Chapter Eighty-Two: Lust and Lanterns

To put it simply, the new bed was fucking awesome. I’d already been sleeping better since we’d arrived at the capital thanks to having walls and a roof around me, but Rhallani’s super-bed was leagues above the two beds we’d shoved together in the temporary room we’d claimed. Jack and I had gone back downstairs to scoop up Tsuki—who latched onto me happily the moment she was in my arms—and returned to break in the bed.

I’d been a little worried her heat might make her territorial, but that worry went out the window when she lunged at Rhallani, pinning my Arelim down and slamming their lips together while arching her back and thrusting her ass at me. We pulled the curtains on the new bed to section off one corner and spent the rest of the day stress testing Rhallani’s silencing runes

Tsuki certainly tested the stamina Allura had apparently gifted me. Her libido long outlasted her body, but Serena kept a close eye to make sure she wasn’t pushing things too far, offering her healing magic when she came too close to that line.

There was one slightly terrifying moment when Ryoko stuck her head in our little corner. Her eyes went so wide I thought they might fall out of her skull. She didn’t say a word, instead walking straight to her sister—who was still riding me, despite me having gone still at Ryoko’s appearance—and brushed Tsuki’s hair out of her face. Ryoko took a long look at her, then kissed her forehead and left the room without another word.

I tried to go after her, but Tsuki had me pinned down too well to move without manhandling her, so Noelle went after her instead. After I’d sated Tsuki’s oversensitive body with a few more orgasms, Noelle returned and promised everything was fine. After a brief break for dinner and several more rounds with everyone involved, we all curled up with Tsuki at our center, exhausted but extremely satisfied.

Then I’d passed out and had what might have been the best night’s sleep I’d gotten in about forty years. It seemed everyone else was content to let me and my harem have the bed to ourselves for the night. A designation that everyone seemed to agree applied to Tsuki at this point after countless orgasms between the seven of us.

Jack partook for a while, getting off to my shadow tendrils while watching from a fireproof chair Rhallani had helped create, though it was smoking by the time she called it a night and returned to her own room of fireproof furniture. Whatever her magic, it seemed conventional runes simply weren’t strong enough to keep up. Something that gave me an idea, but one I’d have to talk to Rhallani about.

When I woke the next morning, it was to a set of lips tracing their way up my throat. Hands nails digging into my chest, the voluptuous front of a small body pressing into me, and a set of wet, needy lower lips pressing against my morning wood. In the darkness provided by the walls of curtains lining the bed, I couldn’t see anything about whoever was on top of me past a vague outline, so I relied on my [Dark Sense] to tell me what I needed to know. I trailed one hand down her back until it met a fluffy fox tail and used the other hand to cup the back of her head, brushing against the ears there. I rolled my hips, sliding the length of my cock against her lips without penetrating her, then froze at the moan that slipped past through her lips.

A moan that wasn’t quite the same pitch as the ones I’d drawn out of Tsuki over and over again last night. Almost quicker than I could react, the person straddling me dragged her pussy all the way up the length of my erection until the head was pressed against her opening with a needy whine. An opening that, as soon as the head started to part her folds, I realized was far too tight.

My hands shot to her hips, holding her in place before she could go any further. She struggled against my grip, trying desperately to impale herself on my length, but I shifted her enough so that my erection was nestled between her cheeks rather than inside her. She made a frustrated sound of protest, only silenced when I pressed her face to my chest and stroked her hair. Hair that was too short to be Tsuki’s.

She calmed a little, inhaling deeply through her nose where she was pressed into the crook of my neck, but her hips were still squirming desperately in an attempt to capture my cock again. I felt around briefly, glad to see Tsuki still asleep while wrapped up in both Noelle and Rhallani’s arms. Serena and Tiana were splayed out around us, taking full advantage of the sheer size of the bed while also still being close enough to touch me if they wanted.

Carefully so as not to wake any of them, I cradled the form that could only be Ryoko to my chest and carried her to another corner of the giant bed. I made sure the curtains were closed behind us then activated another of the silencing runes. Only then did I set Ryoko down on her back, kneeling over her.

She was as naked as I was, but I’d surmised that much already from when she’d been grinding against me. Her skin was flush, her nipples hard enough to cut diamonds, and her pussy was swollen, red, and soaked. The minute I tried to pull away she followed, and it was only when my hand inadvertently brushed her peaked nipple that her back arched and she fell back to the bed with a throaty whine.

“Please, Zaren, I can’t stop. I can’t get it to go away,” she mumbled, only capable of short, choppy sentences. One of her hands squeezed the breast I’d brushed against while the other sought out my cock. It wrapped around my base, half stroking me and half pulling me towards the apex between her legs. “I’m so hot. It’s never been like this,” she panted.

