The swirling energy of the transit deposited me in the familiar surroundings of Rieka’s rooms.

  Cariad and I had bid our farewells only about an hour before. I’d had enough time to heat water and wash up before they’d called me—the one convenience that I missed from my old apartment was the hot running water.

  Fire and water magic might work to do it, I was thinking as I swept Rieka into my arms, eliciting a happy squeal from my princess who had just finished the summoning spell. But I might be able to swing it with just fire magic, too. Worry about that later, you have more important tasks at hand.

  That ‘more important task’ was soundly kissing my princess, muffling her squeal of protest until it turned into a happy moan. Her tail beat back and forth rapidly, the fluffy bundle as excited to see me as its owner. A full-body shiver wracked Rieka when I caught it by the base and gave it a gentle stroke before releasing her lips.

  “Did you ladies have fun with your ‘girls day’ out?” I asked, keeping one arm around Rieka’s waist to support her while looking over her shoulder at the other girls who were doing a mixture of standing and brushing themselves off, clearly preparing to head out.

  “Yes!” Jane proclaimed with a happy bounce, her long, tuft-tipped tail swaying above her head. “We had so much fun! I wish you could have came—”

  “That would have defeated the point of a ‘girls day,’ Jane,” Kassandra reminded the mousy scholar. “We all did miss you, Liam.”

  The last part was directed toward me and I could feel the love in my dwarf lamia’s tone as Rieka and I crossed the short distance to where the others waited.

  “I missed you all as well,” I answered earnestly, releasing Rieka so I could take a knee and pull the two smaller women into my arms.

  Kassandra purred happily, nipping at my ear while pressing her full chest into mine. Jane giggled and stole a quick kiss before burying her face in my neck and rubbing back and forth rapidly like she was a cat spreading her scent on me.

  She probably is doing just that, I thought with a grin, stroking Jane’s short, puffy faux-hawk lightly with one hand. My girls are special in their own ways, and I don’t just mean because of their animal sides.

  Once Kassandra had her kiss as well, plus a grope that no one missed, I was released to stand once more.

  Shayla, the last of my lovers to greet me, stepped forward with open arms. The winged woman was the only one of my lovers who was anywhere close to my height, though with how Valda had been eyeing me, I didn’t think that would stay true for long.

  True to her soft and gentle nature, Shayla wrapped me in a cozy hug. Her moth wings fluttered lightly behind her, the breeze stirring our clothes before they folded neatly at her back. The twin fuzzy fronds of her antennae cupped my face, stroking my cheeks gently as Shayla pressed her plush form into me.

  “Missed you,” Shayla murmured quietly, leaning up enough to claim a kiss before laying her head on my shoulder. Both her antennae continued to gently lash my cheeks and neck even after she settled into place, feeling like a pair of large feathers were lightly patting me.

  “Missed you too, Shayla,” I whispered into her full mane of brown hair, holding her close until she got her fill and released me.

  “Any problems?” I asked Valda, who stepped up next. Rather than a hug, the stern-featured and muscular lizard-folk woman instead gripped my forearm in a warrior-greeting.

  “None at all,” Valda reassured me. “Well, no problems for us. There were a few issues that came up, but those were more amusing than anything else. I’ll tell you about them at brunch, since one of them involves a member of the queen’s court.”

  I studied the scaled woman for a moment as we gripped each other’s arms. I trusted her and my girls, knowing that if something had gone wrong and they needed help, they’d have called on me. Since they hadn’t, it really must not have been a major issue.

  Watching Valda’s eyes, I considered what else might be hiding behind her composed facade. Despite Valda’s normally stoic countenance, I could see just a hint of conflict in her eyes, coupled with a ghost of longing. So I took a guess at what was the source and used our combined forearms to pull her forward into a hug.

  Valda grunted in surprise, but only hesitated a second before returning the one-armed hug with me.

  “Thank you for looking after them,” I whispered into Valda’s ear, making her twitch.

  “They hardly needed it,” Valda replied in a low tone. “But it is far better to have someone on watch than not.”

  “Agreed,” I said at a normal volume, stepping back to smile at her. “Now, shall we get moving? I worked up quite an appetite.”

  “Oh, did you now?” Kassandra teased, slithering around the two of us toward the door. “What could you possibly have done to work up an appetite without us around?”

  A wave of giggles rose up from the girls, with even Valda giving a chuckle. Most of them blushed faintly, and I could tell they were likely remembering their last encounters with me, but each was smiling so I didn’t worry about it too much.

