I placed a hand on Ara’s wrist and caught her furious eyes. With a quick shake of my head, she slowly resheathed the blade and returned her attention to the salacious redhead.

“If you would be so kind as to release the Young Master,” Ara hissed.

Jazz stroked one long finger down Tristan’s cheek. “Ah, but little Tristan and I were having such fun. Isn’t that right?”

Tristan turned deep red while he studied every other inch of the room that didn’t have Ara standing in it. “Yes, Miss.”

“You okay, Tristan?” I asked, taking a seat next to them at the narrow table.

Tristan nodded. “I’m fine.”

Jazz giggled, dipping her head near his throat. Tristan shivered and closed his eyes.

Who has who wrapped around their finger right now?

Ara took a seat next to me and cleared her throat. “Why don’t we discuss what we’ve found.”

“Allow me to start.” Jazz traced her nail down Tristan’s spine, eyes glimmering when he shuddered. “I seem to have lost one of my coveted bath cloths. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Matt?”

Fucking called it. I shrugged. “I was farming all day.”

“Someone had lit my torches before Kira could do so as well. No one here would dare go into my rooms—”

We don’t have time for this shit. “Speaking of. One of the guards told me you have a hot spring in your room.”

Jazz blinked, but her cool composure otherwise remained. “That’s true. But I don’t see how it pertains to you—”

“It has nothing to do with me. You need to let the girls take water from it.” I laid both arms on the table and leaned forward.

She narrowed her eyes. Her nails dug tiny indents on the top of Tristan’s thigh. He squirmed beneath her grip. “Oh? Do I?”

“If you’d like to stop starving, yes. We found a great place nearby for a small farm that just needs a door. But the stream is a fifteen-minute walk and, from what I understand, not very safe.” You may have your claws in Tristan, but that mask of yours is beginning to fade. “Your crops will need constant watering from a reliable source.”

Jazz’s lackadaisical smile vanished, and her lips reformed into a hard, thin line. “How many girls must enter my chambers?”

“However many buckets you have should be brought and carried at a time. It’s a sizable plot.” When did I turn into the Harvest Moon protag? “If you have to limit them, at least bring everything you can.”

She stared at Tristan and hummed in thought, her grip on his thigh loosening. Tristan remained unusually silent. Ara vibrated with frustration beside me.

“Fine. You’re lucky I’m in a good mood.” Her sharp smile returned. “I understand your other girls are preparing food as we speak?” She inhaled deeply. “It’s been a long time since we’ve experienced such alluring aromas.”

Is she talking about the food or about Tristan? “Yeah. They found quite a bounty as I heard it. There’s something else we need to talk about.”

“More invasions of privacy in my future?” Jazz quipped, stroking Tristan’s hair like a pet.

“I would suggest a trade with a few girls in Sorentina. A handful of your fighters that can train with their guard in exchange for a handful knowledgeable in hunting, fishing, gathering, and farming. Girls that can stay here and guide you in our place.”

“Oh? Leaving so soon?” Jazz rested her chin on Tristan’s shoulder. “Did my girls not learn enough in your teachings today?”

Surely she couldn’t believe that a single day’s training in anything would amount to perfection. “Things like this take time to learn. Time we don’t have to give you right now.”

Jazz watched Ara in amusement, moving her hands over Tristan in ways that fueled Ara’s fury. “Time is most important. However, so are our lives. And crossing into Sorentina is a fool’s errand.”

“Why?” I had a feeling I knew the answer, but I was doing my best to distract her from Tristan.

“The Defiled and Encroachers, of course. They run rampant between Catania and Sorentina. We would need an army to stand a chance.”

I clasped my hands on the counter and looked pointedly around the room. “You have one.”

“Excuse me?”

“You have an army. The girls here can fight. We’ll come with you and secure the exchange. They’re in as desperate need of fighters as you are for people who know the land.”

Jazz paused and rested her hands around Tristan’s waist. “You want us to risk our lives? For what? We’re safe here.”

“You’re dying in here,” Ara replied icily. “Your people are starving and living in squalor. They see you as their leader, you tra—”

“Ara,” I cautioned.

Ara stopped herself before the words could reach the air. She swallowed and continued. “They depend on you. We, as outsiders, have offered you an excellent chance to rebuild what you have lost. We would also be risking our lives to help Catania flourish once again. You would be a fool to refuse our aid.”

Jazz’s stare bored holes into Ara, and I swore I could see the lasers shooting between their locked gaze.

“Uh, Miss? May I please, erm, get down?” Tristan murmured, breaking one hell of a staring contest.

Jazz spread her arms wide in silence, and Tristan hopped down from her lap. He shuffled to our side of the table and took a seat next to Ara, head still bowed as if in prayer.

“Tristan. What do you think of the plan?” I prompted. Besides Jazz, Tristan needed to back this plan just as adamantly.

Tristan took a deep breath and looked at Ara and me for the first time. “I think it makes sense, really. I mean, in any strategy game, you’d spread your resources, right? There are a lot of fighters here, but we need more farmers.” He looked back at Jazz. “I know what he’s asking you is a lot, but your people could start to heal.”

