The rest of the day was spent making our way to the main road. Dorsia was carving her way through forest with a short sword while Hrig dragged me on a sled assembled from the wreckage of the Eastland ships. Once we reached the road I managed to convince Hrig and Kyren to let me walk some of the way.

Stone was looking around at landmarks, concern showing on his face.

“We’re lucky the Nedra took us most of the way. It should only be another day or so to Buryn,” said Dorsia.

“That’s good, we won’t miss our meeting with Clara,” said Kyren.

“Hopefully the work she arranged is outside of the city. I’d prefer not to draw too much attention,” said Hrig.

“Hmm, perhaps we could cross some more forest to a side road. Might save you some trouble,” said Stone.

“No reason to leave the main road for my sake.”

“It would only take us another day.” Stone insisted, uncharacteristically flustered.

“It’s fine, let’s just keep moving.”

We walked in silence for a while before reaching a small roadside inn. The sign read Nevier’s Retreat and under the lettering was a depiction of a spear piercing a shield that could only be described as...provocative. Everyone in the party came to a stop except for Stone who kept moving doggedly forward.

“Shall we spend the night here?” Asked Dorsia.

“No!” said Stone, startling everyone, “I mean, why spend the gold when we could just camp?”

“Our bedrolls were on the ship, I’d prefer not to sleep on hard ground,” said Jade.

“Well, I mean, the inn is clearly a place of ill repute. I can’t imagine Kyren would want to spend a night there,” said Stone.

“I don’t mind actually. Such places are important to Nevier’s worship. It would be disrespectful for me not to take shelter in such a place based on some type of holier than thou attitude.”

“But-”

“Sevald was clinging to a board in the ocean yesterday. Would you really deny him an opportunity to sleep in a bed after that?” asked Hrig.

Stone’s mouth opened, but thinking better of speaking he let out a breath and with it, all resistance. “Fine, but let me take the lead. I’ll have to get something out of the way.”

The group parted and let Stone lead the way up to the entrance. He pushed it open and we all filed in behind him. The world outside of the Inn contrasted so sharply with the inside that it took me several moments to even register what I was seeing. The entire interior was painted a soft shade of pink and it smelled heavily of perfume and incense. There were tapestries along the wall depicting acts that Byn couldn’t have imagined, Sevald could only dream of, Pebble could only understand academically, and Syven had actively enjoyed.

Leaning luxuriantly against a bar was a dwarven woman wearing a loose purple silk robe. She was very well proportioned even with her stout frame and her pink hair was woven into a large braid down her back. She looked in our direction with heavily made up eyes and a relaxed expression that shifted into an odd mix of surprise, concern, and disdain as soon as they settled on Stone.

“Dad!?”

Stone smiled sheepishly, “Hi Sapphire. Been awhile.”

“Been awhile?" She stood up and walked over to him until she was close enough to grab his beard. "Is that really all you have to say to me?”

“No, it’s more like that was all I could think to say in the moment.”

“Don’t try to be clever. What’re you doing here? I thought you might be dead!”

“My friends and I are traveling and we just want a place to sleep for the night.”

“Oh, of course, you’re here for rooms. That makes more sense than being here to see me.”

“That’s not fair! I visited just two years ago!”

“For a night! And that was after not seeing you for three years before!”

“Well excuse me for not wanting to sleep in my daughter’s brothel!”

“Its a temple, it just happens to serve multiple purposes. Besides, you didn’t seem to have any trouble with brothels after mom died. Why should this one be any different?”

I stood, stunned, along with the rest of the party as the back and forth continued. As they yelled a mix of men and women in makeup and various states of undress shuffled into the room to check on the noise. They would see Stone, sigh, and move on to whatever business they’d interrupted. Clearly, as surprising as the situation was for us, it wasn’t anything unusual for them.

Kyren moved to stand next to Stone. “Excuse me, I’m sorry to interrupt, I can tell you both have a lot to talk about, but my companion here,” she gestured to me, “just spent a day adrift at sea and could use a meal and a soft bed.”

Sapphire gained control of her emotions and looked us over. “Since you’re friends of my father I'll give you half price rooms, but you,” she pointed at Stone, “pay double.”

“Come on Sapphire, I’m family!”

“You’re lucky I’m letting you stay at all,” she returned her attention to the rest of the party, “the rooms and food are half price, but priests set their own rates if their attention is something you’re interested in.”

“Thank you.” Kyren gave a solemn nod. Sapphire clapped her hands and attendants came and started guiding us to our rooms. She then began arguing with Stone again in earnest. As I left the room I heard a complaint from him about her shaving her beard followed up by one from her that he should understand how that would hurt the business she gets from elves which caused him to turn a shade of red that contrasted quite nicely with the pink walls.

The attendant leading me was a Half Orc. She was pressing herself into me in a way that was both pleasant and uncomfortable. I looked for something to say in order to distract myself when her outfit caught my attention. It was made up of leather straps of a fine quality that were somehow dyed a deep blue. From what I understood from Byn, blue was an exceptionally rare shade that needed a special process to create.

The woman gave a sultry smile, "See something you like?"

“That color is interesting, how was it made?”

The woman looked startled for a moment, “Uh, the blood of cave drake was used to dye it. They bleed blue. My clan developed the technique over a number of years.”

“I’ve used oxblood to achieve a red color, but I didn’t realize that shade of blue was possible.”

We arrived at the room and she unlocked the door.

“Here you go,” she gestured toward the bed, “and if you’d like any company, I’ll give you a special rate. Normally all I hear is how exotic it is to see an Orc girl here. It’s nice to talk about my old trade for a change.”

