The knock on the barred front door was loud enough to carry all the way back to even the bathroom. It wasn’t pounding, but it had an urgent rhythm.

  I dried my wet face off, leaving a smear of dirt on a towel I had found. I would have to finish my inspection later.

  “Yes?” I called to my guest. Though I could hazard a guess who it was after tonight’s call out, better safe than sorry.

  “Daniel, it’s me.” I guess the call of “Human” carried far enough for Dorian to catch it. It had been no more than five or ten minutes since I fled the hall, probably just enough time to excuse himself from his conversation but definitely not enough to get food. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you going to open the door up?”

  “No.”

  “What?”

  His surprise was priceless. Too bad I couldn’t see it. “If I let you in, you are going to want to talk. Then you will miss dinner. I am not sure I want to meet hangry Dorian.”

  A guess, but judging by the sigh of resignation, my words rang true. “You’re sure you are okay in there?”

  “Yeah. I am just going to clean up. Enjoy your meal.”

  “Fine,” he huffed, though at least he didn’t stomp off…probably. Opening the door to find out would just defeat the purpose of this exercise.

  I slumped into one of the chairs at the table and whispered to myself, “Can I trust you, Dorian?”

  He had cared enough to check on me. He had bled for me multiple times, but the Quartermaster had sent me his way. Of course, the world continued to suck and didn’t respond with an answer. I need allies, not just friends. I also couldn’t remain a low-level target. I needed levels, which, if Dorian was correct, meant that I needed patients. Dorian might be my only avenue for some. Unless…did I count? I swallowed. That was a painful and dark path. One that I had started down, even if unintentionally. Speaking of that…

  I dragged myself to the back and finished washing up. I was a mess. Dirt sloughed off with each splash of cold water on my face. I emptied the water in the basin three times before it stayed clear.

  Now stripped of grime, I pushed back the hair to expose my forehead. Not a scratch despite the battering my face took from the shower of stone shards.

  Those healing potions are a total cheat. They completely eliminate the value of all my training…and I need to get one.

  I stripped down. The bathtub had been calling to me, and the cold water in the buckets wasn’t enough of a deterrent after today’s stint in the mine. If I stretched it, I had just enough water left.

  ***

  I had barely finished dressing after an unexpectedly warm bath when knuckles rapped on my door. I eyed the pattern embedded in the wood, offering another small thanks. Then I yelled from the back, “Coming.”

  I missed the response, the sound muffled as I pulled down the itchy but clean sweater. “Dorian, that you?”

  “Yes. Now open up.”

  What had that been? Thirty minutes? He ate fast. Damn, he really did care.

  “Just a second.”

  I lifted the heavy bar and opened the door. Dorian walked in without an invitation. He dropped the pack he was shouldering onto the table, and the items inside let out a dull clunk.

  “Shut the door, then sit. We have to talk.”

  He opened the bag and pulled out a small cask, a hunk of cheese, a wooden knife, and two tall wooden mugs.

  “What’s this?” It looked obvious, but expectations and reality hadn’t exactly been lining up for me lately.

  “Partly me making amends, and partly me trying to forget.”

  “Amends for what?”

  “That is what I was telling myself. As I see it, I already paid my debt with the two tongue-lashing I received tonight, but Thalia—“

  “Who?”

  “The little snot whose cute mouth hides a tongue sharper than a blade.” Scowling at my confusion, “Bah. The woman who helped you with your tray of food.” He had to mean the young woman working the line, not the boss lady in the back. “She thinks I owe you an apology for not accompanying you to the Commons. Unfortunately, she’s probably right, which means that I will never hear the end of it.”

  “It wasn’t exactly the friendliest place I have ever eaten.”

  “Yeah. The Verndari had three other ?ttir with him when he called you out.”

  I swallowed. Three? “You don’t think…?”

  “He would have done something. I don’t know. Greenskins like him like to test the waters. They are chafing under the rules and life-debts. However, I doubt it. You have some protection.”

