuce.


    I told her about the day''s events. She gasped at all the right moments, apologized for being so blase earlier. I told her I would be fine, that the healer took care of most of it, but that I''d be peeling like a lizard in a few days.


    We decided to try and get to bed early. I had some soap deliveries to make in the morning and I needed to get my medication. Perhaps I should unpack my knives and wear them? I didn''t normally wear them in town, but the drug problem was getting really bad and with that the overall crime rate. Perhaps it was time to start wearing them regularly.


    I wasn''t that skilled, but I could manage to kill a Goblin Crab on my own. The junkies didn''t know that though. For all they knew, I was a martial arts knife master ready and willing to skewer anyone who tried to rob me. Life didn''t work that way and junkies weren''t always logical, but it couldn''t hurt to head out tomorrow prepared.


    ~~~~~~~


    Today I was male. A part of me had expected the change. I pulled my hair back tight against my head in a bun.


    I did still like the color of the swimsuit I''d bought and dyed yesterday. I tried it on again before I got dressed. Not bad, it covered everything and made my chest look flatter. Good choice all around. Though, I wasn''t happy with how rounded it made my butt. No matter what suit I wore I''d probably have at least a little curve. Nothing I could do about that. But it made my chest look flatter...You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    I turned in the mirror. Strands of brown hair were already escaping from the bun. Brown eyes staring back at me with dark circles under them from lack of sleep. The burn still stood out shiny from the aloe I''d been slathering on it. It still looked inflamed, but not terribly so. My chest though, it was flatter.


    I didn''t have much in that department to begin with, so seeing it flatter... I wished I could go out in a shirt and pants. I might actually be able to pass as a boy if I didn''t have to wear girl''s clothes. That was all wishful thinking.


    I put on my dress and the dreaded boots. Gods I hated those boots. Why had I chosen pastel purple? A simple brown would have been just as functional. If I wanted something with color, I was ok with blue. Why pastel paisley purple of all the absurd things?


    I looked at myself in the small mirror. I''d kept the top of the swimsuit on just to see how it would look with the dress. It felt like I was wearing a sack of potatoes. It was plain brown, but it just wasn''t me. I longed to be able to put on a pair of pants without people looking at me as if I were a whore.


    In other countries, it was ok for females to wear pants. It didn''t make much sense if you thought about it. Female adventurers could get away wearing the most absurd armor. A woman could walk around on the beach wearing next to nothing. Put a woman in a pair of everyday pants though, people would judge the shit out of them.


    How the morals of this country became so skewed I''d never know. It''s always been that way, and it would probably always be that way. Women wore skirts and dresses, men wore pants. That was it. It didn''t help that a woman in pants became the prostitute''s calling card. Pants on a woman equaled a loose woman. Though if you really thought about it wearing a skirt would make for easier access. The dock workers would certainly be grateful I was sure.


    I packed up my soaps and strapped on my knives. I was in a bad mood today and was feeling stabby. I had one knife on my belt and one on my wrist. I couldn''t wear my sheath over the burn on my hand and arm, so I had to wear that one on my belt. A part of me hoped that someone would try something. Though I''d miss the boat this afternoon if I got caught up in a shanking. I''d be a good boy and keep my toys to myself.


    I hurried through my deliveries. But I''d intentionally left a few bars in my basket for a reason. When I got to the temple and explained the situation to the pharmacist, he gave me a worried look but handed over the V. I packed the packets inside my soap wrapping. Unless someone tried to open a bar of my soap they wouldn''t find it. It was probably more secure than stuffing it down my underwear.


    The pharmacist offered to get an escort for me, but that would be like advertising I had the stuff. It wouldn''t take long after my escort left me at my doorstep before junkies would be breaking in and demanding the drug. No, it was safer to buy a few more pots of aloe and Seaweed balm and leave it at that.


    It was all anticlimactic though. I wasn''t accosted like yesterday and no one followed me home. I''d been all geared up to protect myself and bust some nuts, but that didn''t happen. It was probably a good thing since I didn''t really want to be delayed by another guard investigation.


    I placed my soap bars with the hidden V in my bag. It wasn''t illegal for me to have it when I had a prescription, but if they looked through our stuff I didn''t want anyone to be tempted. I added a few bars of soap without the V too. Just in case I needed to open one to show that it was soap. The new pots of aloe and Seaweed balm were added and considered myself fully packed.


    Mom had left for the docks to check in before me as it would take longer for her to make her way there. I had both packs ready to go and all I had to do was lock the door and leave. I checked the window, made certain our damprid packets were on the sills, and double checked the cupboards for perishable food. I found an old potato in the back of one cupboard and tossed it into my burn pile in the backyard.


    I couldn''t think of anything else I needed to do, but still, I lingered. I was excited about the trip, but a part of me just wanted to stay home in bed and rest. I''d get plenty of rest on The Island, but there was just something so appealing about your own bed, your own blankets.


    Blankets, gods above, I nearly forgot my blanket. It had been years since I''d slept over anywhere, but even then I couldn''t fall asleep without my blanket. It would be a mistake to think I kicked that habit now. I barely had any room in my bag with all the soap, the knitting, and pots of ointment. I decided to tuck it away in my mother''s bag. She still had room. After the trip, I''d have lost some of the bulk in my bag by using my medication, the balls of yarn, and the soap. So it should fit on the way back.


    I was finally ready to go. I shouldered both bags, one on my back and one on my front and locked the door. I wouldn''t be back for three weeks. It seemed like a long time, but time would probably pass faster than I thought.


    I gave one last look back, hefted the bag I was carrying in front, and went to meet Mom at the docks.

 Chapter 5 Im Interrupted

    Departure was a shit show, none of the crew seemed to know where anyone was supposed to go. Most of us were still left standing on deck waiting to be assigned a room when the ship left port. We''d somehow managed to finally get through one line, where we presented our tickets and Ids only to be shuffled into another line to find out where we would be staying on board the boat.


    Part of the problem was that no one knew who the plus ones of the lottery winners would be. So they had to split us up into male, female, or married on the spot. Of course, you couldn''t have unwed young ladies rooming in the same area with uncontrollable lusty men. If I could roll my eyes any harder I would.


    I''d assumed that Mom and I would be together, but since she was a widow she was deemed elderly enough not to be a temptation and placed in the area with the couples. They were doing that with a lot of the more elderly members, I guess a crooked back and a sagging butt just weren''t all that tempting. I''d been placed in the young ladies cabin.


    I would have preferred being placed with the elderly and married couples. I''d rather have chanced seeing a wrinkled old dong than have to put up with vapid women talking about how many feathers or ribbons they could fit on their new straw hat. One more second in that cabin and I''d pile up every hat on the boat and burn them. The ashes would make for good soap.


    I hadn''t seen Annie. She wasn''t in the same cabin as me. I wondered if she was even on the same boat. To my surprise, the dock had five huge boats ready for us. All we had to do was get into the line with our lottery number. They were probably boating nearly three hundred and fifty people to this island. The size of it was crazy. I hadn''t thought there would be so many winners.


    We were packed in too. Their bunk beds had three beds in a row instead of two. Smash us in here like pickles in a jar. So many people left me feeling panicky. Everyone seemed to want to engage me in conversation about hats, ribbon, and feathers. All the girls seemed like they were quickly becoming the best of bosom friends. I seemed to be the only one who thought it was all just nonsense. There was no way any of these people would stay in touch with each other after the trip was over.


    That''s how I found myself sitting on a chair on deck, my unadorned straw hat on my head and my knitting in my lap. I felt uneasy leaving my bag in the room with all those featherheads, but it''s not like they''d go through it. It was made very clear when we stepped on the boat that anyone found breaking any of the rules on the ship or The Island would immediately be sent home without pay and would be made to pay back any compensation the kingdom had provided.


    My bag was safe enough, no one wanted to risk being expelled from this trip.


    K5, YO, K5, K2T.


    "Hello there!"


    What was it about wanting to be alone that attracted people to you?


    "Hi." I looked up blocking my hand from the sun. A very tall brunette with an insanely manic smile was standing above me. She was a healer, that was obvious from the white apron she had on, but since she didn''t have any vestments I couldn''t tell from which temple she came from.


    Why was she just standing there?


    "May I help you?" I finally asked putting my knitting down.


    "Oh! I hope I can help you. Are you settling in nicely?"


    "I''m fine, thank you." Go away. I gave her a fake smile.


    "I''m Ann!" She practically jumped at me in order to grab my hand. "I''ll be handling the medical assessments of everyone aboard. Since you seem to be free would you like to get yours out of the way now?"


    "Medical assessment?"


    "We are trying to get an idea of how far we need to go in order to maintain our guests'' medical needs in the future. Right now we are basing our standards on temple protocol, but seeing as this is going to be a different environment we hope to pinpoint where our trouble spots are. As our first guests, you will help with that. I''m afraid it''s mandatory." She frowned as if she was sorry about that last part.


    "Ok, fine." I knew this trip wasn''t going to be a free ride, but I wasn''t happy with my medical situation being examined.


    "Please follow me," she waited while I gathered my things, then she led me to a room with an examining table.


    She did the normal healer things, then had me sit up so she could ask me questions for her paperwork.


    "Do you know your joints are swollen and you have a burn on your left arm?"


    Did she think I was an idiot?


    I explained to her about my accident yesterday, how I was on medication for my joints. Yes, I brought it with me. Yes, I planned on using it. No, I wasn''t a drug addict. Yes, I was aware that I shouldn''t drink and take the medication at the same time. I agreed that swimming while on it was a bad idea.


    "Now for the fun part," she said readying her pencil to check off the next box on her list.


    "Are you sexually active?"


    "What?" What sort of out of the blue question was that and what did it have to do with my health?Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Could you be pregnant?"


    "Um, no." Ok, I could see how that would be something they needed to know, but wouldn''t she have caught that during her exam?


    "Do you have any plans to become pregnant while on this trip?"


    "I don''t see?"


    "It''s ok dear, I have to ask these questions. Some newlyweds may try for a baby and we need to be prepared in case the worst happens. It is a three-week trip," she gave me a knowing look. Oh, she meant that someone could miscarry.


    "I don''t have any plans," I told her.


    "Well, I have to tell you that if you do find yourself in that situation the medical stations around The Island are all equipped with contraception." She looked down at her paper and flipped the page.


    "Ok, good to know," not that I needed that information.


    "Do you need counseling on women''s health?"


    "No," I was pretty sure I knew how all that worked. I''d been seasonal help to the local shepherd''s for years getting their shearing done and helping them pen off their ewes for mating. I got a discount on the wool.


    "Are you feeling depressed?"


    "No," not exactly true, but I wasn''t going to tell her that.


    "Alright," she made another note on her paper. "So we''ve covered medications, so the next thing is your vaccines."


    "Vaccines?"


    "Normally, we would have guests get these beforehand at their expense, but since this is our first expedition we are providing the vaccines free of cost."


    "That''s not what I meant. Why are we getting vaccines?"


    "Oh, it''s a tropical island with that comes tropical insects and tropical ailments. You''ll have your first round of vaccines now, and your second round when we get to The Island. Then you''ll be less likely to fall ill." She turned and held out a tray lined with various powders folded up in paper cones. There was also a glass of water. "But you''ll have to wait to take any Vallerian for at least 8 hours after taking these."


    "Got it." I picked up the first packet and the glass of water. I hated taking powder medication, it was always so damned bitter.


    Ann waved me off, and she wandered off to hunt down her next medical victim. Hopefully, now I could get some knitting done.


    K5, YO, K5, K2T.


    "Hey, there lovely I found a nice quiet place we can go and talk." This coming from blondie with the crooked nose. He reached out and stroked my shoulder.


    K5, YO, K5, K2T.


    "What are you doing out here all by yourself?" Brown hair, with more muscle than brains.


    K5, YO, K5, K2T.


    "You know you should smile more, you''ll be even more pretty." Black hair, perfect teeth.


    I think I would be perfectly within my rights to stab these idiots with my needles. They were rather pointy and wouldn''t actually maim them, I didn''t think. Maybe I should get my knives out. They were in my bag. A plan formulated in my mind when I came to the end of my row and I was beginning a color change. Heh.


    I dug into my bag and instead of pulling out the dainty pair of clippers I normally used to cut my yarn I dug out one of my knives. I unsheathed it slowly. Making eye contact with each of the idiot trio. I then cut my yarn with a vicious swipe, I smiled all crazy manic teeth. Then laid the open knife on my lap while I worked on attaching the new color.


    Perhaps the idiot trio weren''t so idiotic. They quickly left. Good.


    Maybe there was a good reason for the crew of this ship to separate the males and females. Still, I think I''d rather be bunking with the old people and newlyweds rather than the feather brains in my cabin. I''d gladly listen to some old codger complain about his gout. It would be preferable to the color of ribbons that were in this season. I could relate to pains, I couldn''t relate to nonsensical things like trying to tie feathers to sun hats.


    "Miss," a small crew member came up to me. Standing behind him were the idiot trio. "We''ve had a report of you threatening these men with a knife?" He sounded like he didn''t believe it, but was staring at the knife in question.


    "I was using it to cut my yarn. Color change, see?" I held up my knitting. "Maybe those gentlemen should be more discerning before trying to talk a lady into a secluded place on board or touching her without permission?" I smiled at the crew member. All innocence and charm. I picked up the knife, put it back in its sheath, then made a big production of strapping it to my wrist. "I don''t think you''ve taken enough precautions if young men are able to wander on deck and try to talk innocent young ladies into compromising positions. You can never be too safe with one''s chastity, is what my mother always says." I smiled at the crew member again. Was he buying my sweet tea act?


    "I see miss, I''m sorry to have bothered you. I''ll have a talk with these gentlemen. I''ll see that you aren''t bothered again." He turned and glanced at the young men. All of them were looking shamefaced and embarrassed. Bastard should never have touched me. "Gentlemen, please follow me."


    "Haven''t even been on board a few hours and you''ve already threatened those nice boys off with dismemberment. What am I going to do with you, Rille?" Mom pushed her walker up beside me and took a chair. She also pulled out her knitting. "You''re never going to get married at this rate."


    "I don''t plan on getting married, dating, or having children. You should know that by now, Mom."


    "You say that now, but you''ll change your mind when the right man comes along. They won''t come along if you throw sheep shears at them, smack them with fishing rods, or threaten to poke a few holes in them. You should give men a chance."


    "Not interested."


    "A woman then?"


    "MOTHER!" Gods, I was happy she was trying to be progressive but did she have to be so embarrassing? I wasn''t interested in a girlfriend either.


    "I just want you to be happy, Rille."


    "I''m fine, really."


    "You dropped a stitch." She pointed it out.


    "Damn," I swore. Luckily I didn''t need to frog it, I just had to work the row backward to get to the wayward stitch.


    "That''s what happens when you start feeling stabby," she said in her all-knowing mom voice.


    "I''m sure the gods aren''t paying attention to punish me by having me drop a stitch."


    "You never know, gods are odd in ways we can''t understand. There might be a knitting god out there somewhere." Then she started to laugh.


    "Can you imagine?" I giggled.


    "His symbol would be two giant needles and he''d be followed around by sheep."


    "This is probably blasphemy you know?" I couldn''t help laughing at the image.


    "Well, let''s hope the gods have a sense of humor," she said sardonically.


    We were left in peace for nearly an hour. Then Ann spotted Mom and had her go with her to do the medical assessment.


    I decided to pack up and take a nap. Hopefully, the girls had vacated the room and I could get some sleep. All the excitement of the past two days had left me feeling exhausted. My hips were starting to ache sitting in the chair for so long. It was time I laid down.


    There was only one other person in the room and, thankfully, she was reading a book. She glanced at me gave me a head nod and went back to her reading. Good, she didn''t want small talk. I could just take my nap and be up in time for dinner with my mom.


    I moved my bag to its hook beside my middle row bunk and climbed in. I hadn''t managed to get a bottom bunk, but at least I didn''t have to climb to a third-row bunk. The mattress was flat and unforgiving and the provided pillows and sheets smelled of industrial cleaner. At least it was a bed and we didn''t have to sleep on it for no more than one night.


    After some tossing and turning trying to get comfortable, I finally fell asleep.

 Chapter 6 I Meet Maize

    Excuse me, miss?" Someone was standing near my bed. I rolled over and looked at the person who had woken me.


    "Have you done the medical assessment yet?" Asked an older woman with a white healer''s apron.


    "I did it with Ann earlier," I grumbled at her. Had this woman actually woken me up to bother me about the assessment? Some very unflattering thoughts floated on the tip of my tongue.


    "Oh, I''m sorry to wake you," she apologized. If she was so sorry she shouldn''t be smiling with all those teeth.


    "It''s fine," I lied. "I need to get up for dinner anyway." Which was the truth even though I''d needed the rest. I moved to sit up and winced at the cramping in my back.


    "Are you ok?" The healer with all the teeth asked. If you are concerned, show concern. Don''t smile away like Little Miss Sunshine.


    "These bunks aren''t the most comfortable I''ve slept on. I just need to walk it off, I think." Was I being too grumpy? Perhaps, but only in my mind so it didn''t count.


    "That would be the best thing for it." The woman helped me down from my bunk. "There is a common room where people are gathering to chat and have tea. There''s also an information resource officer on staff there so if you have any questions feel free to ask him." Smile, smile, smile, and even more teeth. I preferred Ann, at least she had more than one facial expression and it wasn''t annoying as hell.


    "Thank you." I wasn''t feeling very thankful. I tried working the knot out of my lower back by thumping on it with my fist.


    "Have a nice day and I hope you have a pleasant trip. I promise the beds at The Island are better." With a cheery wave, she left.


    Tea, huh? I liked tea. They would probably have snacks too. Was I hungry enough to engage the masses for snacks and tea? Yes, I''d skipped lunch and it would be another hour before dinner. Let''s find this common room.


    First, I put on one of my knives. I didn''t think I''d need both facing the dangers of a bunch of vacationers enjoying tea and conversation. I didn''t want to wear a knife over my burn anyway. I was the antisocial one, most of them were probably well-meaning. Still, even though I wasn''t very good with my knives the threat of them was usually enough to scare people off. Don''t talk to the crazy lady with the long pointy things strapped to her wrists.


    It was odd how that worked. A woman could run around toting a battle ax and as long as she was in some sort of armor she was fine to approach. Guild women were allowed to run around in next to nothing and carry an entire arsenal. A woman dressed normally, wearing everyday clothes, got odd looks and was generally avoided by the masses if she happened to be carting around a battle ax. I didn''t have a battle ax, but I did have knives. My anti-people charms.


    Before I left I made sure to slather my burns with the aloe gel. Then I rubbed some Seaweed balm into my neck, shoulders, and lower back. The telltale warming sensation began, the strained and cramped muscles began to relax. I couldn''t wait until I had full access to those hot springs. It would probably work wonders on my body. Access to hot baths every day, the water actually staying warm, not having to haul the water from the well, it would be more than nice. I just had to endure the uncomfortable bed for one night.


    I turned to leave.


    "What is that smell?" Asked the blonde with a purple feather in her sun hat.


    "God, it stinks!" A red-haired girl with a blue feather exclaimed.


    "Did someone leave out a bottle of old lady perfume?" Another blonde with a bright yellow feather waved her hand in front of her face.


    Three of the featherheads walked into the cabin. They stood around sniffing the air. I wasn''t going to engage them in conversation, so I tried to make my way past them. The smell was me. The Seaweed balm had a distinctive odor, that would dissipate somewhat when I got outside. I had been wanting to leave anyway.


    "Is that you?" Blue feather asked as I pushed open the door.


    "Certainly is rude to stink up the cabin then leave," huffed purple feather.


    "I think it''s Seaweed balm," mentioned the yellow feather. She may be snotty, but at least she had a little bit of thinking power.


    I left the room to their complaints and went in search of my tea. I''d been treated worse. The smell was something I''d often been teased about as a child. It was nothing new and it would happen again. By this point, you just had to ignore it and let the ignorance flow off you like water on a duck''s back.


    Outside on the deck, I regretted not putting on my cardigan. The temperature had dropped drastically. The cool breeze coming off the ocean didn''t help. I broke out all over in goosebumps. I needed hot tea more than I thought.


    I found the common room, and there were at least fifteen people gathered around a table talking, playing cards, and drinking tea. There was only one window in the room and during the day it would probably allow for adequate lighting. It was dusk and the lamps along the walls had been lit to make up for that lack of sunlight. There were bookshelves lining the walls, but there was a very small selection of reading material. A rug on the floor and a large map of The Island were the only real decorations.


    I was glad it was warmer in the room than outside. Whether that was due to the number of people generating heat or if there was some heating device at play, I didn''t know. It was possible that the warmers near the food played a small part in keeping the room comfortable.


    There was a sideboard with offerings that were help-yourself. Hot water, several varieties of tea, warm soup, sandwiches, and an assortment of sweets were laid out for anyone to take.


    I poured my hot water and got my tea seeping before I selected my snacks. I wouldn''t eat too much since dinner was soon, but I was rather hungry. My stomach gave a loud growl when I got a whiff of the tomato soup they had warming. Nice warm soup, perfect.


    I broke down and dished up a small bowl of soup, added some cheese on top from the sandwich tray. Then looked around for a place to sit. Most of the people were seated at the central table, but there were other smaller tables tucked away in the corners of the room. Those were vacant except for the girl that I had seen reading a book in the cabin. She was still reading her book while enjoying her tea.


    There was a bit of ruckus as I passed by the table. It nearly startled me into spilling my soup and tea when an older man with a huge mustache and a balding head slammed down his cards in victory. Perhaps my nerves were a bit on edge, but the way the man boasted and went on over winning rubbed me the wrong way. I glanced at the table, they were playing for coppers. We were on a boat headed for a casino, I guess some minor gambling was to be expected. I didn''t have to like it though.


    I sat in the corner under a lamp and stirred my tea. The color looked good. I took out the leaf caddie and place it on a coaster. Dark drips from the wet tea formed a puddle on the coaster. Taking a sip to test how strong I''d gotten it, I deemed it drinkable.


    The soup, on the other hand, smelled better than it tasted, even with the added cheese. It was extremely bland, somehow they''d managed to make soup without flavor. I''d chosen the soup because I''d been cold, but now the soup after leaving the warmer was coagulating and getting clumpy from cooling. I took a few bites, pushed it aside, and eyeballed the sandwich tray.


    "The sandwiches aren''t much better, try a few of the cookies. At least they are edible." The girl who had been reading was looking at me from over the top of her book. She got up and switched to the seat across from me. Pushing her plate of cookies my way. Then she lifted her book again and ignored me. Well, ok then. Thanks for the cookies, I guess?


    I took a cookie off the plate and nibbled on the edge testing the taste first. How on Elrich had they managed to make a sweet cookie bland? Not enough butter or salt maybe? It was edible, and if you dunked them in the tea they had some flavor. It was food and I was hungry enough not to be that picky.


    "I''m Maize, with a silent e," the girl with the book said.


    "Rille, with a silent e," I told her glancing up. She''d placed her book on the table with a napkin tucked in it as a bookmark. Without the book in her face, I could actually get a look at her.


    Her skin was darkly tanned, with a small smattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose. Her hair was curly, dry, and black. Her eyes were almond-shaped and dark brown. She''d look exotic if it weren''t for the fact that she downplayed all of her nice features.


    Her hair had been brushed to an inch of its life leaving it a big and poofy. It''s the first thing people saw when they looked at her. After that was her skin, she also had some acne she wasn''t taking care of. Her skin, all over dry, was flaking in some spots from some sunburn.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Her clothes were drab too, not that I have much room to talk with my browns and blues. At least my clothes actually fit me. Her clothes were so loose on her she had no figure. I thought I''d looked like I''d been wearing a potato sack. Her dress, I wouldn''t have been surprised if it had actually been a potato sack at one point.


    It actually looked more like a nightdress than a real dress. If it had been in any shade other than brown I would have suspected it was actually a night dress. Some old people wore dresses like it on occasion. They called them mumus.


    She was certainly another odd duck that had been placed in the hen house of featherbrains.


    "Do you read?" Maize asked me taking a cookie off the plate.


    "When I have time," I answered her.


    "I read," she told me.


    Well, that was obvious. The only times I''d seen her she''d been face deep in a book.


    "I don''t like most of the books I read though." She nibbled on the edge of a cookie.


    That was odd and unexpected.


    "Most people who read find it enjoyable," I told her.


    "I suppose so," she said. She sipped her tea. I was going to leave it at that, but curiosity got the best of me.


    "If you don''t like it, why continue to do it?"


    "I used to like it when I was younger. The stories caught my interest. Now, they all seem the same. The same pattern, the same story told over and over. I read hoping to find something new."


    "So you keep reading because?"


    "When I do find something new, I really enjoy it." She smiled a sad smile. Then picked up her book again. Conversation over, I guess.


    The loud man at the central table must have won again because there was another round of obnoxious boasting. A thin man sitting across from him sighed. He said something to the lady wearing mauve and too much jewelry sitting next to him and she twittered a laughed. No one actually laughed like that. It was just something girls did when they were trying to be feminine. Then she reached over and lightly tapped the thin man on the arm. The woman was far too old to be trying to pull off that move.


    The man on her other side was red in the face watching the interaction. He was short, round, and had a wig made of horse tail hair on his head. He was a lot older than she was, practically geriatric, but I didn''t think he was her father by his reaction. Was he her husband? Another man she''d previously been flirting with? Either way, he was glaring daggers at the thin man overtop the woman''s head.


    "That is her husband," whispered Maize from behind her book. She must be watching them too.


    I lifted my teacup in front of my lips and whispered back.


    "Has she been doing that long?"


    "That''s the third man since I''ve been here. The first one was getting glares from his own wife and they moved to the other end of the table. Flowered tan dress and man with gray shirt and silver temples." I couldn''t see her face but she tilted her book in the direction of the other end of the table.


    "For an older man, he is good looking. Distinguished," I whispered into my teacup.


    The book dipped at me and her eyes shone with mirth. Then the book popped back up.


    "I think the pink princess thought so too. She was really leaning into him trying to give him a peek down her dress. His wife looked like she was going to rip her over-styled hair out of that thing she''s wearing. What is that? Do you know?"


    The woman in mauve was wearing some odd headpiece. It wasn''t a hat, but more like a net with fake pearls woven through and large feathers sticking out the top. How did she keep something that looked so heavy in place?


    "I''ve never seen anything like it, but it sort of looks like a mourning veil worn by widows. If you cut the veil part off and just left the netting pinned in your hair." I whispered over a cookie still holding my tea in the other hand.


    "It does sort of look like that, doesn''t it? Well, she''s all set if her husband happens to die. She just needs to take off the pearls and feathers and she''s got a rather short mourning veil." I was given another glimpse of Maize''s laughing eyes before the book went back up.


    Her husband leaned in to say something to her. She turned around rather suddenly smacking thin man in the face with her feathers. Her cheeks went red from whatever it was he said. Then her lips pursed in...anger...embarrassment? She turned to the thin man and made an excuse. She and her husband both stood and he followed her bobbing feathers out the door.


    Gods above, the back of her dress had the biggest bow I''d ever seen. It covered her entire backside. I nearly choked on my tea at the sight of it.


    It was fun talking with Maize sharing in a bit of gossip.


    Maize was sniggering behind her book. She must have seen the bow too.


    "Is that an older style of dress?" I asked trying to be charitable to the lady. Although it looked ridiculous I guess it could have once been as popular as feathers.


    "I don''t think so. She mentioned something about being unable to sew in this light. I think she makes her own clothes, but that''s just a guess."


    "If she does, it was a well-made dress execution wise."


    "I can agree with that. Without the bow and if you made the neckline higher it would be something you''d see in a shop.


    I like it because it''s comfortable and people leave me alone."


    "What?" How would the pink dress be comfortable? I was confused. Had I missed something?


    "My dress. I know it''s not something fashionable, but it''s comfortable and I can wear pants under it without people asking questions. People leave you alone if you look the part of a lunatic."


    "I don''t think you look particularly insane, but you do look like you don''t care and want to be left alone. I get it." I raised the wrist with the knife. To each their own. She dressed like an old person and I carried knives. Anti-people charms.


    "I figured that''s what it was for. That''s why I talked to you. You don''t think like a boy mad airhead."


    "You mean the featherbrains in the cabin?"


    "Featherbrains, I like that. Yes, that is what I meant." She put the book down on the table and actually looked at me while she talked. I considered it progress.


    "Honeyton," she said.


    "Is that where you are from?" I was making a guess since it was a small town not too far from my own.


    "Yes," she nodded.


    "Do you work with the honey or the flowers?" That was pretty much it for work in Honeyton. You either worked in the honey production or you worked with the flowers. There wasn''t anything else in the small town.


    "Nope," she sipped her tea again. "I hunt."


    "That''s unexpected," I was honestly surprised. I hadn''t taken her in as a hunter at all. I guess since Honeyton didn''t have a Guild, hunting was the next best thing. The people in the area would need protection from monsters and there was probably some desire for game animals.


    "You?" She asked.


    "What do I do?"


    She nodded.


    "Seasonal work, part-time jobs, but I mostly make soap."


    "Soap?"


    "Yes, most people use the paste soap in jars. I make soap bars."


    "Melt? Bubbles?" She looked interested and her head tilted to the side a tiny bit.


    "You get the bar wet and rub and it creates bubbles. It doesn''t melt unless you leave it in water for a few days."


    "What''s it for?"


    I assumed she was asking what the bar soap was used for.


    "It depends on how I make it. The oil type and the amount of ash added depends on if you use it for laundry or for your body. Animal fats are good for laundry, but they can be expensive if it''s not butchering season. Palm oil and coconut oil are good for skin.


    "The kind I make with lots of ash is popular on the docks. The bars are compact, last a while, and you don''t have to have big buckets of soap paste for your journey. If they get wet during a storm or something, it''s not a big deal to just dry them out again. The dockmen are some of my best customers."


    She nodded again then turned to stare at the two chairs that had been vacated by the couple. She hadn''t picked the book back up. Did she still want to talk?


    "Are you here with anyone?" I asked.


    "No," she told me.


    "So you won the trip?" I thought I was stating the obvious.


    "No," she shook her head. "I''m here for work."


    "So you''re working for the Island?"


    "No, I''m a hunter."


    This was getting nowhere.


    "I don''t understand," I told her honestly.


    "I hunt," then she shrugged her shoulders. I guess that was it then. She hunted and she had a job on the Island. My guess was that she was going to do some work hunting the monsters on the Island or something like that.


    "I''m here with my mother. She won."


    "Lucky. All the people going aren''t lucky. They bought spots."


    "That''s news to me. I thought all the people on this trip were the winners of the lottery?"


    "No, about a third of the people bought their spots at 200 gold each. Money to blow on gambling. Profit for casino." She shook her shoulders again and fingered her book. Did she want to stop talking? If she did she could put up the book again. She hadn''t been shy about doing it before.


    "Why do the lottery if there were people willing to pay for spots?" I wondered out loud.


    "Don''t know. Publicity?"


    "That might be it. Get people thinking about the new Island get-a-way."


    "Ladies may I remind you that dinner will be served shortly in the dining area." A man came up to our table and gestured towards the door.


    The people at the other table were all shuffling around, gathering their things preparing to leave. Another man came into the room with a cart and began to load up the uneaten food. I guess that was our dismissal.


    "Thank you," I said and gathered up my plate and cup to leave with the other dirty dishes. Maize did the same tucking her book into her belt so she had both hands free.


    We walked together to the dining area. Once again I regretted not bringing a shawl. It got cold outside on the ocean at night.


    The dining room was big. Rows of tables lined up end to end with just enough space to fit the chairs in between the rows. The lighting was spaced out so that the atmosphere was rather dim. How were you supposed to negotiate around other people''s chairs without proper lighting?


    I spotted my mother at the end of one of the tables her walker pushed against the wall. She''d saved a spot for me beside her. Luckily, there was space across from me for Maize, but the space across from my mother had her knitting bag sitting on it. Was she savings another seat?


    "Mom, this is Maize. Maize this is my mom, Maple." They both reached over the table to shake hands. They exchanged ''nice to meet yous''.


    "I met a man, honey. I hope you don''t mind if he joins us." She gave me a wide smile. So that was who the other seat across from my mother was for. More importantly a man? Was she gearing up to have a vacation fling? None of my business, at least if I told myself that I wouldn''t feel so cringy inside about the thought of my mother having a fling.


    "He''s here alone?"


    "Yes, he''s a widower and never had any children. Unfortunately, his friends couldn''t drop their lives on such short notice, so he had to come alone."


    "Where''d you meet him?"


    "We were playing cards on the observation deck. We got to talking and I think we can be great friends." She placed her hand against her cheek and lightly blushed.


    She really was thinking about dating this guy. She''d known him maybe a handful of hours? I wasn''t an expert on dating, I''d never dated, but that didn''t seem like a long enough time to know somebody. However, she was an adult and could manage her own affairs. I should try to be open-minded.


    "How did you two meet?" She asked me and Maize.


    "Cookies," Maize said simply.


    "We shared a plate of cookies in the tea room," I added.


    "There wasn''t enough for everyone?" Mom asked.


    "I didn''t pick the right things. Maize shared. Have you had the food yet? So far I''m not impressed. I didn''t think food could be so bland."


    "I had a salad at lunch with a sandwich. They were edible," she sighed. "I''m worried about how they are going to feed us these three weeks. I hope the food is just bad because we are on a boat and it''s not the standard they''ve set."


    "Ladies and gentlemen please take your seats." A tall thin man wearing all white stood at the front of the room and announced in a loud baritone.

 Chapter 7 Mistaken Identity

    *In case you didn''t notice this chapter is in a different POV from Rille.*


    She was not the girl I was looking for. Her physical description matched. Brown hair and eyes weren''t uncommon. Factor in age, skin color, height, weight, the disposition to be by herself, and the burn on her arm she was a prime candidate to be my missing grand-daughter. I''d followed her onto this boat not realizing the woman with her was her mother.


    Even after I figured that out, I still wondered if perhaps she was paying the woman to be a stand-in. Unlikely, but entirely possible with Miss Janette Duphare a noble girl missing for sixteen months. Known for her gambling prowess, it was inconceivable that Miss Janette Duphare wasn''t on this trip. I''d just made a calculated error and gotten on the incorrect boat.


    Watching her eat the almond cookies was the biggest clue that she wasn''t my target. Miss Janette Duphare had an allergy. I wasn''t clear on how the allergy manifested, if she broke out in hives, had problems breathing, or just got some inconvenient swelling. The girl didn''t show any signs of a reaction.


    Not that I could go around and feed almonds to every brown-eyed brown-haired girl on this trip. It had been sixteen months. There was the possibility that she''d gained or lost weight, changed her hair or undergone some other minor cosmetic changes. The allergy, her height, eyes, and age were the only characteristics that would remain constant. That and her penchant for gambling. I was uncertain if the burn scar could be removed since I''d never actually seen the severity of it.


    The girl''s burn seemed fresh, not old. I''d missed that from a distance. She had it slathered in a thick layer of cream and gel it had been hard to discern the age of the scar.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Miss Janette was born with a gold spoon. She inherited a vast fortune when her parents died in the fire that devastated half the capital three years back. She''d been burned on her arm, but lived. She''d been in the care of her maternal grandparents, but new money and a sense of independence drove her to gamble.


    Gambling became a problem, or that was what I''d been told. A problem the grandparents had tried to fix by locking the girl up. She just ran away and continued to blow through her fortune. She was still running and her grandparents had commissioned a search. Technically, Miss Janette was of age and could do whatever her heart wished. However, Miss Janette was nobly born and there were expectations from society. The reality was that she couldn''t continue her gambling life.


    I was being paid handsomely to retrieve the wayward girl. I had to find her. I''d been hoping to get to her on the boat, cause a ruckus and get us kicked off the trip back to the mainland. Now my plan had changed. I had to continue to pretend to be the vapid tourist. I needed to blend in with the people.


    When we finally landed the people I''d made connections with would provide cover for me while I continued my search. I would find Miss Janette. How I was to get us both off The Island was the problematic part. The Island security most likely wouldn''t participate in a noble woman''s kidnapping.


    I''d probably have to wait, play the tourist for 3 weeks, and somehow engineer to be on the same boat back as Miss Janette. Once we returned to land I could capture her and take her home.


    I had to find her first. That should have been the easy part. The girl with her similar features had thrown my plans into the Abyss. It wasn''t her fault, but I couldn''t help but feel a bit bitter towards her. I''d do my best to be logical about the matter and not let my frustration show.


    After all, I had paid nearly 200 gold to get on this boat. It would be reimbursed if I managed to capture Miss Janette. If not I was out a fortune. I literally could not afford to fail. Borrowing that much money had hurt, but I''d be able to pay it back and I''d get double that in profit. I just had to play the part until I found her. The hard part would be the kidnapping after.

 Chapter 8 The Man Who Would Be Human

    "I think I might be a bit late. Sorry Maple." A tall man with a hooked nose and salt and pepper hair whispered to my mother as he slid into the seat beside Maize. His arms were long and so were his legs. He had to shift his chair around in order to fit all that leg under the table. His tailoring must cost a fortune, there was no way he didn''t have his clothes custom fitted. Normal clothing would have been four inches too short on both the legs and arms.


    Was he human? He looked human but that wasn''t always a good indicator. I hadn''t met many of the other races mostly Zyanthropes and dwarves. He was neither of those. Perhaps he was mixed? Some races could breed with humans. I just had a gut feeling that something was off about the man as soon as he sat down. I hoped my instincts were right and I wasn''t just feeling negatively towards him because my mother liked him.


    Though, even if he wasn''t human, that should be ok. Was I secretly prejudice? I didn''t think I was. So why did I feel like I needed to stay far away from this man? Were my feelings about my mother coloring my judgment? Maybe, I couldn''t tell past the alarm bells my brain was giving off.


    The little hairs on my arms stood on end when he reached over the table and patted my mother on the hand. It took everything in me not to jump out of my chair when his gaze fell on me. Oh Gods, my stomach dropped in panic.


    "This must be your daughter Rille. Pleasure to meet you. My name is Cantrel."


    "Yes," I answered. I couldn''t think enough to feign politeness. Thank goodness the tall man in white who had been directing people to their seats began making announcements.


    "I believe everyone is seated. I''m the Captain of this ship, Paul. I have some announcements before we settle in for dinner.


    "First, if you haven''t yet been checked by one of the medical staff, you must do it before we get to The Island tomorrow. If you fail to complete your exam you won''t be allowed off the ship until it is done. This is important as we don''t want any of you to fall ill on your vacation.


    "Second, if you choose to begin your gambling on board keep in mind that we are not responsible. These are bets placed between individuals on a personal basis. We will not arbitrate any gambling disputes. If you feel strongly that someone on board has wronged you, you will have to wait until you get back to the mainland to bring the dispute before your local magistrate.


    "Third, If you haven''t heard, there will be a formal meet and greet followed by dinner and dancing once we get to The Island. As most of you were not informed that formal dress would be needed, we are going to provide it. There will be books that look like this," he held up a small thin notebook and waved it above his head, "in most of the common areas where food is served. If you are in need, you sign up to meet with one of our onboard seamstresses or tailors."


    He looked to the side at someone who was sitting down and whispering at him.


    "Right, You will be allowed to keep the garment after the completing of the trip. I think that''s it. Anything else?" He once again looked to the side. It must have been a negative answer because he continued.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "That''s it, I hope you all have a nice dinner and a pleasant trip."


    There was some shuffling around as waiters in white and black began serving the dinner table by table.


    "Oh, a new dress. How exciting." Mom clapped her hands together. "I haven''t worn a formal dress since my wedding."


    "Dress," Maize sighed. I wasn''t certain if that was an upset sigh or an excited sigh. It was hard to tell with Maize.


    "They will all probably be the same style and they are just doing fittings to match for size." I rained on my mother''s parade. "You can''t expect them to be able to custom make everyone a dress or suit before tomorrow."


    "Still we will be able to take it home," Mom smiled at me.


    "And where at home are you going to wear it? Last I checked our social calendar wasn''t chalked full of formal engagements."


    "You should get white dear, that way you can wear it for your wedding." Mom was going off into her own little world again.


    "I''m not getting married. I''m not even dating."


    "Oh, I can just imagine you walking into the temple wearing a lovely white gown."


    "It''s not going to happen."


    "Of course it will, dear. You just haven''t met the right guy yet." She reached over and patted my hand. The conversation was left at that because the waiters had come to deliver our meals.


    Overcooked white fish, boiled potatoes floating in butter and green stuff, boiled carrots, and a choice of soup or salad. I''d already tried the soup so I chose the salad. Mom had tried the salad and went for the soup. I had the feeling we''d both be largely disappointed.


    "This is bad," Maize said spearing a potato and watching the butter drip back onto her plate.


    "They have limited cooking facilities aboard a ship. They can''t risk the fire hazard of having full stoves and ovens. So most things get cooked by boiling water. Difficult to catch something on fire if you are boiling it. The food should be better when we get to the casino," the man named Cantrel stated as he poked at his rubbery fish.


    Once again my arms broke out in goosebumps. What on Elrich was wrong with me? I shouldn''t be reacting this way. My stomach turned. There wasn''t any way I was going to be able to eat with these reactions.


    I''d been around some real winners while working odd jobs over the years, but none of them actually affected me like this. I''d had gut feelings that something wasn''t right. I''d been attacked and attacked back with sheep shears. Yet, none of those men had caused involuntary physical illness. Luckily, the food was bad enough that I could just pick at it and not eat it.


    Mom and the man held the conversation. Neither Maize nor I participated much. When we did it was mostly one-word answers.


    Once the cake was placed in front of us, I thought to escape. There were a few people standing and taking their dessert out on deck. I just had to do the same. Maybe if I got away from the man I could actually eat something. Maize saw me pack my cake onto a napkin and she did the same.


    We made our excuses to Mom and the man and left.


    "That was bad," Maize commented as we made our way back to the common room.


    "In more ways than one."


    "Human?"


    "You were questioning it too?" I was glad I wasn''t the only one who''d spotted that. "I don''t know what it was about him but I just don''t think he''s fully human. I was thinking he might be a half-breed."


    "Looks human but not human. Being a half-breed would explain that," she nodded in acceptance.


    "Did you get a feeling about him?" I wanted her honest opinion and didn''t want to bias her by stating straight out how uneasy he made me.


    "Dunno. It was bad but I don''t know why."


    "Me either. Should I say something to Mom do you think?"


    Maize shook her head.


    "I don''t know her but telling someone not to do something usually pushes them to do it."


    "You''re right about that. More so for my Mom."


    We entered the common room and were met by a woman standing by a table before we could even set down our cakes.


    "Oh good, you two are my first. We can get started right away. Will you follow me, please."


    Follow her? For what?


    Then I spotted the book on the table beside her. She must be one of the seamstresses and Maize and I had walked into being her first victims. Joy.

 Chapter 9 Dresses, Dresses, and Some Unexpected Help

    We followed the woman into a well-lit room filled with racks of dresses and formal men''s wear. I''d been right about the dresses. They were all the same style just in different colors, most of those colors were shades of white. It looked like they''d anticipated my mother''s wedding dress fantasy. I guess for most people buying a formal white dress was a huge expense. I''d never need it but there would be girls that wouldn''t otherwise get to wear a formal white dress on her wedding day.


    They were all long floor-length with masses of poofy tulle to get the skirts to stand out. The neckline was full making certain everything had been covered up to the neck. There was a large folded triangular collar that covered from shoulder to shoulder and I think it was meant to mimic the appearance of wearing a stole. The sleeves were long as well but thankfully they didn''t look like they went all the way to the wrist.


    "One of you stand here. The other can find her shoes over there." The woman pointed to a wall with boxes stacked floor to ceiling with sizes printed on the side. "They are all the same style you can choose black or white. Be careful not to let the tower fall on you, dear." She called as I wandered over to the boxes.


    Maize gave me a look but dutifully stepped up onto the box the woman was using as a makeshift pedestal. She whipped out her tape and began to instruct Maize on where to position her arms.


    I grabbed a shoe box from the top and looked inside. They were simple black leather heels with a strap that went around the ankle. They were cheap too. Heck, my purple boots probably cost more than these and the slippers were meant to be formal. They did have a slightly larger heel than my boots so I guess two inches was respectable of formality and you probably could dance in them for a short while without your feet screaming at you to stop.


    I grabbed a box that had my size printed on the side and tried them on. They ran a little big so I exchanged them for a size smaller. That was better, but did I want white or black? I wouldn''t know until I''d picked out my dress. I was leaning more towards black but I could dye the shoes any color I wanted when I returned if they were white. I went with white for that reason only.


    Perhaps I should get a white dress? Dyeing a dress a color I would actually wear sounded appealing. I wasn''t going to live out my mother''s white dress fantasy no matter how much she wanted grand-kids. Getting the white dress now and dyeing it would get her hopes up. I glanced at Maize and the five dresses the seamstress had picked out for her. They were all white.


    "No," Maize was saying looking at the dresses.


    "But dear, the colored dresses are more for the older women."


    "No," Maize said again.


    The woman turned and looked at me. She saw that I had chosen the white shoes and mistakenly thought I''d take her side in the matter.


    "Dear, perhaps you can talk to your friend. A nice white or cream dress would be lovely to take home as a souvenir."


    "No," aid Maize stepping down from the box. She walked over to the colored dresses and started going through them.


    "Oh, don''t mess them up. I have them in order by size!" The woman chased after Maize and tried to stop her from riffling through the clothes.


    "Where are her size?" I asked walking up to them.


    "Well, the white ones are..." She turned to show me the white dresses.


    "Let her look at the colored ones. If she doesn''t like any of those she will probably take the darkest cream color you have. Right Maize?" I hadn''t known Maize long, but I had a feeling the pure white was not her style. "In fact, I''d also like to look at the colored options if you don''t mind."


    "Oh, well I guess that would be fine. Most of our colors are geared towards more matronly ladies so I don''t think you will like them, but her size starts right here at this green one and ends with the orange one at the end of that row." She pointed to the end of the rack.


    We left Maize to dig through the dresses and she brought me up onto the box. After I''d lifted my arms, spun around, had everything measured the woman showed me where I could find my sizes in white and colored dresses. Sighing that her first clients were more independent than she wanted, she asked if she could go back to the common room and leave us to our selections while she tried to find more girls to put into white.


    I was fine with that and so was Maize.


    Maize found her dress almost as soon as the woman left. She pulled out a shimmering copper-colored dress. It was pretty. Not all the dresses had a shimmer to them. Most were more matte colored. There were a few that had some shimmer, but not many. I wondered what the fabric was made of to give it that slight shine. Maize stepped behind a curtain to try on the dress.


    I really did like the shimmer of Maize''s gown. So much so that I began to search out the ones in my size that had that same shimmer. There was a copper one that I considered but I didn''t want Maize to think I was copying her. No, it was nice but it didn''t suit my skin tone like it did Maize.


    Then I spotted it. Oddly enough with the colored dresses and not mixed into the lighter whiter shades. It was a shimmering dove gray that reminded me of storm clouds just enough blue in the hue to remind you of the sky. It was a beautiful color, pity that the design wouldn''t be flattering on me or anyone else with a small chest.


    Maize appeared from behind her curtain and nodded at my choice. Then she turned and had me button her up.


    "It fits," I commented, "and it''s a great color on you." Both were true but like I had suspected the large collar did nothing for girls with flat chests.


    "Shoes?" She asked.


    "I''d go with the black I think. I was going to go with the white so I could dye them later, but do you think I should go with the black instead?"


    "Will you dye the dress later?"


    "No, I love this color."


    "Black shoes. Go get changed I''ll find the shoes." She took my box from me and started digging through the shoes.


    I went behind the curtain and placed my clothes beside Maize''s. I stepped into the gown and pushed my arms into the sleeves. I had to be careful with my burn since I didn''t want any of the burn cream to stain the sleeves. It had dried mostly but I didn''t want to chance it so I was very careful.


    The mirror in the curtained off cubicle was small but I could tell that the dress would fit once I''d been buttoned up. The color looked good on me too. The male part of me was happy with the neutral color the female part was excited about the shimmer. It was really a compromise. If male me had to wear dresses this was a good one.


    It was a pity that the suits weren''t even an option though. Some of them looked rather nice. Not that there was a variety in the men''s area either. They did have the same black suit made of different materials and some of those materials looked nice. I shook my head at myself. There was no way I''d be able to wear a suit, besides this dress was lovely in color if not in cut.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Maize wandered over and handed me a box with black shoes. Then made me turn so she could button me up.


    "Loose," she commented pointing to first her chest area then mine.


    "I''ve never stuffed in my life but in this case, we may have too." I turned and looked at myself in the long full-length mirror. The side profile was nothing but the large triangle collar. There wasn''t much of a silhouette to work with in this dress. I hoped that it could be altered later. It seemed like a shame to waste such a pretty color.


    "Oh girls, I see you''ve found gowns," the seamstress walked in with another woman in tow. She did not sound happy to see us in the garments we were wearing.


    "Are those really the gowns? Who designed them? Gods above they couldn''t be more unflattering." The woman who came in behind the seamstress sighed.


    Oh, I''d recognize that mauve floof anywhere! It was the pink princess from before. The one who had flirted with the other men at the card table with her husband standing right there. She also made her own clothes if Maize heard her correctly. No, a fellow seamstress wouldn''t take these outfits as they were if she could change them.


    "You''ve picked wonderful colors girls it''s a pity that there isn''t much to the dresses themselves." The mauve lady swept by the speechless seamstress and inspected us in the dresses. "Do you agree?"


    "Well, to be honest, I had been thinking that the cut wasn''t very flattering to girls who were less blessed on top." I gestured to my chest.


    "Yes, they would look a lot more becoming on ladies who could fill them out better. I''m not trying to be rude to you. My, what you must think?" The lady apologized while circling both of us like a shark.


    "I don''t have anything formal in my wardrobe, but I''m beginning to think even one of my tea dresses would be better. I can make everyone agog at my choices. Eccentricity is a bonus that comes with age girls, you''ll see.


    "Oh, I''m Sissy. My name is really Priscilla but everyone calls me Sissy." She finally stopped in front of us and shook our hands.


    "These dresses were selected to be the most suitable for all age ranges." The seamstress finally spoke up to defend her garments.


    "I''m sure they were. However, not everyone has the same body shape. Did you not factor that in as well?" Sissy shot back she leaned forward and flipped up my collar looking underneath it.


    "We took modesty into account." The seamstress huffed. "If you don''t want the dress and think you have something more suitable you may feel free to sign the form saying you''ve been seen." The woman tried to hand Sissy a clipboard with a stack of papers attached.


    "No, I need a dress. I will just have to fix it before tomorrow. I don''t need the shoes though. I have a pair that should work fine," she frowned and looked us over again. "Yes, I can fix this."


    Sissy rattled off her measurements to the seamstress and then plucked a honey-colored dress seemingly at random from the rack. She didn''t even bother to try it on.


    "You girls should come with me. I think I may be able to help you out as well." She tossed the gown over her arm and raised an eyebrow at us.


    "I was thinking of getting it altered later," I hedged. I didn''t want this eccentric woman to ruin my dress.


    "It will be a simple fix."


    "Ok," agreed Maize. Wait, what? Maize wanted this woman to alter the dress. "See how mine looks then you decide," she turned to me and added.


    "None of you are walking out of here without signing these forms. I have paperwork to do and satisfaction reports to take." The seamstress seemed upset. Were the satisfaction forms for her customer care or for the garments themselves?


    I reached out my hand to for the clipboard. The poor woman was just trying to do her job. Turned out the form was for all over customer satisfaction. With her helpfulness and with the clothes. Considering they were free we really shouldn''t be so judgmental of them. They did have some rather lovely colors if they stopped trying to give the young unmarried women white. Still, I understood that they had decent intentions. I left an overall good review, took the paper from the top, then handed the clipboard to Maize.


    I gave the woman the form and she seemed startled when she read what I''d written.


    "Thank you," she said simply. I guess she had been expecting bad reviews considering that we didn''t want white or really like the overall design. I figured the reviews probably reflected on if she would continue to be employed by the casino. I didn''t want the poor woman to lose her job over something that honestly wasn''t in her control. She''d probably been ordered to offer white to the young women. She shouldn''t be penalized for just performing her job.


    Maize and the woman Sissy finished up as I changed back into my regular clothes. I guess they must have thought along the same lines as me since the seamstress seemed very thankful when she read them. She placed all three forms in a folder and followed us out the door. She was probably going to try and find more accommodating clients. I wished her the best of luck.


