The journey to Fortwin proceeded at a breakneck pace taxing all of the horses and their riders. As they set up camp on the side of the road after the sixth day, Mera collapsed beside Lissa moaning. “What’s wrong?” Lissa asked without taking her eyes off the kindling that was just starting to catch in front of her. “Why did you have to promise hot baths?” Mera’s wide eyes looked at Lissa pleadingly, she could only shrug. “I didn’t think anyone would take it this seriously, so I am sorry?” With her attention on Mera, Lissa didn’t notice the kindling producing flames quickly as it reached her hand.

With a hiss of pain, she dropped it into the arranged logs of the campfire and shook off the few smoldering embers. Mera quickly had her Focus in hand to soothe the pain as she spoke teasingly, “You know I thought you could handle the heat.” Lissa only rolled her eyes, “If it isn’t on fire, then yes. Though that caught quicker than I had thought.” With her Focus in one hand, Mera grabbed a handful of grass. It audibly crunched in her hand. “We have ridden far from the city, and just from the view outlying villages, I don’t think it has rained here in some time.” Lissa couldn’t argue that fact, but it did bother her. Volamire, as it floated generally, brought good things to the province or city it hovered above. Rain during droughts, warmth during biting cold, and protection from the rare Aether storms.

Lissa guessed they were hundreds of kilometers from the city at this point. So it should not have surprised her that whatever powers usually brought good fortune to those residing below Volamire did not reach this far. Lissa pushed the thought away as they ate some of the rabbits and pheasant Saida had shot while they rode earlier. The food and company were pleasant, but the ride left little time for conversation, and shortly after setting a watch rotation, they retired for the night. A dreamless sleep came easy to Lissa, and by the time her watch came, she was sufficiently well-rested.

Lissa stirred awake as someone gently shook her foot near the tent entrance. “Lissa, you’re up,” She heard Almios say as the tent flap closed. Lissa sat up slowly and stretched, hearing satisfying pops from her spine. Sighing in relief, Lissa stood and dressed quickly, and decided she didn’t need anything but her breastplate for protection. As she stepped out of her tent, she saw Almios sitting by the fire with a long stick poking into it.

“What are you doing?” Lissa asked as she got closer and sat next to him. Almios pulled the stick he was using out of the fire and showed her a dried piece of meat skewered at the tip. “Seeing if warming up this dried meat would make it more palatable,” He gingerly took it off the stick and bit into it. Almios chewed for a moment before swallowing and taking another bite. “And?” Lissa’s eyebrow raised as she asked after the third bite, hoping by now he would have given her an answer. He shrugged, “A little too dry for my taste,” Lissa chuckled, “Good one, but seriously how is it?” Almios tore her a piece, and she began chewing. It was a bit tougher than usual thanks to the heat, but it did taste marginally better thanks to being warmer.

“To give you a rundown of what happened while you slept,” Almios said while standing and stretching his arms wide. “Besides some pretty far off howling a little while into my shift, nothing else has happened. You may want to grab a book or something.” He then turned and began walking to his tent before abruptly stopping and coming back. Almios pulled something from his pocket and handed it to her, “You can have my watch for the time, I already set it so just press here.” Almios showed her a small button near the top-dial and latch mechanism. “Almios, where did you get this? I know these are awfully expensive.” Lissa looked over the watch for a moment before turning back to look at him. Almios was already walking away and waved off her words, “I have my ways.”

Lissa looked over the watch, it was a beautiful thing. It fit perfectly in her palm, she traced her finger along with the gold plated filigree on the edge of it. It was various wreaths, coins, and jewelry with exquisite detail. Each wreath was made of flowers, and she could make out individual petals on each one. The coins had minuscule faces on them of persons she did not know but looked vaguely similar to Almios. Lissa thought they were probably family members of his as she turned to the center of the watch. The center held a dragon’s head, detailed enough to make out each individual scale.

The eyes, though immediately enraptured her, they were the only things on the watch itself that had a different color so far. Each eye held black sclera, and both the pupils and irises’ themselves were slit like a cat’s. The irises’ though were a beautiful and deep green as she looked deeper into the eyes she found herself lost in them for a moment before snapping out of it. “Must be some sort of enchantment,” Lissa muttered to herself while also remembering to press the button at the top of the watch. She heard a minuscule click and assumed it was now counting down. Lissa continued her inspection of the dragon’s head, making sure to not look at the eyes.

