“Of course! It would be my pleasure to share,” I said, with a smile aimed at Ethlandom.

  Watching Onas from the corner of my eye, I saw his face twist into something much uglier and darker for a moment as he glared at his fellow servant of the crown, before smoothing back into a relatively neutral glower.

  Meanwhile, I withdrew the smallest wooden jar of honey I owned, one that could easily fit into the apparent size of my bag. This was not a setting in which I wanted to reveal that my bag was a magical storage item. I then offered the jar to the fae.

  “Wonderful! Even just the color is fascinating…” Ethlandom opened the jar, tilting it this way and that to get a better look at the honey as he gestured with his free hand. A breeze kicked up and carried over a teaspoon from one of the tables laden with food.

  Food which we still hadn’t been offered the chance to indulge in.

  The thought made me glance at Grafton. Then I paused. Instead of doing my best to ignore him, like I typically did, I paused and took in his appearance properly. The elder appeared almost ill. His face seemed drawn, his cheeks sunken, and his eyes a little dull. His hands kept twitching, like he was trying to grasp one of the snacks or stew bowls he always had near him.

  I had to hold back a frown. As much as I disliked him, the man truly looked like he was being tortured.

  “Oh…” Ethlandom’s voice drew my attention back to him as the fae shivered in delight. “That is quite a thrill! I dare say you have an excellent export on your hands. I know for a fact that the royal court of Snowdrop will be interested in acquiring some of this honey on a regular basis, at the very least.”

  “Ha!” Onas snorted.

  Ethlandom quirked a brow at the elf, questioning his colleague in a tone nearly cold enough to match a Royal Winter Fae. “Do you disagree?”

  “What would you know of the royal court’s tastes, hmm?” Onas thrust his hand roughly at Ethlandom. “Give me that, and I will conduct a proper evaluation.”

  The fae stiffened, but he did hand over the jar, with the teaspoon still sticking out of it.

  Onas glared at the spoon like he was trying to intimidate it into disappearing. His distaste for anything the fae had touched was written clearly in his glare. Pulling the spoon out, he cast a quick spell on it. I recognized the simple prestidigitation magic as the teaspoon was scoured of any ‘filth’, as recognized by the spell caster. Then, finally, the elf tried to salvage whatever dignity he was so haughtily guarding by scooping up a glob of honey with perfect poise.

  I still spotted the moment when his eyes widened just a fraction and his mouth twitched into a slight smile.

  “Well, I suppose this is… passable, even by the royal court’s standards,” he groused, though I noted that he put the jar down on the sofa next to him, on the opposite side of where Ethlandom was sitting. “Truly, this little town seems unusually fortuitous.”

  “Thank you, but we have struggled and fought to unearth every one of our blessings.” Hyel inserted himself into the conversation politely, yet firmly. “Even the bees which produce the honey you enjoyed are rather lethal. If it weren’t for Thorn’s intervention, we would not be able to harvest honey safely at all. One of his alchemical products proved invaluable to the process. Swiftband’s success owes more to skill and effort than to good fortune.”

  I could tell what Hyel was angling for, and so could the surveyors, though Onas’ scowl deepened at Hyel’s claim that he’d ‘enjoyed’ the honey.

  Thankfully, Ethlandom jumped in before Onas could. “Of course. As such, we will most certainly recommend that your town be prioritized for further assistance. I do not believe I am overstepping when I say that our suggestion will be accepted. You were already one of the most promising settlements, but you can expect the support you receive from the kingdom to improve a step further in the coming months.”

  The elders were obviously pleased by the praise. Even better, Onas looked like he’d bitten into something rather sour, which only improved my mood.

  Perhaps because of all these perceived ‘insults’ to his pride, Onas chose that moment to turn towards me with a disturbing smile on his face.

  “Truly, I agree with my… colleague. The progress this town has made towards relevance since the last supply caravan’s visit is astounding. And almost all of that can be attributed to you.” He paused, looking me right in the eye. “One can only wonder what you could achieve with the right support, rather than roughing it out here in the wild.”

  “Onas!” Ethlandom again called the name like it was a curse, but this time, the elf only laughed.

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  “What? Do not try to deny it. Even you believe it would be best if he were to contact the Alchemist Guild, do you not?” he demanded, making the fae stiffen once more. “And yet, would that really be the best choice for him? It is incontrovertible that there are… certain families in Snowdrop which could provide him with much more abundant resources.”

  “This is bordering on treason, Hergeiros. It is irregular enough that you refused to relinquish your surname, even if you did give up your titles and inheritance rights. If you push this subject further, I will report you once we return and push for a full audit of your activities and accounts,” Ethlandom hissed, even while casting an anxious glance my way.

  “And what did I do or say that was egregious?” The elf shrugged, smugly assured of his superiority. “I merely stated the truth. I did not name anyone he should approach for such backing, nor am I trying to recruit him as part of my retinue. I am sure that he can make the right choice for himself.”

