It was late morning, near the hour of terce. Linda and Reilyn were in Reaper’s Paradise preparing food. The tavern was close to opening, tables clean and preparations nearly done. Reilyn had been late coming down the stairs to help, Rena had question after question about Tey’Omus and Eyll’Una. Reilyn answered all he could, promising to teach the girl Tey’Fat as well. Linda forgave his tardiness after he explained himself. 

Rena walked down the stairs, over to Linda and Reilyn. She approached them slowly, still unsure of what to make of their hospitality. Linda had given the girl some of her old clothes to wear. Rena had on a pink robe with a black wool trim, black leggings and boots, and a short red cape around her shoulders. Linda grinned at the young girl, “It looks way better on you. Good, it’s yours!” 

“I…um…thank you.” Rena’s face turned red. She sat down at the counter, in front of the two of them, quietly watching them work. Reilyn slid a plate of food in front of her. It was a bowl of caboches in potage and cryppys. The broth was amber, with cabbage, carrots and legumes floating around in it. The small sweets on the side smelled of fresh honey and looked satisfyingly crispy. 

Rena picked up the spoon and swirled it around in the soup, taking small sips. She looked overwhelmed with the amount of food in front of her. Putting the spoon down, she picked up one of the cryppys and took a small nibble. Linda watched and crossed her arms. She frowned, concerned. 

“How long has it been since you’ve eaten a meal?” Reilyn walked over to the girl. 

“I…” Rena looked away from him, “I don’t know.” 

Reilyn sat down across from Rena. “Eat slowly then. It might take some time, but you’ll get used to a proper amount of food.” 

Linda finished slicing some cabbage, she looked at Reilyn with a raised eyebrow, “Our orphanages feed their children, right?” Reilyn turned to her and nodded. 

“Yes but…” He looked back at Rena. 

“They kicked me out a couple years ago. Told me I was old enough to go on my own.” Rena played with her food, taking small spoonfuls here and there. Linda went quiet and bit her lip. 

“Well.” Reilyn smiled at Rena, “We’re happy to have you here. And Linda’da always makes too much food.” Rena giggled at the comment. The girl began taking slightly larger bites of her meal. 

A knock on the tavern door echoed through the room. Linda walked over, unlocking the entrance and letting the first patron of the night into Reaper’s Paradise. “You’re just in time.” She beamed at the man. She led him, and three others that followed him in, to a table. Linda chatted the customers up and began taking their orders. 

Rena looked around anxiously, then back at Reilyn, “Do you have anything with a hood?” 

“Your horns?” Reilyn frowned, “No.” He sighed, “This is your home. As long as you need it to be. You don’t have to hide them.” Rena reached her hands up to cover her short, violet horns. The colour matched her large eyes. Reilyn gently pushed her hands away from them. “They show your Eyll’Aras blood. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.” 

“What if they call me a demon?” Her lip quivered. 

Reilyn shook his head, “Then they’ll have to deal with me.” Rena took a deep breath, relaxing a little. Reilyn continued, “The coast of Tey’Omus, where the Eyll’Aras usually live, we call it Tey’Usica. It’s a lively place, there was a street performer on every corner. It seemed that way, at least. It’s been a while, Mataw took me when I was a child.” Reilyn sighed. Rena stared at him, waiting for him to continue. “The Eyll’Aras have a love for sailing and fishing, so you see a lot of that too. That trip was the first time I ever really had to be up and about in sunlight. I was grumpy and whiny, but I still remember Tey’Usica and its people very fondly.” 

“Can I go?” Rena’s large eyes glittered with excitement. 

Reilyn nodded, “Someday, I’m sure you will.” He grinned, “There’s nothing wrong with who you are, or where you’re from. Don’t let anyone make you think otherwise.” He ruffled the girl’s hair. She laughed and pulled her head away. “You should probably finish eating.” Reilyn pointed down the counter, “Felix has been staring at your plate.” Rena turned to look, and sure enough, just down the counter, the undead squirrel was sizing up her food. 

—

Evening came, Rena had gone back upstairs to her room. The tavern was full, Reilyn served tables, taking orders to Linda and retrieving food and mead. 

Garrin, Emyr, Nia, Catrin, Jac and Daffyd occupied a table. The group laughed, drank and chatted jovially as they celebrated their victory. Reilyn figured they were probably spending most of the quid they’d earned. He untied his apron and folded it up neatly. Walking back up to his employer, he called, “Linda’da?” She looked back at him from across the counter. 

“Yes?” Linda moved towards Reilyn. 

“Can I step out for a bit? There’s something I have to take care of.” Linda raised an eyebrow. Reilyn continued, “I’ll be back to help you close. Promise.” 

Linda shrugged, “Alright.” She smiled, “I’m trusting you to come back before long.” 

“Thank you.” Reilyn placed the folded apron on the counter, took his gloves off and placed them with it. He threw on his tunic and cloak. Reilyn walked over to the table where Garrin was seated, Felix was scurrying after him. 

The group looked up from their mead and towards the Eyll as he approached. “You gonna join us?” Jac grinned, there was a slight slur in his voice, “You should celebrate too!”

