Bourick’s shop was proof the old smith was doing great business. Not a line out the door—a smithy was hardly the type of place for crowds like that. Rather, the inside of his shop that I’d previously thought so large was a lot smaller with half a dozen people crowded inside.

The smith himself was currently helping someone else, but I noticed his eyes move to me as my entrance jangled the bell over the door. That I was a head taller than anyone else in the shop probably also helped. I waved, and he nodded slightly, eyes moving back to the man he was helping.

Patiently, I loitered around, glancing at various odds and ends. A set of metal rings whose purpose I didn’t know reminded me of the tail jewelry and weaponry I’d tried in Lockmoth. The difficulty of both making something strong enough, and having it stay on meant that weaponry would need a significant magical component. A silver ring for style—or a set of concentric ones—would look really pretty.

As I browsed, I listened unintentionally to the conversations around me. Nothing other than the usual comments about my height. Nothing directly disparaging, but… Well no one seemed to think my height “unfortunate” without my human guise to make it seem unusual. Bah, no use worrying myself over such things.

Eventually, the shop cleared enough that Bourick was freed.

Waving, I walked over. “Hi Bourick! Do you have a minute?”

He chuckled. “Not really, but I can talk out here a minute. I take it your trip to the south went well enough?”

“It did.” I nodded. “I wanted to ask about setting up my own smithy in Astrye. A hobby, of course—I’m not meaning to compete with you.”

That got a deeper laugh out of him. “I know a few people. We could work something out, but I’m afraid I can’t give it away.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to! Things… happened and I have money and a place now. Good things, I assure you, but—”

“Not fit for a public conversation, eh?”

Sheepishly, I nodded again.

“That’s alright, Renna. Honestly, it makes me happy you came to me and that you’ve let me know you’re alright. Your friends are alright, too, right?”

“Yeah. And thanks, Bourick.”

“For?”

“For a lot of things, but right now? For just being here, and for offering to help with a smithy for me in Astrye.”

“You’re staying out there then? Bourick smiled widely. “And I never agreed to the smithy, you know.”

“I know. And yeah, I’ll be staying in Astrye for the foreseeable future.”

“Hope you don’t want the smithy until spring then.”

“Tania and I cleared the pass.”

“You… what?”

Some of the other customers turned at my words, even as Bourick looked at me incredulously.

“There wasn’t a lot of snow. She’s an ice mage and I’m fire. It wasn’t too bad—and it’s going to still be a tough trip right now.”

“Excuse me,” someone interrupted. “Did you really clear the pass?”

“Yep! But it’s still treacherous with the weather this time of year.”

“Still, if that’s true… thank you miss! It must have taken quite a long time! Pity the king never sees fit to clear it. I’ve extended family out that way, you know.”

At that, I scratched my chin. Definitely not my horns that weren’t there. I absolutely did not move my hand higher than my chin. “Well I think that might change in the future. Word is that the March of Astrye has a proper leader now.”

I had to hope Bourick got the implication.

“Oh, that would be wonderful! I hope he’s Edathan, though.”

Oh. Oh. I did not want to tackle that can of worms.

Thankfully I wasn’t the only one; Bourick cleared his throat. “Is that all, Zarenna?”

I almost asked for a tail ring, or to be fitted. Instead, I shrugged. “All I can think of. Contact… either the Gelles Company or send any correspondence to the inn in Astrye. I’ll be in Linthel a few more days, but probably unavailable.”

“Simple enough. Good luck out there, Zarenna. Stay safe.”

I offered Bourick a very real smile and excused myself. Thankfully no one pressed me with further questions and I escaped to the library unscathed.

Linthel’s public library was a rather grand building, and moreover it had survived the fire. Scorchmarks preserved on the brick of one side showed just how close the city had come to losing an institution. The library was a place I’d gone as a child, even if sparingly, and I had nothing but fond memories for its tall ceilings, dimly-lit rows of shelves, and dusty-smelling reading rooms.

I hadn’t even really noticed I’d walked inside, not until a voice called out to me. “Hello! Welcome! I haven’t seen you here before, so let me know if you need any help. If you want to borrow a book, we’ll need a deposit and a name for the card engraving.”

Startled, I looked quickly toward the sound of the voice. A young-looking man with a bright white smile sat behind a desk topped with neat stacks of books. Long black bangs and fair features clashed with his overly-formal clothing. An open one was held in one hand, and the other was pushing his chair back, balancing it on the back two legs.

“Careful you don’t fall over,” I chastised without thinking.

“Pfft! You sound like my mom. Seriously, though, you look spooked.”

“Just deep in thought, I guess.”

“Mhm.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I think I’ve seen you around somewhere.”

I shrugged. “I’m hard to miss.”

“I’ll say! Don’t worry though, tall girls are hot.”

“…Are you?”

“Nah. You just looked like you could use a confidence booster. Romance is back and to the left, if that’s what you’re after.”

I watched his chair rocking slightly, trying to piece together a response. “I’m not… well I’m looking for an adventure novel that might have romance in it. It’s by the same author as The Voyage of the Crimson Petrel.” Truthfully, I didn’t remember the author’s name.

“Oh, that’s a good one! I think we might have something.”

“Could you—” I cut myself off as the young man had already hopped up, chair landing neatly back on four legs.

Deftly, he placed a bookmark in the novel he was reading and jogged around the desk, flipping up a sign that said “Please Wait.” “Follow me!”