  He didn’t elaborate further. He cracked open the cask and poured the dark fluid into the mugs. A creamy head rose top, and a bouquet of pine and chocolate exploded outward.

  I glanced the only good thing about this conversation so far.

  He pushed a mug to me. “Take that slow.”

  I nodded. My tolerance had waned over the years, but that was before my body lost over ten years. Still, was I naive to alcohol? I didn’t need a repeat of the one too many college nights when I was dragged out of the stacks.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  I cradled the mug between my hands. “Okay. Consider this a fair apology. Now, what are you trying to forget?’

  “Kyria Rhaptis.”

  I laughed. “Not ready yet?”

  “No.” Then he grumbled, “With the amount of time she yelled at me, she could have just done the enchantments.”

  I laughed harder. “I told you—“

  “Yeah, yeah.” He took a sip. “Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think it’s you who should be apologizing. ”

  “Hey now.”

  He sighed. “Fine. Fine. Even if you are the root of all this, it isn’t your fault. And it isn’t like I’m really sharing this with you.”

  I gave him a quizzical look, and he motioned for me to take a sip. I brought the mug to my mouth and savored the drink.

  Damn, it is good—

  My world swam for a second as the alcohol hit with the force of a freight train.

  Jesus, all that from a single sip?

  “This is…strong.”

  Dorian just snickered. “Yeah. As I said, I am only ‘sharing.’ Take it easy. The fermentation concentrates the Aether and the alcohol.”

  “Is this what they were serving in the hall?” If so, it was an even better move to have skipped grabbing a mug on the way to my table.

  “That swill? Please never again compare that to this. No, this is the good stuff. Oresian ale fermented in Aether-infused stone casks and aged in high-tier wood barrels. The stuff they brew in our local ‘brewery’ will never compare.”

  His tirade ended as fast as it began. I said nothing and continued to nurse my beer. The silence stretched just long enough for it to become awkward before he broke it.

  “You’re not from around here, are you?”

  “I would think that was pretty obvious.“

  “Bah, that isn’t what I meant. The powers that be think you are some stuck-up noble that wanted to gain some levels and prove himself in the Wilds only to lose his team and nearly get himself killed.”

  I took a long sip of my beer. It was stupid. I needed to be clear-headed. This was dangerous territory, but…

  “And what do you think?”

  “You have the soft look and education of nobility, but it is clear you aren’t.”

  “Should I be insulted?”

  “As if. Any Human nobility would be whining about even lifting a pick. You actually did hard labor.”

  “I could have been raised right.”

  He snorted. “You mean wrong. You didn’t bother trying to pay off the debt or claim it didn’t apply.”

  “Humans do life debts, and maybe my house is poor.”

  “Maybe, but unlike most people here, I have been to the nearby Human settlements and met with the houses. You are not their kin. Also, your hair and eye color are wrong.”

  Damn. I took another sip to hide my indecision. Friend or ally or a plant? The Quartermaster kitted me out, but she was in bed with the Alfa, which meant I could trust her as far as I could throw her.

  “It’s—“

  Dorian cut me off. “Did I tell you how I joined our current crew?” I shook my head. “People here don’t want to talk about it, and you shouldn’t either. It will only cause problems. But I am going to tell you because you deserve to know how much support you will get from the leaders of this expedition.

  “The first days of setting up camp in any expedition are always dangerous. Clearing the area, harvesting, and heavy skill usage attract the wrong type of attention. However, this time it was worse than normal. The monsters that attacked were a tier higher than expected. Personally, I think we should have left, but the Alfa believed it was a sign that we had found a high-density Aether mine. The Quartermaster agreed, though she had her own biases. It would have been a huge loss for the clan if we turned back. Even if my opinion had mattered—which it didn’t—I couldn’t have argued with them. And time has proven them both right. The risks were worth it. Any Oresian would consider selling their first child to be on an expedition with these yields.”

  “But there is always a price.”

  “Yes, and you are sitting in it.”