    Maize was carrying her regular potato sack dress and wearing the copper one. Sissy had said it''d be easier to fit her if she just kept it on. So we followed Sissy to her shared room. I could immediately tell which bunk was hers since it was piled full of clothes and boxes. More boxes and bags were stuffed under her bunk with even more crammed into corners around it. I suspected the bottom bunk next to her bottom bunk was her husband''s since his bed had also been hit by Hurricane Sissy.


    "How did you manage this? I thought we were only allowed the one bag," I asked.


    "I showed up with all of it. They tried to talk me into leaving most of it on the dock, but when I said that I wasn''t going without it they had to give in. After all, participation is mandatory for those who won. Besides, I boarded right behind a woman who had four bags. They couldn''t actually make me leave my stuff especially since they let her on without any fuss. They can''t be seen favoring the money after all." Sissy winked at me and began to pull things from out of the pile.


    She measured Maize again and then did some rapid pinning. Most of the pinning was done around Maize''s waist. I thought for certain Maize was going to get stabbed with all the pins being jabbed everywhere.


    Sissy then helped Maize out of the dress and brought out a seam ripper. I about fainted when I saw her taking out the seams for the collar. I felt sick when she took off the sleeves. Then things began to change.


    The collar unfolded and became a long piece of fabric. Sissy refolded it into another shape. Then dug through her rather large sewing kit for some brown thread that matched Maize''s dress the closest. She didn''t actually have copper but the color she did use came close. She turned the dress inside out and it looked like tulle had exploded all over her as she worked.


    She hand stitched the armholes on the dress folding them in so that they didn''t look ragged but had a more finished look. Then she worked around the waist. Adding small single stitches in places where she put her pins. It took her thirty minutes but within that time the dress had completely transformed.


    Maize put it on again. There were now darts in the dress so that the eye line went to her waist. Since the fabric had been gathered in and the larger collar removed you could now see the Maize did have a chest. It was modest but there. It was a huge improvement, but Sissy wasn''t done.


    She took the re-folded collar and wrapped it around Maize''s waist. The new belt with a bow at the back accentuated her slimness even more. I could leave the bow but without cutting the material there would be too much fabric dangling behind without the bow. Sissy even had a use for the sleeves. She fashioned a simple twisted headband for Maize out of them. It brought the hair out of her face and gave her a more polished look.


    I was really impressed. Just by moving some things around and doing some very simple stitch-work Sissy had drastically upgraded the dress. I couldn''t wait for mine to be done too. I was more willing to let her rip apart my dress than I had been. I also felt slightly bad that Maize and I had been gossiping about her just a short time ago. While her behavior and dress had been odd, her skills were actually top notch.


    She had me put the dress on, did the same pinning she did with Maize, then she frowned.


    "No, something slightly different with you." She undid her pins and began to place them again more to the sides. She kept pulling my dress up as she placed pins. "You have a shorter torso so I''m going to fix that," she muttered over her mouth full of pins. She finally had me take it off and went to work ripping apart my dress.


    The result was stunning. She had made darts along my side that angled down. It fit snugly against my chest, but the darting made it look like I actually had more there than I actually did. She also made a belt with my collar but she also used my sleeves. She crafted layered sash that wrapped around my waist. A few quick stitches and the layers were in place and attached to the dress. I would be unable to undo the bottom button, but I''d be able to get in and out of it even without that extra room.


    "Thank you," I said humbly looking into the small mirror she held up.


    "Not a problem. Just be sure to tell people who did the dress. I''m hoping to drum up some business for when this trip is over." She dug through her bag and handed Maize and I a card with her business address on it.


    "I''ll tell," Maize promised.


    We stayed and chatted with Sissy about her business for a while. Then saying our thanks Maize and I left, dresses draped over our arms. We went back to the room we shared with the other girls. We never did get to eat that cake.

 Chapter 10 I Rescue the Prince

    It was beautiful. Well, what we''d seen of it was beautiful. The port where the ships docked was free of all the warehouses and other administration buildings that normally cluttered a port. There was one large building that greeted you, but other than that the landscape had been left alone.


    There were push carts and porters on duty to load up your bags as soon as you stepped off the ship. The porters first instructed us not to disturb the flora. Then they stacked up a few people''s belongings onto their carts and then we followed along behind them as they made their way to the casino. Since most of the bags looked the same, I made certain I knew which porter had our stuff. ID tags or not I didn''t want things to go missing.


    Brightly colored flora was everywhere and they lightly scented the salty air. It was a combination of salt, damp earth, and floral scents. I had to stop myself from picking a large bouquet of the over-large flowers. Mom was scooting around with her walker trying to smell as many as she could along the path. I was tempted to do the same but I really needed to keep an eye on which porter was ours on our walk up the path.


    It was a walk. The port was situated on the south side of the Island. The casino was on the south side but further inland. We followed along with the long trail of people. Porters with empty carts passed us going the other direction. We had a fifteen-minute walk along a crushed seashell path before we got to a huge clearing with the biggest building I had ever seen.


    "Gods above," my mother hissed. She''d been keeping up a stream of inconsequential chatter on the walk but she''d finally been left speechless at the site of the building.


    I''d never been to the capital but it looked like what I''d imagined the palace would look like, tall and white. It was created with some sort of white stone I was unfamiliar with but it shone glossy in the sunlight. You had to crane your neck all the way back just to grasp the enormity of the building. It was so large you couldn''t see the entire front of it even from a distance. There was a rainbow in the air from a vast fountain that shot streams of water up into the sky in the front courtyard.


    The entryway was large enough to fit an entire temple. Mosaic flooring in blues and white were placed in abstract designs. At least I thought it was abstract. There was the possibility that it created a giant picture but you could only see it from one of the floors above.


    People lined up in front of tables and were given room directions from employees in white. As per our Ids, I took our bags, double checked they were ours and stood in line with my mother. I looked at the grand staircase leading up to the second floor, then the third. I knew there were more floors but where the stairs for those floors were hidden I didn''t know.


    How my mother was going to use the stairs was another problem. Could we request a room on the first floor? Were there rooms on the first floor at all? Anxiety began to form a knot in my stomach. Mom had been looking forward to this trip but she wouldn''t be able to enjoy it if she couldn''t get to and from her room with ease.


    My stomach sank even more when I was given the key to room 423. Fourth floor. The man behind the desk handed me a piece of paper. It had tonight''s schedule of events on it. We had a few hours to get dressed and ready for the event, but could mom make it up and down those stairs that many times tonight?


    "Um, do you think we can get a room on the first floor?" I asked the man hesitantly then shot my eyes to my mother when he gave me a questioning look.


    "Oh, you can take our service lift if the stairs are too much for you." The man stood up and waved over a waiting female attendant. "Please show these ladies to the service lift," he instructed her.


    She nodded and gave us a huge smile.


    "Please follow me. We plan to install a lift just for guest use in the future but we weren''t able to get the magic cores installed in time. Until then I hope you don''t mind using our service lift. It''s very utilitarian but it gets you from point A to point B easily enough."


    "Um, if you don''t mind my asking," I interjected, "but what is a lift?" Was I being very provincial right now? Maybe. Maybe, they had these lift things all over the capital. I''d never heard of them before but from her talk, they were planning on putting in more of them.


    "Well, they are little bathroom sized boxes that have pullies attached to them. By using magic we can make these pullies move the room up and down. We can make stops on every floor."


    "So it''s a moving room?" My mother asked in amazement.


    "Essentially yes, but it just moves up and down. It''s an invention Mr. Rience came up with a few years ago."


    "Mr. Rience?" Was he someone important?


    "He''s in charge of this island. He doesn''t get involved much with the running of the casino or hotel. He has other people do that. He stays on the north side of The Island for the most part. In the research area. The north side of The Island is off limits to guests by the way." The girl looked at us as if we were going to sprint off to try and find this Mr. Rience on the north side of The Island at just that second.


    "If you don''t mind my asking why are we not allowed on the north side?" Mom asked her.


    "There are research labs up there and a lot of sensitive equipment. The area still has a significant monster population as well. There will be announcements tonight explaining it further. Not even casino staff is allowed over on that end of The Island.


    "For good reason too. Some idiot employees thought it was a great idea to wander over there to check it out about three months ago. They disappeared. They can only guess that they were attacked by one of the more nastier monsters."


    "Are the monsters really that bad here? I was under the impression that you only had low-level monsters." I was a bit alarmed.


    "On the south side, yes. We have a dedicated crew that maintains the area. There isn''t any risk of anything worse than a Goblin Crab showing up. As long as you stay on the south side. The north side is kept wild for research purposes.


    "Oh, here we are. This is our service lift." The girl walked up and stood behind a line of elderly men and women also waiting for this lift. There was a metal grate in front of a hole in the wall.


    There was the sound of metal crunching and a box lowered itself down into that hole. There was a man inside and with a ding of a bell the box came to a stop. He went to work opening the metal gate to allow the people at the front inside the box.


    "Is it safe?" Mom asked the woman before she could leave us.


    "We''ve been using it for months and it''s perfectly safe. I will admit I was a bit afraid the first time I used it but after I got over that I found it a lot of fun." She waved us goodbye and left us to wait in our line.


    The gate was shut again and the people in the lift disappeared into the floor above. It really was remarkable but if it allowed my mother to come and go as she pleased then no matter how alarming it was, we had to at least try it.


    "Come along, Harold," a very large woman in a very poofy dress yelled back to a man carrying four bags. He was followed by another porter with a wagon stacked with trunks. She waddled up to the front of the line and as soon as the lift descended and the gate opened she stepped in.


    The guy who was working in the lift exchanged looks with the porter who had been pulling the wagon with the trunks. I could only see the back of the porter''s head but something must have been silently exchanged. The guy in the lift took a deep breath as if preparing himself.


    "Ma''am you will need to stand in line." He moved his arm barring the old guy with the bags from entering. The porter didn''t even try to move. He knew what was going to happen.


    "Nonsense, come on Harold." The woman motioned to the man to go around the arm barrier.


    "I must insist ma''am," the guy said not moving his arm.


    The woman frowned. Then she did it. What we''d all been expecting.


    "Do you know who I am? I am a VIP guest. I will have you reported to management." The woman grabbed the man''s arm and pushed it down. The man lifted his arm again when the man with the bags tried to enter. The woman pushed his arm back down.


    "No ma''am, this lift will not be going anywhere until you go to the back of the line."


    "I will not wait in line like some common person," the woman huffed. "I demand to speak with your supervisor at once.


    "You there," she turned to the porter, "go fetch this man''s supervisor."


    "Not my job ma''am," the porter answered. Our porter had been very friendly but something told me that this man had already been dealing with this woman for far longer than he wanted. "In fact, this isn''t my job either." He waved to the wagon with the trunks. Then he glanced at the guy in the lift again. The guy in the lift smiled at what he saw on the porter''s face.


    "I have delivered your luggage to the main hall. That is the extent of my duty. Everything else is just courtesy. With everyone else still departing the other ships I really am needed elsewhere." With that, he began to pull the top trunk off the stack. He placed it on the floor.


    The woman had a fit. She started screaming at the porter. She rushed out of the lift and began to fight the man over the second trunk on the stack. He tried to pull it off and she would pull from the other direction.


    In the meantime, the guy in the lift began to direct the people in the front of the line to board. An elderly couple nodded and tottered inside. They looked so frail and delicate that the wind could pick them up and blow them away. It must have been hard on them on the boat. The woman was using a cane and holding the small of her back as she crept forward. The man guided her along by the elbow.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The large entitled woman lost her fight over the second truck and turned to find people getting into her lift. She rushed forward and actually pushed the old man out of the way.


    "GODS ABOVE!" I shouted and ran forward to catch the man. Anger, annoyance, and adrenaline made me move faster than I thought I could. I got to him just before he hit the floor. Hell, if he had fallen he''d probably have broken a hip.


    I wasn''t strong enough to pick the man up entirely but I was able to control his fall to the ground so he didn''t hurt himself. The porter and the lift guy ran forward to help.


    The large woman stood in the lift berating them for being common and taking her spot.


    "SHUT UP YOU FAT COW!" I screamed at her standing up. I was pissed. Mom was slowly clapping. Glad to know I had parental approval.


    "How DARE you talk to me like that you common strumpet!" The woman yelled back. Then she charged at me and slapped me hard in the face. I didn''t think, I acted.


    I fisted my good hand and punched her. I''d been aiming for her nose but I glanced off it and hit her squarely on the lower part of her eye. It was enough to land her on her ass.


    Oh shit! What had I done?


    Applause broke out from behind me. Everyone in line was giving their approval. The lift guy and the porter were getting the elderly man to his feet. Each of them had an arm. The elderly lady was fussing over him but once she determined her husband was sound she turned to face me.


    "Thank you, dear." She reached out her hand and placed it over mine. Then she reached up and touched my stinging cheek. Healing magic was activated and the stinging went away.


    "You," the elderly woman pointed her cane at the woman screaming and crying assault. "Shut up. You are in some serious trouble."


    "I will have you all jailed!" The woman on the floor screamed back.


    "I am Lady Margot Kingsman. The man you just assaulted is my husband Prince Ayman Kingsman Duke of Elderbourgh, the King''s own great uncle."


    "Gods Above," I whispered. I didn''t know who the fat woman was but there was very little higher up in the hierarchy than a prince, elderly or not.


    I wasn''t the only one who gasped. The porter nearly dropped the man in his shock. Assaulting the King''s great-uncle would be a death sentence for normal folk. Depending on her rank the woman was at least looking at a while in prison.


    The shock of the encounter certainly shut her up. The enormity of the situation had finally dawned on her, or so I thought.


    "Lier! I am Lady..."


    "Lady Sarah Awther, daughter of Earl Awther of Wren Haven," someone interrupted coming around the corner, "and a notable pain in the ass."


    "I demand that the guards be called!" The woman shouted trying to lever herself off the floor but was having problems navigating her bundles of skirts.


    The man who had interrupted her was pale white, had a long beard, short black hair, and wore what looked like white healer''s robes but they weren''t. Healers didn''t have skulls with crowns embroidered along the hems of their robes. He was also carrying a large clipboard with a stack of papers he was peering at through half-moon glasses. My skin broke out in goosebumps. I was certain that this man was not human. Not one doubt in my mind but what was he? Who was he?


    "Mr. Rience!" Both the liftman and the porter tried to stand at attention while holding the prince propped between them.


    "Oh, Rience, nice to see you again old boy. You don''t look like you''ve aged a day since last I saw you." The elderly prince croaked out in a raspy voice.


    "Good afternoon Your Highness," Rience offered a low bow. "I apologize for my late arrival. I had meant to meet you in the hall."


    "It''s alright, my boy, but we seem to have had a bit of a kerfuffle."


    "I see that. I''ve already summoned security. They will be here shortly to place these ladies under arrest."


    Ladies, plural. Shit.


    My mom gave a squeaking protesting sound.


    "No, no, my boy. The young lady there saved me from quite the nasty fall when I was shoved by the other one. Then she was slapped for her efforts. She just so happens to hit harder. In my opinion, it was purely called for given the circumstances. She''d been defending me and later herself from a purely unwarranted attack after all."


    The crowd and Lady Margot gave agreeing noises.


    "Excuse me?" The old man that was the fat lady''s husband finally spoke up.


    "Yes?" Mr. Rience answered.


    The old man looked around him. Looked at the woman then at the bags he was still holding.


    "Would you be so kind as to tell me where I am? I seem to be a bit turned around." He looked at the man in charge with some confusion written all over his face.


    "Oh, poor dear," Mom whispered.


    "Oh, can it Harold," the fat lady yelled from the floor finally managing to lever herself up by scooting herself to the wall.


    The man seemed to deflate and what life he had shown in those few moments suddenly left him. He went back to staring into space.


    He was probably senile. It happened a lot with elderly people. They started to forget things, then people, and finally at the end of their years who they were. Oddly enough they did have moments of perfect clarity of their past. Memory was a funny thing.


    "I see," Mr. Rience muttered as he glanced over his clipboard.


    "You see no such thing! I demand this common street thug be placed under arrest immediately!" The fat lady turned and pointed a sausage sized finger in my direction. "I demand to speak to the person in charge. This is an outrage. AN OUTRAGE! Those people should be placed under arrest too. It''s illegal to pass yourself off as nobility and I can tell there is nothing noble about them." She smiled maliciously at us all. "It''s a death sentence."


    "Are you as daft as your husband?" Lady Margot asked her leaning on her cane.


    "Why, I never. You impertinent foul-mouthed cretin." The fat lady began to march in Lady Margot''s direction her hand raised for another slap. Not learning my lesson the first time I moved to stand in front of Lady Margot, this time though I was prepared for the slap. I was able to deflect most of it with my arm but I still got hit upside the head.


    To my surprise, Lady Margot picked up her cane used my shoulder as balance and began to wield her cane like a weapon. She began to beat the fat lady about the head and shoulders. I was practically holding Lady Margot back at one point while the fat lady tried attacking. I got stuck right in the middle of a noble woman''s catfight.


    "That''s my Maggie! Go get ''er, Firecracker!" The prince shouted giving an imitation one-two punch that left him off balance and had the lift guy and the porter supporting him again.


    "Enough!" Mr. Rience stepped in and did some sort of magic on the fat woman. She froze in place. She didn''t even seem to be able to talk. I caught Lady Margot''s cane before it descended again on the frozen fat lady.


    "She can''t move now, my lady," I said to her dropping the end of the cane nearly immediately.


    "Oh dear, what you must think of us..." Lady Margot leaned heavily on me and was breathing hard. I led her over to the trunk that the porter had placed on the ground and had her take a seat on top of it. I could practically feel the animosity and daggers being sent my way as someone dared to sit on the fat lady''s luggage.


    "I think I''m going to like you," my mother said scooting up to us with her walker and smiling at Lady Margot. Then she laughed. Lady Margot gave a half smile then watching my mom having a full on giggle fit she broke out into a grin.


    "I didn''t marry no proper lady. I married the best adventuress at the Guild. My little Firecracker." The prince had gained his composure and had bent down to sit beside his wife. He gave her a loving kiss on the forehead. Then he turned to me. "Thank you, young lady, for stepping in even when you thought we were just two ancient geezers."


    "Um, I thought she''d hurt you," I shifted from foot to foot embarrassed. Was I supposed to bow?


    "I know how we look. Frail and weak. I probably would have injured myself in a fall, but Maggie here is a fighter. I''m surprised she kept as calm as she did for so long." He glanced at his wife again and she smiled back at him with loving adoration.


    "Excuse me? Would you be so kind as to tell me where I am?" The old man Harold had wandered up to the porter and asked. Then spotted his wife and squinted in her direction. "Lady Awther a pleasure meeting you here. How is your lovely daughter? We had such a fine time at the ball last month."


    Was he confusing his wife for her mother? That sort of thing did happen. I wondered what had possessed the fat lady into dragging her ailing husband out on a three week trip to an island in the middle of nowhere. I couldn''t think of any pleasant reasons.


    Four men wearing all black appeared around the corner.


    "Sir," one of the men saluted Rience. Then they all stood at parade rest waiting for orders.


    "Just Lady Awther but perhaps have this gentleman here seen by one of our medical staff," Mr. Rience simply ordered.


    He did something that allowed the fat lady to move and talk again. As soon as the first man in black tried to lead her away she began hitting him and screaming. Two of the men had to forcefully tie her hands behind her back. Then she refused to walk so it took all four men to carry her away. It left her husband at a loss. He was still very confused and was becoming more and more distressed.


    I wanted badly to ask what was going to happen to the woman, but I didn''t want to draw more attention to myself or distress her husband further. If I knew people, word would get around the casino in a matter of hours. Gossip wasn''t the best source of information but if you knew how to listen you could sort out the sensationalism from the fact and get a general idea of the truth.


    The porter stepped up and volunteered to take the man to the healers. Mr. Rience nodded in acceptance. Then frowned hard at his clipboard flipping through the pages.


    "Miss, may I ask if you are Lady Janette Duphare?" Asked Mr. Rience glancing at me.


    "No, I''m Rille. I''m here with my mother, Maple," I answered him.


    "Ah, here you are," he flipped a few pages and found me on his list.


    "Right, I would like to personally thank you for getting involved when you did. However, considering your social status it was really a very stupid thing to do. Stupid, but brave. Try not to get into any more trouble while on this trip." He flipped all the pages back flat on the clipboard and smacked it against his leg.


    "Your Highness, may I escort you and your Lady to your room?" He turned to the elderly couple and bowed.


    The lift guy took that as his cue to get back to his job. He stepped into the lift and resumed his duties. Mr. Rience led the prince into the lift. Lady Margot gave me a bit more healing before she too followed into the lift. We probably could have fit into the lift with them, but it didn''t seem right. We would wait until the next one.


    I touched my face where I''d been slapped. Considering I''d just been burned it didn''t feel tender at all. Then I caught a glimpse of my hand as I brought it down from my face. Huh? Had Lady Margot done something for my burn? It looked practically healed. The healers at the temple had done a good job, but what I was looking at now was beyond what I thought was possible for a burn. My skin was still a bit shiny but it was the shiny your skin got after you shed your old skin. My burn was nearly 90% gone and healed.


    She didn''t have to do that. It spoke volumes about her character that she did it unasked and to someone of a much lower status. I was so grateful that tears pricked my eyes. Sometimes kindness came from the most unlikely of places.


    Our room was small but cozy. It had one large wide window that faced east. Two small beds but the mattresses were nice and bouncy. A desk and chair faced the window and complimentary stationery and postage were provided. I placed my dress in the closet. It was narrow but more than large enough to fit my dress and my mother''s. I unpacked the rest of our belongings into the twin dressers.


    Each room had its own bathroom. The water wasn''t just from water cores either. There were taps you turned and either hot or cold water poured out. I wondered how much a system like that cost. I''d love to be able to have hot water without having to hand pump it into the basin and then boiling it. I knew we were lucky having the hand pump in our home. Most people still had to lug water from the local wells for water. Still, it was a luxury I really wanted to splurge on if the price was within reason.


    Mom had already taken over the bathroom and was busy bathing for the ball that night. When she was done I''d bathe too. It would be nice to wash away the smells that had accumulated while on the boat.


    I decided that a little nap wouldn''t hurt. Mom would wake me when she was finished. I stretched out on the bed and curled up on my side.


    How should I do my hair? Maize had gotten a headband so she''d probably wear her hair down. My hair was long but it hadn''t been trimmed in a while. Perhaps up was the best option. I didn''t trust my mother to give me a last minute hair cut. She''d been known to be a little chop happy.


    A simple twist might be best. It was easy to do and I had the hairpins to do it.


    My body relaxed into the bed. I was so comfortable. For once my body didn''t really hurt. It should hurt after what I''d just put it through. Had whatever healing Lady Margot performed helped? Maybe, but it''s not like I''d get the opportunity to ask or even thank her properly.

 Chapter 11 I Attend a Ball

    "Oh honey, I''m not saying the dress isn''t lovely. I just wish you had gotten white." My mother was in line for the lift again and pulling on the bodice of her dress.


    Unlike mine, her dress hadn''t been altered but the cut looked good on her so it didn''t matter. She''d chosen a peacock blue gown. A bold color but her enthusiasm about it made it possible for her to pull it off.


    "It doesn''t matter, Mom," I said for what felt like the thousandth time.


    "But how are you going to get married in a gray dress?"


    "Mom," I warned her. I was starting to get upset.


    "I''m just saying that," she started.


    "MOM!" I finally yelled at her.


    "You don''t have to be so mean to me. I''m only trying to help." She stood there waiting for the lift and began to sniffle. Shit, she was crying. Hell, I didn''t care. We''d had this conversation and then had it again. She went out of her way to bring it up every time she saw the dress. She''d even asked if it was possible for me to exchange it. Not once had she taken my feelings about it into account.


    "But why gray?" She sniffled.


    Enough was enough.


    "I''m taking the stairs." I turned and walked away. I couldn''t be around her right now.


    "Why do you try to get me so upset? I''ll just go to the room and skip the party." She tried to guilt trip me into staying.


    "You can''t it''s mandatory," I called from down the hall.


    I loved my mother, but there were times when she was the most insensitive oblivious person on Elrich. In a few minutes, she''d pull herself together and go to the ball. At this point, I didn''t want to go either. She''d crushed all the fun out of it for me with her constant nagging and complaining. All over the color I''d chosen for my dress.


    She just didn''t seem to be able to get it into her head that I wasn''t getting married. I wasn''t going to have babies. I wasn''t interested in any of that. It was hard enough keeping myself intact let alone having to deal with other people.


    Gods above, I just wanted to fall back into that bed and sleep through all this. Mom would be back to normal in the morning having acted like our fight never happened. We wouldn''t talk about it either because to bring it up again would cause the fight to continue. She was good at moving on after a fight. I was not. I would harbor resentment for days if not weeks.


    I did love her but there were times when I just didn''t want to be around her.


    "Rille," someone said from behind me. It nearly startled me out of my shoes I jumped so hard. It was lucky I''d been gripping the banister or I probably would have fallen down the stairs.


    "Oh Maize, it''s you. Don''t scare me like that." I turned and found Maize standing behind me on the steps.


    "Thinking too hard," she commented and we continued down the steps together.


    "Probably." I left it at that. The drama with my mother wasn''t something I needed to burden Maize with.


    "There will be food," she said and nodded as if this was the best part about the night. She may be right. I wasn''t much of a dancer or a socializer, the food would most likely be the highlight of the evening.


    "I''m hoping the food is better than the stuff they were serving on the boats. I understand why everything was steamed, but that doesn''t excuse the lack of flavor in any of it."


    "Agreed," Maize nodded.


    We were nearing the bottom of the staircase and were having to weave through other people milling around. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something. Gathering this many people in the lobby really made what had seemed like a palatial room so much smaller. In some areas, we were chest to elbows with people.


    Maize and I found a fairly open area behind a huge potted plant. We managed to squeeze behind it by pushing some of the child-sized leaves aside. A few people followed in our wake doing their best to find more space for themselves.


    "I didn''t realize this many people were here," I commented.


    "Five boats," Maize reminded me.


    She was right, there had been five boats. While the number of people on one of the boats seemed manageable having this many seemed like a daunting task. How big was this building that there were rooms for everyone?


    Just as I was about to ask the lady beside me what we were all waiting for the huge double doors towards the end of the room swung open and people began to rush in. It was a funneling effect once the crowd started to move you had to move too. We got squeezed together even more as we neared the doors. I lost Maize for a bit but found her again right as we were going through the doors.


    The room opened up and it was even larger than the lobby. Huge monster core chandeliers hung from the ceiling making the room bright. The mirrors placed on the walls probably helped keep the room lit.


    There was an elevated stage at the end of the room where instruments were set up. So this was probably the room where the dancing would take place, but where were we supposed to eat dinner?


    "Food?" Maize asked pointing to a table where there was a selection of appetizers and finger foods.


    "I''m sure that''s not what they meant when they said there would be dinner. I''ve never been to a formal dinner but I''m certain that they are ''sit down at a table'' affairs."


    "Snacking?"


    "Well, it is supposed to be a meet and greet and dancing and I''m not sure how long that will take. So it might be to keep people from getting hangry during those events."


    "Hangry?" Maize looked at me questioning.


    "It''s when a person gets super cranky because they are hungry. I picked the word up from some fishermen."


    She nodded that she understood and we were moved forward by the crowd still pushing in behind us. We both decided at the same time that near the wall was where we wanted to be. Unfortunately, the table with the food was also near the wall and many people decided that now was a great time for snacks. We were pushed around a bit by middle-aged fat ladies piling little plates up with tiny little shrimp.


    I was hungry too but didn''t want to risk losing a limb to the mob at the food table. Maize agreed and we started to scoot along the wall further away from the table. Before we really knew it we were standing in the corner of the room looking at the stage from the side.


    From the front of the room, we could see people still pushing through the doors from the back. People fanned out, but the room that at one point had seemed huge once again began to look small in comparison with all the people in it. There was another set of closed double doors across the room from the appetizer table. My guess was that it was the dining room and we''d be swept up in the crowd again when those doors opened.


    "Maize should we try to go over there? I think that might be the dining room." I pointed at the doors.


    "Doors aren''t open," she said.


    "I know but they will be and we won''t be pushed around in the crowd if we are closer when the doors open."


    "Good point," she gathered up her skirts and moved to step out in front of the stage.


    We were part way across the room when Rience walked out of a single door behind the stage. We still tried to make our way across the room but the people had stopped moving around and mostly just stood in place looking at the stage expecting something to happen. I thought it was a bit premature since there were still people filing in from the back.


    We were finally forced to stop trying to get to the other side when he started speaking. I mean, it''s just rude to be pushing your way through a crowd when someone is supposed to have your attention.


    "Welcome to the King Gustav III Island, better known as just The Island. I am Rience. I am in charge of this island. I have some announcements to make but we''d better wait until everyone has filed in before we start. Until then please enjoy the refreshments." He waved to the food table that was being guarded by the hoard of middle-aged fat ladies. Then he stepped down from the stage and began to have a conversation with a couple that was standing to his left. You just knew that they were some of the wealthy ones because they were wearing clothes that weren''t ready made like most of us. The woman even had a string of what looked like real sapphires circling her neck.


    Maize and I took that opportunity to try and press on towards the door. The crowd of people shuffling in was dwindling down. We''d be stuck where we were when that happened since we all had to listen to the announcements. We managed to get to the corner of the wall near the door and part way to the doors when Rience stepped back up on stage. We hadn''t made it to our goal but we were close enough that hopefully we wouldn''t be caught up in the mass of people when they started to enter.


    "I''d like to once again welcome you to The Island. As most of you know this island was originally a research center due to its unique flora and fauna. King Gustav saw the potential of The Island''s beauty and decided to turn it into a vacation destination for people from all countries. It has taken years of hard work but the result is what you see before you.


    "We are still working on some areas, but we hope that you will find your stay here welcoming and pleasant. You are free to roam around the designated areas of The Island. We have a swimming area, hiking, and other wonderful outdoor activities. However, The Island is still a research center. You must stay on this side of The Island as the north side is off limits. There are still wild monsters roaming up there and some of them are rather violent and poisonous.


    "Here, on the south side, it is perfectly safe. We have thoroughly cleared away any dangerous monsters and have put up barriers to prevent them from coming to this side. You may still stumble upon a Goblin Crab or two while on the beaches, but that is normal as they can swim around." He chuckled at this. I didn''t think it was very funny but other people laughed as well.


    "Also remember that you will need your second set of vaccinations in three days, your third set in eight days, and your last set in twelve days. This is to ensure you get the full course of treatment. Normally, you would have had all these vaccinations done before you got to The Island but the lottery was held at a time that made that impossible. We have medical facilities set up for these medical needs. As long as you receive your full treatment you will be safe and won''t bring any potentially dangerous illnesses back to the mainland when you return. Thank you for your understanding on this matter.


    "Next is our zero-tollerance policy. We''ve already had to deal with multiple infractions. Do not break the law. No top of our country''s standard laws you must not break the rules of The Island. Any infractions will be met with incarceration followed by expulsion from The Island where you will be handed over to the authorities on the mainland." He glared at the crowd as if picking out individual trouble makers.


    "Casino debt will be handled on an individual basis. Trying to cheat in the casino is grounds for expulsion. If caught there is a mandatory one year sentence for trying to cheat the crown. As I mentioned earlier, this casino belongs to our great king. If you cheat at cards it''s considered the same as trying to cheat the king himself. Don''t even try it." He once again glared at the crowd. He seemed to give a long look in our direction. "Our dealers are the best in the business and use magical manipulation detectors at every table."


    Huh, so you could use magic to manipulate gaming? I never knew that. Not having magic it''s something I never picked up. I learned something new today.


    Rience continued on about moderation and more rules for The Island. I did listen and I heard everything he said, but to be honest my attention started to wander. While everyone was standing still it was easier to look at the crowd.


    There were more people dressed in the premade white dresses than people in ornate ball gowns. It was the richly dressed people that caught my eye. There was a man wearing a solid red burgundy suit with the poofiest shirt I''d ever seen. He had a cameo pinned to his throat and had a woman that was mostly chest on his arm.


    Her gown was so low cut I was amazed that she didn''t fall out of it. If she leaned forward just a little I was certain we''d get to see the entire show. The man in red didn''t even bother watching Rience he just gazed infatuated into his partner''s chest and often moved his hand so he could rub her bottom. When he did this she''d tap his arm with the fan she was holding and giggle softly.


    There was another couple beside them and they were probably married. The woman was looking daggers at her husband as he too gazed upon the glorious bounty the other woman was showing. She must have done something to her husband because he suddenly jumped looked at her and then began to blush three shades of scarlet.


    The wife whispered something low to her husband that made him go rather pale. Poor guy, I had a hard time blaming him for looking at the other woman''s assets. He should have been more circumspect about it though. Him gazing like an entranced Hypnotoad was embarrassing for his wife.


    A sparkle caught my eye and I found myself gaping at a woman who had the most insane hairdo I''d ever seen. Twisted up in a tall curly cone on top of her head then draped all over with flowers, ribbons, and diamonds. It had to be a wig there was no way someone''s natural hair could withstand that structure and the weight of everything she''d put in it.


    The woman shifted and I was surprised all over again. The woman was beautiful. She put the woman with the breasts to shame. Oddly enough, she pulled off the extravagant hair. She made it look royal.


    She had one small beauty mark under her eye and her lips were painted red. Other than that, she didn''t wear any makeup that I could tell. Her dress and jewelry were simple too. It countered the extravagance of her hair and just brought more attention to her face. She was elegance and opulence all in the same package.


    The crowd began to shift around me. Maize grabbed my elbow and I lost sight of the beautiful woman. I realized that Rience''s speech was over and the double doors to what I assumed to be the dining room were opening.


    Maize and I flowed with the crowd through the door. Thankfully, because we were so close we didn''t have to fight the crowd long. Once through the doors, we popped out into an even larger room.


    Seven rows of tables were set up spanning the length of the room. Several circular tables were set up near the head of the room that had little name cards on the plates. I would assume that the wealthy people had assigned seating and the rest of us minions were meant to sit at one of the rows of tables.


    I wanted to people watch some more so I filed down towards the end of a table that was near the round tables. Maize followed along. From our vantage point from the corner table, we would be able to get a good view of most of the people who sat at the round tables.


    The red dandy and the busty woman were the first who started circling the tables looking for their spots. They had been near us so it was understandable that they were some of the first to find their seats. The beautiful woman with the ornate hair began to circle the tables as well.


    A man in a simple black suit followed along behind her. He was as ordinary as she was beautiful. He was so normal looking that he appeared somewhat homely next to the beauty. Her seat was the farthest table from us. It was a shame I wouldn''t be able to watch her some more, but even more interesting people were filing in.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Most of the couples that were slowly filling in the circular table were unassuming upper middle-aged couples. There were a few younger couples but they were also rather boring to look at.


    There was a pair that I thought had to be mother and son until they took their seats and he gazed enraptured at the older woman. There was nothing special about her that I could discern but he seemed to think she was the center of the world. He even ignored the busty woman who sat opposite him at the same table. Even though their age difference was great I wished them the best. It wasn''t often someone found another person to be the center of their universe.


    Another interesting pair were two men. I couldn''t be certain but I doubted they were brothers or related at all. One of the men was short and portly and the other was tall and lean. They both had a feeling about them. I knew at once that no woman would ever come between those two. They were being circumspect but the loud sniffing and dirty glances one middle-aged biddy was giving them certainly drew attention to their relationship.


    I wondered what would happen if the woman made a scene. Would she make a public scene? In the books I''d read, ladies of quality were trained only to do so in extreme circumstances. Two men being lovers didn''t seem like the sort of thing to have a public fit about to me, but the woman was slowly gathering her courage and working herself up into a tizzy.


    Interestingly enough the beauty stood up and went over to the woman. She leaned in and whispered a few words to her. The woman nodded about something and then the beauty and the mean woman switched tables.


    Good for her!


    Diffusing the situation by switching tables. I mentally cheered the beauty on. If I was in the same situation, I probably would have confronted her and made a scene. I wasn''t one of those people who had been trained in etiquette since they could toddle.


    Watching how the beauty had changed the situation made me rethink the possibilities of learning basic socialization skills. I wasn''t very social but perhaps if I learned a thing or two about deportment I might not get into as many confrontations. It was a tool I had never considered before. Sure, being polite was always better than being crude but I had a trigger temper when I saw someone being treated poorly.


    Unfortunately, I didn''t think any lessons in manners would fix that temper of mine.


    Then I received the biggest shock of the night. Cantrel stepped up to the circular tables.


    Wait, wasn''t he one of the lottery winners? Why would he be at the wealthy tables?


    Even more surprising was that he was escorting my mother. She scooted along on her walker and seemed a bit dazed to be asked to sit at the circular table. Cantrel held out a seat for her and she slowly lowered herself into it. Then he swept away with her walker only to return a short time later.


    He sat down and began what I assumed introducing himself to his fellow table mates. I was glad mother got to sit at the table with the dandy man and busty lady. The people seated there were mostly too caught up in themselves to care that they had a commoner in their ranks.


    "Maize," I hissed under my breath nudging her.


    "Mother?" Maize hissed at me.


    "I dunno, she must have run into him in the lobby. Did you know he had money?"


    Maize shook her head.


    "Well. Gods above," I swore under my breath.


    Mom was smiling at the busty woman and said something. The busty woman grinned and began to talk. I assumed it was about herself and the dandy since she kept reaching over to touch the man''s arm. Then she held out her hand, on it was a huge ring. I could guess that she had been telling my mother all about their engagement. Mom dutifully gushed over the ring and said something else.


    More people were crowding in and shuffling to find seats. Employees had shown up and had begun to herd the crowd along directing them to one of the long tables. They were alternating as the tables began to fill up. Their basic directions were to move to the front and take the next available seating. Don''t skip a space between couples, don''t save a seat for others, only VIP guests at the round tables, ect.


    Two men who were obviously brothers sat across from us. They had the same orange curly hair cut short to their heads, the same swooping nose, and the same shade of whiskey-colored eyes. Both were freckled all over, but only one of them seemed to have a tan. They could pass as twins but I had the feeling they weren''t actually twins. The tan one was a bit bulkier than the paler one. They were mid-argument when they sat down.


    "All I''m saying is that it''s rampant inequality and it should be addressed," the pale one complained.


    "Hello, I''m Eric and this is Alex," the tan one reached over to shake our hands introducing himself and his brother.


    "Maize," she said curtly glancing at them and then refocusing on the people gathering at the round tables.


    "Rille," I shook his hand and held out my hand to the pale brother as well. He took it and seemed to have a moment where he had a stutter in his brain. He completely paused, gazing out into the empty corner of the room. Then a few seconds later he continued to shake my hand then let go. It was odd. I''d never met a person who did that.


    "Rille, nice to meet you," the pale one muttered looking at the table. Eric, the tan one was trying to engage Maize but she just wasn''t cooperating.


    Alex suddenly glanced up and asked out of the blue, "have you seen any Zyanthropes here?"


    "Huh?" I was caught off guard and couldn''t really process the question that quickly.


    "Horse," Maize commented glancing back at Alex then refocusing on the round tables.


    "Horse?" Both brother''s asked looking at her.


    "Maize, did you see a horse Zyanthrope?" I asked.


    "Unnn," she said in confirmation.


    "Really?" Eric smiled at his brother. "See it''s not as bad as you seem to think."


    "I''m sorry but I''m a bit lost," I apologized even though I think it was rude of them to include us in a conversation that obviously needed some explaining.


    "There aren''t any humanoid guests. This was supposed to be a fair lottery but do you see anyone other than human?"


    "Horse," Maize said again then nodded at the table my mother was at, "him."


    "He''s not a horse," Eric looked at the table in confusion. I think it was telling that his gaze automatically went to Cantrel. It seemed as though we weren''t the only ones who questioned his humanity.


    "What is he?" Alex lowered his voice. Not like anyone would hear him if he talked normally with the seating ruckus still going on.


    "We think he might be mixed but are uncertain what. I''m nearly positive he''s not pure human though," I said.


    "You are right. A human doesn''t have those proportions. Arm, leg, torso ratio, I mean." Alex nodded.


    "Alex teaches Humanoid and Demi-Human Anthropology at Amber University," Eric added his brother''s credentials for his assessment.


    "Horse helped with my bags. Nice man, long hair," Maize finally stopped looking at the round tables and tried to explain herself.


    "So there is a Zyanthrope employee? That''s progressive right Alex?" Eric commented.


    "To be honest, I don''t think there are any Zyanthropes in my town. Maize?" I turned at looked at her.


    "None," she said.


    "The Amber kingdom isn''t very welcoming to other races. It''s pure prejudice." Alex gave a frustrated sigh.


    "I don''t see how it''s prejudice if they just aren''t here," I said.


    "Most people don''t notice it because they don''t actually know any Zyanthropes to ask about their problems in the kingdom. Did you know that if you are humanoid you can''t technically have legal citizenship? You are granted a deferral, but not citizenship."


    "I didn''t know that," I looked at Eric. Was his brother right?


    "Most of the humanoids in the kingdom come in through Guild connections. Because the Guild is sort of a neutral country as an organization the kingdom thinks that the Guild should be responsible for the citizenship of foreign humanoids," Eric commented.


    "Eric works at the Guild," Alex added.


    "So what about humanoids born here?" I asked.


    "They are considered part of their parent''s nationality. Two cat Zyanthropes have a child here, the child is a citizen of Catalonia, not the Amber Kingdom." Alex shook his head.


    "Are you sure? I was under the impression that anyone born in the Amber Kingdom was a citizen."


    "Any human, born in the kingdom yes. When the laws were drafted they specified human citizens. The Amber kingdom is one of the oldest on the continent but was originally meant to be a safe haven for humans after the War Of The Gods. Politicians have used the wording to keep out unwanted elements for centuries. On the surface, it looks like the Amber Kingdom has progressed along with its neighbors, but in reality, it''s still caught up in its human only past."


    "Mixed breeds?" Maize asked looking at him with a tilted head.


    "It really depends," Alex sighed again and rubbed his neck. "If the child happens to be born human then they have the citizenship of their human parent. If the child is born as another race then they take the nationality of that non-human parent."


    "It''s bullshit," Eric nodded. "Alex is working with a group that is trying to bring equal rights to demi-humans. He started getting really worked up when he realized that this was entirely a human only event."


    "Well, if Zyanthropes, or any other race, can''t be citizens then they couldn''t enter the contest," I commented logically. "While I agree that this citizenship issue is asinine I also don''t think it is the fault of the people running this place that there aren''t any humanoids. It''s the fault of the government. The lack of diversity here is a symptom, not a cause."


    "You are right, I know you are right, but it still just eats away at me," Alex began to rub the tension out of his neck with more strength.


    "Well, you are supposed to be relaxing. I invited you along so we could have some fun. If you really want to talk to someone about it, then fine, do it. Just don''t expect them to be able to do anything about it. It''s not like they can fix the system," Eric looked at his brother.


    "Besides, after this trip, most people will have to pay to come here," I added. "I don''t think they will turn down anyone''s money, humanoid or not. It would be bad for business. They want to make this place the best vacation place on the continent, that means they will have to allow demi-humans. If you really feel strongly about it then you can address it when we do our assessment interviews."


    While interesting, how did I get pulled into this debate?


    "Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for his Majesty Prince Ayman Kingsman Duke of Elderbourgh and Princess Margot Kingsman," A man from the back of the room announced. He must have been using magic because his voice carried loudly over the din of people still trying to find seating.


    People began to murmur amongst themselves as everyone stood to stand behind their seat.


    "Oh, to imagine there''d be royalty here," Eric hissed at his brother.


    "I know, technically he''s second to the throne but he''s so old people discount him in favor for the King''s cousin," Alex whispered back.


    "The old Princess'' child?" Eric asked. "I thought she was out of the line, so to speak because she''s a bit..."


    "Yes, her. Now shhh." Alex glanced around and looked nervously to the man who had taken a spot beside him.


    I didn''t blame him. Everyone knew that Lady Vannilley was born later in her mother''s life. The late Princess was in her mid-forties when she conceived Lady Vannilley. As a result, people blamed the late conception to Lady Vannilley''s mental defect. Well, at least rumors said she had the mind of a child, but no one ever saw Lady Vannilley since she was kept locked away. For her own safety, according to her cousin the king.


    Even though there were rumors, it was still extremely taboo to mention that the royal line was less than perfect. Which was why Alex was glancing around with concern. Eric had been the one to say it, but Alex had brought it up.


    Alex looked at me with worry. I didn''t care much so I just shrugged my shoulders. I wasn''t one of those people who thought that the sun shone out of the royal behind. Everyone had flaws, even royalty. While I personally didn''t want someone with a mental defect running the country I also knew that the elderly prince was bound to die before the king.


    If the king didn''t get one of his wives pregnant soon he''d be forced to marry another. It had been fifteen years since his first marriage and five since his last. He had six wives and none of them with child. At this point, if I was one of his wives I''d consider some extramarital affairs to get with child. It seemed sort of obvious at this point the king wasn''t fertile. However, his great-aunt had issues conceiving and managed to get pregnant in her forties. There was still some hope.


    Prince Ayman had an older brother and younger sister. The brother went on to become king. He had a son and lived just long enough to father a son of his own before getting himself killed jumping fences horseback riding. The current king was Prince Ayman''s great-nephew.


    The prince''s sister was born nearly fifteen years after Ayman. So when she got pregnant in her mid-forties Ayman was already on his way to becoming an old man. Lady Vannilley was his niece and technically second-cousin to the king.


    Not that the royal line mattered much. It really didn''t concern me. I was a peon. I lived my life without much concern for the politics of the world. If I wasn''t in too much pain and could feed both my mother and me, I was doing fine. Politics weren''t for people like us. I was very pragmatic. I knew that nothing I did would change anything.


    People like Alex might be able to make some minor changes. He had some influence working at Amber University. You had to have some serious credentials in order to teach there. People would listen to him just because of his job and his perceived expertise. They wouldn''t listen to a lowly soap maker from the coast.


    Prince Ayman and Lady Margot were finally in eyeshot and they were being escorted down the side of the room by Rience. They were obviously going to be seated at the middle table. The people standing at the middle table were all ones who were the best dressed and they carried themselves differently.


    The prince and his wife certainly didn''t have to sit next to the busty woman or the dandy. Thank the Gods, since that would mean sitting with my mother. No, there was something flashy about most of the people up at the round tables, but the people standing at the middle table were more elegance than flash. Individually, I''d say that they all were elegant, but as a side by side comparison, you could see the difference.


    The prince stood beside his chair and waited for his wife to pull out her seat and sit. I thought the man was supposed to pull out the seat for the lady? Then I imagined a young Lady Margot coming straight from the Guild having a man pull a chair out for her. He''d probably get punched.


    She sat down and he followed. He gave a head nod to the others at the table and they all began to sit. Everyone else in the room took this as the cue that they could sit. Even if you didn''t know the correct protocol for royal seating if everyone else sat, so did you.


    Suddenly, the room was filled with white coat waiters pushing serving trolleys up and down the aisles. The round tables were served first, but nearly simultaneously everyone else somehow had a bowl of soup magically appear before them. It was stunningly fast and efficient. I looked around and I suspected there just had to be some sort of magic involved.


    Baskets of rolls were shuffled down the tables. Waiters appeared with water pitchers and filled our glasses. Even more people appeared and began to pour wine. For every six people, there was a pitcher of water and a bottle of wine. We were told that if ran out to just ask the staff.


    The soup was orange. It was some sort of squash, I think, with seafood in it. It was good, very good, but there didn''t seem to be enough of it. It felt like as soon as I started eating the soup it was over. I guess the waiters had it timed on how long it took a person to eat a bowl of soup since as soon I as glanced up to look around they were whisking away my bowl and serving up a plate of mixed greens.


    It was salad with shrimp. The dressing was some sort of vinaigrette. Once again it was good. Alex was picking the shrimps off his plate and giving them to his brother. Not that the added protein slowed Eric down. The big guy seemed to inhale his food.


    A fish dish was next, but it was a very small portion. It was served with a side of green beans. Eric was able to eat the fish in one bite, but oddly enough ate each green bean individually. I''d just taken the last bite of my fish when a waiter swept my plate from under me. I''d still had a few beans to eat.


    Next was a plate with several small round roasted tomatoes and a plate full of ravioli pasta that had been filled with something then covered in white sauce. The inside of the pasta was a mystery. I honestly had no idea what the brown filling was. I thought it may have been meat and mushrooms, but I couldn''t be sure.


    That plate was taken away and out came the main course. Giant platters with whole Goblin Crabs on them. They had four people carrying the crab and another following behind each crab with a foldable table. They placed the table beside us and the men carrying the crab put the crab down. All along the table rows, giant crabs were being set down. Then men in tall white hats appeared.


    They each had a rolled up set of knives and other tools. They began to disassemble the crabs right in front of us. Steam still came off the crab as he began to cut. Normally, all the disassembling was done before the crab was cooked. They were just too large to fit into the average person''s cookpot and it was not like a normal person could eat an entire Goblin Crab.


    The man started digging the meat out of the legs and claws and with help from an assistant began to serve us crab steaks. Butter appeared on the table when I wasn''t looking. I cut off a slab and let it melt on top of my crab steak. I took a bite after it had melted. Simple, perfect, and wonderful.


    Goblin Crabs were a nuisance to fishermen and people on the coast. They were all over the place so it was easy enough to get Goblin Crab meat on the coast. However, they went bad quickly so they had to be cooked within a day or so of killing them. They were so big it was difficult to ice them properly and if they weren''t properly iced you could get sick. Thus, Goblin Crabs weren''t served often outside the coast so to most people here this would be a huge treat.


    People all around were eating their crab with gusto. Some of the dantiest ladies were shoving giant forkfuls covered in butter in their mouths. It was delicious, don''t get me wrong, but I''d have thought people would use a little more decorum considering the setting. Then I glanced at the head table. Prince Ayman was shoveling crab down like everyone else.


    Dinner finished with a giant cake with a huge sugared peacock on the top. It was beautiful but after all the butter from the crab, I wanted something lighter. Still, this was likely my only chance to experience this. I took my portion with gratitude. I think my bit of sugar was from the foot.


    After dinner, we all waited until the prince was finished. For such a small man he could really eat his weight in food. Then he stood and left the room. We were dismissed back into the ballroom by tables. The round tables being first so that everyone got to see them walk down the aisle.


    I could hear the music starting up in the other room. It was mellow and had a moderate pace. The harp seemed to be the main instrument leading a slew of other strings and a few woodwinds. I wondered if they would take turns in leading the music. From what I''d heard on the docks the violin could become a very lively instrument given the right performer.


    Our table was dismissed last, so when Maize and I entered the ballroom there were already couples paired up and dancing. I gave the room a quick scan for my mother but since there were so many people it would be nearly impossible to find her.


    What would I say to her if I did spot her? I was still a little mad at her but I was also concerned about her new friendship. Cantrel gave me an odd feeling. If I told my mother that though she''d just stick in her heels and ignore any oddities out of pure stubbornness. Hell, since he had money she would be inclined to ignore quite a bit. She''d always wanted a big house on a hill. This was her one chance.


    Maize grabbed my elbow and led me to a corner with a bowl of punch. A few other single people milled around and were slowly pairing off. I wasn''t interested in dancing. I never went to any of the social dances people my age went to. So I never really learned how to dance. Let alone learn how to socialize with guys in this sort of setting.


    Maize poured us both a cup of punch, ignoring the one guy who tried to engage her in small talk. A group of girls came up to us in a cluster and asked us where we got our dresses. Either they didn''t notice they were from the same stock as theirs or they were impressed with alterations. We dutifully told them about Sissy and her talents. We had promised after all.


    We spent an hour fending of guys wanting to dance, watching other people dance, and telling interested girls about Sissy and her business. While I loved the color of my dress, most of the eligible ladies were in white. So Maize and I really stuck out against the wall of single people. On top of that, most of the wealthier people had colored dresses and didn''t match everyone else. So many men assumed we were from more well off families.


    After the hour was over some people began to leave. I took that as a sign to leave as well. Maize decided to stay. I think she liked watching the people. So I returned to my room music filling the hall as I left.

 Chapter 12 I Am Relaxed, Damnit

    Mother wasn''t in the room when I got in and she wasn''t in the room when our daily allowance was delivered to our door. There had been some sign that she slept in her bed but she must have gotten up really early for her not to wake me. I left her portion of the money on the table and tucked the rest away in a small pocket I''d sewn into the hem of my ball gown. The coins made it hang funny but since I left it folded up in the box that wasn''t an issue. I wasn''t dumb, if mom hit a ''streak'' she''d want more money and would go digging through my things to find it.


