Camellia wandered outside. She strolled into the garden and found the path that would lead around the Capitol building and back to Halfmoon, where it sat parked on the green.

Warm sunlight heated the air, but an early evening chill came on the breeze. Camellia enjoyed the balance of early summer and searched the garden for late spring blooms.

So far, she found herself alone. Adalhard did not follow. At least, she could be at peace.

“Come step over here for a minute.” Ahead, Adalhard beckoned to her.

Camellia startled to see him, and she surmised that he had used a different exit. He wanted her to join him under a quiet, out-of-the-way trellis.

“Why?” Camellia asked.

Adalhard said, “I just want to borrow you for a minute.”

Dreamily but also a touch reluctant, Camellia walked to Adalhard’s side. She wanted to give in, either let it go or let him have his way. If that were even something he wanted. Camellia felt weak in the last of the afternoon sun, and her mind fogged.

She came under the trellis.

Together, they stood in silence for several moments. Adalhard studied her, and she studied him. Leafy shadows played across his chest, and Camellia felt the same dance of warmth and coolness travel over her face and neck.

“What are we doing here?” Camellia asked quietly.

“I’m apologizing.” Adalhard stared into her eyes. He kept his voice low. “I owe you one. I’m sorry for treating you like a crazy person. I’m sorry that I didn’t listen.”

“Oh, but you did listen.” Camellia’s voice remained a step above a whisper. “I never expected to find an operation ready to go. I’m very impressed and…” Camellia didn’t want to call the organization of a strike force heartwarming, so she didn’t.

Adalhard put a hand on her arm. “Camellia, I’m trying. Just let me finish. I acted the way I did because I was – am – worried about you. I have a much better idea of what goes on in your father’s house and what talking to that creature is like.”

Camellia’s eyes darkened. She didn’t want to whisper with Adalhard about her father’s house. “We don’t need to talk about that.”

“Right.”

“I think I should save it for a therapist.” Camellia remembered tossing Adalhard’s card back at him. She put a hand to her temple. “I think I’ll need a new card.”

“I haven’t got one on me, but I can get another,” Adalhard said.

Camellia nodded. “We should change the subject.” Or, not talk anymore.

Adalhard held up a hand. “I have yet to apologize for going into your room, invading your privacy, and using your wall art as a means to convince others to intervene.”

Camellia stared. “Go ahead.”

Adalhard smiled a little. He took one of Camellia’s hands. “I am very sorry.” He stared into her eyes. “My intentions were innocent, and I believed my actions were as well. But in fact, they were not. And, I made the offense worse when I decided not to speak to you, but to a committee instead. I wanted you to feel welcome, but I accomplished the opposite. I am deeply sorry.”

“Did you rehearse that?”

“Yes.”

In a quiet voice, Camellia answered, “If you had just handed them to me, I would have loved those flowers.” For once, she found it easy to meet his eyes, so she maintained the contact. “I still don’t understand. Why give me flowers without input from the other anthropologists? Did they not want to?”

Adalhard shook his head. “No, Camellia, it wasn’t like that. Of course, they would have contributed. I never asked…”

Camellia waited.

Adalhard frowned. In his eyes, Camellia read a kind of frustration, slowly replaced by what she swore was disappointment or shame.

“Why didn’t you ask?”

Finally, Adalhard spoke, “I was in too much of a hurry. I remember what it was like to go home after my parents died.”

Camellia listened and, with her gaze, urged him on.

Adalhard shifted from side to side, distinctly uncomfortable. “It was lonely. No parents, no siblings. And, I was three years shy of twenty.”

“How did they die?” Camellia asked.

“They studied animals and traveled a lot. I would stay with the neighbors. After one trip, they never came home. They were young when they died and young when they had me.” Adalhard sighed. “It has left me very…” Adalhard never finished the sentence.

Camellia dropped her gaze to the floor. “That’s alright. It’s enough for me. Did anyone leave you flowers?”

Adalhard said, “No. I can’t imagine who would have. Other than a handful of zoologists. It was a long time ago. I still think about it from time to time.” Adalhard stared past her.

Camellia warmed, not from embarrassment, but from a sense of troubles shared. She would guard this story Adalhard gave her and hold it in her memory.

Camellia raised her eyes. “I accept your apology. But...if you hadn’t done those things, I don’t think we would find ourselves here.”

“Probably not,” Adalhard agreed.

“We should get back to work. This is still not very professional.” Camellia tried to slip her hand free.

“Camellia, what is happening is definitely outside the scope of our profession.” Adalhard kept her hand and her gaze.

“Oh, good there you are,” Cernunnos called. He strode towards the trellis, and startled at the sight of Camellia. From his point of view, he hadn’t seen her.

Camellia pulled her hand from Adalhard’s and looked at her feet.

“Bad timing,” Adalhard said.

“Sorry. We’re making plans that require the head of the AAH. I came out here to catch you.”

