“Alright, let me get this straight.”

Rick was sitting down in one of the comfy sofas in the room Tyr had chosen to hang up all their trophies.  Sade and Tyr had come back from their shopping trip with an unexpected third person along with them.  Stranger still was their reason for doing so.  He could feel himself get more and more confused after the two women proceeded to recount the series of events that led up to that point.

Even without the backstory, Rick would have been wary of the stranger.  Something about that ever present grin on her face just rubbed him the wrong way.  It was like an aura of falseness permeated her entire being.  ‘A conman’s smirk’ his father used to call it.  Never before had the name seemed so fitting.

He massaged his temples, feeling the first signs of a headache building behind his eyes.  “So, you let a self-confessed thief, who personally stole from you, into our home after she cornered the two of you in the market.”

“Yes.”  Sade said succinctly.

“And said thief wants to join our group so that she can get revenge, and more than likely perform murder, on someone who’s somehow connected to those coins we found.”

“Also yes.”

Rick’s eyes twitched and he could feel the pounding in his skull steadily getting more intense.  “And now you want my opinion on whether or not this is a good idea?”

“That pretty much sums it all up.”  Tyr confirmed with a grunt.  Ever since they had come back, she had been far more quiet than usual, more subdued.  He wanted nothing more than to hold her head in his arms and whisper that everything would be okay while running his fingers through her thick mane.  After this business with the dwarf was concluded, he would do exactly that and eventually ask about what was troubling her

Lilie was doing her best to hide her amusement at Rick’s pain, and failing miserably.  “So, uh…”

“Daniela,”  The woman added.

“Right, Daniela.  Are you aware that our group is a bit… closer than most hunting parties?”  The shaytoni said, twirling her fingers about in a vague gesture.

“Uh, well you all live together.  And I know that those two chika’s are all doe-eyed for each other since one of them kept going ‘me amor’ every few sentences.”  Daniela said while jerking a thumb at Tyr and Sade.  This bit of information caused all the other women in the room to smile in amusement, some more than others.  Rick palmed his face with both hands and leaned back with a groan.

Tyr opened her mouth, no doubt to say something crass, but Rick beat her to the punch.  “All four of us are that close, Miss Montoya.”  He said, his hands doing their best to hide the flush of his cheeks.  “Every member of our party currently shares the same bed, in both a metaphorical and literal sense.”  Whether he liked the woman or not, she deserved to have that sort of information before joining up at least.

From between his fingers, he could see the blond woman's own face start to redden.  “A-are you fucking serious?!  I’ve heard of some talented men, but I’ve never heard of a dick good enough to keep three ravishing beauties like you lot satisfied enough to keep coming back for more.”

Sade’s smile widened to a dangerous degree.  Rick knew that smile, and it spelled trouble for whoever it was aimed at.  A part of him wanted to speak up, to warn the poor dwarf about how much danger she was in.  But the words died in his throat when Tyr shot him a warning glare,  it seems Sade’s ire was warranted, there would be no stopping what would happen next.

“Oh, you did not know those details about us?”  Sade purred as she stood up and stalked towards her prey.  “After all that time stalking and spying, just so you could impress us with your knowledge.  The details of our love life are what escaped you?”

“Well, you know… I didn’t want to cross any lines.  I-I just needed to know who you were and if you were w-worth teaming up with.”  The thief stammered.  It seemed she saw the danger within Sade’s cruel gaze and was doing her best to talk her way out of trouble.

Sade’s hand gripped the dwarf’s chin and forced the smaller woman to look her right in the eye.  “You stalked me and my lovers.  You dug up secrets that were best left buried.  You forced my lover to reveal something private that she wasn’t ready to talk about.  So do not try to argue the moral high ground, puta.”

Rick’s ears twitched as Sade all but spat out that foreign insult.  He couldn’t remember a single time that his dusky lover had ever insulted another person in such a way, and especially not to their face.  Looking close, while her mouth was smiling, her eyes screamed murder.  She was absolutely furious, and that thought alone chilled his blood more than anything he had ever encountered in this strange and dangerous world.

Before another venomous tirade could begin, a heavy hand clapped down on Sade’s shoulder, stopping the woman in her tracks.  “Don’t.”  Tyr whispered.  “It’s not worth it.”

Sade gave the elf a questioning stare and the giant woman sucked in a great breath of air before blowing it back out.  “The fact that she left our love life out’a her search means that there are some lines she refuses ta cross, and that’s something.  Besides, It’s me own damn fault for not talking ta all ya in the first place.”

The anger in Sade’s eyes burned away and the dark skinned woman stepped back so she could collapse on one of the other sofas with a great sigh of her own.  She looked as tired as Rick had ever seen her.  All the accumulated stress from the past few weeks finally becoming too much to bear.

“Let’s table this current discussion for the time being.”  Rick said diplomatically.  “Lilie, did you talk to your sister?”

“What?  Oh, yeah. Yeah I did.”  The shaytoni said with a slight jump at suddenly being addressed.  “She and the rest of the gang would love to crash for a few weeks until they can get back on their feet again.  All of them were really grateful for the offer.”

