Almost reluctantly I lowered my tail and tore my gaze away from the brute. My eyes widened in surprise as I was forced to look up.

"You didn't stab me. That's a surprise," Myol commented.

"I nearly did," I scowled. My attempt to pull away crumpled under the woman's strength. Her fingers failed to move a centimeter on my second attempt. "Not feeling very touchy tonight. So if you don't mind…"

"Your senses are getting dull. If I let you go, you'll be out of the barrier's range."

A probe with my senses found a thin film around us, stretched tight while radiating mana outward. Now that I noticed it, it was easier to see the effects on the people nearby. When they looked in our direction their eyes almost glazed over, skipping away before resuming normalcy. That and the sounds of the party were muffled to a respectable murmur, nothing like the rowdy gossip seconds before.

On a hunch I turned and searched for Zog but he was gone. The big brute must have slipped away once I disappeared, assuming he didn't have the means to pierce the veil of tier-three mana around us.

"Ok what gives. This isn't light mana, I'd have felt it. It feels off, wrong. Like…"

"Mental," she answered with a shrug.

"Really? You're openly using mental mana in a public setting?"

"Who's going to stop me? If any of these people have the balls to try, I'd welcome the challenge."

I examined Myol. Unlike most women wearing fantasy style dresses of what's currently in fashion, she wore an outfit crossed between a suit and a rogue's stereotypical adventuring getup. Her hair was pinned back with a cord of gold, framing her masculine jaw. Only after looking down did I finally notice the massive sword hanging off her belt.

"You dressed for war?"

She snorted. "Maybe if Tyrrion wants to push his luck. But I doubt it. Alleron should be having him guard one of the border cities right now. No, I'm not here for any of these idiots. I'm on my way out."

"Something wrong with the border?"

"Always something wrong. The Luneterrans don't know how to leave things alone. The peace treaty is holding for now, but every kingdom sends their saboteurs to create chaos. Of course we have our own, but that doesn't mean we can allow them to subjugate a village of two near the outskirts."

I crossed my arms. "Listen. As fascinating as all of this is not; why are you talking to me? I thought you already skipped town."

Her grip tightened but she didn't squeeze down. Her face dropped the casual smile and shifted into something more bland. For a moment, her mana fluctuate underneath the surface of her skin.

Myol's eyes bore into mine but I held my ground.

Eventually she cracked a smile and raised her free arm. With a dramatic snap, an ornate silver box appeared in her palm. Basic enchantments stretched across the lid, glowing in ugly muddy brown light.

"I am leaving town. I just had a stop to make before I did."

I leaned away as she pressed it closer. "What's in it."

"A gift."

"Gifts tend to bring me pain. I'm good."

A band of light wrapped around my wrist and held my arm long enough for her to drop it over my hand. I caught it with a grunt and held it away.

"Take the damn thing so I can be done with this. Use it, don't use it, I don't care. Consider this my parting penance for allowing what happened in the tournament."

"Ugggggh. Fine, what is it?"

"A valued and treasured heirloom of the Dawnborn family. Taken from their vaults the last time the head of the house pissed me off," she sneered. "You don't seem like the type to accept handouts from Theodore and his team. I'm betting the only reason the Lightcrests get away with it is because they're insane. That or tricked you into taking their gift through something stupid like a child's game. Use the gift during the auction and Isaac's father will give you anything you want."

I hid my wince. Her guess was uncomfortably spot on. Still, I didn't immediately accept the box, holding it arm's length while she watched my reaction.

With a snort she lifted her hand and paused when only a finger remained. The barrier stretched with her, the effects already thinning around my legs.

"I'm out. Enjoy your life while you can, Mordred. Whatever you do, don't settle for shit jobs because of a favor. Tell whoever it is to stick it up their ass."

"Wait," I interrupted. "How did Isaac's father piss you off?"

She shook her head and removed her hand. The shroud fell away, and her form disappeared before my eyes. It took me several seconds to catch a glimmer of mana, halfway toward the entrance.

A flick pressed into my ear and Myol's voice echoed through though sounding far away and under a haze of static.

"He tried to flirt with me while his pregnant wife attended a party. She's as conniving as the rest of them but I don't appreciate scumbags." The connection snapped and her voice trailed off, barely audible as the ruckus of the party started filtering through. "Goodbye, Mordred."

I watched people subconsciously part as Myol exited the building. The box in my arms shifted, the muddy-brown light morphing into big, angry text that stretched across the metal.

Tripp's Melons? What is that supposed to mean?

A woman's dress pressed against my tail and parted through the fabric like water. The sudden tangle of limbs whipping in my direction jarred me out of thoughts and pushed itself into my vision.

