It was a full day’s work, and was a true test of both physical and magical stamina, but when the sun was beginning its decent toward the horizon, Livia, Krey, and Emilie were returning to town with faces covered in claw marks… and pockets full of squirrel tails. Kenrick and his orchardeers returned later, ensuring the orchary was truly cleansed of the little buggers. When the elder O’fry brother entered the establishment of the younger, he found the trio sat at in one of the booths, eating and drinking and merrymaking with Coryandr and Jayd. He looked over to the reception desk, and saw Harshal waving him over.

“A good lot, it seems,” Harshal said with a smile.

“Aye,” Kenrick nodded.

Livia, Krey, and Emilie had not only earned their keep at Dai Keep’s inn, but had also made themselves a little bit of gylt to take with them when they moved on. Livia rubbed two of these coins between her thumb and forefinger, ovals made of filigreed pewter and coated in an enchanted gilding. Not only did this gilding make them resistant to tarnishing, but it also marked them as valid currency, making it harder for criminals to produce counterfeit, as the recipe for the enchanted gilding was a closely-guarded secret of the Fyren Municipal Mint, a facility trusted with the neutral production of Berodyl’s single currency. This was explained to her by Jayd, who was proud to have worked in the mint before she’d come even farther west.

Krey casually pointed his fork at Jayd, and waited until he swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking. “What moved you from a big city like that to a little village like this?”

“It was getting a bit too cosy,” Jayd mused, “and we masonfolk relish a good challenge.”

“I try,” Coryandr said, getting a giggle and a playful slap out of Jayd.

Livia quietly observed with her back against the wall, resting in the back corner of her booth bench. She had the flowerfolk maid in her lap, Jayd sat in Emilie’s lap next to them, so they could more comfortably sit at a height closer to that of their guests. This, combined with the warm hues of firelight illuminating the room, and the wholesome scene playing out in front of her, made her chest throb with an intimate contentment she’d never quite felt before. Without even thinking about it, her arms wrapped slowly, tenderly around Coryandr, and she tilted her head so that her cheek was resting on top of Coryandr’s. The halfling maid looked up at the larger woman cradling her, reaching up to gently pat the side of her head with a dainty hand. “Hey~” she lilted, “you okay?”

“More than okay,” Livia managed to reply as sleepiness began to set in.

When Livia awoke the next morning, that contentment had been replaced by something that made her feel just a bit queasy. It felt like a small, dense orb in her core, weighing her down; it got heavier when she realised today was the day she would be leaving Acrevil. In the last twenty four hours, she’d almost forgotten that she had a job to do, a quest to fulfil. When she went downstairs and looked around the Apple Bobber Inn, the call of the adventurer rang quieter in her ear than it had previously.

“I know that look,” came Harshal’s voice, making Livia jump and spin around. “I saw the same look on Jayd’s face when she first came to Acrevil; it took about as long to appear on her face then as it has on yours now, in fact.”

“This place…” Livia croaked gravelly, “it’s like a little slice of heaven. I could honestly see myself settling down here.”

“Really?” Harshal cocked an eyebrow. “I couldn’t. I don’t think you’re the type to ever settle down. I’ve seen plenty the same before.”

“No offense, but you hardly know me.”

“I know your kind well enough, outlander.”

“How do you know I’m an outlander?”

“Like I said, I’ve seen a fair few souls pass through my portals. I know a kind when I see a kind.” He took a deep breath and came out from behind the reception desk, sitting with Livia at the booth she had left a part of herself the night before. “I knew Jayd was going to stay when I first met her. Not only did she and Coryandr get along like a house on fire from day one, but… well, there’s no civilisation west of here, so this is as far as she could run away.”

“Run away?”

“Yep. Don’t know what she’s running from, but she’s running from something, of that much I’m sure. I don’t like to pry into other people’s business, so I’ll probably never know… but you don’t slowly drift all the way from the deserts of Chitiqa and end up settling in a little village in Calsa without some kind of reason. She didn’t arrive here with a sword on her belt and a gleam in her eye, like you did; she arrived here with her entire life on her back and a frown on her little lips.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“To help you understand that this isn’t where you belong. Now, don’t get me wrong, you’re always welcome here, but… this isn’t where you belong, understand?”

Livia felt a frown forming on her own lips now. “What if… what if I’m running too?”

“Then you’d better keep running to keep up with those friends of yours. True friends are more than most people have these days; don’t let them go.”

Livia felt her frown curling upward a tad now, and she regarded Harshal with a sigh, shaking her head. “Why do I get the feeling that, whatever I say, you’re going to have some clever retort?”

“Because I’ve sparred amiably over breakfast with the best of ‘em, that’s why.”

“Speaking of…” Livia said with a hand on her stomach. “I could use a bite to eat. Y’know… before I get back on the road.”

“I could serve you something now, if you’d like,” Harshal shrugged, “or… you could wait to eat your morning meal with your friends.”

Livia’s mouth was truly curved upward in a smile now. She nodded silently, and Harshal went back to his morning preparations.