She moaned and writhed, seeking something she just couldn’t quite get, but her movements grew less violent when I gently put my hands on her. It wasn’t until I finally took mercy on her and brushed my thumb across her clit that she came undone. Her back arched off the bed and she came so hard her body shook after. I kept rubbing slow circles around the bundle of nerves at the peak of her swollen sex while I used two fingers to gently rub up and down the puffy lips. She let out a sigh, falling back to the bed in a boneless heap.

“Oh gods,” she squeaked, “that feels so much better than my fingers…”

“Tsuki mentioned your heats don’t respond well to self-pleasure,” I said softly. Her hand release its vice grip on my cock just enough that she could start stroking it up and down, but her eyes were fixed on the bed’s curtained canopy. “You seemed fine last night.”

She nodded. “Tsuki's been stressing about her heat for weeks now, afraid it’ll happen at a bad time. I knew she wanted to spend it with you, but I wanted to make sure she was okay.” Her hips started writhing again, so I slipped a single finger inside her. Her head fell back, her mouth wide open in a silent scream of pleasure. It was only after a few moments of me slowly pumping in and out of her that she collected her thoughts. “I wanted to stay, but the second I saw you inside her… I’ve never seen her look so happy during a heat… The second I started wondering if it really felt that good…”

I slid my finger in all the way, brushing against the unmistakable barrier that signified she’d never been with a man before. “By the time I got back to our room,” she babbled, “I was so hot. My clothes felt like they were choking me. Then when I was taking them off I realized how good it felt to touch myself, but it wasn’t enough. No matter what I did, I couldn’t…” she trailed off, her already flushed cheeks growing darker.

“You couldn’t cum?” I said softly. I lowered myself so I was on my side next to her and she nestled into my chest, widening her legs to give me better access. “I promised your sister I’d help with her heats. If you want, I’ll help you too.”

She moaned. “Just my heats?” she breathed.

I slipped a second finger into her, pressing my palm to her clit, and her body convulsed in another orgasm. She was so sensitive, I was glad I’d stopped her from going all the way before. “That’s up to you. If that’s what you’d prefer—”

“No!” she whimpered. She tried to push her hips towards my cock, but I used the hand on her pelvis to push her into the bed, grinding against her clit in the process. “Please, I-I want you. I don’t want to just have you during my heats. You’ve been so amazing at every turn. You made my sister smile again. You’ve given me so much more than I’d ever dreamed of having.” Moving only her upper body, she pressed her forehead to my chest. “You made me feel like I could dream for more. I need you, Zaren.”

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Okay.”

“R-really?” She looked up at me with hooded eyes, hope mixing with lust.

“Really.” She threw an arm up and pulled me low enough to press her lips to mine in a clumsy, frantic kiss. I chose that moment to start sliding my fingers in and out of her tight tunnel and she melted in my arms. “But I won’t fuck you today.”

She made a frustrated sound. “Why?” she whined.

I kissed her again, then pulled away until I was leaning over her. “I won’t take your first time while your mind is addled by your heat. Tsuki and I talked it over before hand, otherwise I would never have had sex with her while she had so little control of her body.” I leaned down to silence her objections with a kiss, then trailed my way down her body with my lips, my fingers slowly pumping in and out of her the entire time.

I paused at her breasts to bite her nipple, which I was fairly certain sent her over the edge into orgasm again. “I won’t leave you hanging, though. I’ll do my best to take care of you.” She made let out another adorable frustrated growl when I slid my fingers away, but the sound died in a gasp of pleasure when I replaced those fingers with my mouth.

I started by working her outer lips with my tongue while my fingers dug into her ample rear. When she started squirming again, I slid my tongue as deep inside her as I could, relishing the taste of her release as it splashed against my face. When her legs started trembling against the sides of my head, I licked my way up to her clit and started working on it while my fingers resumed to pumping in and out of her soaking pussy.

Her legs wrapped around my head and she screamed out her climax. After a night without release, she was so sensitive that my attack rolled one orgasm right into the next. I didn’t let up, alternating between her clit and her pussy with both fingers and mouth, showing no mercy until her legs finally released me and fell back against the bed in a sweaty, trembling mess.

I sat up and wiped my mouth, then brushed the hair from her. She panted, her eyes taking a while to fix on me. “Better?” I asked.

She nodded like it took all her energy just to do so, and I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Talk to Tsuki once you’re both awake. If we go any further than this and she finds out without one of us telling her about it, she might stab me in my sleep.”

Ryoko giggled tiredly. “Yeah, probably.” Then she bit her lip. “You really want me? Us? I mean, I know you’ve already got so many others in your harem, but—”

I silenced her by scooping her up with one arm under her back and the other under her knees. “My harem has been pushing me to ask the both of you to join us formally for weeks now, but I wanted to wait until I was sure you were ready first. Now I think you are. I’d like you to be mine, and I know my other girls feel the same. The rest is up to you and Tsuki, but your position in my household isn’t dependent on your answer, alright?”