    No, on second thought, leaving it in the room at all was probably a bad idea. She''d check the box and feel the weight of the dress. What had seemed like a good idea last night was suddenly seeming sort of dumb. I had to keep it with me. How did I do that?


    I glanced at my knitting bag and thought that may be the best idea. The two drawstring bags couldn''t really be carried around by themselves. I needed something to put them in. So I put them in the bottom of my knitting bag and tossed my bathing suit in the bag as well. I wanted to go to the spa today and would most likely need it.


    My first stop was breakfast. It felt like forever since the food last night. My stomach gave an urgent rumble. So I hurried down the steps.


    There was a desk set up in the center of the room with three very bored and weary looking women manning it. The blonde on the corner glanced up and pointed to the ballroom.


    "Breakfast can be had in the ballroom. There is also food being served in the casino section," She pointed to the back of the building. A place where I hadn''t yet explored and had no plans to do so.


    I nodded at her and approached her.


    "I''m wanting to visit the spa today and maybe see some of the other things. I''m not big into gambling," I gave her a slight smile hoping for some friendly service.


    "Here''s a map," she picked a piece of paper up off a stack and began to circle things with her pen. "This is the building that houses the spa." She circled it. "There are horse drawn carts that go back and forth at the top of every hour or you can choose to walk. It''s rather scenic but can be considered a bit of a hike for our more elderly guests. The beach of course." She circled the beach area. "Try and stay within the area. Goblin Crabs are still an issue. We have a dedicated lifeguard on duty in this area able to take care of any crabs, but not in other areas. Over here," she circled a spot near the spa buildings. "Is another swimming area. It is an artificial pool of fresh water. I should mention that there is some rather nice hiking in this area in general, just stay on the path and do not go into the restricted areas. They will be labeled." She looked up at me. "Are you the athletic type? We have some nice athletic courts."


    "No not really, but I would like to visit the store." I gave a self deprecating-smile. We were both women and shopping seemed to be an age-old woman''s pastime.


    "Yes, that''s right back there," she pointed behind her towards where the casino was. "There are shops to the left and right before you enter our gaming area."


    "Thank you," I began to take the map.


    "I should mention that you can order a packed lunch if you tell us where you will be at one o''clock. Lunch will be served here from noon to two, but we can send out our carts for patrons wanting to make a day of the beach, spa, pool, or athletic fields."


    "Oh, well I plan on being in the spa at least until then. Do I order lunch here?"


    "No, there is a table in the ballroom with an assistant taking orders. They will be able to provide you with all the options for the day." The blonde let go of the map. "There are a few other site-seeing places, the flower garden, the hedge maze, the cliffs but we don''t offer any assistance to get there or offer any meal deliveries.


    "Tomorrow we are hosting a cliff climbing class. If you would like to sign up for it please fill out this paper here." She motioned to a paper that had a handful of names on it. The fourth name was Maize. Huh? So Maize wanted to climb cliffs?


    "How difficult is it?"


    "It''s a beginner level course. Over the course of your stay if you choose you can take the more advanced classes. However, you have to take the beginner class in order to take more advanced classes.


    "We have a swimming class at the pool for those who wish to learn. A few group hiking activities and a signup for team sports." She waved her hand over several other signup sheets.


    I signed up for the cliff climbing. I had a feeling I would be rather sore after but I did want to spend more time with Maize. She was a quirky person, but kind.


    "Please meet here tomorrow at nine. You will have an introduction to your equipment then will hike to the cliffs to begin. You will break for lunch at noon. Meals will be delivered to the cliffs for people participating in the class. The class will be over at two. We encourage ladies to purchase the climbing outfit in the store." She leaned in and whispered, "It''s difficult to climb in skirts so we''ve brought in some of the more modest lady adventurer styles. Pants," she whispered even lower.


    "Oh," I pretended to be slightly taken aback. Woohoo, socially acceptable way to wear pants!


    "Yes," the woman nodded, "but it''s necessary for this activity I''m afraid." She blushed a little.


    "Thank you for telling me. I will be sure to stop by the store."


    "If you tell them you are taking the class you get a discount. Give then this," she handed me a ticket. It said 80% off climbing gear.


    I nodded, picked up my coupon and my map and went to the ballroom for the food.


    Round tables had been set up in the ballroom and a long buffet had been put out. The room wasn''t as crowded as I thought it would be, only about thirty people. Most people were probably sleeping in after the party last night.


    I walked up to the assistant and placed my lunch order. There were three options and I chose the chilled chicken sandwich, apple, grapes, coleslaw, and fried potatoes. It was certainly safer than the Goblin Crab meal. I wasn''t going to trust any seafood option as being safe to eat left to go cold.


    Meal ordered I wandered to the buffet. It was long and divided into sections of cold and hot. Items that were grab and go and items that were meant to be eaten on a plate at the table. I grabbed a plate and scooped up some scrambled eggs. I added some mystery sausage. There wasn''t anything indicating what meat it was made of. There were some red steamed cherry tomatoes. I placed three on my plate and had to balance to keep them from rolling off. I grabbed a warm fluffy biscuit and pulled it apart right there so I could add butter and strawberry jam to it.


    There were so many options and I was sorely tempted by the waffles, but I decided that I could always get those tomorrow. I didn''t need to eat everything today. I did grab two whole apples, two boiled eggs still in their shells, and another biscuit wrapped in wax paper. While lunch would be provided, I didn''t want to have to come back here if I got peckish.


    "They have an option for a packed lunch if you are going to be in any of the designated areas at one," a man who was filling the bin with fresh wrapped biscuits commented as I tucked them into my bag.


    "I did order lunch, but I''m a snacker." I smiled at him.


    "The beach, pool, spa, and the courts each have a drink bar with light snacks. We don''t want our guests to become dehydrated in the heat." He smiled at me. "Mostly fruit, carrot sticks, and crackers. If you''re planning on snacking I would grab some of that cheese over there to go with the crackers. It holds up really well in the heat if you keep it out of the sun." He nodded to some wax covered boxes with cheese cubes inside.


    "Thank you," I smiled at him and placed a box in my bag and another box to open and eat with my meal. They really should have had a cheese plate open for people.


    I made my own tea at the drink station and dug in. I ate everything. It was all so good. Even the hard cheese. I went back up to the bar and requested a bag to put grapes in. They were more than willing to give me a paper bag with a bunch of grapes. I also grabbed another box of cheese. Grapes, cheese, and crackers sounded like a good meal to go with afternoon tea.


    I still had some time to kill before the cart to the spa arrived. I decided to explore the shops.


    The shops were massive and to be honest I didn''t even know where to begin. There was a center display at the door that had a huge assortment of ladies hats. Behind that display was a counter filled with all sorts of bottles and makeup. The woman behind the counter smiled at me and waved me in.


    "Climbing gear for the class?" I asked her as I approached. Her smile was a little more forced but directed me to the correct area of the shop.


    There I was met by a man who was HUGE. I mean he was easily the largest man I''d ever met. I''d met tall men and men with lots of bulk on them but never one so tall and bulky. He was easily seven foot tall and was built like he seriously worked on his muscles. Even with his size I still thought he was 100% human.


    He was very delicately folding men''s socks. His counter was piled with socks some unfolded and on the other side others neatly creased together. It was odd seeing a man with hands larger than the socks folding them, like a child folding doll clothes.


    I approached and was helped at once. Gods above, this man flounced over to the section with the ladies climbing gear.


    "I''m teaching the class, ya know." He waved his hand around. "I''m hoping for a decent group. They''ll only keep the class if it''s popular, ya know." He pursed his lips and twirled his finger around. "Now, let''s get a look at you. Why yes, cool colors, I think. We don''t have a huge selection for the ladies but I just know I have something for you." Then he waved me away and started to grab things off shelves and displays.


    "Um," I tried to interrupt.


    "Now Sugarbear, leave this to your Uncle Rammy. He knows what he''s doing." He once again turned and started to grab things.


    When he was finished he took me to changing area and started handing me things. It was a whirlwind of my trying things on and taking them off. I didn''t even really have time to process what I was putting on my own body before Rammy ran off to find something else.


    The next thing I knew I was the proud owner of an ice blue and dark blue climbing outfit with matching boots, gloves, and a headscarf for my hair. All of it in spider silk. All of it would cost a small fortune if not for the discount. I winced as most of the money that had been given to me for the day was swept into Rammy''s register.


    Rammy promised to have everything delivered to my room seeing as I still needed to catch the cart and didn''t really have time to take everything back up and make it back down in time.


    I did make it to the cart and sat down next to a couple of old woman wearing the sunhats that had been provided. I did note that instead of feathers they adorned their hats with flowers made from folding up bits of colored paper. What would they do if it rained?


    The cart trip was uneventful but beautiful. It was a very picturesque island. We''d turn a corner and suddenly the trees would fall away and we''d have an unimpeded view of the ocean. It was so blue shimmering from the sun. Then it would be hidden again by more trees.


    I had no idea we had gotten so close to our destination. It was completely hidden by a turn in the path and by a particularly dense area of woods. We were just suddenly upon it, a large open clearing with a single large building.


    There was a meadow surrounding the area and in the distance further along the path I could see what I thought was most likely the swimming area. Further along, the side was a cliff drop off that offered more open views of the ocean. You could see the mountain on the north side of the island in the far distance.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Welcome!" A tiny woman appeared in front of the cart. She lifted up a hand to help one of the older ladies down.


    "It''s so far," one of the women grumped at her.


    "We have to build where the hot pools are. I assure you it is worth the trip."


    The woman humfed at her and waddled into the building with her companion.


    "Hi," I said. I felt a little bad for the woman she wasn''t at fault.


    "Welcome," the woman beamed at me. Gods above, her teeth were perfect and large.


    "I''m Karen! I will be your spa liaison for the day. I can help settle you in and we can figure out what sort of treatments you would like to experience." She was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. It seemed the grumpy woman didn''t deter her one bit.


    I followed Karen into the building while she asked me all sorts of questions. She suggested I soak in the hot springs while she got me scheduled for a massage, facial, and a hair treatment. She also scheduled an appointment with one of the healers who specialized in chronic pain. After I was done getting rubbed down and pampered I would be free to visit the mud baths.


    She walked me through the hot springs procedure. Men and women would be separated so bathing would be done naked. The mud baths were also a naked affair.


    Karen gave me an overly large fluffy robe and told me that I could wear it between my appointments. She also gave me a medical-looking shorts and top outfit. They looked like pajamas a temple would make a sick person wear. However, they also looked rather comfy and I didn''t want to be running around naked all day or having to re-dress into my street clothes every time I had to go to a different room.


    My bag and clothes were shut up in a locker and I was sent to the baths in my new pajamas and robe.


    The spring was partially inside, but mostly outside. You got into the spring inside the building but could work your way under a thick leather mat hanging from a passage that led outside. The air inside was very humid, nice in its own way, but I wanted to see what it was like outside.


    Outside was a bit scary. I had no idea that the building overlooked another cliff. I hadn''t noticed it due to the angle the building sat at. The hot springs overlooked that cliff. It wasn''t a view of the ocean but one of looking down into the forest. So the bathing area was sectioned off from the sides to separate men and women but the back was left open without any wall to impede the view. You could swim nearly up to the edge of the cliff and look down. There was a fence in place, made of iron and glass panels, to keep stupid people from climbing out and jumping over.


    I was busy looking at the view when the two women from the wagon worked their way under the leather mat. The one woman was still complaining. Nonsensical things. The other woman was just giving her cursory answers.


    How was I supposed to relax when she wouldn''t stop complaining? Answer, I wasn''t.


    I eventually went inside after giving the woman a nasty look.


    "What is her problem? Young people these days have no respect." Followed me under the mat and back into the building.


    I was surprised to see a few other ladies in there.


    "She chase you back in?" A woman with flaming bright red hair asked.


    "Yes," I said simply.


    The group of woman all nodded in understanding. There was a sense of camaraderie and companionship among the group. They''d already weathered the storm together and now they were going to relax even if it killed them. It was that sort of vibe. While I seemed to have missed a large part of the drama, I was accepted into the group as they shifted around to make room for me.


    "I rode up here in the cart with them," I added.


    "Oh, you poor dear. Was it dreadful?" A large woman asked.


    "I was able to ignore most of it because of the new scenery but being out there, there isn''t anything new to look at even though it is beautiful."


    "Is it? We shall have to go look when they leave, Ginger," the blonde said to the red-head. The red-haired woman was named Ginger? Ok.


    Some of the other people in the group murmured agreement. Plans in place they all settled in to relax. Leaning back, taking deep breaths, and only some sparse conversation.


    Every so often Karen would walk in and tell one of the women that their spa appointment was soon. When she went passed the leather mat and summoned the complainer it seemed that as one the entire group flowed outside. I decided I''d soaked enough. I was getting pruney and didn''t join them.


    Instead, I visited my locker and snacked on a boiled egg. Karen caught me just as I was taking a bite of the biscuit. I quickly folded it back up and put it back in my bag.


    I was taken into a room with a table. I was greeted by another woman. A muscular brunette who had her hair twisted up in a braid crowning her head. Hilde was her name and she told me to undress and lay face down on the table.


    I put my face in the hole and felt her cover up my bum with a sheet. Good to know that my butt wouldn''t be left to air out during this experience. Though, it still felt really drafty.


    Then I was manhandled into shapes I didn''t rightfully think my body should go in. My spine was cracked, my neck twisted, and then I was oiled down and rubbed until it felt like my skin would fall off. Then she placed large warm stones all down my spine and left me to just lay there for a while. Was she weighing me down so that she could contort me some more later? Perhaps she wanted to make sure I stayed in place and decided the best way to do that was to pile warm stones on top of me.


    Granted, my back felt great but my skin felt raw and abused. I had a feeling of trepidation when she came back into the room. It was a relief when she told me I could get dressed.


    Unburdened from the heavy stones, she brought me to another room where there were a few more women in various states of relaxation. Hilde handed me off to a very somber looking older woman who didn''t talk much.


    She washed my hair and added some goop to it that felt like clay but smelled like citrus and flowers. My hair up in a towel she sat me back in a reclining chair and started scrubbing my damp face with something that was mildly abrasive.


    She wiped that stuff off then using a stick with a magic core at the end she started rubbing my face. The end of the stick was rounded and had been dipped in oil that smelled of fresh rosemary. There was a warmth radiating from the stick that made my face break out in a slight sweat.


    Once again I was wiped off. Then she coated my face in a light grey mud. I suspected it was the same stuff that covered my hair from the smell. She added slices of a purple fruit I had never seen before over my eyes. I must admit they did feel cooling after all that warm poking from the magic core massager.


    Long past when my face felt like it was cracking and falling off, the woman had me back at the sink so that she could wipe off my face and rinse out my hair. My hair seemed to take forever since parts of it had also hardened up and needed softening to clean it out.


    I was transferred to yet another woman with huge curly hair that was the color of a carrot. She clicked and tutted at me as she pulled strands of my damp hair out for inspection. Then without even consulting me, she began to whack away with her scissors.


    I had hair cuts before so it wasn''t like I wasn''t expecting the scissors, but the way she attacked my head with a flurry of flashing blades had my pulse jumping. I didn''t even really notice much about the cut but was only grateful I hadn''t lost an ear or eye. Looking at the pile of hair under me it looked like she''d sheared my head, but in the mirror, the length looked about the same it just looked overall healthier and a bit bouncy.


    I noticed that some women were having their hands and feet worked on and decided to escape before another attendant corralled me into that. If I was going to be climbing cliffs I didn''t want my hands and feet raw from being scrubbed with overly ambitious sandpaper.


    I fled to the mud baths. My appointment with the healer was in an hour. I would have some time to get into the baths, just to check them out, and have time to wash all the mud off me before the appointment. Even though my face and hair had been muddied already the rest of my body hadn''t been.


    There was a woman at a desk in front of the baths that went over the etiquette. Don''t submerge my head. Keep the mud at neck level and below. Don''t get it on your face. She handed me a bunch of pins and a hair cap so I could pin my hair up on top my head and the cap was to make certain my hair wasn''t trailing in the mud.


    Hair pinned in place and with a large towel wrapped around my naked body I entered the woman''s section of the mud baths.


    It was like a giant marble and metal bathtub, the size of a small pool, that you had to step down into. Considering it was a pool of mud the room seemed very clean and sterile with only a few signs that other people had recently been there. I didn''t know what I had been expecting maybe a deep mud puddle with grass and bits of other flora debris scattered about, not a clean room with just a few stray muddy footprints leading to the showers.


    Wiggling was required in order to get full mud coverage. The further down you burrowed into the mud the hotter it got. The mud was very thick and I sat suspended in it unable to feel the bottom. I had to hold onto handles on the side of the tub just to remain stable. There were wooden boards along the side of the tub that looked like little floatation boards for kids learning to swim, but since I didn''t know what they were for I left them alone and sort of floated around.


    Other than the heat, I didn''t feel very different in the mud. Sure my body felt weightless and there was a fun aspect of gooshing mud between your toes, but I didn''t feel as relaxed as I could have been since I kept having to correct my body from free-floating around.


    Washing off the mud proved to be less of a hassle than I anticipated. The shower heads were detachable so I could make sure I didn''t leave any mud behind in my butt creases. I had scraped most of the mud off when I got out but I was still covered. I wondered if the mud going down the drain was reused or if it was sent out to sea with the plumbing.


    I was getting hungry again but I didn''t have that much time to spare before my healer''s appointment. I''d been to multiple healers in the past and wasn''t very confident this healer would be able to fix me any more than the ones before. I''d be given anti-inflammatory stuff, some pain killers, and be told I needed to get more sleep.


    However, there was some hope. Whatever Lady Margot had done had made me feel rather great. I wasn''t sure if she had been trying to fix my inflammation or if it was just a side effect of her healing my burn. Either way, it wasn''t likely I would be able to ask her what exactly she did so that I could try to get another healer to replicate it. I didn''t know a lot about magic but I knew that healing magic was one where imagination was at the core. Everyone healed differently because they pictured different things as they healed. So even if I could get her to explain it to me it wouldn''t be of much help to another healer who worked in a different way.


    "Miss Rille," an older man called from the doorway to the healer''s rooms. So far today I''d been surrounded by women at the spa. There had only been one other man and I''d avoided him by not having my hair cut by him.


    I stood and followed the man into the room. He shut the door and gestured that I should take a seat at the medical table.


    Damn, that table was cold on the butt. I was glad I had the robe on or else all I''d have between me and the cold table would have been a pair of thin medical shorts. I could feel my arms and legs break out into goosebumps.


    "My name is Humpfry and I am a pain specialist. I was brought here to help our patrons navigate their chronic pain levels while vacationing. I understand from your chart that you have your own supply of Vallerian. Is that right?"


    "Yes, I had gotten burned right before we left."


    "Yes, I see that here. Just from a cursory glance though it seems to have healed quickly."


    "I had a run in with Lady Margot and she did something that sped up the healing."


    "Do you happen to know what she did?" He leaned forward a bit and finally glanced up from his paperwork.


    "No, I wasn''t even aware she was doing it. Whatever she did really helped my overall pain as well. I''m feeling great today."


    "And that''s not a normal state for you I see. You suffer from chronic inflammation of your joints. Which is probably another reason your healers gave you Vallerian." He looked up at me and frowned a bit. "You do understand the addictive properties of the drug?"


    "Yes," I said with a sigh. I had been expecting the question. If you were on painkillers every other healer you saw automatically thought you were an addict lying to get your next fix. It made it difficult for the people who actually suffered from real pain.


    "Alright, I will do a cursory examination, but to be honest with you, if you are feeling fine today I don''t think I will see much."


    "What do you mean."


    "Well, to assess your condition and to determine a course of treatment I need to be able to see the areas where you have the problem. Since you are feeling good then your joints aren''t swollen and I won''t be able to see the swelling points in the exam."


    I guess that made sense. You couldn''t heal what wasn''t broken at the moment.


    "However, if you start to swell up again and begin to feel pain I encourage you to make another visit. We might be able to come up with a therapy regimen that would limit your reliance on medication.


    "Now lay back for me."


    I stretched out and I could feel the telltale signs of healing magic working its way through my body. Warm, it almost always felt warm.


    He finished up and told me I was healthy enough to give rock climbing a try, but that I was to come and soak in the hot springs afterward so that I could get ahead of any muscle aches likely to crop up. He also told me that I was to warm up and do some serious stretching before undertaking something so physical. I already knew this and suspected Rammy would lead us in some warmups, but I agreed to the healer''s suggestion nonetheless.


    After all my treatments I was tired and feeling a bit more stressed than when I went in. Which is probably not what they intended. I went back to my locker for my knitting bag. Lunch would be here soon and I wanted the cheese I''d procured.


    My lunch had arrived while I was with the Healer Humpfry. Karen had a stack of paper lunch bags at the front desk with a list of who got what type of lunch. I told her what I had ordered and she found me on the list. She handed over my bag and gave some directions to where the cafe area of the Spa was.


    It was a semi-enclosed area around the back of the building. There were tables outside with umbrellas where you could enjoy the breeze and the cliff-side scenery. There was also a bar inside with even more tables.


    It was my first time spotting male spa-goers. I was glad to note that they had been dressed in the same medical shorts, top, and robe that the women had. That''s probably why they had chosen the gender-neutral shade of clinical green.


    All of the men were in their later years. Geriatric most of them. There were a few groups of four but most of the men had an equally elderly woman with them. It was nice to see some couples bonding over cold crab sandwiches. I just hoped that none of these older folks got ill from bad crab. Food poisoning would be more likely to kill someone of their advanced age.


    I walked up to the bar and waited my turn. A perky blonde girl with a long ponytail was pouring drinks for the people ahead of me. She seemed so bubbly and happy that I was slightly irritated. It''s nothing in particular that she did. Her excessive perkiness triggered a grumpy gene in me. I bet she was a morning person too.


    I looked over the short drink menu. Hot drinks...no. I didn''t feel like something hot. They had a decent selection of fruit juices with the suggestion that they could be mixed to your preference. Several iced tea choices and water were also listed. Surprisingly, they also had iced soy milk. Fancy.


    There was a list of suggested combinations at the bottom. Teas mixed with juice and juices mixed with soy milk over ice. Oh, I was tempted. So tempted that I caved in.


    I ordered an iced strawberry-mango juice with soy milk.


    I wondered how the juices would interact with the milk. Normal milk didn''t mix well with juices so maybe there was something different about soy milk that allowed it to blend well with other things. I didn''t know and since it was lunch time and there was a line I didn''t bother asking the annoyingly perky girl either.


    I thanked her for the drink and made my way to the outside tables.

 Chapter 13 I Get a Tan

    I found an empty table outside and unpacked my food, chilled chicken sandwich, apple, grapes, coleslaw, and fried potatoes. There was even a little tiny wooden fork in the bag so that you had something to eat the coleslaw with. Thoughtful.


    I piled some of the coleslaw onto the sandwich and dug in. I must have been hungry because I''d devoured half of it before I realized it. I paused and took a sip of my drink.


    Gods above, who would have thought that iced strawberry-mango juice with soy milk was so dang good. I could literally feel my spirits cheering up just at the pure pleasure of drinking it. There was just something about the drink that made me happy.


    Not that my lunch was bad, it was just a normal packed lunch like dozens I''d had in the past. This drink was something new and pleasing. It made me want to try all the combinations of fruit and milk.


    The question was did I want to spend more time at the bar ordering these drinks and staring out at the scenery? I was here for the hot springs it seemed silly to just sit at the bar and not go back in for another soak if I was here.


    Then I remembered. The beach and the pool would also have these bars. The pool was just right up the lane and within walking distance. I had brought my swimsuit thinking I would need it for the spa. I could enjoy the sunshine and more of these drinks poolside. If I got too warm I could go for a short swim then order more drinks.


    I didn''t have any sunblocking cream with me though. Would they have some at the pool? I could probably ask Karen if she knew. I didn''t want to have to go all the way back to the hotel to buy sunblocking cream. I also didn''t want to spend the rest of the trip burnt up looking like a cooked Goblin Crab.


    I decided that if I couldn''t get any of the cream that I would just stay at the spa, but if I could get some cream I''d walk over to the pool.


    Lunch eaten, I made my way back to the front of the building to ask Karen.


    I had to wait for her to appear from herding one of her clients to their next appointment. When she did get to the desk she smiled a huge smile and in exchange for a few coppers she was able to give me a wooden pot of their specialty made sunblocking cream. It wouldn''t turn you as white as other creams and was guaranteed to remain on while in the water. I''d have to reapply after four hours. Which was longer lasting than the sunblocking cream I was used to.


    The normal stuff left chalky white residue all over your skin, washed off in the water, and had to be reapplied every two hours or so. If this stuff really was all that Karen claimed it was, it might be worth it to buy a few more pots before we went home. It wasn''t that much more than a normal pot of sunblocking cream and the extra cost seemed worth the money. If it worked.


    Why the spa had a ready supply of sunblocking cream to purchase was simple. They had an outdoor hot spring. While the temperatures might be warm the heat did nothing to protect people from the sun. Patrons who spent most of their hot springs time outside would probably be just as sunburnt as someone who spent their day at the pool in the water.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Karen made some effort to get me to consider buying pots of their mud masks and other skin creams, but she was rather busy and didn''t put too much effort into it when I indicated that I''d be back again and would consider it at a later time. I would consider it. While I didn''t think the mud did much for my skin if they were able to make sunblocking cream better than what was currently on the market they may have made a better skin cream as well.


    I briefly wondered if they would be interested in buying my bars of soap. I''d talk to someone about it later. If I could make enough money selling my soaps I wouldn''t need to worry about working part-time jobs.


    I changed into my swimsuit and put my regular clothes over top. The green spa outfit went into a bin with a bunch of other clothes that would be laundered and reused. The robe was free for me to keep. It was requested that I remember to bring it with me next time I visited.


    The walk to the pool was sweaty work. While there was a breeze the sun was high in the sky and it was hot. The slight chill the air had had in the morning was gone. I was glad I''d decided to go to the pool instead of going back into the hot spring in this weather. I was really looking forward to those iced drinks.


    Nearing the pool I could see that the bottom had been laid with fitted grey stone. It formed more of an artificial pond than a pool. Though it didn''t have any of the algae or fish poop a pond would have. It was very clean, just like a pool. It just happened to look more like a pond. All round edges and gentle slopes into a deeper end.


    The same grey stone paved the area around the pool. Lounge chairs and thatched straw umbrella tables were set up along the perimeter.


    There was a small building and through the glass front I spotted the drink bar. There were a few tables and a couple of couches in there as well. There was a sign that indicated that the changing rooms and lockers were also inside the building.


    I stepped inside and it felt like all the sweat gelled to my body. Like the spa, they had some sort of cooling system in place. Having a glass front, you would think that the building would be warm inside. It must have been some sort of magic. Maybe they used ice cores and made the entire building refrigerated? Most commercial restaurants had an ice core refrigerated pantry of some kind. I think they just took that idea and decided to refrigerate an entire building.


    Shoes and street clothes went into a locker. I wore my new spa robe over my swimsuit. They had towels available but I was partial to the robe. I also kept my knitting bag and snacks with me.


    First stop, the bar.


    I ordered a new soy milk drink. This time with coconut and banana. Yum.


    Drink in hand I set up my stuff outside. I chose a lounger that had a small table beside it and was also very close to the building and the bar.


    I sipped at my drink in between putting the new sunblocking cream on. Karen had been right. It really wasn''t as chalky white as the normal stuff. There was still a white film, but it wasn''t very noticeable once it was rubbed in. It didn''t smell all that great though. It reminded me of metal and medicinal herbs that you drank when you were sick. Oh well, you couldn''t have everything and maybe eventually they''d figure out a way to make it smell nice.


    The sun was nice. I had a bit of sweat break out on my lip but overall it was a nice pleasant warmth with the breeze.


    There weren''t that many people at the pool. Most of them probably went to the beach. I could go to the beach at any time I wanted at home. It wasn''t as appealing to me as it was for inlanders. The pool was novel though. There wasn''t much need for pools when there was a beach close by. What was the point? If you wanted to swim you could jump in the ocean. A pool would be an absurd luxury even for the wealthy.


    More people would probably grow tired of the crowding at the beach and decide the pool was a better alternative eventually. Right now, on this first day, there were only ten people. Ten people for this huge pond sized pool. We were so spaced out it was as if we might as well have been alone.


    I was finally able to relax. Something I hadn''t really been able to do at the spa. Deep breath in, and out. Sip my drink, and just relax.

 Chapter 14 Mr. Gregory Duphare

    Mrs. Janette Duphare


    Mr. Gregory Duphare


    A cold sweat broke out all over my body. No, it couldn''t be, but there were those names right there at the top of the list.


    Married.


    Had Miss Janette Duphare gotten herself married?


    Shit.


    Damn.


    If she was married there wasn''t any more question of guardianship noble or not. Her grandparents could do nothing.


    I guess they could try and petition to get the marriage annulled but Janette Duphare was of age and if she didn''t want the marriage annulled it wouldn''t be.


    Whoever this Gregory was he had to be of common blood for him to take her name. He wouldn''t want an annulment either considering the vast fortune she had inherited.


    Being married meant that even if I did manage to kidnap her, take her to her grandparents, it was unlikely that I''d be paid. It was more likely that I''d be arrested. While kidnapping a wayward heiress to return to the loving bosom of her family would be overlooked. Kidnapping a married woman and taking her away from her husband would not be. Especially, since when the grandparents found out she was married they would probably deny ever hiring me.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    If the marriage was real that is.


    There was the possibility that it was all just another cover for Miss Janette Duphare. Wanting to spend this time with her new beau she''d pretend they were married so to not bring any attention to an illicit love affair.


    How to figure out if the marriage was real or not?


    Well, the first step would be to make contact with Miss, no Mrs. Janette Duphare.


    I quickly signed my name underneath theirs.


    I would need to purchase the climbing gear. I hadn''t packed any of the gear I used for not quite legal extracurricular activities. Good thing there was a discount. Since I had paid for my trip I didn''t get the daily monetary bonus the lottery guests got. I didn''t have that much coin left.


    I''d need to make a trip to the casino. If I was careful, very careful, I may be able to earn back the 200 gold I''d borrowed for this trip. Just enough to break even. More than that would draw unwanted attention. If Janette Duphare was married at least I wouldn''t be too far into debt.


    Damn.


    Don''t put the cart before the horse. There was the possibility that it was all a sham. If that was the case I''d be paid on top of the 200 gold.


    I hadn''t planned to use my Luck here in this place where it was so risky, but I would have to. Just to be on the safe side. I couldn''t afford default on the debt. My life literally hung in the balance.


    Damn.

 Chapter 15 I Meet My Twin

    Rock climbing with Rammy started early the next morning. I was up before Mom this time and tried my best not to wake her as I got dressed. Not that anything I did would wake her. She''d always been a hearty sleeper. Depending on when she got in I could probably walk through the room playing the cymbals and drums and she''d just roll over and snore deeper.


    I wanted to talk to her, ask her how her day was, but I was still a little upset with her because of our fight. I was still annoyed and a little hurt. I was also worried about her association with the man Cantrel. Had she spent the day with him?


    I was partially glad she was still sleeping. If she saw me in this outfit she might birth a litter of kittens. While she tried to be progressive, at heart she was still a woman of her generation and was oddly conservative about certain things.


    Most of my height was in my legs. My torso was rather short considering. So the spidersilk skirt hit me a little higher than it was meant too. The skirt was meant to hang just above the knees. The average length for lady adventurers. However, because my legs were longer it fell about three inches above my knees, boarding on mid-thigh. Scandalous.


    It cheered me immensely.


    It didn''t hurt that the color was lovely. Dark blue spidersilk pants clung like they were supposed to to my body. The skirt was a pale ice blue that matched the trimming on my dark blue top. The boots were more a grey-blue than an ice blue, but they still looked good. My gloves and headscarf matched the boots.


    I loved the boots. As soon as Rammy had made me try them on I was in love. I was secretly hoping they would wear well so I''d have an excuse to look at more of the boots he had in stock. Did the rock climbing discount only apply to one outfit or could I purchase others? If the discount remained valid I''d be stupid not to take advantage of it.


    It wasn''t often I could afford spidersilk and it would keep me safe as I gathered soap making materials along the beach. Goblin Crabs could be dangerous and while I was able to take one out on my own, I''ve had them pop out and surprise me a few times. Spidersilk could act as armor in a tough situation. While I didn''t really need more than one outfit it would be prudent to have at least a backup.


    Only one back up, I cautioned myself as I placed mom''s portion of her daily allowance on the writing desk. Just because I had the money handy didn''t mean that I could just spend it all. We still had to go back to our lives after this trip was over. A few saved coins now could be the difference of us being able to eat this winter. Winter wasn''t a good time for collecting soaping supplies so my production dropped.


    Winter wasn''t a great time for seasonal work either. I was lucky to have my job at the inn waiting for me. Thank the gods I hadn''t been fired. I''d been fired over less before. If I could keep the job at the inn, keep this extra money away from mom, and if I invested a bit in my soap business we might make it out of winter this year better than we''ve ever had.


    I''d sit down and do the math later. If I could afford to buy a few large jars to store oil in, then I might be able to up my oil extraction in the upcoming months and save enough to supply my soap making during the winter when you couldn''t extract the oil. I certainly couldn''t afford to buy my oils in the winter. Oil prices nearly tripled. . . Oh.


    If I made a surplus I could sell the extra oils at a profit. Only if there was a surplus though. The soap was my money maker and I couldn''t afford to neglect it.


    Math later, right now I was ready for my first rock climbing class. My body was feeling great. I wasn''t achy or sore, and I wasn''t unusually tired. Today was going to be a great day. I could literally feel it in my bones.


    "Oh!!! Look Greg! Is that her? The one you were trying to point out at the ball?" A lovely woman with brown hair, brown eyes, and a pale complexion pointed in my direction as I approached the group standing in the entryway. Why did she look so familiar?


    Oh, it was the beautiful woman with the ornate hair from the ball. She looked so different. I had thought she wasn''t wearing any makeup during the ball, but it must have been more subtle than I thought because her skin, while pale, wasn''t as even toned and didn''t resemble the perfect porcelain glow of that night.


    Actually, I got a closer look at her as I approached, why did she make me slightly uncomfortable now?


    "Hiya, twin!" The woman bounced up to me and stopped herself just in time to stop herself from crashing into me. She held out both her hands and on reflex so did I. She took both my hands and bounced around in happy childlike joy.


    Wait, twin...oh. Well, we did sort of superficially look similar.


    "I''m Janette Duphare. This is my husband, Gregory. He saw you at the ball and told me all about you after the fact. I wish I would have been able to talk to you then. I know they say that everyone has a twin somewhere in the world, I just never expected to find mine here. What are the odds right? Well, I like playing the odds, wouldn''t be at a casino if I didn''t. What is your name?" The woman said all in one breath with some odd emphasis on some of her words. She paused long enough to get my answer.


    "Um, I''m Rille," I said slowly.


    "Oh, Rille, that''s a lovely name. Absolutely lovely. My name is rather dull, I think. Most people called me Janey growing up and I hated it. I go by Janette now. While it isn''t the most exotic of names it does suit me, much like Rille suits you. You are taking the rock climbing course? I don''t think you''d be dressed like that otherwise. Of course, you could be trying to put the old codgers here on their ears. Though, they might actually like to see a young woman walking around scandalously. It''s their wives that would take exception." She tilted her head and gave an abrupt heehaw of a laugh. It startled me into jumping a little that''s how unexpected her laugh was.


    For someone so pretty you''d think a nice lilting laugh would come from her. No, not from this bundle of energy. Her laugh was full on donkey.


    "OH!" she practically shouted. Then she lowered her voice, "looooook." She put some extra buttery emphasis on that.


    The busty woman from the ball was making her way down the stairs.


    "Gods above," I let slip as I caught sight of her.


    Boobs. Boobs and legs.


    An entirely black spidersilk outfit clung to her like a second skin. It was the sort of spidersilk meant to be worn under armor. Though if it had been meant to be worn under armor then it wouldn''t have that deep V-cut of the neckline exposing most of her breasts. She didn''t even have the modesty skirt. She did have a rather chunky gold belt cinched around her waist but that was it.


    Yes, swimsuits exposed more. She was actually mostly covered with long sleeves, pants, and tall boots, but the tightness of the outfit left very little to the imagination.


    She turned a little and you could see a side view of her butt.


    Boobs. Butt. Legs.


    When she''d been wearing her ball gown her ample backside had been hidden. Now it was out there for everyone to gander at. The men did look. Boy did they look.


    To be fair to the men, the women were looking too. She had everyone''s attention. So much so that all the small chatter that had been happening in the group stopped.


    "Morning."


    I nearly jumped out of my skin. While everyone had been preoccupied with the busty woman Maize had snuck up behind me and in the quiet, she decided to startle me with a morning greeting.


    I wasn''t the only one who''d jumped. Janette was startled too.


    "Oh," I took a breath to steady my nerves. "Morning Maize."


    What Maize was wearing was the exact opposite of the busty woman.


    She wore brown Spidersilk leggings and the long sleeved shirt, but over it all, she wore her usual brown mumu. Her boots were new though, knee high and cuffed at the top. They were the first fashionable thing I''d seen her wear. Well, besides the ball gown.


    She had a book and her gloves tucked into her belt and with her hair held back you really could see the beauty in her face. Most of the time her wild har distracted from her looks, but when it was pulled back, you could really get a look at how pretty she was. If she''d take care of her acne issues she easily be in Janette''s and the busty woman''s league. She may even be prettier because she had an exotic darker look that the two other ladies didn''t have.


    I felt the urge to drag Maize to the spa with me after our class. Would that be rude?


    Was it wrong of me to want to make Maize pretty by taking her to the spa? If Maize was fine with who she was, was it right for me to try and change that? My motives for wanting to take her with me were not pure. They were selfish on my part.


    But if she was willing to do the treatments on her own?


    What if I told her everything they would do to her then let her decide if she wanted to join in? Would that be ok?


    "Maze, like the garden mazes in the capitol? What a unique name. I was just telling Rille that I think my name is rather dull. I''m Janette Duphare. Please call me Janette. This is my husband, Gregory. We both have rather boring names. When we have children, I''m going to make certain that our babies stand out from the crowd. Too many Janes and Annies. Give me a good Eustace or Genevieve."


    "Corn," Maize said simply calming interrupting Janette''s babble.


    "Corn?" Janette asked confused.


    "M-A-I-Z-E," I said. "Like the corn, not a garden maze."If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Oh, maize. Is it a type of corn? I''m afraid I''ve never heard of it. Is it unique to where you live?" Janette asked.


    "No, dear, maize is just another word for corn. I think it was originally an aboriginal word and it just stuck around. It mostly refers to the colorful corns you see in the fall. The ones with the red, yellow, and brown kernels. Not so much the large yellow sweet corn." Her husband corrected her taking her hand and smiling.


    "So smart," she beamed at him. She looked so happy, for that one second I was reminded of the ethereal beauty of the ball. Perhaps it hadn''t all been makeup. She had a glow that came out when she looked at her husband.


    There were just some couples that when they looked at each other you knew they would last. Some couples had that aura about them. They were better people when they were together than when they were apart. I silently wished them all the happiness in the world. To find someone like that is a special thing.


    "Damn," Maize whispered under her breath.


    "Hum?" Janette turned and looked at Maize questioningly.


    Maize nodded in the direction of the busty woman.


    "Damn," she said again with a different tone and a bit louder.


    "Oh, well yes. It is rather shockingly scandalous, isn''t it? I wonder if I should make her acquaintance? She seems like she''d be a very interesting person to know, but what if she''s really a loose woman?"


    "I don''t think so," I commented. "She was showing my mother her engagement ring at the ball. She''s going to marry that man who was wearing the red suit."


    "Ohhh," Janette''s face filled with understanding. "Oh Greg, I think she might be engaged to Filmore Cooperwrite. I did spot him at the ball, but I didn''t realize..." She trailed off looking at the woman''s bust again.


    "How could you fail to notice?" He asked her. "There aren''t many women that proportioned in the entire kingdom, let alone this island."


    "Greg, are you looking at that woman''s...assets?" Janette whispered that last word and extended the pronunciation to be certain that everyone knew just what assets she was referring too.


    "They are hard to miss, dear. I love you to the moon. Her attributes are on display, so to speak. I''m not going to give you an excuse saying that I''m a man and men look. The show she''s putting on doesn''t do anything for me. It''s a show. I much prefer you in that little one piece..."


    "Gregory!" Janette blushed three shades of crimson. Maize and I were polite enough to let out gazes wander off while the couple had their moment. Then she sighed. "Thank you for being honest. That''s why I love you so much. You don''t lie to me."


    "I love you too, poppet." He leaned over and kissed the top of her gloved hand.


    "Damn," Maize whispered again.


    "Oh, I agree!" Janette said. "I think I just must introduce myself. You can never have too many friends and she looks a little lonely standing there by herself.


    "Oh, but please don''t think I''m being rude for wandering off. I really would like to speak to my twin more about everything. Simply everything. I do wonder if we may actually be related in some way. My father was a bit of a bounder. If you know what I mean. Oh, I''m not saying you''re illegitimate. Oh, Fiery Mother, I''m sorry." She placed her hand to her face in embarrassment.


    "It''s fine, my mother was properly married to my father, but he died before I was born. I''m not offended I know who I am and where I came from. No mystery here," I smiled to soften the blow. She''d put her foot in her mouth but I really wasn''t offended. She was a rambler. She didn''t seem like an airhead but she was so full of energy she''d probably explode if she didn''t have some outlet for it. I didn''t dislike her. She didn''t seem to have a malicious intent like the feather brains.


    "It''s honestly fine? Really, I didn''t mean it in that way," she had a small V forming between her brows.


    "I would like to talk to you some more as well. After the class, I was planning to go to the spa. Would you like to join me?" What had possessed me to ask her? Still, it might be fun to have such a bubbly person at the spa.


    "Me," Maize said simply. Had she just invited herself?


    "The three of us?" I asked them.


    "Hu," Maize said in agreement.


    "Oh, that would be lovely, simply lovely, and a wise idea if we are to be exerting ourselves today. Oh, I will join you. It will be a fun girl''s time."


    "Attention please!" Rammy stood near a desk that had been placed on the outskirts of the hall. Beside him were three people with healer''s aprons. I could already guess what the announcement was about.


    "Today is the day when you have to get your second set of vaccinations. We will be out near the cliffs most of the day so it will be easier to get them out of the way now rather than rush to get them done at the end of the day." He turned to a man with a large blonde beard. "This is Healer Morris. He''ll explain the rest."


    "Yes, well good morning to all of you," Healer Morris began. "Today is going to be a bit different from what you are used to. On the voyage here you were given powders to digest to begin your series of vaccinations. Today you will be given a set of three pokes with these needles.


    "Inside of this cylinder is the medication. We will poke the surface of your skin, press this plunger so that the medication is administered, then take the needle out. You will also be given one of these tipped," He held up a cotton swab on a stick. "We will swab your nose with it and that''s it for this group of vaccinations."


    There was some uneasy murmuring from the small group. It was something new. At least I''d never heard of the needle method before. I had had my nose swabbed, but this needle poking thing was a bit much.


    "I will remind you they are mandatory for your stay on The Island," Healer Morris commented.


    "Now, I''ve had it done and I can promise it''s not so bad. You will still be able to do all your normal activities afterward," Rammy added with a happy smile. "Now let''s line up and get this over with so we can start the class shall we?" He clapped and bounced on his feet.


    Slowly people began to line up at the table. One short line in front of one of the healers. I got a large fat woman with thinning hair.


    She made me roll up my sleeve then wiped my arm with something astringent smelling.


    "We can pause between each poke, or I can try and get them done as quickly as I can. How would you like to do this, dear?" The woman asked.


    "Carefully, I''d rather it be done quickly but do it carefully," I mean what else was I supposed to say. I was worried that if she rushed it wouldn''t be a poke but more of a stab.


    "Very well, now I''m going to count to three. Take a deep breath. In. One, two, three," She poked my arm with the first needle. It didn''t start to sting until after she pressed the plunger and pulled it out. "and out," she finished.


    "Shit," I hissed. I wanted to rub at the poke, but the woman had already anticipated that and gently rubbed it a bit for me.


    "Two more," she switched needles. "Deep breath in. One, two, three." Stick. "out."


    There was a slight burn from this one. Damn.


    "Ok, almost done. In. One, two, three, and out. Great job dear. Let me put a bandage on it for you." She taped a small piece of cotton in place and helped me roll my sleeve down over it.


    "This one is quick and painless. Tilt your head back a bit," she wiped the inside of both my nostrils with her swab. "And we''re done. Have a nice day, dear."


    "You too," I answered but she was already waving the next person in line.


    I stood around and waited for everyone to finish and gently rubbed my arm. The burn was dissipating and in a few minutes, I probably wouldn''t even feel it.


    Rammy was laying out ropes and metal bits. He was setting up for his demonstration. Our rock climbing adventure was about to begin. What was that tiny little hammer for? I guess I was about to find out.


    Most of the morning was spent going over and stressing safety. The Island didn''t want any of their guests plunging to their deaths. Rammy went over each item individually and made certain we could name all the pieces before we were loaded up in two pony carts.


    Maize turned out to be the star pupil. She practically ran up the cliff. Honestly, she probably didn''t even need all the safety gear. She did use it but only just enough to keep Rammy from having fits about safety. She did confess that had a skill that helped her. Though she didn''t tell us what skill that was.


    I was surprised to find out that Gregory was an apt climber. He professed to be completely new at it, but it seemed that he had found a hidden talent. He was able to spot handholds that only Maize and Rammy were able to find.


    The rest of us struggled. It was harder than it looked trying to find handholds and footholds. I got about a third of the way up and found myself stuck. I had to backtrack, but since I wasn''t that far along it was mostly a re-start. Rammy shouted directions and advice from the ground.


    I was really glad that such a big man had hold of the other end of my rope. My hands ached by the time I made it past the halfway point. Then I misplaced my foot and slipped. I was left dangling in the air from my harness as Rammy lowered me to the ground.


    "Great first try Rille. I''m sure once you get the hang of it you will be at the top in no time," Rammy congratulated me as he helped me out of the harness.


    Lunch arrived, and we took turns eating and taking another shot at the cliff. Some people deemed that the exercise or the height was too much for them and they left early. Others seemed determined to finish the day, but I doubted they would be back for the second class.


    I was actually enjoying myself. My body was in good condition and trying to find spaces in the rock was like trying to figure out how pieces of a puzzle connected. I got to give it a try four times.


    I still didn''t make it to the top, but I got a little closer each time I tried.


    When the class was over I was slightly surprised. The time just sort of flew by. While we''d been waiting for our turns Maize, Janette, Marcy, and I struck up a conversation. Marcy was actually a very physically fit woman. The gods just blessed her with absurd proportions.


    She told us that she ran every day in the early morning because she had some issues keeping her waist trim. She had a love of sweets, but sweets hated her. She insisted that she gained weight faster than the average woman so had to stay on top of that by running regularly.


    How she prevented her assets from hitting her in the face as she ran was beyond me. Boobs bounced. Even I, with my lack of chest, knew that.


    What I didn''t know was that they also floated. Marcy in the hot springs was something to behold. She actually had to keep her arms over the top of them to prevent them from bobbing too much. She joked that they could act as a floatation device in an emergency.


    So I spent most of my time in the company of those three ladies. Leaving on this trip I had been scornful of the girls who made friends on the boat. I was still a bit skeptical that the four of us would stay in touch after the trip was over. I would make an effort, but the cynical part of me didn''t think it would last long.


    We were geographically scattered. Maize was the closest to me distance wise. Honeyton wasn''t very far away and it was a quick journey by cart or horse.


    Janette and Gregory hadn''t settled into one place yet, but Gregory''s work meant that they would most likely stay in the southernmost coastal town Frendrick''s Cove. She had money, but it seemed like Gregory really enjoyed his work as an accountant for the Guild. As a Guild employee, he could transfer locations, but I was told the Frendrick''s Cove was so warm and cozy.


    Marcy''s wedding was this winter, we were all invited. The Cooperwrite''s family home was near the northern border of the kingdom. They had a house in the capital, but their ancestral home was in the forests of the north.


    Her wedding would be on the family estate and she was hoping for a nice slight snowfall. That''s right she wanted an outdoor wedding in the snow. If the weather was uncooperative they could have the ceremony at Amoris'' Temple and then move the celebration back to the house.


    I had tried to politely decline the invitation on the spot since I really couldn''t afford to take time off work to travel across the country for a wedding. I just couldn''t seem to find the right words to dissuade her from the invite. I would have to write her a letter declining when the invitation formally arrived.


    Janette seemed overly eager about the wedding. She and Gregory didn''t have the big wedding that Marcy was having. They''d gone before the priests at the temple and sworn their vows. They didn''t have any celebrating. They had just been married. Janette seemed a little sad about that, but she hinted that there were circumstances that prevented her from having a big wedding.


    I immediately became suspicious that Janette was carrying. Though if she was, she certainly shouldn''t be rock climbing. I didn''t think pregnant women were supposed to sit in hot springs either, but I wasn''t sure if that was later in the pregnancy or right from the beginning. Either way, Janette certainly wasn''t showing any signs of a baby.


    So my days on The Island passed. It didn''t even gamble once. I spent a lot of time swimming and making up interesting fruit combinations at the bar. The girls were more than happy to accompany me, but sometimes I was by myself and that was fine too.


    Not once during the entire trip did my body flare up and hurt. I had no need for the pain killer I''d hidden away in my soap. I didn''t remember a time when I was without pain. So as the end of the trip neared I regretted having to go back to the real world. I knew that my pain would start again. I wasn''t certain what had caused my body to stop hurting.


    It may have started with the healing Lady Margot had given me, but the near-daily trips to the spa probably helped too. I wished I could replicate the treatments back home, but that was a sky dream.

 Chapter 16 Business Sense

    Mom could gamble. Gods Above, she could gamble and when she was lucky...


    I had buckets. Two buckets of gold sitting on my bed. Two large casino security men were standing in our room''s doorway behind my mother. They were going to take the buckets away with them and leave us with a credit note we could redeem at our convenience on the mainland.


    Mom just wanted to bring the buckets up to prove something to me. To show me what she''d been up to the last three weeks. I knew she''d been winning since she had been sticking to our bargain and leaving her extra coppers in the room, but I''d had no idea she''d been winning.


    I felt faint.


    This was more money than I''d probably used in my entire lifetime. Probably more than she''d ever used in her entire lifetime. If handled carefully we would be ok for the rest of our lives. I wouldn''t have to worry if the bills could be paid, have to decide about eating that week or paying the rent.


    Gods Above.


    No, don''t get too excited. This was her money. All of it. That meant that she''d probably gamble it all away within the year. It was her way. She''d win big, want to live luxuriously for a while, then inevitably lose it all in further gambling.


    Damn.


    "You don''t look happy." Mom uncrossed her arms going from looking smug to looking upset in a blink of an eye.


    "Congratulations," I said simply. What did I say? I knew how this would work. I couldn''t meet her eyes. Visions of the same cycle repeating itself through my childhood swimming in my head.


    "We are rich now, Rille. We can buy a house on a hill just like I''ve always wanted." She moved to stand in front of me. If she touched me I''d cry. "Why aren''t you happy, baby?"


    "This is your money mom, you can buy your house." I finally looked her in the eye and took a deep breath. Our relationship had been a bit strained after the fight over the dress and my unwillingness to wholeheartedly accept Cantrel. Did I want to pick another fight?


    "Think about it," I whispered. "How long will you be able to keep your house?" I winced as her face became cold and her lips pursed. Damn, it was going to be another fight.


    "It''s your money Rille," she crossed her arms and huffed.


    What?


    "I''ve already got my credit note for my half, this is yours. I know we agreed on ten percent, but Cantrel told me this would be fine. It''s more than enough, even if I do ''lose my house''." She moved her fingers in quotes.


    Were we fighting? Wait. Mine? My half. This was only half of her winnings? Gods Above.


    "I know how I am. You''re right that I will probably lose what I''ve won. I know how I am Rille. Cantrel helped me see that I have impulse issues. I''m working on it.


    "This money is for you to keep for when I die. The rest will go to buying a house. I will leave you in charge of the daily expenses and we will live like we always have. You won''t have to work if you don''t want too, but I thought you might want to continue with your soap and make it a genuine business.