She was drawn to its horns, which swept back across its skull just like her own. Lissa smiled and ran her free hand across the top of one of her horns. “At least you don’t have to worry about hair,” She chuckled and inspected the rest of the features she could observe. The entire head appeared more angular than typical depictions of dragons. Still, she thought it may be artistic interpretation. Finally finished with her on the front, she turned it over and found it surprisingly blank, “That is odd.” Lissa thought aloud while undoing the latch to open it. As she opened the watch, she noticed that on the other side of the opening face was writing.

Liss began reading, ‘May this trinket serve you just as well as it served me……’ before she read any further, she stopped herself. ‘Probably something personal,’ Lissa thought to herself before looking at the timekeeping portion of the watch. Just like the backside of the watch, this was mostly unadorned with decoration. The numbers one through fourteen lined the entire perimeter denoting half of the hours of the day. Off-center from the central arm was the minute indicator going one through nine. Looking at it, she noticed it was eight in the morning and the last shift. Lissa smiled and made a mental note to thank him later for letting her sleep longer. She then examined the hands of the watch and found them to be tastefully simple, a silver hollowed out bar with a curved tip for both the hour and minute hands. However, she didn’t see a second hand anywhere.

Shrugging Lissa put the watch back, not having handled one before she did not want to accidentally change anything with it. Even with the lack of over knobs and buttons, it was apparent a Focus was necessary to change anything with it. She closed the watch and stood, deciding to do some light exercises while everyone slept. After a few laps around the camp, a few dozen pushups, crunches, and various other core strengthening routines, she found it time to practice her swordsmanship. Stepping a bit from everyone as to not disturb them, Lissa drew her sword and set down the scabbard.

Lissa closed her eyes, exhaled, and started through her first simple routine. She imagined a single armed opponent coming towards her. Lissa sidestepped the imaginary blow and drew her blade across his now open side and ended him. This continued going through various ways they could attack her until she heard Garza say, “Morning Lissa!”. Opening her eyes, she turned to face him and found him naked from the waist up, she grumbled, “Ugh, at least put some clothes on before you come out!” Lissa knew that if he was up, everyone else was as well and didn’t both keep her voice down. Garza laughed heartily and gave her his middle finger before getting back to his tent to finish getting dressed.

Over the next hour, everyone had awoken, dressed, and eaten. “I suggest the next people we see on the road we ask them how long it is until we reach Fortwin,” Micah asked while walking stiffly, he was clearly not used to hard riding for this long. “I agree, we have ridden hard this far and need to judge if we can make it there soon. If not for our sake, at least for the horses’ sake,” Saida replied while stroking Lira, who nodded, everyone, turned to look at their respective horses who were nodding as well. “Does that mean someone gets to ride ahead, or are we going to stick together?” Mera asked this time while leaping onto Lilac, who bore the sudden weight stoically. Lissa thought for a moment, “I will ride ahead at our pace so far for a while, and if I encounter anyone, I will turn back. If I don’t encounter anyone by the time the sun starts setting, I will camp by myself and wait for you all.”

“You sure you want to go by yourself, we will be far away if anything happens and won’t be able to help you.” Micah looked at Lissa with concern. Saida laughed at that, “Micah, considering what she did to me, I don’t fear for her, but I fear for anyone she faces. She will be fine, don’t worry.” Micah frowned but nodded thoughtfully, “You are right, still doesn’t sit right, though.” Garza came over while on Alsra and gently tapped him on the shoulder with his foot, “It’s because she is family, and you care about her.” Lissa decided to assuage him a bit more and came over, “Besides, Mera and Mela enhanced my armor even further.” She pointed to Garza quickly, “I am probably more robust than him at this point anyway.”

“Lissa!!” Mera and Mela both shouted at this point while everyone turned to look at them, except for Lissa and Micah. “Still, just be careful,” Micah hugged her. Lissa returned the hug and internally shook her head, as he should know not to worry about her. “I am going to head out now!” Lissa shouted while breaking the hug and heading to Meriweather. At this point, an argument had broken out between Darvick, Almios, Garza and the Twins about why their armor wasn’t modified. Lissa noticed Saida shaking her head at everyone before she stepped in to break it up. Lissa mounted Meriweather and whispered into her ear, “Let’s go before they kill each other.” Meriweather neighed in affirmation and set off up the road at a brisk pace.