“Right.” Adalhard sighed. “I’ll see you later, Camellia.” He left with Cernunnos.

Camellia finally raised her eyes and watched the men go. Adalhard looked back at her, and Cernunnos copied the action.

Camellia hurried off, back to Halfmoon. Her stomach growled, but she had no plans to eat.

“Do we have an agreement?” Rooks asked the room. She mostly directed the question to her translator, Camellia.

Camellia surveyed the group. She looked first at Eva and Meladee – still new friends, but some of her best. They would return to Lurren as engineer and mage.

Camellia’s eyes moved next to Adalhard and Cernunnos – her oldest friends and accomplished colleagues. She would continue to make memories with them, in good and bad places.

She glanced at Benham, Sten, and Alim – the Girandolan men that would serve as scout, science expert, and doctor.

Finally, Camellia took a long look at Inez and Eder – the somewhat reluctant Enchanted Textilers and best bomb technicians their team could hope for.

Everyone had helped gather the pieces of their operation, and all would take part in Lurren’s rescue, and by proxy, Iruedim’s.

They had a plan, and it was a marriage of their disparate efforts against Ah’nee’thit and Ul’thetos.

First, they would travel to Lurren. Rooks would leave all but one of her ships in the Groazan ocean. She would command the single, smaller vessel and staff it with a complete crew. The vessel would wait on the perimeter of the Northwest Squall, just in case the androids had reinitialized Lurren’s defenses.

Once they learned the status of the weather and Ul’thetos’ temper, they would pile into three shuttles, filled with Girandolan, Groazan, Tagtrumian, and Ponk soldiers. As soon as they landed, they would test both the wormhole and decay spells in bomb form. Whichever spell performed better would be Ah’nee’thit’s fate.

While in Lurren, they would also try to destroy Ul’thetos. The Lurrien continent as a whole would be spared from a massive magical wormhole, decay spell, or orbital bombardment. Instead, they would find Ul’thetos’ head, destroy it, and clean up the remaining flesh later.

“Everyone is satisfied with the plan,” Camellia reported to Rooks.

Rooks nodded once. “Good, now I have to go review the records of these new soldiers. 60 ground troops, and only 15 of them are mine. It’s generous of your leaders to take an equal risk in this venture, but I would almost rather just have my men. Don’t translate that,” Rooks warned.

“Not a word,” Camellia promised.

The group broke into pockets of conversation.

Meladee launched into tales of magical daring, some of which Camellia recognized as their combined adventures. Others she didn’t know. Benham, Inez, and Eder crowded around Meladee and listened.

Sten and Eva stood to one side and argued over the effects of the Northwest Squall on Finial shuttles. Eva insisted the storm would be too much for the little vessels, but Sten disagreed, citing a litany of tests performed at the time of the shuttles’ design.

In a far corner, Alim tried to organize his own notes on the creatures’ anatomy since he would run some additional tests in the field.

Cernunnos and Adalhard made their way toward Camellia. Adalhard set his eyes on Camellia, and she felt a thrum of discomfort. She saw Cernunnos and followed his gaze. He stared at Rooks, with inappropriate intent.

Camellia grabbed Rooks’ arm. “Before you go…”

“Yes, Camellia?”

“Watch out for Cernunnos. He’s a womanizer, and he’s decided he likes you.”

Rooks looked at Cernunnos. “Ah, I see what you mean. Thanks for the warning, but I have it handled.”

Camellia still held Rooks’ arm. She wanted to insist that Rooks take his advances seriously. Cernunnos had a way of sneaking into powerful women’s good graces, and Camellia remembered all the times she should have said something or tried to stop him.

Before Rooks could leave, Cernunnos offered her a small bouquet. Rooks raised an eyebrow and took it.

“Must you?” Camellia asked her mentor. “Really? You can’t even understand each other.”

“Yet.” Cernunnos held up a finger.

“Thanks for this.” Rooks held the small bouquet aloft. She looked in Cernunnos’ eyes. “I will consider it a formal offering of friendship. Translate that,” she directed Camellia, with a subtle smirk. “Now, I have work to do.”

Rooks walked away. She passed Meladee’s team of mages and stopped.

Meladee shot a sidelong look at Rooks but didn’t stop her story.

Rooks ordered, “That goes for you too, Meladee. You three need to get to work on those magic bombs.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Meladee said.

With that, Rooks exited the room.

“What did she say?” Cernunnos touched Camellia’s shoulder.

“She considers the bouquet a symbol of friendship.” Camellia stressed the word as Rooks had.

“Well, I suppose that’s a start.” Cernunnos studied Camellia.

She shifted and avoided his eyes.

“Did you...did you say something about me? To her?” Cernunnos pointed after Rooks,

Camellia caught the gesture in her peripheral vision. “No.” She turned away.

Cernunnos sighed. He grabbed Camellia’s arm and turned her to face him. “You did. What did you tell her? That I like to flirt?”

