“Biscuit! Where have you been?”

  “Hey, Sym, been a bit busy.” Basque slid into his normal chair at the Tinkerers’ table. He plopped his arms on it and lay his head down.

  “You look beat.” Symantha paused her task and looked at him.

  “Yeah…it’s not been an easy couple of days? Weeks? Months? Life.”

  “Ha!” She wiped her hands and sat down across from him. “So? Spill.”

  “When was the last time you talked to Natt?”

  Symantha’s voice was etched with worry. “She’s not been out here since last time with you.”

  Tinkerer’s music shut off, and Basque’s ears rang with the sudden silence. Heavy, thumping footsteps preceded the kitchen door slamming open. “Sym! I tell ya—” the fiery-haired man cut himself off when he saw Basque.

  “Well, look what the Yani dragged over. Come to steal more of my wife’s cookin’, have ya?”

  “Hey, Tink,” Basque said without lifting his head.

  Putting a fist on her hip and waving her wooden spatula at him, Symantha scolded, “You loud, deaf, greasy, blind oaf! Can’t you read the room?”

  “Eh? What was that? You’ll have to speak into my good ear,” Tinkerer said, turned around, and pointed at his butt.

  “Wash it first!”

  Walking over to the table, Tinkerer pulled out his chair and sat. He crossed his arms and lay his head down as well, but far enough forward that his face was in Basque’s line of sight. “What’s it this time?”

  Symantha slapped at Tinkerer. “You! Didn’t you just hear me complain about all the grease? Go wash up! You’re getting my nice tablecloth dirty!”

  Snorting, Tinkerer pushed away from the table and stood. “It’s a red and white checker with a wine stain in it.”

  “And I like it! Get! Bathe! Shoo!” Symantha batted him away with the back of her hands.

  “What if I wanna sit’n talk with Basky, too?”

  “You can after you’re clean.” She shoved him out of the room and closed the door. Turning around, she put her back against it before pushing away and walking back to her seat.

  “Now, where were we?” she asked.

  “Natt.”

  “Oh, yes.”

  Basque sat up. “Did you hear what happened to Duke Jorellan?”

  “Yes. I cried my eyes out. Boohoo.”

  “We have Banca.”

  Symantha’s face turned to stone.

  “She’s in Class E now.”

  Symantha didn’t even blink. Her eyes bore into Basque.

  “I’m actually surprised how well she’s adapt—”

  “I don’t give two Yani fucks about that child. Tell me about my friend.”

  Looking down at the table, Basque sighed. “She’s doing well enough. She’ll come out with Reianna tonight.”

  “She’s not done nothin’ stupid, right?”

  Basque didn’t answer.

  “Right?”

  He sighed again. “Natt adopted Banca. I don’t know what—”

  “That stupid girl. Always has been too kind for her own good.”

  “What? Are you suggesting we should have let Krill kill Banca?!”

  “Yani, no! But that doesn’t mean Natt needs to tie herself to that girl!”

  Basque folded his hands on the table. “What does that mean exactly?”

  “What does it mean to be a parent to a child?”

  “Well, everything here in Kurami is so Yani-ed that I thought, I don’t know, like they might have to merge into one or something.”

  Symantha stared at him for a second, then burst out in laughter. “Merge into one? Ahahah.” She wiped her eyes. “Oh, Biscuit! You are a riot. Just be glad I chased Tink out of here. Ahahaha!”

  Basque’s cheeks flushed.

  “Ah, don’t think nothin’ on it. You’re just cute, that’s all. Can’t say I’m not jealous of Natt getting all that cuteness to herself when I’ve just got a stinking wad of—”

  “Stinking wad of what?” Tinkerer burst through the door. His hair was still wet, with his towel wrapped around his shoulders and his surprisingly well-built chest exposed.

  “Hot sexiness, but not now. We’ve got company. Get dressed.”

  Tinkerer harumphed and changed the towel for the shirt he carried in his hand.

  “That was a fast bath,” Basque said.

  Sliding back into his seat, Tinkerer responded, “Shower.”

  “Oh? So you do have them here?”

  “Not in any of the bigger buildings.”

  “I miss them.”

  Tinkerer leaned back. “That what y’all use back in Hianbru?”

  “A mixture.”

  Tinkerer scratched his chin. “You don’t happen to have the schematics on those, do you?”

  “On our showers?”

  “Yeah.”

  Basque laughed. “I don’t even know how they work.”

  “It’s simple the wat—”

  “No!” Symantha stood. “I’m not having this conversation here. Go have it in your shop.”

  “Boring woman. I don’t know what I see in you.”

  “You see my food in you, which you won’t unless you shut it.”

  He grinned. “Aight, so what’d I miss?”

  Basque shook his head. “Just talking about Banca.”