She nodded, moisture at the corners of her wide, golden eyes. “Thank you, Zaren. There isn’t a day that goes by I don’t thank Allura that you found us in Anford.”

I kissed the top of her head and her eyes slid closed. “You and me both.”

By the time I deposited her next to her sister, she was already mostly asleep. I set her in the spot Rhallani had apparently vacated. I’d barely set her down before she was absorbed into the pile of limbs and blankets that was Tsuki and Noelle.

I stifled a chuckle, then gave all three of them a kiss on the forehead. All three of them smiled serenely, still mostly asleep, so I took my leave. It was like walking into a different world, stepping outside the thick curtains and into the morning sun. Rhallani was in what we’d dubbed the dressing area where there were a host of dressers and wardrobes. She took one look at me, her eyes drifting straight to my throbbing erection, and a smile graced her lips.

“Ryoko leave you wanting?” she asked innocently, wearing nothing but a skirt. She had a top in her hands, but made no move to don it.

“She wasn’t ready to go all the way,” I explained. She opened her mouth to answer, but I spun her around and pushed her forward until her palms were pressed into the dresser she’d pulled her skirt from. She gasped, arching her back and causing her skirt to ride up enough for me to see the underside of her plump, ivory cheeks. I flipped her skirt up and plunged myself inside her with a single thrust. She was more than wet enough for me to do so, and her response was swallowed by a happy moan.

“Besides,” I whispered into her ear, still hilted inside her, “there’s no need to push her when I’ve got you.” Her head fell forward when I started to slowly saw my hips back and forth, but I wrapped a hand around her throat to pull it back up. “Always wet and willing, eager to get fucked.”

Rhallani moaned, already bucking her hips against me, trying to get me in deeper as her tunnel walls clenched at my words. “Should I expect this kind of treatment any time you get hard, then? You want me to be your outlet?” she panted.

I squeezed the sides of her throat and started to pick up speed. Soon enough she was forced to thrust back into me just to keep from getting fucked into the dresser. “Are you complaining?”

“Fuck no. Gods, this is so fucking hot,” she said between thrusts. “Fucking me while the door to the room is open? Anyone could walk in, you know.”

I pulled out and flipped her around, tossing her ass up onto the top of the dresser. I was barely inside her before her legs had wrapped around my waist, her ankles hooking behind my back. “You expect me to believe you haven’t already told everyone what to expect in this room? Sex, sex, and more sex?”

Rhallani sunk her hands into my hair and sucked my bottom lip into her mouth. “I might have mentioned it,” she said once she was done tasting me. “What happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom.” Her mouth latched onto the underside of my jaw, attacking my apparent weak spot they all loved so much. “Don’t worry, though. Only volunteers clean the master bedroom.”

After spending so long taking care of Ryoko, I was already at my limit. I came with a grunt while Rhallani held me as deep inside her as she could, shuddering through her own climax while I filled her to the brim. I chuckled after, our foreheads pressed together. “Might need to recruit another round of servants, then. I’m not sure many of the servants we have so far are interested in seeing my pasty ass all the time, and I’ve grown quite attached to sleeping without pants.”

“Mmm, me too,” she said, trailing her fingers down my chest. “Makes it a lot easier to wake you up cock-first.”I leaned into her, resting my head on her shoulder while she dragged her nails up and down my back. “I had an idea I’d like you to work on.”

I almost laughed when her pussy walls clamped around my half-hard length still inside her at the suggestion. “Oh? And when was this?”

“Pretty sure I was balls deep in Tsuki at the time with one of you licking somewhere I’m not used to being licked.” I gave her a pointed look.

She just shrugged. “I wanted to try it out. I was curious.”

“And?”

“I didn’t hate it. But we’re getting off base. Idea. Spill.”

“Well, at this point, you’ve learned as much as you can about the enchantments on the scabbard for the Jailer’s blade, yes?” She nodded. “And you went over the enchantments on Jack’s…equipment?”

It took a second for it to click what I was talking about, and the next step was only a short leap in logic. “Oh, shit, that could work! Can I have a bedroom to experiment on?”

I cupped her cheek. “Definitely, but have Euribald help you explosive-proof it first. And we should probably use one with an exterior wall, just in case.”

She nodded eagerly. “I’ll use one of the ones on the third floor we haven’t bothered with yet.” Then she bit her lip. “Could take me a few weeks to get the array all planned up. Unless, of course…”

I bit back a laugh. “After you finish with whatever you’ve got planned for the day, get an area set up. This time we’ll see if I can fuck your ass through a focused state without sending you crashing into an orgasm coma.”

Rhallani licked her lips. “And if you do? No harm done.” She patted my chest with both hands. “Now, I love you, but get out of me. I’ve got plans.”

