A bottle of amber-coloured spiced wine was brought over to the table and placed with a loud thunk upon it. The trickle of wine soon followed as a cup of it was poured for a rather appreciative Ercole.

“You know,” Val said, pouring themself a glass of the Conditum, “if I had a Caput for every demigod I met, I’d actually have two.”

Ercole bit his tongue to point out that Hreysti was a demigod, but then he registered the rest of Val’s statement.

“You’ve met two demigods!?”

They chuckled, “I don’t quite believe it myself, but I suppose being an innkeeper just creates opportunities.”

“But- Who was the other demigod?”

They rested the Conditum bottle down and took a swig from their cup. “A daughter of Ishtart, some sorta eastern war and love goddess.”

“And you say that so casually…”

“And you have been very casually travelling with a son of Calsyniacus.”

“Fair point, but still, you can’t not tell us what went on during your meeting, especially when you dangle it infront of an academic…”

Ercole lounged back in his seat, putting his toned body on display as he tried to look as seductive as possible.

Val seemed to just ignore that as they continued, “She was stunningly beautiful but a little too arrogant for my tastes. Radiant skin, perfect curves, entrancing eyes, yet so demanding and full of herself… When she came in, she created quite a stir and immediately demanded my full attention. Between all the rooms for her attendants, wine, and the picky requests for food, it was altogether the hardest all of us had worked outside of holidays.”

“I hope she paid you well,” Shani murmured.

“Oh, she most certainly did… She invited me to her— well, one of my rooms, for a chat. She had everything on display and just waxed on about what a good host I was, and how nice my eyes and horns were, then gave me a choice. Either I could accept gold as payment, or she could give me a favour from Ishtart, something I always wanted…”

Their eyes stared at nothing as they swirled their drink, the edge of their mouth twitching up.

“I didn’t always look like this you see. I used to just not fit. But she told me that Ishtart had given people like me the bodies they have wanted for hundreds of years, so I took her up on her offer. Bad for the business, but invaluable for me.” They chuckled, “A little selfish and I had to tighten up expenses for a few weeks, but invaluable…”

“Hopefully you’re not going to ask if I can call in a favour from my father…” Dyo sighed, “I haven’t gotten a lot of contact from him so I don’t think I could ask him to help—”

“No, no, no!” they cried, waving their hands, “I don’t want to beg you for anything, your presence at this is more than enough! And anyway, the gifts he has already bestowed upon this world are more than enough and are exactly the reason why I am a loyal follower of his cult. Without wine, I wouldn’t have my inn, nor an escape from the binds of the mind. Even mania and madness serve their roles.”

Val sighed, and sipped their wine again, “So speaking with you is even more than I could have hoped for. Though— I forgot to ask, your accent isn’t from anywhere nearby and all of you seem like you’ve been travelling for a while, so where are you from?”

Dyo swallowed, his heart first rising, then sinking with thoughts from home. “A small freehold vineyard village in Estria you probably haven’t heard of…”

“Estria…” Val mulled that name over in their mouth as they then remembered, their eyes falling as a sadness grew behind them. “I see… I’m sorry for what you’ve been through… We got the news a few weeks back of what the hells damned governor prince was doing over there and one of our cult swore a vow to kill him and left. But I might have some good news.”

He bolted upright in his chair, “What is it!?”

“About a day ago a traveller told me the 7^th legion station in Estria had entered the provincial palace to deliver an ultimatum from Emore. After that the order to suppress the Cult of Calsyniacus was rescinded and the troops moved back to their garrisons.”

A tidal wave of relief washed over Dyo as he slumped back into his seat with a smile. It was safe. The news he had been waiting for for weeks on end and he finally had it. But all he could say in reply was a quiet, “Thank you.”

Val smiled a sweet smile and passed him another cup of wine. “I’m just passing the news on.”

“I suppose I should feel a little lucky to be in one of the council provinces now.”

Val’s expression hardened, “Oh it’s not perfect over here, at least in the city. The mayors have all been from the same family and its branches for the last eight hundred years.”

Dyo’s eyes widened, “What!?”

Ercole slowly nodded, putting his own cup down on the table and nonchalantly grabbing a fig. “The great families of the republic, all but the same as the other nobles across Enois apart from the fact that they don’t directly inherit their power. Instead, their noble blood, renowned name, and good familial connections allow them to keep control over the reins of power for generations.”

“Exactly that,” Val said as their jaw clenched, “And this latest great Opisus is a bit of a bitch. Talking to her is like talking with a rod of iron, and I know that personally from the few moments when I’ve had the ‘pleasure’ of talking with her.”

“When have you had the opportunity to do that?”

“Oh, merchants and traders meetings, I’m in the city’s guild of innkeepers and wine sellers. That and I’m considered high enough in the Calsyniacian cult for her to call me up to talk about our activities whenever she wants a question answered on it…”

A thought passed into Dyo’s head. “I think we met another Opisus by the gate…”

“Yeah, a stuck-up cunt.” Hreysti added.

“What was their name?”

“Drusus Opisus Ne- Nepotianus I think…” Dyo answered.

Val laughed, slapping the table, “Oh a Nepotianus! Ha! Those lot got kicked out of the city about a hundred years ago! They got into some sorta fight in the council and disgraced themselves. Nowadays they’ve claimed the Opisus’ familial villa and farm a bit away from here. They don’t come up to here much anymore, mainly cus the Ennius mayors and councillors try to throw everything they have to get them to go away. I think they’ve got some sorta feud over a treasure from some ancestor too, kept them fighting even before they got kicked out.”

Shani leaned forward, “Treasure?”

“Mhm, it’s just a myth in my eyes but some drunkards like to go on about ‘Vibius Opisus Ennius’s great lost riches’ hidden somewhere in the city. Nobody has found anything like it though in the hundreds of years since it was supposedly buried, but it doesn’t stop them from theorising about the lost areas of the baths, or the great hidden caverns inside the walls! Luckily, they haven’t decided it’s somehow hidden under my place yet or else I’d have to fight a few of them off with my sword.”

“And I think I’m gonna have to talk to them…”

Dyo and Agrippa raised an eyebrow.

“What? If we stumble across it, it’ll be good to get, money is money.”

They chuckled, letting a light breeze from the courtyard that was now bathing in the hazy light of a growing sunset. It was peaceful, comforting…

But Val’s eyes narrowed, their eyelids perfectly framing their horizontal pupils.

“What is it?”

They nodded towards something behind them. He turned.

Right there was a detachment of three Circustati marching through the throng of guests staring straight at their group.

“Lena,” Val grunted.

“Val.” The lead guard murmured in reply, nodding. “Ave.”

Dyo slowly moved his hand down to his belt, “What’s going on?”

“You’re not under arrest demigod.” The guard groaned, “Nobody would be stupid enough to do that.”

He moved his hand away with Hreysti also relaxing a little, but still on edge.

“Lena, what are you here for? Please don’t tell me the watch is blaming me for the revellers agai—”

“It’s not that Val, it isn’t even about you, it’s about them.”

He pointed straight at Dyo, eyes glancing across the group.

“Why do you need me?” Dyo asked, voice firm.

“It’s not me who needs you, it’s the mayor. She wants to extend an official invitation for a meeting with you and your followers as soon as you have the time and before you leave the city.”

“On what grounds?”

“On the grounds that she is the mayor and has something important for you to talk about. I don’t know any more than that but what I do know is that it would be a good idea to take her up on it and visit her in the morning. For now, have your rest.”

And with a salute, they were gone.

“How about that?” Ercole chuckled, “You’re gonna have your first formal meeting with an official, how does it feel?”