  “Banca? Banca? Banca?” Tinkerer asked while staring at the ceiling and tapping his upper lip. His eyes shot down to Basque, and he snapped his fingers. “That little lilac girl!” He looked at Symantha. “Wasn’t that the name of that little girl Natt was carin’ for back in the day?”

  Symantha shook her head. “‘Back in the day’? It was just till three or four years ago. But then again, I guess I should be proud of you for actually remembering her name.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “I just remember how extra tored up Natt was at the beginning of this year ‘cos of that girl.”

  “She adopted her.”

  “Ah, Yani. Hide the wine.”

  “Why?"

  The three of them turned to see Natt and Reianna standing in the kitchen doorway. Basque stood up and walked over to them. Natt slipped past him and further into the room. Reianna stayed in the doorway.

  “You adopted that girl you were crying about turnin’ so…noble.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “You can’t uncloud a Yani.”

  Basque looked at Reianna. “You ready to go up?”

  Her gaze was cold. “Yeah.”

  “Hey, just bang the floor if you need me to turn on some tunes.”

  “Thanks, Tink,” Basque said.

  Reianna left the kitchen and headed for the stairs. Basque followed her up to their training room and closed the door behind him. Reianna sat down at the table and glared at Basque.

  Sitting across from her, Basque half smiled. “I know you’re still angry.”

  “I feel like you betrayed me when you asked me to let her sleep in my room.”

  Basque felt like she punched a hole in his chest. “I know, I…it was a stressful day. I’d just thought you could handle her the best, and…you know it’s all just excuses. It doesn’t change the fact that I messed up and did you wrong. I'm sorry.”

  Reianna nodded. “Just as long as you know.”

  Her gaze softened. Basque knew she hadn’t completely forgiven him, but he wasn’t expecting that. It was a start, and who knew, maybe one day she would thank him for it. He highly doubted that, but that was one of the few Kruamian beliefs he liked.

  Considering what he had to ask her that night, he would take all the forgiveness that he could. “I want to thank you for helping integrate her into the class.”

  “I didn’t do that. Her pod did.”

  “I know what you did at lunch.”

  “All I did was put a bowl of soup in front of her.”

  “Mmhm. I’m sure that was it.”

  Reianna rolled her eyes. “Should I bang on the floor then?”

  “Actually, umm…”

  Reianna’s shoulders drooped, and she tilted her head. “Fine. Spit it out. As long as it’s not Banca joining us for dinner because she’s Natt’s daughter now, I don’t really care.”

  “Are…you okay with Natt adopting Banca?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be? I’m sure Natt has her reasons, and as you went over in class, Natt’s daughter or not, Banca would still be around. So…” Reianna spread her hands.

  Reianna never failed to surprise Basque with her maturity and situational grasp. She would grow up to be remarkable. He had a hard time believing that only half a year prior, she’d been so tongue-tied in her first meeting with Fawna that she’d run and hidden in her room.

  “Are you just going to stare at me, or are you going to tell me whatever it is you’re afraid to tell me?”

  He smiled. “Loushee wants to join these sessions.”

  Reianna jerked her head back. “She does?”

  “Yeah. I’ve been putting her off for a while now, but I promised her.”

  “That’s all you were so worked up about?”

  Relief washed through Basque. “I thought you would be upset.”

  “About Loushee?”

  “Yeah.”

  Reianna fell quiet, then took a deep breath. “Maybe if you weren’t here. I won’t pretend that she doesn’t scare me, but if you’re with me…”

  A second tingle spread out from Basque’s heart—she hadn’t lost all faith in him. “Thank you, Reianna.”

  “When will she come?”

  “Next time.”

  “Why wait?”

  “Well, by the time I go get her and come back, there won’t be much time.”

  Reianna stood up. “You don’t need to get her. I’ll call her here.”

  Basque frowned. “You’ve got a communication device with her?”

  Pulling out a hand mirror from her storage, Reianna held it up. “We all do.”

  “A mirror?”

  “You remember how Liam panicked in his carriage and ripped the mirror off the wall?”

  Basque rolled his eyes about, as if the memory was sitting in their room somewhere. His eyes went wide. “Oh! Yeah! After the trial.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to tell you, but Loushee has turned pretty much every mirror and reflective surface in Dyntril into her own personal listening device.”

  Basque froze. “She what?”

  With a twirl of her fingers, Reianna spun the hand mirror in her hand. “Like the dress she gave me, this thing has two modes: mirror mode and listening device mode. It looks the same either way, but one of them allows her to see and hear everything in its line of visual and auditory range.”

  “That’s…how can she listen to them all? It would drive a person insa…” She hadn’t been sane when he spoke with her. Her personality switches…could there be a connection?

  He remembered how desperately one of those personalities had pleaded with him.

  “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.” Reianna looked at the mirror, then said, “Loushee, this is Reianna. Please come out to the Tinkerer’s shed.”