This time I let the chuckle spill out of me, but I did as she asked after a quick peck on the lips and hunted down a pair of pants. She smoothed her skirt out and got dressed in a tight top that showed off plenty of midriff, and I arched a brow when she pulled out a black lacy thong.

She shrugged, her cheeks darkening. “What? I can’t go without all the time.”

“And your choice of undergarment has nothing to do with the fact that you’ll be spending the day with Safina?”

“No comment,” she said cheekily, giving me a show of slowly pulling the thong on. Then she grabbed a satchel leaning against the dresser and threw it over her shoulder. This time when she chewed on her lip, I knew it was a sign of nervousness. “Safina disappeared before I could ask her to join us last night.”

“Join us, or join us?”

She swatted my arm. “You know which one. I'm not going to push her. Her hugs are amazing, even when she’s completely unconscious. It feels like she’s trying to crush my soul back into my body.” She stretched her arms above her head. “Best nap I’ve had in… ever.”

“You gonna bring it up to her today?”

She let her arms fall. “I was planning to, I just wanted to run it by you, first. Make sure she’s…welcome.”I wrapped my arms around her from behind and she leaned into my chest with a sigh. “Of course she’s welcome. If any of you trust them, then I trust them until given a reason not to. You and Safina have gotten close, so I’d be happy to have her in our giant, amazing bed the size of a small country.”

She grinned. “And, just to be clear, are you giving her permission to join us or…join us?”

“You horny little copycat,” I said, giving her nipple a tweak and drawing a squeal out of her while she tried to escape my arms. “I think you know the answer to that. Did I ever tell you that Ria was taller than me by a few inches?”

Her eyes widened. “You most certainly did not.” Then she understood what I was implying. “Does that mean that you…” she trailed off.

Now it was my turn to shrug. “You’ve seen how I am with Jack. I don’t mind a girl who can toss me around a little, that’s for sure. And Safina’s gorgeous, bubbly, warm, and most importantly, she makes you happy. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see the appeal. Now,” I stepped back and smacked her ass, “go woo a dragon. And don’t go spending your mana on research, I want you able to summon Fang if something happens. The second my [Danger Sense] pings, I’m coming straight for you. Got it?”

She nodded. “Got it.”

“And your orders?”

“Me and Safina both have them,” she said patting her satchel. In it was a signed slip giving her permission to protect herself from any harm by any means necessary, bound to both of our magics so it couldn’t be stolen or ignored. “We’ll be careful, Zaren. Promise.”

“Good.” I gave her one last kiss, then she practically skipped out of the room. I watched her go, halfway tempted to drag her back for another round each time the swish of her hips flashed that tiny black thong at me.

Once she was gone I fished a plain black shirt out and threw it on as well. I’d barely finished before Tiana had joined me, pulling on a loose summer dress that flowed around her form beautifully. “Busy morning already?” she asked, amusement twinkling in her eyes.

“Something like that.” I gave her a scorching kiss and she trailed a finger up my half-hard length, but we both knew we had to get on with our days. “Still planning to spend the day with Cynthia?”

She nodded. “With both the barracks finished and two of the manors converted into party housing, it’s time.”

The barracks was a manor that Deetrik had refashioned to have several large rooms rather than a bunch of singles. Each room would fit up to twenty adventurers—separated by gender, of course—and make up the cheapest option under the plan Cynthia, Tiana and I had hashed out. The other manors we were planning to use as party housing, containing rooms that were designed for between one and four people.

Adventurers who signed on to work under House Nocht would be expected to complete a minimum of one job a month. At the lowest end, if all they wanted was a bed in the barracks, it would only cost them a fifth of their reward money. The deal would include a safe place to sleep, a secure locker to store any gear and loot, and access to the dining hall that sat next to the barracks. Rooms in the party housing would cost them thirty percent, and we’d come up with a list of additional amenities that could be added onto the plan. There were more plans to create higher tiers down the road, but we needed to wait until more manors were renovated first.

We would almost surely lose money at first, but it’s my hope that there would be enough adventurers determined to rise in rank to make up for those who couldn’t afford to take on missions as often. Plus, it would take time for word of mouth to spread from the few adventurers brave enough to take the chance on us before we really started filling rooms.

“Did Zephyr get us a new list?” I asked.

She nodded, smiling. “Apparently she’s rather impressed with how we’ve treated the demi-humans under our care. We’ve got another handful of names from the Pens and a list of hopefuls from the quarter looking for employment.”

“She still wants us to have them serve out a contract?” I asked, referring to the ones from the Pens.

Apparently, purchasing and immediately freeing servants was against some law that could jeopardize my ability to acquire more servants should the need arise. Something I couldn’t afford to have happen in case I came across someone I absolutely needed to save from the Pens. So having the servants I ‘purchased’ from the Pens work out their contract to ‘earn’ their freedom was apparently the best option for everyone.

For now, at least.