"How dare you! This is a limited order spiderrak silk! Do you know how long I-"

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The woman froze as my mask shifted into a gaping maw. The eyes locked onto her, and I willed the ink to turn a crimson red. Her haughty expression slipped away and her companion–a thin, reedy elven man–rushed forward and grabbed her arm.

He bowed once and tugged her back, desperately whispering into his ear. "Lynette! Cut it out, that's him, from the arena!"

As they successfully backed away far enough to get outside of my tail's reach I turned to ignore them but paused as something lingered at the edge of my senses. I focused on the tip of the woman's nails, finding a droplet of red swirling underneath. It bubbled into spikes that quickly flattened once her companion jerked her a third time.

The pair's retreat was covered by an influx of people swarming toward the snack table, cutting them off from my vision.

I sighed and hefted the box under my arm.

At least she didn't attack you. It'd be hard to beat the cursed allegations if I ended up in a fight within minutes of the others leaving.

A smile stretched across my face and I chuckled.

That's right. I didn't get into a fight, and with Zog gone, I hopefully wouldn't have one. Now to mingle and find the others. If I stayed low profile and kept my limbs close, surely things would go smoothly for once?

I snatched a drink from a nearby waiter and took a sip.

Now to kill some time. How bad can it be?

***

I swerved around the two idiots, barely avoiding my drink from being caught in the crossfire. The rosy-cheeked elf swung a right hook, missing by a mile as his opponent ducked the blow. Sadly for the cat-headed beastkin, his ankle gave and he fell with the man. The two collapsed into the dirt, sending a couple's plate of hors d'oeuvres flying over the hedge.

The two kissed the grass while an angry woman stormed off in the other direction upon seeing the drunken pair.

How does this keep happening?

I groaned. As it turned out, nearly an hour later, avoiding getting into a fight was way harder than it should have been.

The buffoons on the ground to my right were only a link in the string of accidents throughout the party. I had seen it all. From angry women tossing wine at each other, to men starting brawls for some inane reason.

I tossed my drink back and downed the rest of it before stepping over the idiots and moving into the hedge beyond. I had already tracked down a familiar mana signature so navigating the pseudo-maze proved easy.

"Cyrus? What happened to you?" Sereza asked.

She sat with Eodyne and Celenae, the girls enjoying a plate of something purple while Isaac sat up from Arturous' back.

I glanced down at the strands of tinsel covering my jacket. Somehow the damn things thwarted the cleaning enchant stitched into the leather.

"Don't ask," I mumbled.

"You okay?" Celenae asked. She lifted a smaller plate with brightly colored balls on it. "Want some elvrenna?"

"Bless you?"

She frowned. "I didn't sneeze. It's a snack from the southern continent. Originated from an elven kingdom near Melleen. Sweet, but savory."

"I'm good. So why are you all hiding here? And where's Igas? Khrem? I'm assuming Teddy is socializing or following his parents around."

"Ding ding! We parked Arturous here away from the crowd. Too many people were bumping into him. The bastards," Isaac said. He snatched one of the balls and shoved it in his mouth while pointing in my direction. "What's with the box?"

"Later," I replied. Before the whining started I made a signal and Eodyne's mana covered us in a silencing barrier. "Is it me or are people extra touchy tonight?"

"What do you mean?" Celenae asked.

She waved her hand and a thin box formed around us, further hiding barricading the small cove in the maze. Celenae looked pensive at my request but remained calm and pulled out a notebook.

"Either I'm cursed or people are acting funny. On my way here I avoided four brawls, two slap fights, and at least three instances of angry shouting. I don't remember the last party being this bad."

Celenae's expression softened. "Oh that's common. Tensions have been riding high ever since the tournament and big parties like this pull out the expensive wine. With a sizable chunk of the city attending tonight, tempers were bound to fly. Par for the course."

"Especially as they keep drinking the good stuff," Isaac butted in.

I shook my head. Further proof that parties were a mess and a massive waste of time.

"So what's in the box?" Sereza asked.

"Oh this? Myol gave it to me after ambushing me. A gift, supposedly."

"You'll answer her but ignore me?" Isaac protested.

"She doesn't call me an idiot every chance she gets," I said.

"Yeah but you deserve it. You've been a massive idiot for the past several weeks."

I gave him the middle finger and held the box out. Once again the muddy light filled out with the strange text. Isaac cut off the reply in his throat and shot to his feet. Arturous huffed and smashed his meaty head into his thigh, sending him crashing back. But he slipped into the ground and reappeared a foot away, finger pointing like a dagger.

"How did you-"

I turned to Isaac and patted his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're nothing like your father. Well, that and you're a scrub. Imagine being so delusional to think a rat like him could flirt with Myol and get away with it. Seriously, what a guy."

Isaac released something not quite a scream, but more of a strangled screech while he started shaking me by the collar.

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