  The mirror vanished, and Reianna looked at Basque. Her expression had mostly reverted to her pre-Banca one, which was another relief for him. “What about dinner?”

  “Dinner?”

  “Will Loushee join us?”

  “Would you like her to?”

  Reianna shrugged. “It is during dinner time.”

  Basque nodded. “It is, but I’m not going to be presumptuous.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  “Should I tell our hosts that there will be an extra mouth to feed?”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay. Stay here. I’ll wait downstairs until Loushee comes.”

  Reianna nodded, and Basque headed back downstairs. A glass of wine sat in front of Tinkerer, and his wife was sipping from her own. A glass of water sat in front of Natt.

  “What is it?” she asked him.

  “Umm, Loushee is on her way. I think?”

  “You think?”

  Basque looked at Symantha. “Would it be too much of an imposition to add one more person to dinner?”

  “Not at all! You’re in luck that I’m making a stew today.”

  The tinkerer stood. “I’ll go get another chair.”

  “Are you sure this is okay?” Natt asked Basque.

  “Yeah. I’ve already shown Loushee that I can beat her. She’s the one who’s asking for Reianna’s help, and Reianna didn’t object. I’ll be with them every minute, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Loushee is a mage, though. A powerful one.”

  Basque shook his head. “More annoying than powerful. Easier to counter than spell casters like Daymein.”

  “Counter?”

  “How has your country not been wiped out by a mage Yani yet?”

  “Giant walls.”

  Basque laughed. “That…makes sense.”

  “Do you guys not have walls?” Symantha asked.

  “No, we don’t.”

  “How hasn’t your country been eaten by Yani?”

  “Same way a vegetable garden isn’t overrun by weeds—you pluck them early.”

  “What do you mean?” Natt asked.

  “We actively cull Yani.”

  “So do we! Where do you think the third-years are?”

  Basque sat down in the tinkerer’s abandoned chair. “All I know is that your Yani population is one of the things Eder is aiming for in the negotiations. Seems like they’re quite abundant out there.”

  “Sorry, we’re not a nation of multi-weapon-using freaks,” Natt said.

  Basque laughed. “Don’t worry. If Eder has his way, you’ll have Hianbruns roaming those lands, keeping them clear for you.”

  “Can you do something about the Yani nobles while you’re at it?” Tinkerer said, bringing in a sixth chair. “Sorry it took me so long. Had to move a mountain off it.”

  “And that’s why I keep telling you to clean up!”

  “But I might use it one day, wife!”

  “And I might grow wings and fly.”

  Tinkerer plopped the chair down and cornered his wife. “You’re awfully snippy lately.”

  “Well, I’d like to have a house and not just a continuous shed! Next thing I know, I’ll be sleeping with some sort of doodad in my bed instead of my husband!”

  “Fine! Fine! I’ll migrate it back into my workshop.”

  “Thank you.”

  There was a pounding from the main door, not the workshop door that Basque and Natt used, but rather the one filled with the doodads the married couple was arguing about.

  “That must be Loushee,” Basque said.

  “One sec,” Tinkerer said and left the room.

  He came back, followed by a young woman with topaz hair.

  Basque stood. “Good evening, Loushee.”

  “Gerenet-Shr. Miss Cormick.” She looked at Symantha and the tinkerer.

  “Symantha, dear!” Symantha said and waved her stew-covered wooden sauce spatula at Loushee.

  “I’m the tinkerer,” Tinkerer said.

  “Nice to meet you all.”

  “Likewise. I hope you like stew.”

  “Yes! Loushee loves stew!” Loushee said in a young-child-like voice, then covered her mouth. “I am sorry for the outburst.”

  “No worries,” Symantha said.

  “Well, Loushee, shall we get to it?” Basque stood and asked.

  “I guess. Where’s Reianna?”

  “Upstairs. Tink, if you would? I’m already giving up hearing today.”

  “Right-e-o, Basque-e-o!”

  The tinkerer wandered off to his workroom to turn on the music while Basque led Loushee up the stairs.

  “Alright, Loushee, some ground rules. You may not touch Reianna unless she asks me to give you permission to do so. No trapping Reianna or anyone else you met at this house tonight. I’ve got plenty of ancient steel.”

  Loushee nodded. Basque couldn’t help the unease in his stomach. The girl was dangerous. One thing he knew for sure, he would never leave Reianna alone with her.

  “Come on, follow me,” Basque told her and headed for the stairs. Passing through the doodad-covered door, he noted that the items that had been in the chair were now on the floor. So much for the cleaning Tinkerer had promised Symantha.

  Leading Loushee up the stairs, Basque’s stomach sank further into the pit of his belly. Reianna had been nonchalant about her relationship with Loushee, and Basque would just have to trust her.

  He hoped it was the right call.