The next morning, Milo made his way down to the inn’s dining hall. Ezra, Lila and… he forgot the third one’s name… were sitting at a small round table in the corner, with bread, cheese and a myriad of warm drinks. 

“Good morning,” he muttered, a headache knocking at his skull. “Please say they have coffee here.” 

Ezra poured some coffee into a mug and handed it to Milo. “Went too hard on the whiskey last night?” 

“Not really, but maybe? I’m just not good at waking up. Thanks by the way.” He took the cup and drank most of it in one go, not minding the temperature. Milo groaned when he noticed how much his hands hurt as he held the cup in his hands.

His cuts hadn't healed yet. In fact, they were bad enough for him to not be able to open his hands fully, or even extend his fingers. The way his nails had dug into his palms when he tried to chase after Corym... he didn't know if he'd ever fully regain full use of his hands.

“We were just speaking of how we did not do a good work of introducing ourselves to Lila.” Calixa said.  

Milo considered the fae - her heavy accent was very foreign and quite melodic, and she wore a mask that covered her eyes. Her long burgundy hair was held back, proudly displaying elven ears. Yet she didn’t resemble Reyna in the least, and she seemed to quite literally radiate the warmth of a late summers day. 

“I ah, I don’t want to assume anything… So introduce yourselves then? Or should I start?” 

“I got what I needed from you yesterday night.” Calixa said. “You are a son of nobility. You are shy, heartbroken, uncertain of yourself and tired. Yet you are also smart and inquisitive, and like sweets. Does that cover it all well?” 

Milo was impressed, and let out a chuckle. “I mean you didn’t figure out my interests or study but that’s about it, I guess.” 

That’s so far from being ‘about it’, Mi.

He ignored Corym's voice, reaching for a rather pale sweet roll. “What about the rest of you then?” 

Ezra put down his tea. “I’m Ezra Trice-Ostium. I was brought to the feywild as a child, and now serve Calixa as her primary guard; her Spirit guard. I’m good with a sword, I guess.” 

Milo was quick to notice that he refused to look at Calixa, or even acknowledge her presence at the table with them. 

“Serve her, why would you serve her?” 

“Believe it or not,” Lila quipped, mouth full of bread, “Calixa is a queen.”

“A- oh.” Milo’s instincts built from an entire life of dining with nobility kicked in - he sat up in his seat, straightened his shirt and fumbled to organize the mess of items on the table. “My lady.” He bowed his head, hoping his discomfort didn’t show. Why hadn’t anyone told him?! He should have know, he should have-

“Oh do not make a fuss, Milo. I am not one to be honored as such.” 

“I- okay… so who are you?” 

“I am called Calixa. Queen of the summer fae in the capital of the summer court, Astrazalinor. I wear the mask as I cannot see.” 

“You’re blind?” 

“Is that a problem?” 

“I- no! Not at all! I just - you seem so at ease with everything on the table and just… Ezra told me you’re on a quest, it just came as a surprise to me.” 

“Stared at the sun too long?” Lila asked with a cheeky smirk. 

Milo was mortified at the question, and became all the more confused when the queen started laughing. To his right, Ezra started blushing, holding back a smile. 

“I’ll be back, going to pay,” the guard muttered, leaving the table. 

“Is he alright?” Milo asked, watching him leave. 

“Oh yeah, he’s just moody as far as I can tell," Lila said. “But hey, since they slept together, he’s become less emo at least so that’s something.” 

“Emo?” Calixa asked. 

“Ah, sorry, that’s slang in my town. You know, the ‘ugh don’t talk to me, I’m dark and sad’ type.” 

Calixa chuckled. “He has his moments of that, yes. Would you say ‘emoness’ as you would say ‘sadness’?” 

Lila reached for yet another sweet roll. “I don’t see why not, but hey maybe smart guy here will be able to tell you more."

Milo shook his head. “It’s not a word I know, and I’m not the linguistics type, sorry. But what about you then, Lila?” 

“I’m Lila Thornhill. I like sweets, the moons seem to be mad at me. I was on a quest to find two princes, they both died before I could find them.” 

“Are you from Fernsworth, perchance?” 

This caught Lilas attention finally. “How do you know that?” 

“Was a lucky guess. One of my closest friends is a halfling, and has similar red curls to you. Does the family name Leafluck stand out to you?” 

The halfling groaned. “Ugh yeah, bunch of tricksters in that family, they’re one of the only families that actually moved away, the ones still in Fernsworth resent them for it. Didn’t know they ended up here though, poor bastards.” She sat up and looked at Milo. “Did he also go to the fight your, what, girlfriend, died in?” 

“He did, he survived, he could answer questions… and ehm…” Milo cleared his throat. “My partner was a man.” 

“Wait what? Partner? You guys buddied up for the fight? What does that have to do with- oh!” Lila hid her face behind her hands as she realized what Milo said. “Oh, you did say yesterday- I’m so sorry!” 

Milo couldn’t help but smile. “It’s alright, you did nothing wrong.” 

“I know I didn’t but still I want to hide in a hole.” 

Ezra returned to the table then, still ignoring Calixa, and pushed aside most of the breakfast to make room for a map of Holn. 

“Oh, my aunt made that.” Milo commented, noticing some of her signature details. 

“Then you should be able to answer my questions.” Ezra pushed the map towards Milo, with a pen. “We need to know where the battle happened, where the library is, as well as the university, and maybe a town hall? A place of worship would be nice too.” 

Milo mentally apologized to his aunt as he started marking the places on the map, finally feeling a sense of responsibility once again. 

“Alright, here’s my plan” Ezra stated, before elaborating on everything that needed to be done in Holn to understand why the Arima was so closely tied to the recent battle.