Some time later, with tears dried and emotions calmed, the Wardenfels were sitting in the guest house's living room. Isaac and Agatha to one side, David facing them.

  Niala returned from the guest house's kitchen, carrying a small tray laden with four cups of a chilled beverage, one for each. She dispensed them and sat down next to David.

  He looked at her, and the huge smile hanging on her face. She seemed pleased with herself for some reason, though he couldn't tell why. He turned his eyes to his mother, who was bringing the cup to her mouth.

  Her eyes were red and glistened still. Out of habit, she was stilling her expression, but it was done without effort. The small, genuine smile gracing her mouth attested to that. He glanced at his brother and saw the same bewilderment on his face that he had.

  To the Wardenfel brothers, their mother openly smiling and showing recognizable emotions might as well have been dancing and singing.

  Niala stole glances at the woman. She knew little of her, beyond what she'd heard from David and just now, but it felt as if the woman had found a place and time to let go of an immense weight she had been dragging all her life.

  Agatha noticed none of that, her attention glued to her cup. She took a second sip, blinking, and looked up at Niala.

  “Dear, Niala, was it? What is this drink? It is so very delightful and refreshing!”

  Niala's ears twitched. “Oh? Oh! Ah! It's fruit water! My own creation! You really like it that much?”

  Agatha peered into her cup and back up. “I do! Fruit water? It's a good name; I can taste the fruits, but it has none of the sweetness of juice! Where did you find this?”

  The catkin puffed out her chest. “It's my own creation! I had David taste-test for me, but he wasn't very useful. He just kept drinking every attempt and saying they all tasted good.”

  Isaac listened to the interaction and looked at his own cup. He sniffed at it, then wet his lips from it, smacking them, making an appreciative head gesture and taking a swig.

  Agatha took a third sip, savouring the taste, before gingerly depositing the half-full cup on the low table, much to Niala's consternation.

  Agatha, seeing her face, quirked an eyebrow. “Is something the matter, my dear?”

  Niala's eyes snapped up to the woman, forcing a smile on her face before replying. “Oh! No, nothing!”

  David sighed. “It's a noble's thing, Niala. Putting down a half-full cup of something means you really like it and want to keep some for later. The host is supposed to notice it, and offer a second, full cup, to show his guest he both has ample reserves, and that they need not limit themselves, because he gives freely.”

  He looked from Niala to his mother. “Niala isn't from a noble upbringing, Mother. To her, not draining the cup means you don't actually like it, which is what the... huh, regular people do.”

  Agatha blinked in surprise. “Really? Oh, my dear, I didn't mean to offend! It is just as my son said! I'm very sorry. Here, let me...” She said, before picking back up the cup and draining it, managing to make going bottoms up awkwardly dignified in the process.

  “Haaa! Very, very refreshing!” Agatha said, depositing the cup back on the low table, giving a wink to Niala.

  The catkin looked at the cup, then up at the woman, her ears flip-flopping as a smile drew across her face.

  Agatha returned the smile. “So, my dear, from what I understood from Isaac, you met my son in Riverwall?”

  The catkin nodded. “I did! He was looking for an antidote for his nephew, and I was able to brew it for him! And then, because time was short, I rode him all the way back to Bellharbour in the middle of the night!”

  Agatha gasped and put a hand over her mouth, a slight blush colouring her cheeks.

  Isaac quirked an eyebrow, looking at his brother, who sighed.

  Niala looked up at David, then back to Agatha, and, realizing what she'd said, froze and turned red.

  “As a horse! I rode him as a horse! It left me all sore and cramped up!” She hurried to add.

  “Niala,” David said.

  “Y-yes?!”

  “More context.”

  “Y... yes!” She acknowledged, turning back toward the Wardenfels in a panic, stopping when she saw Agatha's smile peeking around her hand.

  Niala smiled in return.

  Isaac stared at the two women before locking his gaze on David, who turned his attention to him in turn.

  “Brother,” Isaac said.

  “Yes?”

  “I truly hate you.”

  David flinched. “...why?”

  The two women had turned their attention to the younger brother, who waved in Niala's direction. “Because you have everything. Incredible powers, a loving woman you can trust, allies who will not back-stab you... freedom.” Isaac listed, sighing.

  David's eyes levelled. “Brother, you know I didn't-”

  “I know!” Isaac exclaimed. “I know you didn't mean for any of this, but the facts remain.”

  Niala's tail tip twitched, her ears wiggling. “You're jealous,” she blurted out.