Reilyn shook his head, “Garrin.” Garrin grunted in response. “I want you to help me with something.” To this, the large man set his mead down and crossed his arms. “I’m going to see Burgomaster Tomos and give him the information I got. See if I can convince him to outfit us to go after it.”

Garrin shook his head, “It’s done, Reilyn. We got Leah back, Tomos is happy, we got our quid.” He raised his tankard and took a swig, setting it back down with a thunk. “There’s no reason to chase this.” 

The Eyll sneered and put his hands on his hips, “Caum taideo’ku.” |How dare you.| Reilyn growled, “If I go alone he probably won’t listen to me. And you know as well as I that more and more children will get taken from their homes if we don’t do something!” He waved his arm and clenched his fist. 

Garrin stood up, nearly double Reilyn’s height, towering over the Eyll. “We did our job. That’s all that was asked of us.” 

“You’re a fucking coward.” Reilyn glared up at the giant man. The two stood in silence, staring at one another. Tension taught as a bowstring. The soldiers sat unmoving and clammed up, watching. 

Garrin took a step closer to Reilyn, “Do you know how deep this goes? Or what’s waiting for us?” As Garrin spoke, Reilyn continued his furious, unblinking stare. “So, what? We run in, blades out, and get our asses killed? All so you get to feel like some kind of damned hero?” Garrin shouted down at the shorter man. The tavern went silent. All patrons had their eyes on the scene. 

Reilyn bit down on his lip, his arms went limp by his sides. “Ku’dal…” |Fuck you…| He muttered and walked out of Reaper’s Paradise. Felix chased after him. 

He stormed outside until he got to a tree near the palisade. He leaned against it, covering his eyes with his hand. Felix climbed up Reilyn, to his shoulder and nuzzled his face. In the cool night air Reilyn felt a couple tears roll down his cheeks. He tried to wipe them away, both of his hands covering his face. Minutes passed, it felt like ages but it was only about ten. 

From behind, Reilyn heard footsteps approaching. “Hey…” It was Garrin’s deep voice. He was speaking softly. Reilyn turned partway to see that his eyes were also reddened, as if he’d been crying too. 

Reilyn sighed, “What?” He hastily cleaned his face before turning fully to face Garrin. 

“I don’t want to just walk away from this, but-” Garrin rubbed the back of his neck, “We don’t have enough information. If we’re going to move forward, we need to know what we’re getting ourselves into.” 

“Then the Burgomaster is still our next step.” Reilyn crossed his arms. 

“Yeah.” Garrin agreed. At hearing that confirmation, Reilyn nodded and turned to walk towards Tomos’ hut. “But-” Garrin grabbed Reilyn’s arm and stopped the smaller man. “We need to tell Tomos to get as much information about Narber as he can. Then we can track down your lead.” 

Reilyn grumbled and pulled his arm out of Garrin’s grip, the large man released him easily. “Alright. That sounds fair.” Reilyn and Garrin stared at each other. “Let’s go talk to him now.” 

Garrin frowned, “Couldn’t we do this tomorrow?” Reilyn glared up at him, grabbed his hand and pulled him along. Garrin pouted and blushed as he let the Eyll lead him to Tomos. 

Before long, they reached the Burgomaster’s home. Reilyn banged on the door. Tomos answered, wearing his nightclothes, groggy and annoyed. “What in Unu? At this time?” He grumbled and rubbed his tired eyes. 

“What do you know about Narber?” Reilyn put his hands on his hips and demanded. Tomos squinted at the Eyll. “I got a lead. The man who hired the group we took out is there. I want you to hire us again, and send us to confront him. After you tell us about the town, and where we might find a man named Myrddin.” 

The crickets chirped, filling in the awkward quiet as Tomos absorbed Reilyn’s words. “...Please.” Garrin said, raising his hand from behind Reilyn. Tomos stared at the two, looking between them, the confusion only growing on his face. 

After a minute, the Burgomaster shook his head. “All I wanted was my daughter. So, no. It’s done.” He waved his hands at the two, shooing them off, and pushing his front door closed. 

Garrin shrugged, “We tried.” He turned to leave.

“Wait!” Reilyn slammed his hand on Tomos’ door, pushing it open again. “What of all the other fathers worried about their daughters?” He stared intensely, unblinking, into Tomos’ eyes. 

Tomos took a step back, glancing around the inside of his hut, at his sleeping daughter, and then back to Reilyn. He sighed a heavy sigh. “I…don’t want to risk my home…my Leah.” 

“You won’t.” Reilyn assured, “It’ll be our skin.” 

“I’ll…write the Burgomaster of Narber. See what I can find out. We’ll go from there.” 

“Thank you.” Garrin replied to Tomos as Reilyn backed away from the hut. 

Tomos glared at the two of them again, “Now let me get back to sleep.” He closed his door. 

Reilyn and Garrin walked back to Reaper’s Paradise. “You owe me quid.” Garrin grumbled. “Or a drink.” 

“I can probably get you a drink.” Reilyn laughed. 

The two walked inside the tavern. Upon seeing Reilyn, Linda tossed the apron and gloves into his hands. He caught them and chuckled. “Alright.” She called, “Get back to work.” 

“Aye.” Reilyn shrugged off his cloak and tunic, then tied the apron around his waist and resumed his shift.