After a few moments, Lissa could no longer hear anyone and settled into a peaceful silence that stretched ever onwards. Hours passed this way with only the steady hoofbeats and breathing of Meriweather interrupting the silence. Eventually, something came over the horizon, it looked like a caravan of at least three carts and ten horsemen. “Finally. You can slow down, girl,” Lissa said while gently pulling the reins, “I don’t want to give them the wrong impression.” As they came towards each other, Lissa noticed that all of the horsemen were armed, even though the carts did not appear to carry anything valuable. It just looked like standard foodstuffs, furs, and bags whose contents she could not easily see.

As they reached within fifty meters of each other, they all stopped, and an older man who she assumed was the leader of either the caravan or just the guards approached. “Hello this fine day my lady, I must apologize in advance for intruding like this, but I have a few questions that I need answering.” Lissa smiled and gave a small bow, “I am always happy to help, ask away.” The man chuckled, “Since you were so polite, my first question will be, what is your name, Miss? To head off your inevitable counter on what is my name, it is Euriphas.” Euriphas bowed slightly as he finished speaking. Lissa smiled, “My name is Lissa, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am curious as to why such a small band of carts guarded so heavily.”

Euriphas frowned, “Then you haven’t heard the rumors then.” This statement caused Lissa to raise an eyebrow, “I do not believe I have heard them. What rumors are you referring to?” He jerked his head south-west, “A few travelers have heard that a few hollows have been encountered and killed that way. No one has found the source of them, though, so we decided to be extra cautious.” Lissa’s jaw went slack, and her thoughts raced, ‘Hollow here, but how did we not know? We should have been some of the first informed? This makes no sense……” Before her thoughts went any further, Euriphas snapped his fingers, bringing her back to the conversation. “Now, like I said, it is just rumored, even with bribing the guards in Fortwin, they didn’t know a thing about it.”

“Still rumors like that aren’t to be taken lightly,” Lissa remarked while understanding the heavy guard now. “Aye, that it is besides these fine young men and women have been an excellent help,” Euriphas smiled while jerking his thumb towards them. “Back on topic though, Miss Lissa, where are you coming from if you don’t mind me asking?” He looked further down the road, “And alone at.” Lissa stifled a laugh, “I am not alone. I just ventured on further ahead from my friends. We are coming from Westermir heading to Fortwin and have ridden hard to get this far. Do you know how much farther Fortwin is from here?” Euriphas nodded as she spoke, “With how fast you were coming at us initially, I am not surprised y’all would want to know. It took us about four days to get this far from Fortwin, so if you and your friends continued at your pace, you should all reach it by midday tomorrow or so. Providing you don’t stop for anything other than the necessities, of course.”

Lissa was relieved, knowing the first part of their journey was near an end. She relaxed into the saddle, and some of the stiffness fell away from Meriweather’s shoulders. Euriphas’ hearty laugh broke the reverie, “Well, I am glad I brought you some good news, I have one last question, Miss Lissa before I return to my group. Since you came from Westermir, how are the outlying villages, we were thinking of stopping in a few to potentially sell some goods.” Lissa thought about it before answering honestly, “The villages closer to Westermir appear to be fine, but the ones farther out have seen better days. By that, I mean, they could use some rain.” Euriphas nodded knowingly, “I understand what you mean if Fortwin didn’t span the river, they would be in the same situation.” A sharp whistle from the caravan caught Euriphas’ attention, “Ah, that is my queue to return to my station. It has been a pleasure, Miss Lissa, may we meet again.”

He quickly bowed before returning to his place. Lissa saw him talk very animatedly with an older woman seated on the front cart who simply nodded and then waved at Lissa. Lissa thought it best to get to the side of the road to let them pass and to let Meriweather rest. Lissa dismounted and stretched her lower back, sighing in relief as she felt the vertebrae popping. “I am going to fetch some water, don’t run off on me now,” Lissa said while patting Meriweather’s haunch and rifling through the bags. She was looking for the feedbag to water Meriweather and the multitude of water skins for her use. A few minutes later, Lissa found what she was looking for, and with one final pat, she set off south to the river. She smiled as she walked and thought to further test the improvements the twins made.

