“Make sure you change your clothes once you’ve arrived, you don’t want to be running around all day in wet clothes,” Vivian said while she stared up at Joan, not letting her hand go.

“I will,” Joan said for what she felt was the tenth time. She wondered how impolite it would be to groan right now. Hardwin and Korgron had already left what felt like hours ago. Breakfast had been wonderful, albeit a lot larger than she expected. Apparently Vivian felt an incredibly heavy meal was just the thing before a few days of riding. While she couldn’t exactly agree with such things, she probably had more of herself to blame for that second slice of pie.

She definitely had herself to blame for the third.

Korgron had left first and had ended up teleporting closer to her destination. Officially, she had said it was because she wanted to ensure she got there as quickly as possible so she could come and meetup with them once she dealt with the crypt. Honestly, Joan suspected it was because the demon hated the idea of having to ride another horse and so teleportation was the best excuse. She doubted Korgron would ever admit it.

Hardwin had been second, quiet and sullen as she was beginning to expect from him. She wished she could find out why he was so cold towards her, but she’d figure it out eventually. Probably. It certainly felt strange having him be so distant.

But now it was their turn and she was already beginning to regret her desire to go to this festival. The sky overhead was a dark, depressing gray, sending a veritable waterfall of rain down on them. It was going to be a long, cold day of travel, she could already tell. At least they had a few days to get there, so it wasn’t like they had to rush and risk getting sick.

Didn’t make her look forward to it any more.

“Remember to take frequent breaks if you get tired. Thalgren, Andreas, I’ll trust you to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t push herself,” Vivian said.

“We’ll try,” Andreas said. “But she’ll probably find a way to do it anyway.”

Joan responded to this all too accurate statement by sticking her tongue out at him for a moment before glancing back to Vivian. “I’ll be fine. I’m not taking any risks, okay? I’ve already agreed to let the Chosen take every single risk and I’ll just be there to keep an eye on things.”

“Promise?” Vivian asked.

“I don’t have much choice,” Joan said with a sigh. “I’ve got Andreas and Thalgren there watching my every move. And they have backup,” Joan said before motioning towards Zorn. Frankly she thought two Chosen were enough, but she could understand why Thalgren wanted his brother-in-law to come. Not like he could just be left behind, anyway. Didn’t make it feel any less like she had another babysitter.

“Please, just try to be safe,” Vivian said.

Joan gave a small nod, her cheeks going just a hint red. “I will do my best, I promise.” She then tugged on the reins a little and guided the horse outside of the stable. At least now she wouldn’t have to--

The rain hit her like a wall of ice and she barely resisted the urge to shriek. Oh, it was going to be a cold winter, she could feel it. It hadn’t been too bad, as autumns went, but the water now felt as if it was all but frozen.

Fortunately the riding cloak she had on was very thick and kept the water from hitting all but a few droplets on her face, but even if she wasn’t wet it didn’t mean she wasn’t cold. It was going to be a long, long ride.

‘Let’s talk through this for now,’ Andreas’ voice echoed through her head.

‘Thank you,’ Joan said through the bond. At least they wouldn’t have to keep raising their heads to talk to each other. ‘It looks like it’s going to be a cold morning.’

‘I think I’m going to be sick,’ Zorn said with a light groan.

‘Not good with the cold?’ Joan asked.

‘Ate too much,’ Zorn said.

Joan couldn’t help but snicker a little, though she couldn’t really fault him for it. She’d eaten way too much herself. Especially if she was going to be spending the day on horseback. ‘It’s going to be the last hot meal we have for a while,’ Joan said. ‘Nothing wrong with enjoying it. Just try not to throw up directly on your mount.’

‘Ugh,’ Zorn said.

‘I feel fine,’ Thalgren said.

‘You cheated,’ Zorn said.

‘I did no such thing,’ Thalgren said.

‘Being Chosen is cheating,’ Zorn said.

‘I mean, he’s not wrong,’ Andreas said, laughing lightly into the bond.

‘I didn’t eat nearly as much is all,’ Thalgren asked. ‘I just had the foresight to ask that positively delightful woman to make a slice of that pie or two to take with me on the road.’

