The days flew by. Ferrisdae came and went as she explored the city on her own. Both Cojisto and Moose were already in the wind, having hinted at something secret that the Consortium asked them to look into. I spent as much time with Tabitha and the girls as possible.

Thankfully, everyone my wife hired to work at the Bottom’s Up were happy to pitch in extra hours when I was in town. This was reflected in their pay in the form of bonuses, but I was more than happy to part with that money for more time with my family.

They also allowed us to go on outings on the weekends. While there weren’t many parks inside the city that weren’t on the Top, it was a different story outside of the walls. The city planners hadn’t left much room for them inside, but over the centuries several had popped up.

“Ferry, I’m just saying, if you’re still not feeling comfortable then we can just walk there. It’s not like we’ve never done it before,” I said, fighting against my youngest daughter on my lap as I tried to braid her hair. “Willow, please hold still.”

“Okay,” she replied, although the girl continued to fidget.

Ferrisdae, sitting across from us, had a complex expression on her face. “I want to cast the spell, though,” she said, referring to her Skymirror Carriage. “Once we’re outside, I’ll do it.”

I looked over Willow’s head to regard the Elf. From what she had told me, she had managed to cast spells that barely brushed against her wellspring, the source of power inside of her that allowed her to perform magic. Mostly things like her cleaning spell and seeing magic in the air around her, which were little things. It was something that  her therapist told her to work on.

The whole experience with the Dungeon Master had hit Ferrisdae the hardest. With the so-called upgrades he had given, hers was a forceful expansion of magical power. As a sorceress, her wellspring was something that was innately hers, and had likened it to a sister that she asked to power her spells. I still remembered the look on her face when I asked her how she was feeling and she spilled everything.

“That hurts, daddy,” Willow complained.

Immediately loosening my grip on her hair, I bent down and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry, Willow,” I told her before finishing off the braid. “All done. Why don’t you go see how your mother and sister are doing upstairs? Once they’re done, we can get moving.”

“Okay!” she yelled excitedly before rushing off of my lap and up the stairs. “Picnic! Picnic!”

“Adorable,” Ferrisdae stated with a small smile.

“Yes, she really is quite cute,” I agreed before standing up. “If you want to cast the spell, then do it. I don’t care if we have to walk, that's all.”

Just as she was about to respond, a stampede came back down the stairs. I turned to see Willow hopping down each step while holding a blue, diamond shaped kite above her head. Emilia and Tabitha were right behind her. Everyone was dressed for the wonderful weather, and I smiled as I saw my family coming down.

Walking to the stairs, I attempted to grab the large basket Tabitha carried, but she held it out of reach and took my hand in her own before giving me a wink. 

“Everything’s set?” I asked, accepting it.

“Food fit for a feast and plenty of blankets,” Tabs confirmed, squeezing my hand. After giving me a dazzling smile, she looked over at my apprentice. “Are you ready, Ferry?”

“I am, Tabs,” Ferrisdae said with forced vigor as she walked to the door outside.

My wife and I shared a look before I gestured her forward. Instead of leaving immediately, she snuck a quick kiss while none of the children were looking. I followed after her once she started walking, though I noticed something strange.

As soon as Ferrisdae stepped outside, she paused and looked around. A curious look was on her face before she shrugged and walked to the middle of the road. Willow and Emilia walked through the doorway without any incident, but I saw Tabitha’s shoulders lower by the tiniest margin.

When I stepped outside, I immediately saw why. Standing next to the doorway was another Halfling with slicked back white hair and clothes that were too good to belong to the Bottom. As I glared at him, his neutral expression changed into that of a smug smirk and all I wanted to do was punch him in his face.

“I am with my family, Sticky,” I hissed through my teeth, careful not to alert the children to what my wife had already noticed. Tabitha had warned me that the leader of the Half-Pints was looking for me, but I had planned on ignoring it until it was time to go back to work.

The elderly Halfling shrugged. “Now’s the best time for both of us,” he said quietly. At least he had the decency to keep his voice down.

“I wholeheartedly disagree,” I responded, watching as Ferrisdae tried to summon her Skymirror Carriage before returning my attention to the other man.

“Then I suppose it depends on whether or not you want to put this off or take care of it now that it’s in front of you, doesn’t it?” he asked, that smirk still on his face. “What do you say, Badger?”