  The girls fanned out around me, with Shayla and Jane on my left, while Rieka and Valda settled in on my right. Kassandra led the way, wiggling back and forth playfully to coil her red-and-brown-scaled tail in the way of each of us occasionally.

  “There is plenty that I could get up to without you girls that might wear me out,” I replied haughtily. “I’m still getting my house settled and carving out underground rooms is exhausting.”

  “I still want to see it!” Jane ordered imperiously. “The sooner you bring me to look, the better! I don’t want you to end up with a structural issue that causes it to cave in while you are gone, Liam.”

  “Jameson told me that he’s been checking on Liam’s designs,” Kassandra answered before I could. “He apparently designs buildings for a living, and said that it’s surprisingly sturdy.”

  “The ‘surprisingly’ part is what has me worried, Kass,” Jane replied, brows knitting in concern while she walked. “I worry, and the only way I’m going to be able to let that go is to get a look at it.”

  “And that has nothing to do with the fact I promised to take you by the public library for your visit?” I teased.

  Jane’s eyes lit up like she’d been plugged into a light socket and I had to choke back a laugh.

  “A what? You did? Why don’t I remember—” Jane began to demand, only to cut off when I held up a hand while trying not to burst into laughter.

  “Maybe I forgot to mention that part,” I admitted with a shrug. “The translation ability will extend while you visit, so you’ll be able to read anything while you are there. But the translation ability won’t stay when you come back, so you can’t really bring anything with you.”

  Jane’s expression of joy dimmed slightly at that.

  “You mean I’d have to decide between reading and…” She trailed off, blushing suddenly as we passed a pair of guards in the hallway.

  “Yes,” I answered simply. “Or you could try and read during?” The suggestion had just enough teasing in it that Jane’s blush got even darker.

  “Liam!” Jane snapped back in shock. “I am not going to try and read while we—”

  “—cuddle?” I interrupted. “You’ve done it before while sitting on my lap. I remember you saying that I was quite a comfortable chair before.”

  “Your face is a comfortable chair,” Jane replied, using one of the comebacks that I’d been teaching the girls.

  Her use of the comeback was entirely reflexive at this point, because the blush that she’d been sporting before abruptly darkened to the point I was worried she might burst into flames as she realized what she’d implied.

  “It is,” Shayla replied shyly from Jane’s other side, her pale cheeks only darkening slightly as she came to her friend’s defense. “But maybe don’t go shouting it to the rest of the castle? It’ll only increase competition for using that particular seat.”

  “And we don’t need more competition!” Kassandra interjected over her shoulder.

  Jane just let out an embarrassed whine and covered her face with her hands while Rieka giggled.

  “I promise you’ll get your turn soon. To visit, I mean,” I reassured Jane. “You can use that chair whenever you want though.”

  I wiggled my eyebrows at Jane meaningfully and she punched me on the thigh. The blow would have been fierce if I was her size, but given my Traveler-aided stats, it barely even registered.

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  Before the teasing could go any further, we reached the dining room that we’d been heading for and Kassandra led the way in.

  Like much of the rest of the castle, the room was paneled in fine hardwoods in light colors with white paint over the sections of exposed stone. Large windows against the far wall admitted the early day’s sunlight, while I saw a snow-capped mountain range looming in the distance to the north through them.

  The table was already set with more than a dozen place-settings, but only four of them were in use.

  Queen Gemma sat with her husband at the head of the table. Her son and second-eldest daughter were beside her. Each of them held steaming mugs while they talked quietly, but turned to greet us as we came in.

  In the weeks that we’d spent in the capital, I’d learned to pick up on certain cues and habits from Rieka’s family. The girls had helped, with Kassandra and Rieka working together the most to ensure that I and the non-nobles in our group knew what to look for.

  Since we were meeting for brunch in a private room in the family wing of the castle, it was an informal meeting and thus we didn’t need to worry about etiquette such as bowing and the like. That the queen was dressed in a comfortable pale green gown with only a simple pearl circlet, I knew that nothing official would be discussed.

  It’s interesting that she has her ‘official queen outfit’ and then regular clothes, but I suppose it does make it easier to know at a glance that we are having breakfast with Rieka’s mom today rather than Queen Coldeye, I thought while pulling out seats for the girls.

  Thomas gestured me toward the seat beside him, the teenage merchant-prince grinning broadly up at me.

  Oh, he’s up to something, I thought, hiding a smile of my own. Normally, I only see that kind of mischief-smirk on Kass.