Going at a jog, she noticed a difference immediately. She felt her feet dig into the ground more, causing her to go off the ground slightly. Lissa figured she was going as fast as someone who was sprinting. As the hopping continued, she remembered the sparring match with Saida and wondered if it was possible to keep that speed up. Settling back on the earth, Lissa took a steadying breath and set off at a sprint. The difference in speed was immediate, the wind blew in her hair, and it felt like she was racing along at a gallop. It was exhilarating, and within a few short minutes, she broke through the bushes along the riverbank. Lissa’s heart was racing, not from the effort she put in, but because of excitement, “I really need to thank them.”

Setting down the water skins and feed bag Lissa sat for a moment, listening to the river. The sound of a splash broke the silence, and with a sigh, she continued with her task. First, the feed bag, she snatched it from where it lay and went to kneel near the water. After confirming it was empty, she dipped it into the water and let it fill, and once it was, she took it out and tied it shut. She picked up all her water skins and repeated the process, once everything was full, she looked at the crisp and clear water once more just to see if she could spot any fish.

Lissa peered into the water, looking both upstream and downstream. The search was fruitless as even after minutes of looking, she didn’t spot a single fish. Lissa sighed and grabbed the bag and skins while standing, “Better head back, I don’t want to worry, Meriweather too much.” The return trip was slightly slower, as going at a full sprint was out of the question without losing much of the water in the feedbag. As she neared the road, she slowed her pace and walked across, untying the bag along the way. “I brought you, water girl,” Lissa’s statement caused Meriweather to stamp in delight and trot over. Lissa held it out as Meriweather drank deeply from the bag draining it within seconds. “I will make sure we camp by the river tonight, girl.” Lissa dumped whatever dregs of water were left in the bag and quickly remounted Meriweather. “Alright, let's go find the others,” She flicked the reins slightly just to make sure the message got across.

Meriweather rolled her head as if to say, “I heard you, you know,” and set off down the road. After an hour and a half of hard riding and passing the friendly caravan, Lissa reached everyone. “Well, what's the news?” Saida asked as Lissa pulled alongside her. “Well, I met with a caravan, and their leader Euriphas told me that if we continue at our breakneck pace, we should reach the town by midday tomorrow. Only if we stop for the necessities,” A collective groan of relief escaped everyone’s mouths, including the horses it seemed. “Well, I think we can make it close tonight if we ride hard enough and only stop for ‘necessities,’” Mera mimed quotes with her fingers at the end, causing Mela to giggle.

All of the horses started neighing in protest, at the mere thought of being put through all of this. “Easy now, girl, once we get there, we will rest for several days,” Lissa said while leaning closer. “And I will make sure they give you plenty of apples, carrots, and groom you very well,” Meriweather nodded at the end of that statement. Lissa noticed that everyone else seemed to be doing some bribery as well. A few more minutes of discussion both among the horses and each other, they set off down the road at full gallop.

The rest of the day went by in a blur, and they passed several very perturbed merchant caravans, both heading away and to Fortwin. As the sun started to set behind the mountains, Lissa caught a glimpse of a city on the horizon. “I see the city!” Her shout made everyone holler in joy, while the horses redoubled their efforts to make it there with all due haste. Slowly the city came into view, and Lissa was taken aback at what she saw. Fortwin itself was massive, easily eclipsing Wetermir in size. On both the northern and southern banks of the Silver Rush river, warehouses and docks stretched from wall to wall. Bridges, both large and small arched over the nearly two hundred meter gap in embankments.

As they drew ever closer, Lissa could start to make out finer details. The walls were at least ten meters tall and at least five wide. Guards and patrols dotted the wall and accompanying towers with a few even patrolling the base. Lissa quickly grabbed out her tabard and badge from her packs and motioned for everyone else to do so as well. After another two hours of riding, they were at the gates and at their limits for travel. All of the horses were breathing heavily as they walked past the waiting line of merchants. Some complained at what they saw, an injustice at the protocol of first come first serve but quickly silenced themselves as they saw the markings of Dominion Emissaries.

Lissa took the lead as they approached the guards at the gate. One of them quickly came over, a dwarf woman with a bow as large as her strapped to her back. Meriweather promptly came to a halt as the woman approached, “I am sorry but you and…” Her sentence died in her throat as she looked at them all in the torchlight. Before Lissa could reply, Saida came up beside her, “It’s alright, you more than likely weren’t expecting us for at least another week.” The woman nodded while the other guards looked to her for instructions. After a pregnant silence, she shook her head to clear it out so that she could think. “Aye, Wendall! Alderson! Clear a path to let them through!” The dwarf woman turned to Saida and bowed slightly, “I am night Captain Galfas at your service.” As Galfas spoke, two wiry young guards hurried to get merchants and others attempting to enter the city aside to let them through.

