Commerce Emperor
Chapter Twenty-One: Silver Sky

Eris arrived late to our date.

Of course, I had anticipated that and acted accordingly. I had put the pie in the oven twenty minutes late, practiced slicing meat with my new dagger, and spent time filling more contracts while waiting for her. I had so much work to do with the coming civil war, and each second counted.

At least Eris had changed clothes for the occasion, abandoning her nun outfit for a golden wool sweater, a black skirt reaching all the way to her ankles, and a white scarf. It was a nice outfit, the kind one would wear at home or outside on holidays. I liked it. It would make our date feel more casual, almost relaxing.

“What’s cookin’, good lookin’?” Eris teased me on arrival. “Smells good to me.”

“A fish pie prepared with rye with a dash of pork, cheesecake, and a salmon salad,” I replied as I loaded the food platters onto our ship. “Plus honeyed drinks and pastries.”

“Robin, you devil, are you trying to tempt me into ruining my slim figure?” Eris put a hand on her waist as she examined our date’s chosen location. “And what kind of boat is this?”

I couldn’t blame her for being surprised. Marika’s newest creation was a strange and beautiful marvel, a long and sleek gondola of dark mahogany wood. A colossal, essence-reinforced silky balloon envelope filled with hot air was tethered to it by an intricate system of ropes and pulleys. A delicate alchemical furnace of steel and brass glittered at the stern alongside a helix, pipes rising from its surface to connect to the balloon. I had set up a small wooden table for us to eat and cushions to sit on.

“The fantastical kind,” I replied while checking the sky. The day was almost done and the sun would soon vanish beyond the horizon. Perfect timing. “Now, if my lady would take a seat.”

I gallantly offered my hand to Eris, which she took into her own with a light laugh. Her fingers were smooth to the touch and smelled of mint perfume. She had put on skin oils. I took it as a good sign.

“Did Marika build it?” Eris asked with giddy curiosity. She sat on her cushion like a queen on her throne, her gaze wandering around to inspect every area of the ship.

“She did most of the work, though Colmar and I put in our fair share.” I pointed at the silky balloon. “I reinforced the envelope with iron essence myself, to increase its durability.”

“Oh?” Eris scratched her cheek slightly. “So if the balloon explodes, I will have you to blame for it?”

“I wouldn’t be looking forward to that outcome if I were you,” I replied as I took my place next to her. After lifting the ship’s anchor, I pulled the furnace's lever. “See for yourself.”

The alchemical engine let out a roar as the runestones within it heated up. Colorful fumes erupted from its pipes and filled the balloon with flagrant steam. The boat shook beneath us, its weight shifting, and the docks sank into the waters below.

Or at least, it looked that way to me. A glance over the handrail showed that the world around us hadn’t changed one bit; instead, our ship had moved higher.

“No way…” Eris put a hand on her mouth, her eyes widening in excitement. She looked on with amazement as the boat levitated above the water. “Incredible…”

I chuckled. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

I lowered more levers, the silk balloon growing and straining under the pressure building up within itself. The ship floated up, slowly but inevitably. We ascended past house windows and the faces of astonished neighbors, and then we moved over roofs the next. The helix at the ship’s back turned on itself, pushing us forward.

This was nothing like a bird flying, nor like a fast-paced race atop a pegasus. It was a peaceful, gentle promenade with the occasional bump. While we were skidding on winds rather than water currents, I would hardly call the experience different than a normal gondola trip. At least, until I glanced over at the tapestry of colors called Snowdrift sprawling beneath us.

Even though I had carefully sold away part of my fears of heights, seeing the city under us filled me with both dread and excitement. The world looked so wonderful from the heavens above; but should I fall over by accident, the view from halfway down wouldn’t seem so beautiful.

The sea of tents forming outside the city walls only added to its color. Local nobles had answered Roland’s call to arms by sending their troops. Our infrastructure struggled to adapt to this sudden influx of newcomers, so most of them had to stay outside Snowdrift for the time being.

Eris didn’t share my fear of heights. She was smiling ear to ear, her hand raised in an attempt to catch passing clouds. She giggled to herself when a small raven passed by us.

“Do you take all your dates to the heavens, Robin?” Eris’ breath turned into mist as she spoke. For a reason that escaped me, the higher we ascended, the colder the air became.

“Only naughty nuns and holy virgins,” I teased her.

“You’re a few years too late for the last part.” She winked at me with a mischievous smirk. “But perhaps not for the naughty part.”

