Chapter 133: A Squirt Family Affair

In the morning, Squirt dropped the three greenlings off at the tunnel entrance long before the gates would open. She would use the tunnel herself in an hour or so.

But first.

She’d been working on her glider project last night when they set up camp, and she needed some materials from the workspace in her cabin for the next step of some initial tests. Materials that had been stored there either by herself or, while she was traveling, Tobias.

Which was why, at the crack of dawn, she found herself returning to Hunter’s Clearing for the first time in almost two months.

Only to stop, staring, stunned at the change.

The trees around the clearing now had a well-worn trail circling the clearing. The wards on the edge of the trees were subtle, yes—but powerful. Squirt stopped long enough to parse out their intent, recognizing Telos’s handiwork at a glance. In the center of the clearing stood Tobias, at least a dozen hunters she did not recognize in perfect, neat lines, their posture stiff and formal as they did some kind of call and response, Tobias reading off a board in his hands.

Around the clearing, there were half a dozen tents set up, sprawling across the now permanent fireplace that centered the rest of the space. A new building that was just big enough for the door and some space behind it drew her eye, likely the entrance to the underground portion that Tobias mentioned over the summer.

Knowing he had been granted the Chief Hunter title and seeing him acting as a leader in a fucking military basecamp were two very different things.

She knew that her home here was too good to be true, but this was ridiculous.

Pakos pressed into her side, his amusement flickering in their bond. I’m sure the wolves would happily give you a new one.

They absolutely would. Telos would easily craft for her an exact replica of everything she’d been given here next to the southern jewelbird clearing, and she had no doubt the lord would even toss in a bargain that it would belong to her, alone, with none of the guests and definitely no basecamp.

But that involved asking for something for herself.

Her hound didn’t need to voice anything for her to sense the tease in him.

Whatever.

Over by the edge of the clearing, closest to the creek, was a larger-than-normal tent with a healthy amount of smoke billowing out of the top. While now, standing outside the clearing, she couldn’t hear or smell anything, she had suspicions that someone had made a goddamn forge in her fucking clearing.

This was bullshit.

Wary as she was, she didn’t jump straight out. Instead, she waited, hovering at the edge of the clearing and watching the movement of everyone involved. Since it was so early in the morning, the gray of dawn only now being traded for the golden rays of sun, it looked like they were being given orders for the day.

Ten minutes later, the small crowd had dispersed, giving Squirt some relief. Between the shadows of the forest and Pakos’ moon cloak, those who melted into the trees didn’t notice her as they set off for whatever tasks they had that day.

She still waited an extra few minutes before she risked moving.

Tobias was speaking to a serious looking Ala’ole on the other side of the clearing. Squirt wove her way through the trees, avoiding any of the new trainees as she did, until she could exit the forest by Tobias.

Ala’ole looked well, a certain health and vibrancy to her blue-tinged skin that she’d lacked when she first arrived in the spring. There was confidence in her shoulders now that had settled into place, becoming natural, something that made sense when she’d been given the role of Tobias’s second-in-command. Her yellow eyes were narrowed, flashing not with anger, but pleading urgency that conflicted with the rest of her neatly tempered appearance.

“—been waiting for over a month—” came Ala’ole’s hushed voice.

Tobias’s shoulders were tense, his fluffy, tawny hair somewhat disheveled as he responded in just as hushed of a tone, “I told you, she’s busy.”

“I know of the others that have appeared, but—”

The tension in Tobias ratcheted as he sniffed the air. He spun in place, his eyes wide in surprise as his nickname for her slipped from his lips. “Braveheart, what—”

Squirt opened her mouth to answer when Ala’ole quickstepped behind her. There was no violence or anger in her aura, though her voice was almost manic with eager excitement as her hands landed on Squirt’s shoulders, forcibly directing her forward. “Perfect, we’ve been waiting, he’s been waiting—”

Tobias stepped in front of her, grabbing Ala’ole’s shoulder and hissing at her, “Not right now—”

“If not now, then when?” snapped Ala’ole.

Though Squirt would normally be terrified at the tone and pissing contest between them, Pakos looked entirely unconcerned as he followed along beside her.

Squirt shot him a glare. Traitor.

I would never deny you your hard-earned opportunities.

All at once, Ala’ole’s intent became clear, her hands on Squirt’s shoulders pointing her to the large tent on the edge of the clearing where Squirt could hear the echoing clang of a hammer on an anvil. The blood drained from her face as she realized where the water fata Ala’ole was leading her.