Tiana nodded. “At least it’s better than just about any alternatives.” She pressed her lips to my cheek. “Serena and Noelle have the twins, so I’ll take care of this. You can count on me.”

“Don’t I know it,” I said, drawing a smile out of her. She sauntered off as well, and I followed. She went straight for the front door, but I turned and headed towards the tantalizing smell of bacon. I hadn’t made it far before Valith practically materialized out of thin air next to me.

“Hey boss, got a minute?” she asked, her hands in her pockets.

Though my rumbling stomach begged to differ, I inclined my head. “Sure, shoot.”

“What exactly is my position here? Officially, I mean.”

I took a moment to think about it, and only one real option came to mind. “Spymaster.”

She looked taken aback at my answer, then grinned. “Not head assassin?”

I chuckled. “No, definitely not. I won’t be sending you to kill for me anytime soon.”

She let out a relieved breath. “Right. And exactly how much latitude do I get when it comes to my duties?”“Probably more than you think, but not as much as you’re hoping for.”

She pulled her hands out of her pockets to cross her arms. “So, hypothetically, if I wanted to put together a network…”

“Thought you were already doing that?”

She wobbled her head from side to side. “I’ve got one in the early stages, but I’d like to form another. One made of a very specific type of informant.”

I wasn’t a fan of how cagey she was being. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be a fan of where this conversation ended up. “And that type of informant would be…?”

Her responding sigh only confirmed my fears. “Kids. Orphans, specifically.”

I stopped dead. “We aren’t using kids,” I said sharply.

Eyes wide, she took a step back and held her hands up in surrender at the intensity of my tone. “No, not using them. Never that. But there are a lot of kids who either don’t have parents anymore or their parents have been scooped up by the system. You know there are only two orphanages in the entire lower quarter, and both are constantly at capacity?”

She shook her head and gathered herself to her full height. “The streets are full of kids struggling to survive. All I’m proposing is we use some of your more scattered properties to set up halfway houses, talk to Alianna about potential caretakers. Give these kids somewhere they don’t have to clutch a shank while they’re sleeping and reward any who have information. These kids are resourceful, Boss. They’re on every other corner, and they know more than most adults. We find the ringleaders, the ones who protect the little ones, and get them on our side? Not a damn thing will happen in the quarter without us knowing about it.”

By the time she was done, her fists were balled and her chin was raised like she expected me to take a swing. I merely raised a brow. “So, were you one of these ringleaders, then?”

She looked away pointedly. “No. I might have been, given time. I got taken in by a kid a few years older than me. He looked out for me, taught me to survive.”

“You try and look him up?” I asked, though I already suspected the answer.

Her shoulders tensed. “He died,” she said simply, and left it at that.

I nodded. “Alright then. Talk to Cynthia, tell her I’ve approved your request. She’ll be able to tell you which properties to set aside and how much we can afford to put towards these halfway houses until we start getting some income in.”

She balked. “Wait, really?”

“Yes, really. You made your case, and it was a good one. As long as we’re not sending kids into dangerous situations, then I don’t see a problem with it. We’ll need to make sure the less honest ringleaders don’t take advantage of us at other kids’ expense, though.”

“Absolutely,” she said resolutely, a wide smile pulling at her mouth. “I’ll get right on it. Cynthia, then Alianna. Thanks Boss, I promise you won’t regret this.”

She spun on her heel and headed deeper into the manor, but paused when I called her name. She paused, looking at me over her shoulder. “We’re going to make a world where kids don’t have to worry about their parents being stolen away or die trying.”

Valith offered me a small smile, then said softly, “His name was Vallen. I was in love with him, and he had no idea. When I got my class, he was so proud.” She turned away and jammed her hands back into her pockets. “Two weeks later, they came for me. Vallen tried to protect me, and they killed him. So far, I haven’t found a single one of the kids we took care of.” Her hand went to her face, and I pretended not to notice her wiping away a tear. “I want to stop these bastards, Zaren.”

“We’ll find your sisters, get rid of their collars, and track down every son of a bitch involved,” I promised. “I won’t rest until I’ve burned their entire operation to the ground.”

She gave me one curt nod, then used her skill to vanish on the spot. My stomach grumbled at me again and I turned towards the dining room once more. It’d already been quite the day, and I still hadn’t even made it to breakfast yet.

And when I finally arrived at the table where several people were sitting down, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to either. Karina sat at the table, pushing eggs around on her plate, looking utterly exhausted. Between her puffy eyes and the bags underneath them, I was willing to wager she hadn’t slept.

I sat in the chair next to her, ignoring the plate that practically appeared next to me. Whoever set it down was gone before I could even look for them, so I didn’t bother trying. I’d have to get with Serena to find a way to properly thank the kitchen staff at some point, but that would come after I figured out what Karina was struggling with.

“Rough night?”