  Ethlandom gritted his teeth so loudly, I feared he was in danger of chipping them. Then he turned to face me fully once more.

  “I apologize on behalf of my colleague. However, I now also feel compelled to say that should you desire support in the further development of your talents, you would be best served by approaching the Snowdrop Alchemist Guild.”

  He ignored Onas’ snort, his left eye twitching only slightly.

  “They are backed and recognized by the royal family,” he went on. “And they can offer you the best terms in return for your services. Anyone else you might approach would certainly place significant limits on your personal freedoms.”

  Onas was the one gritting his teeth this time. But considering the position he’d landed me in, I didn’t particularly care about any damage he might do to himself.

  I now had two royal surveyors watching me intently, not to mention the elders, who looked ready to riot at the blatant poaching occurring right under their noses. Then there was the dragoness by my side, who had gone stock-still at the fae’s proclamation.

  To respond wisely, I was going to have to pull on every lesson I’d ever suffered through about decorum, politics, and cunning.

  I hated it.

  “Thank you for sharing your insight and wisdom with me,” I began, looking both surveyors in the eye to make sure they knew I wasn’t slighting one of them. “However… I think I cannot afford to focus on furthering my craft. Not for some time, at least.”

  Forcing a flush onto my cheeks, I reached over and grasped one of Alys’ hands. It took some effort, seeing as she was still gripping the box of delightful food (which had probably gotten cold; that thought sent another spike of annoyance through me), but our fingers were soon intertwined.

  “We have just… well…” I hesitated, glancing shyly at the dragoness. “And then there’s the fact that we need to wait and see if…”

  My cheeks flared a darker red as the elders gawped at us. I could feel Alys trying to melt into her chair out of sheer embarrassment.

  Of course, I wasn’t actually saying anything of substance. My words could be interpreted any number of ways. Yet with our brand-new ‘young couple’ routine, in addition to the elders’ reaction, it wasn’t hard to guide the surveyors’ thoughts right where I wanted them.

  “Ah… I see. Yes, there are times when a young family would find it difficult to make abrupt lifestyle changes.” The fae’s reply was stilted and awkward, but I guessed this was out of embarrassment. He didn’t look unhappy.

  The elf, on the other hand, was frowning. He seemed like he might push back, but a single glance at his fellow surveyor made him settle back down.

  If I were to guess, Onas knew he’d pushed a bit too far already. Any illusions of impartiality and having broken off ties with his ‘former’ family had been shattered over the course of the meeting. Ethlandom was probably planning to take action against his colleague already. The elf wasn’t willing to worsen his situation any further.

  I honestly didn’t understand why he had decided to take a risk at all. True, stealing me away from Swiftband would have given him the potion recipe. He would also have acquired what was, in his eyes, a decently talented young alchemist who just needed the ‘right support’ to live up to his potential. But even then, he would still need the ingredients Swiftband offered.

  Unless his family decided to do something truly rash at that point, and attempted to claim the town for themselves.

  Regardless, I was fairly sure I had successfully evaded both his and Ethlandom’s offers. I’d managed to turn them down politely enough to preserve goodwill, at the low cost of some embarrassment.

  And maybe a little pain, if Alys decided to make me pay for it all later.

  Speaking of ‘later’, the little ruse also provided a decent opening for my next trick.

  “I do apologize, and I realize this is horribly rude, but… well, we should probably retire for the day. We have a great deal of work to accomplish tomorrow.” I glanced at Alys again. “I wouldn’t want us to approach the day already weary, and accidentally strain ourselves.”

  The fae nodded happily. “Of course! Please do not worry. You can leave at any time. This is not a formal meeting, seeing as you were invited so abruptly.”

  “Thank you, my lords.” Moving at the fastest pace that wouldn’t be construed as impolite, I stood up and tugged Alys with me. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

  Ethlandom waved my comment off, still smiling. Onas grunted something unintelligible, but also waved for us to go.

  I held my breath all the way out the door, afraid of being summoned back inside. Even when we’d left the carriage far behind, I kept my gaze forward and my pace quick, unable to relax. Yet my fear didn’t materialize.

  I was just letting out a sigh of relief when Alys brought a hand down on my head, hard.

  “Ow!”

  “Ow? I’ll give you ow! What was that in there? What gave you the idea that you should make them all think I am p-pregnant?!”

  She stumbled over the last word, but managed to end the sentence in a hiss.

  “Because now they can’t demand that I leave to join either of their preferred organizations. Not without coming across as utterly crass. Trust me, their types are ridiculously fond of their reputation. Even the fae didn’t seem like he’d be an exception there. Or would you prefer they eventually force me to leave?” I teased, shooting her a mischievous smile.

  She didn’t seem amused. “Hrm. Fine! However, you will be clearing up that misunderstanding with the elders yourself.”

  “Whatever you say, dear… Ow! Stop that, cruel dragon!”

  Her only response was to bonk my head again. And again. Then several more times.

  I was definitely going to have a headache by the time we got home.