The next morning, Beth was up rather early, once again experiencing how slow Sera was to wake up and get going. She eventually gave the tall dragon woman a couple firm slaps to her giant butt to get her to even muzzily wake, the tall girl nuzzling at Beth and nipping at her collarbone with her fangs. Beth would have hurried her along, but it's not like they had anywhere to be or anything important to do, so she just ran a hand through Sera's hair and stroked her back with her other hand. The dragon grunted happily, snaking her insanely long tongue out and twisting and dancing it across Beth's neck, licking all over her before pushing the tip up and licking Beth's lips. Beth happily sucked the end of Sera's tongue into her mouth, humming happily as she sucked gently on her girlfriend's tasty tongue.

  "Alright, alright, I'm up," Sera said as she withdrew her tongue, sitting up and yawning.

  "We could keep going," Beth said with a chuckle, sitting up and wrapping her arms around Sera.

  "Sure," Sera said immediately, locking lips with Beth and starting to work with her tongue.

  "Hmph mmm," Beth responded quite adroitly, scooting to the edge of the bed and standing with Sera in her arms. She headed out of the bedroom and to the bathroom, putting the feisty dragon girl down before returning to the bedroom. She grabbed the sheets and bedding off the bed into a big pile before returning to the bathroom and tossing it in the wash. Sera had started the shower in the meantime and Beth joined her in the scalding water, soaking for a minute before starting her routine of slowly and thoroughly cleaning Sera.

  They hopped out when they were done and quickly headed for the kitchen, finding that the door to the second bedroom was still closed. Apparently, Tasha and Blood were taking the opportunity to sleep in a little, or they were otherwise occupied. Beth started cooking at Sera's direction, making enough to feed quite a few people, if those people were of a 'normal' appetite, but likely she and Sera could polish everything off if Blood and Tasha didn't join them.

  "What's the plan for today?" Beth asked as they put everything on the large table in the kitchen.

  "It's your holiday," Sera said with a shrug.

  "Well, maybe we could-" Beth started, but was interrupted by the other bedroom door opening. Blood carried Tasha out of the room and they made their way into the bathroom, not seeming to even notice Beth and Sera were at the table.

  "I'm sure the hot water will wake them up," Sera commented with a chuckle as they finished the last of the breakfast prep.

  The hot water did, apparently, wake them up, as the two joined them after just a couple minutes at the kitchen table to polish off breakfast. After they were done eating and Sera had cleaned up, the four got up to the ambitious work of laying on the couch for hours. Beth and Blood sat next to each other in the middle of the couch with Tasha on Blood's lap and Sera sitting sideways on Beth's. Sera had her tail wrapped around Beth and her legs wrapped partially around Tasha and Blood, who both freed a hand to caress said legs.

  Maybe it was who was in her lap, or maybe she was finally learning to calm down a little now that she was technically in her thirties, but Beth was able to relax and enjoy the whole day without leaving the suite. In fact, she only spent two hours researching Mana Physiques during the entire course of the day, spending most of it relaxing with the others, though it did become a fight for the remote after a while. Sera also wasn’t much impressed with Blood's program choices on the wallscreen, though she was more laissez-faire about it than Beth, who actively campaigned for a change to something more exciting.

  The day, and then the night, passed quite pleasantly, with Beth truly relaxed for the first time in a good long while. She and Sera were up early the next morning, and Beth was ready to make a big move. She waited until they were all done with breakfast and had taken care of cleaning up for the day and gotten ready before broaching the subject. She got Sera alone on the balcony for a minute to talk, the other two laying around on the couch for the second consecutive day.

  "Hey, I wanted to talk," Beth said.

  "Uh oh," Sera said, propping herself up on one arm from where she was laying on a recliner by the pool.

  "No 'uh oh,' unless I've really misjudged," Beth said, sitting on Sera's lap.

  "Now I'm intrigued," Sera said, stroking Beth's hair with her claws.

  "Normally, I would just do this and not ask first, but I've started learning, slowly, that it's a better idea to talk about my stupid plans first," Beth said.

  "Okay, more intrigued," said Sera, nuzzling against Beth's neck as she continued.

  "I want to buy out your contract," Beth said calmly, smirking a bit as Sera sputtered at that declaration.

  "Beth, that's…a lot," Sera said.

  "Sorry, we were just getting on so well…" Beth replied, blushing a bit.

  "No, you fucking dummy, I meant it's a lot of money," Sera returned in an exasperated tone, poking Beth's cheek.

  "Oh, well, I mean, yeah, it will be," Beth said, turning a deeper shade of red. "But I can afford it."

  "Are you sure?" Sera asked in a slight warning tone.

  "I'm positive, Ser," Beth replied, leaning to the side slightly and giving the tall woman a firm kiss on the lips.

  "Hmm," Sera gave a little moan into Beth's mouth, continuing to stroke her hair with one hand and wrapping her other arm around Beth's waist.