“Duly noted,” I replied with the same flirtatious tone. “Besides, aren’t holy men and women said to ascend to the Goddess’ side when they die?”

“That’s what folktales say, but pure or dirty we all end up in the Soulforge. Death treats us all equally.” Eris glanced over the ship’s handrail. “How far up can it go?”

“Two miles so far,” I replied. “Colmar believes we can raise the bar to three, maybe four, though I would prefer to increase the ship’s size rather than its altitude.”

“Wise,” Eris commented. “Do you know what’s the most common job in Erebia?”

“Porters.” I had done my research. “Horses aren’t well-suited for the mountainous terrain.”

“Of course you would know, cunning Merchant that you are.” Eris let out puffs of mists from her mouth, trying to shape them into circles. “You can’t fathom how tiresome the Arcane Abbey’s logistics are in the region. A wingboat service would corner the delivery market in no time.”

I had considered that possibility too. This new technology would revolutionize countless markets. However, I had the feeling it would mostly see military applications in the near future. Roland and I had already discussed using this device for scouting, reconnaissance, and infiltration.

“‘Wingboat?’” I repeated, slightly amused by the term.

“What did you intend to call it?” Eris met my gaze. “An airship?”

I scowled immediately. “You make it sound ridiculous.”

“Oh my, you were going to call it an airship!” Eris shook her head in mock disappointment. “That’s just plain lazy, Robin.”

“I prefer to call it efficient,” I replied while drawing my dagger to cut the food. “Besides, do you see wings on this boat?”

“True, but ‘balloon-boat’ doesn’t ring well to my ears.” Eris raised an eyebrow upon seeing my weapon. “Is that a new dagger?”

“I broke the first one against Chastel,” I confessed while slicing the fish pie. “I’m still trying to infuse it with fire essence the way you did with the last one.”

“Good luck. It took me years of practice to succeed.” Eris grabbed the salmon salad bowl for herself. “But then again, I couldn’t bribe my way to success yet.”

I chuckled. “Yet?”

“I gosh rushshtones…” Eris swallowed her food with a loud gulp, sparing me the need to translate. “It’s much easier to practice essence transfer with high-quality Iremian runestones. They cost their weight in gold, but they’re worth every coin.”

I believed her. Irem had earned its reputation as the foremost center of the witchcrafting arts. Most modern essence-based technologies originated from their desert cities and sorcerous academies. “Perhaps I will visit it next, once peace returns to Archfrost,” I said. “It should be easy to find a retired witchcrafter willing to sell me their skills. The whole country is full of them.”

Eris shook her head. “If you ask me, you should leave for the Everbright Empire.”

“Oh?” That wouldn’t have been my first choice, though I admit I was a bit curious to see Therese’s homeland. “Why’s that?”

“Because it offers many opportunities for a talented Merchant such as you, and the Rogue lives there too. I’m sure the two of you would hit it off.” Eris let out a moan of pleasure upon tasting my fish pie. “So good.”

“Thank you,” I said. “Aren’t the Rogue and I meant to be rivals though?”

“Rival classes aren’t natural enemies,” Eris replied. “Both the Rogue and the Merchant fight for justice and the common people. It’s just their methods that differ. The Merchant stands with the law, the Rogue distrusts it.”

“So we oppose each other.”

“Or you complete each other. It’s all a question of perspective.”

She might have a point. While I strongly believed the world needed fair laws and proper rulership, I had seen enough corruption in Ermeline to not place my full faith in either. When corrupt authorities wrote the rules, sometimes fighting for the common good meant becoming a criminal.

Still, I would always favor reforming institutions over tearing them down. The Walbourg rebellion had shown the perils of violent revolution. The common man deserved better than being sacrificed in the name of ephemeral ideals.

“Have you ever heard of rut, mate, kill?” Eris suddenly asked me in between two bites.

“I haven’t,” I confessed.

“It’s a beastman game,” Eris explained. “I name a person, and you must say whether you would rather sleep with them, marry them, or kill them.”

I suppressed a laugh. “Doesn’t the second option include the first by default?”

“Not always, it doesn’t,” Eris mused. “Come on, Robin, it’s a silly game. Don’t look too much into it.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll indulge you.” I sipped a cup of warm tea. This one came from the Everbright Empire and lacked the fruity Seukaian flavor I had come to love deeply. I couldn’t wait for imports to resume again. “You can start.”

“How gallant.” Eris grinned in delight. “Marika?”

My, she went straight for the jugular. “Rut, then mate.”

