“Kiri!” I called as we approached. “It is good to see you. I must admit, though, that I didn’t expect to find you here.”

  The fae’s lips twitched in an attempt to smile. Interestingly, she glanced at Alys.

  “I expected you to know I would be here, seeing as your mate invited me in the first place.”

  Ah. That would explain it.

  “I thought I’d keep it a surprise.” Alys rumbled out a laugh as she moved past me to give the Winter fae a hug. “But before we talk about anything else, Kiri, I’d like you to meet my parents: Soren and Amara.”

  “It is a pleasure to meet you,” Kiri said demurely. She was then left blinking in shock as Amara simply stepped forward and hugged her.

  “My sweet hatchling has been telling me about all the wonderful people she’s met here. Thank you so much for looking after everyone,” Alys’ mother said, so emphatically that there was no doubting her sincerity.

  This only threw Kiri off further. If she’d been capable of forming actual expressions, her face would have been a fascinating sight.

  From the corner of my eye, I noticed Ritsu sitting at a nearby table. He had withdrawn before the group arrived, but he was still watching our conversation with keen interest.

  “My wife’s already said as much, but truly, thank you for looking after our daughter. Our new son-in-law as well, I guess,” Soren added, with a teasing wink in my direction.

  “You are welcome,” Kiri finally managed to say. “Please, join me.”

  “Ooohh, if the food here tastes as half as good as whatever you are having smells, I’m really looking forward to it!” Amara cheerfully exclaimed as we all chose seats around Kiri’s table.

  Wincing, I looked around for Arandel. Thankfully, the elf was in her kitchen area and well out of earshot. She was currently prepping ingredients while occasionally stirring a stew cauldron, probably in an effort to keep Grafton supplied with food.

  The mere thought of the elder was enough to darken my mood slightly, even without glancing in the direction of the table where he was doubtlessly seated. In an effort to distract myself, I went rummaging through my storage bag.

  “You remember how we talked about perfumes the last time we saw each other, Kiri? Well, I had a bit of time to work on them. They are not amazing yet, but so far, they have been approved by some rather picky noses.”

  I grinned at Nasha as I brought out another set of samples and arranged them on the table. Kiri perked up immediately, even if her manners were too well ingrained for her to reach for the bottles without prompting.

  “So, here they are.” I pointed at each bottle in turn. “Pine, witch hazel, and snowdrops.”

  “I have been looking forward to this,” Kiri admitted. She went straight for the witch hazel. Her lips twitched again at the smell, and I noted that she pulled the bottle closer immediately afterwards. Pine and snowdrops were not such an immediate hit, but she clearly liked them.

  “To think you would produce such excellent samples so quickly… I am impressed.”

  “Oh, they managed to produce something else very quickly, too!” Nasha snickered, letting out a small “Eep!” when Alys glared at her for bringing up the topic before we were ready.

  Thankfully, again, Kiri was too polite for her own good and didn’t push. Besides, Arandel chose that moment to make her way back to us, carrying mugs of some kind of steaming drink which she placed down on the table carefully.

  “Here we go. Phew. You’re a bigger group than I’m used to serving all at once nowadays. I’m out of practice! I thought I was going to drop a mug or two. Your food will be ready soon, by the way. You’ll just need to be patient for a little longer!”

  “Before you go, here.” I produced another set of perfume vials. “You might like these.”

  “Hmmm? What’s this?”

  “My wonderful mate decided to try making perfume,” Alys stated proudly. “He did pretty well. You’ll like it, I think.”

  “Perfume? Really?”

  Arandel quickly picked up a bottle of the snowdrop perfume and sniffed it. Her eyes widened.

  “You are right, this is lovely.” Her gaze turned slightly calculative in a way that reminded me of Hyel. “What can I do to get a steady supply of this? I love my job, but cooking all day long doesn’t leave you smelling like flowers.”

  “Honestly, I would be more than happy to share, if you take the time to promote the perfumes to your customers.” I motioned at all the people inside the Hall. “I can even leave some free samples with you, if you like, so you can hand them out to anyone who is interested.”

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  The elf beamed. “I can do that easily. I think any samples you give me will be gone in no time!”

  “Hopefully.” My expression turned a bit more serious. “By the way, when you’re delivering more food to Grafton, could I trouble you to tell the elders we’d like to talk to them? They can find us here when they are ready.”

  Arandel paused. Some of her cheer fell away as she looked me in the eye for a few seconds, gauging how serious I was before nodding.

  Nasha had completely missed the byplay, and Amara and Soren had no context to rely on. I could tell that both Alys and Kiri, however, had picked up on what I was doing. The slight tilt of Kiri’s lips might as well have been an encouraging grin. Alys tightened her tail around my waist. Both gestures of support alleviated much of my surging annoyance, but that didn’t mean I was going to soften my stance towards the elders.

  Ever since my arrival in Swiftband, I had respected the elders and their authority. Even when I was unhappy or angling for an advantage, I had still done everything ‘properly.’ I had approached them. I had deferred to their final decisions. I hadn’t questioned them publicly in any way.