Saida smiled at her, “It is quite alright, Captain, you need not worry about inconveniencing us. Though while we wait, I would like to know two things.” Galfas put her hands on her hips, “I will answer to the best of my knowledge, my lady.” Lissa heard Saida chuckle before replying, “No need for flattery, but where is the nearest inn that can accommodate us and our mounts? Along with the Silver Shield outpost here?” As Galfas thought over her answer, Lissa decided to look around and noticed that most of the others trying to enter were whispering to each other. ‘More than likely on what brought us here,’ Lissa thought to herself.

As Lissa continued her absent-minded observations, Galfas finally replied. “We can stable your horses for you, the inns though at this time of night, and on such short notice is a bit tricky. One is nearby called the Whistling Fish, it is closed at the moment, but I know the owner, an old half-elf by the name of Rian. The Silver Shields though, are on the south-side of Fortwin across the river, you can’t miss the building” Galfas stretched her arms wide, “It has a rather large Silver Shield on the outside near the roof.” Saida smiled as she finished, while Lissa held back a chuckle because, of course, it would be apparent where the Silver-Shields were. “Thank you Galfas, would you like us to dismount now? Or after we get through the gate?” Galfas thought over Saida’s question, “Inside preferably, more maneuvering room. And less chance for my new recruits to spook them, isn’t that right?” Galfas’ stare boreholes into the two wiry guards presumably Wendall and Anderson, whose shoulders had slumped visibly.

Saida jostled Lissa’s leg and whispered conspiratorially, “Reminds me of us when we were trainees.” Lissa nodded, laughing softly, though before she could reply, Galfas spoke up again. “Apologies if I am interrupting anything. I would just like to say that,” she pointed to Lissa. “You may want to watch out for some of the townsfolk, we have had to arrest a few who were harassing and attacking blooded like yourself. It seems whatever monster has been lurking about has been leaving those like yourself alone in the parties it attacks.” Saida and Lissa looked at each other before Lissa turned back to Galfas, “Thank you for letting us know Galfas, we would like to turn in for the night. Would you be so kind as to give us directions to that inn you mentioned?”

Galfas quickly gave both of them the necessary directions to get to the inn. By that time, a path had been opened up to allow them all through. As they proceeded past the gateway, they were accompanied by the two guards Wendall and Anderson, who Lissa noted couldn’t be any older than eighteen. ‘So young but not as young as I was at least.’ She thought to herself while dismounting a bit past the gathered throng at the gate. Lissa could hear Galfas barking orders to the remaining guards to get everything back on schedule. “May I take her from you, my lady?” one of the young guards asked Lissa as she retrieved her pack. “No need to call me my lady, just call me Lissa, and are you, Wendall or Anderson?” He sheepishly looked away, “I would find that very improper to not say Lady when addressing you, mam. But Wendall is my family name, my given name is Henry.”

Lissa smiled warmly at him, “Then you may call me Lady Lissa, now Henry, you may take Meriweather from me. First, you must know she does not like being led by the reins by those she doesn’t know.” At that, Meriweather appeared to nod in agreement, “She will follow you though as both of you lead the rest to the stable. Won’t you, girl?” Lissa added the last portion as she gave Meriweather’s shoulder a quick but gentle pat and looked her in the eye. Meriweather rolled her eyes as if to say, “Of course I will, I am not some common horse!” Lissa turned back to Henry, “With that out of the way, I hope you have a good night guardsman.” She walked quickly away to the north side of the gate and waited for everyone to come over. “Did you let them know what is going on, Saida?

Saida nodded while Mela chimed in, “Though I have to wonder why the inn is called the whistling fish?” They all shrugged, “We can ask tomorrow, I just want to sleep right now!” Mera replied while Garza came over to both her and Mela to scoop them into his arms. “Since both of you are talking so much, you must be tired, and I will have to carry you.” Neither of them protested as this happened, “Alright enough screwing around, we got some walking to do!” Saida said this loud enough to get everyone’s attention and promptly started walking away.