Looking back at everyone else, I saw Willow cheering Ferrisdae on as the Elf finally conjured her carriage. A pair of astral horses with purple hair and constellations moving along their hide were hitched to a bright blue, covered wagon. Like the name suggested, it was a mirror of the sky, and I could even see a few errant clouds passing over its side.

Both of my daughters were enamored by the animals, and they were treated gently in kind. Ferrisdae looked proud of herself when she turned to face me, but her smile faltered as she finally noticed the uninvited guest. Tabitha saw the curious look on the Elf’s face and started ushering the girls into the carriage.

“Come on, everyone, Ms. Ferry was kind enough to conjure it, so we should use it,” she said, giving the Elf a small push towards the door. “We can admire the horses in the park. Perhaps we can do that while your father catches up with us.”

Tabs didn’t make my decision for me, but already knew what it was going to be. As much as I hated it, he was right; I’d rather deal with something right in front of me than leave it to later. Even if that thing was annoying and certainly shouldn’t be my problem.

Ferrisdae opened the door, but didn’t take her eyes off of the two of us. I gave her a nod, trying not to scowl, and she returned it. “Come on, girls. I’ll let you two decide where to sit first.”

Any complaints my daughters had were dashed at Ferrisdae’s promise. Even reserved Emilia was quick to follow Willow into the carriage, and were quickly followed by the adults. Tabitha gave me a look as the horses started moving, and that scowl I was trying to repress finally broke through. I waved her off before turning on my heel and stalking inside. With a jerk of my head, I invited the unwanted guest inside.

As soon as he entered the building, Britear started glowing with a green flame that didn’t burn the wall or the rack that was holding it above the door. “You are not welcome here,” it said, its voice deep yet firmly feminine. The words were spoken, but at the same time I heard them in my mind, and would even if I was blocks away.

Britear made a great security system.

“Will you tell your psychotic axe that I’ve been invited?” he asked, scoffing as he started pulling off his coat.

“You’re invited for five minutes, I will not take your coat, and I reserve the right to punch you in the face,” I stated. The axe’s flames appeared to grow in strength. “Also, you know that Britear isn’t mine, but Tabitha’s, so stop provoking her.”

“Sorry, sorry, I just have issues with fire, is all,” the Halfling said, holding up his hands complacently as he shrugged the coat back on. When Britear calmed back down, I turned to face him. “What? No refreshments, no offer of seating?”

“We are now one step closer to me punching you in the face,” I announced, and I hated that it pulled a grin from the older man. “Tell me what you want, Sticky.”

“To apologize,” he said, and it sounded halfway sincere. “Your boss, Brackenhorst, brought down the hammer on us after you sent that message a month ago. I’m talking hard, too. I needed to hire three Topside legal experts just to get our dungeon back on track.”

I grunted, but didn’t say anything. Brackenhorst had been Chief Dungeon Inspector for longer than I’ve been alive, and that gave him a very firm insight on the red tape the Department of Dungeons liked to put up. He wouldn’t have outright denied Sticky what the man was requesting, but he could make it a labyrinthine Hell of bureaucratic dead ends and redundant forms.

“He said the whole thing can go away with your blessing, as it was your apprentice that the event happened to,” Sticky continued. “Not that we knew it at the time. To be fair, she did look like one of our marks. Clearly well off, obvious tourist, dressed like she belongs to that hoity toity Mage’s Guild, the works. Still, I’ll admit that the Half-Pints are not without fault. As soon as we received word that you came into the city with some tall broad, we should have paid more attention.”

“Sticky, I couldn’t care less about your problems,” I said, crossing my arms. “The only reason why you’re here is to get what you want. You’re sour because there’s consequences. The Half-Pints may have concrete rules that allow your crew to get away with a lot of things in the city, but your man violated those rules. Which is something that’s been happening a lot, isn’t it?”

“Look, Badger. Hawk, the guy who did it, is out of the crew,” he said, putting his hands back up as if that would placate me. “Ditched him as soon as we got word from Brackenhorst that he done messed up. Gave him the cold shoulder and told him he was no longer welcome in New Frausta. He’s gone. Personally sent my best men to escort him out.”

“You’re ignoring my question.”

“And so what if I am?” he asked, though he wisely didn’t try to make it sound like a challenge. “Look, what my boys do in the street is between me and the guards, and only if they get caught. But, sure, I’ll give it to you. You’re right, I am only here because that idiot mucked things up for me. I’m not going to apologize for looking for my best interests.”