‘Wait, what?’ Zorn asked. ‘That is also cheating.’

‘She gave me a whole one, so long as I agreed to share it with Joan,’ Thalgren said.

‘What? And not your delightful brother-in-law? For shame,’ Zorn said.

‘It’d be a waste if you got sick over it,’ Thalgren said. ‘But perhaps, should you be feeling better when we take a break, I could be convinced to part with a slice. For the right price.’

Joan couldn’t help it. She started to giggle at that one. She’d wondered how long until he’d say that and, true enough, he hadn’t disappointed. ‘You never did tell me what you found out,’ Joan said.

‘Found out? When?’ Andreas asked.

‘I was actually talking to Thalgren,’ Joan said. ‘When you went to find Searle. Were there any clues to where he went?’

Thalgren gave a sigh that she could only barely hear over the pouring rain. ‘None,’ Thalgren said. ‘As far as we could find, he’d left about a day prior to retrieve Bauteut. Her family had seen the pair leave together. Whatever pulled them away got to them on the way back to us.’

Joan nodded, a small frown on her lips. That didn’t sound like Searle at all. He would have at least sent a message if he could. She felt a nagging fear in the back of her mind telling her that he was gone, that he’d never return. That the world was doomed and nothing she wanted or tried would ever be able to stop it now. She’d failed. The world was doomed, for good.

She tried to shove that worry aside and focus on the reality. And the reality was that she had no actual idea where he was, but she had to trust him to know what he was doing. Or that the others would find him. Who knew? Maybe he’d even be at the festival.

Joan didn’t have much hope of that.

------

“I don’t like this,” Thalgren said softly, his eyes narrowed on her.

“If I was cheating, you’d know,” Joan said before she flipped over another tile and gave a small smirk. “And would you look at that? That’s another pair aaaaand I think I win again.” She gave as innocent a smile as she could. She knew it wasn’t innocent in the slightest.

Zorn, meanwhile, wasn’t even trying to hide his laughter. “And here I thought this was your best game, brother?”

“Oh, it is,” Joan said before picking up the tiles one by one and tossing them upside down, back in the bowl. “He’s actually pretty amazing at it. The biggest issue, for him, is he’ll get even better at it. And that was when he taught me.”

Thalgren gave a soft sigh. “I guess I’ll just need to look forward to that day, then. Shall we go again?”

“Heavens, no,” Joan said before nudging the bowl back towards him. “What’s that other thing you once said? ‘Quit while you’re ahead. A little greed is okay, but be too greedy and you lose everything.’”

“I don’t recall saying that, little missy,” Thalgren said.

Joan sighed. “It was another life. Fine, how about one more game. If I win, you can never call me little missy again and instead have to call me Joan?”

The dwarf gave her a long look before closing his eyes and lightly sighing. “Maybe you’re right, it is time to stop… little missy. It’s probably time to get some rest, anyway.”

“Oh come on!” Joan said with a soft whine.

“We’ve got a lot of riding to do tomorrow, still,” Thalgren said. “And you need your sleep. And I need to figure out how you managed to do that.”

“I had amazing teachers,” Joan said. “You taught me every trick you knew, just so you had an excuse to learn new ones. Chase taught me a few too. Though I didn’t cheat, honest. This time.”

Thalgren just cocked an eye at her, a look of mild annoyance on his face. Zorn, at least, seemed to find it amusing.

“You should all be getting to bed,” Andreas said before gesturing towards the window to the small, dark town outside. “It’s already later than any of us should be up.”

“You two don’t even need sleep,” Joan said. “When I was the Hero, we’d sometimes spend days fighting, just fighting. No rest, nothing.”

“And you’re not going to be doing that anymore,” Thalgren said. “And if I make my brother-in-law do that, my wife will kill me.”

“Oh, let’s talk about that!” Joan said quickly.

“What?” Thalgren asked.

“Your wife! Mother,” Joan said. “You never get married before. I wanna know about her. Come on.”

Thalgren gave a soft, gentle chuckle before nodding. “Fine. But only if get into bed and at least pretend to try to sleep.”