  “I...!” Isaac exclaimed, glaring at Niala after the initial shock. His mouth opened in protest, but a warm hand alighted on his forearm. He looked to his side, his mother's arm extended toward him, her eyes and mouth smiling in tandem.

  “It's ok, Isaac. David would make many people jealous, but you have things he does not; never forget that.”

  “But- Mother! How can you say that? I am... less!”

  Agatha's eyes turned reproachful. “Isaac Wardenfel! Do not belittle yourself. You may not have your brother's mana reserves, but you are no less honourable or valiant than he is! You will draw true friends and allies to your side in time, and any young, reputable woman would find you to be a marvellous husband.”

  “Wh... Mother!” Isaac exclaimed

  David nodded. “That's right. You're just as handsome as me.”

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  Niala put a hand over her chin. “Hmm, he might be a little bit more handsome, actually.”

  “Hoi,” David interjected.

  Agatha dipped her head, “And he has a better head for numbers and letters.”

  Niala's ears wiggled. “Oh! Yeah, David can be a bit dense sometimes!”

  “...Hoi, Niala-”

  The catkin smiled, looking up at her boyfriend's blank face and patting him on the leg. “It's alright, you're not dumb. In fact, you can be surprisingly insightful! Your brain is just not a... precision tool, it's more of a brutal cudgel type of intelligence!”

  David huffed through his nose. “Niala-”

  Agatha clapped her hands. “Oh! My dear girl, that is such a fitting description for my David's wits!

  “Mother!”

  Isaac snorted, drawing David's gaze.

  His younger brother turned up his nose. “Don't look at me like that. I haven't said anything.”

  David squinted. “But you're thinking it.”

  “Thinking is not a crime, brother. You should try it sometimes.” Isaac said, smirking.

  Niala burst out laughing, while his mother let out a strangled laugh, her mouth hidden behind her hand.

  David looked at everyone in turn before sighing and leaning back into the couch. “I feel disrespected.”

  “Haha- noooo! Trumpet!” Niala moaned, shuffling over to him and burying her face into his arm, rubbing her cheek on it. “I love you and your meaty brain! Don't be angry!”

  One of Isaac's eyebrows rose. “Trumpet?”

  David snapped his eyes at his brother, before groaning and slumping back. “I give up.”

  Niala kept blithely rubbing her face on her David, as Agatha looked on at her two sons, and what was most certainly going to be her daughter-in-law, a warmth spreading in her heart, a place she had kept as cold as she could for decades by now.

  It was... a welcome feeling.

  Niala and David recounted their tale for Agatha and Isaac's benefit, the woman growing more and more engrossed in their adventures, while Isaac's annoyance deepened, only for his snide remarks to be shot down by his mother.

  Not that it would have changed anything, but David was rather surprised by how much his mother seemed to take a liking to Niala. His girlfriend wasn't, after all, a proper lady, and he'd somehow believed his parents would never give their blessings to such an union.

  But, maybe he didn't know his parents as well as he thought, considering what he'd been told just a few bells ago.

  The two lovers left out the more damning parts of their stories, especially Niala's weaving, but they couldn't hide their exploits at the Living Vault, Isaac having been there to witness most of it.

  Agatha looked at Niala with a slight tilt. “Wondrous healing potions, are they? Is that why you are confident you can cure my husband?”

  Niala glanced at David, turning her eyes back to the woman. “I think so. I'll need to figure out what disease he has first, or at least get a good idea, and then I'll need an alchemy set, and maybe some ingredients, but I think I should be able to. Diseases can be tricky to identify, but it's more important to figure out the symptoms and help the body deal with those.”

  Agatha's smile thinned as she glanced at Isaac, and then back to David and Niala.

  “What if it wasn't a disease?” She asked.

  Niala's ear twitched. “What do you mean?”

  “It's not an illness. Jacob has been poisoned.” Agatha said with gravity, Isaac's expression turning sour as well.

  David stared at his mother with raised brows before chuckling, earning glares from Isaac and Niala and an incredulous look from his mother.

  “Son! This is no laughing matter! Someone poisoned your father, the Patriarch. None of the antidotes we had did anything but slow down the effect.”

  David held up a hand. “I'm sorry, mother. It's just that a poison is probably easier for Niala to deal with than any old disease.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Ah, well, I'm not sure I should say...” David rubbed the back of his head.

  Niala dragged her sight away from her insensitive boyfriend and to the concerned woman. “It's ok, ma'am. I'm sort of specialized in antidotes.”

  “My Lady,” Isaac interjected.