“That’s the issue, Aiden, you’re only ever looking out for your best interests,” I snapped. The thieves guild leader’s smug look faltered for a moment, his mask slipping away. “From instructing your crew to be a bit more demanding with the city to making them all take up community names because you thought aliases would help your brand, everything you’ve done here makes the city a worst place off.”

Sticky’s smirk fell as he shook his head. “You never did like that decision, Badger,” he said as if it were a joke. I scowled. “Come on, I kicked out the guy who did it and I’ve taken my lumps financially. That’s the worst kind of lumps. I’m asking you straight, man to man, tell your boss to call off his dogs.”

“You haven’t even apologized,” I replied angrily. “Came here saying that’s what you wanted, and yet all you’ve done is come and ask me for favors. I’m not even the one who should be receiving the apology, Ferrisdae is!”

“Sure, I can see the logic in that. Then let’s just go and-“

I took a step towards Sticky, and the man immediately went on the defensive. “You and your crew will not go near her, or so help me I will do what the guards seem incapable of doing,” I threatened, reaching up to grab his collar. “Ferrisdae has gone through enough in this past month without your half-assed apologies. This incident is likely such a small blip in the back of her mind that it’s been lost in all the shit that’s happened. No one needs to be reminding her of it. Not me, not Brackenhorst, and certainly not you.”

Sticky’s eyes narrowed, but he gave me a nod. I let him go as he twitched towards the door as if hearing something. Putting his trademark smirk back on, he fixed his clothes. “Got it, so no blessing,” he said, his tone taking on its casual cadence though doing nothing to hide his disappointment. “I suppose I’ll have to work with what I’ve got, because now you’ve got other troubles to attend to.”

A knock came from the door outside, and I scowled.

“My eyes and ears through town tell me that you’re about to be real busy, Badger. Since you don’t want to talk, I’ll leave you with this,” Sticky started, his smirk turning into a sneer. “I’ve never had a taste for tall broads, but this Ferry of yours? It’s easy to see why Haw-“

The old Halfling didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. I tried to exercise restraint, but my anger won out, and I balled my hand into a fist and slammed it into his face. Or, at least, I tried to.

Sticky had a magical item on him that, when struck by a lethal blow once per day, would send him back to his headquarters. I knew he never left home without it, which was why I had no problem hitting him. A shadow-like figure that looked exactly like the thieves guild leader appeared around my fist before it flowed backwards like smoke until it disappeared, leaving me alone in the parlor.

“And here I was, trying to hold back so it wouldn’t activate,” I said with a scowl. Lifting my hands, I cracked my knuckles and looked around for something that I could take my frustration out on.

Another knock on the door prompted an angry sigh, and I headed that way.

Not just to answer it, but to slip out. I opened it to see Millicef on the other side. The mousy Human woman was Brackenhorst’s second in command and always made sure the department was running smoothly. It was a tough, thankless job, and despite being relatively young she had a few streaks of gray in her brown hair. Still, she was a real gem; her timing was just unfortunate.

Despite my surprise, I pushed past her and started heading to the park. “I’m on administrative leave,” I said gruffly. “Whatever it is can wait.”

“We need you to come in,” she said quickly, following after me even after I picked up the pace.

“I’m supposed to be spending the day in the park with my family, Millicef,” I complained. “You know I’m-“

“CC sent an emissary,” the woman blurted out. “She’ll only talk with you, the Dungeon Master, or one of the others who went into the dungeons in the Thousand Year Blizzard. We need it to be you.”

That caused me to stop, and Millicef stumbled as she ran into me. I turned and looked up at her as she adjusted her glasses. “I am on administrative leave,” I repeated, though not with as much bite as I had before.

“Brackenhorst said that I can compensate you for a month’s pay to break leave early,” Millicef said, still talking quickly as if she needed to get it out before I started walking again.

I worked my jaw back and forth as I thought it over. It was still less than ideal, but it was something, and the money was both good and, unfortunately, something we needed. “You’re lucky Willow needs some dental work done,” I said, making excuses. Just as she started looking relieved that I’d go with her, I raised my hand and pointed a finger directly in her face. “But if she starts crying because she’s missing three more days with her father that she’s supposed to have, then you will never hear the end of it.”

Millicef swallowed at my words, but gave me a nod. With a huff, I turned towards the stairs to the Middle and stomped off, leaving her to follow me as we dealt with yet another thing that shouldn’t be my problem.