“I can promise to try to pretend,” Joan said adamantly.

Andreas gave a loud groan at that. She rolled her eyes and walked to her bed. Traveling with the chosen did have its advantages, at least. The route they took allowed them to pass through a few different villages and keeps. Once the chosen were known to be the travelers, people were practically falling over themselves in a desperate attempt to have them stay the night. It beat camping out for the night under the rain filled sky.

She hoped Korgron would have similar experiences. Even if she was a demon, the crown she bore would hopefully get her the same praise she deserved.

It wasn’t the nicest bed in the world, but it was at least clean. No sooner had she laid down in it that the candle went out. “Really?” she asked.

“Can’t pretend to be sleeping if there’s candle burning,” Thalgren said with a light chuckle. “Now then, where to start…”

“What’s she like?” Joan asked.

“Radiant,” Thalgren said. “With a voice like the sweetest nectar, eyes that dazzle like the most brilliant of jewels and--”

“The shriek of a banshee,” Zorn said, cutting him off. “Don’t listen to this love lost fool. She’s got a voice like the crack of thunder and a right hook to go with it.”

Thalgren gave a laugh. “Aye, that she does. She’s tougher than any dwarf I’ve ever met. I’d say there’s definitely some fire in her. She’s good. Tough. Dependable.”

“Dependable?” Joan asked.

“Ayes. Dependable,” Thalgren said with a content sigh. “There’s something comforting about knowing when I get home, she’ll be there.”

“Entire city could be turned into molten lava and she’d still be there holding it outside the doors,” Zorn said. “But he’s right on that one. Ain’t nobody more dependable in all the kingdoms.”

Joan rolled her eyes. “Dependable? That’s it? I figured there was some big thing. But all you wanted was someone who was dependable?”

“Ah, still so young,” Thalgren said softly. “So naive. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

“I am, technically, the oldest person in the world,” Joan said before giving a soft sigh. “Ancient beings, sealed off gods and timeless undead don’t count.”

“And yet still a child,” Thalgren said. “One day, you will understand the importance of having someone who you can truly depend on. Who when you leave, you will know you don’t have to worry, because they will handle everything.”

Joan blinked a few times and felt her cheeks getting a little redder. “Actually that sounds kind of nice. I can see what you mean.”

“Oh?” Thalgren asked.

“I’ve gotten better at seeing it, at least,” Joan said with a small smile. “After all. I’m able to depend on all of you now. Well, not you, Zorn. Sorry. I just don’t know you. But I mean everyone else. The Chosen. So that’s kind of like progress, I think. Right?”

“Progress is a word I might use for it,” Andreas said with a sigh of his own. “Though I’m not sure how much you should depend on all of us. After all, Korgron is one of the Chosen as well, and I couldn’t say with certainty that she is the most dependable person I know.”

Joan gave a light snicker and rolled over onto her side, facing the wall. All Thalgren wanted was someone he could depend on? There had to be more to it than that. Something else. That wasn’t enough to really base a relationship on.

Then again, considering her history with relationships, perhaps she wasn’t the best person to judge. Maybe she should have asked the fates if there was a way to make the Hero more ‘trusting’. More dependent on the people around him.

Joan gently ran her right hand over her left, imagining the key hidden away inside her body. No, there was definitely more than dependability that went into such things. But, at least this time, she knew she had people she could depend on. And it really did feel nice to know that when she needed something done, she could trust them to be there for her in the end.

She just hoped she could keep trusting herself to be there for them. The person who, in the end, they could depend on.

MelodyAvant

Please rate and review if you can to help the story get more attention. Also I'd love it if you left a comment with your thoughts on the chapter as it really helps me to identify what my readers enjoy reading.

If you'd like to help support me and my writing, please take a look at my Patreon which offers early access chapters as well as monthly voting to determine which of the series will be written next. Alternatively, full copies of my books can be purchased through amazon on my author page. If you'd like to support me directly I now have a ko-fi page.

Finally, if you would like to talk more about the series or talk to me directly, please feel free to join my discord server. I also now have a twitter page where I announce news and releases.