“That’s a big city!” Amber noted on behalf of everyone, her orange eyes bright as the ringed walls of Zynozure rose from the sprawl of the lesser city below.

“The biggest in all my travels,” Hazé agreed, eyes looking around with casual alertness. The hyn and dwarf on the roof discouraged any casual opportunists, and, well, she was dressed in Sylunar colors, with little stars twinkling back from the vanes on the roof. While magic was far from unknown, messing with a Devoted of the Queen of Stars was not something that anyone who wanted to be able to find their way home would ever do casually.

It made for a rather boring trip, which irritated the girls, but with such a big city to look at, they got over it.

“Paint the roads into your Visual File,” Hazé directed them coolly. “You’ve all heard the tales Amber has told about her life and what cities are like. Well, all of them learned their lessons from this one. This place is bigger, badder, more vibrant, and with more hidden power than any of the places you’ve been through... and also more corrupt, more jaded, more abusive, and crueler. Master Grym could be enslaved just for being a Rockborn without me here. Without a servant’s cuff, Master Feist would automatically be considered a thief. Without someone strong to obviously protect you, you three would be seized by someone and put to work however they wished, if they had the strength to take you. The law down here is generally in on whatever schemes are going on, and you’ve no recourse but yourselves.”

Verd’s dark green eyes sparked. “Is this one of those ‘what’s good for the gander is good for the goose’ scenarios?” she asked with deep interest. Amber and Veis leaned in for the reply.

Hazé, in the grown-up guise she was still the better part of a decade from being real at, smiled slowly. “Feist showed you the rules of the game. You can deal with them as they deal with others. We’re not staying here long enough to make a lasting difference... which would doubtless bring down all kinds of heat from up above. You can punish them, and make them vulnerable to their enemies, helping the wicked to prey on one another... and the better you are at it, the less likely anyone will attribute anything to you.

“Amber, you know the score. Any man here is going to look at you as a sex toy, an object to be owned, or will be a total fool. Punish the first two, go light on the last. Watch your sisters, and show them what to look out for.”

Amber’s smile was sweetly predatory. “Aren’t we going to be under the protection of a noble knight?” she asked cheerfully, looking forwards to meeting Veis’ brother.

“He doesn’t really have a household of his own, merely a place to stay. He’s too young to have a high official standing, although I understand he has managed to gain some tremendous merits to his name.” She wagged a finger. “Also, he doesn’t have a lot of money. It’s not like he’s still collecting his allowance or anything.”

“Father cut him off, too?” Veis puffed up her cheeks in a huff.

“Rather more that he cut his father off. He doesn’t spread his family name any more than any of you three do.”

“It would be best to never mention it, then?” Amber made a frown.

“It would cause a lot of trouble for both of them,” Hazé agreed. “Devil-worshippers have some extreme ideas on ownership of bloodline and purity and whatnot.”

“Are you sure he’s not going to hate me?” Veis asked softly, reaching out to grab Amber and Verd’s arms. “Or my sisters?”

Hazé made a dismissive gesture. “Remember who he was. In your whole family full of assholes, he was the nice guy who was actually the nice guy, not the manipulative bastard undressing you with his eyes, or going to exploit your magic for power, or making sure you knew your place as the baby of the family, right?”

Veis nodded despite herself. “Did he know I’d lose my magic?” she asked softly.

“Once he knew you were a Hagchild? Yes. However, he also knew you’d end up a Null, and he knows exactly how dangerous Nulls can be.”

“I am much bigger now, and can take care of myself without magic!” Veis announced proudly, and was promptly mercilessly teased by her bigger sisters for those words. She squealed and poked them right back, and it was a few minutes before they settled down again.

“How much farther?” Verd asked, always the most level-headed of them. Amber liked things to be in motion, seeking opportunities, while Veis was always looking for exciting new things.

“He’s about five miles ahead, waiting at a fountain up there,” Hazé pointed, and all three girls sighed together. Tabi, pulling the Wagon up ahead, just batted an ear at them, and didn’t change his pace one iota.

“Master Feist,” Hazé called up softly. “Anything out of place?”

The hyn up above frowned. “The air is tense, I don’t like the atmosphere... but then the only time I did like it was at night and I was on my way to kill this important person at the behest of this other important person. I’ve seen some Guild-sign, but it’s all territorial, there’s no directions. I’ve the feeling the shadow-side has fractured recently, and they’ve lost central cohesion, or it’s been curtailed. I heard the Inquisition has been acting up around here again...”

“Very much so. They’ve been turning over a lot of stones, and finding a lot of unclean stuff. Shouldn’t be much of a surprise to find out the Thieves’ Guilds were rather heavily compromised...”

“Criminals are generally open to selling off their souls for minor things, let alone real promises,” Feist opined shamelessly, obviously not considering himself a member of the former. He was, after all, a highly trained professional snuffer of lives, not some back-alley cutthroat. “Just creates room for the younger generation of folk with nothing to lose.”

Amber nodded agreement, having seen much of the same. She glanced sidelong at Hazé. “So... any spider’s nests involved in the Cowls coming down?” she asked archly.

“It might not surprise you that I neither command the influence to be informed of the doings of the Inquisition, nor do I have much desire to do so. I do know that the Light and the Scepter blew through here about three weeks ago, and slaughtered his way through over six hundred people, including over two hundred nobles or landed wealthy, and dozens of members of the Clergy of a dozen religions.” She paused, and even Feist leaned in closer to listen.