    "I will give myself one silver a month allowance. Once it''s gone, it''s gone. I promise, not even I can spend this much gambling." She waved her hand.


    A knot in my gut loosened but didn''t disappear. I knew her too well. She could go through this much money, but if she was serious about limiting herself it might delay the inevitable.


    In the meantime, I would be able to set up a legitimate business. If I could get it going, then by the time mom spent all her money I''d hopefully be making my own money. I wouldn''t touch the money on the bed if it wasn''t absolutely necessary.


    But she would know I''d have it. She''d want to ''borrow'' just a little at first. If I said no, it would be a fight. If I gave in, this money would be gone as well. I just couldn''t be happy with it. Not as happy as I think I should have been.


    Perhaps it showed on my face.


    "Hold on," Mom said and scooted over to where she''d left her knitting bag. She pulled a small stack of papers out.


    "It''s a contract. It says I relinquish all rights to this money," she waved her hand with the papers at the bed. "These nice gentlemen can witness for us."


    She placed the paper''s down on the writing desk and using the hotel pen signed her name at the bottom.


    I walked over to the desk and picked up the papers.


    She was giving me just a little over 122 gold. It would be placed into the Guild reserves under my name.


    I wasn''t officially registered in the Guild, but I could take care of that easily enough.


    That meant that only I, with my Guild Id, could access the money.


    It wasn''t like the Kingdom''s Bank where she could access my money since I was still unmarried. The interest rates would be lower with the Guild, but I could be assured I was the only one with access to it.


    It still didn''t solve all the problems, but at least there was something in place to prevent totally losing all the funds in a year.


    I signed the paper.


    The two guards signed as official witnesses.


    They had me sign over a transfer agreement.


    I was given an official Guild Credit Note.


    Then they left each holding a bucket of gold. I''d requested 10 gold up front and they had altered my credit note to reflect that.


    Gods Above, it was a lot of money.


    "Mom, we still have some time before we are due at the docks and the shops are still open..." I smiled at her. "Only this much though ok?" I showed her the ten coins. It was still a lot of money. I still got my discount for the climbing class though and I really had my eye on several pairs of Rammy''s boots. I''m certain mom had spotted a few things as well.


    "Well, I really should pick up some souvenirs for the ladies at home. Maybe a nice hat for Miss Gee."


    "Let''s go then," I smiled and opened the door for her so she could scoot out the door.


    I was more happy about being able to buy some new boots than I was with the money in general. I still had some trepidation, but for now, it would be alright.


    The Guild had been more than accommodating when I''d presented them with my credit note. The Id process was done swiftly and I was suddenly the newest member of the largest organization on the continent. By leaving my money in the Guild''s hands I could expect a modest interest rate. They''d use the money to invest in the Guild and with the profit they made I would receive a minor portion.


    The first thing I wanted to do, besides finding a nice trunk to place all my new boots, was to invest in my soap business. I knew just the store. It just happened to be beside another store I was familiar with.


    I''d brought my dyed swimsuit to show Annie since I hadn''t run into her on The Island, but the store was closed. Well, that wasn''t the main reason I was here. Beside the swimsuit shop was a pottery and glassworks shop.


    The old man that made the items had left the counterwork to his grand-daughter years before. However, on this day he was the one working.


    Mr. Fronz was an old friend of my mother. They grew up together, went to school together, and for a short while they even dated. Mr. Fronz was a master potter, but his son decided pottery wasn''t his calling and became a master glass blower. So Fronz''s Pottery became Cottage Collections: Master Pottery and Glasswork.


    A little bell tinkled as I opened the door.


    "Ah, Rille. So good to see you. How is your lovely mother? I''d heard some very remarkable things about your trip." Mr. Fronz came out from behind his counter and grabbed both my hands before pulling me into a friendly embrace.


    "I''m not sure what you''ve heard, but Mom hit a big streak. We have some extra funds at the moment and I was hoping to expand my soaping business before winter really kicks in."


    "Oh, I hope she is more circumspect than she has been in the past." Mr. Fronz was well aware of my mother''s ups and downs.


    "She''s left a decent amount in my control so I hope we can keep afloat for a while at least."


    "Well, it''s good that you are trying to invest it. She can''t spend it if you invest it in yourself now can she?"


    "That''s the idea, but we are looking into buying a house and I''m thinking of really expanding my soap business into something more. I was thinking I''d buy a stall at the market."This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    "A house? Well, she really did hit it big didn''t she? That''s great Rille," then he frowned, "but if you give up the place you have now will you have somewhere to go if she um..."


    I understood and saved him from having to come up with a polite way to say what we were both thinking.


    "If she loses the house. Yes, I know. She has left a decent amount in my care so if she loses the house we have some funds to hold us out while I find another cheaper place to live."


    Mr. Fronz nodded and looked into the distance a bit.


    "Rille," he began rubbing the top of my hand with his calloused thumb. "How serious are you about setting up a stall? I mean, would you be willing to consider going bigger perhaps?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "Well, you know the place next door? It will be going up for sale shortly I hear."


    "The swimsuit place? I was hoping to visit them today."


    "It''s sad, very sad. You know Miss Ruth was pregnant and had to miss the trip? So her sister Annie took her place?"


    "I had heard that. I was supposed to meet up with Annie on The Island but we never ran into each other."


    "Knowing you, you probably didn''t visit the casino once did you?"


    "No I didn''t, why?"


    "Seems that Miss Annie spent nearly all her time there. All her time and all her money. She''s so far into debt it''s worse than anything your mother''s ever owed. She came back expecting her family to help out only to find Ruth had passed giving birth. The family has to sell the store and everything in it just to pay the debt."


    "Oh, no," my gut clenched. I knew that not everyone would win at the casino, but I didn''t realize that the casino would allow people who couldn''t afford it to fall so deeply into debt.


    "Naturally, the store would go to Ruth''s husband and child, but he''s decided to sell it and pay off Annie''s debt. In exchange, she has to marry him."


    "What?" I couldn''t have heard that right. His wife dies and he wants to marry the sister?


    "It''s a complicated family," he shrugged like it was something to be expected. I certainly didn''t think it was normal.


    "My point," he continued, "is that the store is going to be for sale. A real shop Rille. You could set up your soap business next door. There''s a basement space and a second floor with an attic. There is a well out back but the girls had a hand pump installed in the basement so they could dye their suits. I think with a bit of work it could be turned into a good space for you."


    "It''s a big step..." I hedged.


    "I think you can do it. I know there is demand for your soap and you just haven''t been able to make it in large enough batches to have a decent profit margin. Having your own soap studio, bringing yourself out of the kitchen, will help you a great deal," he patted my hand again and started to pull me towards the back of his shop.


    "I don''t know. The logistics of a simple cart seems overwhelming, but a store?"


    "You could be a wholesaler or you could go the other route and present it as a luxury item. I know most of your business is done at the docks so maybe you can make a working man''s brand and a ladies brand and sell both?"


    "I only really make one type just the gradient of the scrub varies."


    He pulled me through the back of his store, passed a few closed rooms and a room filled with shelves of drying pottery. He took me out the back door and showed me the courtyard that was behind the stores.


    He had two outdoor kilns going full blast so it was hot out. However, there was a well. A small grassy area with some chickens pecking about.


    "See," he pointed to a patch of area that had a small circle of bricks.


    "I don''t understand," I told him flatly. What was he trying to show me?


    "That used to be a burn pit. Before the girls took over they had hair cutting place. They would sweep up all the hair and burn it. My point is you can widen the fire area and make the pit higher. I''m not certain what is best for making the ash, but as long as the fire is contained it is fine."


    So I wouldn''t have to burn the palm leaves somewhere else? Then there was this dyeing set up they had in the basement. Could it be converted for soap? Or heck, I had my dyeing skill now. I could actually dye items as a side business to the business. I''d done it before.


    "I think I''ll have to talk to Mom. Maybe take a look around the place," I hedged. I was beginning to get excited about the idea.


    "You''ll want to have an independent inspector look at the foundations and the building too. Spot any repairs that need to be made. You ''ll have to do some renovating, but I don''t think you will have to do a lot to the building."


    "Is that what you do? An inspector I mean?" I really didn''t know. I''d never bought any property let alone had it inspected.


    "Yes, you''ll have to have someone come in and look at the building to make sure it''s structurally sound and can be turned into a soap shop. Then you''ll have to have another inspector who will make sure your soap making process is safe and not liable to blow up the block. Then you''ll have to pay the fees for a license to run the business. It is a lot of work, but there are intermediaries you can hire that know what they are doing and can get all this taken care of for you."


    "Mr. Fronz who would I talk to about this?" I waved my hand at the building in question.


    "Inside, I''ll write down the address for you. I''ll also let you know that they can handle any intermediary work as well. Just give them my name and tell them I sent you." He led me back inside and using a bit of scrap paper he wrote down the address. Then on another piece of paper, he wrote a short note signed it and put it in a sealed envelope.


    "Make sure Maybelle gets this," he gave me the note.


    "Oh, um, I came to get oil jugs..." I began.


    "I''ll have three set aside for you," he waved me off. "I don''t know when they will put the building on the market so you should try and get to it before there is a buying competition."


    Maybelle was a whirlwind of efficiency. She made an appointment for me to do a walk through with an independent inspector for the next morning. She ran over the logistics of opening a business with me and even said that her company could handle all legal paperwork.


    The amount that Annie''s family was asking for the building was insane. I could afford it but I still must have winced. Maybelle rushed to reassure me that Mr. Fronz''s name had a lot of pull and that she would work hard to have Annie''s family accept a more reasonable offer. They''d placed the price of the building higher hoping to make more than the building was worth. Maybelle would have none of that nonsense, thank you very much. She would make it a fair price.


    The fact that I was interested so early on was both a good thing and a bad one. Having a prospective buyer so early might push the family into waiting to see if they can get their higher price by starting a bidding war. However, if they were trying to sell in a rush that might not be the best situation for them. It all depended on how far in debt Annie had gotten and how quickly they needed it paid off.


    I felt bad for Annie, but not bad enough to be willing to pay extra just to pay off her gambling debts. I''d been dealing with that drama all my life and I''d run out of that sort of charity a long time ago.


    Maybelle also suggested that if I was serious in starting a business, even if I didn''t purchase the building I was looking at, I should look into hiring a part-time employee. Even if all I was going to do was a cart, having someone with magic who could help tend it would make things easier.


    The sooner I hired someone and began teaching them the trade the better. Winter would be coming and extraction season over. Having an extra person helping would do a lot to push my business to the next level. Maybe even hiring an extra person on a seasonal basis just so we could get enough oil to push through winter.


    Part-time employment. I was supposed to start back up at Juzz''s in two more days. I needed to tell them I was going to stop working. I''d heard they were having some issues finding a new cook that was decent and I felt bad adding the extra problem of finding another dishwasher to the list.


    Still, it had to be done, but maybe I could do something for them?


    I told Maybelle about the situation and asked for advice. After all, I was paying her for the entire hour.


    She asked which agency''s Juzz went through then nodded and asked me several questions.


    Maybelle looked at me and asked straight out if they had any prejudices against Zyanthropes.


    As far as I knew Juzz and Wembly didn''t. They''d always been very nice and accommodating event to magicless persons like me. Maybelle nodded and gave me another address and then re-sealed the letter Mr. Fronz had given her and told me to give it to a woman named Imogene in Esau.


    I bulked at a trip to Esau, I''d only ever been there once to see a specialist healer. It was the third largest city in the kingdom and the one time I''d been there hadn''t been pleasant.


    Esau was dedicated to the god Erasmus, but it abandoned it''s fisherman roots for the progress of city building. The city was originally a town full of demons and the head demon was named Esau. Humans drove the demons out and took over the town dedicating it to Erasmus. Why they didn''t rename the town no one knew. There were rumors that demons still walked the streets at night, but those were children''s tales.


    Maybelle assured me that there was a mail boat going up the coast leaving in about ninety minutes. I could catch the boat, then catch the mail coach heading into Esau. I could spend the night and catch the early mail boat back the next morning. Maybelle could push back the meeting for the building a bit so as to give me time.


    I didn''t really think about it. I agreed and Maybelle sent out her workers to buy all my tickets. I would go to Juzz''s explain what I was doing where I was going and ask if they wanted me to be their liaison in finding two new employees. Maybelle also gave me paperwork for Juzz to sign allowing me to be his proxy in the matter of hiring. We''d both sign it and then I could legally hire people on his behalf.


    I ran home packed a small overnight bag and wrote a letter to my mother explaining everything. I told her not to buy a house while I was gone since I''d engaged the services of Maybelle and she would help us find the perfect place and deal with all the legalities in the process.


    I went over to Juzz''s and was glad it wasn''t busy so I could speak to both of them.


    I told them the circumstances, explained what I was doing, where I was planning on going and showed them the paper that would give me the ability to hire for them.


    "Esau? Well, I must say that we hadn''t thought of going that far out for just a cook and dishwasher," Juzz mused sipping his tea.


    "We hadn''t considered a Zyanthrope either. Not many in town," Wembly commented.


    "A Zyanthrope might know how to make some unique dishes. It could be a good business move," Juzz said.


    "You also have to consider prejudice. Will people stop coming if we hire Zyanthropes?" Wembly frowned. Then sighed. "Well, if they are those sort of people maybe we don''t want them here anyway."


    "Well said," Juzz smiled at her. Then he nodded. "I think we should go for it. Rille can hire someone she thinks suitable with the understanding that it would be probationary at first. Just to see how we get along. I''ve learned my lesson after Grunck. I think three weeks probationary is a long enough time to figure things out."


    "What is the word on Grunck?" I asked. After all, I''d been gone.


    "He''s to go to the work camps. They couldn''t prove that he intentionally tried to blow us all up. So it''s the work camps. First time I''d seen him sober was at the sentencing," Wembly told me.


    "Hopefully, he can get his life together," Juzz added.


    I nodded in sympathy. I was glad he wasn''t to be executed. Maybe some time in the work camp would help him in the long run.


    "Well, I better be going if I''m going to make the boat. Is there anything specific you want me to look for? Type of cooking? Experience? Skill?"


    "I''ll leave it to you Rille. You have a good understanding of what we need here. Thank you for thinking of us," Wembly smiled.


    "Of course, you''ve both been more than kind to me."


    "Silly Rille, You saved our lives we owe you a great deal," Juzz smiled.


    I certainly didn''t think so. I''d just tossed a pot of dirty water on a stove, but I wasn''t going to argue with them about who was more grateful for whom.


    "Rille let whoever you find know that they will have free accommodations at the inn during the probationary period but they will have to either pay after that or find an apartment in town. We can''t afford to leave one of the rooms rented out rent-free for an extended period."


    "Oh! Where to stay!" I hadn''t thought of that. Damn. If I brought people back they''d have to live somewhere and the little place I had with my mother was already crowded.


    "If you hire someone for what you''re doing, we can have them double up. They can all share the room for free," Juzz added.


    "I don''t know if I''ll be hiring one or two," I said. "I''ll pay you for a room for two. Until they figure out their own living situations."


    "Nonsense, we aren''t so busy right now due to renovating. We have the space for now."


    "No I really must insist," I tried to pull out coins to pay them.


    "Rille, we can talk about this when you get back. We''ll figure out the room situation then," Juzz pushed my money back at me and reminded me that I was in a bit of a hurry.


    We signed the paper and I left at a light jog to the docks. I didn''t want to miss the mail boat.

 Chapter 17 A Quick Trip Esau

    Esau was huge. HUGE. Even though it was only the third largest city. I was technically in Esau once we reached the docks on the boat. Technically. It took another hour of riding in the mail coach to reach the heart of the city. There were so many buildings that I didn''t know where to look. It didn''t help that many of them all looked the same.


    The crowds were bad, but because the streets were so wide multiple coaches could pass by each other to get where they were going. I would see how owning a coach could be a lucrative business. The city was just too large to get from one end to the other on foot. Hiring someone to drive you would be common sense. That probably explained why there were so many coaches.


    You didn''t want to linger around in certain areas because the city smelled bad. I couldn''t really figure it out. A combination of sweat, manure, and iron? With the breeze, it wasn''t so bad but if the air would have been stagnant I may have just turned right back around.


    I was glad I wasn''t exploring today. I knew that without a guide I''d get lost trying to sightsee. With all the similar looking buildings I knew I''d get turned around. Just finding Imogene and then finding the inn Maybelle recommended would be a difficult task.


    I was lucky that the mail station was more than willing to give me a sketched out map and some detailed directions. My other option would have been to hire one of the coaches and have them drive me. It was well within walking distance so I felt more than silly doing that, but if I found myself turned around I would do it.


    There were a few unsavory looking people who tried to stop me to solicit something. I would speed up my walk whenever someone tried to approach. I had more money on me than I was comfortable with carrying and I didn''t want to take any chances by stopping to politely reject people.


    Now I will readily admit to pausing to look at a few shop windows. I even bought a remarkable looking teacup for Mr. Fronz along the way. I really should give him something as thanks and the odd shaped cup was something he''d enjoy. It wasn''t expensive or anything, but it was pretty and unique.


    I picked out another one in a different pattern for my mother. She''d never forgive me if I didn''t bring something home for her. I''d give Mr. Fronz his green patterned one tomorrow morning, show him my mother''s blue one just so he could look at the pattern. Then I''d give Mom her gift. The bonus of buying teacups was that I could just slip them into my bag for safe keeping.


    I double checked with the shop clerk that I was going in the right direction then went back out into the city.


    I passed the inn I was supposed to be staying the night on the way to the agency. It sort of snuck up on me since I''d been expecting it on another street. The address was right, it just happened to be on the corner of the street I was currently on. The address was on OrangeRiver which ran perpendicular to MoonLake where the agency had its building.


    I paused and debated on if I should get my room first since the inn was right there, or if I should just come back when I finished my business. Did I risk them running out of rooms? No, it was mid-week they wouldn''t be too busy. So I walked passed with a little bit of anxiety over my decision. I didn''t want to spend the night out on the street because I couldn''t find an inn with a room.


    I slowed my steps again hesitating. This wouldn''t have even been in question if I hadn''t passed by the inn first. Get it together me.


    A few more blocks and I found myself in front of a plain building with no signage. I walked by it once before I realized I''d gone too far and backtracked. Then I walked by it again. I was looking for some indication that this was the hiring agency and from the front of the building, I really didn''t know.


    I double checked the addresses on the buildings to either side and confirmed that this must be the place. Did I just walk in? Knock? There wasn''t any sign, what if I was wrong and this was actually some elderly old lady''s house?


    I finally decided it wouldn''t hurt to knock. So I did. I tapping on the front door. I waited for a minute. No answer. Should I just walk in?


    I tested the doorknob. It wasn''t locked, but that didn''t mean much considering it was still light out. I slowly opened the door and peeked my head inside.


    A well-lit hallway and a business sign. Finally, a sign.


    I let the rest of my body through the door and discovered that this building housed three separate businesses. The top floor was for a private investigation firm. The second floor was for something called Alternative Healing Therapy.


    What did that mean? I''d be more than willing to try something else if it meant a long term cure. So far I''d been doing very well. Whatever treatments I got on The Island had long-lasting effects, but I wasn''t betting the farm that it would last forever.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    The first floor was the hiring agency, Demi-Human Employment. I was in the right place.


    I wandered down the hall looking for an open door or another sign telling me where to go. I spotted the stairs at the end of the hall, but no sign or open doors. This was getting frustrating.


    "Hello?" I called out.


    "Hello, in here," there was the sound of something crashing and a curse under someone''s breath.


    The door in the middle opened and a very large woman stood in the doorway. She was very very large which was to be expected since she was a bear Zyanthrope. She had little rounded ears on the top of her head which were more prominent since she had her hair pulled back into a messy bun. Her hands looked normal until you saw her nails. They weren''t human nails but claws at the end of human hands.


    "Sexual healing is on the second floor," the bear woman pointed to the stairs then went to close her door.


    "Um, no, I think I''m here to see you. Imogene?" I held out the papers Maybelle gave me.


    Wait, sexual healing? What on Elrich was that? I swore to avoid the second floor of the building. I didn''t need to know, but I will admit to some morbid curiosity.


    Wait, why did she immediately assume I was here for that?


    "Maybelle? From Blue-Palm Bay?"


    "Yes, I''m Rille. I''m looking for some help. I''m starting my own business, but it''s not up and running yet. However, I''m also here to get kitchen staff for some friends of mine who run a small inn in town."


    "You realize this is a Zyanthrope hiring agency?" The bear-woman furrowed her bushy eyebrows at me. "We don''t normally have new people..."


    "Um, I don''t quite understand. Is there a problem with my hiring a Zyanthrope?" Maybelle hadn''t mentioned any issues.


    "No, no, I just..." she paused then looked me over again. "Come sit down I''ll make some tea and we can talk." She waved her hand at me to enter the room.


    Her office was large with a giant support pillar in the middle of it. She had a huge desk with multiple stacks of papers tossed all over it. There were some cabinets that looked like they used magic cores as locks. Or maybe they were decorations? Why would you use magic cores as decorations? There had to be a purpose and the only thing I could think of were locks.


    The rest of the room was tidy enough. Odd plants placed in corners, one or two wilting a bit. There were bookshelves and enough seating for a group of eight or more around a large conference table on the other side of the office. I tried to politely ignore the claw marks on the surface. Would damage to the furniture be a hazard of hiring a Demi-Human?


    "Have you worked with Zyanthropes in the past?" Imogene asked as she set up a tea tray from a small kitchenette near the back of her workspace. It was a little odd seeing someone so large handling the dainty little tea things. Like a child playing with a toy tea set.


    "No, I''ve recently come into some money and wanted to expand my soap business. Maybelle is helping me with that. I''m looking at a building tomorrow, though to be honest, I had been thinking more along the lines of a stall in the marketplace. Maybelle and a friend of mine seem to think I could manage with an entire building."


    Imogene nodded at me and gestured for me to go on.


    "Um, even if I don''t get the building I do want to open a stall. I''d like someone to help me with the business. I don''t have magic and Maybelle insists that I should have someone with magic working with me. I do understand why. I don''t want to be scammed by magical means."


    "Ahh, I see. I was wondering about that," Imogene nodded and added a large basket of cookies to her tray. "I thought you were for upstairs because you lack magic."


    Well, that sort of explained it, but how did she know I didn''t have magic? Why was my lack of magic criteria for sexual healing? No, I really didn''t need to know.


    "I''m going to need help with extraction. I''m behind for the season and if I''m going to expand the business I need to increase my production on top of what I''d normally gather. Buying from a supplier is far too expensive, so I''d prefer to do it myself. I will provide training of course. The extraction skill isn''t a common one."


    "Can you explain what you normally do to maintain your business by yourself? Then I can ascertain what sort of qualifications you may need." Imogene handed me a teacup and a plate of cookies. The tea was warm in my hands and smelled amazing, but it was still too hot to sip so I blew on it a bit. Imogene did the same with her giant hands and even longer claws.


    So I explained to her what I did. What sort of person I thought I needed. Then I explained the dangers of the Goblin Crabs. I didn''t want anyone I hired to think I''d kept a potential hazard quiet.


    Imogene was kind and made some suggestions on certain talents or skills that may be helpful in my sort of proposed business. However, she wanted me to wait until I was certain of what type of business I was getting into before I hired anyone. She suggested meeting again next week so we could interview some potential candidates together.


    She told me she had the perfect couple for Mr. Juzz and Wembly. A cousin of Imogene, Fender and his wife Zeedra were looking for steady employment outside the city. She was pregnant and expecting their first child but would be able to do something like part-time dishwashing easily enough. He used to be a camp cook for a neighboring country''s army until he married. He''d been working part-time at a local inn to support them both.


    They sounded perfect for the job and I agreed right away. Anyone would be a step up from Grunck. Him having inn experience was a bonus I wasn''t expecting. I signed the paperwork and was told that the couple would be at Blue-Palm Bay in a weeks time. They needed some time to get their affairs in the city in order before they left.


    A stack of contracts and paperwork loaded into my bag I made my way to the inn and to my rather luxurious featherbed. I had worried over nothing. The inn had a few rooms available since it wasn''t a weekend. I chose a simple one, but still, it was far better than my own room at home. I felt like a princess sinking into all that down fluffiness. Slumber crept up on me in moments and I fell into a dreamless sleep.

 Chapter 18 Halcyon Days

    The next few months were a whirlwind. I bought a store, hired workers, moved into a rather large farmhouse on a hill with my mother. Everything seemed to be going so well.


    The store was doing steady business and was slowly gathering a reputation as the place to go to for traveling soaps. The two monkey Zyanthrope sisters I hired were very kind and picked up the process quickly. Nerilay and Turalee moved into the rooms above the store and after a few months, it seemed like they were the ones doing most of the work. I even gave them permission to hire on another employee if they found someone they thought would suit.


    Mom and I bought a house. It wasn''t a mansion on a hill like she''d always wanted, but mansions were hard to find in Blue-Palm Bay. We bought a large farmhouse. It was surrounded by orchards. I began to make plans to incorporate the produce into my soaps. We would also have to hire help to harvest the trees when the time came, but I was familiar with seasonal work and knew there would be a few young lads willing to pick for us come summer.


    I also attended Marcy''s wedding and met with Janette and Maize again. I had been right about Janette being with child. She had a small bump when we all met up and even though she probably could have hidden it, she didn''t want to. She was proudly announcing to everyone that she was expecting twins. The healers couldn''t be certain of the sexes of the babies yet, but they were certain Janette was carrying two.


    I was very surprised to find out that Marcy was in a similar condition. She wasn''t having twins, but she was pregnant. Unlike Janette, she was trying to keep her baby a secret. Afterall, she wasn''t technically married yet. Janette in some sort of hormonal instinct knew that Marcy was carrying and got her to confess. She too had gotten pregnant on The Island.


    I glanced at Maize. Then looked pointedly at her belly.


    "Not pregnant," then she smiled.


    She had moved in with Janette to help her with her pregnancy and eventually the babies. There had been some sort of kerfuffle after we all left The Island. People kept trying to kidnap Janette. It had something to do with her rather horrible grandparents. Maize stepped in and protected Janette and became the family bodyguard and nanny all on the same night.


    I was glad things seemed to be going so well for Maize, but I had no idea that she had the skills to be a bodyguard. She certainly didn''t look the part. Considering how often kidnappers underestimated her it was a good thing.


    Janette had filed a report with the crown over all the kidnapping attempts. They were due to give their case statements in the capital soon. She wanted her grandparents to leave her alone, but she was worried that once the babies came there would be kidnapping attempts on them. Her grandparents wanted her inheritance badly and would stop at nothing to get it.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    I made her promise to write to me with the details of how it went.


    However, with the bright expectancy of the wedding and the impending babies, we all discovered something concerning. Perhaps not as concerning as Janette being kidnapped but still worrisome.


    We all had rashes that wouldn''t go away. Mine started out as flaky skin on my hip and it seemed to spread down my leg. Most days it was red and sore. The healers couldn''t figure out what sort of rash it was and no amount of creams or ointments helped much.


    The other girls were having similar issues. Maize had patches of skin on her back that were odd colors. Janette would have hot flashes that would cause red splotches to pop up on random parts of her body. Marcy had a different kind of rash on her feet.


    I connected the dots when Marcy finally showed us her rash. Mom had a similar rash forming on her feet and hands. We''d been to the healers so many times. It suddenly occurred to me that these ailments might be island related.


    So as soon as I got home I went to the same guard office I''d been to when I collected our things for the trip. I wanted to talk to an island healer about the issues. I knew Marcy, Janette, and Maize would be doing the same thing. I was thinking that maybe whatever vaccines we''d been given hadn''t been enough and we had some sort of specialized island rash.


    I was surprised when the blonde bearded Healer Morris arrived. I certainly wasn''t expecting The Island''s head healer to show up in person. I also didn''t expect him to do so little.


    He took a skin scraping from my mother and I. Then had us provide a small blood sample. Then he gave me contact information and was told that if things progressed I was to contact him again. He left after giving us each a pot of V-laced cream.


    It took months, but just when the snow was melting and spring was right around the corner, Mom fell very ill. She quickly became bedridden. I had to hire a nurse to provide care for her while I was at the shop. Healers were in and out of the house nearly every day. I sent word to Healer Morris but never received a reply.


    Mom sent word to Cantrel and he did reply. They''d been writing since The Island and he had visited a few times over the fall and winter. His last letter told Mom he felt he''d be seeing her again soon. She seemed to take that to heart and did her best to get better.


    I was dealing with my own spreading rash, almost constant pain in my hips and legs, I was doing my best to keep up with the new shop, and take care of my mother. It came to the point where I was in too much pain to walk to the shop.


    I made Nerilay and Turalee co-managers of the shop. They had full control. I had taught them what I knew and they could do it. I became just the owner. I made certain the girls had the increase in pay that they deserved and made it so that they had access to the business accounts. I trusted them and I knew they loved the business just as much as I did.


    In March, I came down with a fever that wouldn''t break.


    The healers that came to the house to help with mother took one look at me and decided I needed to be admitted to the temple''s hospital. I don''t remember a lot about that stay. I know that eventually my mother was brought in as well. Then another girl I vaguely recognized, but I was in so much pain and so fuzzy from the fever I couldn''t gather the energy to remember.


    A man was admitted. Then another older woman. An elderly man was brought in, but he died later that night. Then two more, four more. More people died. The wing was filled with patients. It was an epidemic. The only connecting factor? We''d all been guests on The Island eight months ago.

 Chapter 19 Subject 00938

    Annie, the girl''s name was Annie. She was on a cot beside mine on the boat. I recalled seeing her come into the hospital...yesterday? A week ago? A month? I couldn''t remember but she''d been there almost as long as me. I''d bought her building and I couldn''t remember her name. Guilt washed over me. She looked dead.


    Was she dead? So many had already died. How many? There was the old man, the two older sisters, the young freckled boy... more than ten...twenty? We weren''t the only hospital. I recalled that much. An epidemic. Whispers from the healers in the halls.


    Mother was still alive. That much I was certain of. She was a ranter when she was sick. She''d scream and yell and cause all sorts of mayhem for the healers. Not the ideal patient was my mother.


    A salty breeze blew through the cabin when the healer opened the door. It cleared my fuzzy head a bit.


    I made eye contact with the man. He noticed and came over. He did the routine checks and gave me a big smile.


    "Feelin'' better already and we not even ta da Island yet," he adjusted my blankets and glanced over at Annie. His smile slipped a bit and he went over to check on her.


    Not dead, so it seemed. Though she looked close to it.


    "You be a water one the way you perked up so," he smiled at me again and continued on the line checking the other people. "Will you be wantin'' summin'' to eat. We been givin'' you fluids from that tube ther'' but I can take it out if you think you could eat a bit." He smiled again and continued his rounds. Before he finished I''d fallen back asleep.


    ~~~


    "This one is interesting. Code 00938, name is Rille, age 19. Lives in Blue-Palm Bay with her mother, Maple, age 57." There was some rustling of papers. Shuffling of feet. I was so tired.


    "Magicless, and with some preexisting health issues that caused extreme swelling of the joints. Skills to note, a level 5 pain tolerance it''s why we haven''t had to give her as much Vallerian. We have reason to believe 00938 is one of the few water types."


    "Can we speculate on why 00938 has survived when others have not?" A low female voice asked.


    "I think I have a theory on that," another voice, this one familiar but with the pounding in my head, I was unable to concentrate.


    "Her mother has a special skill called Luck Leech," the voice continued.


    "Luck Leech," the female," I''ve never heard of that one."


    "It''s one of the skills that can only be granted by a certain god."


    "Not a Blessing then?"


    "No, This is a skill. It took me a long time to get the story out of her mother, but apparently, there is a ritual you do to summon the God Chance. He''s the son of Esaias. God of chance, luck, and gambling. Is often the emissary of his father since Esaias is a hermit. He tends to take on the darker sides of gambling while his father takes the lighter. He is the only god able to bestow Luck Leech and that''s only after a sacrifice."


    "What sort of sacrifice are we talking about and what does that have to do with 00983?" The first male voice asked in a bored tone.


    "I believe that her mother summoned Chance and used her husband and daughter as a sacrifice."


    "I don''t understand. What do you mean sacrifice? Her records show the father is dead, but she''s obviously still here." This from the woman again.


    "It''s not a physical sacrifice but a sacrifice of their overall good fortune. They would have gone through their lives not knowing they''d been cursed with absurdly bad luck. Maple,"


    "Subject 13582," interrupted the other male.


    "Yes. Anyway, she thought it was a harmless tradeoff at the time. After all, they would never know. Then her husband died, an accident where he was run over by a boat, I believe. Her own mother made it so that she would have a more difficult time in life just so Maple could win a few extra coins in gambling."


    "So she was born literally unlucky?" The female sounded skeptical.


    "Still doesn''t tell us why you think she survived and what any of that has to do with this," the first male sighed.


    "The God Chance''s power would have leached onto her. Her mother, by using a divine skill, tainted Rille with a small amount of godly power. Not all divine power is flowers and rainbows you know."If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Ahh, now I''m beginning to see." Someone muttered and more papers were shuffled.


    "I can see how that would stabilize the metamorphosis. Do you think we can replicate that? Could you use a small bit of your power on the others?" The woman asked.


    "No," said the second man. "She was already tainted when she got the inoculations. I already tried pushing divine power into a few other specimens. It only accelerated their decline."


    "Oh, look, I think 17563 is with us. Hello there," the first man said.


    "Mommy," a young voice.


    "You''re much too old to be wanting your mother surely," said the woman. Then under her breath, she started reading off vitals. "Heart rate steady, temperature high, morphosis in bone altering state..." she trailed off. "Heart rate weakening temperature rising. I think he''s going to go soon."


    "Mommy," the young voice said again.


    "Tie him down and take him to the tank. We may be able to save him. I would like at least one water male to survive. We can''t very well breed them if they all die on us."


    "Yes, Mr. Rience," the woman said.


    Mr. Rience...why did that sound so familiar. It wasn''t even the speaker of the familiar voice but the first man. Who was the second man? Where was I? Where was my mother? Who was Chance?


    A coughing fit overcame me and I struggled to breathe. I opened my eyes but everything was out of focus and blurry. I couldn''t breathe. My chest began to burn.


    "Tank her too, you know what to look for. Don''t submerge her just yet, I think she still has some time before that phase in her metamorphosis begins."


    "Of course, Mr. Rience."


    I felt something being pulled across my body. Then there was the sensation of moving. There was this warm floaty feeling. The burning in my chest slowly subsided. My coughing fit trailed off. My throat still hurt. Was there something stuck in it? I think I tried to pull it out but my hand was pinned.


    There was a small pain in my arm followed by even more warmth. I could feel my entire body begin to relax. Oh, that was V. V made me sleepy. I forgot about the irritating object in my throat and fell back into my dreams.


    ~~~


    "Subject 00938. One of our last remaining water metamorphoses. The only female. Age 19. Note her increase in Pain Tolerance since she was first brought in. As with other surviving subjects, there has been an increase in Physical Power, Stamina, and Defense. Her Agility is similar to the air subjects. She now has a land and water designation. Her agility on land has decreased for obvious reasons."


    Someone touched my thigh and patted it a few times.


    "Also note that when Subject 00938 was brought in she was magicless. She now has magic and the water magic skill. Like with other subjects these skills were gained during her metamorphosis."


    "Would we consider her transformation complete at this time?" A young female voice asked.


    "Hard to say since she''s the only remaining female.


    "Note the physical differences between the female and the male. We have noted that her hair and eyes were both brown. She has gained the secondary eyelid and it has covered her iris and she hasn''t moved it yet. From what we can tell her eye color seems to have faded and has become a rather milky gray. Also, as you can see, her new hair growth is silver-white.


    "Her aquatic changes are different as well. The males, their legs remain separated around the thighs so that their genitalia are left exposed. On the female, the genitals are covered with a thin layer of skin and everything is expelled through this hole here."


    My eyes flew open as someone inserted a finger into my bum.


    "COUhhghggg" I coughed and gagged. What the hell was in my throat? Why was someone sticking things in my butt? Oh, gods. What was happening? I reached up and tried to pull it out. Hands descended on me and pinned me down.


    "More V, sir?" One of the people pinning me down asked.


    "No, I think it may be time to wake 00938. I think at this point we can be fairly certain of survival." A man who looked familiar commented looking down at his clipboard.


    Someone began wrapping restraints around my wrists. I couldn''t see them, everything was too blurry. Why couldn''t I see? My eyes were open and I couldn''t see. Was I blind? No, I could see, it was just very blurry.


    I struggled, I tried kicking my feet. Water splashed and flew up and got the man and his clipboard wet. A lot of water. I braced myself and tried to sit up. More water spilled out and onto the floor.


    Wait, water.


    Both my hands were restrained but I''d been able to lever myself up enough to see.


    I was being eaten by a giant fucking fish.


    "AHHCCOOOUUHUUgGAA" Gods Above. I was screaming and hacking and the more I struggled the more the fish struggled with me.


    "Sir?" A soggy female asked. She was holding up a syringe.


    Was that for the fish? Yes, kill it. I moved my body out of the way so that she''d have a good shot.


    Only my torso was attached...


    My legs.


    "Yes, but not enough to sedate her entirely. I want to remove the tube and get her eating normally again. Give her a few hours to calm down and then we shall have a little chat," the man with the clipboard patted my thigh, no not my thigh, what the hell was that, a giant black tuna?


    "Vitals are dropping, heart rate increase, blood pressure shift...She''s going to faint, sir."


    "Give her the Vallerian anyway. When she wakes up hopefully she''ll have calmed down. In the meantime, why don''t we break for lunch, get dried up, and finish rounds in an hour."


    "Yes, sir."


    The woman stuck the syringe in my arm. A warm numbing feeling flowed over me, then I passed out.


    Name- Rille


    HP 2145


    MP 7894


    Level- 13


    Age- 19


    Race/Species- Human Altered Aquatic


    Gender- Female


    Occupation- Freelancer


    Exp- 228


    Physical Power- 392


    Stamina- 483


    Defense- 598


    Agility- 10 (on land) 546 (in water)


    Intelligence- 123


    Magic Power- 875


    Water Magic- Lv 2


    Skills


    Knife Work Lv 1


    Dual Wielding Lv 1


    Swimming Lv 2


    Fishing Lv 2


    Net Lv 1


    Rod Lv 1


    Pain Tolerance Lv 7


    Deception Lv 2


    Etiquette Lv 1


    Appraisal Lv 1


    Harvesting Lv 1


    Cooking Lv 1


    Cleaning Lv 2


    Sewing Lv 1


    Knitting Lv 1


    Dyeing Lv 1


    Soap Making Lv 4


    Extraction Lv 3


    Dancing


    Singing


    Leatherwork


    Shearing


    Spinning


    Weaving


    Pottery


    Painting


    Titles- Dedicated Cleaner


    Enemy of Sheep


    Lover of Baths

 Chapter 20 Subject 00707, I002, and I003

    My change had gone smoother and faster than the others. There was a lot of pain, but I was asleep and drugged during the worst of it. One day I woke up and I had a giant pair of dragonfly wings on my back.


    After I had my nervous breakdown and got used to the idea, I realized they were actually sort of pretty. Gossamer sky blue with hints of purple iridescence. They were tougher than they appeared. They felt more like hardened leather rather than the thin transparent paper they looked like. Pretty.


    My hair had also changed. Blue, to match the wings. I had talked one of the healers into cutting off the leftover brown fuzzy hair leaving only a small portion of blue little curls swirling around my head.


    My physical appearance had changed as well. I had already been short but I had lost a few inches in height. On the other hand, my overall extremities had elongated. My arms looked longer and so did my legs. My torso was shorter but it still looked stretched with how thin I''d gotten. Even my face, once full and rounded, was thinner and narrow.


    I could tell it was me but at the same time, I didn''t look like me. I could have been closely related to the old me but no one would confuse us as the same person.


    As I was adapting to my new self, the others in the hospital were dying around me. Every day a new person would be brought in. Every day two or three people were wheeled out, dead.


    Why did I survive and they didn''t?


    Apparently, it may have something to do with having contact with a divine being.


    From what my handler told me nearly 90% of the people who contracted the epidemic died. Of the remaining 10%, the majority of them had had contact with a god at some point in their past. Not everyone, but most. So my sacrificing my abusive family at the age of ten had been good for something.


    The first wave of patients was hard. Watching all those people die. The second wave was even worse. Children. There were children. None of the children survived.


    It wasn''t long before they realized that keeping the people who were likely to survive in the same area with the people dying was a bad idea. So they separated us.


    Then the survivors around me began to break. Mental Corruption. If the survivors afflicted with Metal Corruption weren''t coming up with new and inventive ways to suicide they were coming up with new and inventive ways to try and murder the healers and their fellow survivors. They began checking us daily. Those that were unstable were sent somewhere else.


    My handler was kind enough to let me check on the twins. Janette and Gregory were both here but in a different area. I was glad to know that the entire family had survived, but I was curious about what god they had been involved with.


    I was taken to a nursery. There were six infants that had been born during the epidemic that survived. The twins Starley and Prestley were fine. They acted like normal newborns, pooped, ate, slept, cried. Though they didn''t look like normal newborns. None of the infants did.


    The twins had cute little butterfly wings. They would flutter and get in the way when they got fussy. Starley had pastel purple wings with hints of pastel green markings. Prestley had pastel green wings with pastel purple markings. Neither of them had hair yet, but when it did finally come in their hair color would likely match their wing color.


    There were three babies that looked exactly like potatoes. They moved and cried but they looked like potatoes. They didn''t drink milk or poop. They had them sitting in bassinets with a little bit of dirt and a sun lamp turned on over top of them.


    The last baby was different. She had what looked like a tiny branch sprouting from her back. It even had a few leaves.


    Janette was allowed to come once a day to interact with the twins. I was glad she was able to bond with her babies. I hoped that the birth had gone well. Considering that we were all sick with the epidemic we hadn''t been certain if Janette or the twins would survive. Gregory had seemed so certain, but Janette had confessed in her fevered state that she feared they would all die.


    "Maize?" A woman with brown skin and a huge bosom called from behind me. The fact that her bust line was the first thing I noticed rather than the small tree attached to the base of her spine was a clue on just who it was. Even if her skin color had changed I could recognize those breasts anywhere.


    "Marcy?"


    "Oh, Maize it is you." I was suddenly engulfed in an awkward hug. Awkward because neither of us knew where to put our hands. I hit a tree and she was suddenly groping my wings.


    "I''m so glad you''re ok. Filmore is here too, but they won''t let me see him. They say he''s not out of his metamorphosis yet. I don''t know what to do. If I didn''t have Paisley I''d would have just given up." She began to cry hard wracking tears.


    "Now dear, we don''t want to upset the babies," the healer in charge of the nursery swept up beside us from nowhere. Where had she been lurking?


    "Yes, yes I know," Marcy wiped her face on her hospital gown neckline and tried to smile through the tears. "Maize will you sit with me while I feed Paisley?"


    "Uh," I agreed. Paisley? Marcy had been pregnant at the wedding. My guess was the baby with the branch sticking out of her was Paisley.


    "Twins," I pointed to the twins.


    "Oh, Janette''s twins? Is she here too?"


    "Yes, survived. Gregory."


    "Gregory as well? Are they in air, fire, or water?"This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Fire, both."


    "Fire? Oh, how is she handling the babies then?"


    "Dunno, first I''ve been allowed to see them."


    "The twins are bottle-fed, but we allow the mother to have time with them," the healer commented from the side.


    "Maize, if Janette is fire how is she going to care for the babies when we get released?"


    "Dunno," I shrugged. I hadn''t thought about it.


    "Perhaps 00707 would like to feed them? They are about due to be fed," the nurse addressed me.


    "This number nonsense," Marcy huffed. "This is Maize. Use her proper name."


    "You know that we aren''t allowed to do that 48306."


    "What do you call the babies?" I asked her.


    "The twins are I002 and I003. Infant number 2 and 3. She''s I005," the healer pointed to the baby with the branch.


    "That is Paisley," Marcy corrected her.


    "Starley, Prestley," I said pointing to each twin. I wasn''t certain if Janette had told Marcy the names she''d planned for her babies.


    "Would you like to feed them?" The healer asked again.


    "Uh," I nodded.


    "Take a seat on the couch. I have to bring the infants to you. They like to be held together it can be tricky with the wings. They don''t like to be separated that''s why we keep them in the same bassinet. So If you can hold one like this," the healer demonstrated the hold, "then the other like this," once again she held out her arms. "You can prop the bottles between your legs and let them drink." The healer picked up a bottle that had a long tube attached like a straw and a nipple on one end.


    "Maize?" Marcy asked as we both sat on the couch waiting for the babies to be brought to us.


    "Do you think Janette would allow me to breastfeed the twins? I make more than enough milk for Paisley and it can''t be healthy having no motherly contact at all."


    "Ask," I said and shrugged.


    "I think I will. I''ll have the healer pass on the request and see if Janette agrees."


    "I think it''s a nice idea, 48306," the healer said placing the baby girl into her mother''s arms.


    "Marcy," Marcy corrected the woman before shifting the baby so that it would latch. The baby must have known what was coming because she suddenly got very animated snuffling around for her mother. When she found what she was looking for she gave a happy baby sigh and relaxed into the feeding.


    "Here you go," two babies were placed in my arms and two bottles were propped up. They began to feed as soon as the nipple had been placed. Starley got a bit fussy but I adjusted her so that she was touching her brother and she calmed down.


    "Maize, Rille''s mother is here," Marcy said in a quiet voice.


    "Maple?"


    "Yes, she''s in the earth area but she''s already rooting."


    "Rooting?"


    Marcy looked from her child and nodded to the potato babies.


    "There are two types in the earth area. The ones that carry the tree and the ones that become the tree. Rille''s mom is becoming a tree."


    "Don''t understand."


    "The majority of the survivors are in earth. You know that?"


    I nodded.


    "Well, they say survive but I''m not certain if that''s what it is.


    "Some of us have these branches sticking out of us. We can feel the trees. I don''t know how to explain that part, just that we can feel them. Trees aren''t sentient but they are living and you can feel the life in them.


    "Other people become trees. They start out with their skin looking all calloused and brown," Marcy nodded at the potato babies again. "Then they start to form roots. If the roots aren''t placed in soil the ''tree'' dies" Marcy made air quotes with her free hand. "The tree in this case being the person. So they have an area where survivors are being planted outside. The survivors slowly begin to morph into what looks like an actual tree. There isn''t any semblance of humanity left in them when they are done.


    "I mentioned that I can feel the trees? The trees born from the survivors feel no different than any other tree on The Island."


    "Death?"


    "They," Marcy nodded at the healer flipping over a potato baby, "don''t think so, but I disagree. While, yes, there is still life, there isn''t anyone there. Understand?"


    "Rille''s mom?"


    "Rille''s mom is rooting. She''ll have to be planted soon. She''ll never leave this place and in time she will no longer be Rille''s mom. She''ll be just a tree."


    I thought about that. Was Rille here? Had she died with so many others? She wasn''t in air and Marcy would have said something if she was in earth.


    "Excuse me," I said to the healer.


    "Yes?"


    "Rille?" I asked her.


    "Excuse me?" She answered.


    "She wants to know if you can find out if there is a patient named Rille among the survivors. She''d probably be in fire with Janette."


    "I''ll go check when I''m done here," the healer told us.


    I nodded at her.


    "Those babies?" I asked Marcy nodding at the potatoes.


    "What about them?"


    "Trees?"


    Marcy frowned and bent down to smell Paisley''s head.


    "They will root and become trees, yes."


    "Those babies will die?"


    "Yes," Marcy said quietly.


    "Fuck," I swore images of the children that had been brought in swam through my memory. I had the feeling Marcy was thinking the same thing. She buried her face into her daughter''s hair and gave her a small kiss.


    "Fuck," whispered Marcy in agreement. "We survived though, we will make it home." Then she glanced over at the twins. "You will have to talk to Janette and Gregory, Maize. They won''t be going home and the twins can''t stay here."


    I looked at her baffled for a second. Then it hit me. The twins. I was their guardian. Well, I was hired to guard their bodies. Did that mean I was also responsible for raising them in place of Janette and Gregory?


    They were both fire, they had to stay up in the building that was built on the side of the volcano. They were prone to burst into flames at random moments. If they got to close to someone the heat radiating off their bodies could burn. If they got stuck in the cold or wet they would extinguish and die.


    Gods Above, they couldn''t leave the volcano, or if they did they would have to go to another volcano. The twins certainly couldn''t live in a volcano.


    "The Mental Corruption is the worst among the fire," Marcy sighed. "I''m not saying that Janette is going to lose her mind and try and kill everyone," she frowned and sighed. "I don''t know what I''m saying. I just don''t think she''ll be able to raise her own babies and that breaks my heart all over again.


    "I also don''t think she''ll want those grandparents of her''s raising them. After everything they did? No. I''m not certain if Gregory has family, but even if he does who would keep the children safe from her family? No, Maize, I think you are the best choice here."


    "We''ll see," I hedged. It was too much. I''d just been through so much, seen so much, to have this problem come up... I just couldn''t process it. The babies were cute but it''s not like I had any connection with them other than a bodyguarding contract and a short friendship with their parents.


    "Good news, Subject 00938 is alive. She''s not in the fire section though. Your friend is the lone female survivor of the water section. I say survivor loosely since she hasn''t come out of her metamorphosis yet," the healer came out of a back room and was looking at a stack of papers.


    "She''s with my Filmore?" Marcy asked scooting forward suddenly. She accidentally dislodged baby Paisley from her nipple and the infant began to cry. Marcy soothed the child and switched her to the other breast.


    "He''s still undergoing metamorphosis as well. So far there has only been one completed water transformation and it was of male Subject 58008. He''s been transferred to the lake."


    Marcy looked at me with a puzzled expression.


    "Why would they have to transfer him to a lake?"


    "Oh," the healer looked uncomfortable. Then down at her papers. "Um, I think your handler should explain to you everything that happens with a water type."


    "But why the lake?"


    "Water-type? Lake water?" I guessed.


    "But the lake system on the north side of The Island is a salt lake right?"


    "I think it''s fed from the ocean, so it may not actually be a lake," the healer shrugged and sort of scuttled off back to her office.


    "What has happened to us Maize?" Marcy swallowed another sob.

 Chapter 21 I Find Out I am Not a Fish

    I woke with the sense I''d just had a nightmare. It had to have been one of those sick dreams. The kind you get when your fever is too high and you start hallucinating in your own dreams. Waking with that foggy feeling like any second you are about to fall back asleep but you know if you sleep anymore you''d end up with one hell of a migraine.


    I was awake but very reluctant to open my eyes. I just wanted to sleep some more but my bad dreams were triggering an adrenaline rush that was making it hard to shut off my brain.


    My throat hurt like hell. My back was shooting small pains every time I breathed. A headache was forming that was pounding in time to the beat of my heart. Oh good, I was alive. I guess that was good.


    Badump.


    Mom had been sick.


    Badump.


    I''d gotten sick. I was sent to the hospital.


    Badump.


    Other people were there. Mom was there. People were dying...


    Badump...Badump.


    I was on a boat? Had I been on a boat?


    Badump...Badump...Badump.


    People were talking... No, that was the dreams. Wasn''t it?


    Badump...Badump...Badump...Badump.


    A feeling of sick overcame me and my eyes flew open as I turned and dry heaved over the side of my bed. My stomach muscles bunched and I heaved and heaved. I kept reaching for the side of the bed only it wasn''t there. Oh shit, I was in a box! I began to panic in earnest, my hands flailed around. I wasn''t dead, I wasn''t in a coffin.


    "Oh, there there, honey. Let me help you sit up," it was a warm older woman''s voice. Someone reached down and grabbed me by the armpits and pulled me up. I heard the splashing of water like a person who moved too quickly in the bathtub and had just soaked the floor.


    The hand was pushing my torso forward and patting me gently on the back. Head between the knees during a panic attack everyone knew that...


    My eyes were still blurry, but even I could tell that I didn''t have knees. Oh, Merciful Gods, it hadn''t been a dream. I felt a black wave begin to crash over me.


    "Oh, now now, none of that now," the woman said in a sing song voice while rubbing my back. A tell-tale healer''s warmth radiated from her hand.


    Oh, gods stop that, I wanted to pass out again. To wake up and this not be my reality. Was this reality or still part of the dream?


    "Keep your eyes closed, honey. It helps. The others have said it helps when they first come out of it," she continued to rub my back and talk me out of going full blown insane.


    "You survived, honey. Thank the gods, you survived. I don''t know how much you remember but it was bad. Can you talk yet?"