A few minutes walking through the winding streets of the city, they found the inn. Above the door was a mounted sculpture of a fish with a flipper in its mouth presumably to whistle. “And here I thought it would be something else, oh well and after you, Lissa,” Saida said while stepping aside from the door, allowing Lissa to pass. Lissa stepped forward and knocked on the door. After a few moments of no response, she tried again louder this time. “I heard ya the first time! And if this isn’t important, I will skin ya alive!” Lissa heard a scratchy voice say from the other side, presumably Rian. She noticed footsteps getting closer, and soon enough, the sound of locks being undone could be heard.

Abruptly the door swung open, and an older gentleman stood with a slightly crooked spine looking at Lissa. “Do you have any idea what time it is? And what do you want?” Rian's voice was starting to rise in volume at the end. “My apologies, my name is Lissa, and we were sent your way by Captain Galfas at the gate. She let us know you could give us room and board for the night.” With a sigh, Rian stepped aside and beckoned them in, “If I had a gold coin for every time I was sent someone by her, I could retire. Come in out of that night air, at least.” As Lissa passed him, she heard him chuckle, “Well, this is the first time I am receiving such esteemed guests. I ain’t gonna ask your business, but I do have to ask how long you plan on staying.” Micah was the last through the door, and Rian shut it behind him and began locking it.

Lissa looked around the interior for a moment and found it atypical of regular inns. Booths lined the walls, each easily able to hold eight patrons each, round tables were shoved to one side chairs stacked atop them. While square and rectangular tables were pushed to the other. Both mixes contained tables only built to accommodate one or two patrons. In contrast, the largest she saw could accommodate a dozen or more. “Just for tonight, at the very least, how much for our rooms?” Lissa asked while turning her attention to the bar. It was immaculate and ran along the entire wall opposite the entrance. Liquor bottles lined both shelves and glass doored cupboards with a large what she presumed mirror on the wall in the center.

“For all eight of ya, it would be roughly twelve silver in total. That is assuming you all want individual rooms.” Rian looked them all over in an appraising manner. Mera and Mela chimed in, “We don’t mind sharing a room. But yeah, everyone else probably wants their own room.” They all nodded towards Rian, “Alright, that is eleven silver, in that case, let me fetch the keys while you decide who is paying.” He started walking towards the bar. “Since Lissa is covering our bathes, we will get the rooms,” Mera said. At the same time, Mela looked at her incredulously for a moment. “Sounds fair to me,” Lissa had started to take out her coin purse and promptly put it away. By that time, Rian came back with seven keys, “Now for your rooms since I think you would want the better ones, they are on the third floor on the left side. I recently was able to have water closets put in them to do your business privately.”

“Thank you, Rian, we appreciate it,” Lissa said, taking one of the keys he offered, and the rest followed suit. “Bah, at least you didn’t break down my door. If you want to eat here, my sons and daughter start cooking breakfast as soon as the light comes over the walls, and we won’t stop until the night watch comes around.” They all said their thanks and headed to the stairs in the back left of the inn. “Such a nice man, I am sure his family is just as lovely too,” Darvick smiled as he said that. “I don’t doubt it in the least, I wonder if his daughter is as lovely as you Saida.” Saida rolled her eyes at Almios’ comment. “I doubt it, though. If she is, you will have to fight me for her,” Lissa chuckled as they continued to bicker while they reached the third-floor landing. The seven rooms on the left were mirrored by seven on the right.

“Looks like we are here, everyone. Get in your rooms and go to sleep,” Lissa stood on the landing and directed everyone past her into their respective rooms. Thankfully the room number was marked on each key. When she was the only one left, she let out a relaxed sigh. “Well, at least we got here safe,” She walked to her room, which happened to be room fourteen, and opened the door. Unlike her room, it was not utilitarian in the least, what looked like a silk bed skirt was on the bed along with posts that held curtains aloft. A small dresser and mirror were along one wall with a small padded stool to sit on, a writing desk near the back wall, with a small chair next to it for reading.

“If these are not his most expensive rooms, I wonder what they look like,” Lissa muttered aloud while stripping her clothes and armor. After a few minutes, she was naked and enjoyed the air on her skin, she could only assume she smelled and was eager to bathe. After relieving herself, Lissa came back into the room. She crawled into the bed, reveling in the soft downy comforter and pillows. “By the gods, this bed is lovely,” she sighed happily after rolling around for a few moments, perfectly content. “I will have to thank Mera and Mela tomorrow because I will want to stay here every night.” Lissa looked at the ceiling for a moment before getting comfortable in the bed and closing her eyes. It did not take long for her to fall into a restful sleep.