  The fact that I was inviting them over, rather than venturing to their table, would communicate my displeasure with them on this particular occasion rather well. After all, I refused to play the supplicant if the people I was supposedly beseeching for help had proven themselves to be decidedly unreliable.

  I might have been content to let them do what they pleased before. But that was, as noted, before. With a child on the way, I needed our standing to be far more secure, and I did not find the whimsies of the elders reassuring.

  We settled into comfortable chatter. Nasha was buzzing with energy and the obvious urge to blurt out the wonderful news we’d shared with her, while Alys was running interference. Amara and Soren were taking the chance to ask questions about everyday life in the town.

  Meanwhile, I kept an eye on Arandel. I never once looked in the direction of the elders, but I noted the moment the elf left her kitchen and headed towards their table with a bowl of stew in hand. There was a loud, annoyed harrumph shortly thereafter. I barely suppressed a grin at Grafton’s obvious displeasure.

  Now, ordinarily, the elders would have a choice to make: follow my request and come to us, or ignore us to maintain a supposed stance of superiority.

  Perhaps I was applying too much Courtly logic to the jostling, but Hyel, at least, struck me as someone used to playing similar games. There was, of course, the question of whether he was employing such behavior in his position as elder consciously, or if it was simply a matter of habit, but I didn’t much care at the moment.

  What I did care about was this: the choice they had to make wasn’t really a choice at all.

  Certainly, they could choose to ignore us. But our group included Amara and Soren, the daughter and son-in-law of The Molten Expanse. Alys might have wanted to be treated like any other member of the town, but her parents were not part of the community at all. They hadn’t expressed any such humble sentiment, either.

  To ignore us was, effectively, to ignore two people The Molten Expanse had personally brought along to visit Swiftband. And that was the sort of insult that significantly shortened the lifespan of frontier towns.

  Sure enough, it didn’t take long for me to catch a glimpse of the elders’ shuffling forms as they headed our way. Hyel was at the front, as always, right alongside Yora. Ferlis trailed behind them, her hand gripping the front of Grafton’s robe. The human himself was dragging his feet and eating while he walked.

  Grafton looked frustratingly good. He had gained more mass in what seemed to be pure muscle since I last saw him, and I swear he was actually a bit taller, somehow. I barely managed to fight off an urge to sabotage the nutritional supplements I was making for him.

  “Thorn, Alys, and guests.” Hyel greeted us warmly. If he felt any displeasure over what I’d done, he was more than adept at hiding his feelings. “It gladdens my heart to see you here. It has been a while.”

  “Hasn’t been that long,” Alys replied with obvious disinterest. If we weren’t putting on a performance, I could have kissed her on the spot for so clearly supporting my stance. “Meet my parents, Amara and Soren. My grandmother couldn’t make it today.”

  I adored the implication she was making. Casually hanging The Molten Expanse over their heads made all the elders visibly flinch. Clearly, Grandmother had put Alys through at least some basic training in social jostling.

  “I would be thrilled to meet with The Incandescent once again,” Hyel hedged, reminding us that he did, in fact, have some form of relationship with Shaessath.

  I briefly felt irritated that I had never asked her how they knew each other, but I pushed that aside. Frankly, I was confident that I had more value to Shaessath than an old elf did. While she might be annoyed if I implicitly turned her against Hyel, I didn’t think she would express that displeasure in a way I would regret. Much.

  “Have you heard about my latest product, elders?” I cut into his attempt to regain some momentum by revealing another set of perfume bottles with a smile. “Perhaps Arandel mentioned it?”

  I seriously doubted he had let his granddaughter walk away without a few quick questions about what had led to my request.

  Hyel’s lips twitched, though whether in amusement or annoyance, I couldn’t tell. “She did say something about perfume, yes.”

  “I think I did quite well. My mate tells me so, at least, and whose opinion could I ever value more highly?” My smile turned a touch more sincere as I glanced at Alys. “So, I asked Arandel for help with getting the word out. I think Nasha, too, will be more than happy to assist. She’s started doing so already, you see. Even sent a friend of hers my way, who’s been ever so helpful.”

  Hyel beamed. “It is splendid to see members of our town helping each other.” To his credit, he did sound sincere.

  “I agree, I agree.” I decided to go right for the throat. “Then, allow me to ask this, elders: why is it that a single beagle, whose job isn’t to do such things, was more effective at spreading word of my shop than you were? I admit that while my friends are more than happy to help me reach out to other townsfolk, I do not enjoy having to bother them to do so. Especially after you assured me that you would be handling that responsibility.”

  There was a moment of silence as my words slammed into them. I watched Hyel’s expression shift into one of pure shock. Yora’s and Ferlis’ faces were much harder to read, but their stiff posture told enough of a story. Grafton, predictably, looked utterly furious.

  I merely offered them a small, polite smile and waited to see who would speak first.

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