    "Couuckk," I tried to say fuck off but it didn''t come out quite right.


    "Oh, hold on, You''ve had a feeding tube for weeks now and its probably left you a bit sore. Let me get you some ice to suck on while I heal that up for you."


    The woman went away and came back. She grabbed my hand and placed a cup of ice chips in it.


    "Only a few at a time, honey." Then she went back to feeding me that healers warmth. I gave in and popped a few chips into my mouth. Damn, that felt good.


    "There was an epidemic. It spread clear across the kingdom. It started with the people who''d been to The Island last summer. Then it spread to the general population.


    "A lot of stuff has happened since you got sick. There were riots, and quarantines, then Mr. Rience thought of bringing you all here."


    "Whag?" I asked. I had been meaning to ask what had happened to me but the healer took it differently.


    "Oh, well, when people began to get sick it was only the people who''d been to The Island. So those people were all checked out. Some of them showed the symptoms and some didn''t. The ones that didn''t were told they could leave. Only everyone else began to get sick too. It was mostly children.


    "There was this public outcry that the people from The Island had infected the children. Parents were watching their children die began to call for something to be done with the people who''s been to The Island. The government assured them that the ones who were clear of the epidemic were safe, but it fell on deaf ears. There were riots..." The healer trailed off.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "People who''d been to The Island were found murdered. Something had to be done. It was obvious that at this point some people would eventually survive, but not without some help. Mr. Rience had the idea that he''d bring everyone back to The Island.


    "The uninfected are on the casino side, safe from being drug out and killed in the night. The infected were brought here to the research side and here you are."


    Well, that didn''t explain much. Why the hell was I a fish?


    There had been an epidemic. The government lost control. There had been mob rule for a while. Then everyone got shipped to The Island. Ok, great...WHY THE FUCK WAS I A FISH?


    I splashed my free hand at my ''not-legs''.


    "Fuccsh," I croaked out.


    "Oh, that would be concerning to you wouldn''t it?"


    No, shit. I turned and tried to give her a blurry stink eye. Not being able to see well was really making it difficult to gauge the full effect. Hell, I''d need glasses. Wait, why the hell was I worried about glasses? I was a FUCKING FISH! Priorities, Rille. Stay focused.


    "It''s a side effect of the epidemic. The illness causes a transformative effect on it''s victims. The ones able to complete the transformation are the ones who survived. The others, well, their bodies couldn''t handle it. Looking at your records you had a very high pain tolerance to begin with. We think that this helped. But when we interviewed the other survivors there seems to be one main difference between them and the deceased."


    GODS ABOVE! I slapped at the water and my ''not-legs'' again.


    "Oh, well that would be the survivors are all god touched."


    God touched? Did she mean Blessed? I certainly wasn''t Blessed. A long drifting memory eluded me. I needed to remember something. What was it?


    "The survivors all took on what Mr. Rience calls an elemental form. You, honey, are a water type. There are earth, fire, and air types too.


    "But you are so very lucky. The water types have the lowest survival rate. There are only three of you."


    "Fishk," I finally got out and pointed to the... what was it... fin?


    "Oh, well it is a very lovely tail, much prettier than the males, I must say."


    Tail, ok nice to have a word for it.


    "But, honey, you are not a fish. As far as we can determine you don''t have any fish in you at all."


    I tried rolling my eyes at her and moved my ''not-legs''...tail. To prove my point.


    "OH! You still have your secondary eyelid down! You can''t see a thing can you? Oh, poor dear! Ok, so try closing your eyes and blinking very hard. Like this," I think the woman was trying to show me something but it wasn''t like I could see her doing it. She was just a blurry blob in white.


    Still, I closed my eyes and tried to blink. How did one blink hard? I opened them again, still blurry.


    "Try again."


    Shit, ok. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut.


    "Uggg," I began to cough. Oh, gods that felt dreadful. Like someone had licked my eyeballs. Goosebumps broke out on my arms. Could I still get goosebumps on my legs...tail?


    I opened my eyes again...and I could see normally. What the hell?


    I turned to the woman. She was middle-aged, with greying hair piled high up on her head. She had a few extra pounds and a rather large motherly bosom. She looked like someone who loved to bake cookies for all the neighborhood children, genuinely loved cats, and owned lots of decorative throw pillows.


    I pointed to my eyes and tried to make the universal sign of what the hell. It was basically throwing my hands up in exasperation.


    "We believe that the secondary eyelid forms so that you can better see underwater without damaging your eyes. We''ve been told that in the water, when the eyelid is wet, that you will be able to see just as clearly as you can now. Only under the water though, any other time we think it distorts the perception and causing nearly blinding blurriness. Does that seem about right to you?"


    I nodded. I didn''t know anything about this underwater eyelid business but my vision had been nearly blindingly blurry.


    "Fish," I asked again. My throat was feeling a lot better. I popped another ice chip in my mouth and waited. When it seemed like the healer was confused I moved my...tail...again and splashed some water on the floor. A small vindictive part of me hoped she would have to mop it up. I wanted answers and she wasn''t giving them.


    "You are not a fish. If anything it resembles something more mammalian. Mr. Rience is doing some testing, but we think that it is closer to being a whale."


    Whale.


    I was a whale.


    "Why?" I asked.


    "Well, we got the idea because of the way the tail is situated in comparison to the torso..."


    "No, WHY?" I interrupted her. "Why, fish?" I pointed to the tail again. Oh, it wasn''t black like I''d thought. I moved it experimentally. Dark blue, dark purple, reddish-pink. Don''t get distracted me.


    "Tramscorck," I started to cough on the larger word. It didn''t come out like I''d wanted.


    "Transform?" The healer asked. I nodded.


    "We don''t know, to be honest. Some people got sick, some people didn''t. Of those people, there were four basic types. Earth has a better survival rate. We don''t know why. Then air and fire. Water, not many people were water, but of those that were, water has the lowest survival rate. We don''t know why you are water or why someone else is earth. All we know is that of the survivors most of them are god touched.


    "You''re the only female survivor so we can''t be certain if what you''ve experienced is normal or not. The males have this gap right here," she motioned to her thighs," right around here," she moved her hand lower to about two inches above her knees, "the legs begin to join and form a solid mass of muscle that forms the tail. They have thigh bones like normal but their lower half is jointed and bendy."


    She did a sort of hula dance trying to show just how bendy the tail was.


    "You are fused all the way up to the pelvis. Your reproductive organs seem fine and as far as we can tell everything important, down there," she pointed to the general area she was talking about, "is normal."


    Good to know they could use me for breeding. I thought sarcastically. Wait. Where had that thought come from? It seemed like something was just out of my mental reach. What was I forgetting?


    "You''re bum is colorful but looks like a fairly normal-looking bum. So while there is skin covering most of your um, area, you will still be able to um, function, normally."


    I''d be able to shit. Great. I was like a goldfish. Shitting in my own bowl. I didn''t think they''d invent underwater toilets just for me.

 Chapter 22 A Fish in a Bowl

    Chapter 22 A Fish in a Bowl


    ****Article Format****


    Mystery Illness Causes Unprecedented Hospitalizations


    Kirland James


    Over the last week, temple hospitals around the country have had an influx of patients. According to Healer Hilderbrand of Amoris Temple Esau, "We are at capacity, our sister temples are trying to help with the influx of patients but I am uncertain how long we can keep going without further aid from the government."


    Healers are working around the clock but to little good. The first patients of this illness were hospitalized roughly around the same time thirteen days ago. The only connecting factor is that every patient had been to King Gustav''s Island within the last year. Many of whom were winners in the kingdom-wide lottery.


    There was an initial conclusion that this illness only affects those who''d been to The Island. However, this week has proven that theory wrong. Children and young people from around the country suddenly, and with very little warning, began falling ill.


    "There seems to be no end in sight," says Hilderbrand as he motions to the rows of cots filling the temple''s hallways. "My advice is to stay away from the infected, don''t try to care for them at home, make certain they get to a temple immediately. This is a life-threatening illness that should not be taken lightly."


    He goes on to discuss how they are uncertain how the illness spreads but is adamant about cautionary measures. Initial symptoms are a prolonged rash followed by increasingly high fever and intense pain.


    "All the medical temples in the kingdom are working together on this. It is our top priority but we are being hampered by bureaucratic nonsense from the capital. We need help. We need equipment. We need answers and as of now we aren''t getting anywhere," Hilderbrand sighs as he pulls the sheet over a young woman. There are more covered cots in the halls than there are living patients.


    The advice of this reporter is not to wait. If you suspect that you may be falling ill don''t wait. Time could be a deciding factor in survival.


    Young People Target for Virus


    Kirkland James


    It has been two weeks since the initial reports of the mysterious illness that has racked this nation first came to light. Originally, it was thought that only people who''d visited King Gustav''s Island were infected. Now it is believed that those from The Island only exhibited symptoms first due to the unique vaccinations they received during their visits. The vaccinations, meant to keep the people safe, seem to be the focus of recent studies.


    At this time most researchers believe it to be a virus. How the virus is spread is unclear but it is thought that carriers of the virus may seem well for weeks until the initial signs of the plague manifest. During this period carriers may unknowingly transfer the virus to others around them.


    Schools have been shut down in the wake of this epidemic. School-aged children are the most affected by this plague. Close contact between the children may have led to the unusually high infection rate among the young.


    There is some weight behind this theory since many of the initial victims were school teachers and nurses who''d been to The Island after winning the kingdom-wide lottery last summer. Patient Zero, the first recorded patient of this epidemic, was a secondary school teacher from Frendrick''s Cove. However, it should be pointed out that it is unlikely that Patient Zero spread the plague single-handedly. Cities around the kingdom have reported on their own ''patient zeros''.


    Healers urge parents to keep their children home. Don''t do any unnecessary traveling and stay out of busy shopping centers. While it is likely that those infected have been so for weeks healers urge utmost caution during these times.


    While healers are giving sound advice the capital remains silent on the issue. Giving a brief statement of condolence yesterday King Gustav stated that he is working with his top researchers to formulate a plan of action.


    A little too late for the mother of Gregory Tippens who had to bury her 5-year-old son this morning.


    "I''m angry, I''m so angry. This never should have happened. If they knew The Island was dangerous they never should have let people on it to begin with." Margory Tippens referred to the initial reports of The Island''s unique vaccinations being a cause.


    She urged for testing of all the visitors that had been to The Island. Her plan isn''t a bad one and healers are in the process of checking all the visitors to see if they show signs of the plague. It is slow going though since the influx of patients has all the medical temples filled to capacity. This reporter hopes that these cautionary measures will finally bring an end to this epidemic.


    Monsters Overrun Farming Town Few Survivors


    Lord Abernathy Hollowood


    The town of Little Haddox, south of North Haddox, has been overrun by monsters. There are a few survivors but refugees have found little welcome.


    The plague still rages through the country and Inns and Boarding houses have been shut down to discourage travel.


    "We haven''t been able to find many adventurers willing to head out under the circumstance," says Guild Leader Morrow of North Haddox.


    The plague combined with the travel ban has made keeping the monster population manageable difficult. Little Haddox is not the first town that has been attacked in recent weeks, but it is the first to fall completely.


    "You can''t fight monsters when your family is dying around you," says one middle-aged survivor who wishes to remain anonymous. "I''ve buried three of my children and my mother. My wife is pregnant with our fourth child. My job is to farm. I am a farmer. I can beat off a Goblin or two but when they come in groups of ten or twenty? No, no man without training would be able to fight them off alone. It kills me to leave the farm during plantin'', but we have no choice."


    Our anonymous source is camped out on the outskirts of North Haddox. A camp of refugees unwelcome in the city. Supplies and necessary items are supplied but once simple things like medical care and rooms at an inn are denied them.


    "It''s only going to get worse without the plantin''," he tells me as he shakes his head.


    If the trend continues, he may just be right. Cities like North Haddox rely on the little farming towns for their source of food. It is feared that if the farms aren''t planted on time food shortages may occur come this summer and fall.


    Attack on the Prince- 19 Men to be Hung


    Prince Ayman Kingsman Duke of Elderbourgh was on his way to North Bridgeway for the Annual Spring Boat Festival when his party was set upon by a ban of supposed thieves. Two guards and one assailant was killed in the squirmish. It is reported that it was a close affair until Lady Margot stepped in.


    Many will remember the scandal when Prince married his adventuress wife. Lady Margot Kingsman was a world-renowned adventurer in her day. Achieving a Guild ranking of A at a very young age then shocking the world when she decided to retire to marry.


    "You forget just how strong she is," says Lord Karl Louertin head guard in charge of Prince Ayman and his family. "She looks like a frail old grandmother and you forget that she could blast the entire squad away if she had a mind to."


    Lady Margot is well known for her healing skills. She was given an honorary ladyship separate from her married titles for her work during the Obsidian Wars. However, it is often forgotten that Lady Margot gained her A ranking due to her proficiency at Lightning and Air Magic. It is no exaggeration to say that she could blast away entire squads in the battlefield then back to the healing tents to mend the wounded.


    "But young folk, they forget themselves," Lord Karl says in his statement. "If we, her guard can forget, I guess it''s to be expected that the young folk who didn''t live through that war should forget."


    When Lady Margot stepped out of her carriage a young ''thief'' fell upon her and was unceremoniously blasted into the trees. This would be the last casualty. Lady Margot quickly stunned the rest of the attackers.


    "The entire attack, from beginning to end, was only three minutes. Two of our men fell immediately due to surprise and it left us struggling to fight off the band of twenty."


    After questioning, it was determined that the ''thieves'' were not thieves at all. Highway robbery, even of a Prince, has a far lesser charge than intentional assassination.


    But these men were not trained assassins. They were everyday working men from nearby towns.


    Why were normal men trying to kill the Prince?


    "We believe it stems from this idea that people who''d been to The Island are plague carriers," says Lord Karl.


    There have been mixed reports, from this paper as well, as to what first started the epidemic that began only a few short weeks ago and has decimated the population. Many still believe that it is The Island that is responsible for the Plague. However, that has been denied by official sources since the majority of those who have succumbed to the illness had never been on, or in contact with anyone who had been on, The Island.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Still, superstition and misinformation abound and this isn''t the first such case of attacks of Island survivors in recent days.


    Lady Sarah Awther, daughter of Earl Awther of Wren Haven was found killed in her cell in Amberley Prison on Saturday. She was jailed this winter for another attack on Prince Ayman. She was due to be released after one year served.


    It is unclear who the assailant was in Lady Sarah''s case but the King''s Own has taken on the investigation. The King''s Own only step in on cases where it is impossible for the local guard to take on the investigation due to conflicting interests.


    The case of Prince Ayman''s would-be assassins is clear though. 19 men will be hung at the end of the week. There is no rule or leeway in the law that would allow for any lesser sentence. It is a sad case since all the men going to the gallows have recently lost a child to the Plague.


    There is no consideration for the faulty mental state when it comes to assassination against royal parties. No matter how sad the case or how mislead they were.


    Come Friday, there will be 19 new widows will be placing their husbands'' ashes inside the family tombs beside their children.


    In most cases of assassination, this right familial respect is not given. However, it is said that Prince Ayman himself requested the exemption saying. "These men are as much victims of the Plague and its aftermath as their children."


    It is yet to be seen how the waves of aftermath will yet infect the Amber Kingdom.


    Nutritional Needs Met by Guild in Major Port Cities


    The recent food riots around the kingdom has caused the Guild to take action. As of Monday, Food pantries will be opened to the needy at all Guild locations in all major cities.


    The Guild of Amber Kingdom has used its unique merchant system to pull surplus foodstuffs from other kingdoms. This surplus will come at a cost to the kingdom but will be free to the needy.


    One visit per week per family for as long as the food crisis lasts or until they run out of surplus. Every family will be guaranteed a ration of flour, salt, and miscellaneous other grains. Miscellaneous salted monster meat will also be available in abundance for those not opposed to eating it. Animal meat will not be available but bags of dried fruit and nuts may be substituted for the meat.


    "There is no reason for any citizen to go hungry now," Guild Master Hemilich says. "If someone is hungry they can just come here. I understand the fear of not wanting to venture out during this time, but needs must be met."


    The Guild will be handing out food between the hours of 10 am to 4 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Each family will have to sign a register and show their citizenship papers to receive their weekly allotment.


    Plague Ridden and the Islanders to be Quarantined for Safety


    Murders around the country lead to a voluntary quarantine among those who''ve been to The Island. The uninfected are to be sent back to The Island by the end of the week. They will be joined by the few survivors who are infected.


    "This is for everyone''s overall safety until more is known," says Island director Mr. Reince.


    The Island has top of the line research facilities that are easily converted into medical wards. Volunteer healers will follow on the boats.


    "As of yet there have been no attacks on the plague-ridden, but considering the volatile climate surrounding the misinformation..."


    I stopped reading. Well, of course, no one tried to kill any of the plague victims. No one in their right mind would want to do anything that would piss off the gods. Committing murder in a healers temple was bound to piss a few of them off. No, no one wanted that.


    But where were the gods? Surely, something as bad as this epidemic was enough to have them intervene? They didn''t do it often but when they did it was usually a somewhat positive outcome. It really depended on which god decided to help. Some gods liked the misery a good plague would cause. None of the major ones, of course, but not all gods were sunshine, sparkles, and baby lambs.


    Maybe they were intervening but in more subtle ways? There wasn''t anything in this huge pile of papers to suggest that a god or two had decided to take a walkabout in plague-infested Amber Kingdom. So perhaps they were working more behind the scenes. It was better than thinking they had been abandoned entirely.


    I pushed away from the table and using the wheelchair rolled to the window. I was told Mom was somewhere up there on the hill. Among all the trees of the dense forest. Maple had survived. They''d been quick to tell me that, but she was immobile. Why she was immobile they hadn''t been very clear. They sort of skipped over the topic with words like hardened joints and barking. What the hell was barking?


    I could get around in the chair for certain lengths of time but eventually had to be submerged into my tank. I was told that a wheelchair would be unable to traverse the terrain to get to Mom. So I was stuck.


    I hadn''t had any contact with any of the other survivors at all. If I didn''t know better, I''d swear I was the only one. They were keeping me secluded. Watching my every move, analyzing my every sneeze. The only female water type. I was some sort of super rare creature they wanted to keep all to themselves. Caged... bowled...tanked?


    I was caged. Not quite a jail but still my freedoms had been greatly limited to wheeling myself around the small building that had been refurbished to house the incoming water types. Even then they''d designated the smallest building to the water types. Somehow they knew that the survival rate would be nearly nill.


    You could see the huge complex up on the hill if you turned the chair enough. That was where the earth types were. Well, where they started. They eventually ended up in the forest. Did monsters harass them there? She would have to remember to ask.


    This had originally been a research lab to study the unique monsters of The Island. The Volcano with its surplus of unusually colored Fire Lizards were the initial draw. Imagine, Fire Lizards living in a Volcano. Normally, they stalked the southern deserts. It really was amazing to find them living in a volcano. Not many creatures could withstand the temperatures.


    Now the volcanic research lab was home to the fire types. The fire types, when they weren''t bursting into flame, tended to like being around the volcano and remarkably the Fire Lizards liked them. They became like pet dogs to the fire types.


    Aggie, Agatha my nurse, had told me that the fire types wouldn''t ever be allowed to leave The Island. Something about the fire transformation made them go ''balmy'', as Aggie put it. They weren''t quite insane but they were so caught up in the fire that they forgot that humans weren''t meant to burst into flames. They were incurable pyromaniacs, every single one so obsessed with the flames that they forgot all else around them.


    I figured that it had to be bad for them to make that assertion so early on. Incurable. Well, the entire lot of the survivors seemed to be incurable. Who wouldn''t be changed to some degree over this? I think I was personally still in a state of shock.


    It had been three days since I''d woken and it still didn''t seem real. None of this seemed real. I felt like I should wake up any second and discover that this was all a really vivid sick dream.


    Shock.


    Or denial.


    Take your pick. Either really worked. I didn''t really want to be faced with the realities of the situation. I wanted to forget that my legs were gone and that for the few hours I spent in my chair I paid for it by having to stay submerged in my tank for double that amount of time.


    The skin on my inner elbow began to itch. That was the first sign that I needed to get back into the water. If I waited, my skin would really start to itch then start to flake off like a bad sunburn. I wondered what would happen if I pushed myself past that point, but I was never allowed to try. Aggie always appeared from somewhere and would take control of my chair. She''d scold me for waiting so long and would help me into my tank.


    I knew they were always watching even now when I was seemingly alone. I wasn''t sure how they were watching but I knew they were. Suicide. Many survivors offed themselves. I couldn''t really blame them to be honest. It had occurred to me as well. What sort of life would I lead now?


    My depressive spiral took many forms but anxiety over the future was paramount. Was I one of the survivors that wouldn''t be allowed to leave? I certainly wouldn''t be able to maintain the life I''d been leading.


    I had money now, though and a growing business. The money may be able to buy a way around the necessities of life. I did have a house that had close access to the ocean and running water fed from its own well. I could have a tank built in the house and use a wheelchair to get around the rest of the town. Sure, upper floors would forever be problematic.


    Or I could sell the house? But the orchards on the land really were perfect for the business.


    There was a lot of land there. It might even be possible to build a completely new home that would be easier for me to get around in. Turn the main house into a boarding house. That could work.


    The money would honestly open up possibilities for me that I never would have had otherwise. If we were the old poor family we once were then there would be no way to integrate myself back into society. I''d probably have to go off and live my life in one of those secluded temples filled with old woman who did nothing but pray for the sins of others. I''d have to live off charity.


    Or the ocean. Presumably, I could swim. I hadn''t tested out my tail yet, but I could breathe just fine underwater. Though it wasn''t really breathing just sort of sucking water in and out of the gills I now had behind my ears. I could also see underwater with the second eyelid closed, just like Aggie said.


    So I could, in theory, live in the ocean. If I could find food, shelter, and if I wasn''t afraid of being accosted by a Kraken. Damn menace were Kraken. Harmless for the most part but had an unusual curiosity that caused them to get into trouble with the merchant ships.


    I could just picture a Kraken coming by to investigate my underwater home one day. Spare a cup of sugar neighbor?


    Chuckling a bit at myself at the image of a Kraken housewife trying to wrangle three Kraken kids only to discover she''d run out of sugar.


    Sometimes it was the absurd that kept us sane. Stopped us from overthinking. From falling into that folly of what-ifs.


    "Nice to see you cheery today 00938." A small woman with dark hair, a large stooping nose, and eyebrows too big for her face walked in carrying the telltale clipboard. One of the many researchers, orderlies, or healers that infested the building. One of my watchers.


    00938, it was what they called me. Never Rille. Sometimes Aggie would call me Honey and other pet names but never my real name. She''d explained about so many people dying it was better for the healer''s mental health to just refer to the patients by number rather than name. Someone with a name was a person, someone with a number could be treated like just another body in a list of dying.


    When I pointed out that I wasn''t going to die at this point, or at least I was fairly confident I was in the clear. Aggie mentioned the suicides and the ones who develop mental corruption. It was best to keep an emotional distance even if it did seem like a patient was going to pull through the plague. You never knew what state their mind would be in after. Even healers couldn''t fix defects of the mind.


    I understood why the number system was in place but it still grated on my nerves to be addressed as a number. I was a person. I had a name. It had only been a few days and I was already beginning to feel less human, the physical changes didn''t help that.


    "You have friends that have been inquiring about you. It will be up to you whether or not you would like to meet with them," the anonymous woman told me looking at her clipboard.


    "My mother?" I asked her. She was the only one I knew that would want to meet with me, but I''d been told that was impossible.


    "Hum, no." The woman glanced up and gave me a pitying look. "They say they are your friends and would like to invite you to have lunch with them in the nursery."


    The nursery? There was a nursery?


    I must have looked as confused as I felt since the woman continued.


    "Two women, 00707 and 48306. They insist they know you."


    "The numbers mean nothing to me," I said frankly.


    "I see," the woman looked at the clipboard again then back up. "A Miss Maize and a Mrs. Marcy Cooperwrite. It is the later that has recently had a child and thus has requested lunch in the nursery."


    "Oh, yes," I exclaimed.


    Marcy and Maize were here. I had mixed emotions. I was glad they were here but at the same time horrified that they were here. Them being here meant they had the plague as well. They''d lived through it. I was glad my friends were here but I rather wished they were safe on the other side of The Island with the uninfected.


    "You will have to go back into your tank now if you want to come out again for lunch," the woman tucked her clipboard under her arm and strode to my chair. Unceremoniously, she began to push the chair back to my room. It was rather too abrupt and forceful to me, but I didn''t complain. She was right about my having to spend time in the tank in order to go out again for lunch.


    I couldn''t stay out long or my skin began to flake itch and I would start coughing because the air was too dry. I hadn''t yet pushed my limits on how long I could stay out and it seemed that my watchers wouldn''t let me test that either.

 Chapter 23 Death and Birth of Mothers

    My getting ready for lunch was simple. I got helped out of my tank with the lift Aggie brought in. It looked like the mini version of the cranes they had on the docks to lift cargo onto the boats. Then I donned a simple white cotton hospital gown.


    It covered my top half well and sort of draped over part of my bottom half. Not that I had anything that was on display down there that need covering up. It was a tail. It wasn''t like I was running around showing off my nethers for all the world to see. Still, having the gown drape across my lap made me feel a bit better and less like a dock hussy.


    I was pushed by another anonymous attendant to a building up the hill. It was rough going since the gravel path wasn''t forgiving on wheels. I felt like I would be shaken out of my bones. I was grateful for the help though since I wouldn''t have been strong enough to propel myself up the hill.


    I was parked in a lounge area inside another whitewashed building. Very clinical, even if it was a lounge. The same sort of chairs set up. The sort that weren''t very comfortable so that people wouldn''t be tempted to linger in the area for long. The table was a cheap affair. We''d had one ourselves at one point. There has been some effort into making the room a little less austier. A large painting of a field of sunflowers was placed on the wall between the windows.


    "Painting. New," someone said behind me. A smile formed on my face at once. Maize wouldn''t change. I turned and the smile slipped a bit I had to fight to keep it up. My Gods Maize had changed. She looked like a skeleton of herself. So thin and boney. It said something that the first thing I noticed was how small and thin she''d become. I mean, she had huge blue wings. They were folded flat against her back but anyone with eyes could see they were there.


    "Fish," she said to me.


    "I''ve been told it''s closer to being a whale," I moved my tail a bit to show her.


    She was silent for a while looking so sad.


    "I think air may be the luckier ones," she whispered.


    "What do you mean?"


    Before she could answer the door opened again. A tall woman with nutty brown skin and a pair of extremely large breasts walked in. She also had a tree sprouting from the base of her back.


    "Rille," she said and walked up to my chair. She bent down for a hug. Where was I supposed to put my hands? Around the tree? Between the tree and her body? I ended up moving my hands upward so that I was gripping her shoulders.


    "Have you seen my Filmore? He''s in the water area with you?"


    "Filmore is in the water area?" I asked then shook my head. "To be honest, I haven''t met any of the other water types. I''ve been told there are two males. One must be your Filmore."


    "You haven''t met the others?" Marcy turned and looked at Maize. "That seems odd."


    "Only three," Maize pointed out.


    "That is true there are far more of our type hanging about. Speaking of our type, Rille your mother is here. Did they tell you?"


    "Yes they did, but they said I wouldn''t be able to go to her because of the chair and for some reason she can''t come to me."


    "Hard to get a chair through the forest," said Maize.


    "That''s what they said," I told her.


    "Have they told you um," Marcy paused and glanced at Maize. My stomach dropped to the floor as that look was shared. My mother. Something they hadn''t told me about my mother.


    A woman appeared with a wheeled cart with food piled on it. Marcy dropped the subject and sat down at the table. Maize followed.


    "I''m to remind you of the time 00938. You need to be back in the water by..."


    "I remember, thank you," I interrupted the woman.


    The food was placed before us and we all talked about the weather and how lovely it was until the attendant left.


    "Are the two of you followed around and watched like I am?" I asked.


    "Hum?" Maize asked sipping her tea.


    "What do you mean?" Marcy looked at me then glanced over her shoulder to where the attendant was talking to someone just outside the door.


    "I mean," I lowered my voice a bit, "I am never really alone. There is always someone right outside the room. You were about to say something weren''t you Marcy? Something bad right?"


    Marcy exchanged another glance with Maize and nodded.


    "Well, this is what I mean," I coughed a bit and then said in a louder voice. "Marcy you were about to say something?"


    Marcy looked at me a second then said, "Yes, I mean have they talked to you about..."


    "Oh, look here!" A new woman walked into the room waving at the attendant as they passed. "Are you all here to visit the babies today? It''s not quite time but we can make some exceptions for friends and family." The woman beamed at us and held her hands clasped out in front of her.


    "We will be seeing them, yes. Though, we were going to wait until after lunch," Marcy told the woman.


    "Well, surely you want your friend to see the little ones?"


    "I would love to meet the babies," I told Marcy with all sincerity. My anxiety over my mother hadn''t abated but I really did want to see the twins and Marcy''s daughter.


    "Alright then. I''ll bring them right along," the woman smiled at us and left the room.


    "Hum," Maize said again with a different sort of emphasis.


    "Are they always like that?" Marcy asked.


    "I think so. I think they are watching me for signs of a mental breakdown. Any sort of bad news may trigger me into insanity. That sort of thing."


    "Sane?" Asked Maize.


    "I wouldn''t blame her if she wasn''t," snapped Marcy a bit harshly.


    "I mean what is sanity really? I didn''t mean that Rille was insane," Maize explained. Maized actually explained it to Marcy. When had Maize begun that? She''d always been short on her words but for the most part everyone knew what she meant.


    "Philosophy isn''t really what we need now," Marcy sighed.


    "What do we need?" I asked her.


    "Truth," muttered Maize under her breath over her teacup.


    Marcy nodded, "There are things I think they haven''t told you Rille, but I think Maize means more than that. Right?"


    Maize nodded.


    "Well tell me before the babies get here," I hissed into my sandwich.


    "Do you ladies need anything?" The attendant was back.


    "No, go away." Leave it to Maize to get to the point. The attendant frowned and motioned to me.


    "You aren''t feeling dry?"


    "No," I told her.


    "I can get you a damp towel."This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Go away, we are trying to have a personal conversation," Maize looked at the attendant and glared at her.


    The woman paled a bit then stuttered something inaudible. Then she nodded at us and left the room.


    "Quick," Maize said nodding at Marcy.


    "Rille there are different sort of earth types. I''m one, your mother is the other. She''s rooted, Rille."


    "Rooted?" What the hell was rooted and why did Marcy look so upset.


    "Rille, they call them survivors because they lived through the plague, but they aren''t, not really."


    "What do you mean?" My mother didn''t survive? They''d told me she did.


    "Rooting is when you start your second phase of metamorphosis as an earth type. I grow a tree but the others become the tree. Do you understand? Maple is becoming a tree." Marcy glanced quickly at Maize then at the door. She took my hand and squeezed it.


    "I think it''s a different sort of death. I''m so sorry Rille, but even if they call them survivors they aren''t. They aren''t there anymore once the metamorphosis is over."


    "Are you saying my mother is dying?" I suddenly felt ill and the tea I''d drunk sat heavy.


    "Here they are! Wanting to see Mommy," The second woman came in pushing a bassinet with three babies in it. All three of the babies were crying. Marcy stood and picked up a tiny infant with a small branch budding from the base of her spine. Then right there she tucked the infant, branch and all, under her shirt. Little suckling sounds started and there was one less crying baby.


    "Here you go, dear." Suddenly, a baby with pale green wings was plopped into my arms and a bottle was handed to me. I did what women for centuries had done when faced with a crying infant. I cuddled the tiny thing and gave it the bottle.


    My mind had gone blank. I was staring down at the tiny creature not even sure which of the twins I held. It seemed rude to dislodge the diaper to check. I wouldn''t want a stranger looking into my underpants to determine my identity.


    My mother was dying. I felt a bit numb to it. I''d always taken it for granted that she would die before me. It was logical, the way things were. When I was younger, I''d worry that she''d be killed off for non-payment of gambling debts.


    I''d begun to worry she''d had something terminal. She''d been getting sicker even before the plague hit. I''d been bracing myself for that revelation for weeks before I''d gotten sick. None of the healers knew what was wrong.


    "When I was told she was here I was glad," I whispered. "She''d been sick for a long time so I just thought that perhaps her sickness was part of the plague. Now that it was over she''d be fine again, but none of us are fine, are we?" I looked down at the baby. It had wings. It was born with whatever this was that had changed us all. We didn''t give birth to normal babies. "Are we even still human?"


    I looked up at the three adults staring at me. Two of them were my friends and the other a stranger. The stranger had her lips pursed but seemed to come to a decision on her own.


    "Dear, we have been studying everyone in order to figure this," she waved her hand at all of us, "out. Some of the best minds in the country are here working on this. But even with all these smart people running around the best they have been able to tell is, we don''t know.


    "Now, some people might consider this a negative. I on the other hand see it as a positive. As long as there isn''t a definite answer there is hope. So don''t lose faith." The woman patted my shoulder and left the room.


    "I didn''t think she had it in her. Makes me feel a bit better having her in charge of the nursery," Marcy commented.


    "She didn''t answer the question," I commented.


    "Hope, she said that because we don''t have answers we have hope. I hadn''t thought of it that way to be honest."


    "Do you think that they can fix this?" I waved my hand at my tail.


    "No," Maize commented shifting her twin.


    "Why do you say that?" Marcy asked.


    "They probably can''t fix us but they might be able to figure out how all this started and how to prevent it from happening again. I think that''s all we can really hope for." Maize looked down at the baby in her arms. "What sort of life will they have?"


    We were all silent for a while. Maize and Marcy thinking their own thoughts. Mine spiraling around thoughts of my mother''s death. I''d lose her soon. Before that happened I needed to see her. I had to talk to her. What I''d say I didn''t know.


    "Hello," A soft languid voice came from the door. Janette stood in the doorway looking at us but somehow she gave the impression of not seeing us.


    Her hair was piled messily on top of her head and it looked like there had been an attempt at curling it. Four large island flowers stuck out from her hair making her head look like a frizzy flower pot. How she managed to get her hair into such an impossible shape I didn''t know.


    Her eyes were dark rings from poor sleep. It didn''t help that her face had thinned out so much you could see the hard points of her cheek bones. Her arms looked like twigs and had dark bruises in various stages of healing all over them.


    "Janette!" Maize stood up and smiled.


    "Maize, hello. My child, you have her." Janette stood there looking at the baby in Maize''s arms. Then she turned her unfocused gaze in my direction. "Rille, you have him. You look wet. I don''t like wet." She took two steps into the room and paused staring at the painting of the sunflowers.


    "Is she always like this," I whispered to Marcy.


    "I don''t know, this is the first time I''ve seen her. We''ve been in contact through the healer but we haven''t actually seen each other. She''s fire you know." Marcy turned and looked at me.


    Fire, well shit. I thought perhaps they had her doped up to the eyeballs on V.


    A large rust colored lizard, comparable to a medium sized dog, slinked around the door frame. It glanced around then walked up to Janette and began to rub itself against her like a cat.


    "Prudence, these are my friends and babies." Janette reached down and stroked the top of the lizard''s head. The lizard turned and looked at us.


    "Oh, 24432. I wasn''t expecting you today," the healer rushed up to Janette.


    "Who?" Janette asked her.


    "Do your handlers know you''ve come to visit dear?" The healer asked. I noticed she made certain to keep a bit of distance between her and the lizard.


    "My babies," Janette pointed at the children then looked at the table. "Tea."


    "Would you like to join your friends for tea?" The healer asked.


    "That would be lovely," Janette glance back at the painting again and stared at it instead of sitting down.


    "Right, why don''t you take a seat right over here." The healer gestured to a chair on the far side of the table.


    Janette looked at the woman a long time then moved slowly towards the table. As she got closer I could feel a very slight rise in the temperature.


    "Hello," Janette said again as she sat down.


    "Hello Janette. How are you feeling?" Marcy asked her.


    "Quiet, I am feeling quiet and yellow. I feel yellow today." Well, there was the old Janette''s odd emphasis on words. Her speech had slowed and she honestly seemed like she was impaired. My assessment that they had her drugged probably was partly true. Though, I wasn''t sure if that accounted for the amount of vagueness.


    "You look different," Janette looked at me, Marcy, then Maize. "Are you my friends?"


    It was true that we all looked rather different. I''d lost weight but my top was pretty much the same. Marcy''s skin had gone brown but other than the tree her overall appearance was similar. Maize was the most changed from what she used to be. Janette though, she didn''t look at all altered in any way.


    "We went through the plague and it changed us," Marcy commented slowly. "You are changed too, right?"


    "Changed?"


    "Yes, changed. You''re different now."


    "I''m changed. Don''t touch the babies. Don''t touch at all."


    "What do you mean?" I asked.


    Janette smiled and reached out for the teapot. In seconds, there was hot steam coming from the spout and an odd sound was heard. The teapot had cracked along its side.


    Even with the teapot leaking from the crack and steaming from the spout Janette poured herself a cup. The tea water was boiling even as it fell into the tea cup. I was honestly surprised the cup didn''t shatter.


    Janette put the pot down and sipped at the still boiling water as if it was just lukewarm.


    She sighed and looked at the tea placing it back down.


    "So wet. Not hot enough."


    Maize, Marcy, and I exchanged looks.


    "Janette, about the twins," Maize began.


    "Gregory saw them yesterday. Said they looked like potatoes. I don''t think they look like vegetables at all."


    "No, he may be mistaking them for some of the other infants in the nursery. They certainly do look like potatoes," Maize commented. Babies that looked like potatoes? Surely not.


    "They are beautiful, Janette. You should be so proud," I told her.


    "They don''t seem real. I can''t touch them, hold them. Do they know I''m their mother? No, Marcy is mother now."


    I glanced at Marcy.


    "I think she means that I sometimes feed them. I have more milk than Paisley needs and I feel like breast milk is better than this powdered milk."


    "Maize is mother now," Janette sighed. "Don''t let them get my babies? You won''t right Maize? You won''t let those people get my babies."


    "Your grandparents? No, they won''t get the twins. I''ll stake my name on that," commented Marcy. She placed a harsh emphasis on name. It was obvious that she meant the Cooperwrite name. It was harder to pressure peers of the kingdom. Maize didn''t have a name so having Marcy''s backing was paramount.


    "Good," Janette sipped her tea and turned to look at the painting again. "Sunflowers should be hot."


    She moved her hand towards Maize as if to touch the baby. When she got too close Maize surreptitiously passed the child to Marcy. Marcy finished feeding Paisley and adjusted herself so that she held them both.


    I began to burp the infant I held. We sat in silence until he gave a large belch. I got some milk spit up on my shirt but I dapped it away with a napkin. I was new to this baby thing. If I''d been thinking I would have placed the napkin over my shoulder like Marcy was doing. She had one baby in her lap and the other she had tossed over her shoulder.


    "I''ll help in what small way I can," I offered Janette.


    "Yes, yes," she dipped her finger in her tea and swirled it around until the water was steaming again then sipped. "There may be trouble. Trouble. With the estate. They want the money not the babies." She looked at me with her eyes looking a little less glassy.


    "It''s all they ever really wanted was the money. The twins will be well off, if you can keep those creatures away from the money. But if it comes down to it give them the money. NOT the twins but the money. My babies will be safe. Safe. Maize will promise."


    "Promise," Maize agreed.


    "I promise too, dear." Marcy smiled at Janette.


    "Me too. I''m not much for mothering but if it''s a home they need they will have it," I promised Janette. I was thinking about the large farm house on the hill. The entire upstairs would be free, not like I could use it. I might have to give up the idea of staying there entirely. In that case, the house might as well be used by two growing children.


    Two children who would be raised without their parents. Never knowing their touch but hopefully understanding that they''d been loved deeply. There was something wrong with Janette but even still you could understand the strength it had taken to come to the conclusion that she''d never be able to raise her own children.


    My soul wept for us all.

 Chapter 24 It Doesnt Add Up

    No one ever bothered looking up. Humans had a bad habit of never looking up. Other races knew that their lives depended on alertness. Yet humans were universally ignorant of this. They took comfort in their numbers rather than adapt to an awareness of their surroundings.


    So I''d been taught that when dealing with humans always strive high. Having winged humans on The Island you would think the watchers would be more alert to what was above them. Old habits are hard to break and not one of the dozen or so guards bothered to look up.


    I''d stolen and stashed the dark clothing weeks ago. They most likely came off of another plague victim that didn''t survive. The bodies had been lined up in rows, stipped of all clothing, tagged for identification. Where had the clothes they were wearing gone? Mostly in the rubbish, but some of the nicer things were kept in a closet filled with random junk. Perhaps, one of the watchers had thought they could be sold off for profit back on land.


    The Watchers. Rille had been right about them always watching. Not all of the people on this island were healers. Most of them were the researchers that were here initially, but there were far too many buildings and staff in place just to research a few odd plants and monsters. No, something wasn''t right.


    How was it that a research base was so easily converted into elemental type specific hospitals. Rille''s tank for instance, that glass would have had to be prepared ahead of time. There was just no way a custom order like that would have been done in weeks.


    The quilted padded walls they had in the gymnasium in the air building. Why would a research center need padded walls. Unless they were placed there for a specific reason. That reason being to keep newly winged humans from injuring themselves in flight practice.


    No, this place knew the plague would happen. They had prepared for it. How far did the knowledge go? Had they known this would happen when they brought all those lucky winners here? Or had they been alerted to the impending crisis from people like Rille''s mother who had shown early signs of illness?


    The Island''s own head healer had seen to Rille''s mother over the winter. Had he seen her condition and predicted that there would be an outbreak? Why hadn''t there been any warnings if they knew so far in advance as to build these specialized buildings?


    It was wrong. Something was wrong.


    Someone had to have answer. It was just a matter of finding who. Of course the head of the Island Rience would know but getting information from him would be dangerous. I wasn''t certain how it would be dangerous but instinct told me not to get close. Rather, my luck told me not to get close.


    If you learned to listen to the luck, didn''t get greedy, didn''t abuse it, it wouldn''t backfire on you. Rille''s mother had the luck. I was nearly certain that her chosen sacrifice had been Rille. Why anyone would do that to their own child I didn''t know. It was obvious that Maple was the sort to abuse the luck. It was remarkable in a way that Rille had lived so long considering the curse her mother had placed on her.


    I''d hated my family and I''d still been cautious in using the luck. My parents and older siblings were my sacrifice. I''d given their luck to Chance when I was just ten. The god hadn''t batted an eye when he looked at me. Covered in bruises, one of my eyes punched out of socket, blood dripping from multiple cuts he''d conducted business as usual. Then, probably out of pity, he healed me. I''d probably have lost sight in that eye if it hadn''t been for godly intervention.


    It had been bad that night. My mother had actually gotten a knife and was using the blade to cut marks into my arm again. One mark for every broken honey jar. It didn''t matter that it had been my older brothers playing too close to the storage shed. One of them had slammed into the wall and caused the shelf inside to fall over. It had been blamed on me since I was the one responsible for stalking the jars.


    I fought her off and when I ran my father had suddenly been there with a fist to the face. My brothers joined in the beating until I''d lost consciousness. While I''d been out my mother had finished her cutting.


    Perhaps if it had been the first time I wouldn''t have considered it. This instance had been one out of perhaps hundreds of beating. It had been particularly bad but still one out of hundreds.


    The book had been discarded. Left in the temple trash. There was only one temple in Honeyton but it wasn''t dedicated to any one god. It was a catch-all type temple. All gods welcome. The only priest in town hadn''t been a very devout man and his only real duties included marriages, deaths, and seeing to distributing the townspeople''s Exp.


    So he really didn''t know what items should have been kept, what to toss out, or what should have remained hidden. How our little temple had gotten a copy of that book I didn''t know. Why the priest didn''t bother to even look at the contents I didn''t know either. Perhaps it was luck of a different sort that led me to it.


    That night, surrounded by slumbering bees, I summoned Chance. I named my family as my sacrifices. He accepted the deal and I gained the skill Luck Leech.


    Considering what a devastating skill it could be the summoning had been simple. So easy a child with meager resources could do it. A dangerous book indeed. I burned it at the first opportunity.


    Luck Leech had given me a sixth sense about situations. People like Rille''s mother used it in gambling, but there were far better applications. Rille''s mother seemed blinded to the possibilities. She probably wouldn''t have had such a harsh life if she''d learned to listen to her luck better.


    She was the greedy sort though. That was obvious from her choice of sacrifice. Perhaps she chose to ignore her luck when it suited her greed. Not an evil woman necessarily, but a selfish one. I had wondered if Rille''s close proximity had had something to do with their bad luck.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Rille practically had a miasma of bad luck floating around her. Everything she did would go bad at some point. Perhaps by living with her mother, who had good luck, they counteracted each other. They''d go through cycles where the good luck would dominate the household and just as there would be cycles of bad luck.


    In a backhanded way, Maple living with Rille probably kept Rille alive. Though the odds of Rille dying young wouldn''t have been so great if Maple hadn''t sacrificed her. Rille was a good person, I had a hard time being civil to Maple once I''d discovered what she''d done.


    My family were monsters. They deserved all the misfortune that came their way. My running off hadn''t changed their dispositions in the slightest. Two of my brothers were currently working in the mines for theft with violence. My father joined them a year later after beating a man nearly to death in a pub brawl.


    My mother and another brother had tried to keep the apiary running, but then he got drunk one night and set the entire thing on fire. He joined the mining crew for starting a forest fire that burned down the neighbor''s flower fields. They had been ordered to give all the land over to the neighbor as recompense.


    Mother was the only one not doing time in some form of penal system. She''d become the local barmaid and whore for hire. Rumor was she did a decent business and was saving up money to take her new found trade into the big city.


    The point was my family deserved it. Rille did not, but being god touched, even in a secondary way, had saved her life in this plague.


    Sounds drifted up to me from the room below. It was just the nightly researchers meeting. There were some legitimate healers present but for the most part it was mostly a meeting for the researchers. If there was any information to gain it would be from one of them.


    For the last few weeks they hadn''t talked about anything that shed light on my suspicions. I had, however, pinpointed two likely candidates to look into. Researchers that were more upper middling ranked. They had some access to the boss and his main group.


    This meeting went the same as the others. What to do with the patients with mental corruption was always in hot contention. Those poor people were sent to an underground facility. Of course I wasn''t supposed to know that there was a mental ward in the vast cavern complex under The Island.


    From what I gathered most of the caverns were underwater and inaccessible. The caves they used were only accessible from a man made path way in the basement of this very building. They could also be accessed from some random cave on the coast, follow a complicated series of underwater tunnels, and another labyrinth of caves. No, it was easier to carve out a staircase from the top.


    At some point I wanted into those buildings, but for now I couldn''t figure out a way in. The security around the underground area was certainly better than any other part of The Island. Large men in all black uniforms stood sentinel all hours of the day and were meticulous in checking Id''s.


    There were only two ways to get down there. Take out the guards and hope no one would notice until you were able to get back to the surface or test positive for mental corruption. Shitty options either way. The outer entrance from the shore wasn''t really an option. Getting lost and drowning were only a few of the drawbacks.


    Ah, the woman had begun speaking again. She was always saying things like Mr. Rience says or Mr. Rience wants. I wasn''t certain if she was actually in Rience''s confidence or was just one of those people who boasted about being near the top and really was just the person who fetched tea. Still, the person who got tea for the king had to have some sort of position.


    My other candidate for information was a man. He wasn''t always at the meetings and when he was it was usually to address the crowd about changes in security policy. He was the head of all the black suited guards. Older, taciturn, and had probably spent a good deal of his life in the military.


    He was most likely to have the best information but it would be harder to get it from him. The woman seemed reliable at her job and devoted like a dog but most likely wasn''t let into the inner circle secrets as she hinted to her colleagues. I would probably stalk her a bit first since she was the easier target.


    I could be wrong and some information gained from her could lead to something. It was far less risky and if nothing came from it I could always try again with the man. She seemed like an efficient person if nothing else. Efficiency sometimes was the downfall of secret keeping. People who were efficient tended to like record keeping.


    Gossip is what lead me to these meetings. The attendants tended to ignore the earth types after they''ve rooted. After all, they would soon be trees. So they felt less reserved about talking in front of them.


    I would give Maple credit for being able to listen without seeming to be listening. Marcy had taken it upon herself to keep the old lady company during her death transition. Maple would tell Marcy what she''d overheard and Marcy would pass it along to me.


    Marcy didn''t understand why I avoided Maple. I hadn''t told anyone what I knew about her or her past actions. Marcy didn''t know, so found it pleasant to keep the woman company as she tried knitting with ever decreasing deftness.


    Rille surely didn''t know. At least I strongly suspected she didn''t know. It wasn''t my place to tell her about her mother''s sins. Maple would be gone soon and it wouldn''t be a factor in how Rille lived the rest of her life. I didn''t really see any need to tell her.


    She probably suspected she was one of the very very few who''d survived and weren''t god touched. I''d let her continue to think that.


    I did wonder about the handful of people who claimed no connections with the gods. I suspected they''d been god touched and didn''t know it. Not many people realized it but gods could be anywhere. Not all of them were instantly recognized as gods. Only a few outside the major twelve would be recognized by the common populace.


    An odd fishy smelling old man congratulates you on a wonderful catch after a day of fishing. The small little girl who help you pick a bouquet of wildflowers. The middle-aged fat woman who cooked the best bread in town. You never know who could really be a god living as a mortal.


    I''d been given Luck Leech by Chance at ten. His appearance had certainly startled me and made me reconsider some of my preconceptions. My Lady, Avedette, her appearance certainly fit her godly attributes. A goddess of retribution and revenge I''d dedicated my life''s service to her.


    In some ways, I could be considered a priestess but as Lady Avedette was a minor goddess with no physical temples dedicated to her she didn''t really have priests. Did you have to have a temple to be a priest was the question? The induction into Avedette''s service was just as secret and closed doors as my summoning of Chance years before.


    No one advertised they were a devotee of Avedette. You just were. Those who required her services knew how to contact Avedette and her followers.


    First I had to know, truly know, for My Lady did not take revenge lightly. She was the Daughter of Justice. Honor still was at the core of every head that rolled. I personally felt that Lady Avedette kept things more balanced than her mother.


    Revenge and retribution. My Lady would be on my side on my self imposed mission. If I was right and all this death and pain had been planned... I''d do the rituals myself. I''d summon Avedette to this place and together we''d reap their souls.


    Let justice rain down like waters and vengeance an everlasting flow.

 Chapter 25 The Southern Continent (Side Story Part 1- Lanissa)

    The sweaty man sitting before my master was a bad lot. Not only did he look sweaty and greasy so did his aura. It was dirty green that looked like pus from an infected wound. It had probably once been a brilliant grass-green, but now do to his corrupt nature it had become just as infected as his personality.


    However, he was sincere enough in his proposition for business with my master. I didn''t see any of the shifting of energies an aura gets when people are being deceitful or lying. Not that was a foolproof method of detecting deceit. It was just better than going into business blind. My master knew this and understood.


    In a minute he would ask me to leave to make tea. While out of the room I would write down my impressions and leave a note on the tea tray. The note would be passed off as a simple business message that had been left while Master Juriya was in his meeting. He''d read it, then he''d make his decision based on my impressions and his own business instinct.


    This combination had been successful. Since I''d been brought to the counting house profits had soared. It was both a blessing and a huge problem.


    At the age of 12 I''d been sold to a woman who wanted a girl to specifically care for her vast collections of wigs. In the hot heat and with the frequent sandstorms they got nasty rather fast. My job had been to delouse and clean her wigs and style them to her preference. By the age of 15 I''d been sold again because she didn''t like the look in her husband''s eye when he looked at me.


    I''d been bought by Juriya to clean the counting house. I performed my duties diligently and quietly trying always to remain unnoticed. I messed up though. I''d felt the need to warn my new master about one of the men he was planning to do transactions with. It was obvious to me that he was a murdering bastard, but from all outward appearances he was just a normal middle class businessman.


    Not even a week after my warning the man was arrested for murdering seven adolescent boy slaves. The bodies were found only after a bad sandstorm unearthed them from their graves.


    Master Juriya, ever the businessman, sat down to question me extensively.


    The Slave Rings made lying to my master impossible when asked a direct question.''


    A Special Skill, one that I was born with, Aura Sight. It allowed me to see the magical energy that surrounded a magic user and depending on how you were as a person the color of the energy would change.