The head of the Valof Family was here?

Indeed, came Pakos’s breezy reply. He’s been here for a month, didn’t you hear?

The accusing glare she shot at Tobias had the wolf falter in his steps. A whole month?

Did she want to speak to the Family Head? No. But was she worth the head of the Valof Family waiting a month just to speak with her? Fuck no.

Tobias could have said something, damnit.

Though her stomach dropped to the bottom of her boots, she allowed Ala’ole to lead her over to the tent. Better to get it over with. One glance over her shoulder had Tobias’s protests die on his lips, and while a cloud of irritation seemed to hover over the wolf shifters’ shoulders, there was clear worry in the way his brows pinched together.

Between him and Pakos, Squirt had to hope that she could navigate this and escape quickly.

Damnit, all she had wanted were some components from inside her own fucking house—

Close enough to the mini forge for Squirt to smell the sharp sulfur, metallic burn, and hot earth permeating through the air, Ala’ole called out, “Father! The huntress—she’s here.”

Father?

Well, that explained a few things. Namely, why Ala’ole had been ranked high enough to offer her Family at all, and why the head of the infamous Valof Family had been waiting to meet her for over a month—

Come now, mother dearest, he’s been perfectly patient. He hasn’t once blown up your clearing. I’d consider that restraint.

Squirt shot the hound an incredulous glare. How would you even know about the Valof Family?

You do know that I was more than capable of watching the material plane by the Hunt’s side, yes?

Just the reminder that he served the Hunt and was technically on loan to her was enough to stall her brain. Ala’ole finally stopped pushing her forward, waiting outside of the tent for—

For a goliath.

That wasn’t what Squirt had expected.

Goliaths were some of the biggest of the relatively normal sized fey, some reaching eight or more feet tall and rarely less than seven. This one seemed particularly large, soot coating the bare, orange-tinged skin and intricate patterns of his tattoos, obscuring them from Squirt. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of goggles that, at a glance, she knew were not unlike her own goggles, the lenses made using glasslizard scales.

His lips curled in a grin that revealed the points of his incisors while Squirt was still reeling from the reveal.

Goliaths were many things. Strong. Brutal. They rarely had talent for elemental magics beyond simple enhancements for battle, augmenting strikes with elemental might. Few if any were known to be intellectually minded, their talents lying in physical abilities much like a pixie’s talents lay in magical ones. Yet in his hands Squirt saw a delicately woven wire necklace, the detail of it as astounding as the magic pulsing from it.

Oh he wasn’t just an enchanter. He was a craftsman.

Squirt could rearrange molecules, but her designs and work would always be simple. Functional. Fey like her that were capable of such feats were unable to create truly beautiful works of art, something priests attributed to either the Motes, the God of Arts, Goddess of Craftsmen, or God of Beauty, depending on their particular worship. Unlike the ruling against breaking of consent in sex, the origin and reasoning here had been muddled over time.

She could create function and form, not beauty.

He had crafted both.

Then the most incredible thing happened.

This massive, towering, intimidating, powerful fey lifted his goggles over his eyes, his gaze fixated not on Squirt, but on Pakos. He kneeled, his smile bright and his voice unnaturally high. “Oh are you not just the cutest—”

Pakos, never one to deny someone appreciating his fluff, happily trotted forward, earning an undignified squeal of delight from the goliath.

The famed Lord Valof, of whom Squirt had heard innumerable rumors about being aloof, powerful, and troublesome in equal measure during her time in the Capital, melted. His hands were gentle as he cooed at her hound, petting his fur until Pakos had all four paws up in the air, the man eagerly rubbing Pakos’s belly and showering him in high pitched compliments completely undignified for such a powerful, infamous fey.

Squirt remembered a story of the Valof Head staring down the Mad King himself, shaking the foundations of the upper echelons of society when he walked away and denied the king any recompense from his Family for a minor disaster that had pink goop covering half the Capital. Some form of failed experiment Squirt had never been able to find details on. He’d refused to give up the Family member who had caused the minor disaster, and since no one was harmed, ultimately he was let go.

Everyone had expected an execution at the very least.

It was a year the greenlings had eaten well, since the pink goop had been annoying to clean off the cheaper districts and the powerful fey didn’t bother wasting their magic on the poor. It’d been easy enough even for the nameless greenlings to get involved. Her people were often tipped in food instead of coin by begrudgingly grateful shop owners who couldn’t afford magical cleaning.

