Alys unwrapped the first package with immense care. Her movements were almost reverent. Or perhaps ‘loving’ was a better word?

  Either way, when I finally laid my eyes on the object, I almost gasped at the level of detail and craftsmanship that had gone into it. I knew instantly that this was Alys’ handiwork.

  It was a wooden statue of a human, somewhat larger than Alys’ hand. He was in full plate armor with the helmet removed, revealing the easy smile on his face. Alys had somehow even managed to capture the glint in his eyes.

  His sharp, angular features were dignified. His hair fell to his shoulders in a somewhat wild mess. He bore a massive warhammer easily in one hand, leaning it against his shoulder.

  Even more interestingly, the statue was sealed in colored lacquer. It didn’t fully cover up the soft brown of the wood, but it gave the figure a hint of color. That hint turned into a much more potent, glittering hue when the sun’s rays hit the statue. The effect was quite striking.

  “My father,” Alys rumbled quietly, with fondness in her eyes. “I know he looks like a true and proper knight, but he’s a bit of a… clown? An idiot?” She tilted her head and then shrugged. “A now dead king of a very minor kingdom tricked him into going on a quest to slay ‘an evil abomination.’ My grandmother. He met my mother instead.”

  She paused, then hesitantly offered the statue for me to hold. I took it in my hands with the greatest possible care.

  The next statue she unwrapped depicted a draconian. I thought I was looking at Alys for a moment, especially since the red lacquer made the statue’s scales pop where they were exposed.

  But several signs indicated to me that this was not Alys.

  First, the body proportions were off. The statue’s wings were just a bit longer, the snout a little more pronounced, and the tail actually shorter than Alys’. Furthermore, the statue was rather slim, whereas Alys’ body was slightly stockier and more powerful.

  Alys must be built more like her father, I thought.

  The statue was also wearing a dress. An actual, full dress, which Alys was not fond of doing.

  Finally, the expression on the statue’s face was one of fond amusement, with the snout curved into a brilliant smile. This draconian looked like she smiled often and freely.

  It’s not that Alys never smiled. Searching my memory, I realized that when she did, she looked even more similar to the statue. But a slight scowl was more her default, like the world was always a step away from inconveniencing her, and she was always daring it to do so and face the consequences.

  “You’d like my mother, I think,” Alys whispered, looking at the statue with gentle longing. “She can talk her way out of almost anything. Oh, don’t misunderstand: she could have killed my idiot father on the spot when he came to ‘slay’ my grandmother. But instead, she resolved the entire matter peacefully, because he came across her first and she thought he was cute. And, well…” She gestured vaguely at herself. “Here I am.”

  Startled laughter escaped me, brightening her grin. Then I forced myself to calm down as I accepted the second statue.

  Interesting, I noted, comparing the two statues in my hands. Either her father is much taller than my initial impression from his statue, or her mother is rather short. Or the two statues were not made to scale properly with each other.

  I had little time to ponder that as Alys began unwrapping the final, much larger statue. My eyes widened in shock.

  The final statue was that of a true dragon.

  The dragon was coiled up like a massive cat. It was clearly pretending to sleep while peeking out of one eye, presumably at Alys as she carved the statue. Its scales were the exact shade of Alys and her mother, if the lacquer was to be believed. It was at least three times the size of the other two statues.

  “And this… is my grandmother,” Alys solemnly intoned, a wide grin on her lips as she took in my surprise. “My mother is actually a first generation draconian, because Grandmother fell in love with ‘a particularly dashing catkin.’ Her words, not mine. Of course, the race of the father doesn’t really affect the resulting draconian much, but there is some influence…”

  Shrugging, she let her gaze drift back down to the chest. “Anyway, that’s my family. Never met my grandfather, because my mother is much older than you may guess. And don’t tell her I said that! But, yes… what do you think?”

  She looked so shy and hesitant asking the question that I felt the immediate need to lean closer and place a kiss on her snout.

  So, I did.

  “Your carving work here is beyond extraordinary. The level of detail you’ve managed to impart… I am truly amazed. I feel like I’m meeting your family in person,” I said sincerely. Her tail began lashing happily from side to side as she beamed at me, struggling to keep her composure. “What are their names?”

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  “Hrm. Right…” She cleared her throat and looked away. “My father’s name is Soren. Mother’s is Amara, and my grandmother’s name is… Shaessath. She prefers Aesa, though.”

  I furrowed my brow. The mention of her grandmother’s name tickled something in my memory, but I couldn’t place it exactly.

  “Shaessath.” I tested the word on my tongue, having to put some effort into pronouncing the more sibilant sounds. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

  To my surprise, Alys squirmed at my question, looking somewhat embarrassed. Then, reluctantly, she mumbled, “Grandmother is rather fond of her epithet ‘The Incandescent.’”

  “The Incandescent?” I repeated. “Wait… The Molten Expanse? That Shaessath?”

  Alys drooped. “Yes…”

  She peeked at me out of the corner of her eye, as if watching to see whether I would denounce her or run away screaming.