    A good person usually had a clean aura. The color usually gave a hint at what sort of magic the user was best at. The density of the aura was how strong a person was magically. Auras acted similar to their users main magical attribute. A wind user had an aura that would shift around as if blown by a breeze. A water user would ripple.


    Emotions were also displayed in your aura to some extent. Teenagers were the worst. Their auras were typically in constant flux. The auras bending and shifting to the moods of their owners. It was this specific aura attribute that help me detect when people were being deceitful. Aura''s of people lying always dim slightly when a lie would be told.


    This combined with judging how dirty and polluted an aura appeared is how I judged people. People would collect a certain amount of dark energy in their auras everytime they did something that went against the gods.


    "Lanissa, tea," my master ordered. I placed my pen on the small lap desk I used to record these meetings and stood.


    "Yes, Master," I bowed and backed out of the room.


    As I waited for the tea to steep I pressed my back against the stone of the wall. A chill ran up my spine. It was a hot day and I was grateful that I could get some relief from the heat. Many slaves weren''t so lucky. Master Juriya''s counting house had been carved into the wall of the canyon. It wasn''t in one of the tented pavilions or wooden buildings that were built along the banks of the Yurina River.


    Yurina was a unique city in that it was elongated to fit inside the canyon and to spread across both banks of the river. The upper half of the city was where the wealthy lived. The river flowed south into the lower half where the slave markets, delta farms, and the route to the ocean were. Master Juriya''s counting house was placed somewhat in the middle of the two main districts. He could do business with both the wealthy and the middle class who made their businesses in the lower district.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    We were only two ladders up in the canyon. It was prime real estate. We were above any risk of flooding if the Yurina happened to overflow it''s banks but we weren''t so high up that it was a hardship to climb. Two ladders up from ground level was ideal. Seven or higher were usually housing for lower middle class or for freed slaves.


    The ground level usually housed slaves not worthy enough to be kept in the master''s main house. Usually, those whose job it was to put up and then take down the tented market stalls that went up along the banks of the Yurina every day.


    I knew I was lucky. For a slave I was extremely lucky. I had a decent master that due to his own sexual orientation had no interest in using me sexually. I was allowed to live in the counting house instead of being housed in one of the lower houses. I was also fed at least two decent meals a day. I was also given a bathing and clothing allowance. I was visible to clients so I had to have a clean appearance. No rags or louse ridden hair would be allowed to be seen by my master''s clients.


    No, I was lucky. At the same time very unlucky. I''d become so useful to my master that he never let me do any errands on my own. I would always have one of the counting house guards with me. Always. Most people assumed it was because I was a favored sexual slave and he let people think that since it helped hide his own sexual inclinations. Made it damned hard to plan an escape though.


    I had to plan. When the time came I had orders to go north. The gods tended to forget that slaves weren''t free to go wandering across the continent on whim. So when my Lord popped up one night when I was still working for the wig lady I was at a loss for how I was supposed to accomplish his directives. When a god told you to do something it was usually a wise idea to do it. However, there were a few logistical hurdles. The Slave Rings were a big one.


    At the time I''d had my ears pierced with regular rings. They told everyone that I was a slave, but they weren''t Slave Rings. Slave Rings were magical earrings that prevented the slave from disobeying a master''s orders. Master Juriya had put them on my once he realized my usefulness. I literally could not disobey him or the rings would activate and start sending pulses of pain into my head.


    So I couldn''t escape as easily as when I was 13 and my Lord appeared before me.


    I stacked up flatbread and fruit onto the tea tray. Then added the pot of hummus. I recalled that night four years ago with a shake of my head. My Slave Rings bumping against my neck at the movement.


    It had been early in the morning, I''d been piling up a basket with wigs to carry up to the top of the canyon to bake out in the sun. The sun would help with the delousing. My mistress wouldn''t wake for another few hours so I had some time to get them cleaned and ready for her. I was picking a louse off my arm and smushing it between my fingers when a voice behind me startled me into dropping the wig I was holding.


    "How many wigs does one woman need?"


    I turned and found a child standing behind me. Not much younger than me. Maybe 10 or 12 years old. Who was this child? A friend of one of the mistresses sons? They were in their late teens so it was hard to believe they''d have so young a companion.


    More importantly, why didn''t he have an aura? Was he one of the magicless ones? Most of the ones with no magic were slaves. This boy wasn''t dressed as a slave. Who was he?


    "My son is usually the one who does these things for me so you''ll have to excuse me if I''m a bit rusty at the social niceties." The child pulled out my stool from under the table and sat down. Then from out of nowhere he made a pear appear in his hand. He took a bite of it and looked at me.


    "Would you like one too?" Another pear appeared and he handed it to me. As he did a louse jumped from the wig I was holding to his hand. He frowned at it.


    "Disgusting, this habit of wearing wigs. They always end up infested. I don''t know why humans bother. Let nature take its course. No hair is better than being bitten by fleas and lice." Then he waved his hand around and a pulse energy vibrated through the room. "That''s better."


    I looked down and noticed a few lice had fallen out of the wig I was holding. Then as I turned my head lice that had infested my own hair fell and landed on my tunic. I shook my head and more bugs fell out of my hair. I hadn''t realized I''d had so many. I was always trying to comb them out but it was a never ending battle since the mistress would just bring more fleas and lice home with her.


    "All dead," the child confirmed my suspicions. "Now we can talk." With that he folded his leg over his knee and proceeded to tell my about my future.


    I had to wait for a sign from the north. When the earth shook and it began to rain ash I was to make my way north. No real destination, just keep working my way north.


    I tried to ask why I had to do this but I was told that he couldn''t be more specific because it would conflict with my freewill. Not that a slave girl had much freewill, but I think that point escaped him.


    He was interfering with the future. Something gods rarely did. As such he couldn''t be more detailed. If he told me specifically what was going to happen in the future something I did could cause things to get worse not better. It was safer all around if I didn''t know and just went north, but not until it rained ash. That was important.


    At the time it didn''t seem like such an impossible task. I''d try to get myself sold to one of the caravans heading north. My mistress was amiable enough to listen to the request of a slave. It wouldn''t be anything to replace me after all and the odds were high that she''d be able to make a profit from selling me if I grew up to be pretty enough.


    She had sold me, earlier than I''d anticipated. I was grateful that Master Juriya wasn''t the sort who abused his slaves, but I was still left with the problem of how to escape now that I had real Slave Rings and a guard at all times.


    I still hadn''t worked it out when the first earthquake hit and the tea I had made crashed to the floor shattering pottery and food everywhere.

 Chapter 26- The Etiquette in Calling a Lamp Bastard

    I''d been taken to the lake. I''d graduated from the tank and was allowed to finally try out my new body. They didn''t want me going too far at first. Aggie cautioned me that my body may not be fully morphed and I could drown.


    In the tank, they could monitor me. Out in the open, they had a considerably harder time of it. I still went back into the tank at night but during the day I took my first tentative swims to the depth of the lake.


    Adam joined me sometimes. Adam was the first survivor of the water type. He seemed to have changed a bit, personality-wise, since I''d last seen him on the boat with his two idiot friends. I learned that of the idiot trio Adam was the only one to fall to the plague.


    His nose was still crooked and his hair was still blonde. His physical appearance hadn''t changed as much as mine. I had silver-white roots where my hair was growing out and my eyes had lost most of their color. They''d gone an odd shade, not grey not blue while at the same time being both. Without any other water type, it was hard to guess which one of us was the abnormality. Perhaps when Filmore was allowed to join us we would find out.


    He was able to get into a wheelchair as of a week ago and had been able to visit his child and wife. I was happy for Marcy. She''d been so worried about him.


    I hadn''t met up with him as of yet since most of my time was now taken by being in the lake.


    When I mentioned Filmore to Adam he gave all the correct responses but something about his manner made me slightly uneasy. Eventually, I decided it was because Filmore was a lord. Lord Filmore Cooperwrite. I only really knew him as Marcy''s husband. He was a flashy man but deeply loved his wife.


    Adam didn''t have any titles. He was from a well off merchant family but nothing close to being part of the peerage. He''d had all the best schooling and bragged about all the important people he knew. He did a lot of bragging. Aggie assured me that he was just insecure around me and a lot of young men fell to that vice when insecure.


    It was disconcerting when she told me that because of my mother''s windfall I was actually at a higher social order than Adam. Because I hadn''t had the grace to be educated in the manners of people with money I''d honestly had no idea. I was just me, me with more money, but still me with a new whale tail.


    I skipped a day at the lake at the beginning of the week so Aggie could teach me all about social order. Where she found charts and demonstrational lineage maps I do not know. I found out that even though I was new money, and the money really couldn''t get any newer, I was technically still of the lower order.


    However, because I''d invested it, bought real estate, and formed my own business I''d risen in ranking. It wasn''t necessarily having money that gave you status it was what you did with it, land is what gave a person status. When you combined land with lineage that''s how you got into the upper orders.


    The fact that I was a single young lady of means with my own money also meant I was quite the ''catch'' socially speaking. To Adam who was just fresh out of school, didn''t actually own anything other than what his family had, and wasn''t set to inherit land or business since he was the fourth son. I was a cut or two above him. So he bragged, a lot.


    Marcy and Filmore along with Janette and Gregory were so high on the social list I''d been surprised. I recalled the ball and the dinner. Both couples had been placed in seats of honor. Those same seats had been deemed worthy of a prince.


    Marcy hadn''t actually been married to Filmore when we first became friends so at the time I was still socially acceptable. Marcy and Filmore''s match had been exceedingly odd from a social standpoint. Janette''s marriage was just as odd though she''d married for completely different reasons.


    It was only because my two friends were on the odd duck scale of socialization that they befriended Maize and me. Any other ladies of their standing wouldn''t even bother. Or at least they wouldn''t have before I had money. Now that I did, I was a bit more palatable as a companion.


    That''s the way Aggie put it. "Palatable as a Companion." I felt like a nicely aged cheese. Next thing I knew I''d have to start taking deportment lessons. I was a fish now surely I didn''t need to know the proper way to hold a hankie in order to dissuade unwanted gentlemen?


    I had better things to worry about. My mother, being a fish, and working out how this new magic thing worked was a priority.


    I''d always imagined having magic would make life so much easier. I''d be able to heat my own water, turn on the magic lamps, blow up Goblin Crabs on the beach if they got too full of themselves and attacked. It was nothing like that. I had magic but no clue on how to get it to work.


    Aggie gave me books, brought in instructors, tried showing me how her own earth-based healing magic worked. My goal, turning on a lamp.


    That damned lamp. It sat on a table beside my tank mocking me. I''d begun to call it Bastard just out of frustration. That Bastard lamp. I was reminded that it wasn''t very ladylike to be calling inanimate objects derogatory names by one of my instructors and I retaliated by splashing him with my tail. Bastard.


    I got scolded by Aggie later but damned if it wasn''t frustrating. It was a lamp. People used them every day. So why the hell was it so hard? It wasn''t like I was trying to learn a magic skill. I knew that took time. Just pushing out enough magic to light a lamp was the first step in magic. You didn''t have to have any sort of elemental associations for it to work. You just had to have at least 1 Exp of magic in you.


    Children could do this. Children did do this. It was the poor children of most towns that turned on the street lamps every night. It was literally a child''s job and I couldn''t manage it. Bastard lamps.


    When I got overly frustrated I took to the lake or the nursery. There was just something about babies that cheered people up. Perhaps it was the smell, the way their little hands gripped your finger, or the fact that while they were in the nursery you weren''t the one responsible for changing them.


    I even played with the potato babies, as Maize had taken to calling them. There were only two left as one of them had been sent up to the forest to be planted. In a way, playing with them helped me with my mother.


    As I couldn''t go up to the forest, my only interactions with a rooted earth type was through the babies. It was easier to understand what it was my mother was going through when you saw the white roots sticking out of the babies. Once they started sprouting it was time to be planted. It was heartbreaking knowing that these babies were essentially being buried alive. In order for their survival, it was necessary.


    Survival. It took on a completely new meaning after the plague. Were you still a survivor if you turned into a mindless tree with no sentience? Was it considered survival if you had your body but lost your mind to mental corruption? Survival. I personally thought it was a term used too liberally.


    Had I survived? I was of sound mind and I technically had a sound body. I''d probably consider myself a survivor but for someone like Janette or my mom? No. I wouldn''t consider that survival at all.


    I sank down deeper running my hand through the water weeds. If I moved around too much near the bottom of the lake a lot of silt and debris got stirred up. Getting sand in your gills itched and you had to get to some cleaner water to ''cough'' out the sand. It was, for this reason, I preferred the rockier and weedy areas of the lake rather than the smooth sandy ones.


    Adam had said that these weeds were edible, but the ones with the purple spines were not. Seemed as though he''d been getting a much different educational experience than me. He was learning all about survival in the water. I was learning how not to offend by wearing the wrong sort of hat at a dance party, useless information.


    I picked at the tip of one of the weeds. Then licked it. Tasted like water. I popped it into my mouth and chewed. It was crunchy and tasted like lake water. That was it. It would probably be better with a bit of lemon but there wasn''t any way to get lemon down here. I could take the weeds to the top but why do that when there was better food to be had?The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    I did find that boiled eggs held up well underwater and I often brought some down with me for snacking. Pickles and apples held up decently too. I didn''t think I''d ever be able to live off just what I found in the water.


    Adam had other ideas. He''d recently decided he wanted to learn to fish. Netting seemed to work best. His first tries with a handmade spear had failed. I would have thought he''d go back up top to cook and eat the fish. I was wrong. He''d decided the best sort of fish was a raw fish. I watched him at this game of his once and decided it wasn''t for me. I wanted my food cooked, thank you.


    There was a slight ripple in the water. Then a greater ripple. Small waves pushed against me.


    Just as I was wondering what was going on the water around me gave a great pulse. Suddenly, a current was flowing pulling me away. I had difficulty fighting it. I was tossed about and a few times hit bottom. Then the current reversed direction and I was swept up in a surge.


    I reached out in vain for something to hold on to. I was smashed into a rocky area and my hands scrambled for purchase. I was thrown against a large boulder. By pure luck, I was able to wedge myself against it and the ground. I held on for all I was worthwhile the current changed direction a third time. A fourth, a little less damaging. Then finally settled into ripples again.


    Debris filled the water making it murky. I was having a hell of a time breathing or whatever it was I was doing with the gills behind my ears. They were plugged up with sand, dirt, and all sorts of crud. I swiped behind my ears in hopes of clearing some of the gunk away. I couldn''t breathe.


    Desperate I pushed up from the bottom and broke the surface. I took a great breath of air and shot water out of my gills in hopes of dislodging the particles. It was as if I had the worse hayfever and I gave the greatest of sneezes. Mucus and all manner of small lake debris dripped down my neck. I submerged for a second to wash off. Hell, I was pretty certain all my etiquette lessons would frown upon snot laden necks.


    My gills still itched and it was making my eyes water and nose run. I tried ''blowing'' my gills again this time underwater. It helped but there was so much silt stirred up it wasn''t much good.


    I looked about, realized I still had my secondary eyelid down and fixed that. The attendant that had been waiting for me to finish was flat against the ground. He made eye contact with me as I turned to look at him.


    "Earthquake," he shouted from the shore.


    "It''s a mess down here. I need to come in," I called back.


    He nodded and got to his feet. He operated the crane that allowed me to get out of the lake and into my chair.


    "That one was a bad one," he commented.


    "They''ve happened before?"


    "Twice to my knowledge though nothing as strong as to knock you off your feet before. Some jars or books might fall off shelves that''s it." He stood behind me and pushed me up the path to the building where the water types were housed.


    "I''m going to need to flush my gills when we get in. There was so much muck kicked up down there I actually couldn''t breathe for a bit."


    "That is concerning," he commented. Then quickened his pace. "You''re bleeding from your shoulder and your shirt is ripped up."


    "I got tossed around against the rocks. I''ll probably be very sore in a few hours, but I think I''m relatively fine. Perhaps, send Aggie in to try and heal up what she can? I wouldn''t ask but I took a bit of a beating."


    "Yes, miss. She''ll see to it that you''ll get what you need. I''m glad there were no broken bones and that you were able to get to the surface in time."


    "Silly if you think of it. A water type drowning. I didn''t think it possible but it looks like it is." I tried to laugh off the near-miss I''d had.


    "I''m not sure if it would be considered drowning, more suffocation I would think. If my mouth and nose were covered it''d be suffocation. So if your gills were covered I think it would be the same."


    "Hadn''t thought of it like that."


    "It was just a stray thought miss. I think I''m in shock. I took a bit of a hit to the head when I fell. Banged it on the crane."


    "Are you alright?" I turned in my chair and looked at him. His brows were furrowed in what I''d thought was concentration but could have been pain.


    "I think so. I''ll get you back to base." He''d slowed down his pace but at these words, he redoubled his efforts.


    I turned and looked at him again and caught sight of the mountain behind his shoulder. It wasn''t a mountain, of course, but a volcano. One that was reportedly very active.


    "Was it an earthquake?" I asked myself quietly. The attendant thought I was talking to him.


    "Yes, miss, I can assure you it was."


    "No, I mean it wasn''t an eruption?"


    "The volcano? It most likely stemmed from that but it wasn''t an eruption. You''d see ash in the air. Ashy air is how we can tell if it''s going to erupt. That and all the monsters head for the water."


    "What do you do if it does erupt?" I asked.


    "There is an evacuation plan in place. There are emergency boats stashed in the caves along the cove. Then there are the larger boats we all came in. We will have some warning if it does happen, but Mr. Rience assures us that it won''t happen for a while yet. I guess volcanoes work on a sort of eruption schedule and this one isn''t due quite yet."


    "I didn''t know that about volcanoes."


    "Not many volcanoes in this part of the world to test, but in the south, in the Onyx Republic, there are volcanoes everywhere. In the Islands, and onshore.


    "They are able to set off their volcanoes periodically so that there isn''t a massive build-up. A dozen triggered small eruptions is better than one catastrophic one.


    The building as we neared it seemed to have suffered a bit. The wall facing the entrance had a huge crack going from corner to corner. The door scraped something as it was opened. Plants that had been hung in the entranceway had crashed to the floor in broken bits of earth, pottery, and plant matter. There was another large crack in the floor of the hall leading to my room. I saw a lot of construction work being done in the future.


    "Here we are. I''ll fetch Aggie and tell her about the water and the healing. Get well soon, miss."


    "And you," I called after him.


    The window in my room had broken. While it wasn''t shattered the window had cracks running all over. It was only one door slam away from being sharp floor glitter. My tank seemed intact and that was the important part. I''d get healed up, clear my gills, and clean the lake debris still sticking to me off. I was glad that I the levers for draining and refilling my tank were manual and not magical.


    I adjusted myself to line up with the lift that would get me into my tank. I shimmed into the lift chair and waited for Aggie to show up to operate the crank. I was heavier than I''d ever been. The tail was nearly the total weight I had been. In the water, the huge muscled tailed propelled me through the water. On land, it was nothing but a dead weight. I needed the lifts to get me in and out of water.


    My back twinged a lot as I used my arms to pull myself onto the lift chair. Once positioned I saw that I''d left my wheelchair a mess. It would have to be cleaned. Blood, diluted by water, had formed a spot on the back of the seat. Damn. Would they be able to get that much blood out?


    "Oh, my dear!" Aggie came rushing into the room.


    "Do you mind if I get into the tank before you start healing? I''ve got so much gunk in my gills it''s driving me to distraction. I used the end of my ruined shirt to wipe at the gill mucus dripping down my neck. Ugg, this was worse than a runny nose.


    "Of course, dear. Of course. Let me get this for you." She began to manipulate the levers that turned the crank than lifted me into the air. When I was high enough to clear the edge of the tank she pulled me over the tank and then used the levers to lower me.


    Once in the water, I slipped off the chair and scooted to the side as the chair was lifted back out.


    I took off my shirt as this was happening I submerged and used the shirt to wipe at my gills as I flushed clean water through them. The wet shirt helped dislodge some of the larger bits. I rolled the shirt into a ball tossing it into a trash can that had been placed near my tank for my use. No saving it, it was ruined.


    Aggie had me stay submerged as she healed my back. I felt her heal something that had gone wrong in my hip too. I''d been so distracted by my gills and my back I failed to notice the dull throbbing pain in my hip until it was gone. I''d been more banged up than I thought. I would probably have been better off on land during the earthquake than in the water, but it wasn''t as though we could predict things like that.


    Aggie gave me a pot of mild soap. I used it to wash the sand out of my hair and to scrub off the dirt that still clung to my scraped up bits. I was feeling a lot better by the time I drained my tank. Filling it up was the issue. No water came out from the tap. I twisted the handles a few times thinking that would miraculously fix the problem. Damn.


    "Something must have happened to the pipes. Sit tight dear. I''ll go see what can be done," Aggie had bundled up my wet soggy trash and rushed out of the room. After some time had passed and I had begun to feel a bit chill. Aggie came back with three people. Two men and a woman.


    I did what I could to cover my chest. Aggie had forgotten to give me another shirt. I often didn''t wear them when I slept in my tank since the loose fabric had a tendency to float up around me. But males weren''t often in my room so it hadn''t been an issue.


    "Oh, dear!" Aggie exclaimed and turned to push the two males back out of the room. She told them to wait a moment and she got me a clean shirt from the cupboard.


    Safely clothes the three people came up to the sides of the tank and proceeded to use water magic to fill it. As more water filled the tank I began to relax. I was so tense.


    It took a lot longer for magic to fill the tank than it would have if the pipes were running. On top of that, the water was cold. There wasn''t any adjusting of temperature with water magic or if they could they didn''t bother. Coldwater didn''t bother me but I did prefer my tank to be a bit warmer than freezing.


    Later, after I''d napped but before dinner. A crew of workmen came to replace my window. I was told that when I went out to the lake tomorrow they''d work on the plumbing for my tank. Though it may take a little longer than I usually would stay out so if there was any other activities I wished to do they''d appreciate it if I did them while they were working.


    After dinner, I practiced with the Bastard lamp again. I didn''t make any progress. Aggie seemed to have an overwhelming abundance of patience since she calmly explained the theory to me again. I had magic now I should be able to use it.


    I went to bed thoroughly frustrated and angry at myself for being such a complete failure at something so simple.

 Chapter 27- A Chance Meeting

    I was kicked out of my tank earlier than I wanted to be by grumpy looking workmen. From listening in on their grumbles I took it that the repairs weren''t going all that well. There weren''t enough replacement parts for some things and they would have to wait until a boat went to the mainland and back again with the supplies needed before certain things could be fixed.


    They were most concerned about the underground. I guess the earthquake had weakened a few walls and there was some serious concern about cave collapse.


    Aggie realizing I was intentionally dawdling began to rush me through breakfast.


    I was fed and dumped into the lake as soon as Aggie got the wind up. She gave me a lecture about eavesdroppers and hoped I wouldn''t get into the habit of listening to the mundane ramblings of others.


    I had suspected there was a cave system underground since there were a few caves near the north end of the lake. I was too much of a coward to explore too far into them though. The two I''d found weren''t very deep and were mostly grottos rather than caves.


    Adam had mentioned another one that was completely submerged hidden in among the roots of the trees along the northwestern bank, but I hadn''t spotted anything during my swims. Not that I''d been looking particularly.


    Making use of an underground cave complex made logistical sense to me. This was a research base after all. The geological studies that could be done alone would be a good reason. Not to mention the volcanic activity and the diverse monster population that could also be studied.


    I was floating along under the water when I felt the current shift a bit. Something had hit the water disturbing it. I glanced around and someone was trying to orient themselves in the water having slipped from the lift chair into the water.


    It wasn''t Adam. His coloring had been more on the natural side. This person must be Filmore. His coloring was in shades of yellows. His tail was a pale yellow that looked more like a cream and he had brownish splotches. He''d decided to shave his head and where once there had been brown coloring there was now white.


    So his hair had gone white as well. It was hard to tell with just two of us, but it seemed like Adam was the odd one this time. Filmore got himself turned around. I''d gotten used to Adam''s fins but seeing Flimore''s split fins left me rather jealous.


    Why was it only the males that had maintained some semblance of legs? Sure, it looked like each leg was the end of an eel, but I was still envious. I was told that their basic anatomy had stayed roughly in the correct places. Mine had decided to change entirely. It was one of the many injustices of this world.


    I waved to Filmore when he turned and spotted me. I floundered around a bit trying to get used to using his new fins in open water. I wondered if I had been like that the first time they dumped me in here. Probably.


    I swam up to him and helped him get right side up. Then we both broke for the surface.


    "Thank you, Miss Rille," Filmore tried to give an approximation of a formal bow but ended up submerging himself instead. I grabbed him by one of his arms and helped keep him steady.


    "Marcy had been so worried about you. I''m glad to see you safe and well," I told him.


    "Yes, we were allowed to meet up a few days ago. She told me you''d been helping with the children. I can''t thank you enough for that and for keeping Marcy''s hopes up."


    "It was no problem at all and Marcy is usually the most cheery of us all. She''s aglow with being a new mother."


    "Quite right, but when she''s by herself she sometimes falls into fits of melancholy. Having friends who''ve survived to share the burden of our new afflictions seems to have helped her cope."


    "I think I understand what you mean. Having people to share a hardship with makes it easier."


    "Yes, that''s basically what I mean."


    Filmore nodded and smiled at me.


    Pleasantries out of the way I began to talk about the lake. I gave him some advice about keeping his gills clean and how to avoid getting tangled up in weeds.


    We were drifting and I didn''t realize we''d gone so far until I felt the currents change and Adam swam up to us. He had one of his fishing nets wrapped up in his hands and one of the fishing spears he''d fashioned tied with string to his back.


    "Hello," he said tentatively swimming up to us.


    "Hello, Adam," I called. Then I began introductions. "Adam this is Lord Filmore Cooperwrite. Filmore, this is Adam."


    "Lord Cooperwrite," Adam said formally with a head nod.


    "Just Filmore is fine. We are all equal when it comes to our new situations after all." Filmore flipped one of his fins in emphasis.


    "True enough," Adam nodded. "Do you like fishing? I''ve been trying to work out a method of fishing while underwater."


    "Traps would probably work best," Filmore answered. They both got into a discussion of fishing and different techniques they could use.


    I gave my excuses and left them to debate the merits of box traps versus net traps.


    There was a sandy beach area that I could pull myself up on using some low hanging branches. Getting back into the water was a bit undignified since it was essentially me rolling into it until I was deep enough. Still, I thought the rolling was better than flopping about like a walrus.


    The sun was just starting to really get warm. It was drying up the dew on the grass and was getting high enough to give the usually shady beach some real warmth. I shiver went up my back as I shut my eyes and let the sun warm my body.


    "Hello Rille," a voice from directly beside me said. I won''t lie. I started as upright as I could get. A boy of about fourteen sat beside me. He had on a white tunic belted at the waist with an ornate gold belt. His hair was spiky but was pushed back from his face with a golden headband. He was frowning down at me but it changed into a slight smile as I tried to get myself into a more dignified position.


    My brain sort of gave a stutter. That''s all I can really call it. It went completely blank in the shock of it all. I knew full well that the person sitting beside me wasn''t a person. There was an atmosphere about this child that told my vacationing brain what he really was.


    He was a god.


    Once my brain caught up with itself and came to that conclusion, it decided to desert me again.


    "I''m going to need you to focus, Rille. We need to talk, you and I," The boy reached out and flicked my forehead with his finger.


    I don''t think he did anything magical but the finger flick worked to kick start my thought process.


    "Um, hi." Given its recent absence that''s best my brain could do.


    "I don''t have a lot of time," he sighed and rubbed his head. "There is a barrier on this island that prevents the gods from even noticing that the island is here. It also prevents me from leaving. I''m stuck here and I need help."


    "A barrier? On the island? You mean like a magical barrier?"


    "Yes, but it''s more than just magic. There is something else here something older than I am that keeps the gods away."


    "If it keeps gods away then why are you here?" Good a logical question at last. Though perhaps asking which god this child was should have been higher on the to-do list.


    "I came because I was called here. By your mother in fact. Now, I''m trapped." He waved his hand in the air all around him.


    "My mother!" How on Elrich had my mother known how to summon a god?


    "She''s an old petitioner. She caught my attention this time due to her desperation."


    "Wait," I adjusted myself in the sand and tried to catch up. "I don''t get it."


    "Nineteen years ago your mother, stuck in a loveless abusive marriage called on me. I granted her a Special Skill in exchange for a sacrifice. I gave her that skill and you and your father were sacrificed," he shrugged as he said this and glanced around the small beach.


    Something like a cannonball formed in my stomach. Vague memories from forgotten dreams were trying to surface.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "Chance?" I asked with a lot of trepidation. If I was right, maybe the rest of that dream was real too?


    "Yes, I am Chance. I hope you don''t think too poorly of me. I''m not an evil god. I''m not one of those goodie goodie gods either. Your mother made a deal with me, that is all."


    "Chance," this time I made it a statement. He was one of the minor gods. Son of Esaias, who was definitely not minor.


    "I''ll start over," he sighed. Then leaned back on his elbows gazing out onto the lake.


    "I''m Chance. A few years ago I was summoned by your mother. There is a ritual that is done that if the right conditions are met summons me. Those who meet those conditions are given a skill called Luck Leech.


    "Your mother met the condition and offered up your father and you as a sacrifice. Luck Leech is exactly how it sounds. You leech the luck from someone else, in this case, the chosen sacrifice. Luck Leech literally takes all the luck one person might have and takes it from them."


    "A sacrifice," I whispered. My own mother had sacrificed me.


    "Don''t think too harshly of her, she was desperate. Your father would have eventually killed her if he had lived you know."


    I thought back on all the hardships we''d had and the bouts of spontaneous windfall.


    "Now for the problem. Your mother summoned me again."


    "Are you here because she used me as a sacrifice again?"


    "No, the opposite. She''s using herself."


    "What?" I thought I''d been confused and hurt before but this was even more baffling.


    "We didn''t know about all this," he waved his arm around. "The Island, the experiments, or none of that. The barrier keeps us from seeing it. We knew about the plague because of all the deaths, but we didn''t know about the cause or where they''d taken the survivors.


    "So when Maple summoned me I was more than a little surprised at all this," he waved his hand around again, "and surprised at the condition you are in. It''s both remarkable and an abomination what has happened here."


    "I''m sorry this is going rather fast and I am confused." I held up a hand in an attempt at something. Perhaps I wanted him to stop so I could think over what he''d just told me. I just couldn''t seem to process all of it.


    "I''m getting to that be patient." He rubbed his elbows more into the sand trying to get comfortable gave up and decided that talking to me flat on his back was a good option.


    "The barrier, it prevents gods from interfering with what is going on here. However, when I''m summoned I ''know'' where it is I''m supposed to go." He used exaggerated finger quotes. "But I couldn''t get here. I found myself about a mile out staring at this magical barrier. I poked at it a bit to determine what it was for. Then decided it was worth investigating and sort of broke in, but now I can''t get out again.


    "It was the casino, you see. All places of gambling are my territory so I forced my way through the barrier by insisting to the magic that the casino was mine. It worked, unfortunately."


    "You attached an anchor to the casino and pulled your way through, but now there is nothing on the other side to latch your anchor too in order to force your way out," I summarized. Chance was a bit impetuous. He probably should have just gone to the other gods first and said ''hey look there''s this weird invisible island maybe we should all check it out''. Instead, he''d decided to try and do a solo investigation.


    "So I found myself stuck, but I figured since I was stuck here I might as well do what I came to do. I met with your mother and that was when I got my second surprise. She''s a tree you know?" He turned his head and glanced in my direction.


    "I''m aware," I said simply. I''d already gone through what Aggie called a ''grieving phase'' for my mother''s condition.


    "So she summons me and explains that she''s dying and wants to transfer her luck on to you. She''d been told you''d survived but hadn''t been able to see you do to her rooted situation. I took it upon myself to examine the other rooted people. It''s amazing, it really is. They are trees but so much more than trees.


    "They have formed a collective consciousness. It''s not a high-level consciousness but still, it''s there. They aren''t individuals anymore but rather one tree. That''s not right though since there is more than one tree," He paused in thought.


    "So my mother is going to be gone either way. It''s still death."


    "Um, yes and no. She''s not going to the Abyss but becoming part of the collective that is the forest of rooted people. So while her personality, what makes her what she is, would be gone, her life force is being used to live within this forest.


    "But I digress. Maple asked me to transfer her Luck Leech to you and used herself as a sacrifice. If she dies before she''s fully rooted she will go to the Abyss, but if she doesn''t die and becomes part of the forest complex then you''d be able to Luck Leech from the entire collective of trees. There are so many of them at this point that none of them will die. However, it''s not something I would usually agree to.


    "Given the circumstances though, I believe you may be my best chance of getting off this island. Your future is in flux and if I give you Luck Leech you may just accomplish something.


    "Do you know how a god is killed, Rille?" He suddenly sat up and changed the subject.


    "You can''t be killed. Your body can be destroyed but then it just goes poof and you end up reforming in the Abyss."


    "You''re right normally, but do you know that gods can be permanently killed? Do you know how it''s done?" His eyes squinted at me in the sun and he had a furrow forming between them.


    "Gods are immortal, that''s the point of being a god, right?"


    "Yes, normally but in our history, there have been times when gods were killed. During the war with Apep is the most well-known example. Gods were killed then. Do you know how? Can you guess?" He leaned forward a bit anticipating my answer.


    "Well," I said slowly. "The war was between the demons, the humans, the gods, and Apep."


    "There were the demon generals. It was before I was born but I''ve been told they had the powers of minor gods. So in this war, Apep had the generals.


    "Now to kill a god for good, it takes a god. Do you understand?"


    "Only a god, or someone with god-like power, can kill another god?"


    "Essentially yes, there are ways to trap a god, but to kill a god it takes a god. Now there was that one god who decided he''d had enough of godly life and made himself a sword... but technically he''s still a god even if a human is wielding him. So he doesn''t count.


    "Even still, it takes a lot of doing to kill a god. The soul has to be destroyed along with the body and that is particularly difficult to do. My point is that I''m in danger here and I really need to go get help."


    "You''re stuck here, but I don''t see how that''s so dangerous. Just ask whoever put up the barrier to let you back through." It seemed logical to me. Chance was just being melodramatic.


    "Don''t you see Rille? No, I guess since you don''t have magic you wouldn''t..."


    "I have magic now, I just can''t use it," I interrupted.


    "Not being able to use the magic is just the same as not having it. What you don''t seem to grasp is that a god can always circumvent normal mortal magic. So this barrier that is up here isn''t normal. Are you following?" He looked at me to see if I understood. I nodded.


    "Right. So right away I discovered that this barrier wasn''t normal, but I wanted to know why it wasn''t normal. Who had put it here and why? I think I know why, but who is a bit trickier. You see there are at least two other gods on this island along with something I''ve never come across before. A very powerful being. One of these three, or all of them together, put up this barrier and since I don''t want to get permanently snuffed out of existence I need your help."


    "Why can''t you just ask them to let you out?" I still thought that simply asking would be the easiest method.


    "Don''t you see? They don''t want me to escape. They know I''m here and are looking for me. It''s simply luck that I''ve been able to avoid them. Good thing I''m the god of luck," he laughed depreciatory. "They don''t want me to get out and let the others know what is going on here. If the other gods found, the ones responsible for this place would be sent before Zeus himself. Punishment for this sort of thing..."


    "But they are helping us. They brought us here to rehabilitate us. I suspect they are studying us while they do it, but since we are the plague survivors that''s only natural. "


    Chance looked at me and sighed.


    "There is only so much information I can give you without breaking the rules of freewill. You are a little wary of the things that happen here. That''s good. To begin with, I want you to find out what is going on in the underground caverns. You are the only one who can get Maize down there."


    "Wait, what does Maize have to do with this?"


    "I popped in on her earlier. She''s one of mine even though she worships another. She''s not all that she seems and neither is this island. Rille, you need to start thinking. Maize needs to get into the underground. The cave system under the lake connects to the underground. The two of you need to work together."


    "But I don''t," I began but Chance suddenly stood and glanced into the woods that bordered the lake.


    "I need to get going. One of the ones I''m trying to avoid has tracked me here. Rille, this island is wrong. What they''ve done here is wrong. They will stop at nothing to keep this from coming to the attention of the gods. Rille, I''m sending you and Maize down there in order to find out what you can. You''re my inside group. I''m taking a gamble on this working out. I''m putting people into play and I''m hoping that will turn the game around." He stepped up closer to me and bent over bringing his face against mine.


    "Do you agree to help me?" He asked looking into my eyes. What was I supposed to do say no to a god? You never said no to a god.


    "Yes," I agreed.


    "Good. Then close your eyes. A little mind-reading prevention. Don''t want them to be able to read your thoughts when you''re trying to subvert them." He reached out a hand to the back of my head and I closed my eyes. There was a warmth against my skull where his hand was. He used his hand to tilt my head up and I felt a light brush against my lips. Just the softest whisper, but where there was contact there was fire. My lips were burning.


    My eyes popped open just as he was pulling away.


    "Luck Leech," he smiled. Then he waved and poofed away.


    Three seconds later there was a crashing through the bushes behind me. I looked at the disheveled Cantrel. He had twigs sticking out of his hair and his shirt was dirty. It looked like he''d just taken a tumble down a steep hill. Then he looked me in the eyes.


    A chill went down my spine. Oh shit. How had I missed it?


    "What is going on here?" He snarled at me. There was no more pretending to be nice with him. His eyes held fire. When I didn''t answer quickly enough he stormed up to me and grabbed me by my arm. Even though I was heavier than I used to be he was still able to lift me practically up to face level.


    "Answer me girl!" He screamed.


    "God," I breathed out between the pain. My arm was close to dislocation I could feel it.


    "Which god? Don''t lie to me I will know. Tell me," he brought his face closer to mine and his eyes caught mine.


    "Chance. Chance came because Mom summoned him. She wanted to transfer her skill to me since she''s dying."


    "And did he?"


    "Did he what?" I whimpered. He shook me by the arm.


    "Did he transfer her skill?"


    "Yes, I think so. He kissed me." Cantrel suddenly let go of my arm and I landed with a thump.


    "You are telling the truth. Was there anything else? Did he say or do anything else?"


    "He mostly just laid here in the sand and sunbathed." I pointed to the indentations in the sand where he''d lain.


    "He sunbathed." Cantrel''s voice had gone from angry to low and menacing. I flinched.


    "Yes, right there." I pointed again.


    "And what was he doing while he sunbathed?"


    "He told me not to blame my mother for using me as a sacrifice since my father would have eventually killed her." I wanted to look away from his eyes but I couldn''t I physically could not look away. I even tried falling a little to the side and my eyes never wavered from his.


    "Anything else?"


    "No," I lied. I was lying he said he''d know if I was lying but some inner instinct told me that I could lie about this. The rest was inconsequential but I had to keep hidden Chance''s plans.


    "I see," Cantrel stood watching me for a few more seconds then his head jerked up and he swiveled on his heels and he pushed back through the bushes and trees.


    "God," I whispered to myself. How had I missed it before? Cantrel wasn''t human. He''d never been human. He was a god.

 Chapter 28 Processing and Planning

    Cantrel hadn''t done the poofing trick gods were known for. It made me believe that he was a very minor god. Chance was of the first tier of minor gods being the son of one of the main twelve and was worshiped in his own right. He had temples, though calling them temples was generous as most of them were gambling dens. Whatever Cantrel was, he wasn''t as powerful as Chance when it came to godly mojo. Still, Chance was trapped here.


    It finally hit home that Chance''s life really was in jeopardy. I had no doubt that if Cantrel caught Chance he would kill him. Only gods can kill gods. Cantrel may not be as strong as Chance, but there were two others on The Island. At least that''s what Chance said. If it was a true three against one scenario then Chance really could die.


    Why would they go through the trouble of killing a god? Chance had alluded that there was something going on here that I didn''t know about. It was my job to find out what it was. Well, mine and Maize''s job. He was hoping we''d dig up something that would help him escape.


    First I needed to heal my arm. Even if it wasn''t dislocated there was some damage. Aggie should be able to fix me. I''d tell her the truth about being accosted by Cantrel. As of right now, I didn''t think he''d realized I''d noticed he was a god. If he was still trying to play the role of human it would be prudent to treat him as if I still thought he was human. That would mean telling on him.


    The next thing I needed was to meet up with Maize. Though it might be more prudent to wait a little bit before meeting so that there''d be no suspicion. If I went to meet Maize directly after meeting Chance then Cantrel would find out and would try and question me more. No, it would be better to wait.


    Chance had mentioned underground caves. I knew about the caves but hadn''t really explored them. That was more Adam''s thing. It would have to become my thing soon.


    I rolled into the water and slowly worked my way back to the chair lift. Having to hold my arm pinned to my side meant I was having issues going in a straight line.


    The lift attendant was different today. It wasn''t the same guy who''d hurt himself yesterday. He had to get into the water and help get me positioned onto the lift. Without the use of my dominant arm, I couldn''t manage to hold myself in place.


    Once out of the water he had to help drag me into my chair. He pushed me back to the facility. Hopefully, Aggie was available. I''d take any healer at this point but I honestly wanted Aggie.


    The lift attendant started to get chewed out by one of the other regular watchers. She was just gearing up to go into a rant about how my tank wasn''t ready and he needed to put me back in the lake when he broke into her tirade telling her I was hurt. She looked at me and went a little green. Then she turned without another word and stormed down the corridor.


    "Sorry, the two of us had a little thing a bit ago and she''s not over it. I''ll get you to Aggie straight away." He pushed me along the hall and asked a few people if they knew where Aggie was.


    Apparently, she was having a late breakfast in the second-floor cafeteria. I was sorry to interrupt her meal but I was hurt.


    We found a room that looked like an employee lounge. The lift attendant left me there and went to get Aggie.


    Aggie arrived with a napkin still tucked into her neck. There was a little bit of egg yolk on the napkin. I hadn''t known Aggie was a messy eater but at least she knew to take precautions against food spillage.


    "Oh, honey! What have you done to yourself!" Aggie rushed up and began to assess my arm.


    I explained what had happened with Cantrel in detail. I knew that the story would get around and I wanted to make sure that they thought I was a good little girl. I even told Aggie the same story I''d told Cantrel about Chance. The truth, but with a lot of details missing.


    Aggie fixed my arm and had me wait a bit.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Then I got to tell my story to a prim looking woman who assured me that the matter would be brought up with Mr. Rience. Mr. Cantrel was one of Mr. Rience''s research partners. Even if he was a higher up it wouldn''t do to have him injuring the patients due to over excitement. That''s what the woman told me. Cantrel had just been over-excited at the prospect that an actual god was on The Island.


    I didn''t bother mentioning to the woman that Cantrel was a god. I doubted that was common knowledge among the staff. Heck, I hadn''t realized it in all the time he''d been visiting my mother. I couldn''t really blame the workers for not noticing either.


    It was only because I happened to see him right after I''d met Chance that I''d been able to put it together. Chance had an atmosphere about him that practically screamed GOD. I would be hard-pressed to say it was an aura or a density of magic. It was something I couldn''t really define but it was there.


    Cantrel had that same aura. It was more subtle. It didn''t scream god, it was more like a whisper. There was no doubt in my mind that Cantrel was a god. Now that I knew the feeling of being around a god I was kicking myself for having missed it before.


    Why though, had a god, even a very minor one, want to socialize with my mother? To my knowledge, there wasn''t anything special about her. Well, she had Chance''s gift of Luck Leech, but that wouldn''t be enough to attract a god would it?


    My mother had sacrificed me, or rather my overall luck. Why me? I could understand my father if he really had been as abusive as Chance hinted. I wouldn''t put up with someone abusing me either. But why hadn''t she just poisoned him in his sleep like any other abused wife? Why did she have to involve me?


    I tried to look at the situation from her point of view and just couldn''t come up with a good reason to sacrifice her own child.


    Father had died after being hit by a boat. A very unlucky set of circumstances. Now that I knew that Mom had been leeching away his luck it made the unlikely scenario more sinister. In a way, I had rather she''d just poisoned him. She hadn''t actually murdered him, but she was still to blame. Though if he hadn''t been abusing her she never would have sacrificed him to begin with.


    Two wrongs don''t make a right, but three rights make a left.


    No, that wasn''t right. I was confusing myself. I''d just come to terms that I''d have to accept my mother''s death. There was this pit inside me that screamed whenever I thought about it, but there was no changing reality. . . Or was there?


    Why didn''t she ask Chance to change her back to human? Gods could do that right? If it wasn''t one of Chance''s powers he most likely knew which god could. The idea spread through me like fire.


    What if there was a way to fix this? We couldn''t bring back the dead, but maybe we could change the future? If there was a chance to save my mother I had to take it. No, not just for my mother but for everyone else too. Those potato babies, Janette and Gregory, for everyone. A god could fix this. Surely a god could fix this.


    The barrier. If Chance could get back through the barrier and tell the other gods maybe one of them could help us. Why was the barrier there to begin with?


    It wasn''t as if the plague were a huge secret from the gods. Chance had said they knew about the plague but hadn''t known about the survivors, but hadn''t that been in the paper? That the survivors were being sent to The Island? No, that wasn''t right. It was those who were infected that were sent to The Island. It was just because all the infected were here that there were survivors here.


    The question was how long had the barrier been in place? Was it in place before or after the plague victims came here? Then you have to ask what was the purpose of the barrier. Was is to contain the plague? Or was there another reason.


    What other reasons could there be for a barrier on an entire Island? The research labs were the first on the list. Then there was the possibility of protection. The Island was supposed to be a vacation destination. Perhaps the barrier was in place to protect the ultra-wealthy in society from attack? A defensive measure against an enemy nation trying to wipe out all of the Amber Kingdoms wealthy in one blow? It was possible.


    Chance had said that the barrier needed to come down, but he hadn''t specifically said that it was Maize and I that needed to do it. He just wanted Maize to get to the underground caves. Presumably, what information we needed was down there.


    He''d said that Maize was more than what she seemed. Well, that was obvious. She''d been Janette''s bodyguard had foiled plots of kidnapping. She certainly had more unique skills than the average adventuress.


    My job was to get Maize to the underground caves. There was a series of caves near the northern end of the lake. Adam had said as much. I just needed to find one that connected to the underground complex.


    Hadn''t the attendant yesterday mentioned that they had boats hidden in caves in case evacuation was necessary? It would stand to reason that the people in the underground cave network would also need access to those boats. It wouldn''t make sense if the only ones with access were those in the above laboratories.


    So I should find the boats? Finding the boats. That was my mission. Find the boats.


    If we could get Chance off The Island in time, then maybe one of the gods could come in and save us. It was a slim hope, but I held on to it. It was the only chance we had.

 Chapter 29 Determination and Discovery

    The cave system was massive. It would seem that the entire island was nothing but an ants nest of tunnels. I found the cave that Adam had told me about on the first day.


    What he hadn''t told me was just how narrow some of the openings were and how it was entirely underwater for a good solid 30 minutes of swimming. Only to surface in a dark cavern with only three inches of air between you and the ceiling. There was a tunnel leading upwards from that cavern that had more space with air, but I couldn''t lever myself up over the ledge to see what was on the other side.


    I decided that this cave had been a bust. There was no way I''d be able to get Maize through it alive. No one could hold their breath for that long and fight to push themselves through narrow openings at the same time.


    One of my grottos had a crack in the side of the wall. I spent a solid day chipping at the hole so I could see inside. No there wasn''t anything further back in that crack. Just another shallow grotto.


    It took me two more days to find the next cave. The entrance had been partly covered by a recent rockfall. Probably the earthquake from a few days ago. It took some maneuvering to get some of the larger rocks out of the way. I had to fashion a lever out of branches to move them. When I finally had enough room to wiggle into the hole I was both surprised and disappointed.


    The cavern was huge. The size of three houses. It had a sandy beach area and seemed to be the favored home of what seemed to be the entire island''s population of Goblin Crabs. I hadn''t seen any of the crabs in the lake until this point. So that meant they were coming in from another place. So somehow this cavern connected with the ocean. I just couldn''t ascertain from where.


    It wasn''t as if I could roll onto the sandy beach to flop about until I found it. I would be entirely at the monster''s mercy on land. I wasn''t sure if I wasn''t in danger in the water too. I was certain I was faster than they were, but they had numbers on their side. No, it was best to leave them alone.


    I did ask Aggie to give me a knife to strap to my wrist the next time I went into the lake. She seemed more than a little concerned about the Goblin Crabs and had to get my weapon approved by some higher-ups. Aggie said that they were concerned about my mental health and it went against their policy to give patients weapons. However, after a mental health check, I was cleared. I was only allowed to have it in the lake, but I was to give it to the lift attendant after exiting the lake.


    Having the knife certainly made me feel better. I practiced slicing and cutting underwater. It was different than on land. There was the water-resistance to factor in. Stabbing was easy enough but the slicing motion took some time to get used to. The only thing I accomplished with my practice was to scare some fish and leave soggy trails of loose seaweed floating free in the water.


    The knife was invaluable though. With it, I could slice away at thick areas of seaweed. In some areas, it was so dense and thick I had to gather up the floating bits and take them to the shore just to get them out of my way. This was how I found the cave I needed.


    I was busy hacking away at a bit of seaweed in order to examine a suspiciously dark area that I thought was a cave when I accidentally scared some young turtles out of hiding. These turtles were, in fact, hiding in the opening of a very shallow crack in the surface of a large boulder that had been covered with seaweed.


    I had to cut away a lot of seaweed just to be able to see inside the crack. I could just fit myself inside and pulled myself up onto a shelf that sat a few inches above the waterline. The ceiling was low but by belly-flopping along indignantly for a while I found myself on the other side of the stone shelf. Another water pool about five feet deep led into another series of caves.


    One cave tunnel went to the left and up sharply. There wasn''t any way I could explore that one since dragging myself uphill over jagged rocks wasn''t appealing.


    The second tunnel went down further into the water and turned sharply to the right. After following this tunnel for a while it came to a point where the opening was just too small to fit through. When I tried to turn around I had a bit of a panic attack since I was now stuck. I had to slowly push myself backwards through the tunnel until I had enough space to turn back around.


    The last cave tunnel went to the left. There was only about seven inches of water but it was sandy enough that I could pull myself through. There were two more branching tunnels but neither of them went anywhere. The main tunnel though was open and seemed to continue forever.


    In some areas it was wet and sandy in others it was completely underwater. My stomach was all scratched up from pulling myself across the sand for so long. I almost gave up and turned around a few times. The tunnel was widening though and I took that as a good sign. It would suck if this was another dead end where I just had to turn back around.


    The tunnel went underwater again and I could tell there was something different about this tunnel because the salinity of the water suddenly increased. The tunnel opened up into a saltwater pool. I surfaced and looked around.


    The first things I noticed were the waves and the sounds of them crashing against rock. Loud, it was very loud. The cave mouth acted as an echo chamber. But this cave had been worked on. Man''s hands had worked at least part of this cave. Widened it and squared it off.


    All so that row upon row of lifeboats could be hung up on the cave walls. There had to be at least sixty boats. Each of them probably able to hold a dozen people each. I hadn''t realized there were that many people working on The Island.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Even bigger boats hung from pulleys in the ceiling. Undo their ropes and the boats would fall down into the water. There were only four of the bigger boats and I had to only wonder at their purpose. They weren''t lifeboats and had obviously been used a few times since they had scrape marks and old dried barnacles on their hulls. Lazy to not have plucked them off before docking, hanging, the boats back in place.


    There was a huge double door made of metal at the end of the cavern. I wondered if it was locked. It would be counterproductive to a fast evacuation if the doors were locked. It would mean dozens of people milling around in the hall waiting for that one person that had the key. There had to be some sort of security though. I swam out towards the ocean.


    The open ocean. I had a sudden urge to just keep swimming. Just to leave, but I couldn''t just do that. I turned to go back into the cave where the boats were held and realized why they''d selected that area.


    You couldn''t see the cave approaching it. It had to be magic. Where there should have been a large gaping cave mouth, was just a bunch of large rocks. No one would dare sail their boat close to those. With the current as fast as is was swirling around the head of The Island it would mean getting your boat bashed against those rocks and sinking. An illusion to keep people away.


    That same current would be beneficial in getting the boats off The Island. Once caught up in that current the boats would be pulled out and away from the cave mouth making room for more boats to exit. Though I''d hate to see what the currents would be like in a storm.


    A pigs tail is what the sailors called it. Essentially, a whirlpool. I could feel the makings of one deeper down in the water, but fifteen feet near the surface it sort of petered out and became like a normal cross current. Boats bashing against the cave walls and sinking would be a very real possibility during a storm.