  “The previous tenants didn’t make it.”

  He nodded. “An entire group. True, the group was small and under-leveled, but the Alfa wouldn’t provide them with any extra protection without a stiff cost. And since the Alfa wants his coin, no other groups were permitted to join them, not that anyone besides my company would have helped. Still, the Quartermaster helped enforce the Alfa’s ruling.” Staring down into his drink, he shook his head as if trying to wipe away the memory. “They had finished building this longhouse, but the camp needed more lumber. The pay was good because the easy stuff had been cut. They decided to risk it. I warned them—“

  He choked up. I let him have his emotions, but it took effort. Holding space for emotions had never come easy. Even after years of practicing the skill, years of dealing with the emotional aftermath of telling a family member their loved one was dying, it still drained me. However, it made me a better doctor and, maybe, a bit less burnt one. His pain was different than what my patients and their families had borne, but the weight was no less heavy, especially for his age.

  In some ways, he needs me as much as I need him. Plus, I also understand this burden well.

  He sniffed. “Sorry. I—“

  “They were your first leadership role, right?”

  He gave me a sad smile. “Was I that obvious?”

  “It is always the decisions we make that haunt us the most.”

  Yes, Dorian. I had failed people, too. I had sent one too many people to an early grave or something worse with a wrong call.

  He didn’t ask me to elaborate, but he let out a rueful chuckle. “I know you aren’t nobility, but somehow, I know that you have led others. Still, I wasn’t exactly the leader. They wouldn’t have stood for it. They were—

  “Humans.”

  “You know? You are quite perceptive for a newcomer.”

  Pointing at his mug, “might want to slow down on that if you think that. You all but said it.” Even if he hadn’t, the clothes, the location of the longhouse, the fact he picks up strays….obvious.

  “Still, I was supposed to be providing guidance. My clan does lots of business with non-Oresian groups. It is a tradition in my family to work outside our clan before returning to take a leadership position. I failed them. Then, because I still needed the experience, the Quartermaster moved me to our current crew as if nothing had happened.”

  “An ?ttarsk one?”

  “Success isn’t required, but I suspect it was punishment for the choice words we exchanged.” He took another long drag of his drink. “I am not sure this story is helping gain your trust.” He fished something out of a pocket. “Here.”

  I took the sheet of paper he handed me, giving it a quick look. “This is the letter I gave you?”

  “Yeah. Give it a read.“

  I unfolded the dirt-stained paper:

  Watch over this Human. He will be part of your crew.

  -LAC

  So little written, but still something unclenched in my stomach. Everything matched my read on him—his story, his views on life debts, the palpable bitterness when he spoke of the Quartermaster. However, this letter cemented it. He wasn’t some shill.

  I gave the letter back to him when done. He took it, stuffing it back into a pocket. “Now mind you, she knows something is off about you, but that is it.”

  “So you are going out of your way to help me was…”

  “I think me making amends. I let one Human crew down. I won’t do it again. Plus, I was hoping you could help me hit on the ladies.”

  I almost spit up my drink. “You’re kidding, right?”

  He gave me a large smile. “Mostly, but,” he used his hands to showcase his golden face and broad chest—both still rocking a thin film of dust, “I am young and handsome.” I cocked an eyebrow, and he waved. “Bah, it’s a joke. Save that annoying twerp in the Commons, there are no other Oresiani near our age here. My attempts on the one eligible ?ttar have gone nowhere.”

  He raised a hand to his chin. “Maybe if there were more... Nah, wouldn’t matter. As you know, most greenskins tend to be either too boring or arrogant, and Volki, while hot, are too dumb…”

  He squinted as if just now remembering the whole reason for this conversation. “You do know that, right?”

  I folded the letter back up. Time to choose.

  I needed allies. He was connected. He also wasn’t a good enough liar to fake all that story. He practically wore his emotion on his sleeve. However, most importantly, I sensed a real friendship brewing.

  I took a deep breath and chose.