“No cheating, Robin.” Eris wagged her finger at me. “You can only pick one.”

I sighed and considered the matter. It was surprisingly difficult. I did find Marika desirable as a woman, but I favored her friendship and company over any short-lived pleasure. “Mate.”

“Mersie?”

Mate, I thought. “Rut,” I said.

“Did you do that last night?” Eris put a hand on my arm and whispered conspiratorially into my ear. “Confess your sins to me, Robin. You’ll feel better afterward.”

I knew it was just an excuse to gather gossip. “Yeah, we spent the night together,” I confessed. “She left in the morning without a word.”

Eris’ smirk faded away, though she didn’t look all that surprised. She didn’t pester me for details, though I did give them by myself. It was nice to have a listening ear.

“It was good while it lasted,” I said. “But I don’t think we’ll work as a couple. Not now, perhaps not ever. Mersie has her own demons to fight.”

“Don’t we all?” Eris glanced at the incoming twilight. The sun had started descending behind the horizon, slowly spreading a red taint across the sky. “You know, Robin, I’ve come to a conclusion over the years: each person’s life is a road.”

I listened without a word, basking in the warm sunlight. I squinted upon noticing a shadow passing over the horizon and moving north. I mistook it for a bird at first, until I noticed the four silver legs and hooves.

Was that… Silverine? I didn’t know she had recovered enough to fly. Not to mention that she appeared to carry a rider on her back, who could only be Alaire. What was she doing at this hour so far away from the castle at this hour?

Eris’ voice drew me out of my thoughts. “Sometimes those roads cross and meet,” she said. “They can align for years on end, but inevitably, they’ll start to diverge at one point. The people walking them change with each bump on the path. You can spend a lifetime with someone, until one day you look at them and realize they’re no longer the person you used to know.”

“Or they stayed the same,” I whispered. “But you’re the one who changed without realizing it.”

“That’s life, Robin.” Eris shrugged. “Be happy that it happened, but don’t look back. The past is dead. All that exists is straight ahead.”

“I’m not sure I agree.” I glanced at the mountains on the horizon, and the icy peaks of Archfrost. My homeland I had left a decade ago, only to return to now. “You can’t outrun your past.”

“And what will it do other than bring you down with regrets and nostalgia?” Eris shrugged and forced a smile onto her lips. “Anyway, let’s go back to the truly important subject. Colmar?”

Our current discussion made her feel uncomfortable, and she wasn’t ready to open up yet. I supposed I should give her time. We didn’t know each other all that well yet, after all.

“Mate,” I replied without hesitation. Rut was heavily compromised, and killing was out of the question. I liked him too much.

“That is so cute.” Eris grabbed her own cup. “Soraseo?”

“Mate.” Same reasoning as Marika.

“Good answer. Cortaner?”

“I would say kill, but it’s more of a pass than anything.”

“Roland?”

I considered it a bit longer. I didn’t feel attracted to him—or by men in general—but he was nice enough. “Mate, I suppose?”

Eris laughed so hard she spit out her drink. “You know,” she said while wiping her lips, “when I asked him that question, he gave a very different answer.”

I had an inkling as to what Roland said, which made me a little uncomfortable. “Is he…”

“Fucking his squire?” Eris shrugged her shoulders. “Of course he is.”

As I thought. “Aren’t you supposed to keep everybody’s secrets, Eris?”

“I am, but Roland is doing a poor job of keeping his own.” Eris looked away, her expression suddenly darkening. “He doesn’t show it, but he feels terribly lonely. He needs friends.”

“I’ll do my best to help him,” I promised for both his sake and Therese’s.

“Guess it’s my turn then.” Eris crossed her legs. “Shoot.”

“If you insist,” I replied with amusement. I supposed we should continue with the theme of heroes. “Marika?”

“Rut.”

Alright… “Soraseo?”

“Rut.”

“Colmar?”

“Rut.”

She can’t be serious. I squinted at Eris. “Cortaner?”

She smirked back at me. “Rut.”

“Cortaner?” I repeated, utterly shocked. “Cortaner?! Does his armor even make that possible?”

“I’m open to all experiences and I have no standards whatsoever,” Eris joked back. “As for the armor, I say he would have an easier time performing than Colmar.”

“Point taken,” I replied with a scoff. “Neferoa?” Sᴇaʀᴄh the NʘvᴇlFirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Rut, savagely,” Eris answered with stars in her eyes. “Again.”

