Being in such a fine restaurant had me on edge. I felt like a pauper entering the king’s chambers. Wide eyes and gasps met us. Some of the girls rose from their seats and quickly exited past us. Another catgirl was bent over behind the front counter, looking at something. She turned around with a pitcher in her hands and nearly dropped it at the sight of us.

A patron without so much as a blemish on her face and arms approached, her body coated with a thin layer of glistening oil. Her skin was a faded bronze, and she smelled of lemon and cinnamon. The white silks wrapped around her body left little to the imagination.

“What are you doing?” the catgirl whispered to Taraji, grabbing her by the bicep and leading her a short distance from us.

“I’m aiding those who deserve it,” Taraji replied easily.

“You’ve brought outsiders here?” the high-pitched hiss only drew more attention.

Taraji nodded.

“They’ll kick you out… worse, they’ll kill you if they see what you’ve done.”

Taraji shook her arm away. “You would’ve done the same if you witnessed what I just did, Ariana.”

Ariana visibly swallowed. Her chest heaved. “I’m out of here. Don’t ever talk to me again.” My breath caught as she left. I wanted to reach out and mend their differences, but it quickly became clear just how unfit our presence was.

“I don’t like this,” Keke murmured to me.

“No. I don’t, either,” I admitted.

The catgirl holding the pitcher hadn’t moved at all. Her belly was round with pregnancy, and her whole body was trembling. The remaining patrons averted their gazes and sought new tables at the back.

Shit, did we just make a big mistake forcing our way in like this?

I figured it was just a matter of time until the owner or one of her other waitresses made their way over to us to take our orders, so we sat ourselves down at a large table that accommodated twelve. The entire time, I watched as the pregnant catgirl set the pitcher on the counter and left out the front door.

Soon after, another girl glided over to us from the opposite side of the room. She bore blonde hair tied in tiny pigtails at the sides of her head. Her hands were shaking as she held the pen and paper.

“W-What can I do for you?” she asked.

Feeling more and more like a villain by the minute.

“Do you have water?” Cannoli asked with a sheepish stare.

The waitress blinked twice. “Yes. One water each?”

“Yes, please.” I wanted to jump and dance. So water did exist outside of the oases and canteens, after all.

“And, erm, what about you, Taraji?”

“I’m not staying. I need to get out of here and make a report to King Magni and the Ejderha,” said Taraji. She looked at me and gestured to our waitress. “This is the owner of this fine establishment, Giselle.”

Giselle bore skin several shades lighter than many of the catgirls we’d seen in the Third Shell. Freckles speckled her face and arms, and she wore a small brown corset and a white skirt that barely covered her bottom.

She looks a little out of place. I wanted to ask, but considering our situation, it was hardly appropriate.

Taraji continued, “Giselle, take care of them for me, will you? If anyone asks, I put you up to it. It’s just until Aliye gets here. Understand?”

Giselle nodded. “O-Okay.”

“Remember what I said,” Taraji said, looking at each of us. She waved us one last farewell as the hunters waiting at the door followed behind her into the sun.

There were a few awkward beats of silence. Then, Destiny broke it. “If you don’t mind my inquiry, what meals do you serve?”

Giselle took two deep breaths. “W-We serve a number of u-u-unique dishes seen only on the other islands. Even if we don’t, there is… there is a possibility we can make it using the supplies we have.”

No fooling?

“Dragon Breath Cocktail?” I asked.

Giselle paused, then nodded. Her smile was so obviously forced. “Yes! We can make those!”

I had absolutely no interest in getting alcohol, but I had to ask. It began to dawn on me just how pampered the girls in the Second Shell were.

“Baka! Are you actually thinking of getting plastered? Now?” barked Ravyn.

“N-No! I was just curious.”

“Uh-huh.”

No, really. I was just curious, Mom.

“My humblest apologies, but you may provide each of us with the most affordable dish on your menu,” offered Ceres. “We do not wish to cause any undue distress.”

As much as I was clamoring to have something much more filling and satisfying than a handful of appetizers, I wasn’t about to correct Ceres. Giselle looked like she was moments away from fainting.

“Whatever the price is, we will oblige. Please, have no fear of that,” Tristan said with a disarming smile.

“Okay. I’ll return with your waters and food.” At Tristan’s words, Giselle seemed to relax somewhat.

As soon as Giselle left, Zahra spoke. “As soon as Aliye returns, we should leave. The longer we stay in the public eye, the worse it will be when we finally come face to face with Magni.”

“Agreed,” Keke said, crossing her arms in thought. “These girls are scared of us. Just sitting in this chair is making me uncomfortable.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ravyn said, leaning on her elbow and resting her head on her palm. “This is the best damn chair I’ve sat in all week.”

“Spoiled brats, squawwwk!” Ball cried from atop his master’s shoulder.

Ravyn clamped her hand over Ball’s beak. “Shush. We don’t need any more fucking trouble.”

Cannoli put her face in her hands and began to sob quietly.

“Cannoli?” I put one arm around her shoulders and rested my head against hers. “Hey, talk to me. Are you okay?”