Rick smiled.  “That’s good.  I kinda missed that rowdy bunch while they were gone.”  He turned to Daniela who was still staring wide eyed at Sade.  “Since we’ll have a bunch of former bandits staying with us, that means we would have more eyes to watch over you if you still wish to join our group.”

That snapped the woman out of her daze.  “Wait, does that mean I’m in?!”

“Not exactly.”  Rick said with a shake of his head.  “It means that I’m willing to give you a shot.  I propose we organize a trial run and see if you fit in well with the rest of the group.  I know there’s already some friction, but I feel that training and fighting side-by-side would be a good way to move past that.  Any objections?”

“I just have one question.  Does this mean she will be joining us for our more in depth training?”  Lilie asked.

That was honestly a good question.  “Sade?”  He asked the mage.

“Knowing the special method we use to train, and actually having the will and means to even attempt it are two separate matters.”  She said with a lazy wave of her hand.  “It would be a good test of her mettle in addition to teamwork, so I have no issues with it.”

Looking to the others, they each gave him their own nods of approval.  “Very well, it seems we’ve come to an agreement.”  Rick said.  “I trust you will play nice for the time being?”

“Y-yes!  You can count on me!”  Daniela shouted out with enthusiasm.  “You know… I’m honestly a bit surprised my plan actually worked.”

“You expected us to reject you?”  Lilie asked.

“Well… kinda.  After nearly getting roasted in that alley, I wracked my brains for weeks on how to actually approach you.”  The thief shrugged her shoulders.  “I just… I don’t know.  I never thought I’d get this far.”

“Why am I not surprised?”  Rick snorted.

“Oi!  It takes real cajones to waltz up to a damned forest elf and personally demonstrate how good you are at stealing and uncovering secrets!”  The blond woman whined.  She turned to look at Sade.  “And you really were going to kill me for that stunt, weren't you?  You had real fucked up loco eyes a moment ago.”

Sade slowly opened her eyes and locked her gaze straight at Daniela’s blue orbs.  “Yes, I would have.”  She stated flatly.

Everyone in the room, save Tyr, was thrown by the simple declaration.  Sade had only uttered four little words, yet the steel and certainty behind them left Rick with no doubt that she was not lying.  He knew Sade was more than capable of killing monsters, but murder?  His mind reeled at what could drive the sweet and caring woman to such an extreme reaction.

The dwarf snorted after a moment, seemingly the least intimidated by the casual threat.  “Big talk coming from a mage who is skilled at memorizing books.”

If those taunting words had any effect on the mage, it didn’t show on her face.  “I freely admit that high grades are not everything when it comes to magecraft.  But have you ever once considered that I could possibly be underplaying my skills?”  She said without a hint of emotion.  She held her hand outstretched before her.  “I believe a demonstration is in order.”

Power swirled around her as an icy whirlwind formed right where she sat, still as a statue.  Intricate blades of ice formed in an arch over her head with a singular icy dagger materializing just above her open palm, its rounded pommel pointed downwards.  As soon as the weapon was fully formed, Sade’s hand reached up and gripped its frosty blue handle.  The instant she held it firmly in her grip, every ice blade was instantly wreathed in wriggling bolts of electricity as thick as Rick’s thumb.  The power and menace emanating from Sade’s emotionless expression was downright terrifying.

“Alright, that’s enough of that!”

An enormous hand reached over and gripped the magical weapon by the blade.  With a flex of the fingers the ice instantly shattered into a dozen pieces in an impressive display of strength.  Rick saw the coils of lightning shooting up the offending arm before dissipating away at the shoulder like a bad dream.

“TYR!”  Sade screamed in panic and shot to her feet, the rest of her magical constructs fading away as her concentration snapped.  “There was enough electricity in that blade to kill a man instantly!”

“Then ya better thank yer lucky stars I aint a man.”  The elf joked softly while shaking her arm to get rid of the sting.  From his stunned position on the chair, Rick could see the skin on Tyr’s arm slowly fade back to her regular smooth, tan shade from what appeared to be a dark, bark-like texture.

A drop of crimson fell from her palm.  Tyr held up her hand to look and saw a long gash all along the inside of her hand.  “Huh… ya still managed to cut me even through the ‘bark skin’, that’s impressive.”

Sade looked on the verge of a panic attack.  Tyr merely patted the frantic woman on the head with her uninjured hand and pulled her into a tight one-armed hug.  “I thought I told ya ta drop the whole thing.  I was in the wrong fer hiding things from ya.”

“But… but-”  Sade sniffled from her position between Tyr’s breasts.

“But nothing.”  Tyr admonished.  “Stop trying ta scare the poor girl and lets move on.”  She slowly released the distraught mage and wiped away her tears before turning to Lilie.  “Do ya mind giving me a check up?  I think ya need ta be as thorough as possible, just in case.”

Lilie nodded her head and sent a pulse of her magic through the elf’s body the moment their hands touched.  Slowly, her look of concern transformed into one of confusion.

“Tyr… is-is that what I think it is?”

“Aye.  I thought so.”  The large woman said with a single nod of her head.  She slowly turned around to address the room filled with concerned onlookers.

“It seems I’m pregnant.”