And now the man, myth, and legend who had walked away after telling the Mad King no was cooing and speaking in a high-pitched voice while rubbing Pakos’s belly—

I have determined the fey is not a threat.

Squirt’s expression flattened on her hound, dryly responding, Yes, I can see that.

Pakos’ paws were all up in the air, his tongue lolled out and his eyes closed in pure bliss as the goliath rubbed his belly.

Tobias intervened. “Lord Valof, the huntress has a lot of duties to attend to, perhaps we can schedule something for—”

His voice dropped down to his usual deep tone as he shot Tobias a cool gaze, his hands momentarily pausing on Pakos’ belly. “The huntress is more than capable of speaking for herself, Chief Hunter Tobias.”

Wary as she was, while the two men fixated on their pissing contest, Squirt studied the goliath. Assessing his words.

No way.

He was serious.

He believed Squirt capable of speaking for herself. It wasn’t a platitude or a dismissal, the words open and honest, like he genuinely had no other thoughts on his mind but allowing her to speak for herself.

Perhaps that’s why her shoulders, still held in place by Ala’ole’s firm, nervous grip, relaxed slightly.

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Pakos shifted under the lord’s hands, breaking the tense stare off between him and Tobias. Though it was hard to tell exactly where the goliath’s eyes were focused behind the dark tint of his goggles, Squirt knew he had switched to studying her, his hands once more dexterously scratching Pakos so perfectly, the hound’s leg began to shake.

Squirt raised a brow but otherwise didn’t comment. Instead, her focus switched from the lord himself to the goggles on his head, noting that they were not the same as the ones she had made for herself or the other hunters. For one, the lenses were darker, the tint woven into the material itself.

The lord grinned, noting her attention. With one massive hand, he pulled off the goggles and held them out to her, his other hand focused on making Pakos’s leg shake with exuberance.

Though Squirt remained wary, she knew better than to keep a bigger fey waiting, and accepted the goggles with both hands, bowing as was polite and thus removing her shoulders from Ala’ole’s tense grip.

The goliath’s dark eyes were filled with good-natured humor, and he went back to showering her hound in affection.

His attention on Pakos, Squirt allowed hers to be drawn into the goggles, reading over the runes inscribed into them with a frown. The runes were packed. Dense. It was clear that whatever additional function he had added, he’d added the old way, by layering premade circles over each other instead of breaking the circles up into their core components and only taking what he needed. As a result, the enchantment was a bloated mess that was difficult to decipher at a glance.

So what did he add?

The breathing holes were there, along with the base enchantment she had used to prevent irritants from passing through the holes. But there was another here for light, one she recognized from a book she’d read on enchantments related to blacksmithing. It would dim bright light, filtering it to allow the smith to see shapes in the white-hot flames they worked with. Then another layered over the top for magnification.

Glancing at the intricate necklace he’d dropped haphazardly into the dirt to lavish her hound with affection, the magnification made sense, though the trigger was convoluted, and overall the runes were interfering with each other, costing at least three times more magic than he needed.

His voice rumbled with amusement as he asked, “What do you think, huntress?”

Squirt gave a cursory glance around the clearing. Those still remaining and not out doing rounds were few, though their eyes were fixated on the drama happening here. Tobias looked ready to jump in, his eyes searching hers for any sign that she was ready to be done, his shoulders as tense as the rest of him, his hazel eyes filled with a combination of worry and stubborn protection.

It was enough for her to relax minutely.

For once, dealing directly with a titled fey she did not know, there was a strange confidence to her. Without having to even question it, she was certain that Zhadin was in the shadows watching, and between them, Pakos, and Tobias backing her up, she doubted she had anything to fear from the lord. At least, not here, now, in this clearing.

The few hunters visible kept a respectable distance. Enough that Squirt could reasonably hope they wouldn’t hear the exact words exchanged, so long as she kept relatively quiet. And oddly enough, she was getting used to the attention as a matter of necessity.

As much as she longed for invisibility, it was nice to have allies to rely on.

Returning her attention to the extra-large set of goggles in her hands, she weighed her response to him. She had no intention of joining the Valof Family at this juncture, but she knew that Ba—no, wait, fuck, Lord Everwinter, not Bartos, ugh—wouldn’t let her be coerced into pledging herself to the Family.