    I needed to get back. I would take time to work my way back through the cave and into the lake. I''d found my boats. It had taken me a week but I''d found them. Now to meet up with Maize and discuss what we were going to do about it.


    There were sections of the tunnel that were underwater. Not for any extended length of time, but enough for me to be concerned about how long she could hold her breath. There were places where we''d have to go through one at a time and that would mean even more time for her to hold her breath.


    Another issue was sight. The caves were dark and had no light. Something about my transformation had made it possible for me to see in the dark. After all, oceans and lake bottoms were dark places. With my secondary eyelid in place, I could see fairly well in the dark water. Out of the water, was a different story since the eyelid distorted my vision. But since I was mostly going in a straight line I didn''t have to be worried about getting lost.


    It might be more disturbing for Maize though. Not being able to breathe or see. Hopefully, we''d be able to work something out.


    Goblin Crabs might be an issue too. On the way out of the cave, I came upon a small one unexpectedly. I''d startled it just as much as it scared me. I had grown overconfident knowing that the entrance to the lake was just ahead. I was just going out as it was popping in to explore.


    It attacked as soon as it got over its surprise. Goblin Crabs in the water were a lot more dangerous than they were on land I discovered. It shot some sort of water projectile magic at me. This missed but stirred up a lot of sand. I wasn''t going to be drowned twice in the same week.


    The magic it used propelled it backward and it tried to ready itself for another attack. Before it could I used my knife and sliced at one of its standing eyes. Then the other, I hoped to blind it. Instead, it lashed out at me with its claws trying to clamp down on my arm.


    If my arm got pinched between those claws it might break. Fighting in the water was a lot harder than I''d expected. You have no stabilization. No ground to brace yourself against. The cave wall was behind me and it was the only thing that saved me. I had just enough space to push away from the wall using my tail and just barely missing those claws. I found myself lying on my side looking up at the underside of the crab. Pushing up from the ground I stabbed upward and somehow got lucky.


    My knife slid into the soft carapace. This crab must have molted recently and its shell wasn''t as hard as they normally were. If I would have attempted an underbelly strike on a hard shell the most it would have done was shove the crab away from me. Everyone knew you had to take out the eyes and head of the crab first. Trying to attack it by piercing the shell was just asking for a broken weapon.


    But my knife sank in. It thrashed around a lot trying to dislodge it but since I was still holding the hilt just dealt itself more damage. I finally let go and just watched as the crab tried to swim away. It didn''t get far and soon fell to the seaweed-covered lake floor.


    Well, that had been surprising. It was a smaller crab. If it had been a full-grown Goblin Crab I would have been in serious trouble. I''d been underestimating how dangerous they were. My stomach dropped as I thought of that cave full of Goblin Crabs. Hell, if they hadn''t ignored me and attacked instead I''d be dead.


    I''d gotten cocky. I''d assumed that since I could take care of a Goblin Crab on land I could do it just as easily in the water. I was wrong. Fighting off a monster in the water was very different than on land.


    Shit. I needed a bigger knife.


    I poked at the crab a bit just to make certain it was dead. Then I grabbed it by one of its legs and swam back to the lift chair. I didn''t want to leave the dead thing at the mouth of the cave. Goblin Crabs would consume their own and I didn''t want to be surprised by a nest of crabs feeding on the carcass of this one the next time I went back.


    Besides, they were edible and even if I was ambivalent towards the taste of crab other people truly enjoyed it. Aggie would most likely love the idea of fresh Goblin Crab for dinner. Even this small one would be enough to feed about twenty people. I just hoped they had enough butter. Goblin Crab had to have butter.


    Name- Rille


    HP 2145


    MP 7894


    Level- 13


    Age- 19


    Race/Species- Human Altered Aquatic


    Gender- Female


    Occupation- Freelancer


    Exp- 297


    Physical Power- 392


    Stamina- 483


    Defense- 598


    Agility- 10 (on land) 546 (in water)


    Intelligence- 123


    Magic Power- 875


    Water Magic- Lv 2


    Skills


    Knife Work Lv 1


    Dual Wielding Lv 1


    Swimming Lv 2


    Fishing Lv 2


    Net Lv 1


    Rod Lv 1


    Pain Tolerance Lv 7


    Deception Lv 2


    Etiquette Lv 1


    Appraisal Lv 1


    Harvesting Lv 1


    Cooking Lv 1


    Cleaning Lv 2


    Sewing Lv 1


    Knitting Lv 1


    Dyeing Lv 1


    Soap Making Lv 4


    Extraction Lv 3


    Dancing


    Singing


    Leatherwork


    Shearing


    Spinning


    Weaving


    Pottery


    Painting


    Special Skills


    Luck Leech


    Telepathy Block


    Titles- Dedicated Cleaner


    Enemy of Sheep


    Lover of Baths

 Chapter 30 The Missing

    The Goblin Crab was taken away to be cooked for dinner.


    What I hadn''t expected was the interrogation that followed. The pinch-faced woman came into my room and asked me all sorts of questions. Where had I encountered the crab? How had I defeated it? Were there more in the lake?


    The questions were odd since I''d already told them about the crabs I''d found earlier that week though at the time I just said I''d spotted some, not that I''d been exploring caves and found a nest of them. It was the reason they allowed me to have a knife after all. I prevaricated a bit about where I''d encountered the crab. I didn''t want them knowing I''d been digging around in caves.


    Another person came in and asked me the same questions. I gave the same answers.


    They left me alone for a bit after that. Aggie brought me my dinner and I ate it slowly. Steamed crab, lots of butter. I think I disappointed Aggie by not gushing over the food, but my mind was occupied.


    It was weird, wasn''t it? Why they kept asking me questions about the Goblin Crabs. Goblin Crabs were more dangerous than I''d thought, but out in the open and not cornered as I had been, I would have been able to swim away. I was certainly a faster swimmer than a Goblin Crab. Maybe that was it? They were wondering why I hadn''t just swam away?


    Thinking about it, it didn''t make sense that I''d engaged a Goblin Crab in open water. I hadn''t told them about the cave but I could have at least said something about being cornered. Too late for that though. Maybe they thought I was going a bit mental?


    I tried to sleep but thoughts kept tossing around in my head. Plans for getting Maize into the cave. Why''d they asked so many questions? Something just didn''t feel right about the questions. I just couldn''t figure out what was wrong.


    "00938, wake up," A voice echoed through the water of my tank to me. I must have dozed off after all. Someone was reaching into the tank and shaking my shoulder.


    Pushing up from the bottom, I popped my head out to see who had woken me up.


    Aggie was there with my wheelchair and the lift ready to be lowered into the water. I glanced out the window. It was still dark out. Late, if my internal clock was right.


    The pinch-faced woman moved and drew my attention.


    "00938, patient 48598 hasn''t come back. With your reports of Goblin Crabs in the area, we are concerned. We are asking that you and patient 58008 assist us with the search. You will go in as a team and search for missing 48598. Please prepare yourself."


    The woman glanced at her clipboard and left before I could even ask questions. I wasn''t completely awake and I had some issues processing the information.


    I looked at Aggie for an explanation.


    "The patient Lord Filmore Cooperwrite is missing. He never came back from the lake this afternoon. They have searchers along the banks and some in the water on boats but they want you and patient Adam to team up and help look."


    "Filmore? He''s missing?"


    "Yes, move over a bit I''m lowering the chair."


    I followed directions and was sped out of my room towards the lake.


    "Has anyone told Marcy?" I asked Aggie as she pushed me along the path. I could see lamps lit in the distance. There really was a search party.


    "Marcy?"


    "Flimore''s wife. She should know."


    "I don''t know, dear. Perhaps it''s too soon to worry her. He may just be tangled up in some weeds after all."


    "The seaweed is troublesome," I muttered to myself.


    I was thinking of the Goblin Crabs. If Filmore had come across one and been unable to get away. There was the possibility that we were looking for a body and not a missing person in distress.


    The open ocean flashed in my mind. Had he found another route to the ocean? It wasn''t outside the realm of possibilities. I''d been tempted to just swim away myself. But Filmore had a family. He wouldn''t just leave his family, would he?


    The truth was I didn''t know him well enough to make that call. We were changed after the plague. The person Filmore had been wouldn''t have left his wife and baby, but the Filmore after the plague. I couldn''t make that call. I''d only seen and spoken to him the one time after he was first allowed into the lake. From what I knew he spent most of his time fishing with Adam.


    Adam was waiting for me in the water. He had a real spear tied to his back. Not just a sharp pointy stick this time. I was given two daggers. Both in sheaths that strapped to my forearms. They were larger than what I was used to but they didn''t hinder me much in the water so I didn''t complain.


    "Crazy right?" Adam said as he swam up to me.


    "Right," I honestly didn''t know what to say and we were being summoned by the pinch-faced woman who was standing on the shore.


    "We are searching in a grid pattern. Leave the shallow areas to our boatmen and water users." She pointed to a group of people all dressed in the same black swimsuit. Standing on the shore. "The two of you are to methodically scan the deeper areas of the lake. If you spot any Gobin Crabs swim away and inform someone in one of the boats. Don''t try and fight them off yourselves." She gave me a glare as she said this. So she was pissed that I''d taken on a Goblin Crab alone. Good to know. Adam gave me an appraising look.


    What? Did I look like the sort of person that willy nilly attacked monsters? What did that sort of person look like after all?Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    "We''ve been hanging out on the west side of the lake recently, maybe we should start there," Adam offered after the woman was done issuing her orders.


    "The west side is rocky and not all that dangerous. It''s the north end you need to worry about." I told him.


    "Ya, but Fil never went to the north end on his own. He was sort of a pansy if you ask me," Adam said flippantly.


    When had he started calling Filmore Fil? As far as I knew no one called him that. An image of a red-suited dandy of a man flashed into my mind. He was flamboyant, but that didn''t mean he was a coward.


    "I think we should go to the west, come on." With that, Adam dove under before I could argue and started to swim.


    "STAY TOGETHER!" The woman shrieked at me from the bank.


    "RIGHT!" I yelled back at her and swam after Adam.


    Adam and I covered the entire west end that night. Around dawn, we even got around to covering some of the north end.


    We were called away a few times when boatmen thought they spotted something and needed someone to take a closer look. It was usually just a dead tree stump.


    The Goblin Crabs must have been worse than I''d thought. Several times I''d look to the bank and see men fighting one in the lamplight. Goblin Crabs were more active at night and seeing them scuttle around onshore gave me goosebumps. There hadn''t been any crabs in the lake not too long ago. Now the lake was practically infested. What had changed?


    Was something driving them inland towards the lake? Or perhaps it was my fault? I''d moved those rocks away from the face of that one really large cave. The cave where the crabs were nesting. I hadn''t moved the rocks back. Had they infested the lake that way? I had thought the rockfall had been recent, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe all that had been keeping the crabs out of the lake had been that pile of stones? Shit.


    Guilt washed over me and I redoubled my efforts.


    We''d been searching all night and partway into the morning when we were taken back to our tanks. We needed to rest and eat something. We could go back out in a few hours.


    But we would find nothing, not in the north end, or the east either. I thought that Filmore had just swam away became stronger. The lake was big, but it wasn''t that big. Surely, we''d have found something by now. Unless he was in one of the caves.


    If he had gotten lost and stuck exploring one of the caves then there wasn''t much we could do. It hit home just how dangerous it had been for me to go exploring by myself. No one knew where I was what I was doing. If I had gotten trapped in one of the caves they would be looking for me just like this.


    With that thought in mind, I asked Adam if we could split up. I wanted to check on my caves just to see, but he refused. I was left with a decision to make. I went to my grottos and we checked the first cave Adam had found. Those were the places that we both knew about. The cave with the Goblin Crabs, did I take him there? Or to the cave that led to the boats?


    No, be logical. Filmore wouldn''t be in the cave with the boats. You would have passed him on the way out. The cave with the Goblin Crabs. That was still a possibility.


    I had to tell Adam.


    I had to check just to be certain.


    "There is one other cave I know of but it''s dangerous," I said after we''d checked a particularly dense patch of seaweed.


    "Really?"


    I nodded and decided to lie just a bit.


    "It''s where I came across the Goblin Crab that attacked me. It''s a massive open cave and it''s a nest. Probably where all these crabs are coming from." I pointed to a crab swimming in the distance. It was too far away to bother us so I wasn''t concerned.


    "A nest of Goblin Crabs," Adam repeated. "I can''t see Fil going into a nest."


    "Well, it doesn''t look like a nest. It just looks like a crack in the side of a rock. The nest is inside."


    "Could the dive team come in as back up?" He was asking if the water magic users would be able to reach the cave.


    "No, I don''t think so, but maybe we should check just to be on the safe side?"


    "Lead the way but if it looks too hairy we leave," Adam agreed.


    So I led him to the Goblin Crab Cave. The rocks were left where I''d pushed them. I pointed to the crack in the face of the rock and Adam swam down to peek inside. He had his spear in his hand ready for anything that might pop out at him. He swam further inside and I soon followed behind. If there were Goblin Crabs in the passage Adam would meet with them first.


    We both surfaced at the same time and looked towards the sandy beach. There were fewer crabs than I had seen the first time I''d been here, but it was obvious it was still a nest.


    "He''s not here," Adam stated.


    "Doesn''t look like it," I agreed.


    "You know if the crabs were cleared out of here this place would be a good place to hole up in an emergency," Adam was looking around but made sure to maintain a distance from the crabs.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Well, do you see any debris? Or loose rocks? The ceiling is smooth, solid if I had to guess. If there was another earthquake this is the place I''d like to be in."


    I must have looked at him as if he was mad. No one wanted to be underground in an earthquake. He ignored me though.


    "It would be a nice place," he muttered to himself. "The crabs know it too."


    "We should go," I said. We had other places we could look for Filmore. It was obvious that he wasn''t here.


    We were given some more time to eat and rest then we were dumped back into the lake. I could tell that by this point this would be our last official search. There wasn''t much of the lake Adam and I hadn''t covered. Filmore had just disappeared.


    "You know, I think maybe you were right about splitting up," Adam began. I started to protest but he stopped me. "There''s not much more of the lake to cover and I''d like to have a quick look over the north end again while it''s still light out. We may be able to see in the dark but that doesn''t mean we didn''t miss something. Why don''t you cover what we haven''t gone over and I''ll go back over there and do another pass."


    The area we had yet to cover was a fairly safe place, but the place he wanted to go alone wasn''t.


    "I should go with you," I protested.


    "No, I think you''ve realized by now that the handlers are getting antsy with us being in the lake with all these monsters. My handler hinted that this might be the last time we are allowed in until they''ve cleared up more of the crabs. We won''t be able to cover both sections before we are due back."


    "But the north end is dangerous." I tried to push my point.


    "Up until recently, we''ve all been swimming around in that area without issues. It''s no more dangerous now than it was then. You run the risk of getting tangled up is all. And since they''ve given us weapons we can cut our way loose. You go on and I''ll meet you back here when it''s time to swim in."


    He gave me a slight push in the direction we still needed to search than swam off before I could protest further.


    He was right. The lake hadn''t become any more dangerous than it had been. It was a risk I''d been taking all along looking for caves. Just because there were Goblin Crabs and Filmore was missing didn''t mean it was any more dangerous.


    I searched the last area by myself. Nothing. Not that I was expecting anything at this point. No, Filmore had found himself in a cave. That was the only explanation. It wasn''t in any of the caves I knew about so searching for him like this was useless. To find him, I would need to find more caves, but if Adam was right we wouldn''t be allowed back into the lake for a while.


    My heart grieved for Marcy. Surely by now, they''ve told her. Would she be sitting up waiting for news praying that one of us would find him? If we couldn''t find him I didn''t hold out hope for any of the other searchers. I had some time left and just to be able to tell Marcy that I''d looked everywhere I knew of, I checked the cave that led to the boats. Nothing.


    I knew there was nothing, but I needed to check.


    I met with Adam when the time was right, and we swam to the lift together. It was then that we were given the news that Adam had anticipated. We wouldn''t be allowed back into the lake until the Goblin Crabs were cleared out.


    Dinner that night was a solemn affair. I just couldn''t make myself eat the Goblin Crab that was presented to me. The searchers had killed nearly twenty crabs and it seemed that was what would be on the menu for the foreseeable future. I swallowed back tears as Aggie took my full meal tray back. I felt like I had failed Marcy.

 Chapter 31 The Southern Continent (Side Story Part 2- Addison)

    The earth had trembled.


    It would be soon. The Dark Lord had said to wait until the ash fell. It was hard though. All the planning up until this point had been hard, but the time between, after the first earthquake, was even harder. It was the anticipation that was so frustrating.


    Aaralen, my twin, knew nothing of the Dark Lord, but he was still willing to participate in the plan. It had taken years of planning, of secret meetings. To revolt wasn''t something taken on lightly. No, to revolt meant either absolute freedom or death.


    But the Dark Lord had guaranteed success, as long as I waited until the ash fall.


    Slaves, all of us were slaves of the Onyx Kingdom. Not even individually owned. No. The Merinja Tribe had been captured and made to slave in the Obsidian Fields day after day year after year. Where once they had been a proud warrior race of thousands, now they just numbered in the hundreds. Those few who survived.


    Individuals from other tribes had joined them. Then some of the worst convicts the kingdom had to offer. Day after day they chipped away at the black stone.


    It would be soon.


    "Are your bindings thick enough? I have a few more rags if you need them," Aaralen asked her as he finished wrapping up his own feet.


    "I should be fine. Murtock died last night and his wrappings are being passed around. We should be ok for a little while." It gulled that I still had to plan ahead. Had to plan for future contingencies of being an obsidian slave.


    "Did he? That''s not much of a pity though. Hateful murdering bastard if all his bragging was to be believed." Aaralen shoved the extra bindings beneath the straw mat he slept on.


    "I think at least part of it was the truth. The watchers were talking about it this morning. His crimes I mean," I answered him.


    I''d been out with the other women. Of course, we were passed around at night. The watchers were certain to take advantage. On paper, we weren''t to be touched, but that was on paper and what slave was going to be able to prosecute for rape?


    Aaralen knew what they did to us at night, but it wasn''t as if he or the other men could stop it. If it wasn''t the watchers then it would be their fellow slaves. Perhaps some people from her tribe would object, but it wasn''t likely.


    A slave, a thing, an item to be used until dead. That''s all I am. At least that''s what I appeared to be at first glance.


    The surface of the black stone was already warm even this early in the morning. By the time the sun was high in the sky, it would be hot enough to burn skin. That''s why the foot wrappings were so important. Not only did they protect your feet from the razor sharpness of the rock, but they also kept you from burning all your skin off.


    The Obsidian Fields were a cash cow for the Onyx Kingdom. Kingdoms and territories all over the continent bought the obsidian. It was used in everything from jewelry to weapons. One of the most important resources.


    Leftover from the Obsidian Wars. That''s what the people of the Merinja Tribe had called them at least. The series of battles that pitted Erasmus and Vulcena against the demon lords Vlasta and Otaktay during the great war against Apep. The result, the miles upon miles of obsidian fields.


    There would be a new battle here soon. The slaves far outnumbered the watchers. They were reduced in number due to some other tribe the Onyx Kingdom was trying to conquer. More men needed in the military meant fewer men to oversee the slaves. A huge miscalculation on their part.


    They assumed we were docile. After years of being beaten down that we had no fight left in us. I would prove them wrong. I hefted the small hand ax that was given to each slave to chop at the stone. They were dull, but then they didn''t need to be sharp to chip away at the glass-like stone. The larger the chunks you brought back the better of course and to get the larger chunks you needed sharper axes. That''s why no one complained when they saw you trying to sharpen your ax blade.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    They gave us weapons. They gave us a reason to fight. They gave us the opportunity. It was all just a matter of waiting for the ash fall. Why we had to wait for the ash fall I didn''t really understand.


    The Dark Lord hadn''t seen fit to tell me that much, but when he spoke to me I knew it to be truth. I had to wait. He''d been silent since the earthquake, but I had the feeling he was waiting too. Waiting just like us.


    A booming sound was heard in the distance. It made both me and Aaralen jump. We turned and looked at the watcher. The others around us were doing the same. Another deep resonating boom echoed across the field.


    "They are testing out a new method of getting the rock," the watcher explained. "Soon you lot will be the ones planting the explosives. Hope you''re fast on your feet, those fire mages are not known to wait until everyone''s cleared out before they let loose." The watcher turned and smiled at me and laughed. "We all know you''re a fast one aren''t you?" He reached out a hand and brought me up against his body. He smelled of stale sweat and sex from the night before. The watchers could bathe, this one certainly needed it.


    "Stay here and keep me company," the man ordered as he moved his hand to fondle my breast. The ax was in my hand. All I had to do was swing it and start this revolt off. My grip tightened on the handle. Then released. No, we had to wait until the ash fall. Don''t fight back until then.


    The man bore me to the ground. The hot stone was hard against my back, but at least it wasn''t hot enough to burn skin yet. The man used me in front of everyone and when he was done I stood and took my place in the field. He''d gone inside me. Most watchers were careful not to take that risk. A pregnant slave meant questions and paperwork. I cringed inside as I felt the wet drip down my leg. Dark Lord, please don''t give me a child. I prayed.


    "The explosives," Aaralen hissed at me. He''d grown used to seeing me in this state. This had become our new normal so ignoring it became the way we coped, "we could use them."


    "You can use them you mean. You''re the only one who has fire magic." It was true. Most of the slaves were magicless. Most of our tribe had been magicless. That''s why it had been so easy for us to be conquered.


    Aaralen and I, we were too young to have had our magic develop when we were taken or we would have been killed outright instead of being sent to the fields. A warrior slave with magic was too great a liability. Aaralen had learned to use basic fire magic. His heat resistance helped when dealing with the scorching heat of the afternoon. The rest of us had to suffer.


    I''d be lying if I didn''t say that I was strangely bitter towards my brother. He was a male so he wasn''t raped nightly. He didn''t have to worry about unwanted children, or how he was going to staunch the bleeding from another monthly cycle. For the longest time, I''d been bitter about his magic too. He was never burned. He didn''t carry the scars from having your own skin blister away. No, he was the lucky one. Or he had been the lucky one.


    My magic was different. Not so elemental. More insidious. A gift from the Dark Lord. Mass Hysteria. A mental manipulation magic that would be the core of our revolt. Use it on our fellow slaves and they would be caught up in the need to fight. Use it on our watchers and fear would overcome them and they would run. A magic that would guarantee victory as the Dark Lord promised. I just needed to wait.


    I''d been testing it. Small little things. A fight over the sharpest ax. An attack on a particularly brutal convict. If used at the right time, I could manipulate things to my will. The revolt didn''t have to end here. I could continue it, add more people. I''d make the rich assholes from the Onyx Kingdom pay for what they''ve done.


    Aaralen. He''d be the only problem. My magic didn''t work on him. I tested it a few times but he never reacted. I didn''t know why it didn''t work. Perhaps it was because we were twins. As far as I knew he''d never tested his magic on me, but if my guess was correct it wouldn''t work. The twin bond.


    If you created a fireball in the palm of your hand it didn''t burn you. That was the nature of most magic. It didn''t harm the user. In twins, there was the theory that the magic recognized your twin as an extension of yourself so you couldn''t harm them. No, he''d be a problem unaffected by my magic he was the one person I couldn''t control.


    He just wanted to escape, his soul didn''t fester with the need for revenge. He didn''t know about the Dark Lord. He was too soft.


    Even as a child, he didn''t care for the warrior training. Instead, he''d studied music. A musician among a toughened band of warriors. The Merinja Tribe didn''t make any allowance for those who couldn''t contribute. He''d have been cast out to sea, or perhaps just taken into the woods and killed as a way to cull the weak from the tribe. In a queer way, slavery probably saved him.


    I noticed the watcher eyeing me again. He strode toward me absently slapping the coiled whip against his thigh as he walked. Waiting would be the hardest part.

 Chapter 32 Mission Confirmed

    The earthquake had been a surprise. It was surreal to be up in the air and watch the world shake below you. Instinct had me up and flying as soon as the first rumble hit. Some of the others weren''t so lucky.


    We were doing flight practice outside under the careful eye of our handlers. Some of the air types still needed to be in the padded room. Crashlanding was still a very dangerous possibility. Those of us that had a bit more control were allowed outside, but not everyone had the same instincts or reflexes I had.


    People fell into each other, crashing into each other as the earth heaved under them. Handlers and winged ones alike were all flung to the ground. A few, like me, managed to get airborne, but not many.


    Once the shaking had stopped the handlers had to assess the damage. A few torn wings and what seemed like a broken wrist. Nothing major. For the ones outside at least.


    The flight building was wrecked. An entire corner of the building had collapsed. It was just luck that there weren''t any deaths. A few handlers had to be dug out of the rubble but with some healing they would eventually be fine. The most interesting injury for me was the fat man who''s wing had been severed.


    I wasn''t certain how he''d sustained the injury but his wing had been sliced nearly off. It hung there attached by a small bit of that flexible skin that our wings were made of. Blood. There was more blood than I thought there would be. Perhaps our wings had a main artery similar to the ones on our necks and thighs?


    Even more interesting was the way the wing began to reform. They''d healed around the cut to stop him from bleeding out, but had seemed at a loss as to how to reattach the wing. It turned out that they needn''t have worried. Over the next few days you could see the change.


    Fascinating. It was fascinating. His wing dried up like fall leaves and crumpled away. Then from the still living the part that remained attached to his back, his wing began to reform. Just a little at a time, maybe an inch of progress per day, but they were growing back.


    The healers and researchers were in exsatic fits about this discovery. Rience himself came to look at the fat man''s wings. The woman, Adrieane, was there as well. I''d finally discovered her role in the hierarchy. She was Rience''s secretary. I''d been right when I''d guessed she was the professional tea fetcher. She was a researcher in her own right but mostly gave orders by throwing around Rience''s name.


    She was a different woman around Rience. It was obvious that she was madly in love with him and did her best to be at her best around him. When she wasn''t by his side she was an insufferable pinch-faced harpy. Still, I judged her to be the best target. She was so confident in herself that she left herself vulnerable.


    For a short while I''d considered cutting my own wings to get closer to her, but the day after the earthquake changed that.


    I had been planning on summoning my Lady once I''d had the evidence I needed. Together we would have devastated this island. The god that appeared before me was not my Lady, but one from my distant past.


    "Hello, Maize," the golden hair teenaged god greeted me. I nearly fell out of my tree in surprise. I glanced around. "The guards can''t hear us and won''t notice us for the time being. Your target won''t notice us either. Smart centering in on her. She''s certainly the weak link," Chance leaned back on his own branch and gazed up at the stars in the sky.


    "Why?" I asked simply. Gods could read minds so I knew that I didn''t have to ask all the dozens of questions I had.


    "You already know of Maple and have guessed correctly in her deal with me. So I don''t have to tell you about that. Just know that it was Maple who called me here. She''s proposed a deal and to be honest with you I find it intriguing," he turned and glanced at me. "She wants to give up her luck and pass it on to Rille."


    For the second time I nearly fell out of the tree. A transfer of a skill akin to a Blessing was never done lightly. I only knew this because I was technically a priestess of my Lady. But perhaps normal people didn''t know this?


    "You are a priestess, no technically about it. Just because Avedette doesn''t have temples doesn''t mean she isn''t worshiped in other ways. Her followers are more in the know than many. You see the darker side of humanity and walk among them without losing your souls to the chaos. I have a great deal of respect for that. I''m glad I met you when I did. You''re a chaotic good in this world."You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    I didn''t know how I should react to that. For the most part our work was looked down upon. To have it validated by another god left me feeling pride in my Lady.


    "Even if you were to summon her here I don''t think she''d be able to get through the barrier. Maybe, if the need for vengeance is strong enough, but if you were to do it now at this moment she wouldn''t come."


    "Barrier?"


    "There is a barrier around this island that prevents the gods from seeing what is going on here," he paused a second, "or even noticing that it''s here for that matter. You know what that means?"


    There was a god on the island. Mortal magic wouldn''t be enough to keep out a god.


    Cantrel. It had to be Cantrel.


    "There are three forces here. Cantrel is one of them. The other two..." he trailed off with a frown. "One is a god, which one I don''t know. The other is something I haven''t come across before."


    So I''d been right about Cantrel. I''d suspected that very first night on the ship, but it was obvious that he was trying to play human. Outing a god that was trying to play human was taboo, especially if I wasn''t certain. A very minor god, Cantrel. Could a god so minor make a magic barrier strong enough to keep out other stronger gods?


    "It''s where the power lay. Cantrel may be a weak minor god, but he is the god of barriers. In this one thing, he is supreme above us all. He''s the son of Vulcena. His craftsmen background really shows in his barriers," he sighed and shifted on his branch. "It''s why I can''t get out."


    "Out?"


    "I can''t get out passed the barrier I am stuck here playing cat and mouse with Cantrel. So far, the others haven''t bothered with me, but if that other god I feel steps in I may be in trouble. I think I can handle Cantrel in a one on one fight, but it wouldn''t be one on one would it? There are the other two to factor in. The odds just aren''t good enough. That'' why I need you."


    "Why?"


    "You just need to keep doing what you''re doing. Follow that woman. Learn her secrets. Learn the secrets of this island."


    He could just tell me all I needed to know. There must be a reason why he didn''t.


    "There is more than one barrier on the island. Many of them are made by Cantrel and I can''t pass through them. The people who know what I need to know have been given a mind-reading block from someone. That woman is one of them," he pointed at the window where the meeting was being held. Adrieane was giving her report about the regrowth of the fat man''s wing.


    "I''m going to gamble," he turned and looked at me. It was odd I was now older than him in appearance but he still made me feel like that little beat-up girl I''d been years ago. He''d said the same thing then. He was going to take a gamble on me.


    "I''m giving Rille Luck Leech transferred from her mother. If my plan works then Rille''s luck might be able to push events forward. If her mother joins the collective consciousness of the rooted ones Rille will gain all the luck every individual rooted one once had. It''s a massive amount of luck. It should be enough to even take on a minor god like Cantrel. You understand?"


    He really was making a gamble. Rille wouldn''t know how to use her luck and a massive amount of it at that, or at least it would be eventually. As of now it was just what luck Maple had left. How many people had already rooted? There were more rooted everyday and the rooted ones were the majority of the survivors.


    "You and Rille will tip the scale. I''m certain of it, but how far will we all fall is the question. I''ll offer what help I can, but I''ll be a bit busy trying to avoid Cantrel. You need to find information. I have a feeling that what they are hiding goes even deeper than some plague and a few altered humans. I don''t mean to sound callous but it''s the truth."


    Gods were often like that. They cared about mortals only up to a point. They were immortal and to them we were like squirrels running up and down a tree. Busy, a distraction, but overall inconsequential to them.


    "Underground, there are caves." I pointed below the tree. He knew what I meant instantly.


    "Yes, the caves are interesting. There are huge sections blocked off by even more barriers. I''ve wandered around down there a bit, but you can''t go very far without running into another barrier. The mental corruption cells...it''s an abomination. What they''ve done here is an abomination. If I''m correct, then they won''t escape justice."


    Justice. Retribution was something I could easily get behind. If there was enough cause, then perhaps summoning her here wouldn''t be impossible.


    "You''ve got the idea. Now to protect you. I can''t have the other gods reading your thoughts now can I?" He reached out and touched his hand to my head. My ears popped a bit and I felt some of the pressure in my sinus'' give.


    When I looked back up Chance was gone. I had my mission. It was the same goal I''d already had, but that didn''t matter. There was more to this than I had suspected. Chance knew more than he let me know. He''d practically already confirmed my worst suspicions about the plague, but then he''d said that there was something else going on here. Something not even he could guess at.


    I needed proof. I needed to know what I was doing was correct before I attempted my summoning. Bringing Avedette here to backup Chance was a long shot, but one he was willing to gamble on and if the God of Gambling was willing to take that risk the odds were better than most.

 Chapter 33 I Join the Hunt

    Waiting to meet up with Rille was worrisome. Where was she? I''d been to the nursery every day since my meeting with Chance. Surely he''d met with her by now?


    Something was happening, or had happened to make the watchers even more vigilant. After the earthquake they''d been distracted and they''d dropped their overall level of oversight. Last night, something happened.


    I was about to sneak out to spy on the meetings when my handler came into the room. She''d opened the door and stood in the doorway. The light from the hall falling onto my face as I pretended to be asleep. It was the very first time she''d checked on me after the initial lights out and I''d been lucky enough to hear her say something to my neighbor who was also still awake. I had just enough time to get into bed and feign sleep by the time she opened my door. After that she proceeded to check the hall nearly every hour or so.


    There was a very noticeable increase in security this morning too. The black dressed figures stayed out of the way as we went through our morning exercise and training, but they carried at their belts small compact magic staffs. It was the first time I''d seen them overtly carrying a weapon of any sort. Some of them even had short swords.


    They rotated personnel every two hours. It was a military tactic to keep a soldier vigilant. If they were stuck watching the same thing for hours on end they''d get bored and less vigilant.


    I looked up from the couch over the top of Starley''s head. There was a guard here too. He''d followed me from air type building. Discreetly, of course. He was standing just outside in the hall. It must have been particularly dull for him. Since I''d been playing with the babies for the last three hours.


    Rille usually arrived after her swim in the lake and after having lunch. I''d stayed longer than I normally would have hoping to catch her. Not that we would be able to talk about things with a guard standing right outside the door.


    When I was just going to give up waiting, something odd happened.


    The babies'' handler and a second security guard entered the nursery. The handler picked up Paisley. She placed a blanket down and wrapped the infant up. Then she handed the child to the guard. The guard took the baby out of the room.


    "What?" I stood up placing Starley back into her bassinet.


    "The handler of 48306 has requested that we take I005 to her mother," the woman told me.


    "Marcy feeds Paisley here," it was half a question and part statement. I knew that the babies never left the nursery.


    "Today is a bit special," the woman said with a frown.


    "I see," I glanced at the guard still in the hall.


    "Yes, let''s hope things settle down soon," the woman glanced at the guard as well.


    It must be a bit unnerving to the healers, handlers, and other staff to suddenly have an increased guard presence. They were used to being in charge of their areas and now they had eyes watching them at all times.


    "Why?" I asked, but the woman just shook her head in an ''I don''t know'' way.


    So whatever had happened hadn''t had time to spread from handler to handler yet. Gossip, as long as there were people there would be gossip. For it not to have reached the nursery was telling. The nursery was mostly central to most of the other buildings and it was right beside the main staff meal hall. Gossip always happened over food.


    She''d probably learn what was happening when she went for dinner. She had her lunches in the nursery but she ate her other meals next door. Marcy had told me that since we weren''t allowed to interact with the infants without their handler being somewhere nearby.


    As I left the building the black suited guard followed me. I walked down the path and decided to test him a bit. To see how far I could push my limits. I guess an impish bored part of me wanted to mess with him a bit too.


    I veered off the path and into an area of large fern-like plants with huge blooming orange and pink flowers. The plants were about waist high and the flowers bloomed on top of stalks that were about head high. Each blossom was the size of a person''s hand. They were pretty and a great excuse to wander off, but they weren''t my goal.


    I broke a dozen flowers from their stems and carried them in a bundle to lay by the path. Then I went in again wading deeper into the plants. I kept my body turned so I could keep the guard within sight. He was watching me from the path but had begun to scan the area intermittently.


    I bent down during one of his scans and pretended to be trying to pull a flower off its stem from a point closer to the base of the fern. With one hand I plucked the flower with the other I grabbed a palm-sized rock. When I came back up he''d taken a few steps away from where he''d been watching. I''d disappeared from view when he wasn''t looking.


    I did this bending maneuver a few more times so that my popping in and out of view wasn''t as alarming to the guard each time. The sixth time I did this I swept my arm to the side and launched the rock as hard as I could. I didn''t want him to see me throwing the rock so I made the path a vertical one. It hit a tree fifteen feet from where I was with a thump.


    Pretending to be startled I spread my wings I launched myself up. Flowers in hand I scanned the ferns pretending to be looking for what made the noise. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the guard wade into the flowers. His magic staff was drawn.


    "Get back on the path," he called to me.


    Pretending to follow orders I flew over the tops of the flowers and towards the path. He waded through the flowers under me. His back was to me as he investigated the trees. I dropped my flowers into the pile I''d made and headed towards my real goal. The trees on the other side of the path.


    I went only a few trees in. My goal was a fruit tree. It was an old large tree with huge canopied branches. In those branches were gnarled purple fruits. I perched up in those branches intentionally. I didn''t try to hide. If the guard had been good at his job he''d have looked up and seen me. Instead, once he was done inspecting the area for my rock, he turned and found me gone.


    They never looked up. The impish part of me chuckled. He was gearing up towards a panic when I dropped down from the trees the hem of my dress filled with fruit. My knees were showing but I didn''t really care or follow the absurd modesty guidelines for young ladies.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    "Ok?" I called to him as I gathered my flowers on top of my fruit.


    "Must have been a squirrel," he said lamely. Oh, he was so new to this. He had to actually look to place his magic staff back in the loop on his belt. If you couldn''t sheath and unsheath your weapon by touch you were asking for trouble in the case of an emergency.


    "Big squirrel," I commented. "Carry these?" I held out a bunch of flowers. He took them once again proving that he hadn''t been doing this long. Leave your hands free. If they weren''t free you couldn''t go for your weapon. The delay could be the difference between life and death.


    "At least it wasn''t one of the crabs," he said. Oh, he wanted to talk.


    "Goblin Crabs stay on the coastline," I wanted to know if this newbie was mentioning crabs for a reason or if he was just that ignorant.


    "They''ve gotten into the lake. There are extermination teams deployed. We''ve been told to keep an eye out to make certain they haven''t penetrated deeper into the complex."


    "The lake," now this was interesting news. "The water types?" That would explain somethings but not why Rille hadn''t gone to the nursery.


    "They are helping with the search, though they will probably be banned from the lake as of tomorrow. At least until we''ve managed to clear out most of the crabs. Boss, thinks the earthquake stirred them up. You don''t talk much do you?"


    Well, that was rude. I knew I had issues with communicating with people but bringing it up was just rude. Hell, I had to play normal. I thought a bit about what I wanted to say before I said it.


    "What do you mean about search? Are they looking for crabs?" There that was better. Gods were much more convenient to converse with. You didn''t actually have to say anything if you didn''t want to and they could see it all.


    "Hum," He looked at me and then went back to scanning the path. "You''ll probably find out eventually anyway. It''s not like we are under orders to keep quiet about it."


    "About what?"


    "One of the water types has gone missing. Didn''t make it back last night."


    My heart stuttered. I stumbled a bit and had to run a bit to catch my balance.


    "Rille?" I asked.


    "Rille?" He asked back.


    "The female."


    "Oh, she''s part of the search party. It was one of the males that went missing."


    Well, that was good. Rille was ok. If Chance had found her then she had luck on her side.


    Then I had a thought. Wait, there were only two males. Which one was missing?


    "Who?" I asked.


    "Who''s missing? The older one. The one that''s lord."


    Oh, shit.


    "Are you ok?" The guard shifted the flowers in his hands so he''d have one free. He touched my elbow and stopped me. "You went sort of green."


    "Know him," I said simply and started walking again.


    "Oh, I''m sorry. Let''s hope they find him."


    "Yes," was all I said.


    As we walked he kept looking at me. Maybe he was a talker, but I was done.


    I now knew why little Paisley had been sent to her mother rather than having Marcy come to the nursery. I also knew why Rille wasn''t there. Rille would do her best to find Filmore. She wasn''t a fighter or an adventurer, but she was tough.


    She wasn''t a tracker though. She didn''t have those skills. Even if it were underwater and in her element, she didn''t have the skills to know what to look for. I did.


    I''d even used them a time or two off the coast. Tracking people meant going where people went. That meant beaches and caves as well as cities and forests.


    I didn''t think I''d be able to get near the lake covertly if they had teams out killing crabs. I also wasn''t certain how long my handler would be checking the rooms at night. No, If I wanted to help that meant volunteering.


    They already knew what skills I had so I wasn''t worried about outing myself. On paper they were skills most adventurers and hunters had. It was just the way that they were used that was different.


    No, I''d volunteer. If they gave the ok then I''d be closer to Rille in a place where we could talk in private. If not, well that was fine too. I could figure out a way to get around the bed checks. Searching at night while there were extermination teams about wasn''t ideal, but it could be done.


    We arrived at the air building. I dumped off my flowers and fruit. One of the watchers would do something with them.


    Before my guard had a chance to run off and be replaced I grabbed his arm.


    "Take me to your boss."


    "What? Why?" He tried to pull away from me but I kept my grip firm.


    "I can track," I said simply.


    "Track?" I was growing impatient. How did I get him to do what I wanted?


    "Before this," I twitched my wings in emphasis, "I was a level B adventurer with the Guild. I have tracking skills. Take me to your boss." There that was a decent explanation.


    "Level B?" The guard looked at me as if I''d grown three heads.


    "Check my skill record." I glared at him.


    "There''s no way a tiny little thing like you is level B," he laughed.


    It was true. I''d been small before my change. Now I was even smaller, but size didn''t have anything to do with skill. If we were going by Guild ranks I was most likely above 90% of the guards. There were a few that I''d spotted. The hardened military type that were likely my equal. When it came to equality in skill size mattered. I would be at a disadvantage then.


    "Take me to your boss," I emphasized slowly.


    "Now you know," he reached out a hand towards me. I had to prove a point and prove it now. I grabbed his hand and twisted my body away I bent over at the same time. The guard was too easy. He followed his arm over my back and to the ground. His knife was in my hand and at his throat before he even realized he''d hit. I had to pull the knife back a bit or he would have cut his own neck before he realized it was there.


    "Skills," I said simply.


    " 00707 what are you doing?" a handler that had been gathering up my flowers and fruit suddenly dropped them and came running up to us.


    "Proving a point," I looked the guard directly in the eye.


    "Right," the guard nodded quickly. He looked confused. Just one second ago I''d been the silly little girl playing in a flower field. Now I held a knife on him.


    After things settled down he took me to his boss. I''d been to the central building more than once when spying on their meetings, but it was the first time I''d been inside.


    "Filmore is my friend''s husband. I am going to look for him," I told the silver-haired man behind the desk. I didn''t even give the junior guard a chance to explain. He knocked, we walked in together, I said what I wanted, then I turned to leave.


    "Wait," the silver haired man stood up. "Just who do you think you are?"


    I turned back to face him. I was standing in the doorway. I thought I''d been clear. I''d been clear right?


    "I''m Maize," I told him.


    "Maize, we don''t need civilians interfering. Private Filks should have told you that," the older man glared at the junior guard.


    "Um, she took my knife and won''t give it back," the young man said.


    "She took your knife, how did she take your knife?" The old man looked at me again. "Give him back his knife."


    "No," there was no way I was giving it back. I needed it. If there were that many Goblin Crabs around I''d need a weapon.


    "Sir, she said she''s a level B adventurer with tracking skills," the junior guard said. He had a slight whine in his voice. If he wanted to get anywhere in any sort of military he''d have to stop that.


    "You have tracking skills?" The old man asked.


    I nodded.


    "Give me your ID number I''ll have it verified. Then we can talk. Does that suit you young lady?"


    It seemed reasonable to me.


    I gave him my number and stood to wait while a secretary with hair so tightly pulled back it made her eyes look pointy fetched my paperwork.


    It was interesting the way his eyebrows moved as he went over my record. The new assessing gaze he gave me when he was done told me that I''d won. He''d let me do what I wanted because finding one of the few male water types was a priority. The researchers must have been really giving him a hard time.


    It was too late to start now, he convinced me of that. However, bright and early the next day I would be allowed to join in the search. I''d be supplied with swimwear and my own knife. I was made to give the junior guards knife back. I would be attached to shore duty or if the two water types agreed, I''d be allowed to swim with Rille and the other male. My primary duty would be to guard the two water types as they did a secondary search.


    Those terms were agreeable in more ways than one. I''d be able to look for Filmore and I would have time to talk with Rille. I wouldn''t be attached to some other guard group that was patrolling for crabs.


    Knowing that Rille and the other male had already done one full circuit of the lake was worrying, however. Not finding him with the first pass was bad news. The odds of finding him in successive passes weren''t good. But Rille had Luck now, and so did I. If I could give her a crash course on how to listen to it we might just get lucky.

 Chapter 34 What Are We Searching For?

    I was woken up early the next morning. Aggie informed me that the upper bosses had changed their minds about letting Adam and I back into the lake. Someone with specialized skills had volunteered to help and we were to assist them in their tracking.


    I didn''t know how much tracking could be done underwater, but if someone was willing to help look for Filmore I was more than willing to go back into the lake. Adam didn''t seem so willing but he was there waiting.


    "I don''t understand why we are doing this. We''ve already gone over it."


    "If there is still a chance to find him we should take it."


    "He''s not there. This is pointless," Adam slapped the surface of the water with the palm of his hand.


    "He has to be somewhere and maybe this person can find him."


    "Waste of time, we should be hunting the crabs."


    "There are other people hunting crabs. We''re the only ones able to look into the deep."


    "Well unless there''s another water type then this person is useless."


    "You don''t know that," I protested. Why was he being such an ass?


    There was some movement on the shore and I was distracted. Instead of arguing with me more he dove under and swam away.


    "Stay together!" a woman yelled from the shore.


    "Should I stick with him or wait here?" I called back.


    The woman swore a bit but then waved at me to stay put.


    A group of black-clad guards were standing around someone I couldn''t see from shore. Whoever it was, they were small. Very small. They wouldn''t send a child, would they?


    Then the group parted and a woman stepped out around them. Maize. It was Maize. I wouldn''t have been more surprised if my own mother had stepped out.


    Chance had said that Maize was skilled. I knew that she had to be in order to protect Janette from kidnappers, but I hadn''t thought about what those sorts of skills could be used for.


    Maize stepped into the water. One of the guards handed her a buoy, attached to it was a curled-up length of rope. The water magicians that had been scanning the shallows had used them so that they would be able to rest in between free dives. Was Maize a freediver?


    Could she even swim with her wings? They were stronger than they looked to be able to hold up during sudden strong wind gusts, but that was completely different in the currents of the water.


    She didn''t seem to be concerned and jumped right in ignoring some instructions the woman on the shore was trying to give her at the last minute. The woman began to yell her instructions from the shore as Maize surfaced and swam towards me.


    "Let''s find him," she said to me gripping onto her buoy to stay surfaced.


    "Right," I agreed taking the end of the rope.


    "We should check areas where there is a significant amount of debris. Tree roots, branch pile-ups, areas with lots of loose rocks," she pushed her wet hair out of her eyes.


    "If that''s what you want, but Adam and I already checked all those areas. Honestly, I think he may have found a cave and got trapped."


    "Understood," she nodded. "Where is the male?" She looked around then down into the water the best she could.


    "He''s being moody. He already took off," I explained.


    She nodded and looked around.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Um, about caves, I..."


    "Not now," Maize met my eyes. Then her eyes moved towards the shore with the group of people watching us. She was right, we couldn''t talk here.


    "There are some areas with dense tree lines that have log pile-ups. Do you want to start there?"


    "Yes," she nodded and gripped the buoy.


    I dove under with the end of the rope in my hands. I tied it around my waist and began to tow Maize. The drag of a second person was difficult. It was harder than I thought it would be. I found myself a bit winded when we reached the tree line. Gasping for air underwater was always an odd experience. The water flowed through my gills harder than normal since I was taking in more water. They burned a bit and I was glad to have a moment of rest while Maize swam around inspecting the tree line.


    "What are you looking for?"


    "Signs of Goblin Crabs."


    "Why?" I was confused. We were looking for Filmore not hunting crabs.


    Maize turned and looked at me. "You live on the coast." It was more a statement than a question. She already knew that I did. "Goblin Crabs are scavengers."


    Oh, oh shit. The implications of that hit me.


    "I''m looking for signs of crabs and signs of a mass feeding event."


    "You," I cleared my gills, not because of debris but because I really didn''t want to say what I was thinking. "You don''t think..." I really couldn''t finish. Gods Above.


    "Goblin Crabs will attack and eat a disabled person alive. They are capable of dragging prey for distances. There will be signs of that though if that''s the way it went."


    "You don''t think he''s alive then?"


    Maize paused in her paddling around. "The crabs are a problem. If he was injured then he was most likely attacked. Depending on how hurt he was he may be able to fend them off for a while, but the longer he''s missing the weaker he''ll get."


    The weaker he''d be the most likely he''d be attacked and eaten by the monsters. It was a very real possibility. Adventurers knew that and usually formed parties. If you were injured your party members wouldn''t leave you to be eaten alive by monsters. Filmore was alone.


    "Not here," Maize said finally. I''d been caught up with my thoughts and found myself feeling a combination of emotions because she was here with me. Comfort. Security. Knowing that someone I trusted was out here with me made me feel safer.


    I hadn''t realized that the anxiety of being alone had been floating around in my brain until that point. I''d become very good at ignoring my fears. If I had realized my fear sooner I may have been more clingy towards Adam. I no longer felt like I could swim alone.


    "Caves," Maize swam up to me.


    "Caves?" I questioned. My brain couldn''t switch gears so fast.


    "Chance," Maize whispered and looked around. "Underground?"


    Oh! Right, I still needed to tell her about the cave.


    "I think I found what you are looking for. There is a cave that leads to the ocean. They have a bunch of emergency boats stockpiled in the cave. There is a door and it probably leads into the underground cave network."


    I described the inside of the cave the best I could. Then I told her about the magic that kept the cave entrance hidden from the outside and the dangerous whirlpools lurking right under the surface. I didn''t want her thinking that stealing a boat and leaving The Island would be easy. Not that we could just leave with the magic bubble barrier that Chance had talked about in place.


    Maize had me take her to three more spots before we needed to eat, wet boiled eggs and wet hard cheese. They were the only foods I''d found that held up well in the water. Maize had a jar of drinking water with her. I hadn''t thought of it. I never got thirsty in the water. Clean drinking water that wasn''t tainted by the saltwater of the sea would be essential for survival. Yet, I hadn''t seen any sort of food provisions inside the emergency exit cave.


    What did that mean? That it wasn''t needed? Why wasn''t it needed? It was a few days from the mainland on the big boats. It would be even longer in a rowboat, some food and water would be necessary. Were they depending on being rescued by the larger boats once in the water? That was possible, but what if the bigger boats couldn''t launch?


    I mentioned my thoughts to Maize.


    "I can think of two possibilities. Each person is responsible for their own emergency kit, but if it''s a sudden emergency you can''t expect people to be near their kits at all times. The second possibility is that there are emergency kits placed around the underground for people to just grab when evacuating. It could be a combination of both."


    It made sense, but it didn''t seem to be efficient to me. What if no one in your boat was able to grab a kit? You couldn''t leave it to luck to end up with a water magician on your boat to produce drinking water.


    Mystery unsolved. Maize and I continued to search.


    In my heart, I still hoped to find him alive, but my head was telling me that Maize was right about the monsters.


    "Not good," Maize pointed towards the shore. It was an hour before sunset and the crabs were becoming more active. We couldn''t get close to shore. The monsters were swarming and even attacking each other. We had to keep our distance or several crabs would jump into the water after us. As long as we stayed away they didn''t bother us.


    My heart sank. There was only one reason for them to swarm like that so aggressively. They''d found food. A large source of food.


    "We should go back and let the squads know about it. We can''t take this many on." Maize sighed. I felt like she wanted to, but was taking my lack of land maneuverability into consideration.


    We had to leave it to the extermination squads. They would be able to determine what they''d been feeding on. Thicker bones would be left behind. We would have to wait until tomorrow for answers.

 Chapter 35 We Go Missing

    The next day, I woke up feeling different. It had been a while since I''d felt anything other than a woman. A part of me thought that maybe my change had fixed that broken thing inside me. It wasn''t normal to feel this way, that much I was certain. So when I hadn''t had any days since my change where I felt male I thought that maybe my change had fixed me.


    Apparently, I was wrong. That familiar feeling of not feeling right in my own body washed over me. I felt crooked. I was a corner that didn''t quite fit into the box of shapes.


    I floated in my tank watching my brown hair floating around me. My roots were white. The male me was disgusted that I''d let it go this long. I looked ridiculous and it needed to be fixed now. Maize had sorted herself out right away. Her hair looked like a fluffy blue cloud.


    My hair wasn''t curly like Maize''s. It did have some wave to it but with it being wet all the time it just looked like a limp brown mess. No, something needed to be done. This side of me wouldn''t settle down until I''d done something. An itchy feeling in my chest.