My Goddess, she spoke from experience. “You slept with the Bard?”

“She swept me off my feet the moment we met,” Eris replied wistfully. “You wouldn’t last two hours in her presence.”

Now I was deeply curious about meeting Neferoa. Our generation’s Bard sounded like a larger-than-life personality. “How did someone like you end up a nun, Eris?”

“I didn’t join the priesthood, I was born into it,” Eris replied with a shrug. “My mother was a priestess, my dad a priest. These things aren’t supposed to happen, but since when have rules stamped out human desires?”

I didn’t need a memo to read between the lines. She was a bastard, much like Alaire. “You were born in a convent?”

“Indeed I was.” Eris set her empty plate aside. We had already finished dinner. “I’ve spent most of my existence cloistered, so I’m trying to make up for lost time.”

That explained a lot. I wondered if the Wanderer’s mark chose her because of her inner desire to explore the world and enjoy all the pleasures once denied to her. Her predecessors could never stay in one place for long either.

“Did the food help?” I asked her after finishing my own plate.

“Well, I’ve never had dinner two miles above ground.” Eris smiled warmly. “Of all the dates I’ve shared with a boy, this one might top them all.”

“For now,” I replied charmingly. “The next date will be even better.”

Eris laughed, which I took as a very good sign. There would be a second date.

“If I may ask, how did you learn of a beastman game?” I questioned her.

“Colmar isn’t the only beastman, at least formerly, among our ranks.” Eris pointed at the northern mountains, which marked the frontier between Archfrost and the vast, icy wastelands ruled by the beastmen tribes. “There’s another hero fighting his own battles far beyond those piles of rocks. He’s quite friendly, if extremely shy.”

“I would like to meet him.” My stomach soured as a heavy thought crossed my mind. “Eris?”

“Yes, my dear Robin?”

“How do you think mankind could make peace with the beastmen?”

Eris straightened up. I half-expected her to joke about the matter, but she gave the subject a considerable amount of thought.

“I don’t know,” she admitted after a while. “Why the question?”

“As far as I remember, I’ve been raised in fear of beastmen invasions.” Archfrost had spent all of its existence either repelling raiders or hordes coming from the north, to the point previous kings fortified every inch of the border. “I never truly questioned it. As far as everyone was concerned, they were the enemy. Demon servants.”

She met my gaze. “From your tone, I guess you’ve reconsidered?”

“I did.” Colmar’s journal, from the cruelties he encountered to the truth about how beastmen were born, had already shaken my prior assumptions. Hearing about Florence’s sad tale only increased my doubts. No matter what crimes she committed, her son should never have been slain by virtue of his birth alone.

I wondered how many beastmen had suffered from similar treatment… and if it helped fuel the animosity between our species.

“I don’t have a ready-made solution, Robin,” Eris admitted. “If there was one, someone would have implemented it already. However…” She marked a short pause as she tried to find the right words. “Have you heard of Sanctuaries?”

“Of course.” Although I wondered what they had to do with beastmen rights.

“When you think about it, the frontier between Sanctuaries and Blights is very thin,” Eris pointed out. “Both are places infused with human emotions. One is considered a blessing and the other a curse, but they both arise from the same source.”

I crossed my arms and mulled over her words. What was she getting at?

“Now, consider anger, Robin. Anger motivates people when they are confronted with injustice. It sharply reminds them when another violates their rights and boundaries. Would you call anger evil then?”

“No,” I conceded. It was that same anger that convinced me to take a stand against Ermeline’s corruption, and then the Knots’ abuse. “But if one leans into anger too much, it devours them from within.”

Like how hatred had consumed Florence from within until she began to kill innocent people.

“But in both cases, it’s the same emotion,” Eris insisted. “There is no fundamental difference between a blessing and a curse, only different perspectives. One man’s hell is another’s paradise. One’s hero is another’s enemy.”

I scoffed in skepticism. “Who would think Belgoroth is a hero?”

“My, my.” Eris joined her hands, a sad scowl spreading on her face. “But himself, of course.”

“You think he still believes himself the rightful Knight, deep down?” I squinted at the fading twilight. “Even as he burns cities and wages war on the very world he was meant to protect?”

“Look around you, Robin.” Eris waved a hand at the city below us. On one shore stood the Black Keep and noble households, and poor slums on the other. The contrast was all the more startling from above. “I mean no offense to Alaire, but why does she get to live in a castle, while another girl languishes in a small shack? Does it sound just to you?”