Even if the man accepted her, there were a hundred dependents she needed to think of first. While things might have been different in the spring, by this point, there was little the Valof Family could offer her that was worth her freedom. Even their name wouldn’t be useful unless those with a grudge stopped to check her for a crest, and with the amount of trouble her name alone brought, she doubted the goliath would offer enough protection to be worth being under his thumb.

Yes, he’d defended that one Family member in front of the Mad King himself, but that was different. That had been a single performative action that took guts, not intelligence or perseverance. Lord Everwinter couldn’t protect her from his own Guard, and she doubted Lord Valof would be any better in that regard. There wouldn’t be one single performative action he’d need to take, but a constant renewed effort.

That was asking a lot from any fey.

She deserves to feel safe as much as the next fey, and by the gods I’m fucking trying.

Lord Everwinter was the only high fey she’d known who kept trying. She didn’t trust Lord Valof to do the same.

But…

Though several silent minutes had passed while she weighed her answers, the lord took no offense, enthusiastically brushing his fingers through Pakos’ fur and cooing at him with high pitched, childish glee.

It was oddly endearing, to be honest.

Finally, Squirt held the goggles back out. “They are functional, Lord Valof.”

He snorted. “Functional, indeed.” Based on the way his face scrunched up and his attention remained directed towards her hound, he didn’t realize Pakos had fey levels of intelligence. Instead, while the words were directed at her, the tone was entirely focused on speaking to Pakos, a high-pitched coo to entice play and friendliness between beast and fey rather than condescending baby talk to her.

Even still, she found her expression flattening at the cutesy words, aimed at her hound or no.

“They’re terribly designed, yes they are, yes they are. Oh yes. Bulky and clunky and barely functional, yes, yes, oh yes. Who’s a good boy? I bet your mistress could do so much better, yes, yes, couldn’t she, oh yes—”

Obviously.

What was most frustrating about the design here was that he needed to manually shift a circular dial in order to change the focus and magnification, meaning that the slightest bump would change the settings, making him need to reset them over and over again. There was no lock mechanism for the settings, as it was clear he’d run out of space for any more runes.

“Will you try?” came the innocuous question from the lord.

It was bait. She knew it was bait. He knew it was bait. Tobias knew it was bait. Even Pakos knew it was bait, the traitor.

But it was tantalizing bait.

She’d never thought of magnification for the goggles before. Glasslizard scales had an incredibly thin layer of psychic magic that allowed them to control the colors of their scales and blend in with their environment or reflect light at will as a distraction. Had he capitalized on that…

Breezy’s face appeared in her mind’s eye. Breezy was too old to read anymore. Like many of the elders, they had the younger greenlings read for them. Glasses were something for rich, noble fey, like Anvanil. They required incredibly precise measurements, a craftsmen and healer to work together to create something unique for each individual. The time and energy required left it out of the scope of what any fey, particularly the poor, could ever hope to afford.

He clearly used that psychic layer to create magnification for the intricate, delicate detail work on the forgotten necklace laying in the dirt. The wires were shaped not just into artful design, but staring at it, Squirt was fairly certain that there was a hidden magic circle that centered the gem in the middle of the design, making it as functional as it was beautiful.

The man’s hands on her hound slowed, his dark eyes fixed on Squirt. She met his gaze, silently challenging him to take issue with it.

He didn’t.

She relaxed a touch more. Then lifted the goggles for a moment, bringing his attention back to them. “The runes you’ve used are a waste. Off the top of my head, I could rework the design to take only a third of the power you used. I’m guessing the settings require constant fiddling since there’s no lock mechanism to keep the focus in place.”

He grinned. “Indeed. That dial was one crafted by the previous Valof head and was considered revolutionary at the time. You speak like you have an improvement in mind, already.”

Squirt gave a single shoulder shrug. “At the very least, using the same mechanical engineering of a village well would keep the dial from shifting with your every movement.”

“And how would you do that?’

She shifted the goggles, pointing to the small circular dial. “It’s too round. By cutting small groves into it, you can use a pin to hold the setting in place. It doesn’t require additional runes, as you could probably add it manually.”

“But you know the runes for such a thing?”

“I do.”

“Would you be willing to share? For compensation, of course.”

“What kind of compensation?”

He shrugged. “What is it you desire? I desire advancement, growth, and innovation, all things you seem to have, if the rumors are true.”

She stiffened. Then swallowed.