    I was able to talk Aggie into cutting it, though she wasn''t very good at it. There were still patches where my hair grew unevenly and the white roots hadn''t grown out as far. Aggie had been reluctant to cut it all off saying the hair wasn''t even. I thought it looked even more ridiculous leaving the brown tips than to have it be uneven. Aggie finally gave up and went to get someone who was better at cutting hair.


    A man came in and sighed when he looked at me.


    "I wish you would have gotten me first. Now I have nothing to work with," He muttered as he ran his hands through my hair. "It will be short, very short," He cautioned me.


    "That''s fine, I want the brown gone."


    "Very well."


    When he was done I was left with a very short hair cut indeed. It was a bit longer than most men''s cuts but decidedly unfeminine. My hair was only about an inch and a half long. There was a spot near the front that no matter what the man did the hair sort of stood up. His solution was to sweep the hair all over to one side. That didn''t work. So he tried the other side. That didn''t work either. Swept-back, nothing. Finally, he decided the best solution was just to let it be. If one area of my hair wanted to look a mess the rest of it should too. So he basically ran his hands into my hair and intentionally made it look like I''d just rolled out of bed.


    Oddly enough it worked. The damp hair seemed to like just being wherever it wanted willy nilly. So that''s the style I was left with. Eventually, it would grow out and be a bit more manageable, but until then, this wasn''t bad.


    The itchy feeling in my chest subsided and I was finally able to start the day. I''d taken up so much time with my hair that I would have to skip breakfast in order to meet Maize at the lake on time. I''d had Aggie fetch extra food so that I could take into the water with me. I could eat once out in the water.


    We were still running a bit behind schedule but I wasn''t that late as some of the extermination team showed up after me. If you weren''t the last one there you weren''t technically late, was something my mother liked to say.


    Adam wasn''t searching with us today. The terse woman who was always yelling at people got even more pinched faced than normal when I mentioned him. She said he wasn''t feeling well and not to worry.


    I doubted Adam was actually sick. I had the feeling that he was being punished instead. If asked to explain why I thought that, I couldn''t really give a definitive answer. He had swum off on his own, but that wasn''t the only red flag. Aggie and I ran into Adam''s caretaker on the way to the lake.


    He looked like hell. Then there was the way that Aggie tsked at him as we passed. It was odd behavior for Aggie who was usually very friendly to everyone. I would have asked her what it was about but just at that moment, more people filled the hall. Those people also seemed to treat Adam''s caretaker rather coolly.


    Did Adam do something that would cause his caretaker to be shunned? Swimming off on his own wasn''t that bad, was it? It was a combination of these things that made me suspect that Adam was in trouble for something rather than being sick.


    Maize and I were present while the mean pinched faced woman told the extermination squads what to do. I wasn''t allowed into the water until she''d finished everything she''d had to say. Apparently, she''d figured out that as long as I was on land I was forced to listen to her and I couldn''t just swim away.


    Her instructions were dull and boring. There was a lot of name dropping, Mr. Rience this and Mr. Rience that. She even droned on about the best ways to kill Goblin Crabs. I felt sort of bad for the extermination squads. They had to sit through this nonsense too. Telling someone who kills monsters for a living how to kill a Goblin Crab was like trying to teach a grandmother to suck eggs.


    It was obvious that the woman had even less experience in killing monsters than me, and here she was giving a lecture on the subject. When I gathered materials for my soap I would sometimes run into Goblin Crabs and have to fight them off. If I managed to kill one, great, extra food and income for us, but it''s not like I went out of my way to hunt them. These men knew what they were doing and still had to listen to the woman.


    The only good thing about having to sit there was that I could eat my breakfast. Aggie had packed foods that would be good in the water, boiled eggs, hard cheese, veggie sticks, and apples. I bit into a carrot stick with a loud crunch. I earned a very dirty look from the woman she signaled that I should put it away. I ignored her and finished eating. If I had to listen to this nonsense I wasn''t going to do it hungry.


    We were informed that the crabs had been swarming over and eating another dead Goblin Crab. An exceptionally large one according to the extermination squad leader. There were still no signs of Filmore.


    The tone of the search was certainly shifting. It had gone from search and rescue to find the body. Logically I knew this was right, but there was a part of me that didn''t want to give up hope. Until a body was found there was always hope that he was alive somewhere. This feeling, it must be hell for Marcy.


    "She wants us to do what we need to do," Maize told me after we were both in the water and I''d told her what I''d been thinking.


    "When did you see her?"


    "Last night. I went to the nursery and talked to her. She''s odd," Maize paused a second and then continued. "It''s as if she''s gone cold."


    "What do you mean?"Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "She just sat there, cold. It''s like Marcy wasn''t the one who was there."


    "She''s probably in shock," I commented.


    "Yes, I think so, but it''s more than that. Anger. There was a lot of anger just under the surface."


    "Anger. I guess I''d be upset and pissed about all of this too if I was her," I waved around me to indicate all the circumstances.


    "I told her about our lucky friend," Maize looked around casually. Though I knew her glance was anything but casual. She was making certain no one was listening. "She wants us to do what we need to do." Maize gave me a look.


    "She wants us to not..." I didn''t know how to finish the thought.


    "She said, ''Gone, he''s gone. I know he''s gone. Do what you need to do to make things right.''"


    "So today then?" I asked Maize.


    "I don''t think we''ll be lucky enough to be by ourselves again. That male might show up and tag along next time."


    "Adam," I corrected her automatically. "You are probably right about that."


    "Then it''s decided," Maize nodded. "Today we go missing."


    "Missing?"


    "I''ll explain later. Here''s my bag," She waved to a guy offshore and he tossed in a second buoy with a bag tied to it. The bag and buoy popped up and Maize swam to fetch it.


    "What''s this?" I asked her.


    "Supplies," Maize said. She glanced at the shore and the woman who was marching up the bank to the man who''d just tossed in the bag. "We''d better go before we have to answer questions."


    Pulling two heavily laden buoys was difficult, but I put everything I had into getting away from shore before too many questions were asked. That second buoy and bag weren''t approved by Miss Pinched Faced Know It All and I gathered that if we were caught and questioned about it things could get sticky for Maize.


    "By the way, I like your hair," Maize commented as we stopped in the water. We were floating near the entrance of the cave.


    "What did you mean by missing and what''s in the bag?" I''d swam directly to the cave and a compliment was not the first thing on my mind.


    "Supplies. The black uniform the guards wear, lockpicks, food, weapons..." Maize was ticking things off.


    "So we really are doing this now?"


    "Yes," Maize looked at me as if I was slow.


    "That doesn''t explain everything. What did you mean by missing?"


    "I don''t know how long it will take, or even if I can get in during the day. So we will go ''missing''," Maize used air quotes. "Our story is that we found a cave and thought that Filmore might be in it. So we went in to look. We got a bit turned around and it took us longer than we thought to search it and get out again. Before we knew it night had fallen and we didn''t want to risk swimming back in the dark with Goblin Crabs. So we camped out in the cave overnight. Tomorrow morning we will show up and get yelled at accordingly."


    "They won''t let us out again. Besides I''m not sure they will buy it. I can see in the dark." I sighed. She was right that now was a good time to do it, but I still didn''t like the idea of the consequences.


    "There''s one more issue," Maize pointed at me. "I can''t breathe underwater."


    "Shit," I muttered. I hadn''t thought of how to get around that problem. The cave had spots where it was entirely underwater. Nothing for too long, but it made me worried about how long she could hold her breath.


    "You can breathe for me," Maize said. Then gave me a look I couldn''t figure out.


    "Huh?" I was feeling sort of dumb. I didn''t understand what she meant even though she was looking at me like she expected something.


    "We need to practice. I don''t want to get stuck down there and it having been our first run. I don''t plan on dying today."


    I still didn''t get it. "I don''t understand," I said finally admitting I wasn''t keeping up.


    "You breathe for me. You can breathe underwater and I can''t. So all you have to do is give me air."


    "Huh?"


    "You breathe air into me when I need it."


    It finally clicked. She wanted me to do breathe air into her... My face, I couldn''t help it, turned an ugly shade of red. Gods Above. Did she know that today was a male day? Not that I wouldn''t be any less embarrassed on a female day.


    I guess you''d say my first kiss was Chance''s, but it wasn''t as if I was used to that sort of thing.


    "Alright let''s start," Maize dove underwater and I had no choice but to follow.


    Maize swam down to the entrance of the cave. She didn''t enter, instead she held onto a rock to keep herself from floating back to the surface. She waited until I was beside her then expelled all her air in a gust of bubbles. Then she waved to me.


    I got closer and without thinking about it pushed the air that would have normally gone into my lungs out my mouth and into hers. Some of the air escaped from my nose, and I started to choke. When the air was going out the wrong direction it meant water getting in. I coughed a lot and cleared myself out, then glanced at Maize.


    She seemed fine. She was looking at me with some concern though. Then she waved at me to do it again. Hell, this was unpleasant. The choking part, not the Maize part. Heck, it would probably be a rather pleasant excuse to kiss a girl in any other circumstances. There was none of the soft fire that had been left behind with Chance. It was just me trying not to choke while breathing for Maize.


    Maize finally had enough and we both surfaced so that we could talk.


    "You ok?" Maize asked.


    "It''s unpleasant. It feels like I''m the one drowning when I do it, but I''m able to recover quickly enough. We should be ok doing it this way right?"


    "It seems like you can give me pure air. It makes me feel a bit lightheaded but I don''t see why we couldn''t keep it up for a while. We were down there for about fifteen minutes. We could probably go longer, but you looked like you were having issues."


    "There aren''t any sections underwater that take that long," I said rubbing my gills. They were a bit irritated. Sort of how your sinuses feel after accidentally breathing in some water.


    "But we won''t be just floating there. We will be trying to push ourselves through the cave. I might have to have more air if I''m exerting myself more."


    "It''s unpleasant, but it works and I don''t think I''ll die doing it. As long as I get some time to sort myself out after."


    "It should be fine," Maize nodded.


    So we entered the cave.


    I think Maize actually had an easier time of it than I did. In the dry areas, she could get up and walk while I had to pull myself through. Even though it was dark Maize didn''t complain and she didn''t have an issue with running into things either. My worry about having to guide her through was meaningless. It was obvious that I wasn''t the only one who could see in the dark.


    We decided to eat an early lunch in the cave. It was right before we dove down into the water to surface to the other side where the cave with the boats were. We didn''t know what we''d find on the other side so eating now was a good idea in case we had to hide. Well, it was mostly in case Maize had to hide and didn''t have time to eat while skulking about.


    There was no one in the cave with the boats. Just like last time. Maize had me swim her out into the ocean a bit to show her the magic on the cave entrance. I made certain to show her the whirlpools. I even took her underwater and showed her using the end of the buoy rope.


    "You really can''t see them from the surface," she said balancing herself on the buoy as waves rose up and pushed us back into the cave.


    "No, and it''s dangerous. Weather like this wouldn''t be an issue but it the tides were changing or if there was a storm I think those whirlpools would become stronger."


    "You''ve lived by the sea all your life, I think I''ll take your word for it."


    "I''m not an expert," I offered.


    "But I don''t think you''re wrong. If you are in a boat it would just seem like you were fighting the regular current to get out rather than a weak series of whirlpools."


    "They aren''t weak," I protested.


    "Not once you get about ten feet below the surface, but you have to admit that they are weak on the top. It''s odd, I don''t think I''ve heard of whirlpools doing that before."


    "It''s the way the water is rushing into the cave and those rocks down there that cause it. Or at least I think that''s it," I nodded at the cave.


    "You can''t see the rocks from the surface and they are deep enough down that boats wouldn''t have to worry about crashing into them. So I can see how it was missed. Still..." She trailed off thinking. "Part of me wants to warn them and then another part of me doesn''t want to get caught."


    "I feel the same," I sighed. "The chances that it will become an issue are small though and certain boats will probably have people with water magic so it should be fine."


    "Using water magic to propel out of danger is something sailors do right?"


    "Every vessel has one or two skilled water magic users. I''ve heard stories where they were able to save a ship because of it."


    "Then we won''t concern ourselves with it. For all we know, they do know about the whirlpools and have planned accordingly." Maize turned and began to swim back into the cave.


    "Right," I followed after her pulling the buoys and the bag along.

 Chapter 36 The Truth

    Of course, Rille had to be left behind. There wasn''t any way for her to follow. She''d stay in the cave system just before the cave with the boats. The same area where we had lunch. The area was sandy and was fairly comfortable. She wouldn''t have any worries about being caught either. Her only issue would be boredom.


    So we decided it would be ok for her to leave and come back for me. She still felt that she needed to look for Filmore and wasting the rest of the day just waiting for me wasn''t a good use of time.


    She''d come back to the cave tonight and sleep there. I''d join her at some point and we''d head out again in the morning.


    I debated with myself. Should I say anything to her about her mother? Even in her grief the things Marcy had said didn''t bode well. It would be soon. Very soon according to Marcy. Maple rooting was happening faster than anyone expected. Marcy said it seemed like Maple was encouraging the rooting rather than fighting it.


    I suspected her meeting with Chance had something to do with it. If Rille was now leeching the luck from her mother instead of the other way around it would explain why the rooting had sped up. Why Maple was encouraging the rooting was the question.


    Marcy said she''d be sitting with Maple today. They were letting her keep baby Paisley with her. So Marcy said that she''d sit with Maple until the time came. Being out in the forest seemed to bring out the best in the baby too.


    Marcy said that Paisley had had a growth spurt. She''d gained weight and her tree had gotten thicker and it had a few more leaves. Marcy didn''t know what that meant, but since her child was happy and thriving it gave Marcy some peace. Any amount of peace at this time was needed. Marcy truly loved Filmore.


    She''d told me she knew he was dead. She had felt it. There was something just missing one moment. At first, she didn''t know what that feeling was until her handler told her the news. She said she knew at once that Filmore was dead. There was no doubt in her mind he was dead.


    So when I told her about Chance she told me it was ok to stop looking. She already knew. So finding the body wouldn''t bring him back. The mission we were given by a god was more important. Find out what is going on. Find out why this happened to us. Make it right. That was the mission I was given by Marcy and I was determined to make it a successful one.


    Marcy would take care of Maple. I''d take care of the mission. Rille would find Filmore. We each had our roles even if we''d given them to ourselves.


    I doubted that Filmore would be found at this point, but now that Rille knew to look for bones instead of a body she might be successful. She still had hope that he''d be alive. I''d thought the same thing until I''d spoken with Marcy. That there was a chance, but after listening to what Marcy had to say I gave up that hope.


    Marcy and Filmore had been blessed by a god. Their union and love had been blessed. Blessings were a mysterious thing. There were the big blessings, the gifts of power gods gave their followers. Then there were the small ones. Tiny acknowledgments from the gods. It didn''t show up in any skill set but it holds influence nonetheless. That small blessing was most likely why they''d both survived.


    If Marcy said she felt the lack of Filmore, that he was dead, I believed her.


    I used my new air magic to dry the clothes I''d stolen. Rille watched from the water as I dressed. She started to giggle when she saw the wig I''d found. Even I knew that bright blue hair was a give away that I didn''t belong down here. So I''d broken into the storage closet the caretakers had used to store the ''good stuff'' from the people who''d died.


    I found a black outfit that was a bit big on me but had a passing resemblance to the guard uniforms hat and all. The boots were a bit harder to match. I couldn''t find a pair even remotely close to my size in black. I ended up with the darkest brown I could find and endeavored to darken them up with a pot of shoe black I''d also found. I had thought that I''d have to use the shoe black in my hair as well, but the wig was a lucky find.


    A grey-brown with a braided ladies bun and finger curls that were meant to frame the face and disguise that the hairpiece wasn''t natural. It had seen better days and my skills with hair didn''t help when I tried to fix it up. I decided that wearing the hat over the wig was the best bet to hide the rat''s nest I''d made of the thing.


    Dressed and relatively dry, I turned for Rille.


    "Well?"


    "I''m surprised your wings weren''t more of a problem. From a distance, it just looks like you''re hunched over a bit."


    "It''s good that the shirt is a bit bigger. I don''t have to bind them up."


    "Well, good luck then," Rille called from the water.


    "Thanks, you too," I waved at her as she dove under.


    The door out of the cave was unlocked. Since it was an emergency exit keeping it unlocked was logical. The hardest part would start now.


    The halls were a labyrinth. Some of them obviously man-made and others followed the path the cave naturally took. I started leaving marks as guideposts. A scruff of my shoe blackened boots against the turn of a corner. A quick knick out of a door frame with my knife. Every room had a number but not all the numbers made sense.


    I wasn''t the only one who thought the numbering system didn''t make sense. Someone else had been here before me marking up the doors. They were a bit more obvious about their methodology. Triangles were carved into doors that were personal rooms. Housing for the staff underground.


    Rooms with signs didn''t get marks, storage, janitorial, bathing. The circles were interesting. Those were staff rooms and meeting rooms. X''s were guardrooms. I took the time to find an actual guard uniform that fit me but still couldn''t find boots small enough. I found a knife harness that fit though. It rubbed my wings, but with the harness and knives, I looked more like a guard. People didn''t question other people who were armed unless they themselves were armed. I also found an ID some poor woman had left laying around. It wasn''t a guard ID, but a personnel ID. Still, with it around my neck on a lanyard, I looked more the part.


    The key to being in a place you didn''t belong was to act as if you had somewhere to be. If you were just passing through on your way to somewhere else people didn''t question you. It was when you loitered about and stood around. That''s when you were most likely to be busted. Keep moving. Don''t stop. Act like you knew where you were going and where you had to be.


    The few people I did pass didn''t even bother looking up. They saw the uniform, the ID, the weapons and didn''t say anything. They didn''t see me. Which was what I wanted.


    I wandered around for hours before I figured out the layout and that was mostly thanks to a map I''d found in one guardroom. The map was a huge time saver. Even with all my walking, I could see that I''d just been going back and forth along the rows of inconsequential rooms. The staff housing was near the emergency exit. That was logical.


    There appeared to be another exit on the west side. As well though if it went to another cave the map didn''t say. The stairs going up were marked. As was the central ward area where they kept all the people who''d lost their minds.


    There were places that were labeled Research 1 Research 2 and so on. In this area were larger suites of rooms. Suite 1 Suite 2, but the previous owner of this map had been gracious enough to label who the rooms belonged to. In a chicken-like scrawl Suite 1 was labeled Bitch. Suite 2 labeled Boss. On down the line. So I took it that these were the room for the upper echelon. Though no rooms labeled Rience were on here. Could Boss be Rience? I doubted it. Boss was most likely the guard boss.


    What was even more interesting were the areas that weren''t labeled at all. Considering that this particular area housed the top guys and the research the unlabeled areas were probably important. Still, with importance came higher security. No, my first stop would be the Bitch.


    My luck told me I was right.


    Adrieane the pinch-faced bitch. Secretary to Rience himself. The one person I most wanted to get my hands on. If anyone kept records of what was going on it was her. Furthermore, I knew she wouldn''t be in her rooms right now. She was busy browbeating the extermination squads.


    I now had a destination, but the closer I got, the more people were about. The researchers and the caretakers of the wards as well as guards were all walking about going places. None of them bothered to even look closely at me. I belonged. I had the uniform and I belonged. No need to question that.


    I turned the corner and found myself in a hall. One side of the hall was lined with people looking through the glass into research area 1. Through the glass were two rooms. The first being a smaller room enclosed in glass. So you could see into the second room. The first room had people standing around a table going over something together. The second room beyond that had people in whitecoats pushing in two people strapped to gurneys. They were both air types but something was wrong with their wings. Wings when injured regenerated. These wings, they looked like they''d been stunted in some way.


    "What do you think they are going to do to them today?" a man in a white coat stepped up beside me and asked. Shit. I broke my own rule. Keep moving don''t stop.


    "I don''t think that the blue one will last much longer," a woman who''d been standing by the window turned and answered the man. Blue one? Did she mean the one with blue wings?


    "It''s surprising how they''ve kept them from suiciding, all the crazies I mean," said the man.


    "We''re supposed to call them afflicted, but I see your point."


    "Are they going to breed them?"


    "Not today, it''s two females today. It''s probably more regeneration experiments. See he''s got a lightning rod. He must be a lightning user." The woman pointed to one of the white coats in the room. I didn''t want to watch anymore. I had a feeling I knew what was going to happen and I was right.


    I turned to leave just as the magic-user created an arch of lightning that hit the woman with the blue wings. I could hear her screams even through the glass. Why anyone would want to stand around and watch was beyond me.


    Thankfully, everyone in the hall was focused on the scene before them and they all ignored me. Around two corners and I was suddenly at the Bitch''s door. I passed by it at first going around the next corner just to make sure no one was heading in this direction from there. Then I turned around and went back to her door. I tried the handle.


    Of course, the first locked door in this damned place. I looked around the corner again. No one coming. Good. Here''s hoping the picking a lock in the middle of the day with a hallway full of people just around the corner wasn''t crazy.


    The lock was simple enough and gave way after a few seconds. It was easy. Surprisingly easy and there was no magical backup. I was in the room and had the door relocked. It wouldn''t do if she came back and discovered the door unlocked. I could hide in a suite this big, but not if an unlocked door gave me away.


    There was a bedroom, a bathroom, an office, and finally this open receiving area with a small kitchenette. I looked around the bedroom first. For someone who was so fastidious, her personal habits were questionable. Dirty clothes were scattered across the room. Along with plates of half-eaten food. Her breakfast from this morning was stacked on top of her dresser.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    I doubted I''d find anything here.


    Her office was the most likely place. However, unlike the front door, her office was booby-trapped with magical locks. Any records I''d been hoping to find were under magical lock. I only had to pass my hand over the drawers for my luck to tell me that something bad would happen if I opened them. The only drawer I could open was one with excess paper and pens.


    "Well, shit," I sat down at the desk and looked around. All the places likely to contain any sort of information were locked. I couldn''t pick a magical lock without knowing what sort of lock it was. I spun around in the chair slowly. Taking in all the room. The cabinets and drawers were not happening. Unlike her bedroom, her office was well kept. No papers tossed about for me to go through, not even anything in the trash can. I swirled around in the chair again.


    What now? I stopped when my luck gave a twinge. I was facing the bookshelf.


    It was a small shelf and from a cursory glance nothing but hard to read technical texts both medical and scientific. Some books on monster diversity. A few corner store romance novels. My luck was telling me something was here though. I ran my hand over the books hoping that my luck would tell me what it was I was looking for. Nothing. Something was here, but it wasn''t going to tell me what it was. So what didn''t belong?


    I pulled out the monster book. Nope, this was standard. You''d be able to find something like this in any Guild library. I put the book back and my eye caught the binding of one of the romance novels. Smaller and thinner than the textbooks. Those certainly stuck out.


    I pulled one off the shelf and was surprised when the cover collapsed in my hand and another book fell to the ground. I looked at the book on the floor then the empty cover in my hand. The pages had been taken out of the romance novel and this little book had been covered up using it. I picked up the book and the dimensions were about the same as the romance so using the romance book as a false cover instead of a textbook made sense.


    I opened the book and I felt a smile creep up my face.


    "Yes," I whispered.


    Diaries. They were diaries. I''d been right that she couldn''t resist keeping records.


    This one was new. It started only a few days ago. I carefully covered the diary with the false cover and put it back in place. Then I pulled out the romance beside it. Yup, A filled diary. Dating about six months. There were at least four years of diaries here.


    I didn''t dare take time to read them, but she''d notice if they were missing. I flipped through one and paused at an entry.


    "Well," I hissed through my teeth and I leaned forward in the chair my arm bumping the false cover.


    The false covers gave me an idea. I got to work cutting up paper in about the right shape and size. I filled the false covers with the blank sheets of paper and placed them back on the shelf. Most people didn''t go back and reread their own diaries. It was just luck that she''d started a new one just recently. She''d take down that one and only that one leaving the rest alone, hopefully never knowing that they''d been taken.


    I''d brought a bag with me, it was another dead person closet find. It looked like it could keep things dry enough in a downpour in the rain, but I doubted it would keep things dry if fully submerged. My idea of using the submerged bucket air pocket trick wouldn''t work for seven little books.


    However, if that diary entry was right, I wouldn''t have to worry about any of that and she''d been kind enough to complain about all of it in her diary. There''d been one hell of a monster Fire Lizard in the volcano a few years back. Disaster class. She was sketchy on the details of how it had been dealt with but had remarked that the level 4 fire core had been placed in the vault with the other unique items Rience collected.


    Among those items were two things I was particularly interested in. One would be handy in getting the books out of the lake. The other, well. It may or may not be useful. Still, I''d see what my luck told me when I got there.


    Adrieane had written down how much of a pain it was to open the vault, but in doing so she also detailed just how to open the vault. All her bitching about magic locks and her not having the right affinity to open the vault really helped me out. It just so happens I did have and air affinity. It was lucky I hadn''t tried to open any of her magically locked cabinets since her magical affinity was mostly earth and fire. Fire users tended to like things that blew up when opened. The lock on the vault was of air magic though, which is what caused Miss Bitch to detail her complaints in her diary.


    I had a bit of a bounce in my step as I turned the corner. I hadn''t been paying attention and practically ran into a man pushing a gurney down the hall.


    "Sorry," I said as I moved around him. On top of a sheet was a single detached blue wing. Under the sheet was a body. A dead person. The smell of burnt flesh hit me as we passed each other. My stomach turned.


    I turned and watched the man push the woman around the corner. What the hell was going on? Did they really just kill that woman? There was a part of me that understood that this was likely the end result for everyone who''d lost their minds during the change. Still, having that reality pushed passed me like that made me more than a little ill.


    My walk was more subdued as I made my way to the vault. The people I walked passed either ignored me or gave me a simple head nod of greeting. The head nodders got a nod back and we all carried about our business.


    The vault was before me. Somehow I expected a massive door with nine guards and a few monsters guarding the entrance. The things inside this room would be enough to turn the tides of war. You would think that the entrance would be a bit grander than the same looking door I''d seen countless times on the way here. It was just a simple door with one crazy complicated air magic lock.


    A lock that I''d been way too confident in being able to break without setting off alarms. It seemed that the Bitch really didn''t understand air magic. She''d made the lock seem difficult, but she hadn''t mentioned the fact that it was impossible to break without a blood connection to the person who set it. A blood lock. Used most often in older aristocratic houses. On top of the crazy complicated air magic lock. There was no way I was going through that door.


    However, the magic was only on the door. Not the room. I glanced down the hall and looked at the door. I laughed when I read Janitorial printed on the label. This was just too easy.


    I opened the door and stepped inside. A broom closet but a fairly large one. I got to work and moved some things around. The shelf with bottles of floor polish got pushed out of the way. While on my stomach I took out my knife and began to scratch away at the wall close to the floor.


    "Yes," I whispered. I stabbed the knife straight through the wall. A wall that was made of nothing but damp concrete. Having put up concrete walls they thought they were good, but they failed to account for the cave damp. This entire area was, in fact, a huge cave complex after all. The damp had rotted the concrete and here I was able to just cut it away as if it was plaster.


    Once the hole was big enough for my fist I stuck my eye to the hole and looked inside the room. A large bag was blocking my view. It seemed the hole I''d created was directly behind a shelving unit. The bag being the largest thing on that bottom row of that shelf. Lucky.


    I made the hole bigger making sure to clear away the concrete as I went. I left it in a mop bucket by the door. With any luck, someone would see it and just empty it without thinking to investigate where it came from.


    When the hole was big enough I wiggled my way in. I pushed the bag off the shelf as I went.


    "What the hell is inside you," I swore at the bag. It was heavier than I thought and took a lot of strength to move it.


    Once out into the room I looked around. Everything was laid out on shelves. Shelves along the wall and shelves set up in the middle of the room. There didn''t seem to be any sort of system about it either.


    A huge vase, big enough a man could sit in was pushed up against a chest that had monsters painted in gold all over it. There were tattered sets of bloody clothes sitting directly beside a golden crown. It was certainly a vault of curiosities.


    The level 4 monster core was easy to find. A lumpy amber-colored stone the size of a child''s head and right beside it was the bag. Made out of dragonhide, though most people wouldn''t know that from a glance. It looked like a simple brown leather shoulder bag. Perhaps a bit more expensive-looking than regular bags, but common enough. It was what the bag did that was special.


    I picked up the bag and stuck my hand inside. I felt nothing but empty space, my hand not hitting the bottom. Then I looked inside. There was a bottom. I could see it and when I was looking my hand touched the bottom. It was only when I wasn''t looking that my hand didn''t feel any resistance. A magic bag. One that had been made using the magic only the gods and dragons could use. Abyss magic, or dimensional magic. It didn''t really matter to me which one it was.


    I grabbed the level 4 monster core and tried putting it in the bag while looking. The stone didn''t fit. Then I tried shoving it in without looking. Just like the Bitch had said, the bag swallowed up the larger object easily. If this went in the water with me the books would be safe and dry. I dropped my entire kit into the new bag, and just to be safe fished it back out again. You had to think about what it was you wanted and it came to your hand. If you put something in there and forgot about it, you''d never recover it unless you remembered you put it in there.


    On the other side of where the monster core had been, was my other target. A Demon Charm. It looked like a simple leather necklace with a lapis lazuli teardrop pendant. I guess making it out of gold and precious stones would make people want to steal it. For a demon who was trying to play at being human wearing something flashy like gold and jewels would be the opposite of what they''d want. A pendant that disguised demons, making them look human.


    It was just a theory but I placed the pendant around my neck. In a matter of seconds, I could feel the difference. My wings were gone. I''d grown a bit taller. I looked at my arms. They''d shortened. I was back to my normal human self. For a brief instance, I thought about keeping it for myself.


    I could pass as human if needed, I could walk on land. For the most part, my mobility wasn''t any different than before I changed. Rille, she could benefit more from this pendant than I could. Still, it didn''t hurt to keep it on for the time being.


    I walked around the vault looking at things. I didn''t want to take everything. You never knew what sort of backlash a magic item had and I suspected most of the things in this vault were magic in some way.


    There were items that my luck told me not to touch under any circumstances. A seemingly innocent looking music box practically had me on the floor ducking in terror with the wallop of warning my luck had given me right before I''d touched it.


    There were other things my luck told me to grab. A hair clip made out of abalone shell, a shawl pin made of bone, a large carved wooden button, a pair of black dice made out of black stone, and a small pouch with a handful of pearls. I won''t lie. I was tempted by the gold. There were the crown and countless bits of gold jewelry, but I refrained. While my luck didn''t tell me they were dangerous, it didn''t tell me to take them either. I''d rather not press my luck by taking unnecessary items.


    I was passing by one of the shelves when the earthquake hit. A massive one. I reached out and tried to grab something. The shelf shook and a large clay box fell from the top shelf and hit me. I''d managed to duck in time so it hit the back of my skull and scraped up my back. I fell to my knees just in time. The shelf began to tip over. I rolled out of the way. As it came crashing into the shelf beside it. Items went scattering everywhere.


    I sat on the floor and waited until the tremors passed. Then I stood up and assessed the damage. I had a huge knock on my head, but I wasn''t bleeding. That was good. The hat and wig probably protected me from most of the damage. The room was a mess, but in hindsight, that was also good. They wouldn''t discover the theft if it was left in such a state.


    I left the room, pulling the heavy bag after me. I''d discovered that the bag was filled with rocks. That was why it had been so hard to push out of the way when I entered. Why Rience wanted a bag of rocks and why they were special was beyond me, but the bag they were in was big enough to hide the hole I''d made in the wall. After moving the shelf with the cleaning supplies back into place you couldn''t see the hole from this side either. Hopefully, the theft would go unnoticed for a long time in that mess.


    It was time to leave. I''d been down here for hours. It was hard to tell the passing of time underground but my stomach was certainly giving me a clue. It was past dinner time. On top of being hungry, I was hurt. I needed to get to Rille and eat something. If I''d managed to concuss myself I needed some medical attention, but I couldn''t do it here. I had to be seen coming from the lake with Rille. After that, the healers could help.


    There was some chaos in the halls. Some people were injured and other people were getting help. Others milled around in groups to gossip. What had caused the earthquake this time? They were getting worse, weren''t they? Living underground was becoming more of a hazard. Do you think we could argue for hazard pay? All sorts of pockets of people talking about the same things.


    I had to be extra cautious making my way back. There were more people in the living areas than there had been when I entered. Of course, they were on their way to their rooms when the earthquake hit. So now they were all hanging out in the halls talking.


    I managed to make my way to the boats. I passed one guard on the way. My heart nearly dropped when he stopped me.


    "I just checked the docks. Everything''s fine."


    "Orders," I answered with a shrug. He nodded and let me pass. This guy was too low in the ranks to question orders. If someone had ordered me to check the boats that''s what I would do. It didn''t matter if it had already been done. So I was safe enough.


    There wasn''t anyone else to see me take off my boots, or the hat and wig. They didn''t see me change out of the pilfered guard uniform either. Back in my normal clothes, I jumped into the water pulling the bag along with me. I eyeballed where I thought the entrance to the cave was and dove down. Then I surfaced and reoriented myself. I was a few yards off. Then I took a deep breath and dove. It was harder than I thought. Working my way back through the tunnel and into the rest of the cave system. Rille had been pulling the bags on the first trip. I underestimated how much the weight of something like that drug you down.


    Just when I thought I was in serious trouble I surfaced. The sandy beach area felt like heaven. The air was amazing. Now, where was Rille? She should have been here by now.


    She was probably making her way through the tunnels. The tunnels took some time and if she''d been searching for Filmore until sunset then she wouldn''t be back for another hour or so.


    What did I do in the meantime? Eat the food I''d packed. Even though I could see in the dark I couldn''t read the diaries without light. It was a good thing that I''d stolen a magic lamp out of one of the guardrooms on the way back. A little touch of magic and the lamp gave off a calming yellow light. Now to settle down and learn what Chance had sent me to discover. I cracked open the first diary and bit into an apple.

 Chapter 37 We are Discovered

    Chapter 37 We are Discovered


    I worked my way back through the tunnel. I felt a bit bad leaving Maize there to search the underground herself, but it wasn''t as if I could do anything useful. So when I mentioned perhaps leaving for the day to look for Filmore Maize seemed fine with it. After all, I would be back. She couldn''t make it back through the tunnel system without me.


    I entered the last section of the cave and swam out. Something grabbed my arm causing me to shriek and strike out with a punch. I hit him before I realized who it was that grabbed me. Adam let go and pointed up. A sinking feeling in my gut I followed him.


    "What are you doing?" He asked as I surfaced.


    "Looking for Filmore," Not really lie. I had been on my way to look for Filmore after all.


    "Where''s that girl your always with?" He looked around as if he expected to see her bobbing around.


    "The cave is underwater. She can''t go down there. I left her on the shore until I was done."


    "Find anything?" He asked.


    "No, nothing." I sighed.


    "I see," he turned a circle again looking around.


    "I thought you were sick. You weren''t there this morning."


    "No, I got into some trouble for leaving the two of you yesterday. I had to stay behind to be lectured. Though if they knew you were exploring caves on your own you''d be the one getting the lecture."


    "Most likely," I agreed. "But I wasn''t planning on telling them I was by myself unless I found Filmore."


    "He''s gone. It''s pointless to keep looking."


    "Perhaps, but to his wife it''s important."


    "I guess," Adam looked around again. "Hey, do you think you want to check out that other cave with me again? The one with the crabs? We didn''t get a good look around because of the crabs. Maybe we missed something."


    "Um," I hesitated. I knew Filmore wasn''t there. Adam thought I was hesitating over something else entirely.


    "It''s underwater, so your friend can''t come anyway. We might as well head over there now and then pick her up on the way back," Adam turned and smiled at me.


    Shit. How did I get rid of Adam so I could go back for Maize?


    "Lunch, I haven''t eaten yet," I lied. I''d just eaten before I''d left Maize but perhaps the excuse was enough.


    "You don''t have your bag," Adam commented. "You left it with your friend?"


    "That''s right so I should go get her."


    "No, she will slow down the search of the cave. You can share my lunch," Adam tapped the bag he had slung over his shoulder.


    Fine, I''d have lunch with him, search the cave, then use Maize as an excuse to split up from him later. If he still followed me I could discover that Maize was missing and send Adam back to inform the pinch-faced woman. In the meantime, I''d be in the caves getting Maize out. I didn''t think we''d be able to spend the night now. Adam would know something was off and might go looking in the cave himself. The last thing I wanted was for Adam to discover the cave with the boats.


    We spent some time eating Adam''s lunch. Then I followed him to the crab cave. He gestured for me to go first. I had my knife in my hand just in case a Goblin Crab surprised me.


    From under the water, there wasn''t any sign of crabs and there weren''t any when I surfaced either. Odd, since just a short time ago this place was infested. I felt Adam come up behind me.


    Before I knew it he''d knocked my knife out of my hand.


    "Hey," I protested turning to go after the knife, but Adam grabbed my wrist. Keeping me surfaced.


    Then I felt something against my ribs. Something sharp and pointy.


    "You won''t be needing it," Adam said.


    "Adam?" It was more a question than anything. What was going on?


    "Head towards the beach," I turned my head and looked at him. He was smiling. Why the hell was he smiling?


    "Go on," he pressed the knife against me harder. Any more and he''d break the skin.


    I swam towards the beach. It was awkward with Adam holding my wrist and the knife pressed to my side the entire time. I got as close as I could to the beach without using my hands. A wave broke over me and tried to pull me back into the water. Adam let go of my hand but kept the knife pressed up against me. I pulled myself out of the water and onto the beach. Adam followed along able to use his split fins to push himself rather than use his arms.


    "What''s going on?" I turned to him. His gaze drifted over to a clump of seaweed near the edge of the beach.


    "I thought the Goblin Crabs would eat him. That''s why I brought him here. Instead, it''s scared them away. You''d have found him eventually. After all, this is your cave. Better sooner rather than later."


    What was he talking about? I looked at the clump of seaweed again. Then I was able to make out distinct shapes. A human body covered in seaweed.


    "Gods Above," I whispered. I drug myself closer to Filmore. He was dead. And he had the broken end of a fishing spear sticking out of his side.


    "What happened?" A part of my brain had shut down. While another part of my brain was screaming at me. I felt cold and numb while at the same time as if I was sitting on the edge of a cliff.


    "I killed him of course. This way there can only be two of us. They can''t force you to be with him if it''s only us."


    "What?" I turned and stared at Adam. Adam had killed Filmore. Why?


    "They plan on breeding us you know. You''re the only female. So that means the two of us for one of you. I don''t share. So I killed him." He seemed so matter of fact about it all. He even shrugged a bit at the end.


    "But he''s married," it seemed like the only logical thing I could think at that moment. Breeding? They wanted us to breed?


    "Do you honestly think something like that would stop them? The entire point of changing us was to develop superhumans to use in the war. They need us to breed, for you to birth the next generation of underwater soldiers for them."


    "War," I echoed. What war? As far as I knew we weren''t at war.


    "They are taking the long view. War with the Onyx Kingdom is inevitable. We want the obsidian fields, and they want the coastal land bordering the fields. In order to have a fighting chance against them, they need soldiers on par with the Zyanthropes. But Zyanthropes are loyal to their own countries and wouldn''t bother getting involved. So our dear Amber Kingdom decided to create their own. It didn''t matter how many had to die, as long as they got their soldiers in the end.


    "We are the first. I was told by my caretakers that it''s only a matter of time anyway. Sooner or later you''ll have to give me children. You can either have it done here in relative privacy or you can have it done being watched by all those people while you are trapped in a tank. Either way, this is going to happen."


    "This was a sickness, a plague. Who told you this nonsense?" I pushed myself away from him, but the knife came out and I froze.


    "It''s not nonsense. Those shots we were given? The ones to protect us from getting sick on The Island? It was that."


    "No, that doesn''t make sense. Children on the mainland got sick too. Other people not just the ones who''d been to The Island."


    "True, but they were given shots as well. Something a bit different from what we were given. That''s why none of them survived. What we were given was slightly different. Liquefied monster core for us on The Island. They learned early on to target the people with little to no magic. Less magic to conflict with the monster core growing inside a human body."


    "People with magic survived."


    "They didn''t have very much magic to begin with, god touched, or both."


    "No, I can''t believe that. No government would kill off so many of its people."


    "I don''t think they intended for so many to die. They thought that if they targeted the magicless and the children the monster cores would have a better chance. My handler said they miscalculated the casualty rate."


    "Miscalculated the casualty rate," I echoed. "There is no way they could have killed so many miscalculation or not. The gods would have noticed."


    "You think so? Where were they when everyone was dropping dead? The gods could have stopped this entire thing, but they didn''t. Why?" Adam looked at me and gave me a malicious grin.


    "They didn''t know," I said rather flatly.


    "That''s impossible and you know it," he sneered.


    Well, he had a point. Why hadn''t the gods intervened? It made some sense that they wouldn''t know what was happening on The Island because of the barrier, but they should have known about what was happening on the mainland.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    "They don''t care," Adam shook his head as if chiding me for being particularly stupid.


    "Of course they do," I argued.


    "No, if they cared they could have easily have shown up and healed those kids and everyone else that was afflicted. They didn''t. They ignored us."


    I didn''t know what to say. Adam was right. If the gods had wanted to interfere they could have and fewer people would have died. So why didn''t they interfere? There had to be a reason. When so many started dropping dead Edomael, the Abyss Keeper himself would have noticed. So why wasn''t anything done?


    "You see?" Adam smiled moving nearer to me with the knife. My head swirled. I felt rather sick and a bit lightheaded.


    "No," I said in denial. It was a weak denial and Adam laughed at it.


    "It doesn''t matter anyway, because of this I can finally live up to my potential. I always knew I was better than my brothers, better than most of the nobles. Just because I was born out of order I had to deal with all sorts of injustices.


    "Cutting me off like that and saying I had to find a suitable occupation..." Adam''s face grew red with fury. He slashed the knife around wildly. He''d been rather calm talking about murdering Filmore, but suddenly he showed the depth of his anger.


    "There is money and land. A lot of it, but because my brother was born first it goes to him? What sort of injustice is that? I''ve always been better than the lot of them. That''s why he had to meet with a slight accident." Adam wasn''t looking at me anymore but was gazing thoughtfully at Filmore''s body. "Still I had another brother who stepped in. If this hadn''t happened," he waved one of his finned legs, "he would have met with an accident as well.


    "As it is, I''ve finally understood that my purpose isn''t the head of a merchant house. My purpose is to become the spearhead of the kingdom," Adam thrust the knife to the side violently to emphasize his point. "Soldiering life never really appealed to me, but this is rather different. It''s not as if I''ll be the one actually doing the fighting. No, my job is to use you to father an elite squad."


    "No two people can have that many children," I tried inching closer to the water. Perhaps in the water, I could escape. My head was starting to clear up from the shock of it all and getting away from Adam was paramount.


    "Didn''t you know? No, I guess you wouldn''t," Adam grinned at me all his teeth showing. "They''ve been dosing you this entire time. Using periodic healing and lacing your food with drugs to increase your fertility. On top of that, they think that the gestation period will be shorter. Every seven months instead of nine you know? If you have a set of twins for every pregnancy you should be able to supply the kingdom with a litter of soldiers before you''ve used yourself up.


    "Stop that," he waved the knife at me and lunged pressing it tightly against my side. "I don''t want to cut you up, but I figure it won''t kill you." He pressed the tip hard enough that I felt the second the skin broke. There was a feeling like an itch, then it felt warm against my slightly chilled skin.


    "This will happen. It doesn''t matter to me how," to make his point he drew the knife up my arm making a shallow cut.


    I jerked away and made some sort of noise somewhere between a scream and a hiccup. For some reason, this cut on the arm hurt a lot more than the puncture on my side. I couldn''t just let him sit there and slice me up. The pain drove away what leftover fog had been making me sit there frozen.


    I knocked his arm with the knife away. He seemed surprised at this but quickly brought the knife back towards me. I grabbed at his wrist with both my hands and slammed his hand into the sand. His other hand came up and he began punching me. The side of my head, my shoulder, my back. All while I kept slamming his hand with the knife into the sand.


    His grip loosened and I pried it out of his grip. I came up with it swinging it wide at him. His hand followed mine with a swift strike he knocked the knife out of my grip. It went flying into the water a few feet away. I lunged after it but was punched in the throat. Then again in the face. I saw stars.


    There had never been a worse pain in my life. I couldn''t see, I was choking on blood. What had happened? My face was on fire. I think I may have passed out for a second. When I came back to my senses. I was on my back in the sand.


    "Fucking uppity bitch. I''m doing you a fucking favor." There was a blow to my chest that forced blood out of my mouth in a wheeze.


    Hands were scrambling up and down my tail, fingers digging into the skin.


    I brought my hand up but received another blow to the neck. I choked and coughed up more blood. I tried to roll to my side so all the blood wasn''t choking me. I gagged and threw up a bit.


    "Disgusting bitch," Adam got off me and actually helped flip me over. On my stomach, the blood drained from my nose instead of down the back of my throat.


    Hands were running all along the back of my tail.


    "How the fuck," Adam was muttering. He reached up and tried to grab at my hair, but since I''d cut it so short he couldn''t get a good grip.


    "Where is it?" He yelled at me slamming my head into the sand since he couldn''t pull my head back. I was lucky that I had my head turned so that my battered nose didn''t take more of a beating.


    "Where is it!" He screamed at me again then punched my shoulder.


    His other hand was running up and down my butt. Twice he passed over the membrane that covered my parts, but only with luck did he fail to notice that the skin was different there. If he had pressed with his fingers instead of swiping down the length of my tail with his palm he would have noticed that the skin gave way.


    I reached out with my hand and tried to drag myself away. Instead, I was grabbed from behind and slammed into the sand. Just as I landed his fingers dug into the membrane.


    I reached behind me and tried to block his access. Instead, my hand hit something fleshy. My hand grasped it and I yanked, hard.


    Adam fell back with a screech.


    At that moment the earth began to shake. I felt the ground ripple under me and I let go of Adam. The ground literally moved. I was thrown up onto the crest of a wave of sand, and I was brought back down landing on my side. There was another wave in the sand and I was tossed up again.


    This time I hit the water. The earthquake had caused the water in the cave to churn and massive reactionary waves were beating against the beach and the walls of the cave. The waves were so strong I was pulled along in a sudden current. I had to do something or be smashed against the side of the cave.


    I reached out and my hand grabbed a stick. No, it was Filmore and the spear sticking out of his side. The spear came loose from his body and he was carried away from me on the crest of another wave.


    "BITCH!" I was grabbed from behind. Both arms wrapping around me and I was suddenly being slammed into the sand under the waves. I turned and the butt of the spear followed my movements. I felt it jam into something solid and suddenly the arms let go. I didn''t know where I''d hit him but he''d let go and that was the important part.


    The earth shook again and I felt the water surge. On instinct, I drove the end of the spear into the ground. I was hoping to just slow my movements so that I wasn''t smashed up against the wall, but instead, the spear got wedged in between some rocks and I was able to cling to it.


    Gradually, the earth stopped trembling and the water stopped surging. I was having a hard time breathing with all the sand stirred up in the water, but I wasn''t about to let go of that spear. I had a hell of a time getting it unstuck from the rocks. Adam had to be close by and this spear was the only weapon I had.


    I surfaced and took a clean breath of air. Blood was still streaming down my face but it had significantly slowed. Was my nose broken? I was too afraid to touch the spot to find out. I couldn''t help it and sneezed the debris out of my gills. The pain of this nearly caused me to blackout again as the sneeze also tried finding an exit out my nose.


    I gripped onto the spear as I tried to find my equilibrium. Adam was here. It was still very dangerous. Was what he''d said true? True or not, Adam certainly believed it.


    It was a horrible realization, but it wasn''t outside the realm of possibilities either.


    The Amber Kingdom was known to be prejudice against Zyanthropes. So if there was a wat why would the Zyanthrope population sign on with our side? No, rather they would be more likely to sign on with the Onyx Kingdom instead. Even if they did have a sordid reputation for slavery and forced labor. The Onyx Kingdom treated Zyanthropes as equals and the Amber Kingdom didn''t. Having an army supplemented by the natural physical strength of the Zyanthropes could turn the tide of any war.


    The Onyx Kingdom had it''s share of strong magicians too. After the last war, and being soundly trashed by the lone Lady Margot, they had instituted a rather brutal policy of taking magically gifted children away from their parents to be brought up in a boarding school of magic. It was common knowledge even in the Amber Kingdom that those children were treated horribly. Though it must be said the ones who manage to survive the school ended up having decently appointments in the military and government.


    Was what Adam said the Amber Kingdom''s countermeasure? Where we all just pawns to be played in a farseeing game of war?


    I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. Panicked I turned spear in hand.


    Filmore.


    Filmore''s body had resurfaced and was being knocked into the wall of the cave by the cresting waves.


    Where was Adam?


    I swept my gaze slowly along the top of the water wanting to catch sight of some underwater movement. He''d come from under me. That would be the best move to make, but with so much debris stirred up in the water, he couldn''t stay under long without having to resurface to flush his gills. So where was he?


    Movement in a corner of the cave. It was the area of the cave with the sharp stalactites that hung from the top of the cave and stalagmites that jetted a few feet out of the water. The cave dripped there and over time had created the formations.


    The waves crested and withdrew. As they pulled back I saw the movement again. Just skimming the surface of the water was Adam. He was sort of curled sideways mostly on his stomach. His arms were moving along something, he was trying to lift himself up. Was he stuck?


    I didn''t want to get too close, but there was something about the movements that made me swim closer. I held the spear at ready, just in case.


    It seemed that nature had decided to act on my behalf. I wouldn''t need my spear. The cave had done that for me. Adam was pierced near the front of his hip on a small particularly needle-looking stalagmite.


    His face had gone white with pain and he was grunting hard trying to push himself off. He must have noticed my approach and he turned his head to look at me. He stared at the spear in my hand and just laughed. He looked resigned, waiting.


    What was he waiting for? After what seemed like a long time but may have actually been less than a minute Adam shook his head and renewed his efforts of trying to get off the spike.


    He wasn''t going to get off it by himself. Shit. I glanced at the spear in my hand and decided that I shouldn''t give it up entirely. So I chucked it towards an area of beach where I could get to it if I needed it.


    Hands free, I swam up beside Adam. I could see why he was having issues. There wasn''t much to brace yourself against if you needed to pry your body off a spike. His own weight and his efforts seemed to actually make the spike go in deeper with every wave crest.


    Oddly, there was very little blood. You would think that with a would like that there would be more blood. I took a closer look. I couldn''t really tell just how deep it was, not without knowing how large the spike had been beforehand. So maybe it wasn''t that deep and that''s why there wasn''t a lot of blood.


    "Are you going to help me or just keep staring?" Adam grunted at me in between his gasps of pain.


    "I should leave you like this," I mumbled mostly to myself as I tried to find some way to brace my body so that I could lift him up.


    Near his shoulder was another set of the stalagmites. I didn''t want to pierce myself and end up in the same predicament as him, but If I wedged my tail in between the two and braced my body against the spike Adam was stuck on, I could probably push him up from underneath.


    I got my body wedged in place and placed my hands on one of his shoulders and one on his stomach. Then I waited for the water to crest. The water took some of the weight off, but if I didn''t time it right the weight would fall again. It crested and I pushed up. Adam assisted as much as he could by pushing from above.


    The water was suddenly filled, I gagged. It tasted like metal. Blood, a lot of blood. Adam had come off the spike in a spurt of blood. He was trying to swim but was flailing about trying to orient himself.


    I got my tail unstuck then swam to grab him under the arms. I drug him up onto the beach on his back and tried to asses the damage. Blood, Dark blood, flowed out of him.


    I couldn''t check the wound with that much blood and I wasn''t a healer. I had to bind it. The only fabric I had was my shirt. I pulled it off and held it against the hole. I leaned into it trying to get the bleeding to slow.


    "Shit," I hissed. I couldn''t get him out of the cave bleeding like this, but I couldn''t leave him to get help either. I had to stop the blood. How did you stop blood when it was coming out this thick and this fast? My shirt, already wet from water, wasn''t doing much. There had been seaweed washed up on the beach earlier. Would seaweed help?


    I glanced up at Adam''s face. I was going to ask him what I should do. His eyes were staring at nothing. In my panic of trying to get the blood to stop, I''d failed to notice he''d stopped breathing. His blood still flowed, so I''d assumed he was still alive. Was his heart beating?


    With my bloody hand, I reached to his chest. My palm left smeared handprints across his chest as I tried to feel for his heartbeat. Nothing. I checked the pulse point at his neck. Nothing. He wouldn''t be a threat to anyone anymore.