“No. Nobility is a failed concept.” I liked individual nobles, but not the system as a whole. “But disliking something is not a reason to tear it all down at the cost of innocent lives.”

“Perhaps not, but think about it.” Eris scratched the mark on her cheek. “Our classes have been around for, what, seven hundred years? Maybe longer? For all the good they’ve done, we still have war, poverty, famines, and herpes.”

“No magic in the world can change human nature,” I pointed out.

“Maybe it’s a lesson Belgoroth refused to learn,” Eris replied. “Or maybe, just maybe, he woke up one day and realized he had lost all faith in his fellow man.”

Perhaps Eris meant it as sarcasm, but her point did give me pause nonetheless. I remembered vividly the rage in Roland’s eyes whenever the subject of Florence, the Knots, or the Walbourg rebels came up. His fury came from a good place, yet I wondered if he could temper it with wisdom.

Mayhaps the same seed of darkness that corrupted Belgoroth slumbered within Roland’s heart.

After all… I had nearly bought a soul myself, like the Devil of Greed before me. I tried that without understanding the consequences because I wanted to understand my power better. I tried to bend the laws of life and death for the sake of my own curiosity.

And while I told myself I would have used that power for a good cause… over time, it would have corrupted me. Somewhere down the line, it would have been easy to stop seeing people as people and instead just as assets to manipulate. Humans would have become just another product with a price tag attached.

None of us heroes were infallible.

“It’s all about different perspectives,” I figured out. “That’s what you mean to tell me. If we are to achieve peace with the beastmen, we must first understand things from their point of view. Otherwise, no compromise will hold.”

“You catch on quickly, handsome,” she teased me.

“Honestly, you’re not teaching me anything new,” I mused. I figured out the need to understand others’ mindsets a long time ago. “Still, I’m thankful for the reminder. You’re a lot wiser than you let on, Miss Belarra.”

“My, thank you, Robin.” Eris put a hand on the handrail. “Now I won’t feel guilty about doing this.”

“Doing wh–”

Eris had jumped overboard before I could finish my sentence.

I stared at the empty spot she used to occupy for a few seconds, my mind struggling to process what just happened. Then my heartbeat suddenly quickened. I rushed to the handrail and stared into the void. I could only see a vanishing point growing smaller and smaller as it approached the ground.

“Eris!” I shouted in alarm. That insane fool! “ERIS!”

By the time Eris vanished from my sight I heard a familiar sound behind me, followed by a cloud of smoke and the boat shaking from a sudden increase in weight. My head snapped to my side, my hands shaking with rage.

“Aha! Haha!” Eris held her sides and struggled not to choke from laughter. “You… you should see your face!”

“You madwoman!” I was aghast. Even with her power, an error in her timing would have killed her! “You… you…”

“Come on, Robin, I’m fine.” Eris pinched my cheek as if I were an amusing child. Her fingers felt cold, though warmer than the chilly air around us. “Awww, were you worried about dear old me?”

“Of course I was.” I squinted at her. “I should have added a safety rope for children.”

“Silly Robin, don’t be like that.” Eris’ hands moved to both sides of my head, her eyes shining with mischief. “Is there any way I could make it up to you?”

“Depends,” I said with a smug smirk. My hand moved to her chin, raising it up slightly. “You’ve been a naughty girl, Eris… and an even naughtier nun. I’m not sure you deserve a return trip back to Snowdrift.”

“Can’t I bribe you, oh Merchant?” Eris moved closer, until I could feel her warm, misty breath on my lips. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any coins on me right now…”

My hand moved to her back and pulled her closer. “I could settle for a payment in kind…”

“That can be arranged…”

Our lips met in a passionate embrace. Eris’ were warmer to the touch than her fingers and tasted of mint. Her arms moved to encircle my neck as we cuddled, a jolt traveling down my spine as we did.

The kiss was briefer and less intimate than the one I shared with Mersie last night, but no less pleasant.

“I guess it’s time that we…” I grinned ear to ear, deeply proud of myself. “Rock the boat.”

Eris exploded into laughter and then kissed me again.

Making love two miles above ground proved to be an exhilarating experience, if somewhat nerve-wracking. Eris accidentally ended up kicking a plate overboard at one point. I hoped it hadn’t fallen on anyone.

By the time we finished, night had long since fallen and I had the boat land in the forests near Snowdrift. It took a while to find a flat clearing without too many trees getting in the way.

“Well, that was pleasant,” Eris said as she pulled up her skirt in place and then trimmed her messy hair with her hands. “Especially that thing with your tongue.”