She jumped, her fork scraping against the plate. “Shit, sorry.” She ran a hand through her hair. “New place, shit circumstances, the crushing weight of an unfair existence, take your pick.”

I leaned against the back of my chair, my body facing hers, one arm over the back. “Wanna try that again and make it convincing?”

She sighed and pushed her plate away, barely touched. “I’ve got a lot to get used to. I’ll figure it out. After all, this is my life now, right?”

“Yes and no,” I said slowly, munching on a piece of bacon. “You’re not a prisoner here.”

She scoffed. “So if I tried to leave?”

“I’d let you,” I said, even though a part of me rebelled at the idea, “but I honestly think this might be the safest place in the world for you, and we aren’t even done shoring up the manor’s defenses.”

She leaned forward, crossing her arms on the table and resting her forehead against them. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. My situation is shit. People are shit. Life is shit. Everything is shit.”

I chuckled, and she rolled her head enough to crack an eye at me. She looked me up and down, her gaze lingering for a while on my chest before she closed it again. “I get where you’re coming from—”

“I very much doubt that,” she scoffed.

“You’d be surprised.” That caused her to sit up, looking at me questioningly, but now was no time to get into my depressing past. “I get things suck right now, but if you let me, I’d like to help them suck less. I’ve seen enough misery in my life, I’d like there to be as little of it as possible under my roof.”

She stared at me hard, then her hand shot forward lightning quick and snatched one of the remaining two pieces of bacon off my plate. I noticed it was the one thing on her plate that no longer remained. She waved the piece at me, leaning back in her chair. “This is a good start. What else did you have in mind?” she asked, taking a bite.

I grinned at her antics. “You tell me. What would help you sleep at night?”

“Don’t suppose you could make me human, could you?” she asked dryly.

“Sorry, but that’s a bit beyond my abilities. Not sure I would if I could, though.” She took another bite, and I was pretty sure I saw a slight blush under her rosy skin. “Come on, spill. Tell me how I can help, and you can have my last piece of bacon.”

She eyed the strip hungrily, then sighed. “My room. It’s nice and all, as nice as the rooms I’ve always lived in, but last night I couldn’t help but feel… claustrophobic.”

“You want a room with a window, then? We can manage that.”

She bit her lip, her eyes flicking between me and the bacon, though lingering more on me. “A lantern,” she said softly. “And some oil. Something I can use for light at night.”

I frowned. “Late night reader?”

“You really gonna make me say it?”

“I’m not going to make you do anything, but the more I know the more I can help.”

It was only after a long exhale through her nose that she said, “I don’t like the dark.”

Considering my class, I was sure there was irony in there somewhere. “That’s understandable,” I said carefully. “Plenty of people don’t like darkness.”

She didn’t speak again until her strip of bacon was gone entirely. “Most people don’t have an irrational fear of it, though.”

I winced. “Irrational?”

“Completely. Full on freak out. I react so badly you’d think I went through something horrible when I was young, but no such luck. Should have seen me as a kid.” She laughed dryly. “I used to have meltdowns if I woke up and it was pitch dark. I don’t even like it when it’s dim. I feel like…”

“Like you’re being buried alive?” I offered, taking a—no pun intended—shot in the dark. “Like you might just die if you don’t find some light to see by? Like the darkness is pressing in so badly you feel like you can’t even remember what it’s like to be able to see?”

Her hand slowly fell to the table. “Maybe you understand me better than I thought.”

I tapped my fingers to the table, then slid my plate towards her. “Come on, you can munch on the go.”She frowned when I stood, but she scooped up the bacon and followed anyways. “Where are we going, exactly?”

“Elisa’s workshop. You need to tell Jayme where you’re at so she doesn’t freak?”

Karina huffed. “No, Jayme had to go back to the castle to get her stuff and officially square away her new orders. She won’t be back ‘till lunch.”

“Guess you’re stuck with me, then.”

Her only answer was to nibble on her bacon, though there was the lightest of smirks on her face. I could feel her burning curiosity, but she didn’t ask me any questions until we were at the reinforced door of Elisa’s workshop. We’d built it and Ryoko’s lab in a standalone building for safety reasons, and the both of them were over the moon with their accommodations.

I pushed the heavy door open, giving it a few bangs just in case Elisa was in the middle of something. Elisa was bent over some strange half-built contraption in the space she and Ryoko shared. She brightened when she saw it was me and rushed to throw some clamps on her invention to hold it in place, then pulled off a set of goggles revealing a set of perfect rings in the grime on her face.

“Zaren! Sorry I haven’t checked in with you, I just haven’t been able to leave. This place is so much better than my space back in Anford!”

“Glad you’re enjoying it,” I said. Karina had taken her place behind me, head ducked subserviently, so I put my hand on the small of her back to push her up so she was even with me. She moved with a small squeak, but brooked no protest. “This is Karina. Karina, Elisa here is our resident Tinkerer.”