“And he might have left a list of things behind for us to look into...”

“Yes!” all three girls burst out together, and Feist, up above, let out a grin. Nobody was going to bring the law down on someone who cleaned out cultists worshipping unhealthy things. He did have to wonder what the Lightscepter would leave behind, however...

------------

There he was, standing by the fountain. His clothing was neat and trim, with high horseman’s boots, a Ruby Heart tabard framing broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His black hair and handsome face were attracting a lot of attention from those around, and a long Dagger was scabbarded behind him. There were bravos in the area who might have thought about messing with him... until they saw the silver eyes, and decided they had business elsewhere.

Nobody in their right mind messed with Warlocks, and those crazy enough to Swear to Heaven were definitely not folk to mess with.

Veis didn’t wait for the Wagon to stop, jumping off it straightaway and running to her brother, who only smiled broadly to see her in her blue dress and ribbons, all four feet nothing of her.

Seeing that smile, Veis completely ignored the color of his eyes and sped up, squealing with glee as she leapt into his arms and was lifted weightlessly into the air. He tossed her up once, caught her, and spun around a few times as he hugged her tightly.

“It’s so good to see you’re doing okay, little sister,” Errant whispered into her ear, and was privately impressed by just how hard she was holding him back. His little sister seemed to be made of iron cables and oak right now.

Still didn’t weigh anything, however.

Veis pulled back, her nose still running, and trying not to sniffle as she looked at him. “What happened to your eyes, Errant?” she asked softly, reaching up to touch his face.

“Ah, that. I’m Heavenbound,” he said cheerfully, supporting her weight easily in one arm.

“No!” Her pale blue eyes widened in disbelief.

“Yes!” he countered affably, reaching up to poke her nose. “I couldn’t be a Hagchild, so I had to find some other way to piss off Father, right?”

Veis giggled despite herself, and bent forward to plant a kiss upon his cheek. “I think you are worse than me!” she said primly, and then giggled again.

The Wagon was pulling up beside him now, and the other girls piled off. Errant nodded to Hazé calmly. “Starsister,” he greeted her warmly, and his eyes fell on the crimson and emerald-haired duo coming up to him.

They were staring at his silver eyes in disbelief as he looked them up and down. “Veis, care to introduce me to your sisters?” he asked calmly.

“Yes!” She pointed proudly. “This is Amber. She’s the one who tells me about all the bad things men and women do together,” she whispered loudly. Amber, true to form, merely smiled widely at the statement, and Errant only arched an eyebrow in amusement. “And this is Verd; she’s a very good cook, and she beats me up all the time because she’s bigger than me!” Veis sniffed as if wronged.

“A pleasure to meet you both.” Errant extended his hand, and shook each of theirs in turn. Their eyes widened a little at the power of his grip... they weren’t expecting him to be able to dominate their hands. “Shellycoat, greenhag?” he asked, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and they both nodded. “What’s the status of your hagmothers?”

Startled, they looked at one another. “We... don’t know?” Verd admitted. “I’m not even certain who my Hagmother is...”

“Me, either,” Amber agreed. “Why are you asking?” she asked suspiciously. “Are you planning to ride out and kill them for us?”

He caught her huffy tone, and just laughed. “I most certainly would, just like I killed little Veis’ here.”

All three of their jaws dropped. “You-you killed my Hagmother?” Veis squealed in disbelief.

“You remember the stories of Zouma the Ill-Wind?” he asked his little sister, who nodded her small head urgently. “Yes. Rode her face down the side of a ten-thousand-foot windpipe, drove her into the ground, pounded the Hell out of her, and then tore her head off with great prejudice.” He cleared his throat slightly. “Collected a thirty goldweight bounty and a heap of plunder off it, too,” he admitted, winking at the other two. “You’re not mad at me, are you, little sister?” He poked her nose again, and she laughed and batted his callused hand away.

She tried to look angry, and failed miserably. “I wanted to kill her myself!” she declared proudly.

“My apologies, but I was much too mad about what she did to you to let things go that long. And... I needed the loot!” he admitted in a stage whisper.

“Then shouldn’t you be sharing with me?” she asked forthrightly, and he laughed again.

“It’s all in Gear now, and you all know what a sink that is.” There were loud admissions from all three of them about their money woes. “I’ve been getting more action than cash recently, but it all goes to the same area in the end, you know, right?”

“Getting stronger!” Veis said emphatically, clenching her little fist. He beamed at her.

“You’ve taught her well,” he winked at the other two, and they blushed despite themselves. “Well, let’s get you all to the house I requisitioned for you to stay in. I’ll regale you all with tales about just how much rot is under the glitter of this place, and how much of it I’ve been swimming in, and then you can tell me about all the fun and violent things you intend to do to the place, while I find other places to not witness said violence from.”

He turned towards his horse, mounting it with Veis still held in his arm with no effort whatsoever, and somehow still held her smoothly off to the side while on his horse, without overbalancing or affecting his mount.

Verd leaned in to whisper to Amber, “Oh, I think I like him...”

“I have dibs!” Amber insisted, and darted towards the front of the wagon.

“You do not!” Verd protested, racing after her...