  Thomas was the easiest of Rieka’s siblings to get along with, as the young man had absolutely no interest in the throne either—much like Rieka—and was instead focused entirely on building his fortune and supporting his family. His early success made him someone that the other three sisters courted favor with, as his financial backing helped push them up the competitive ranks in their mother’s eyes.

  At least that’s what they seem to think, I thought, accepting the specialized lamia-chair from the butler to exchange it with the seat Kassandra had chosen beside Rieka.

  Once the girls were all settled in, with Rieka, Kassandra, and Valda on the same side as Rieka’s father, Jonas, and then Shayla and Jane on the same side as I was, the servants started bringing food out immediately.

  True to my assumptions from the setting and outfits, Gemma just welcomed us and gestured to the table for everyone to eat before returning to the conversation she’d been having with her other daughter.

  “So, Liam. I have a bit of business to discuss with you when you have time,” Thomas began, leaning to one side as a maid reached past him with a rack of carefully cut slices of toast.

  “All business inquiries have to go through my adviser,” I said automatically, nodding toward a grinning Kassandra.

  “Not going to steal a march on me that easily, Thomas,” my dwarf lamia said primly.

  “I would never even dream of it, Lady Silverscale,” Thomas replied in a faux-haughty voice, finishing the sentence with a disdainful sniff. “I simply wished to speak with our dear friend here concerning what sort of trade goods he might be able to bring through for us. I respect you far too much as a merchant to attempt to impinge on your dealings.”

  “At the moment, things are pretty limited,” I admitted when the two of them turned grins my way. “The amount of weight I can transport between worlds is very limited. It’s why I initially only offered my services to carry messages between Rieka and her mother.”

  “Yes, the speed of transporting those reports can also be extremely valuable, especially with a quickly changing market,” Thomas said with a nod. “I wouldn’t dream of abusing such things.”

  “You wouldn’t dream of it, but you would do it,” Kassandra teased, to which Thomas nodded without hesitation.

  “I’ve already told you that I will happily take any additional information you care to share with me through Liam. Sometimes, opportunities appear without warning, so it’s good to simply ensure your friends know what sort you might be interested in so that they think of you if one appears,” Thomas explained, nimbly stealing several slices of thick, crispy bacon from a passing platter before it even hit the table between the two of us.

  “Not at the breakfast table, dear,” Gemma interjected affectionately.

  “Yes, Mother,” Thomas replied automatically before he raised an eyebrow at me.

  “I’ll get back to you later about that,” I told him, accepting the tureen of gravy from across the table to set in front of Jane. The happy little mouse girl immediately began spooning large dollops of the rich, white gravy over her toast.

  “Thank you, Liam,” Jane chirped, giving me a sunny smile.

  “Of course, Jane,” I said back before glancing across the table to catch Rieka watching us with a smile.

  The brief flash of sunlight on her platinum-blonde tail told me she was wagging happily, the appendage fitting through the slot in the back of her chair to leave it comfortably hanging.

  Despite the ostentatious surroundings, the meal that came next was comfortable and homey. Thomas would continue to poke at me and inquire about trade, always couching his questions in theoretical or academic guises to keep from being chastised by his mother again, only nipping at the edges of things to keep the front up but leaving a half-dozen suggestions of goods he’d love to import from Earth if they were available.

  The girls returned to their earlier discussion about their ‘girls day’ trip that had gone on earlier. Jane and Shayla gushed about the different shops and cafes that they’d visited, while Kassandra and Rieka mentioned the outfits that they’d bought. From the roguish twinkle I saw in Kassandra’s eyes, I knew that several of the things they’d bought were not the sort of clothing one would wear in public either.

  I wonder if they have lingerie here, like the really fancy stuff, I thought while enjoying a bowl of savory grits topped with a rich white cheese. If not, I’ll need to take the girls to check that out on Earth. Not just because I’d love to see them in some of it, but they had such a great response to the sports-bras that I brought, and I do love seeing them happy.

  Valda fulfilled her promise to fill me in on the ‘problems’ that they’d had, starting with the amusing one before going into the less-amusing ones as the meal wound down so that she could bring them to Gemma’s attention.

  “The most amusing part was watching the poor girl at the salon trying to figure out how to care for Valda’s claws,” Kassandra giggled during the first story. “She assured us that she’d seen and worked with every sort of nail, so we took her at her word. When Valda pulled her caps off, though, she spent a good five minutes just staring at them.”