Before Jazz could reply, Cannoli parted the curtain, wearing a brilliant smile and a short apron. “Dinner’s ready!”

Keke and Cannoli had prepared an absolute feast. Two enormous pots of stew with fish and vegetables they’d procured during their foraging. Keke had used one of the storage rooms to hang salted strips of encroacher meat over sections of rope to dry them for jerky.

“How did you get so much water for the broth?” I asked, admiring the giant cooking pots that hadn’t been there when I’d first glanced in the kitchen.

“Thankfully, they’re not short on buckets,” Keke said, grinning.

Well, that’s a relief. Sorry, Jazz.

The tables in the dining area were packed with catgirls. Not everyone could fit at once, so they counted off and took turns. Bowls were licked clean, then passed along for the next girl in line to enjoy. For a group of half-starved women, I had to give them credit for their patience in waiting for their chance to crack into Cannoli’s cooking.

The jovial air was contagious—I even caught Ara smiling at something Tristan said to her. Laughter and excited conversation filled the air. It was a completely different atmosphere from the dreary cavern we’d encountered the night prior.

At Tristan’s wise suggestion, we had our meals last and took our bowls together in our room.

“So, three girls have licked this bowl now?” I asked wryly. “Think I’ll catch something?”

“Now you’re worried? Not while you were with the guard earlier?” Ara jeered with a sly smile. “You have interesting priorities.”

“Ara? Making a joke? Do my ears deceive me?” I made a show of cupping my ear with one hand. “Impossible.”

“How did the talk with Jazz go?” Keke asked.

“Better than expected. But maybe that’s because she was fondling Tristan in her lap the whole time.” I scooped a now luke-warm heap of stew into my mouth. Didn’t matter. Still delicious.

“H-hey. I was just trying to be nice,” Tristan said. Desiree licked at the remnants of his empty bowl. “She’s intense.”

“Did something happen?” Cannoli tilted her head in confusion. “Are you alright, Tristan?”

Tristan flushed and waved his hands in panic. “I’m fine! Really! Nothing happened!”

“Kehehehehe. Sounds like you met your match,” Ravyn snickered. Tossing her empty plate aside, she laid back on her blankets and threw her hands behind her head. “Can we leave this fucking place yet?” she asked no one in particular, letting the words echo against the walls.

“Well, I think that depends. Was Jazz open to the idea of taking in girls from Sorentina?” Keke asked.

“I think so. She said the Defiled threat between here and Sorentina is pretty damn bad. We may need them to fight them off after all.”

“Mou ii, is this little field trip really worth it?” Ravyn whined.

“Yes,” I said before anyone else could speak. So far, we’d kept Ceres’ existence under wraps from Tristan and Ara, and I intended to keep it that way until we reached Sorentina. The less they knew about her, the better, in case Ara turned tail and went running back to Celestia with Tristan in tow. “And they’ll benefit from it, too.”

“Um…I’m sorry, I’m lost. What’s happening?” Cannoli asked.

“Right. You were gone. Sorry.”

I explained our plan with the help of the others, then Jazz’s reaction with Ara’s assistance. Ravyn rehashed her experience with the mages and I told her about my farming group.

Buttons flipped the bowl over his head, startling himself. He sneezed, and a ring of flame enveloped the metal’s edges. Ara slipped one of her blades beneath the bowl and tipped it away from the blazard. Buttons dove after the bowl, as it had slighted him.

“What do you think, Cannoli?” I asked.

“Well, I think the girls are still hungry. None of them should have to travel that far and fight on just one good meal.” Cannoli paused, stroking Buttons’ head in thought. “I would like to make sure they eat twice tomorrow, and we could leave the day after that? Would that be alright?”

“That’s a good point. We want them in the best possible shape,” I agreed.

“Fuuuuck, two more days in this pit?” Ravyn groaned. “This is the trip that never ends.”

“It’ll give you more time with your mages, me with my farming, and Keke and Cannoli can help them build their stores for when we’re gone. Come on. You’re having fun playing teacher. I can tell.”

Ravyn raised one hand to the sky and flipped me the bird.

“What is our purpose in Sorentina?” Ara asked suddenly. “I understand they need girls, but you speak of it as if you’d already meant to go there.”

Well, shit. “I, well—” I struggled to think of something.

“That’s the way back to your precious Venicia, right?” Ravyn called from her spot on the floor. “You really wanna go back through Anyona to get there?”

Ara studied me carefully, her brow furrowing. “No, I suppose not.”

She knows. Dammit, I wish I could just trust her with this. But we were too damn close to getting Ceres and getting the hell out of this place. A turncoat Ara could destroy everything we’d worked for.

Tristan yawned and stretched. Desiree hopped in his lap and circled until she found a comfortable position. “I’m sleepy.”

“Yeah, we should all get some rest. We can talk more tomorrow,” I said, thankful for the change in topic. Hang in there, Ravyn.

Ravyn’s loud snores echoed against the walls. Cannoli cupped a hand over her mouth, suppressing her giggles.