“They don’t teach that at the Arcane Abbey?” I jested. I used a rope to bind the boat to a nearby tree, to make sure it didn’t float off by accident. I didn’t think it would stay put for too long, but better safe than sorry. “I’m disappointed.”

“No, but they do teach us how to play as the innocent lambs,” Eris joked back. “I pray you found my play convincing.”

I did. Eris was a lot more into kinky roleplay than any other woman I’d been with. She managed to play the virginal, innocent nun ravished against her will quite convincingly. I admit it brought some spice to the whole endeavor. I should try something like that again.

It helped me forget Mersie and move on. Eris had a point. I couldn’t let nostalgia blind me to the future.

“Why land in a forest of all places?” Eris whistled playfully as she jumped out of the boat. “Do you want to go on a promenade?”

“I have something to do before I return to Snowdrift.” Or rather, someone to meet. “Do you want to come along?”

“Maybe another time.” Eris’ smile grew thinner, more embarrassed. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Robin, but… I’m not looking to settle down anytime soon. Not with you or anyone else.”

My blood ran cold. I had feared she would say that. “So this was a one-time thing?”

“What are you saying?” Eris stared at me as if I had gone mad. “You promised me an even better second date. Of course I’ll hold you to your oath. We’ll keep having fun… as friends.”

Wow, she was sending me a lot of mixed signals. “Few friends sleep together, Eris.”

“Only the very good ones do,” Eris replied jokingly. “We both have a few of them on our side.”

In other words, neither of us should care about whom the other would sleep with. Our relationship would be a friendship with a few more perks and no commitment of any sort, at least for now.

“Sure.” I could live with it, though I wasn’t giving up on finding someone to settle with. “Let’s be very close friends then.”

“One last thing.” Eris put a hand on her slim waist. “I’m not your mistress; you’re my lover. An important distinction.”

“I see no fundamental difference.” I threw her words back at her with a smirk. “Only different perspectives.”

It was a lie. I knew what Eris meant. She didn’t want to feel owned or tied down to anyone, even verbally.

Eris smiled wickedly. “See you around, my dear Merchant. I’ll be back soon.”

She vanished, the smoke cloud she left behind simply carried away by the night wind.

I admit… the date left me with a bittersweet feeling. A different kind than with Mersie. I liked mindless fun now and then, but I would prefer it if the person who slept next to me would stay for the morning.

Oh well. One day. One day I would find the right person. I just needed to be patient.

I chased Eris away from my mind and walked north. I had caught a glimpse of a structure on our way down, sitting on a barren hill. I made my way there, soon walking past a half-destroyed, partially overgrown stone wall. Sagging rusted gates lay open in the night air and led into a courtyard.

I found Silverine eating grass nearby. She gave me a nod of recognition, half a dozen stitches keeping as many wounds closed. A metal contraption–some kind of splint from what I could tell–kept her left wing in place.

“You shouldn’t be flying in your state,” I scolded her. Colmar was an excellent healer and Silverine a strong beast, but she still needed rest.

Silverine made a strange rueful sound, as if scolding me for being a worrywart, and then turned her head to the side in the direction of a monastery’s crumbling ruins. Sometimes I wondered how smart these animals were and how much they understood us.

The moonlight showed hints of a broken tower standing next to a collapsed pile of stone. Alaire was in the courtyard, sitting near a tombstone with a large basket in her hands. I counted dozens of them around us, all identical pieces of white stone except for the one in front of our countess. That one was taller and made of white marble rather than common stone.

Alaire’s head snapped in my direction upon hearing me approach.

“Robin?” she sighed in relief, her fears of an assassin ambush swiftly dispelled. “What are you doing here?”

“Following you, what else?” I stared at the tombstone. I didn’t need to read the name to know who it was meant to honor. “Is this…”

“It’s my mother’s grave, yes.” Alaire gazed at the dozen other tombstones with a somber look. “And… all the people who died in that fire.”

She cried on her way here, I thought upon observing her red-rimmed eyes. My gaze wandered to her basket. It held far more flowers than one grave would warrant. Gladiolus, tulips, lilies of the valley… it must have cost a fortune to gather such a bouquet. They’re meant for everyone, not just her mother.

“Do you want help?” I asked. For the tombstones… and for yourself.

“I…” Her scowl turned into a small, warm smile. “I wouldn’t mind.”

I grabbed some flowers from the basket and started laying them to rest near the graves.

The night had only begun.

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