She shook her head.

“The pure one cries,” Lara said with apparent concern. “Why?”

Weird way to put it.

“Hey,” said Ravyn, “Cannoli. What’s wrong?”

“W-We shouldn’t be here,” she whispered through choked sobs. “I feel like we’re just making things worse. Those hunters died because of us.”

“Cannoli, that’s not true,” Keke said, putting her hand on Cannoli’s shoulder.

Cannoli batted Keke’s hand away, whipped her hands away from her face, and looked at Keke with red, puffy cheeks. Her face was a distraught mess of anger and sadness.

“Yes, it is,” Cannol squeaked. “You know that, Keke! You know that. Don’t try to lie to me and make me feel better.”

Keke swallowed, and her lower lip twitched. She bit her fist and looked away.

Oh god, no. Not now. This is not the time for this.

“Cannoli, hey.” I scooched her closer and gently tipped her chin so that she looked at me. “Calm down. We’ll get through this, okay?”

Cannoli bowed her head and buried her face into my chest.

“If anyone’s at fault, it’s me,” Tristan said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I bear the responsibility for what occurred. This was my plan, and thus, it was my fault.” Tristan drew a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry, Cannoli. No, I’m sorry to all of you.”

“Tristan,” Destiny said with wide eyes, “please don’t do that to yourself. It’s clear that we all feel bad.” She guided his head to her shoulder and ran her fingers through his hair. “This is a troubling path we walk. Cannoli’s just hit her breaking point, I think.”

Just then, Giselle returned with a tray carrying five glasses of water. She set them down on the table without so much as a peep, then turned around for a second tray carrying the remaining glasses. She set each of them down on the table, and as I peered through the glass—yep, that’s actual glass, not a bird skull—I caught three ice cubes floating on the clear surface.

The mood shifted from somber to desperation. Cannoli turned away from me, snatching her share of water off the table and pressing her lips to the edge. Everyone else did the same, including Tristan and Destiny. I smacked my lips and grabbed the glass.

I recalled one time that I caught the stomach flu as a kid back on Earth. I spent three days vomiting up anything I ate. Water, broth, chicken, noodles, you name it, I threw it up on the carpet—or, if I was fast enough, then it went into a trash bag instead.

My mouth and throat burned most of the time while I was sick. I was scared to eat, drink, or even move. During my extended stay on the couch, all I could imagine was jumping into a beautiful pool of water filled with ice and reveling in it like a can of soda inside a half-melted ice chest.

Inside that glass of water, I was reliving that moment all over again.

By the time Giselle had replaced the trays beneath her arm and turned to leave, most of us had finished.

Giselle blinked in apparent surprise. “Oh, my. W-Will you still require food?”

“Please,” I said without hesitation. “We’ve come far.”

“Right,” Giselle said with a nod, then left the table.

“I’m sorry,” Cannoli said, staring down into her empty glass.

“Don’t be,” said Ravyn, crossing one leg over the other. “I get it. It’s fucked up. It’s not right what’s happening here.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the city’s situation,” Keke said, her head bowed. She brushed one finger at the corner of her eye, sniffing. “I’m at a loss.”

“As am I,” Ceres admitted. “One can only hope that Magni will see reason. That is to say, if we can be so fortuitous to be granted an audience with His Majesty.”

Her mannerisms aside, I hated hearing Magni referred to as anything else but a dictating tyrannical overlord. I understood, though, it was best to err on the side of caution and remain in his good graces for appearance's sake.

“Let’s try not to overstep our boundaries,” said Tristan. “Once Aliye returns, let’s discuss a plan with her. If luck is on our side, perhaps we can gain an audience. If not, we’ll ask her advice on how to proceed from here.” He left the nurturing arm of Destiny and leaned his elbows on the large table. “I want this situation to resolve amicably. There’s no reason things can’t be better.”

“I don’t get why there’s so much fuss. There’s lots of water,” said Lara. She was the only one who hadn’t finished her drink. She stared at the ice as she swirled it around in her glass. “Besides, Water says there’s a complex system underneath Rājadhānī.”

A complex system? Like… a sewer?

“Aqueducts?” Tristan asked, turning to look at Lara.

“She wasn’t clear,” Lara said, shaking her head. “But it sounds like it could help.”

“Hey,” Ravyn said, leaning over and gesturing toward the glass in Lara’s hands, “you going to finish that?”

Suddenly, the front door slammed open. I snapped around, only for my heart to fall into my stomach. There, standing in the light of the sun, casting a long shadow upon the room, was Sanrai.

Zahra leapt to her feet, and the chair’s legs screeched against the wooden floor. Her hand was already on the hilt of her katana, and her eyes narrowed to slits. “Sister.”

Each of us rose to our feet, and I summoned my axe to my hand. From where I stood, I could see Sanrai had brought two others, who were flanking her just a foot away from the doorway. They bore hard glares for all of us.

I’d seen Sanrai’s furious stare before. I knew what it meant when someone looked at me like that.

In her eyes, we were already dead.