Elisa thrust a gloved hand out, frowned, yanked the grease-covered glove off, reached out with an equally grease-covered hand, then frowned again. “Uh, sorry, I’ve been…busy.”

Karina laughed, a pure, bright sound that brought a smile to my face. “It’s fine, I won’t hold it against you.” Then she shot a questioning look at me, clearly wondering why we were here.

“Elisa, what are the odds you can whip up a lantern with a longer lifetime?”

She brightened. “Give me ten minutes.”

Then she was off, rummaging through bins of parts. She assembled while she moved, throwing together a taller, thicker version of the glowing lanterns we wore on our belts when we were out. “Just give me a minute to—hang on.”

Her top half disappeared into a bin and Karina shot me another exasperated look. “A regular oil lantern would be more than sufficient.”

I grinned. “Maybe, but it’d be way less fun.”

Elisa came out with a sound of triumph, then strayed into Ryoko’s half of the workshop. “I should have just enough of Ryoko’s new version of glow juice to fill up the lantern. Shouldn’t need a top off for three to five years, assuming we got the math right. Considering I only invented them three months ago, only time will tell how accurate that is.”

She started carefully pouring a viscous liquid into her newest contraption, her tongue poking out between her teeth. “Haven’t seen Ryoko today, any idea when she’ll be down?”

I cleared my throat. “You might not see her today. Pretty sure she’s still sleeping.”

Elisa paused. “Is she alright?”

“Oh, she’s fine,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “She’s just sleeping off a sleepless night.”

“Oh no,” Elisa said, “did she go into heat too? Miss Wan warned her that might happen.”

“Hang on, what do you mean, ‘too?’” Karina asked.

“Er, long story,” I told her.

Karina raised a brow at me. “Just how many members of your household are sharing your bed?”

“Not enough, according to Rhallani,” Elisa said under her breath, carefully securing the top of her lantern.

Karina choked. “Hold up, are you telling me you helped two Kitsune through their heats? In one night?”

“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” I said quickly.

Crossing her arms, Karina smiled. “She’s still got six minutes to go.”

“Well,” I started, trying to figure out how I ended up here, “Tsuki and I made arrangements before we even made it to the city for when this eventually happened, so yeah I helped her.”

“And Ryoko?” Karina asked.

“We didn’t have the chance, so I made sure to help her without, uh, taking things further than she might be comfortable with if she was in her right mind.”

Karina looked away, biting her lip in a poor attempt to hide a smile. “And your other women were just…okay with that?”

“Okay?” Elisa scoffed, pulling out a red crystal and using it to melt two pieces of metal together. “I’d be willing to bet a week’s wages they all joined in.”

Whatever Karina’s expression was warranted her hiding it behind her hand. “How exactly does that work? Seems a bit… complicated. The logistics, I mean.” I could tell from the amusement in her eyes she was teasing me.

“It’ll go better when I finish Rhallani’s little experiment,” Elisa mumbled, fitting some kind of extra housing onto the lantern. “Just as soon as Ryoko nails down the formula on her homemade silicone.”

“Elisa!” I hissed, “stop helping.”

“No, no,” Karina said between snickers, “please keep helping.”

Elisa didn’t respond right away, busying herself with tightening screws so small I could barely see them. “Can’t say I’m surprised. Miss Wan figured you helping Tsuki with her heat might trigger Ryoko’s. She’s been crazy stressed about it for the last week because of her feelings towards you.” Then she straightened. “Fuck, I didn’t say that out loud, did I?”

“Oh you definitely did,” Karina said. She bent over to poke at a contraption that was decidedly phallic in nature. “Elisa, I think you and I are going to be friends.”

“You do, do you?” I asked, looking pointedly at the half-finished sex toy.

Karina straightened, blushing deeply. “I meant—I wasn’t talking about—I was referring to the gossip, not the mechanized penis!” she blustered.

“Right, right. Whatever you say,” I said, lifting my hands.

Elisa moved the near-finished lantern to her desk and started polishing it. “Don’t worry, Karina, Zaren’s already given me the go ahead to give big discounts to other household members.” She flashed the Seelie a grin. “Please come to me with any ideas you can think of. The weirder, the better.”

“That’s right,” I said, grinning now that the shoe was on the other foot. “Got any strange requests? Both Elisa and Ryoko love a challenge.”

Karina spluttered. “Now, hang on, we were talking about you being some kind of sexual savant, seducing half the women in your household!”

“Seducing, huh?” I chuckled. “Hardly. Rhallani had to reassure me about a million times that I wasn’t forcing her into anything. Serena took a damn class just to cement her place in my life and has held me together more times than I can count. Tiana sacrificed herself to save me, nearly getting buried alive in the process, which has always been a fear of hers. Noelle has proven time and time again that despite suffering some of the worst of what humanity has to offer, she’s still one of the kindest souls I’ve ever met. And Jack…”

“And Jack…?” Karina prompted, leaning forward, her amusement tempered by something that looked a little to close to interest for my sanity.