Pakos, now no longer the center of the lord’s attention, wiggled himself up, shaking the dirt out of his fur as he took a happy seat next to Squirt, his shoulder pressing into hers and his tails curled around her back. I can munch on his face if needed.

I thought you were all pro goliath.

He does give particularly good pets, mother dearest, but I am loyal to you, first.

You’re loyal to the Hunt first.

And she has commanded I be loyal to you first.

Squirt grimaced, deeply uncomfortable with the amount of interest the Hunt seemed to have in her. Shifted from foot to foot, she eventually said carefully, “At this time, I have no intention of joining a Family, Lord Valof.”

“Why not?”

She considered simply telling him to shove it, but there was a strange earnestness about the man. There were no formalities. With Pakos gone from his side, he’d sat himself directly on the ground. There was dirt on his clothes beyond just the soot from the forge, a casualness to his motions as he picked up the necklace and a tool from the belt around his waist, shifting the golden wires in his hands as he delicately wove magic and pure skill into artistic detail in a fidget.

Talented didn’t even begin to cover it.

He once again didn’t seem the slightest bit bothered by her silence, focused on the necklace as he worked it in his hands, the action borderline hypnotic without using magic to charm her.

For once, she landed on honesty. “I have others to think about, my lord.”

He nodded once, a slight frown to his features. “The others dressed as you, I assume? Is the uniform something all green pixies wear here?”

Green pixies. Not greenlings.

Wary about his use of green pixies instead of the common greenling term, she answered, “For now, here in Everwinter, yes.”

Even the elders, who rarely left the central home, had all changed into guard leathers with their hair cut short.

“They are new, yes?”

“Yes.”

“They are dressed as you, not you as them?”

“Yes.”

“Then you have need to care for them?”

Need was a strong word, even if it was accurate. “Yes.”

“That is your only concern?”

Squirt stiffened, her gaze equally incredulous and suspicious as to where he was going with this. “It is not, Lord Valof.”

“But it is a big one, I assume. It is hard to focus on innovation with responsibility weighing you down.”

Temporary responsibility, but he wasn’t wrong.

He didn’t ask a question, so she didn’t answer.

He took a moment to study the necklace, inspecting each detail, his eyes squinting down at the tiny, curved wires woven with magic that made up the piece. “I have already arranged to wait here until spring. Wait here I shall.”

Giving a nod of satisfaction, he set the necklace into his lap, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, his attention fixating on Squirt, a touch of magic woven into his words. “Prove to me my daughter speaks true of your skill. Should Valof need to accept every green pixie here into our fold to secure you as an addition to our Family, if your skills prove true, it will be done.”

Squirt’s mouth went dry. Her eyes slowly traced up to Tobias, stunned to see the wolf’s jaw dropped, clearly just as shocked as Squirt.

Tobias’ eyes flickered briefly to Squirt before turning back to the lord. “Lord Valof, you realize there are currently over a hundred greenling pixies in Everwinter.”

The lord was entirely unconcerned as he shrugged. “If what my daughter says about her skills is true, which I am inclined to believe, then the price of even a dozen times that number is worth it.”

Tobias asked, “What exactly would you be offering them?”

The lord rubbed his hairless chin in thought. “Food, housing, comforts, access to our Family’s coffers, education, training—”

Squirt almost choked.

“—as if there are others with her intelligence amongst her people, they deserve the chance to innovate—”

“For what price?” asked an aghast Tobias.

The lord, for the first time in this conversation, looked genuinely offended. “Price? Price? The price is one paid by our Family in return for our favor granted to us by the God of Innovation. To deny genius their due comfort is a sin we will not abide by.”

Silence fell between them, the lord’s anger palpable and silencing Tobias’ further protests.

Squirt swallowed, the slight shift in her posture drawing the lord’s attention as his anger abruptly dissipated into consideration.

He studied her, his seat tall and regal despite the soot, dirt, and location. There was enough genuine strength to him to rival even Lord Everwinter himself.

When the man spoke again, Squirt found herself listening. “The offer will remain until such time as I say otherwise.”

“Even after the spring?”

“So my faith decrees, so it shall be done.”

In a bare whisper, Squirt said, “This will breed resentment, Lord Valof.”

He snorted. “And?”

She had no retort to that. As it was, she was still reelng.

His eyes flickered to his daughter, a silent conversation between them before he said, “I have gotten what I had been asking for. A chance to speak with you directly. What happens from here will be up to you.”

