Page 154 of The Last Syphon

“Please.” He scoffed, pulling back. “With you gone my shit has stopped going missing.”

“Hey, that wasn’t me. That was Felix.” She winked.

Lina stepped forward, taking his place and embracing her quickly. “Where is that little shitstirrer anyway?”

“He stayed in the kingdom,” she said, returning her affections. “There’s something really important I need him to steal.”

“Well, he’s definitely the right person for the job.” She laughed, stepping aside.

Inara and Ralf locked eyes. She spread her arms wide. “Do I get a hug?” she smirked.

The big brute of a man didn’t move, but there was a sparkle in his light brown eyes. “Glad you’re not dead,” was all he grunted before turning and stumbling back towards the tavern, burping with every step.

Inara curled her bottom lip in a show of overwhelming emotion as she nodded slightly. “That’s probably the nicest thing he’s ever said to me.”

“Yeah.” Lina agreed. “I’ve actually never heard him say something so nice before.”

“Neither,” Zave added.

“Inara Tempest.” A voice came from behind—a voice she would recognise anywhere.

She spun. Venerable Cias stood a few feet away, looking exactly the same as she remembered. It had only been a few weeks, at most, since she had last seen him, but so much had happened in that short amount of time that it felt like years.

“Old man,” she said affectionately. “I’ve missed you.” She covered the small distance between them and hugged him without hesitation.

This time, he didn’t stiffen at her touch like he had the last time she hugged him. He returned the gesture, his fragile arms wrapping around her body.

“I am glad you are okay,” he whispered in her ear.

“Don’t tell me you were worried for me.”

“More than you know.” He pulled back and readjusted his footing, putting more pressure on his cane to keep his balance. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine,” she said immediately. During the flight to Deadhaven, Inara had debated whether or not to tell him about what was going on to the south, but in the end, she decided against it. She didn’t want to worry him if she could avoid it, and who knew? Maybe she would fix the problem, and the threat would disappear.

She didn’t have a lot of faith in that, but one could hope.

“Hmm,” he responded, eyeing her suspiciously.

She forgot to take into account that he’d always been able to see right through her and her lies.

“Come. Join us. We were just about to have our feed for the morn.”

Inara had missed a great many things from her village. The inconsequential squabbles of the villagers. The constant arguments between Patrick and Nata as they fought over some menial object. Beatrix, that slimy snake as she slunk from hut to hut, stealing anything that wasn’t nailed down.

One thing she did not miss, however?

The food.

She had grown quite accustomed to not only the abundance of sustenance Arelia offered but also the much better taste of the food itself. Inara had forgotten how scarce the options were here, and couldn’t help but feel a sliver of guilt cut through her as she ate the porridge Venerable Cias had served her.

“Were there any problems acquiring the remaining coin for the water stream?” she asked, eyes wandering her surroundings.

They sat before the huge fire pit in the village square, smack dab in the middle of Deadhaven. Most of the villagers had already eaten and were now going about their lives. Some of the youthens were playing with Fraener, her Guardian smashing the little ones with bouts of wind from his wings and knocking them off their feet. They would laugh and squeal, running up to get hit again and again.

She checked their soul-link for his mood.

Fraener was having fun. He found little humans quite entertaining.