  “Hmm?” Niala turned her head toward the younger brother. “Yes?”

  “Wha-? No! Address my mother and me properly, you saint's slapped gremlin! My lord, and my lady, not ma'am! We're nobles, by the founding gods!”

  The catkin stared, blinking once. She looked between Isaac and David, and back to Isaac. “I'm sorry. You just look like a younger, huffy David. I keep forgetting. I mean, my Lord. I keep forgetting, my Lord.”

  Isaac's face fell, his mind trying to make sense of the small woman. He began to speak when a burst of laughter interrupted him. He turned his head toward the impossible source: his own mother.

  Agatha was rocking back and forth, a hand attempting to cover her mouth, her eyes smiling. Her son's incredulous stare only managed to wrench another laugh out of her grip. She eventually managed to calm herself.

  Isaac's gaze kept to her, accusatory and puzzled in equal measures. She shook her head. “I'm very sorry, dear. Your reaction was just... it reminded me of when you were six, and we were visiting the Evendale Forgeworks. You walked up to one of the apprentices, barely a few years older than you, and demanded he explain what he was doing.”

  David tilted his head, his eyes widening in recollection. “Ah! I remember; the apprentice started blabbering about his work, jumped from one topic to the next, and then dragged Isaac by the sleeve to show him a piece of machinery. He never shut up and ended up giving him a full tour of the place. Isaac came back like he'd seen a ghost.”

  Agatha nodded merrily. “He did! He made the same face as just now! Oh, I barely held back my laugh back then...”

  Isaac shot a glare at his mother. “Then why didn't you now?! This woman is showing a clear lack of respect toward our house! This is no laughing matter!”

  “Oh, my dear son. I'm sorry, I just... I do not feel like shutting down my emotions anymore. It is as if I have no more will to do so.” She put a hand to the base of her neck. “Oh, dear. I fear this new me might get myself in trouble.”

  Niala's ears wiggled as she smiled at Agatha. “Ma'am, I mean, my Lady! It's ok! There are enough stuffy and prissy nobles to fill the sea! Being able to laugh and feel humanoid emotions is so much better in my opinion!”

  Isaac glared back at the catkin. “Woman, stop disrespecting my station!”

  Niala met his glare. “No,” she declared.

  The young noble visibly recoiled. “What do you mean, no!? We are your bet-”

  The catkin threw a finger up at Isaac, her eyes turning fierce. “I hope you weren't about to say you're my better, because I've met and dealt with hundreds, if not thousands, of nobles at my father's soiree, and I've never felt dirtier than after having had to deal with all those slimy snakes.”

  Her ears twitched. “My Lord,” she added.

  Isaac's mouth had a few false starts, eventually managing some words. “Slimy snakes!? I will not stand for this insolence!! I will-”

  “Do nothing,” David cut in.

  “Brother!”

  David shook his head. “No. Even if I wasn't there to just tell you to shut up about this, you're forgetting who her father is.”

  Isaac's mouth hung open, his mind switching tracks. His head snapped to the catkin, who was looking back defiantly at him.

  Oh... The All Brew.

  Right.

  Agatha shook her head and sighed. “Isaac, dear, I know Niala hasn't used the proper address, but beyond that, has she shown any disrespect to either of us? That is, until you called her names.” She asked, a tint of reproach in her tone.

  The young noble's mouth opened like a fish. “I... I understand, mother.” He turned his head back to Niala. “I am... I apologize, Miss Niala.” He ground through his teeth.

  The catkin's hard face gave way to a warm smile. “It's ok, Isaac! I'm sure we can become good friends! It's better for family members to be like that!”

  Isaac blinked. “...Are you really going to marry my brother?”

  Niala nodded vehemently. “Yup! We already planned the whole thing! It'll be small, and private, only a few guests, and then we'll have a nice dinner all together, and-”

  “My dear!” Agatha interrupted her. “I must protest!”

  Niala blinked, ears pointed. “What? Protest about what?”

  Agatha gave her a severe look. “My son's wedding will not be a simple thing! We might have to carefully curate who is invited, given his precarious position within the family, but it will be a proper ceremony! We will have the best tailors to create your wedding dress. Nothing less for my son's bride!” She said, her eyes filled with fire.

  Niala's ears flopped down, her tail slumping.

  David sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. “I'm sorry, kitten. I don't think we'll be able to get out of this one.”

  “Nooooooooo!” She let out, throwing herself into David's arms, wailing against his chest.

  Unseen, Isaac allowed himself a satisfied, victorious grin.