  "Come on," Beth said after breaking off the kiss.

  "Now?" Sera asked as Beth stood and pulled Sera up.

  "No better time," Beth said. She made her underwear appear first, as she always had to do a little bit of adjustment on her bra. Maybe she should just go braless like Sera did all the time, but she couldn't imagine running around in public without the support or shaping of a bra. She then made one of the dresses Sera had recommended she buy appear, looking down at her feet with a frown.

  "I need new shoes as well," she said with a sigh, making a set of flats she had from before the appearance of the Path appear. She had grabbed a handful of shoes and other clothing from her closet at home at one point and that had included a couple pairs of shoes. She was used to being either barefoot or in her combat boots for years now, and wearing one of the other three sets of shoes she owned felt a bit weird.

  "We can go after this," Sera said, her dressing routine being much easier. She simply threw on a new half-jacket that was black with gold accents and a black thong, Beth giving her a once-over.

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  "That's what you're wearing to meet Laselle?" Beth asked slightly skeptically.

  "It's what I wear most of the time," Sera said as they moved through the central room.

  "We'll be back in a minute," Beth said to Blood and Tasha.

  "More secret business?" Tasha asked, though she was grinning broadly.

  "Something like that," Beth said, closing the door behind them.

  "You wear that at home, too?" Beth asked with a chuckle, resuming what they were saying earlier.

  "Of course," Sera replied, giving her a bit of a strange look.

  "You're so free," Beth said with a laugh, walking down the corridors with Sera right beside her, hand-in-hand.

  "Other people's dumb thoughts don't bother me," Sera said with a shrug. "And who's gonna try something with me?"

  "Dumb people?" Beth responded with a raised brow.

  "Well, yeah, you have a point," Sera said with a little nod.

  "But I bet they still don't survive long, anyway," Beth said with a grin.

  "Not many people that get to really high levels of power that don't have any discipline. Mostly it's people around our level of power or lower, so that's easy to handle," Sera replied with a grin. "I love putting assholes in their place."

  "I'd just rather avoid all the headache outside the arena," Beth said with a little shake of her head. "But I like that you don't really care. Makes a great view, too."

  "Even better when we're in the room, right?" Sera shot back with a grin.

  "Tell me about it," Beth said as they approached the room Beth had been led to several days ago.

  There were still two fully-armored guards outside the room, and they stopped the girls as they approached. Beth scanned the two idly, still not quite having her eye power at the level where she could see rebirths, even excluding people that could hide them. That also reminded her that she should look into those powers, as well, as she knew it would become a bit of a bigger deal that she could hide herself as they continued adventuring and growing in power. Her current eye power was still in Silver and she assumed, based on Blood's being Gold and her being able to see rebirths, that she needed to get to that level. Speaking of, she should talk to the wolf about that; Blood had gotten her eye power later than Beth and hadn't been in any extraordinary situation she wasn't in, but had somehow evolved her eye power faster and further.

  "State your business," one of the guards demanded.

  "We're here to see Laselle about a business deal," Beth replied, noticing both guard's eyes twitch at her casual use of the Blue Queen's first name.

  "Hold one," the guard on the left commanded.

  Beth and Sera waited, only a handful of seconds, really, before they were gestured to go in, the guard on the right opening the doors. Beth walked in just ahead of Sera, noting the two guards inside the room, as well as three women on the couches. The topless and sassy youngest daughter of Laselle was there, along with the daughter that liked to dress very nicely, as well as a third woman that Beth didn't recognize. She guessed it was possibly another daughter, as she was an elf and had some resemblance to Laselle, though unlike the youngest, she was entirely naked and sprawled out in such a way that she was clearly presenting a good view for any who cared to look. Laselle herself was behind her desk, going through paperwork as she waited for Beth and Sera to approach.

  "Elizabeth. Seraphinalla. To what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked when they stopped in front her of desk, putting down her pen and looking up at them. Beth could feel the weight in her gaze, like an endless field of ice stretched out forever behind her eyes.

  "Wanted to talk business," Beth said. "Sera's here on a Pledge of the Path, yes?"

  "That's correct," Laselle said, leaning back in her chair and glancing between the two of them.

  "And she has a year left?" Beth asked.

  "Also correct," Laselle nodded shortly.

  "I would like to buy her contract out," Beth declared. She heard the reactions from the three on the couches; sassy grumbled angrily, prissy gasped, and licentious clapped and cheered.

  "It will not be cheap," Laselle said calmly, throwing a glare at her daughters.

  "I understand," Beth said stoically, stepping forward. She started placing coins on the desk, clearly making a bit of a show of it. Ten mithril coins. Twenty Mithril coins. Thirty.

