“Zorn!” Sabrina shrieked, her voice cracking with worry. 

He finally lost his cool.

“Dammit, Sabrina! I don’t know!” The words burst from him. “I don’t even know you, and I don’t know them!” He pointed his finger in the direction of Donal and Khor. “Why are you acting like this?! We are merely walking together because you wanted to tell me about the As Above, So Below Law! You said you would help me understand this place!”

Sabrina’s eyes darkened. “Don’t play dumb with me, Zorn! You dismissed falling from the sky as a joke! And I saw that glow on your wrist like it branded you, commanding the sea! What in the world was that?!” 

Donal’s eyes darted upward, catching Khor’s for an instant in wordless, urgent communication. Khor acted quickly, summoning telepathy between the two of them.

[She’s getting too loud. Cool this down, or the city guard will arrest us all for public disorder and interrogate us about Zorn’s wrist. It could be a glyph.]

Donal’s chin rose almost unnoticeably, replying internally.

[Yeah. Don’t want that information gettin’ out into the open.]

“Guuuys~” Donal called, his drawling, lazy tune cutting through the moonlit grass. He waved his arms in a calming gesture. “Relax. We can sort this all out over dinner. It’s not that much of a big deal, I promise.” 

Sabrina and Zorn stared at him, both tightly wound with tension. Donal looped an arm around the waist of each of them, holding them in an uncomfortable hug. 

“Listen, we’re strangers to one another, but blowing each other up over mutual recriminations isn’t going to do either of you any good.” He shifted his attention to Sabrina, then to Zorn; his tone gentled to something almost affectionate. “I did not railroad you two. You needed to get to the nearest city, and I delivered you there. Yes?”

Sabrina nodded gradually, unfolding her crossed arms as her puffed-out stance eased. 

Donal added a light throw-in, “If it helps you trust me, I have a secret of my own. You see, I have a curse that forbids me from lying.”

“A curse?” Zorn asked, ill at ease.

Donal shrugged, smiling prettily. “If I don’t tell the truth, I just keep quiet. So no, I did not set you or Sabrina up. You two look like young teens. I wouldn’t do something like that. I have better faith than that. Haha~” 

“I’m twenty-one,” Sabrina said curtly. 

A heavy, uneasy silence fell. 

Zorn went white. Gross! I blushed for her! He gazed at her, his face a mixture of shock and horror.

And she’s acting like a brat at this age?! Donal pondered, though his expression held a cool exterior. He let out a long breath, getting the conversation back on track. 

“Okaaay… heh.” He glanced at Zorn.

“You?” 

“Exactly fifteen,” Zorn replied.

Sabrina looked away from him, her eyes wide with horror and shock.

I thought he was older!

Donal raised an eyebrow; the age gap put a weirdness to their interaction.

“We have to set some ground rules, because Zorn is the only child here,” Donal said.

“Only child?! Wait! How old is Plush?!” Zorn yelled in shock. 

Khor’s voice echoed across the distance. “Nineteen, Brick-head! And it’s Khor to you!”

Zorn glared at Donal in turn. “And you?! You don’t look that much older than me! You’re also an inch shorter than me, too!”

Donal smiled demurely, dissolving the final remnants of tension. “I am five foot three,” he said, resting his hands on his hips proudly. He then leaned forward conspiratorially, pressing a finger to his lips. Sabrina and Zorn leaned forward with him, intrigued. “I’m really two hundred years old,” he winked with a mischievous smile. 

Zorn rubbed his head as if to rub out the impossibility. “You’re lying, oh wait, can’t lie. Right.” 

Sabrina tilted her head, mystified. “What are you?”

Donal merely smiled, keeping the finger to his lips, savoring the mystery. He stood upright. “We’re quite the eclectic bunch. Haha!” His expression turned serious as he confronted Zorn once more. “However, this place is strict.” He walked Zorn with an arm around his shoulder. “Give us a moment, Sabrina, please?” 

Sabrina let out a deep breath as she crossed her arms. “Fine.” This guy is strange, she thought. 

Donal’s voice fell to a hushed whisper. “That mark on your wrist.” 

Zorn’s face was shocked. “How did you notice that?”

Donal’s eyes shifted to the bare wrist. Embarrassed, Zorn pulled down his jacket sleeve. “It’s a tattoo,” he muttered.

Donal gently called out the lie with a hint of mockery. “It’s a tattoo~”

“Okay, it’s a birthmark—”

“I know,” Donal cut in, his teasing voice not breaking. “That ‘birthmark’ is something more than what you picture. It’s much more.” He motioned toward it with his head. “I know you’re confused; you want to know. I saw the way your eyes lit up when you heard about how Plush fell like you. You’re wondering if he’s like you, aren’t you?”

Zorn’s eyes sprang open in shock. “Do you two have—”

“Ah, ah!” Donal interrupted him, inserting his finger in front of Zorn’s face.

“…sorry,” Zorn said quietly in embarrassment. 

“I’ll tell you all about it when we’re in the city and we’ll eat. But that will cost you. When I said ‘something red,’ I was referring to you. You can get Sabrina arrested for just being in your presence. Glyphs like yours will get you thrown in prison and executed in this world.”

The words hit Zorn like a slap. Locked up? Killed? A chill of fear ran through him. “I… I don’t have anything to put on my hands except stick them in my pockets.”

Donal hummed as he pondered. “Do that for now. Your trousers are baggy enough, certainly that means deep pockets, right?”

“Not always, but yes, they’re deep enough,” Zorn said, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his black pants.

“He, next you’re going to be saying there are fake pockets. Like, do your manufacturers just hate you?” Donal laughed.

Zorn gazed blankly at Donal while the man just laughed.

 I have no clue how to tell him.

“Anyway,” Zorn continued, still in a soft voice, “why are we hiding this from Sabrina?”

Donal tilted his head to one side, his eyes drifting up toward the moon as if consulting some sage counsel. “Her position… isn’t in favor of yours.”

Zorn furrowed his brows. “What do you mean?”

Donal patted him reassuringly and walked back to where Sabrina waited. “I will tell you everything soon. Just remember, don’t tell her everything about yourself. Her personality is too volatile.”

Zorn nodded, questions running through his head, and fell into step with him.

Khor folded his arms, “his sharp eye on Donal. “Settled then?” 

Donal nodded, a pleased smile on his lips. “Success. I’m bringing them to my favorite tavern so we can sort out this hot mess in safety. Both of them are a liability for now.” He nodded back with his thumb as he strode away. Then he leaned in close, his voice dropping to a whisper that only Khor could hear, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Also. Sabrina is twenty-one.” He gave Khor’s shoulder a firm pat as he continued after.

Khor’s eyes flicked toward Sabrina for a moment. His face remained a mask of stone, but a look of intense contempt flitted across it; he sucked in a breath with revulsion. Without a word, he turned on his heel and began making his way down the hill toward the city’s bridge.

I despise her.