When his measured yet casual gaze found Squirt’s again, it was clear he was treating her as an equal in a way not too dissimilar to Lord Everwinter. “I will remain here and provide tithe to the lord in recompense until the spring. Speak to me or not, the decision is in your hands.”

With that, the lord stood, not bothering to brush the dirt off his pants as he carried the necklace back into the tent, leaving the goggles behind in Squirt’s hands.

Ala’ole slipped around Squirt, her yellow eyes shining on Squirt’s vacant gaze. She bowed lowly, as if Squirt were a high fey and not a fucking greenling. “Lady Huntress. My Family would welcome you into their fold.” She straightened, her eyes eager, before she crouched to be at Squirt’s eye level. “What new things have you found during your travels?”

The eagerness for knowledge in Ala’ole’s steady gaze was at least vaguely familiar, though her voice remained caught in her throat. Eventually, Squirt managed, “I’m… making a compendium. For Lord Everwinter. On my findings.”

She nodded. “Will you return for more lectures soon?”

Squirt wasn’t sure. This whole place had expanded far beyond her comfort threshold. “I… have other duties to see to, first.” As it was, she was late for Puds’ training. Then there was the midmorning training to attend to, and if she was lucky, she’d be able to get a gourd today from Quint to enchant for her experiment with water…

But the wide, begging eyes of the usually stalwart Ala’ole were hard to resist.

Squirt grimaced before sighing, realizing she had lost before she’d ever even really begun. “… every other day, I’ll return and to teach.”

Ala’ole’s whole being lit up in excitement.

Squirt grimaced, glancing worriedly around at the larger space and those in it. “… maybe in the greenhouse. Away from prying eyes.”

Tobias shifted down to his knees to catch her eyes, searching them with his own. She grimaced, uncomfortable and flattered by Ala’ole’s excitement in equal measure.

Tobias dropped his head with a sigh, running his hands through his locks and mussing them further. “Damnit. I was trying to make things easier on you, Braveheart.”

He winced at the dry, flat look Squirt gave him. “I was going to tell you.”

Her answer was a cool glare.

Grimacing, he dropped his eyes apologetically, mumbling, “Next time, I’ll tell you sooner. I was going to tell you once you’d returned, but then with the hundred dependents dropped on you…” He shrugged, though the gesture was apologetic rather than dismissive. “Lord Everwinter said that we would stand between you and the Valof Family as needed to keep them from harassing you.” He glanced back at the tent, muttering under his breath, “I don’t think either of us anticipated… that.”

Tobias shot Ala’ole’s unrepentant face a mild glare. “Had I any inclination that you wanted this, I would have said something sooner.”

Squirt exhaled sharply. “Yeah, well…”

Ala’ole didn’t look even mildly offended, and instead met Tobias’s glare with a warm, smug smile.

Squirt shifted from foot to foot, dropping her eyes to think.

If she had, at any point, expressed an interest in the Valof Family, she knew Tobias would have run to her with the news. Instead, she’d expressed to Kenna and Tobias, separately, her annoyance at Ala’ole’s persistence.

Much like she’d complained about Qzi, only now she was genuinely distracted every time she saw the redcap’s sweaty, shirtless body during morning training.

It wasn’t like any of them knew that Lord Valof would… gods. He’d offered to taken in every—

She shook it from her head, shoving it into the back corner of her mind. There was too much to do for her to get caught up in an unbelievable offer from an unbelievable man.

Tobias interrupted her reverie, muttering, “You sure you want to do training here?”

The immediate wide, pleading eyes of Ala’ole crumbled any resistance Squirt might have had to this addition to her schedule. “Yes.”

Tobias’ lips pressed into his own petulant pout. “Fine. I’ll set you up in the greenhouse for lessons there on feybeast parts and collections. I’ll keep the audience count low, but…” his eyes drifted to the tent Lord Valof had disappeared into. “Expect a goliath to attend.”

Shaking her head, Squirt sighed. All she had wanted were some damn components from the storage room in her cabin. She’d started stashing more components in there after Riverlands, and she knew Tobias had been sneaking even more in while she’d been gone.

And now…

Seeming to sense her intent, Tobias cleared his throat. “Ala’ole, you’ve got that hunt for the Flame Wyrm to get ready for. Braveheart, with me.”

Squirt obediently followed Tobias to her own damn cabin, mulling over the offer from Lord Valof as she did, her fingers clutching onto the goggles he’d left in her care as she added glasslizard scales to her list of components to pick up.

Just in case.