“Something like that.”

Adalhard joined them. “Cernunnos, behave professionally please. You reflect on all of us.”

Camellia grinned, and Adalhard smiled back.

Cernunnos threw up his hands. “Alright, alright. Let’s change the subject.” He grabbed Camellia’s shoulders. “Camellia, I am very, very proud of you. Your education is the finest thing I have ever turned out for the AAH.”

Camellia blushed. “It is not.”

“It is so. Now, stop stalling and tell me everything you saw outside the wormhole. Spin us tales of Girandola.”

Camellia touched her cheek. “I wouldn’t know where to begin. But, I did write everything down.” From her bag, she pulled an unfinished series of pages, temporarily bound.

Cerunnos snatched the papers and searched through Camellia’s drawings and notes on the Galactic Enchanter, the Syndicate, every planet they had visited, and finally Commander Rooks’ ships. Cernunnos lingered on a quick portrait of Rooks.

“Cernunnos, please, stick to the ships,” Camellia begged.

“I am. I was just admiring your sketch work. You have a better hand for faces than I do.”

“That’s such an obvious lie, it’s painful to watch you create it.” Adalhard took the stack of notes from Cerunnos and flipped through. “Camellia, you’ve been very busy, and only gone a couple of months.”

Camellia looked at the ground. “Yes.”

Adalhard continued to study her work. “We’ll have to wait to get this information into review, given the circumstances…”

Review? Camellia narrowed her eyes. Then, they popped open. Adalhard wanted to publish her work.

Camellia tried to grab her papers. “Oh, there’s not a publication there. Those are just idle notes I made on my vacation from Iruedim.”

Adalhard frowned.

“You can keep them for the AAH, but I’d rather they didn’t go into review. Also, I’d just like a copy for myself.” Camellia still tried to get her papers.

Adalhard wouldn’t give them up. He held up a single finger. “Cernunnos, can you give us a minute?” He turned away and pointed his feet towards a corner of the meeting room.

“Of course.” Cernunnos put a hand on Camellia’s back and pushed her forward. “Go with him, Camellia. He won’t bite.”

Camellia covered her neck. After all her encounters with vampires, the word ‘bite’ prompted her to cover the most ready source of her blood. It was a habit that wouldn’t die.

Adalhard walked to the corner, and Camellia followed. He held her notes but didn’t look through them. He watched Cernunnos and waited till the man was gone.

What is this about?

Camellia turned worried eyes to Adalhard.

“You did ask for this.” He pulled a card from inside his shirt and gave it to her.

Camellia took the card and read it. She knew all the words by heart. The card held the therapist’s contact information.

“Right, I did.” Camellia tucked the card away and waited. “Is that all?”

“No,” Adalhard said. “I’ve been wondering, are you okay to travel to Lurren? Does Commander Rooks know about what happened a few months ago?”

Wonderful, it’s an intervention.

Camellia sighed. “No, she doesn’t know. And concerning those events, they’ve passed. Just yesterday, didn’t you apologize for treating me like a crazy person?”

“I did.” Adalhard nodded. “But, I’m not treating you like a crazy person. I’m treating you like my good friend, who hasn’t been well lately.” Gently, Adalhard grasped both of Camellia’s shoulders. “Now, are you going to be okay traveling through a wasteland filled with monster flesh?”

“I have been there once before,” Camellia said.

“And, you weren’t…unstable?”

Camellia’s cheeks flushed. She shook her head.

“Hey, Camellia.” Alim wandered over. “Do you have a minute? Or, are you having some kind of archaeological meeting?” He obviously recognized Adalhard as an anthropologist but, perhaps, not as the other man.

Camellia looked away and saw Cernunnos re-enter the room. He strolled closer too.

“Sort of. We’re discussing work.” Camellia glanced at Adalhard knowing that he couldn’t understand the Girandolan words.

His annoyed, almost angry, expression surprised her. He let go of her shoulders.

Camellia, now free of Adalhard’s grasp but trapped by Alim’s attentions, asked, “Alim, is there something you need?”

“Not really. I just wanted to spend some time with you. I still really like to be with you.”

“Alim, I can’t.” Camellia frowned. “Please, just prepare for Lurren.”

Alim regarded Adalhard with a scowl. “So, this is the guy then?”

Camellia didn’t answer. She basked in the awkwardness.

“I’ll see you later, I guess,” and with that statement, Alim walked away.

“Ooooo. I couldn’t understand a word, but I caught all of that.” Cernunnos exhaled. “Is he giving you trouble?” He jabbed a thumb back at Alim.

Camellia blushed. “No. He’s a good person. He’s just very persistent, and…” She sighed. “I hope he finds someone else soon.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll keep you busy.” Cernunnos put an arm around Camellia. “He’ll be in love with someone else before you get off work. Right, Adalhard?”

“There’s always something to do. We can probably make work last three months.”

Camellia couldn’t help but smile.