“I, uh, think I’m too tired for that kind of activity, but thank you. It was nice to talk to you too.”

“If you change your mind feel free to ask for me, my name is Sade.” She smiled and left the room.

I sat on the bed for several minutes noting that the room itself was oddly quiet considering the activities that were likely going on in the adjacent spaces. Eventually I stood up and began making my way to the door, thinking I should check in on my companions, but there was a knock before I could reach it. I steeled myself for a polite, but firm no to whichever priest of Nevier was waiting on the other side, but when I opened it I was surprised to see Jade.

“Oh, hi Jade.” I backed away from the door as she let herself into the room. “Is there something I can do for you?”

She took a deep breath and turned to me. “I still owe you. I think I have a way to repay you, but I needed to talk to you alone.”

I looked at her, the bed, and the large tapestry above it and felt a kind of heat wash over me. “Th-that’s fine Jade. You don’t owe me anything. You made Jase turn around. I might be dead otherwise.”

“No, you wouldn’t be. Your friends would’ve done it if I hadn’t. Besides, we both know you would’ve been fine.”

“No I wouldn’t've. It was sheer luck that I survived. I’d be dead if you hadn’t been there to meet me.”

“You can drop the act.”

I tensed up and made maneuvered myself to lean against the doorframe in case I needed to keep her from leaving.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You knew how to invoke my runes, you fought and killed Donyin, your armor heals itself, and you survived a kraken attack that sank the vessel you were on and somehow got to shore wearing full plate. I don’t know what you are, but I do know you're not human. I assume your companions haven’t figured it out because they don’t want to. Their affection for you is clouding their judgement.”

I tensed, feeling as if the floor itself would fall out from under me next. “You haven’t told them then?”

She shook her head. “No, and with that you can consider us even.”

I moved out of the doorway. “Really?”

“Really.” She held out her right hand and showed her palm. It was the dwarven rune for ‘deal’. I reached out and took her hand, invoking the rune as I did so. I felt something pass between us.

“I can see why your friends are so willing to ignore the obvious. Everything I’ve seen you do so far makes it clear you care for them. Maybe you should consider telling them yourself?” She opened the door and walked out into the hall.

…

I stayed in my room the rest of the night, pondering the conversation I’d had with Jade. When it was morning I made my way out toward the dining area, squeezing past a particularly robust elven woman on the way. None of my companions were there except for Stone who was passed out at the bar next to his daughter who was leaning against him, also unconscious. I watched them for a few moments, listening to them snore, until someone approached from behind.

“This happens every time,” said Sade, no longer wearing her blue leather and instead in a simple blouse and skirt. She draped a blanket over the sleeping dwarves.

“Really? They’re always like this?”

“Yeah, he’ll come here, she’ll yell at him, they’ll drink and make up.”

“Seems...difficult.”

“It probably is, but it’s also better than never seeing one another. Breakfast?”

I nodded and she made her way behind the bar to a galley kitchen. I heard a fire start and rather than sit alone I went to join her.

“Need any help?”

Sade laughed. “Sweet of you to offer, but I don’t want to have to manage you while I’m cooking breakfast for a houseful of exhausted Nevier priests. They build up quite an appetite.”

“I promise I won’t be underfoot, I’ve spent a lot of time in kitchens.”

“Alright, fine. I’ll work on the porridge you-”

“I’ll fry up the bread from dinner, make some rice to thicken the porridge, and throw some slices of ham in with the bread.” I eased into the kitchen, leaning hard on Syven’s experience. As I cooked, Sade began making her way into the dining area, speaking with people as they woke up and taking out plates as I finished them. Soon I was working in the kitchen alone. I could taste the quality of each dish without actually needing to sample it, so I added spices until they all met Syven’s strict standards. Eventually Sade eased back into the kitchen and forced me to leave with a plate of my own in hand. When I entered the dining room I was met with enthusiastic applause.

“Thank you.” I responded, giving a small bow while carefully avoiding spilling the food from my plate. I took a seat next to Hrig at the edge of the table and began the careful dance of pretending to eat.

“Where’d you learn to cook?” asked Kyren.

“Just something I picked up. You’d be surprised at how much you can learn just by paying attention to what you’re eating.”

Stone and Sapphire were awake and eating at the bar.

“Have you seen that before?” I asked.

“No. I knew Stone had daughters, but I didn’t know he had one so close, much less one in service of a god like myself,” said Kyren.

“Come to think of it, he’s diverted us past this road a number of times. Though usually he said it was because he owed someone money, which with him was believable and may have been true. I could see him owing his daughter money,” said Hrig.

“I’ve actually been here before, though I met his daughter in a different context,” said Dorsia with a smile and no trace of shame.

Hrig chuckled, clasping her on the shoulder. After we finished eating, we collected our things and waited by the door. After he’d finished his breakfast Stone joined us, with Sapphire close behind.

“I hope you all enjoyed your stay. I know a couple of you did,” said Sapphire, her eyes on Dorsia and Jade.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” said Kyren with a slight nod.

“Thank you for your being such a good guest,” Sapphire turned her attention to me and tossed me a small sack of coins, where she’d retrieved them from was beyond me, “That’s for acting as our chef this morning. Come visit again, I’m sure Sade would like to see you.”

I nodded, noticing a stare from Hrig as I did so.

“And you,” Sapphire turned to Stone, “please visit more often. I know you see Ruby twice as much and Diamond three times as often.”

“It’s hard to visit ya here, and don’t pretend you don’t know why.”

“Well maybe if you weren’t moving around all over the place I could visit you once in a while.”

“That’s fair love. I’ll try to do better.”

They gave each other a warm embrace and we walked out of the inn and started back on the road to Buryn.