  “To be fair, most lizard-folk do not get manicures,” Valda admitted with a dry laugh. “I am glad I didn’t get them done to the level that you all did, but it was still a very pleasant experience to have my hand and fingers massaged, then claws trimmed and sharpened.”

  “I don’t know where she got that farrier’s rasp, but it did surprisingly well,” Rieka admitted, smiling as she spread blueberry jam on her toast.

  The meal had mostly wound down at this time, with the servants having cleared most of the plates and leaving just ‘nibblies’ behind in the form of toast, scones, biscuits, and tea.

  “Yes,” Valda agreed, holding up her hand and pulling off the claw-cap for her right thumb. “It took a surprising amount of force to clear the burr off my claw from earlier that day.”

  I blinked at that, brow furrowing as what she said caught in my mind. I had used Valda’s claws before in Shape-Shifting. I knew just how hard they were.

  It would have taken a direct impact with something harder, like steel…

  Catching Valda’s eyes, I saw that she had been watching me and she nodded once before turning to Gemma. The queen had been laughing along with her children at the image presented by the story, but she noticed the movement and sobered immediately, recognizing Valda’s change in posture.

  “Queen Gemma, I did want to report that we were briefly accosted by men in the livery of one of your nobles,” Valda said, her tone formal. “One claimed to be a son of the household while the other two were his guards. In their defense, the guards did attempt to deescalate things, but the young man was obviously intoxicated, even with the early hour.”

  “Who?”

  The one word response from Gemma was frosty, and I could tell from the glare forming on her face that she was mad. A glance to her side told me her husband was just as irate, but controlling himself better, as was Griselda when I checked on her.

  “He claimed to be the heir to Baron Hethfuss, Queen Gemma,” Valda said calmly. “The young man claimed that we had snubbed him during Princess Rieka’s party and that she had sullied herself by spending so long in the presence of foreigners.”

  “And how did you injure your claw dealing with him?” I asked, prompting the next part since I wasn’t sure if Gemma knew to ask.

  I was watching the queen out of the corner of my eye and saw her eyebrows go up, clearly catching the implications of my words.

  “He went to draw his blade, demanding a chance to restore his father’s honor after being insulted at the party. I caught the weapon before it made it halfway from its sheath and forced it closed. My claw caught on the blade and notched.”

  “Must have been halfway-decent steel then,” Griselda murmured gruffly. “I know how strong your folk’s claws are.”

  Valda accepted the compliment with a small nod before turning her attention back to Gemma.

  “I’m reporting this to you not in a request for punishment concerning the young man, but to inform you should he attempt to cause further problems. Baron Hethfuss was annoying at the party, but not an actual threat. His son—if this man actually was his son—actually attempted to draw steel near your daughter. It was only because it wasn’t a direct threat to her that I didn’t put him in the ground.”

  “To be fair, mother,” Rieka murmured, her tone light and reassuring. “Valda wouldn’t have needed a very big box to stuff him into. All four of us had our spell-rods with us, and I know just how little Shayla leaves when she’s upset with someone.”

  The moth-woman in question blushed faintly, but didn’t argue when Gemma sent her an appraising look.

  “That is right… Miss Valo is a light caster, so that would make sense.”

  “And there would have been even less left of him if we’d felt the need to call on Liam,” Kassandra added as well. “Honestly, it was such a little thing that we debated bringing it up. But since his father was stirring up problems, and then the son came along to do more of the same… Well, it is better to make you aware of the problem, yes?”

  Gemma drew in a deep breath and held it for a long moment before sighing and nodding, her expression going grim.

  “I will be having words with the good baron soon,” Gemma said, her tone icy. “I hadn’t forgotten the events at Rieka’s ball, and this just means there is more of an issue present. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, and for allowing me to deal with it.”

  The last part she directed at me before glancing down. I followed her gaze to find that the fork I’d been holding was now a bent mess of metal in my hand. I’d crushed it without even realizing during the whole conversation.

  “That is also why we did not involve Liam for something so small,” Valda admitted with a small smile, her eyes darting to the bent fork in my hand. “He is… protective of his bonded companions.”

  “With good reason,” Gemma said, humor returning to her features as she looked up to meet my sheepish gaze.

  I saw it when the queen glanced toward Rieka, who was smiling and wagging gently again, before she glanced back at me. In that look, I saw that Gemma knew—and had probably known for some time—about how deep my relationship went with Rieka.

  I half expected judgment from the queen, but instead all I got was a warm smile and a nod. Her eyes told me that she approved, but the firm line of her brow warned me not to hurt her daughter.

  No chance of that, I thought, nodding in return to the queen.

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