  Eventually, she had placed a hundred glimmering mithril coins on the desk. She could have placed an orichalcum coin on the desk, but that would have been far less impactful than seeing ten shining stacks of ten mithril coins each. Laselle had calmly observed, but she and Beth were the only calm ones in the room. Laselle's children had all freaked out in different ways, muttering or cursing or shouting, while the guards had whispered in not-so-quiet voices, and Sera had taken Beth's hand, her grip rising to a crushing strength.

  "One hundred mithril coins should be able to make up for her last year," Beth said, declaring it as a statement rather than a question.

  "Indeed, it should," Laselle said calmly, pondering the coins and then Beth.

  "Do we have a deal?" Beth asked calmly, her face stoic and determined.

  "Your starting position is a bit too strong," Laselle said with a small grin. "You should have started lower and bargained harder."

  "Sera's worth it," Beth replied simply, totally serious. She didn't even wince as the giant dragon girl crushed her hand.

  "I see," Laselle said, just a bit nonplussed. "Well then, we have a deal. I will not take this much, however."

  "What do you mean?" Beth asked, watching as Laselle accepted seventy coins and returned thirty. "Seraphinalla is worth quite a bit, but this much is fair recompense for the contract."

  "That's…less than I expected," Beth said, picking up the thirty coins with the hand Sera wasn't crushing into meat paste.

  "I do not believe in being overly aggressive in deals where it concerns personnel," Laselle said, which was one of the most analytical and dispassionate things Beth had ever heard.

  "Well, I'm glad I'm not yet bankrupt," she joked.

  "Beth!" Sera said hotly.

  "Relax, my love," Beth said, giving her a firm kiss, which got the daughters debating amongst themselves.

  "We will need a Senior Enforcer to oversee the ending of the Pledge," Laselle said. "And even if you were a Senior, we would need an independent party to verify."

  "Hold on, I'll call somebody," Beth said with a small smile, dialing on her communicator.

  "What, girlie?" a voice grumbled after a moment.

  "Hey, so, uh, I need a Senior to oversee something with a Pledge of the Path," Beth started.

  "What fuckin' nonsense ya got into now?" Baelvyr grumbled back.

  "Well, it's like this…" Beth said, explaining what was happening.

  "Tell 'er she's payin' the teleport fee," Baelvyr said.

  "I'll pay if you're willing to sign it off," Beth replied with relief in her voice.

  "Just tell her, girlie," Baelvyr said before ending the call.

  "I have someone on their way, but he said you're paying the teleport fee," Beth said to Laselle.

  "Who would dare," the sassy daughter demanded angrily.

  "Janette," Laselle snapped, her voice thousand-year-old ice.

  "Sorry, mother," the sassy daughter said in the most unapologetic tone Beth had ever heard.

  "It's no problem," Laselle said, referring to Beth's statement.

  While they waited, Laselle produced the contract documents for Sera, Beth glancing over them to find that Sera had been paid four orichalcum for the five-year contract. There was also an option, depending on how much Sera made with her work, for her to receive additional payments, meaning Sera might actually be totally loaded right now. Beth gave the dragon, still clutching her hand tightly, a side-eye as she reviewed the documents. After a few minutes, there was a knocking at the door and one of the front desk workers, one that Beth didn't know, ducked inside.

  "Ma'am, there's someone here to see you-" the worker started before the door was pushed wide and Baelvyr crouched through.

  "Ya still ain't built yer doors any bigger, girlie," Baelvyr rumbled as he tromped into the room.

  "Baelvyr, you maniac, I didn't realize it would be you," Laselle said frostily, giving the ogre an eye.

  "Well, when my eighth best student calls-" he started.

  "Eighth! I have to be top five," Beth immediately cut in.

  "Keep that attitude and ya'll be outta the top ten," Baelvyr rumbled. "Now, let's see this."

  He picked up the Pledge and inspected it, eyeing Sera before setting the pledge down and turning to Laselle. "They've paid?"

  "Yes, I have the money," Laselle replied primly.

  "Then it's done," Baelvyr said, signing the bottom of the last page and taking out a little block, which Beth realized was some kind of seal. He stamped the last page below where he signed and then waved his hand, somehow created two additional copies of the document. He handed one to Laselle, one to Sera, and the last one he made disappear. "I'll file this shit when I'm back."

  "Thanks, big guy," Beth said, getting a snort in response.

  "Anythin' else you need me to take care of?" he asked a little crossly.

  "No, we're still here for a while and then Laselle has something for us to do," Beth explained.

  "Well, don't get into too much trouble," he said, giving Laselle a bit of a glare before turning and thumping his way out of the room.

  "I didn't realize you were one of Kron's students," Laselle said, one perfect eyebrow just slightly arched.

  "Well, this and that happened, and here we are," Beth said with a big, somewhat fake smile.

  "I see. Well then, is there something else you two need?" she asked.

  "Nope," Beth said, looking up at Sera.

  "Then go clean out your room, Seraphinalla," Laselle commanded calmly before returning to her paperwork.

  "Right, on it," Sera replied happily, dragging Beth out of the room by her arm.