  To be honest, if her grandmother was around, I would feel a little tempted to run. I suddenly had immense respect for whatever catkin had caught the eye of, and had lived to have a child with, The Molten Expanse.

  One does not acquire a title like that because one can breathe slightly hotter flames than other dragons. One earns it by reducing an entire kingdom of dwarves, both topside and their hidden caverns, to nothing but molten slag.

  It was one of the last times dwarves ever tried to ‘reclaim their treasures from vile thieves.’ In fact, all dwarves now had an instinctual fear of all things draconic running through their bloodlines. While three different dragons could arguably share the credit for this, The Molten Expanse was certainly prominent among them.

  But Shaessath The Incandescent was not currently in the room. There was only Alys. My dragoness.

  And she was still looking at me.

  “Well. That’s… interesting to learn.” Shaking my head, I kissed her snout again. “I suppose I’ll have to come up with some impressive gifts for your family when we eventually go meet them.”

  “You would do that? For me?” she whispered, her eyes burning into mine.

  “Of course.”

  My dignified dragoness didn’t squeal, but she did release a rather happy rumble. She then almost bowled me over when she pressed into me for a kiss. I think she stopped herself from doing so only because I was holding two of her three cherished statues.

  —

  A while later, when we stepped outside, we spent a few minutes just standing in front of her house. We were holding hands. Her tail was wrapped around my waist.

  I’ll admit that both of us were pouting.

  The day was surprisingly nice. The sun had peeked through the clouds and bathed the world in its warmth. The birds were out in force for what would likely be one of the final times before Winter properly set in. Even the harsh winds I was learning were common in the area at this time of year were silent and still.

  I groaned. “I understand we need to go and do our jobs, but I don’t want to.”

  Glancing at my dragoness, I saw that she looked hilariously conflicted. She seemed to share my opinion at least in part, which then seemed to pain her. She adored her work far more than I did mine.

  “Yes. Well… you do want that bath, don’t you?” she finally asked, making my mood improve instantly.

  “Yes. But won’t that take a while? You said you wouldn’t start the whole excavation process until the day after tomorrow, and that will take some time all on its own.”

  “That is true. But there is nothing to stop me from preparing the bathtub itself, is there?” She grinned at me happily, her tail swishing in anticipation. “I can get that done, and we can either put something up around the tub or just hide it behind my house, I guess. It’s not a proper bathroom, but it will be better than the river.”

  I shivered just thinking about the river’s icy water. I had better cold resistance as an Autumn fae than Spring or Summer Court members, but a Winter fae I was not. In fact, it would soon become risky for me to continue dipping myself in the river.

  “I would be immensely thankful if you could make that happen.”

  “Hrrrm? Did I just win the favor of a fae? What is that going to do for me?” Alys rumbled, leaning towards me with another grin.

  I rolled my eyes, grabbed that silly snout of hers, and dragged her closer for a kiss.

  “I’ll do something special for you, too,” I breathed once we pulled apart. “I don’t know what yet, but I will.”

  “I’ll hold you to that,” Alys promised with a beautifully happy smile on her face. Then, reluctantly, she released my hand and stepped away from me. “We should get started. We wasted enough of the day as is.”

  “Perhaps, but we needed that. I know I definitely did.”

  She nodded , spared me one final glance, then sighed and turned away. I forced myself to do the same, walking in the opposite direction because I was planning to set up my tent next to the river.

  It was a major inconvenience, having to do alchemy far away from most other living creatures. The fumes my work produced had all sorts of ‘interesting’ effects on people’s health. Alys’ draconic heritage meant she was more resistant than most, but I still couldn’t perform my work inside her house. The only safe option was to set up my tent outside, within sight of my dragoness, but still at a prudent distance.

  I hoped Alys would help me set up a lab soon. I absolutely hated working outside, even if I was getting used to it. The uncontrolled conditions of wind blowing into my tent did not make for a safe brewing environment.

  Thankfully, I hadn’t needed to attempt any truly complicated recipes yet. Even a single disruption to my cauldron while brewing one of those could do anything from ruining the brew to causing a literally explosive reaction. I planned to stay well away from tricky recipes until I had my basement lab.

  That did, however, force me to think about what I could work on.

  I had prioritized healing products on my arrival to Swiftband. In a frontier town like ours, healing was of first importance. By now, though, I had fulfilled that need sufficiently.

  I had my candies, along with my salves and poultices. And, of course, I had the healing potions. I wouldn’t see any significant improvements to the latter without a great deal of work and effort. At the very least, I would need to acquire some supplementary ingredients of greater potency.

  Other than healing products, I had the potent necrotic poison I’d crafted for the town. It had done an excellent job of tilting the odds in our favor when the aquatic creatures were driven to attack us.

  Healing and poison weren’t all that a frontier town needed, though.

  Options swirled through my mind. Temporary physical and mental enhancements. Potion treatments that improved one’s long-term health and physical condition. Or… alchemical products geared towards animals, perhaps? I knew of a few families trying to establish livestock farming in our lovely little town.

  I caught myself smiling as I started putting up my tent. I even felt a hint of excitement.

  I was ready to get to work!