Numbly, I nodded and trotted along after the young man. “Thanks, I guess. You’re making this easy…”

“Oscar,” he finished, sliding to a stop in front of a shelf. He took a quick listen and a look down either hallway. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Sovereign of Wrath.”

My blood ran cold, and I tensed. In an instant, I dropped my human guise. Four hands held Oscar aloft: one to his throat, two to his arms, and another planted over his chest.

“Whoah! Friend!” he choked. “I’m on your side—I swear. I like my spine—it’s supple yet supportive.” He smiled plaintively. “I, uh, wasn’t wrong about you being on edge at least?”

“Explain. Now. Or your spine’s the least of your problems.” I growled, shaking him lightly.

In response, Oscar dropped his glamour. Now the formal clothes fit him. His jaw was just a little sharper, but he was still svelte. And shockingly bright pink. A thin, whiplike tail swayed nervously behind him. “Oszandius is my name.” He didn’t take his bright green eyes off me.

I looked at his aura and saw… Lilly’s. Not quite, but almost. A lot less powerful though, and I still couldn’t trust him. “Why are you here?” I didn’t let him down yet. “Also…” I flicked my tail and set up a whirling dome of wind around us to block sound, several books dropping to the floor.

Oszandius huffed and rolled his eyes, catty despite the situation he was in. “Mom’s been looking for that dumb book for decades. Even if the author was a dragon he’d have moved on. And just because Linthel’s the closest library to where they supposedly wrote from doesn’t mean—”

“What book.” I didn’t phrase it like a question.

“A-Atagor. The Eternal Flame—the newest one anyway. That Mom thinks exists.” He squirmed and a part of me enjoyed seeing it. That part was a lot smaller than the part that felt bad for grappling the demonic librarian.

I inclined my head; I just wanted one more detail. “Mom?”

“Lilly. Lillith. Sovereign of Lust.”

She has a—

“I’m adopted.”

Oh damn that’s really sweet.

“Hey, uh, that look’s not a whole lot better, Your Terror.” He laughed nervously.

I changed the grapple into a hug. 

Oszandius squirmed again. “Oof! Hey!”

I finally let the petite demon go, dropping him to the ground. “Revenge for scaring me.”

“I should’ve expected that, I suppose.” He smoothed the wrinkles out of his shirt. “But Mom said you’d be… less scary.”

“I’ve been working on changing that.”

“Yikes. Although… maybe for the best.” Oszandius’s glamour snapped back into place. “Call me Oscar when I’m disguised. Er, please.”

“Sure. So, do you actually know the book?” I leaned forward, closer to him.

“Oh! Yeah, for sure.” Oscar reached over and pulled a fairly thick book off the shelf. “Not enough sex for my tastes, but it’s a good one. You checking out?”

“Do I need anything to do that?” I dropped the wind around us, grimacing as a few more books fell, and transformed back into my human form.

“You still with the Gelles Company?”

“Sort’ve.”

“Sort’ve?”

I nodded.

“You… going to tell me?”

“You going to let me have that book?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Technically yes.”

Oscar handed me the book, and I scanned the cover: I recognized the author’s name and slid it into my bag. “This’ll be back before spring, if that’s alright.”

“S-should be fine. So…”

“My new title is the Marchioness of Astrye.”

“Really?”

“Yep! And King Carvalon knows. I didn’t tell him, but he put it together, and it’s not like I hide what I am these days. Oh, he didn’t figure out everything, but the ‘good demon’ part he got well enough.”

“That’s… wow. Alright! I’ll send that along with my next message. ‘No book. Also. Zarenna’s Edathan nobility now.’” He waved his hands in an arc in front of him.

As I was turning to leave, I stopped. “How is Lilly, by the way?”

Oscar practically jumped. “Right! She’s fine. Sandmeadow’s hunkered down. She also has this guy named Aretan she said you knew—something about his family getting puppeted by envy demons.”

“Aretan’s okay, though?”

“Should be.”

I heaved a sigh of relief. But… his whole family. “Send him my condolences. I might not have much influence yet, but when I can I’ll aid him and Lilly just as she helped me.”

Oscar shrugged. “Mom expects as much, I think.”

Fair. “Well, thanks again!”

“Oh, sure! Let me know if you find any rare dragon smut in Astrye!”

Already walking away, I giggled and waved back.

Not two steps out of the library, I realized I’d killed two birds with one stone. I had a book for Seyari, a contact with Lilly, and updated Bourick. My afternoon… was free!

No impending doom. No feeling of guilt for putting off scary things. Sure, my heart ached for Sey and Joisse, but… I could just go sit in a park and relax or something. Part of me wanted to try smithing with Bourick if I could, but the thought of some alone time proved too tempting.

Taking a big breath, I let myself smile and walked towards the nearest park I knew. Covered in snow and overseen by bare oaks, the park held a sort of decayed, ascetic beauty. More importantly, it was calm and quiet, and the bench I cleared of snow had no footprints leading to it.

Draping my arms over the back of it, I seriously debated the merits of letting my human guise slip away as I drifted into a nice early afternoon nap. Far, far too soon, I awoke to shouts of “Demon.”

Startled, I sat up and reapplied my human transformation, already ready to shout apologies and try to explain, but… my transformation hadn’t slipped. The shouts, too, were coming from too far away—a hundred meters or so.

All of which could only mean… shit.

Cult or Envy or Avarice—I couldn’t ignore this. Carefully placing my pack in a snowpile near the bench, I turned and sprinted in the direction of the shouting. Whatever idiot demon interrupted my nap was about to have a whole lot less spine than they’d prefer.