“Well, Jack I’m still trying to figure out,” I admitted, “but she definitely lights a fire in me like no one has since—” The sentence died in my throat when I realized where it was heading.

“Since who?” Karina asked, all the teasing gone from her voice.

Since Ria. She was a fighter. She didn’t take any shit, especially from me. While everyone else treated me like damaged goods, afraid to make any sudden moves for fear they might set me off, Ria pushed me. Challenged me. Drew me out of the shell I’d built around myself after Eliya. She gave as good as she got, and she never once treated me as fragile. When I was around Jack, I felt that same kind of… well, fire. No pun intended.

“Someone who isn’t around anymore,” I said instead.

“I’m sorry,” Karina said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

“It was a long time ago,” I said. Technically true, since Ria died over three decades ago, though realistically it had only been a little over two years for me. Between the war and the divine coma, it felt like longer.

To my surprise, Karina reached out and put her hand on my arm. “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

I patted her hand, surprised by how much comfort the simple touch provided. “Eh, when nearly all of them are, it’s hard not to.” That made her frown, and the emotion in her eyes was too much for me. I looked to Elisa. “Almost done?”

Eliya straightened. “Oh, I finished a few minutes ago, I was just waiting on you two to finish.” Then she turned to Karina. “Since you’re so interested in Zaren’s love life, he won over Ryoko by giving Tsuki a home where she didn’t have to protect her sister all the time and by letting her creative side run free without restraint. And Tsuki spent so much time looking for a reason to mistrust Zaren since he was human, she didn’t realize she was falling for him until it was too late.” Then she cut her eyes to me. “Uh, but you didn’t hear any of that from me.”

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. How had this trip gone so sideways? “The lantern, Elisa?”

“Oh, right!” She jumped to her feet and set the lantern on the table. Karina and I both leaned close to inspect it. “This plate here is where you’ll push your mana into, and it’ll charge the crystals attached to it. One crystal is good for three hours, four crystals means twelve. The mechanism here should rotate one crystal when the previous one runs dry, this way you can refill it easier if you need to.”

“And this,” she flipped a latch and a set of shutters unfolded from a nearly invisible seam set into the roof of the lantern, “will allow you to control how bright it is. Given a few days I could probably come up with a design that controls the amount of glow juice active, making it last longer if you dim it, but I figure this is good enough for now.”

“Good enough?” Karina asked, lifting the lantern. “This is amazing! You could make a fortune with these. Oil-less, flame-less lanterns? Twelve hour ones? I’d be willing to bet you could make a model you could sell for a fraction of the cost of the light crystals.” She touched two fingers to the plate Elisa indicated and it lit right up, casting the room in a soft white glow. “You could light up the whole lower quarter with this!”

“That,” I said slowly, “isn’t a bad idea at all. Think you could come up with an economy version? Something we can reproduce pretty cheaply?”

She tapped her chin. “I think I could manage that, sure. Give me two days?”

I ruffled her hair. “Why don’t we make it five so you can make sure you’re getting sleep, eh?”

Elisa smiled ruefully. “I think I can do that.”

“Good. Why don’t we start now. When was the last time you slept?”

She grabbed a rag to wipe her hands, only the rag was so stained it just smeared the soot and grease around. “How long have we been in town again?”

I sighed. “I’m gonna have to bribe some of Cynthia’s minions to make sure she isn’t doing too much work so she can make sure you’re getting sleep. I doubt she’s doing any better.”

Elisa giggled. “Definitely not.”

Doing my best not to read too deeply into that, I led Karina out of Elisa’s workshop. She followed with a dazed expression, cradling the lantern like it was the most valuable thing she’d ever held.

“You don’t have to worry, durability is one of Elisa’s staples.” I pulled my own lantern out of my storage. “This baby has seen me through Valax swarms, etherwyrm hordes, gnoll bands, and bandit camps. You could probably light that thing on fire and it’d be fine.”

Karina just cradled it to her chest. “I don’t get it. What’s the catch? What exactly do you expect in return? I refuse to believe you’re just giving something like this to a girl you’ve only just met.”

I didn’t answer until we were back in the manor. “I know what it’s like to be afraid of the dark. To feel like you’ve got no control over your life. I spent a long time helpless, forced to watch those around me suffer while I could do nothing about it. Now?” I shrugged. “If I can help, then I will. I won’t watch the people around me struggle when I can offer them a helping hand.”

She just shook her head. “For the record, I still don’t fully trust you, but…”

“But?”

“But you’re nothing like I imagined you would be when King Rolar gave me to you.” She looked up at me with vulnerability in her big, silver eyes. “In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever met anyone like you in my life.”

“I should hope not,” I said with a laugh. “I doubt the world could handle two of me.”